Aurora 4x
Fiction => Kurt's Fiction => Starfire => New Cold War => Topic started by: Kurt on April 03, 2020, 08:06:07 AM
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Turn 1: Both the USSR and the Coalition invest most of their income in building new PDC’s, trying to match each other.
Turn 2: The USSR continues to build PDC’s, but the Coalition has achieved HT 1 and begins investing in new technology.
Turn 3: The leaders of the USSR briefly panicked when it appeared that the Coalition might have an insurmountable lead over them technologically, however, when the USSR’s researchers were properly incentivized, they demonstrated to the degenerate capitalists what proper socialist science could achieve. The USSR also begins investing large amounts of resources into developing the new technologies available at HT1.
Turn 6: Both sides begin seeing results from their technological research. The Coalition has developed a new defensive system, shields, while the USSR has developed shipyard technology and deployed a shipyard into Earth orbit. The Coalition continues to invest in new tech, while the USSR devotes its new shipyard to duplicating itself.
Turn 7: The Coalition develops the military engine, and the shipyard. The Coalition holds off on new ship construction while science instruments are being developed, while the USSR continues to build PDC’s.
Turn 8: The Coalition is now facing a considerable arms gap, as the USSR has continued to build PDC’s even as it developed new technology. Fearing the USSR is preparing for war, the Coalition’s leaders propose an arms control meeting with the USSR. In addition, the Coalition authorizes the construction of the nation’s first drive-field equipped ship, the Discovery. The Discovery class mounts two missile launchers capable of firing missiles that far outrange the basic sprint missiles used by the USSR’s PDC’s.
When the basics of the new design are leaked to the USSR, they agree to meet with the Coalition’s leaders to discuss an arms control agreement.
Turn 9: The USSR develops military engines and atmospheric capability. They immediately begin construction of a corvette design of their own, however, as their shipyard is occupied duplicating itself, they have to begin construction using ground-based industry. Because of the limited building speed of ground-based industry, it is virtually certain that the Coalition will have multiple mobile units in space before the USSR, therefore they agree to an arms control agreement that limits the number of launchers on the Earth’s surface to 150 (of all types). This happens to be the number of launchers the USSR currently has deployed, so it can build no more PDC’s. In addition, the two sides agree to make Earth’s orbital space a demilitarized zone. No armed orbital bases can be deployed in orbit of the Earth or the Moon, and armed ships have to remain outside of the range of their weapons, except for pre-authorized visits to the orbital yards for overhaul or refit. Violation of this treaty will be considered an act of war.
Turn 11: The USSR develops shields and cargo handling systems. They also begin work converting five of their PDC’s to a new design mounting missile launchers instead of sprint missile launchers. The new design is more heavily protected as well. The Coalition protests the expansion of the PDC’s as a potential treaty violation, but limited inspections as allowed by the treaty verify that the number of launchers has remained unchanged.
The Coalition completes development of survey instruments just as the Discovery is launched from the yards. The Discovery is immediately turned around and a refit begins to mount the newly developed survey instruments on the ship. Realizing that planetary surveys could be carried out much more quickly with small craft, research is begun on the boat bay.
Turn 12: The newly refitted Discovery begins surveying the inner system as work begins on a second and third ship of the class.
Turn 13: The USSR completes its second orbital shipyard. And immediately begins work on a third. In addition, a new hull is prototyped, a tiny unarmed explorer class unit.
Turn 14: The Coalition completes its second corvette class survey unit. Most of the Coalition’s excess funds are being invested in industry against future needs. This has led to the Coalition’s economy being almost 8% larger than the USSR’s.
Turn 15: The Coalition’s third Discovery class corvette is launched, and all shipyard capacity is turned towards building new yards. The USSR launches its first corvette. The Soviet People’s Navy had originally intended to refit this unit to be a survey ship, however, the new EX class units will fill this role. With the completion of the prototype unit, five more corvettes are laid down in the surface construction yards in Siberia.
Turn 16: The Coalition High Command has grown concerned at the rapid growth of the USSR’s military capabilities. Currently the USSR has 150 launchers in PDC’s on Earth, one third of which are long-ranged launchers in heavily protected bases. In comparison, the Coalition has one hundred launchers, all mounted in lightly protected bases. Worse, while the USSR only has one corvette compared to the Coalition’s three, they have five more building, which will give them a two to one advantage in space. This gap will be difficult to close as the Coalition’s shipyard is devoted to duplicating itself, as the Russians have pulled ahead in terms of capacity as well. To close the gap the Coalition High Command decides to build ten more heavily protected PDC’s armed with long-range launchers to match the USSR’s ground-based capabilities. This building program will put the Coalition at the treaty limits.
Turn 17: The Discovery and her consorts have completed their survey of the moons and planets of the Solar System, and now begin surveying the asteroid belt. The results of the survey cause a large amount of excitement throughout the Coalition government. The USSR’s surveyors have only just begun surveying the system, and will not have results for months, meaning that the Coalition will get first pick of colony sites. While Mars is fairly desolate, its two moons are prime mining sites, as are two of the moons of Jupiter and four of Saturn’s moons. Plans are started while the last of the PDC’s for the Coalition’s defense network are completed. In addition, construction on six more corvettes is begun in the planetary yards in an attempt to match the USSR’s orbital construction .
Turn 18: The USSR completes nine explorer class units, five corvettes, and an orbital shipyard this turn. Work is begun on a new, larger design, designated a frigate. In addition, work is started on three additional corvettes.
The Coalition prepares colony expeditions to Phobos, Europa, Titan, and Iapetus. The USSR protests this action as a unilateral seizure of the best mining sites by the capitalists, depriving the deserving peoples of the USSR of an equal share in the Solar System’s resources. The Coalition government ignores this protest and continues preparations. In response, the USSR puts its PDC’s and fleet on alert and warns the Coalition that if the colony expeditions set out without prior negotiations, the USSR’s fleet will intercept the freighters and transports and turn them back. The Coalition is at a decided disadvantage, as its corvettes are in the asteroid belt, while the USSR’s are a mere twelve light seconds from Earth, and perfectly placed to intercept the unarmed colony expeditions. After some deliberation, the Coalition government agrees to divide the colony sites between the two states equally. The negotiations would take some time, but ultimately the Coalition received colony rights to the Moon, Mars and its moons, three of Saturn’s five colonizable moons, two of Uranus’ three colonizable moons, and half of the asteroid belt. The USSR received Mercury, all of Jupiter’s five colonizable moons, two of Saturn’s moons, One of Uranus’ moons, and Neptune’s moon Triton. The Coalition dispatches colony expeditions immediately.
Worried about the USSR’s new class of warship, the Coalition begins construction on its own new class, the Escort, armed with a single laser. Faster than the USSR’s frigate design, the Coalition believes its new design will counter the Russian’s larger ship nicely.
Turn 19: The USSR’s researchers make a breakthrough into HT 2. Research is immediately started on basic point defense, external ordnance racks, and the sprint missile launcher. Meanwhile, their swarm of explorer class ships complete their desolate body survey and move on to the asteroids.
Turn 20: The USSR begins a massive colonization effort, while initiating research on the standard missile and sprint missile. Meanwhile, their explorer ship swarm completes its survey of the asteroids and returns home, where they will be placed in mothballs against future need.
The Coalition completes research on HT 2 and, desperate to keep up with the USSR, begins research basic point defense, the gun/missile launcher, sprint missile, and standard missile. This causes a large deficit, which the Coalition government pays for by selling industry. In addition, the Coalition begins construction on a mobile shipyard.
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Reformation Coalition
The Reformation Coalition Space Navy (RCSN) is modeled after the naval services of its constituent states, and its officers are drawn largely from those services. RCSN ships are designed with a focus on facing similar ships in the USSR’s Military Space Service (MSS), and with the Soviet’s ground based defenses.
The Discovery mk 2 corvette was intended to be the Coalition’s primary space ship. It combines both survey and warship capabilities, and it reflected the Coalition’s overriding belief that each ship should be capable of multi-role missions. The original Discovery design was merely a stop-gap to allow construction to begin on the prototype hull, and was never intended to be fielded.
DISCOVERY MK 2 class CT (AC) 16 Hull TL 1
[2] SAHX(I)(I)(I)R(I)RQsMg [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 186/ 27.9
HTK 12 Sx1 Ax1 Rx2 Mgx1
200x BM
The Coalition High Command was mystified when the USSR laid down a laser-armed frigate design, and had no immediate intention to counter the design. After all, the frigate was 12.5% slower than the corvettes of the existing fleet, and arming it with shorter ranged lasers meant that it would be vulnerable to missile-armed corvettes, such as the Discovery, standing off and pelting it with missiles from long range. However, the USSR’s deployment of such a design did put some pressure on the High Command to have a laser-armed counter, thus the Napoleon class.
NAPOLEON class ES (AC) 12 Hull TL 1
[2] SAAH(I)(I)L(I)Qs [8]
12 RCP 13 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 110.4/ 16.6
HTK 9 Sx1 Ax2 Lx1
This was the standard Coalition PDC at the dawning of the drive-field era.
PDC class PDC 30 Hull TL 0
[1] Apx11HQGbx5LhMg [0]
30 RCP 50 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 121/ 12.1
HTK 20 Apx11 Gbx5 Mgx1
200x GMb
This design was intended to counter the USSR’s larger bases and was equipped with long range missile weaponry to deal with the growing Soviet space fleet.
HVY PDC class PDC 121 Hull TL 0
[1] Apx100HQRx3MgRRLhQMg [0]
121 RCP 100 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 343/ 34.3
HTK 111 Apx100 Rx5 Mgx2
400x BM
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USSR
The Soviet Military Space Service (MSS) is organized along the lines of the Soviet Airforce, with similar ranks. The officers and crews are largely drawn from the Airforce as well, although many come from the other services as well. Most of the higher ranked officers originally came from the Airforce. The MSS is intended to protect Soviet interests across the Solar System, and to counter any Coalition threats to Soviet colonies or bases.
Originally, the Krivak class corvette design was intended to be a stop-gap design, merely to allow the prototype hull to be built. The intention was to refit the class to a multi-role warship/explorer design, much like the Coalition’s Discovery class. However, before the prototype hull was finished, the Military Space Service had decided to use explorer class units as survey units, so the original Krivak class design was retained.
KRIVAK class CT (AC) 16 Hull TL 1
[2] Ax6H(I)(I)(I)R(I)QsMg [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 132/ 19.8
HTK 14 Ax6 Rx1 Mgx1
200x BM
The MSS never intended to field very many units of this class, despite Coalition fears. Instead, the MSS laid down one unit of this design to get experience with larger hulls. The laser armament was intended more as a testbed than a serious investment in laser capabilities.
KIROV class FG 22 Hull TL 1
[2] Sx6Ax5HL(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)Qs [7]
22 RCP 3 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 196/ 29.4
HTK 19 Sx6 Ax5 Lx1
Primary exploration unit of the MSS.
EXX class EX (AC) 7 Hull TL 1
[2] AAHX(Ic)Qs [4]
7 RCP 18 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 81.7/ 12.3
HTK 6 Ax2
Primary PDC design of the USSR at the dawn of the drive-field era.
PDC class PDC 56 Hull TL 0
[1] Apx20HGbx5MgQGbx3QLhGbGbMg [0]
56 RCP 100 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 213/ 21.3
HTK 36 Apx20 Gbx10 Mgx2
400x GMb
Larger PDC intended to engage space-borne targets.
PDC(LR) class PDC 87 Hull TL 0
[1] Apx50HRx3QMgRx3MgLhRx4QMg [0]
87 RCP 100 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 335/ 33.5
HTK 67 Apx50 Rx10 Mgx3
600x BM
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Turn 21: The Coalition continues to initiate research in new techs, and pays for it by selling industry.
The USSR colonizes the asteroid belt, and begins research on the gun/missile launcher.
Turn 22: The USSR launches its first frigate, and immediately begins work on a massive destroyer, which will be almost twice as large as the Coalition’s frigates.
Turn 24: The USSR develops a cannon capable of firing the new sprint missiles (still under development).
The Coalition has developed the gun/missile launcher, and the sprint missile. Both nations are investing much of their excess income in industry while they wait for the new technology to be developed.
Turn 25: The Coalition begins research on HT3 after successfully developing basic point defense.
The USSR also begins research into HT3.
Turn 26: The USSR has completed development of all HT 2 systems (it did not develop a number of systems it considered unnecessary). The MSS authorizes the refit of the Krivak class corvettes to incorporate the new gun/missile launcher and basic point defense. In addition, work is begun incorporating the new technologies into the nation’s PDC’s.
Turn 27: The Coalition begins refitting its ships and bases, having completed development of HT 2 systems.
The USSR launches its first destroyer class unit, and immediately lays down a Kresta class light cruiser.
Turn 28: The Coalition continues refitting its ships and bases, and lays down a frigate design.
Turn 30: The USSR is finished upgrading its ships and PDC’s. Four new destroyers, a corvette, and a light cruiser are under construction. Because of its newfound superiority in space, the USSR feels confident enough to dispatch a squadron of ships to secure its Jupiter colonies. The squadron is composed of a frigate and three corvettes.
Turn 31: Alarmed by the USSR’s burgeoning fleet, and its deployment of warships to Jupiter, the Coalition lays down eight new corvettes.
Turn 32: The Coalition launches its first frigate, and immediately starts construction of a destroyer. Under intense pressure from the government, the Coalition fleet dispatches three corvettes and three escorts to Mars to safeguard Coalition interests there. The USSR again causes consternation throughout the Coalition government when it dispatches six corvettes to its various colony sites throughout the Solar System, including three to it colonies around Saturn. Even with this deployment across the Solar System, the Soviet fleet’s squadron close to Earth still out-masses the Coalition’s almost two to one.
The Coalition’s governors and corporate managers on Tethys, Dione, and Titan all begin agitating loudly and publicly for Coalition military support.
Turn 33: The Coalition’s orbital yards launch eight corvettes, giving the Coalition enough of a margin to dispatch squadrons to Saturn and Uranus. The Coalition’s squadron at Earth now nearly matches the USSR’s.
Turn 34: System Snapshot
USSR
Income: 8,640
Upkeep: 2,032
The USSR has colonized all available sites allocated to it under the treaty with the Coalition in turn 18. The USSR has sole control of Mercury, the moons of Jupiter, and Neptune. It shares colony sites with the Coalition in the moons of Saturn and Uranus.
People’s Space Navy
Mercury: 1xCT
Earth: 1xCL, 6xDD, 3xCT
Jupiter: 1xFG, 3xCT
Saturn: 3xCT
Uranus: 1xCT
Neptune: 1xCT
Mothballed: 10xEX
PDC’s: 15xPDC (each is 158 spaces, 10xW, 100xAp, 10xDb)
SY’s: 4
Under Construction: 1xCL, 4xDD
Coalition:
Income: 7,834
Upkeep: 2,538
Like the USSR, the Coalition has colonized all available colony sites. The Coalition controls Mars and shares colony sites in the moons of Saturn and Uranus with the USSR.
Coalition Space Force
Earth: 1xFG, 12xCT, 1xES
Mars: 3xCT, 3xES
Saturn: 3xCT
Uranus: 1xCT
SY’s: 3
SYM’s: 4
PDC’s: 30xPDC (each is 141 spaces, 5xW, 100xAp, 10xDb)
Under Construction: 1xDD, 5xCT
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The Outreach class was intended to counter the USSR’s larger classes, once the Coalition realized that it had fallen behind the Soviet Military Space Service in terms of larger hull classes. At the current time the Coalition has no plans to build additional frigates and instead is focusing on completing the larger Nelson class DD’s while also enlarging its corvette fleet.
OUTREACH class FG 4 XO Racks 22 Hull TL 2
[2] SSAH(I)(I)(I)(I)WDbW(I)QsWMg [7]
22 RCP 3 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 239/ 35.9
HTK 15 Sx2 Ax1 Dbx1 Wx3 Mgx1
200x SM
The Nelson class destroyer is intended to be the primary RCSN ship class for some time, replacing the smaller corvettes as the central class of the fleet. Larger hull classes will be experimented with, but the RCSN intends to invest most of its construction capacity in destroyer construction as soon as the Nelson is launched in Turn 37.
NELSON class DD 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 2
[3] Sx3Ax3H(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsMgWx3(I)WQsMg [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 357/ 53.6
HTK 22 Sx3 Ax3 Wx4 Mgx2
400x SM
This is the standard upgraded corvette design for the RCSN. The missile launchers have been reduced from two to one to mount a point defense suite, which also allowed the designers to increase the ship’s passive defenses. With the advent of point defenses, the RCSN has realized that the time of missile-armed corvettes is passing, as they cannot overwhelm an enemy’s defenses and will have an increasingly hard time penetrating the defenses of enemy ships as those defenses improve.
DISCOVERY MK 3 class CT 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 2
[2] SSAAH(I)(I)(I)W(I)DbQsMg [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 162/ 24.3
HTK 13 Sx2 Ax2 Dbx1 Wx1 Mgx1
200x SM
This is the standard design for all Coalition PDC’s as of the development of point defenses and the gun/missile launcher.
HVY PDC MK 2 class PDC 141 Hull TL 2
[1] Apx100HQWx3Dbx3MgDbx3WWDbDbLhDbQDbMg [0]
141 RCP 100 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 583/ 58.3
HTK 121 Apx100 Dbx10 Wx5 Mgx2
400x SM
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The Soviet Military Space Service is institutionally biased towards larger, more capable hulls, and has established a lead over the Coalition in the construction and fielding of such ships. The Kresta class light cruiser, launched in Turn 34, is the largest human-built warship to date. The MSS plans to field a solid core of CL’s, backed up by Udaloy class destroyers.
KRESTA class CL 9 XO Racks 45 Hull TL 2
[3] Sx6Ax6H(BbS)(II)(I)(II)(I)(II)QMgWWDbWDb(I)DbLhWMg [6]
45 RCP 5 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 536.5/ 80.5
HTK 34 Sx6 Ax6 Dbx3 Wx4 Mgx2
100x GM, 200x SM
The first Udaloy class destroyer was launched on Turn 27, and by Turn 34 the USSR has fielded six units of this class.
UDALOY class DD 30 Hull TL 1
[3] Sx3Ax4H(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)Rx3Qs(I)QsRMg [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 291/ 43.7
HTK 22 Sx3 Ax4 Rx4 Mgx1
200x BM
The R1 refit for the Udaloy class added gun/missile launchers, point defense, and XO racks.
UDALOY R1 class DD 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 2
[3] Sx4Ax5H(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsDbW(I)QsDbWMg [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 345/ 51.8
HTK 24 Sx4 Ax5 Dbx2 Wx2 Mgx1
200x SM
The designers had to reduce passive defenses of the Krivak class to install a point defense suite, but the trade-off was felt to be necessary.
KRIVAK R1 class CT (AC) 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 2
[2] Ax4H(I)(I)(I)Db(I)WQsMg [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 162/ 24.3
HTK 13 Ax4 Dbx1 Wx1 Mgx1
50x GM, 100x SM
PDC R1 class PDC 5 XO Racks 158 Hull TL 2
[1] Apx100HMgDbDbWx5DbMgQDbx4Wx4DbMgDbQDbLhWMg [0]
158 RCP 100 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 752/ 75.2
HTK 128 Apx100 Dbx10 Wx10 Mgx4
800x SM
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A short briefing on Starfire (For Aurora players who don’t know much about it)
Also note: None of the following is intended to be a value judgement relating to either Starfire or Aurora. They are different games, and have different strengths and weaknesses.
First off, and importantly, Starfire is a lot like Aurora, or rather, it’s the other way around, Aurora is a lot like Starfire. Aurora grew out of Starfire, and in many ways, grew beyond it as well. Steve started Aurora based on Starfire, but they rapidly diverged to the point where today they only share broad generalities.
First, some similarities. Starfire, like Aurora, is a strategic/tactical 4X game of interstellar expansion and empire building. They both share the warp point/jump point method of interstellar travel. In Aurora, it is Trans-Newtonian materials that give ships their abilities of inertia-less motion, in Starfire it is the drive field. Both share similarities in broad weapons types, i.e. missiles and beams, although the specifics are quite different.
Now for some differences. Aurora tends to have incremental increases in capabilities as tech increases. Starfire, on the other hand, has very uneven increases in capabilities. This results in situations where civilizations separated by several tech levels might have near equivalent capabilities, while in other cases a single tech level advance might give an empire dramatic advantages over its opponents. An example of this would be advancing from High Tech (HT) 7 to 8. At HT8 fighters become available, and any empire with fighters has a big advantage over other empires that don’t have them. Aurora has nothing like this, largely because Steve, and many others, felt that Starfire’s tech system provided capability increases that were too uneven, and too predictable if you study the tech charts for five minutes.
Basic Starfire capabilities:
Detection ranges: Starfire ships can detect other ships at 7.5 light seconds range, unless they have long-range sensors, which is a HT3 system. LR sensors are one of those “capability-jump” systems mentioned above. With LR sensors a ship can see other ships up to 72 LIGHT MINUTES away. The only thing that a HT2 or lower tech race has that can match that capability is the inherent detection capability of its population centers, which have the same capability as LR sensors. In the terms of the Cold War Campaign, the Coalition and the USSR cannot “see” farther than 7.5 light seconds beyond their outer colonies, while any purely hypothetical aliens who might happen to be wandering past and equipped with Xr, could see them from 72 light minutes away.
Movement: Much like Aurora, Starfire ships can mount either military or civilian engines. Civilian engines are larger and sturdier, and can be run at full power indefinitely, but a ship can only mount enough civilian engines to go roughly two-thirds the speed that a ship with military engines can move at. The advantage that civilian engines give is that a ship with military engines has to run at half-power on the strategic scale, meaning half speed, while a ship with commercial engines is faster strategically. In Starfire, a ship moving at speed 6, which is the typical speed for cruisers, is moving at 5% the speed of light.
Combat: Turns are 30 seconds long, and ships move first, then fire. Initiative is rolled at the start of the combat turn, and the winner of initiative moves second and fires first. Missile weapons are generally poor at short range and good at medium or long range, while beams are great at short range and okay at medium range. Beams tend to do more damage the closer you get, while missiles do the same damage regardless of the range.
On the strategic scale, there is a big difference between Aurora and Starfire. The Starfire game system allows for the creation of large to very large empires, encompassing hundreds of systems. The game does become somewhat unworkable at that scale, but you can do it. Both Steve and I had campaigns that ended up at that scale, Steve’s Rigellian Campaign and my Phoenix Campaign. Aurora does not allow that kind of empire building, in my opinion.
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Turn 34, Day 6, 1210 hours (Earth Standard Time)
Aboard the K-12, Neptune orbital space
The K-12, a Krivak class corvette commanded by Kapiyteyn Sidorov, had been assigned to the colony at Triton for months. At first, he had tried to keep his crew oriented on the mission. They had trained and actively patrolled for the first several months, but then, as time dragged, the crew’s moral began to sink. The problem was, nothing ever happened. They were far outside of the inhabited area of the solar system, and the only ship that they ever saw was the lone freighter that came to pick up the ore from the mines on Triton once a month. So, to stave off boredom and dissipation, he had begun giving his crew liberty on the colony. Bit by bit the number of the crew on at the colony had grown, as his crew’s skills became a significant addition to the lonely colony’s safety margin. At this point the bulk of the crew was groundside on any given day, and the K-12 was only fully manned two days in seven, for patrols and maintenance. Kapiyteyn Sidorov knew that this was against regs and would be held against him if it became generally known back in Russia, but he had a strong suspicion that he had been assigned to this distant post as a hint that he should resign, so it probably wasn’t doing irreparable harm to his career. Settling into his station on the corvette’s tiny bridge, he mentally composed himself for another boring day as he sipped his tea and brought up the logs from the night shift.
Unknown to Kapiyteyn Sidorov or his crew, lethal predators were creeping close. Three ships, larger than anything the Coalition or the USSR had yet built were racing towards Triton and its lone defender. The three ships had their weapons armed and ready, while the K-12, which had no sensors capable of detecting them, hovered over Triton in station-keeping mode.
On board the K-12 a sensor tech suddenly leaned over his console. “Sir, drive field contact, 7.5 light seconds distant and closing!”
Kapiyteyn Sidorov’s head came up from the logs he had been studying. “What? It’s not time for the freighter, is it?”
“Negative, Sir, the monthly freighter is still two weeks away and the contact is on the wrong bearing. Now at seven light seconds and closing.” There was a creeping note of panic in the rating’s voice.
It could only be the Coalition. He turned to the communications station, which was unmanned. Blinking, he keyed a command into his station to send out an automated warning to the inner system. Fleet Command had warned that they believed that the Coalition was becoming desperate as the USSR firmed up its lead in fleet strength. He had briefly considered cancelling leave on the colony when the warning came in, but nothing had come of it, and he had been sure that if the Coalition started something, it wouldn’t be out here. Watching the blinking light representing the contact creep closer he realized he had gambled and lost. He hit the alert button on his station, and opened the all-hands channel. “Action stations! All crew to their stations! This is no drill!” The K-12’s remaining crew tumbled out of their bunks and began racing to their stations, but it was already too late.
The three contacts reached 6.5 light seconds from the doomed K-12 and each launched five large missiles at the corvette. It was extreme range for these missiles, and only ten locked onto the target. The K-12’s single basic point defense emplacement began spitting short ranged anti-missile missiles and laser pulses at the incoming missiles, and despite the missile’s pen-aides the point defense crew got two kills on the incoming missile wave. It wasn’t enough. Kapiyteyn Sidorov cursed the Coalition as the missiles swept in on his command, helpless to do anything else. Massive explosions blossomed around the K-12 and when they cleared the corvette was gone. The three mystery ships launched a second salvo at the Soviet colony, then turned and left. The Soviet Triton colony and its lone defender were no more. The consequences of this attack would be far-reaching.
Distance from Earth:
Distance to Neptune: 255 LM
Distance to Uranus: 125 LM
Distance to Saturn: 70 LM
Distance to Jupiter: 38 LM
Distance to Mars: 5 LM
Distance to Mercury: 4 LM
Turn 34, Day 6, 1625 hours EST
Approximately 255 minutes later the doomed K-12’s warning reached the big listening stations on Earth. The warning was a simple code, which was all that the K-12’s commander had time for. The code merely meant that the K-12 was under attack by unidentified assailants. Soviet Fleet HQ immediately sent a query back towards Neptune to determine if the message was real or a mistake. In addition, the head of the USSR’s space fleet, Marshal Yuri Padorin, ordered all Soviet Fleet elements system wide to a higher alert level while they tried to determine what was going on. The main Soviet fleet stationed ten light seconds from Earth received the warning almost immediately, but it would take considerably longer for the warning to reach the other squadrons scattered around the system. The Coalition picked up the increased readiness level in the Soviet fleet and bases, and increased their own readiness level to match, which further increased tensions between the two nations. Unfortunately, it would take over four hours for the query to reach Neptune and another four for an answer to return.
Twenty minutes after the warning arrived, Marshal Padorin was summoned to the Politburo. These days the Central Committee, and the Politburo from which it was drawn, was dominated by active and retired military officers, however, that didn’t necessarily make Padorin’s job any easier. Most of the officers that made up the Politburo were drawn from the ground and air forces and understood little of the new realities of space combat. He was whisked through security in record time and found himself standing before the General Secretary and six of the most powerful members of the Politburo.
“What has happened, Marshal?” The faces of the seven most powerful men in the USSR were dark and inscrutable. Padorin knew that his staff had already informed them about the alert signal received from the K-12. They not only wanted the facts, but his impressions as well.
“Twenty-five minutes ago, we received an emergency code from corvette K-12 in Neptunian space. The code indicated that the K-12 was under attack by hostile forces. We have provided our commanders with a number of codes that can be sent with little time or preparation to warn against various threats or dangers to their ships and or to the USSR as a whole. We received this emergency code by tight beam transmission from the K-12. The time lag to Neptune is approximately 255 minutes, meaning that whatever happened occurred over four hours ago. In the time since receiving the code from the K-12 we have received nothing further, indicating that most likely the K-12 was destroyed before it could send any additional information.”
“Is that the only possibility?”
Padorin frowned. “It is not. However, it is extremely unlikely that the code was sent in error. By design, if the commander attempts to send such a code, every command station would alert its operator that such an action was taking place, allowing counter-action to take place to avoid the accidental transmission of an emergency code. In addition, the K-12 has had twenty-five minutes to send additional information or to retract the emergency code, and it has not. It would require an extremely unlikely series of events to prevent the commander from sending follow-up information. In addition, we have lost contact with the Triton colony, indicating that whatever difficulty affected the K-12 has also affected the colony.”
“But…there are nearly 300,000 miners there!”
“Yes, and they’ve gone silent.”
The General Secretary stirred. “IS this an attack by the Coalition?” They all leaned forward, eager to hear his opinion. In the aftermath of the Last War, this was the thing they most feared. Any attack by either of the two remaining super powers would almost certainly result in devastating what ever was left. As this was the entire rational for the continuing control of the Soviet state, they were understandably interested in his answer.
Padorin kept his face blank. “We do not know at this time. The emergency code, coupled with the loss of contact with both K-12 and the colony are certainly indicative of an attack, however, the Coalition’s strategic posture is all wrong if they intended to launch a widespread offensive against our forces. They have not reinforced their squadrons at our shared colonial sites at Saturn and Uranus, and their home fleet is understrength compared to ours. In addition, they did not raise their readiness level until we raised ours. Also, our alert message has been acknowledged by the K-004, which is assigned to the Mercury colony and is the closest unit to Earth. The K-004 is operational and has seen no sign of hostile action. Finally, as a strategy, this action makes no sense. First, we have accounted for all of their forces. It would require a significant force to destroy K-12 before it could send a follow-up message, and the Coalition has no such force. Secondly, why risk everything to destroy one corvette? And while we have not yet received confirmation from our other squadrons as to their status, because of the light-speed delay, if they had been attacked simultaneously, we would already have received emergency codes from at least some of those ships, and we have received no such transmissions. The window for a surprise attack on our other squadrons is rapidly closing, and it has already closed here, at our greatest concentration of fleet strength. Surely, if the Coalition intended a wide-spread surprise attack, they would have attempted to launch an attack here first, rather than at an out of the way colony like Triton.”
General Petrov, the junior-most member of the Politburo, but not necessarily the weakest, stood and leaned over the table. “Marshal, that presumes that the Coalition is well organized, and that they do not have any forces we don’t know about. Perhaps a commander jumped the gun, and perhaps they were able to build a force of ships on Mars, where we have very little intelligence on their activities.” Having made his point, he looked around at his fellow oligarchs. “Surely you aren’t saying that our colony was attacked by some flight of fancy, like a third power in the system that we are completely unaware of. Or perhaps you are suggesting that aliens attacked our ship?”
Padorin frowned. “It is certainly possible that the Coalition is having command and control problems. Certainly, we do over distances that takes light hours to travel. However, there is nothing in their deployments that suggest that they are readying for an attack. And while it is possible that the Coalition has managed to hide a ship, or possibly two, it is extremely unlikely. We watch their shipyards very carefully, along with their planetary build sites. And they could no more construct warships on their Martian colonies than we could build such ships at our Jupiter colonies. Those colonies are mining and research sites, nothing more.” He paused and looked around the room, trying to come up with a way to say what he wanted to say without appearing as he was challenging the General. “I am merely saying that I do not know who attacked our ship. Logically it must be the Coalition, as they are the only other known space-going power, but we have no evidence of this and it makes no strategic or tactical sense for them to attack us in this way. And we do have evidence that space-faring aliens do exist orbiting over our heads as we speak.”
Several of the Politburo members involuntarily looked towards the ceiling, as if they could see the alien hulks that had given humanity the secret of the drive field, if little else. Most of the smaller pieces had either burned up or been swept up by one of the two sides, while the largest two had been seized by the USSR and the Coalition and even now resided at the hearts of their orbital shipyard complexes, being studied and analyzed. General Petrov shook his head. “The Coalition is the threat here. They blame us for the Last War, and oppose us at every turn.
The Chairman nodded. “And what have you done about this situation, Yuri?”
“I’ve have put the fleet on alert, both here and throughout the solar system. I have dispatched messages to both the K-12 and the Triton colony requiring status updates, but even if they respond we will not know for another eight hours. The Coalition has taken note of our increased readiness and raised their readiness in response.”
General Petrov looked around the table. “We must respond in a way that makes it clear to the Coalition that we will not suffer an attack lightly! They must understand that we will not stand idly by while they whittle our strength down bit by bit!”
The Chairman nodded; his face inscrutable. “And if I ordered an immediate attack on their fleet, Yuri? What would happen then?”
“If the order were given, our home fleet would move to engage the Coalition fleet on the far side of Earth. Our fleet would have to avoid coming within range of the Coalition’s bases on Earth, and that would give the Coalition fleet plenty of time to either maneuver to engage our fleet or to escape. Our fleet out-masses the Coalition main fleet by approximately 10%, which is not enough to guarantee victory.” Padorin paused and looked around the room, gaging the mood. “If I were the Coalition fleet commander, when I saw our fleet approaching, I would move towards Earth to get within range of the Coalition’s PDC’s. We would then have the choice of engaging with our PDC’s, which would almost certainly cause a general nuclear exchange as both sides attempted to wipe out the other’s PDC’s. The damage would be incalculable, and there would be no way to predict the outcome. Our only alternative to general destruction would be to stop and talk to the Coalition.”
“You paint a grim picture, comrade. Perhaps we should begin by talking to the Coalition. After all, we cannot catch them by surprise at this point, can we?”
“No, we cannot.” He paused for a second, then continued. “Please do not forget. We have forces in close contact with Coalition ships at both Saturn and Uranus. Whatever the truth is out at Neptune, I have ordered our ships at both of those stations to maximum alert, and the Coalition has presumably done the same. Our warnings will be arriving at Jupiter in a few minutes, and at Saturn in another thirty minutes or so. Whenever two opposed naval forces are in close contact and tensions are high, there is the possibility for accidents or misunderstandings to take the decisions out of the leader’s hands. We face a difficult situation. We may not be given much time to resolve this crisis.”
The Chairman frowned. “This is understood, comrade. We are all military men here. We will be contacting the Coalition directly. In the meantime, I want you to prepare a mission to Neptune to discover the truth of what happened. No action is to be taken until the tensions are resolved here, but once they are you are to dispatch this mission as soon as possible. Understood?”
“Yes sir!”
Turn 34, Day 6, 1705 hours
Jupiter Resource Exploitation Area, USSR
The warning from fleet command arrived a few minutes after Marshal Padorin left the Kremlin. The Soviet Military Space Fleet squadron assigned to the JREA consisted of three corvettes and a single frigate. The ships were distributed around the area, with one ship orbiting each of the three colonies at any given time, and the fourth roving on a patrol route throughout the area. Periodically the ships would shift to different colonies, and they rotated the roving patrol assignment as well. The warning caused the major in command to raise their readiness levels, but aside from that it had little effect on their operations. An answer was sent, as the warning required, confirming that all was well within the Jupiter AOR. The warning from Earth would reach Saturn before the response from Jupiter reached Earth.
Turn 34, Day 6, 1740 hours
Saturn Resource Exploitation Area, USSR
The warning from Earth arrived at Saturn just over a half an hour after the Jupiter Squadron received its warning. The USSR’s Saturn squadron consisted of three corvettes assigned to protect its two mining operations on Rhea and Iapetus. Unlike the situation around Jupiter, where the USSR has sole control of the area, the USSR shared sovereignty with the Coalition in Saturn space. The Coalition had three mining operations, on Tethys, Dione, and Titan, and a squadron of three corvettes assigned to protect them. The relationship between the USSR and the Coalition in the Saturn AOR had been strained for some time.
It had started with a disaster at the USSR’s Rhea Mining Complex, early in the colonization effort. A dome had collapsed, killing a number of colonists and stranding others with limited life support. The other USSR colony on Iapetus was brand new and struggling itself, and had little support to send. By comparison, the Coalition colonies were large and well-equipped, unlike the threadbare Soviet operations, and when no help arrived from the Coalition, the Soviet miners conceived a deep hatred for their Coalition counterparts who had let their friends and families die. Unknown to the Soviet colonists, the colonization effort manager had not informed the Coalition of the disaster, or asked for their help, and instead sent messages to the Extra-Atmospheric Resource Exploitation Ministry on Earth, asking for guidance. When the disaster deepened, and people continued to die, the local manager decided to cover himself by claiming that the Coalition refused to assist the miners. The Ministry on Earth picked this story up and ran with it, bolstering morale by scapegoating the Coalition, and awarded the manager with promotion and recognition for his heroic actions. When word leaked to the Coalition’s managers on the Saturn AOR they were incensed at the misrepresentation by the USSR, but there was little that they could do about it. From that seed the distrust spread to poison every international relationship in the Saturn AOR, including that of the two militaries. Unlike the shared Uranus AOR, where the two sides mostly cooperated and got along well, in the Saturn AOR the two military squadrons constantly watched each other, wary for an ambush. Both sides tried to gain an edge over the other, constantly maneuvering to gain an advantage or fool the other into complacency.
It was into this heated atmosphere that the warning from Earth arrived. Major Dimitri Semenov, commander of all USSR forces in the Saturn AOR, took one look at the message from Earth warning of the possible destruction of the Neptune Squadron and colony, and ordered his squadron to alert status. He disregarded the message’s mealy-mouthed hedges about the identity of the attackers, as he knew that it could only be the Coalition. He was not one of the few that knew of the real story about the rivalry in the Saturn AOR, and he truly believed that the Coalition was a threat to the continued Soviet presence around Saturn.
Senior Captain Ross, the Coalition squadron commander in the Saturn AOR, noted the change in the Russian squadron’s behavior immediately, and he ordered his squadron to got to alert status as well. He knew that his squadron was at a disadvantage, as his crews were green and the Soviet squadron was an experienced group. Still, he had little choice. What followed was as automatic as a train arriving at a station. Both sides knew that they were relatively evenly matched, and both sides knew that given that fact, the side that fired first would almost certainly achieve superiority. Both sides dispatched emergency messages to Earth detailing circumstances of the almost certain upcoming battle.
Major Semenov’s squadron was clustered around Iapetus, while the Coalition’s squadron hovered over Tethys, meaning that the two squadrons were separated by 2.25 light seconds. Within thirty seconds of receiving the message, two of Commodore Semenov’s corvettes had activated their weapons. Major Semenov didn’t hesitate, and ordered his two ships to open fire. Both Soviet corvettes launched a single standard missile, both targeted independently on the same Coalition corvette. Both missiles missed. With his last corvette lagging and still unable to activate its weapons, Commodore Semenov ordered his two active corvettes to close on the enemy squadron and engage with missiles in sprint mode.
Even as the first missiles were launched from the Soviet squadron, one of Senior Captain Ross’ corvettes managed to reach action stations. He ordered that corvette to engage one of the two corvettes closing on their squadron while the other ships struggled to reach action stations. The Soviet’s next salvo achieved two hits, one on each of the Coalition corvettes, while the return fire from the single active Coalition corvette missed the oncoming Soviet ships. The last Soviet corvette finally managed to activate its systems as the sprint-mode missiles flew between the ships, and the second Coalition corvette activated its weapons as well, leaving only a single Coalition corvette still inactive.
Major Semenov ordered his advanced ships to come to a halt so that the last ship could rejoin them, and ordered all three corvettes to concentrate fire on one of the Coalition corvettes. Two of the three sprint-mode missiles hit the luckless Coalition corvette, knocking down her shields and wiping out half of her armor. In return, the Coalition corvettes managed to score a single hit, but the third Coalition corvette finally managed to activate its weapons.
Sensing an advantage, Major Semenov ordered his ships to close to point blank range. The next exchange of fire happened at a half of a light second. The next round of fire went to the Coalition, with the Coalition corvettes scoring two hits and the Soviet ships only scoring one in return. The battle turned into a point-blank pounding match, with corvettes shooting sprint-mode missiles into each other, desperately trying to knock out their opponents before being knocked out themselves. Four minutes after the firing started, one Coalition corvette had lost most of its internal systems, including its single gun-missile launcher, and was ordered to retreat by Senior Captain Ross. On the other side, a Soviet corvette had lost most of its internal systems, but still had its weapon intact and stayed in the fray. Major Semenov ordered his ships to ignore the retreating Coalition corvette and they focused their fire on one of the two remaining corvettes and the slugging match continued. Thirty seconds later a Russian corvette was reduced to a drifting hulk, leaving both sides with two corvettes slugging it out.
It took several more minutes before a second Coalition corvette’s weapon was knocked out. At that point the USSR still had an intact corvette and a second corvette with light internal damage. Senior Captain Ross, aboard the last intact Coalition corvette, could see the inevitable end just as well as the Soviets, but continued fighting. Two minutes later it was over as the last Coalition corvette lost its weapon. Senior Captain Ross immediately ordered his ship to drop its drive field and surrender, along with the other two corvettes in his squadron that were slowly limping away. The battle was over and the Soviets had won. Even as the Coalition corvettes dropped their drive fields in surrender, emergency messages were winging their way towards Earth from both sides, detailing the facts of the battle.
Major Semenov ordered all three Coalition corvettes to return to Iapetus and evacuate their ships. With the Coalition squadron neutralized, Commodore Semenov ordered the three Coalition colonies to surrender to his forces pending a determination from Earth as to the status of the Saturn AOR. He had won his battle, but the ultimate outcome would be determined by the leaders of the two nations on Earth. It would take approximately 70 minutes for the news to travel to Earth.
Turn 34, Day 6, 1850 hours
Earth, Coalition Fleet
Admiral Jonas Ruston glared at the central display from his station at the rear of the Frigate Outreach’s bridge. This situation had disaster written all over it. His fleet was at action stations, as was the Russian fleet on the far side of Earth, as were all of the bases maintained by both sides. Eventually someone was going to start shooting if only to relieve the endless tension that had built as both sides glared at each other. The leaders of both governments were talking to each other, but at least so far nothing had come of those talks, except perhaps the revelation that the Soviets were claiming they had been attacked. He was fairly sure that if there had been an attack it hadn’t been his forces that had launched it, but the damned time lag meant that they still hadn’t received confirmation from the Uranus squadron or the Saturn squadron’s as to their status, meaning that anything might have happened out there and he had no way of knowing.
One of the techs on the far side of the bridge stiffened. “Sir, incoming message from Fleet Admiral Reese!”
“To my station, please.” He straightened and activated the pickup at his station. A second later he could see Admiral Reese, CO of all Coalition naval forces in front of him. She looked tired and worried, which, given her normal unflappability, concerned him greatly. “Admiral, what news?”
“Jonas, we’ve just received a communique from Saturn. The Saturn squadron is engaged with the Russians. The Russians fired first, catching our people by surprise. It doesn’t look good. CEO Makenzie is on the line with Chairman Stepanov now, but they are claiming we fired first. I know you and your people are getting tired, but consider this a war warning. I’m not sure what is going to happen, but whatever you do, keep an eye on the Russians. You cannot let your forces be caught by surprise.”
“Understood Admiral. Keep us apprised as new details become available.” Admiral Reese nodded and signed off. Admiral Ruston looked around the frigate’s small bridge and saw every eye on him. “You heard the Admiral. I want all scanners watching the Russians, and in every other direction as well. We will not be caught out by them. Not this time!” As the bridge crew turned back to their stations, he began thinking of what he was going to say to the fleet. It might be his last chance to bolster their morale.
Turn 34, Day 6, 1900 hours
Moscow
Chairman Stepanov looked around the room at his six closest allies, who were also his six greatest rivals for power within the Politburo. “Gentlemen, I have just gotten off the phone with the Coalition CEO. He is incensed over the attack by our forces in the Saturn AOR. They have dead crew people and damaged ships, and we fired first.”
General Petrov shook his head. “They attacked us at Neptune! Their loss at Saturn is no less than they deserve.” He looked at the other members of the group. “We should order our forces to attack everywhere! Bring the Coalition to heel once and for all!”
Chairman Stepanov nodded. “We could do this, but...if we did, could we prevent the fighting from spreading to Earth?” General Petrov opened his mouth, but before he could speak the Chairman continued. “I do not think we could. The Coalition would almost certainly be at a disadvantage throughout the Solar System, and the pressure on their military to launch an attack here would be intense. And once fighting began here, we would have no way of preventing it from becoming another war like the Last War.” He looked around the room at the admirals and generals that made up the ruling council of the USSR, and they all, with the possible exception of General Petrov, looked ashen and daunted by the prospect. “We might ‘win’ such a conflict, but I do not think that our nation would survive in any meaningful way.” Sensing an advantage, he pressed forward. “You all know the facts, we only survived the Last War through an accident, a fluke. We will not get such a chance again. Now, here is what I propose…”
Turn 34, Day 7
Earth
At the last moment, as the survival of the human race hung in the balance, the two rival nations backed away from the precipice. Alert levels were reduced, PDC’s stood down from immediate launch status. The two sides began talking to each other. Really, there was no other result possible. One side or the other might be able to destroy the other side’s scattered squadrons, and cut them off from their solar colonies, but then what. The other side would almost certainly feel backed into a corner, and would be very likely to launch a war that would start in Earth’s orbit but would end on the ground with the mutual annihilation of each side’s populations. Such a result could not be risked, so both sides saw the wisdom in backing away from the precipice. This time.
After several days of intense negotiations, the USSR admitted that its forces fired first at Saturn, and allowed all Coalition crew persons interned there to return to Coalition territory, along with the colonies and the battered ships they had seized. In the spirit of cooperation, the USSR agreed to allow the Coalition to send a small team of three scientists and experts on the expedition that the USSR was putting together to send to Neptune. The team would have to work under the supervision of the Russians, in conjunction with the teams being sent by the USSR, and they would travel on a Russian ship. The Russians were sending two corvettes to escort the transport carrying the investigators to Neptune.
Tensions were reduced across the solar system, but not eliminated.
Turn 34, Day 9, 1600 hours
Solar System, 84 light minutes from Earth…
Undetected by human sensors, nine cruisers sat motionless, watching Earth and its surrounding space. The results of their attack at Neptune had been disappointing. The All Highest had been sure that an attack on an isolated station belonging to one of their petty factions would result in a general war between their squabbling nations. At first it seemed the plan was working perfectly, especially when the two native squadrons at the ringed planet began shooting at each other. However, it just seemed to peter out after that. Very disappointing.
After some deliberation a decision was made. The fleet turned away from the human planet and began making its was back towards the outer system. The fleet wasn’t equipped to deal with the swarm of smaller ships the humans had orbiting their planet, an oversight that the fleet commander intended to remedy. He also intended to ‘speak’ with the idiots at central command that refused to risk their special weapons ships in an open attack against the humans.
Unseen, the alien fleet made its way back out of the system, towards its entry point. It would be back.
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Turn 35
The three corvettes from the Coalition’s Saturn squadron limp home after the crews are released from Russian custody. The Russians also release the travel controls they had placed on the Coalition colonies in the Saturn system. Three corvettes from the Coalition home fleet are sent to Saturn to replace them. All three damaged corvettes go into the yards as soon as they arrive at Earth.
The Coalition Naval Command is disappointed with the performance of its corvettes at Saturn, and new construction for this month is changed over to Outreach class frigates instead of corvettes.
The Russians also begin repairs on ships damaged at Saturn, and their expedition to Neptune departs early this month. In addition, the Russians begin construction on three new light cruisers.
Behind the scenes, the Coalition, which has had its vulnerabilities across the solar system demonstrated to it, has made much data on its building schedules and resource allocations available to the USSR in an attempt to demonstrate that they have no “secret fleet” capable of attacking the Russians at Neptune. Certainly, the fact that no such fleet suddenly appeared during the height of the tensions last month indicates that it is unlikely that the Coalition is behind the attack. The initial results from the investigation teams on Neptune are inconclusive. The K-012 was destroyed by missile bombardment, and was nearly completely vaporized, with very little left to study. The colony was bombarded as well. The Russians are beginning to believe that the Coalition had nothing to do with the attack, but are no closer to determining the actual identity of the attackers. Some in the Politburo are beginning to believe that the aliens who had so fortuitously left wreckage in orbit for humanity to study have returned.
Many in the Coalition continue to believe that the Triton disaster was caused by internal Soviet divisions, and was perhaps a rebellion that was brutally repressed, although some are more open minded.
As a result of the ongoing investigation, and the uncertainty of the identity of the attackers, both governments have put together scientific teams to examine theories of how the aliens that fought over Earth at the dawn of the drive-field era traveled to the solar system. None of the wreckage that was left had anything like an ‘interstellar drive’, and there were no intact databases or computer systems to interrogate to determine how the aliens traveled between the stars. Up till now, both sides had been focused on each other, and on exploiting the solar system, but now, with the possibility of a new threat on the horizon, they began looking outwards again.
Turn 36
Both sides have begun building new orbital shipyards to keep up with the demands of new construction for their growing fleets.
Turn 37
The Reformation Coalition achieves a breakthrough, developing HT3. The first system that the Coalition researchers begin developing is the long-range sensor. This system is considered essential, given the vast blind spots in sensor coverage across the solar system, and the demonstrated vulnerabilities of the colonies and detached squadrons in the system.
The Coalition also launches its first DD, the Nelson, along with three Outreach class frigates.
The USSR also achieves HT3 this turn, and begins research on a number of systems, including Xr.
Turn 38
The Coalition completes a new orbital shipyard, but all new construction has come to a halt as new technologies are developed.
The USSR is rushing ahead in its research on new tech systems. In addition, it has begun work on a sixth orbital shipyard.
Turn 39
The Coalition has become uneasy at the lead that the USSR has taken in researching new tech systems, and the Council has agreed to invest additional resources from the national reserve to initiate research on all remaining critical systems.
The USSR continues to invest in developing new technology.
The research teams on Triton have completed their work and issued a final report. They have been able to determine that both the colony and the K-012 were destroyed by the same type of weapons, and at approximately the same time. Based on the craters left at the colony site, the teams estimate that the nuclear missiles used had twice the destructive power of the standard missile in use by both the Soviet and Coalition fleet, or approximately equivalent to the strength of a so-called “gun-missile”. The GM is not currently in use in either fleet anywhere except on PDC’s on Earth. In addition, the GM has a maximum useful range of 2.5 light seconds, and all indications are that the K 012 was destroyed from beyond five light seconds range, based on the fact that they failed to send any updates after the first warning.
The report leaves open far more questions than it answers. In the Coalition, the report weakens those who cling to the idea that it was some sort of internal conflict or rebellion on Triton, as the Coalition team found no evidence of ground-based launchers. In the USSR there is little change in attitudes. The bulk of the Politburo has adopted a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude at this point.
Turn 40
The Coalition begins construction on a prototype light cruiser and five destroyers. Coalition intelligence has become interested in the Soviet research program. The Soviets have invested far more in developing new systems than the Coalition, indicating a possible change in strategy on their part. The Coalition has begun development of all systems deemed critically necessary to modernize the fleet, such as datalink, long-range sensors, point defense, and tractor beams. It appears that the Soviet research has gone far past that and is developing systems for which there appears to be no immediate need. This is troubling and intelligence assets are diverted to attempt to discover the USSR’s motivations.
The USSR continues to invest in developing new technologies.
-
A couple of notes, now that the campaign has reached turn 40…
Construction Rates
While I reduced the population growth rates at the start of the game, to stave off the “explosive growth” phase of the game, I didn’t reduce shipyard build rates. After playing through the start of the game I think it would be a good idea to do that now, so I’ve reduced all build rates by approximately half, although I did include a bit of a jump in capacity every five tech levels. This will go into effect immediately.
PDC’s, as of Turn 40
I spent some time reading the rules on PDC’s today, and realized that I’ve been doing it wrong. The rules clearly state that there can only be one armed PDC per planetary area, and I’ve been kind of ignoring that. I think it will be more interesting if I pay attention to that particular rule, so I’ve redesigned both side’s PDC’s to conform with this rule. The USSR gets control of three of Earth’s planetary hex-sides, while the Coalition gets control of two. The last planetary hex-side is considered uncontrolled, and represents the vast bulk of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding areas. This leaves a gap in Earth’s defenses, although the rules allow PDC’s in adjacent areas to use their point defense to cover the gap.
In addition, I have added a (very) minor house rule that PDC’s on the same planet can launch sprint-mode missiles at each other regardless of the blindspot. This only applies to the PDC’s and represents the fact that the PDC’s have had lots and lots of time to calculate trajectories to target each other.
In any case, here are the recalculated PDC’s for each side. Both sides still have the same number of systems, they’ve just been consolidated into fewer PDC’s.
Coalition
The Coalition has two of these bases, one on the West Coast of the former USA and the other in Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean.
PDC AREA DESIGN class PDC 2057 Hull TL 2
[1]Apx1500HDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgHDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx10Wx5MgMgDbx5Wx5MgMgDbx5[0]
2057 RCP Trg:1 Cost = 8166/ 816.6
HTK 1757 Apx1500 Dbx150 Wx75 Mgx30
6000x SM
USSR
The USSR has three of these PDC’s, one in Europe, the second in Central Russia, and the third in eastern Siberia.
PDC AREA DESIGN class PDC 771 Hull TL 2
[1]Apx500HWx5MgMgWx5MgMgDbx5Wx5MgMgWx5Dbx5MgMgWx5Dbx5MgMgWx5Dbx5MgMgWx5Dbx5MgMgDbx5Wx5Dbx5MgMgDbx5Wx5Dbx5MgMgWx5MgMgDbx5[0]
771 RCP Trg:1 Cost = 3493/ 349.3
HTK 621 Apx500 Dbx50 Wx50 Mgx20
4000x SM
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RCSN Ship Designs, Turn 41
The Brazwell class light cruiser is the Coalition’s answer to the USSR’s Kresta class cruisers, and is intended to be the fleet’s premier heavy combatant. The first unit of this class, the Brazwell, was laid down in the Coalition orbital yards in turn 40, and will be launched in Turn 49.
BRAZWELL MK 2 class CL 9 XO Racks 45 Hull TL 3
[3] Sx4Ax4ZH(BbS)(II)(I)(II)(I)(II)WDMgM2WWDWLhWD(I)QMg [6]
45 RCP 5 MCP Trg:3 Cost = 639.5/ 95.9
HTK 33 Sx4 Ax4 Dx3 Wx5 Mgx2
400x SM
Shortly after the keel of the first unit in the Nelson class was laid down it became clear that a grievous error had been made during the design process. The original design for the Nelson class was largely completed in Turn 24, after the development of the Gun/Missile Launcher (W), but before the development of basic point defense. The RCSN was under a lot of political pressure at the time to match Soviet deployments, and the intention was to put the Nelson class into production as soon as possible, so that destroyers could be mass produced once the prototype was launched. Any shortfalls in the design would be corrected at that time. Unrelated events delayed the construction of the Nelson to the point where basic point defense was available, and should have been included in the prototype design, however, unfortunately, at that point there was some confusion in the naval design process and the original Nelson design was rushed into production. The lack of point defense was not realized until the prototype was launched in Turn 37, at which time the Nelson was put back into the yards and refitted to this design.
NELSON R1 class DD 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 2
[3] Sx3AAH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsMgWWDbWDb(I)QsMg [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 365/ 54.8
HTK 22 Sx3 Ax2 Dbx2 Wx3 Mgx2
400x SM
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Turn 41
Soviet Military Space Service Deployments
Mercury: 1xCT
Earth: 4xCL, 7xDD
Jupiter: 1xFG, 3xCT
Saturn: 1xDD, 4xCT (Shared colony site)
Uranus: 1xDD, 1xCT (shared colony site)
Neptune: 2xCT
Reformation Coalition Space Navy Deployments
Earth: 1xDD, 2xFG, 15xCT
Mars: 1xFG, 3xCT, 3xES
Saturn: 1xFG, 4xCT (shared colony site)
Uranus: 2xCT, 1xES (shared colony site)
Day 8, 1200 hours, Saturn
The tensions in the Saturn colonial area had gone down since the battle between Soviet and Coalition forces several months ago. Both sides had reinforced their local squadrons, and both sides had taken care to appoint local commanders who would work well with the other side, to avoid inadvertent issues that might lead to a shooting war.
Major Aleksey Yanovich, commander of the MSS squadron in the Saturn Area of Responsibility, lurched to his feet as the alarm claxon began sounding throughout the mess cabin. He punched his access code into the wall comm, and in seconds was connected to the bridge. “What is happening?”
“Major! Drive field contact at 7.5 light seconds. It is closing and will be within range of our missiles in ninety seconds. This contact is unscheduled, and is not answering IFF.”
“Action stations! Send to all ships, action stations, this is no drill. What is the status of the Coalition squadron?”
“Sir, their drive fields are on standby, shields down, weapons inactive.”
Major Yanovich thought for a second. If this was a surprise attack, instead of an unscheduled freighter or replacement ship, then the Coalition squadron certainly wouldn’t be sitting there with their shields down. He made a snap judgement. “Very well, contact the Coalition squadron and warn them as well. Ask for a line to their commodore, and I’ll speak with her as soon as I’m on the bridge.” He closed the comm line and raced out of the cabin, headed for the bridge. His ship, the Udaloy, was the name unit of the entire DD class, and he was proud of his crew as they raced to action stations with little confusion.
While it was the second largest warship in the Soviet fleet, the Udaloy class DD’s still weren’t all that large, and in a matter of seconds Major Yanovich was on the destroyer’s bridge. He was gratified to see that Commodore Helena Bonaventure, the Coalition squadron commander, was on his combat station’s monitor as he arrived. Before speaking to her, he turned to his second in command. “Status?”
“Sir, all ships show positive response to alert message. Unknown contact now at 6.5 light seconds and closing. Our status is active, all weapons manned and ready for action. The K-011 reports active as well, all other units still inactive at this time.”
“Commodore Bonaventure, what’s your status?”
The Coalition Commodore grimaced. “We are attempting to get our crews to action stations. Currently we have two of our corvettes closed up and ready for action.”
“Very well. I propose meeting whatever this is in a unified manner, together. I am going to dispatch one of my corvettes to stand off and observe, to ensure that word gets back home. With your permission, I will have them report to Coalition Naval Command as well, allowing you to keep your force together.”
A frown flickered across Bonaventure’s face and was quickly replaced by her famous poker face. “Very well, and thank you. Good luck!”
“To you as well.” He closed the channel. “Comm, orders for K-011. They are to move away from the contact and maintain seven light seconds range from the contact. They will observe and follow the contact, and avoid combat at all costs. Then, set up a constant datalink to MSS Command on Earth and update with squadron status reports as much as possible. Once that’s done, broadcast on wide beam, omni-directional, no encoding. Let me know when it’s set up.” The comm tech began working, and he turned to the wall-plot. The unknown contact crossed the five light second demarcation, and the plot automatically updated with new information. The blood drained from his face as the import of the new information sunk into his consciousness. The drive field contact resolved from a single indistinct blob to no less than nine ships, each 33% larger than the light cruisers the USSR had started building so recently. He knew immediately that these ships were not a Coalition force. They couldn’t be. Such a force would completely change the balance of power in the system, in the Coalition’s favor. No such force could have been built in secret, at some hidden base. These were alien ships. And they had snuck up on them, without communicating.
“Open channel established sir.”
“Very well.” He keyed the microphone at his station. “I am Major Yanovich of the Soviet Military Space Service. You are entering a restricted area. Come to a halt and identify yourself.”
“The message has gone out, sir.”
Major Yanovich frowned as the alien ships reached 4.5 light seconds and continued closing. The aliens were now within missile range, although it was still a bit long-ranged for standard missiles. Growing uneasy, Major Yanovich keyed the all-ships comm line. “All ships, begin engine modulations, maximum level, until further notice.” The Soviet ships began using their engines to obfuscate their positions, and a few seconds later the Coalition ships did the same.
The data codes for his squadron showed that all of his ships were at action stations, except the K-006, which was still struggling. The Coalition squadron had set up a link, and it showed that their squadron still had two CT’s that weren’t yet at action stations. The K-011 was moving away smartly, and was now out of range of the alien’s missile weapons, assuming they used missiles that were anything like humanity’s munitions.
The last human ships reported that they had reached action stations just as the alien ships reached 3.25 light seconds range and turned sixty degrees to the right.
The comm tech turned towards Major Yanovich. “Sir, no response to our hails. We are…” The tech broke off as alarms began ringing.
Major Yanovich’s eyes whipped to the wall plot at the front of the bridge and saw that numerous icons representing missiles appeared around the alien ships.
The weapons officer, in a totally calm voice that belied the panic that almost everyone felt, recited the details. “Missile launch detected. Ninety-six missiles inbound, impact in twenty seconds. Performance profile indicates missiles are standard missiles, seventy-two from XO racks and twenty-four internal launches. Exact targets unknown, confirmed to be units in this squadron and the Coalition squadron.”
Major Yanovich gaped for a few seconds, caught by surprise at the unreasoning aggression of this non-human race. Before anyone noticed he recovered. “All units, weapons free. Commence firing. I repeat, commence firing.”
The human response had less than half of the missiles that the alien salvo boasted. The plot reassessed the situation as the alien missiles closed on the human ships. Finally, the missiles were close enough that the ship’s computers were able to discern their actual targets. Yanovich felt staggered as the seriousness of the situation became clear. The aliens were coordinating their fire, allowing squadrons of three ships to focus their fire in such a way that the missiles arrived simultaneously. Neither his ships or the Coalition ships could do that and had to fire individually. If it hadn’t been clear just based on the disparity in the weight of forces, it was now ground home to Major Yanovich that the fight was not going to go well for them. He kept that knowledge off of his face as he saw that the incoming fire was targeted on the two largest human ships, his destroyer and Commodore Bonaventura’s frigate, and an additional Coalition corvette. He hit the internal comm. “All hands brace!”
Sixty of the missiles were targeted on the Udaloy. ‘Only’ twenty-four achieved target lock and raced to close on the lone human destroyer. The Udaloy’s two point-defense mounts went to rapid fire as the avalanche of missiles broke over it, and managed to take out three of the incoming missiles. Major Yanovich was knocked unconscious in his combat station as the destroyer was savagely jerked around by the missile explosions. The Udaloy was left a crippled wreck, drive field down, with only a single weapons mount and point defense emplacement left.
Commodore Bonaventure’s frigate, the Endeavor, was the first human ship to fire. It launched three internal missiles and four from its external racks, all targeted on one alien cruiser. While the frigate’s green crew did well to be the first human ship to fire, their lack of experience showed when only one missile hit the targeted cruiser, doing little against its shields.
Even as the Endeavor’s missiles lashed at the alien cruiser, thirty-six alien missiles closed on the frigate. Only twelve managed to lock onto the desperately evading frigate, but the small ship’s point defense only stopped one, leaving eleven to smash into the Coalition ship. It emerged from the fireball staggered, but with its drive field still up and one missile launcher still spitting death towards its enemies.
Unlike the two larger human ships, the Coalition corvette targeted by the alien cruisers couldn’t stand up to that kind of firepower and was overwhelmed by the missile barrage, becoming the first human ship casualty of the battle. The rest of the two human squadrons targeted the same alien cruiser, but only managed to achieve one more hit, knocking the alien cruiser’s shields down but doing no other discernable damage.
Commodore Bonaventura, having lost contact with her Russian counterpart when his ship was all but destroyed, ordered her squadron to close with the enemy in an attempt to get close enough to them to punch sprint-mode missiles past their point defenses. Her crippled frigate lagged behind, but her three remaining corvettes raced towards the aliens, closing to 1.25 light seconds and pumping out sprint-mode missiles as they closed. The Russian squadron, caught by surprise and temporarily leaderless, lagged behind as the Coalition corvettes raced towards their targets. The alien cruisers maintained their range from the Russian squadron, but allowed the Coalition ships to close.
The valiant Coalition corvette charge was brought to a sudden end when six of the alien cruisers opened fire on the corvettes with multiple energy weapons and short ranged sprint missiles. Some of the energy weapons were identifiable as standard lasers, but others were more exotic. The alien cruisers fired in pairs, with two targeting each of the three incoming Coalition corvettes. The alien cruisers were much larger than the attacking corvettes, and had the advantage of datalink systems coordinating their fire. Only one of the three attacking Coalition corvettes managed to get a sprint-mode missile away, scoring the armor of the same cruiser targeted by the earlier missile salvoes, before all three corvettes were utterly destroyed by the heavy short-range armament of the alien cruisers. The three alien cruisers armed with missile launchers targeted one of Russian corvettes with their twenty-four missiles. Fortunately, when the Coalition corvettes raced away, the Russian corvettes had kept their engine modulation active and this allowed the targeted corvette to throw off most of the missiles headed towards it. Only four managed to hit, eliminating the corvette’s armor but otherwise leaving it undamaged. Unfortunately, none of the human ships were able to get a missile past the alien cruiser’s point defense.
The alien cruisers, perhaps sensing victory, turned towards the remaining human ships and began closing. Major Yanovich had regained consciousness by this point and had seen the end of the Coalition corvette charge, and ordered his three remaining corvettes to disengage. The three Soviet ships all turned to run, but, while they were twice as fast as the alien cruisers, it would take some time to get out of range. Worse, in order to run they had to drop their engine modulations, making them much more vulnerable to missile fire. The alien missile-armed cruisers focused their fire on the same Russian corvette targeted earlier and wiped it from space.
His mission finished and his ability to affect the battle over, Major Yanovich ordered his crew to the life pods. He was still on his way to his pod when the oncoming alien cruisers destroyed his crippled ship with their energy weapons, killing him instantly. Commodore Bonaventura was luckier, as the aliens focused on the Russian ship first, giving her crew a bit of extra time to reach their pods. They were mostly away when the alien cruisers destroyed the Endeavor in a deluge of energy fire.
The two remaining Russian corvettes had reached 4.5 light seconds range by the time the next salvo arrived. They managed to hit one of the alien cruiser’s armor again, but the return fire destroyed one of the two remaining corvettes. The last corvette raced out of the alien ship’s range and joined the other Soviet corvette that had been detached to observe the battle.
With the immediate area under their control and the two remaining corvettes beyond their reach, the alien cruisers began picking up life pods. Shortly thereafter the two Soviet corvettes picked up a new drive field contact headed towards the colonies around Saturn. They warned the colonial leaders on both the Soviet and Coalition colonies, and continued broadcasting back to Earth as the new contacts closed on the colonies. The identity of the new contacts became clear when they split up and landed on the five colonies and began disgorging ground troops and armored vehicles. One by one the corvettes lost contact with the colonies, as the aliens entered the domes and tunnel complexes. The last transmissions made it clear that while the aliens weren’t indiscriminately killing everyone, they would kill anyone who even remotely looked like they were resisting.
Day 8, 1330 hours
Earth
The warnings from Saturn put the entire world on alert. Unlike the last time, though, this time the two powers knew that they were under attack from the outside. The two home fleets went to alert status, but this time they were watching deep space. While the fleets watched, their leaders debated the best course of action.
Fleet Admiral Reese found herself called before the CEO and his cabinet to brief them on the action at Saturn and to advise them on their options moving forward. The cabinet was meeting in the CEO’s war room, which was located in the Coalition’s PDC Atlantic, one of the two most heavily defended complexes on the planet. At one end of the room was a large conference table with the cabinet members arrayed along one side of the table with the CEO at the head, while on the other side of the room a large wall-mounted display screen was currently showing a map of the inner solar system out to Saturn. Saturn itself was marked with a slowly blinking red icon indicating the location of the alien task force. Mercury, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter had icons for the various national squadrons, showing the deployment of the Coalition and Soviet fleets.
Receiving a nod from the CEO, Admiral Reese keyed a command into the display’s controls and it zoomed in on Saturn’s moon system, showing the five colonized moons and the alien cruisers. “Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, a force of alien warships attacked the combined Soviet and Coalition squadrons at Saturn, completely destroying the Coalition squadron. The Soviet squadron also suffered near complete losses, however, by prior agreement the Soviet commander had detached a single corvette to monitor the upcoming battle at long range and report back to Earth. A second Soviet corvette also escaped at the conclusion of the battle, meaning that they have two picket ships capable of monitoring the alien activities.
The alien attack force consisted of nine large ships we are designating as ‘heavy cruisers’. These heavy cruisers are twice the size of a Nelson class destroyer and appear to be armed with a variety of weapons, including standard missile launchers, lasers, and more exotic energy weapons. The alien cruisers are also equipped with a system we only recently started developing, the datalink, and used it very effectively during the battle. The datalink we have under development will allow us to link up to three ships together to time their weapon’s barrages so that they arrive simultaneously at their targets, allowing us to overwhelm their defenses. This is an incredibly important capability now that point defense systems have become ubiquitous, and the aliens demonstrated that ships equipped with datalink can easily overwhelm ships without it. The combined Coalition and Soviet squadrons seem to have done only minor damage to one alien cruiser during the battle, in exchange for near complete destruction.”
“Since the destruction of the combined squadron, the aliens have brought in troops and have conducted combat landings at all of the colonies around Saturn. At this time, we have lost contact with all five colonies and are relying on information sent from the remaining two Soviet corvettes.”
Admiral Reese nodded to one of her staffers, who was sitting at the controls to the wall display. The young lieutenant punched a command into the wall display’s controls and the tactical display of the Saturn moon system disappeared and was replaced by a picture of one of the alien cruisers in one corner, with breakdowns of the known capabilities of the alien cruisers filling the rest of the screen. “Our initial analysis shows that the alien cruisers are powerful combat units. Three of the nine cruisers are armed with eight standard missile launchers each, allowing the data-group of three cruisers to launch salvoes of twenty-four missiles at a time. Interestingly, for all of their size, the alien missile cruisers have shields that are just 67% as strong as the shielding on our Nelson class. All of the combined squadron’s attacks were focused on just one of these cruisers, and we managed to knock its shields down and damage its armor. Because we didn’t penetrate its armor, we have no idea how thick it is. The other six cruisers are armed with a variety of short ranged weapons, including weapons we know and understand like sprint missile launchers and lasers, and weapons we have some theoretical understanding of, like force projectors. Force projectors divert some of the mounting ship’s drive field energy towards their target, in effect battering the target with a beam composed of drive field ‘force’. Our scientists and engineers looked at a weapon like this a while back, but in the end, we decided to stick with lasers as our primary energy weapon, largely because the force projector requires the mounting ship to divert engine power to the projectors to fire, slowing the ship. In addition, four of the alien cruisers mount a weapon we are calling an ‘energy pulse cannon’. This weapon is relatively short ranged, but shows the remarkable capability of bypassing the defending unit’s armor and directly damaging interior systems. In all, taken together, the alien task force is a powerful group at both long and short range, however, our analysts have noticed one potentially important weakness.”
She nodded again at the lieutenant at the controls and the screen shifted to show a picture one of the alien cruisers, presumably taken from one of the colonies before they were overrun. The heavy cruiser was a massive, wedge shaped ship, with eight big engine nacelles to the rear and a blunt, armored prow forward, studded with beam emplacements. An arrow appeared, pointing at the large engine nacelles. “The analysis of the battle shows that the alien cruisers, unlike our warships, are equipped with commercial engines.”
This announcement caused a spate of conversation around the table. After a few seconds the Minister for Industrial Development raised his voice to ask the Admiral a question. “Admiral, why would they do that? Our military, and that of the Russians, doesn’t do that. Why do the aliens?”
“You are correct, Minister, we don’t do that and neither does the Russians. Our freighters use commercial engines because they are more reliable in the long run, whereas the engines the military uses run hot, which gives them a higher tactical speed on the short term, at the cost of a slower speed during strategic movement. We feel that the tradeoff of a slower strategic speed is well worth the increased tactical speed.” She paused and frowned for a few seconds, thinking. “It is possible that whatever method the aliens use to travel between star systems requires them to use commercial engines on their ships. Or that the distance between their population centers is so large that they require a higher strategic speed on their warships for responsiveness across their entire empire. In any case, that may give us a key advantage. Our corvettes are all tactically twice as fast as their cruisers, while our destroyers and frigates are substantially faster than their cruisers and this allows us to effectively chose the range of the engagement. Given the technological disparity between our capabilities, this may be a critical advantage in any upcoming battle.”
This caused another conversation to break out at the table as they all speculated as to the motivations of the aliens. After a few minutes, CEO Campbell motioned everyone to silence. Once the conversations died down, she turned to Admiral Reese. “Admiral, do we have any information on their intentions or possible upcoming actions?”
Admiral Reese nodded again at the lieutenant, and the display changed to show the solar system out to Saturn. The map was overlaid by a greenish circle around Earth that reached almost to Saturn. “The alien cruiser force is currently here,” She pointed at the icon for Saturn, “investing the five Russian and Coalition colonies there. This green circle represents the range of the detection network on Earth, and as you can see it currently reaches almost to Saturn. This means that while we can’t see the alien cruisers at Saturn, we will see them if they move inwards, whether or not the Soviet pickets report their movements. If they move outwards, we will not be able to see that, and will have to rely on the pickets.” She next pointed to an icon on the far-left side of the screen. “This is Uranus, and off-screen far to the bottom is Neptune. In between Saturn and Earth are Jupiter and Mars. The next move by the aliens will be very revealing about their ultimate goals. If they are indeed the same aliens who attacked Triton, then this may be a raid, like the Triton attack, and they may turn away after they finish at the Saturn colonies. If it is a raid they may travel across the system to Uranus and hit the colonies there on their way out, or they may just leave after looting the colonies at Saturn. In either case there is little we will be able to do about that. While our picket ships will be able to follow them, their sensors are short ranged and they will not be able to see any other alien ships out there, and neither would our fleet if we dispatched it to the outer system. If there is another alien fleet out there, our fleet would not be able to see it once it left the 72 light minute bubble around Earth.”
“Excuse me Admiral, but why not? Why don’t we have those sensors?” The Minister for Health and Recovery Services was sending pointed looks towards the Minister for Defense, an old rival for budgets. “Lord knows the Defense Ministry’s budgets have been bloated for years. I can’t imagine a reason the Navy wouldn’t have anything it needed.”
The CEO raised her hand before Admiral Reese or the Minister for Defense could respond. “Now, Constance, surely you read the briefing materials. We are currently working on long-range sensors that recently became available due to technological advances. I assure you; no one is dragging their feet. Admiral, please continue…”
Admiral Reese nodded. “As the CEO says, we are developing sensors that will remedy that situation, but they will not be ready for service for at least a month, possibly longer, and even once they are ready it will take time to get them into service with the fleet. In the meantime, we have to go with what we have. If the aliens are intent on more than a raid, though, they will move inward next, and if they do the situation will be different. We will be able to see them every step of the way, both here on Earth and through the Russian pickets. And we will be able to intercept them, because they will be headed inwards, towards us, rather than away. We believe that if they move inwards, they will hit Jupiter first and then Mars. We do not believe that they will attack Earth at this time, at least not with the force that they have at Saturn alone.”
The assembled Ministers looked at each other, and then the Minister for Defense nodded at the Admiral. “Fleet Admiral Reese, can you give us your opinion of the relative strengths of our fleet versus the aliens, and the reasoning behind your assessment that they won’t attack us here?” He already knew, of course, as they had had extensive conversations on this subject just this morning. He wanted the rest of them to know, though, before they started debating on a future course of action.
She nodded. “Yes, sir. As things currently stand, even if we withdraw the Martian squadron and combined it with the Home Fleet, we would still be at a significant disadvantage facing the alien cruisers. The alien cruisers out-mass our fleet by 12.5%. When combined with their technological advantage, it means our fleet will be fighting at a serious disadvantage and will likely lose any direct battle. Their advantage at missile combat means that our fleet would have to close to beam range, and while our ships are fast enough to do so, the aliens hold a significant advantage at close range as well. If, on the other hand, we fight here, under the guns of our PDC’s, then the situation is entirely different. Here we could hold the advantage in long range combat as our PDC’s can throw missile volleys that can overwhelm their defenses. We would be virtually certain to win an engagement here.”
“But Admiral, you are talking about our fleet alone. Surely the Russians would fight with us! After all, the aliens have attacked them as well.” The Minister for Health and Recovery Services looked around at the other Ministers for support.
“You are correct, if we fight with the Russians the calculus would change. The Russian fleet out-masses the aliens by approximately 33%, and while that advantage alone wouldn’t be enough to ensure their victory, if we combined our fleets then the combined fleets would have about twice the mass of the alien cruisers. That wouldn’t ensure victory, but it would give us a much better chance at victory and, even if we didn’t achieve a complete victory, it would certainly result in inflicting significant damage on the alien task force. However, if we are going to fight with the Russians, it will require a diplomatic effort to obtain their cooperation, and we will almost certainly have to agree to fight with them at Jupiter. Jupiter is their primary colonial effort in the Solar System, and they will want to defend their investments, just as we would want to defend Mars. In any case, I don’t see where we have much choice. Fighting at Jupiter with the Russians is infinitely preferable to giving up the rest of the Solar System to the aliens.”
The briefing over, Admiral Reese left to allow the Ministers to debate their next actions. It didn’t take them long, there really was little choice other than fighting with the Russians if the aliens should advance into the inner system. The CEO called the Soviet Chairman that afternoon. The Chairman was in a receptive mood. He had recently been through a similar debate within the Politburo, and a clear consensus to cooperate with the Coalition had been hammered out. A few holdouts wanted to abandon the rest of the solar system to give themselves time to get new technology under development time to get out to the fleet allowing them to counterattack on their own once the fleet was upgraded, but that would require months. Cooperating with the Coalition could be done now, and if they fought together, then presumably a significant portion of any losses would fall upon the Coalition, instead of solely on Soviet forces.
Given that both sides had already decided to cooperate, the call between the Chairman and the CEO went well, and they agreed to form an alliance against the alien threat. The alliance would be temporary for now, but once the immediate threat was dealt with, they would look at formalizing the arrangement, so that they could focus their efforts against the real threat.
Over the next day a rough agreement was decided upon. Polhovnik General Lebedev, the commander of their home fleet, was placed in overall command of the combined fleets, with Coalition Rear Admiral Jonas Ruston as the second in command. The decision had been made to move the fleets to Jupiter, where they would meet the aliens if they advanced inward towards Jupiter and the inner system. From Jupiter they could move to cover any target in the inner system, and the alien’s slower speed meant that if they attempted to slip by them, they would be unlikely to succeed.
Day 11
Jupiter AOR
The Combined Fleet was assembled, waiting for the aliens to make a move. It was a proud moment in humanity’s history. The Combined Fleet boasted no less than sixteen Soviet ships and twenty-five Coalition ships, a truly massive force to face a mere nine alien ships. There was little doubt that the aliens could see them, as they were well within long-range sensor range of Saturn, and the alien force was surely equipped with long-range sensors. This had led to much debate throughout the Combined Fleet as to whether or not the aliens would accept battle or run away. The consensus of the common crewers throughout the Combined Fleet was that the aliens would surely run away from such a powerful assemblage of ships. While there was some pressure from both governments to advance on Saturn and force the aliens to battle, for now the consensus that they should not advance beyond sensor coverage from Earth was holding.
Day 15
Saturn AOR
With no fanfare the alien transports lifted off from the five colonies and moved to join their cruisers. Once the two groups had joined, they set out for Jupiter and the combined human fleets. For six hours the alien cruisers headed towards Jupiter, and tensions on the fleet rose seeing those implacable alien ships approach. Then, with the alien ships just twenty-four light minutes away, they came to a halt. The alien cruisers sat there for two hours, and then suddenly turned away, headed out-system towards Uranus, leaving Admiral Ruston and Polhovnik General Lebedev confused. They quickly debated pursuing the alien ships, but then referred the question to their headquarters on Earth. In the meantime, they dispatched two corvettes to Saturn to determine the state the colonies there.
Day 16
Saturn AOR
The Coalition corvette Crossfield settled into position over the Tethys colony as the Russian K-001 did the same over the Soviet Rhea colony. All of the ship’s limited sensors were trained on the colony below, and what they could see was hopeful. “Sir, it looks like the domes and mine-heads are intact.”
Commander Trask nodded. “It looks good. Comms, continue trying to contact someone down there.”
Lieutenant Peterson looked up from her console. “Sir, I think I’ve got something. Very low power, I’m trying to synch up…got it!” She punched in a command and the small monitor on the front bulkhead lit up.
“Hello, can you hear me?” The man on the monitor was disheveled and had a bandage over his right eye, but appeared relatively calm for all of that.
Commander Trask leaned forward in his seat. “We’ve got you Tethys colony. I am Commander Trask on board the Coalition ship Crossfield. What is your status?”
The man on the viewer sagged in relief. “Oh thank god! Are those monsters gone?”
“They are headed out-system. I repeat, what is your status?”
The man looked behind him and said, “You hear that, they’re gone!” A cheer rose up behind him as he turned back to the pickup. “We need some help down here, but for now things are stable. We have atmospheric integrity, and the bastards didn’t touch life support. That’s the only thing they didn’t touch, though! They looted us good! They took everything that wasn’t nailed down, and some of the stuff that was. It’s going to be a while before we are back in operation, I’ll tell you that.”
“Do you have casualties? We can send some supplies down.”
The man’s face grew grave. “We do, and we’d welcome anything you can send down. The manager out at the mines, Graves, when he realized what the looters were up to, he organized his men to fight them. The aliens went through them like they were nothing and killed most of them. Graves was killed in the first battle, and after that it degenerated into our people running and the Lizzies hunting them down one by one. Funny thing, though. Once those miners got their act together, they retreated to the mines for a final stand. They were ready to die out there, but the Lizzies saw that they had stopped running and sent out someone to negotiate with them. Said they respected the miners for the fight they put up. When the miners put down their weapons, they let them come back to the main dome like nothing happened. No reprisals, no punishments, they just went on with looting the colony.”
Commander Trask frowned. “The Lizzies?”
“That’s what we took to calling them. At first, we only saw them in their armored suits, but after a bit, after the fighting died down, a lot of them came down that weren’t armored. They look a lot like short brown, leathery crocodiles, standing upright. I’ll send you some images when we get things a little bit more together down here. Something odd, though. They knew English, at least good enough to get the idea of what they wanted across. They couldn’t speak it themselves, but they all had something around their necks that translated for them. It was very broken and hard to understand, but generally we got the gist of what they wanted.”
“What did they want? Did they tell you?”
“Oh yes, they told us. They wanted our stuff. They took anything and everything they could load into their transports. And they killed anyone that got in their way.” The man paused in thought. “They weren’t indiscriminate, though, if you know what I mean. Anyone that fought, or who tried to slow them down, they shot out of hand. No trial, no hesitation. They told us they expected obedience, and boy did they! Once we figured it out, and once Graves and his boys went down, we did all right.” The man paused, thinking hard. “It wasn’t like they were looking for trouble, you know? They just wanted us to do what they wanted us to do, and if we got on with it everything was fine.”
“Very well. We’ll send down what supplies we can, but we’ve got to check on the other colonies as well. As soon as we can, we’ll get some supplies sent out from Earth.”
After checking in with the colonies on Dione and Titan, Commander Trask spoke with his counterpart on board the K-001, who had a similar tale to tell. It seems that the aliens had looted all five colonies, taking everything they could before clearing out. They could have killed everyone, but had refrained from indiscriminate killing, and at the Soviet colony on Iapetus no one had been killed as the colonists had cooperated with the aliens in turning over what they wanted.
The two corvette commanders sent their reports out, and when they reached Earth they pretty much settled the debate still raging around the question of allowing the combined fleets to pursue the alien cruisers. Sending the fleet beyond the sensor bubble around Earth was a huge risk, and could only be justified if the aliens were massacring humans indiscriminately. As this appeared to be a raid only, the leaders of Russia and the Coalition saw no sense in risking their fleets. The combined fleets were ordered to hold at Jupiter and stand ready to intercept the alien squadron if it turned inwards towards Earth, Mars, or Jupiter. Orders were also sent to the Soviet and Coalition squadrons at Uranus. The two nations had a total of four corvettes and a single escort there to guard the four colonies located there. The two squadrons were ordered to avoid combat and to join the two Russian corvettes shadowing the alien force. Orders were also sent to the colonies on Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. The colonists there were to secure from operations and move their people to the deep shelters. They were ordered to cooperate with the aliens and avoid provoking them.
Day 18
Uranus AOR
The aliens arrive as expected, and met no resistance. The two defending squadrons had already moved away, avoiding coming near the approaching cruisers, and just as they had at Saturn the alien cruisers moved to cover the colonies as their transports landed and began disgorging troops.
Day 25
Uranus AOR
Like clockwork, the alien transports lifted off from the human colonies and joined their cruisers. Once assembled the alien squadron began moving out-system. The Coalition escort was detached from the squadrons following the aliens to cover the colonies, leaving six corvettes to follow the alien ships. The human warships, four Soviet and two Coalition, had arranged themselves into three groups of two, positioned around the alien ships, and paced them as they moved out-system. The importance of their mission had been impressed upon the commanders and crews of these corvettes. They had to know how the aliens were moving between systems, and if the corvettes could get a look at the aliens as they left the solar system it would give their scientists somewhere to start. By now the aliens had become known throughout the Solar System as the Raiders. No one knew what they called themselves.
Turn 42, Day 1
The alien force was moving steadily through empty space, headed outwards towards nothing that the human crews on the shadowing corvettes could see. They were now 252 light minutes from the Sun, and tensions on the corvettes had been mounting steadily. Their sensors could only see about 7.5 light seconds out from their ships, leaving a lot of empty space where other alien ships could be hiding.
The six human corvettes were shadowing the alien cruisers, running at six light seconds distance from the alien ships, split into three groups of two corvettes. One group was directly astern of the alien ship, while the other two were ahead of the alien ships, offset to each side.
In spite of the tension, the mission had largely been boring for the crews as they ran through empty space, far from the sun and human colonies, and getting farther away every minute. Suddenly, at 0821 hours, all hell broke loose. Missiles appeared from three separate locations in empty space, 5.25 light seconds away from each pair of corvettes. Each missile salvo was composed of five very large missiles racing towards one of the two corvettes in each group. After such a long and uneventful voyage into the outer system, the human corvettes were caught completely by surprise by the attack. The big missiles proved very difficult for their basic point defense suites to stop, and the corvette’s crews were staggered by explosions as they raced to their stations. The missile salvoes targeted one corvette in each of the three groups, causing armor damage to the two Soviet corvettes targeted, but the Coalition corvette targeted suffered serious internal damage and was slowed.
All three corvette groups immediately turned away from whatever was targeting them, and as they ran a single alien cruiser appeared behind them as the alien ship’s drive-fields came up. The human corvettes had only managed to open the range to 5.5 light seconds when the next salvo from the alien cruisers arrived. The big missiles were targeted on the same corvettes, and all three were crippled.
The three remaining intact corvettes continued to run, with the next salvo arriving when they reached six light seconds range from the cruisers. All three intact corvettes suffered some damage, but none lost any engines and continued running. The three crippled corvettes, now within range of their own weapons, opened fire at the oncoming cruisers, but none were able to hit the alien ships.
The three fleeing human corvettes had picked up speed and were almost at maximum speed now, and had opened the range to 6.75 light seconds when the next salvo came. The remaining Coalition corvette lost one engine and was slowed, and one of the remaining Soviet corvettes lost the remainder of its armor but was otherwise undamaged, but the third running corvette wasn’t as lucky and it suffered enough damage to take out its engines, leaving it drifting in space.
The last relatively undamaged Soviet corvette moved to 8.75 light seconds range from its pursuer and lost sight of the alien ships on its short-ranged scanners. The alien cruiser behind it turned its weapons on the fleeing corvette’s crippled companion, wiping it from space. The alien cruiser facing the second Soviet squadron, both of which were crippled, turned its fire first on one then the other corvette, completely destroying both. Meanwhile, the alien cruiser facing the Coalition squadron had one last shot at the fleeing Coalition corvette, which was 7.25 light seconds away and struggling to get out of range. It threw five big missiles at the fleeing corvette, destroying two of its engines and ensuring that it wouldn’t be able to escape. It then destroyed the two Coalition corvettes in turn. In three minutes, humanity lost five corvettes and lost sight of the alien squadron. The last Soviet corvette, damaged, turned towards home.
The incursion was over, at least for now. Humanity raced to get new technology into service, and to understand how the aliens were doing what they were doing, if not why. The limited information sent home by the last remaining corvette of the picket force made it clear that humanity had an additional problem. The ambush of the picket force started with missiles being launched at the human corvettes from beyond known missile ranges. Worse, the missiles the aliens used were larger than human missiles, had a better performance profile, and had a warhead that was twice as destructive as human missiles. Finally, only the fact that these new missiles out ranged human missiles were known. Their true range profile was unknown, including their maximum range.
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Turn 42
Both the Coalition and the USSR have completed development of long-range sensors, and both rush new scout designs into production. Both nations decide to utilize a stripped-down explorer class unit as their scout class for now.
The Coalition launches five new destroyers.
Investigations of the alien activities on the outer colonies shows a common strategy. In all cases the aliens landed troops, seized control of the critical areas of the colony, and then looted everything they could. The development of all of the colonies was set back, but none were wantonly destroyed like the Soviet Triton colony. Estimates of the value of the equipment and goods carried off are between 200 and 300 megacredits, which wouldn’t likely pay for even one of the cruisers used in the raid.
In the face of the alien threat, the USSR and the Coalition agree to form the Alliance, which will allow them to coordinate military actions and even opens trade between the two super powers. Until long-range scanner-equipped scouts become available, the combined fleet is pulled back to Earth.
Turn 43
The Coalition completes development of point defense and datalink systems. All current designs are upgraded to include the new systems, and a broad range of refits are scheduled, along with the construction of numerous small scouts equipped with long-range sensors. The Reformation Coalition Space Navy (RCSN) develops a new fleet concept, labeled “The New Fleet-43”, based on previous engagements with the Raiders. There really was no previous overall fleet concept, something that had become a sore point for the RCSN leadership, as for most of its history the RCSN’s overriding goal was to simply deploy enough hulls equipped with missile launchers to match or exceed the Soviet Fleet. The hulls had to be equipped with missile launchers, because, at least at the beginning, the true function of the fleet was to threaten the Soviet homeland with bombardment, and only missiles could accomplish this goal. The engagements with the aliens have shown this to be an outdated concept, and so the RCSN command has adjusted with the new plan for fleet construction and design. Under the new plan, smaller corvettes and smaller units will be equipped with lasers, and are intended to counter the alien’s beam-armed cruisers. Units larger than corvettes will continue to be armed with missile weaponry.
Soviet research is lagging behind, possibly because they have invested in developing so many systems.
Until enough scouts are available, all colonial defense squadrons have been reduced to a single corvette by both nations, with the two main fleets gathered at Earth, both for safety in numbers, and so that the ships can easily be refitted to the new designs. This is possible because of the reduction in tensions between the two powers, and because the leaders of both nations have realized that any ships that they deploy beyond Earth’s sensor bubble are sitting ducks until long-range sensor equipped scouts become available.
Turn 44
Coalition scientists develop the theory of “Warp points” and warp travel. While they are unable to say with any certainty that the alien raiders are using ‘warp points’ to travel between systems, they are able to show mathematically that their theory should allow interstellar travel, and as their theoretical warp points would likely be located in the outer system, this would account for the Raiders, as they’ve become known, retreating to a location in the outer system which is not known to contain any objects of interest.
This discovery creates a political firestorm in the upper reaches of the Coalition government. Under the terms of the new Alliance the Russian and Coalition governments are obligated to reveal any information which directly relates to the security of Alliance nations, or to the Raiders. The Warp Point Theory obviously falls under this heading, but the Coalition will be at a disadvantage if this information is released too early. In the race to match the Soviet Navy in space, the Coalition Navy refitted all of its survey corvettes to a design more fitted for combat once the resource exploitation survey of the Solar System was complete. The USSR, on the other hand, merely mothballed its explorer class units. This means that the Coalition will have to build a new survey fleet at a time that the yards are full of warships being refitted with the latest technology to counter the Raiders. This would allow the Russians to reactivate their explorers and get a jump on the Coalition. The debate will continue throughout the month.
To prepare for a new survey effort, the Coalition begins R&D on improved survey instruments.
On a bright note, the Alliance now has no less than seventeen scout class ships equipped with long-range sensors available for deployment. This will allow the Alliance to cover all established colonies, the area where the Raiders attacked their shadowing corvettes and disappeared, and much of the approaches to the inner system. The new Alliance High Command establishes the following picket groups:
Picket Group Saturn
Picket Group Uranus
Picket Group Neptune
Picket Groups 1-9
The colonial picket groups will consist of an EX(S) and three corvettes, while the numbered picket groups will consist of a solitary EX(S). The numbered picket groups are stationed around the inner system, extending the detection bubble around Earth and the inner colonies out to approximately 192 light minutes from the Sun. In addition, Picket Groups 7, 8, and 9 will be stationed around the area where the alien Raiders disappeared in Month 42 to detect any reappearance. The remainder of the ships in the Russian and Coalition fleets will remained grouped together at Earth, ready to respond to any incursion.
With the sensor bubble now covering all colonial sites, the USSR takes this opportunity to reestablish its colony at Triton.
Turn 45
Both the USSR and the Coalition have begun massive refit programs to upgrade their fleets with the latest technology. The USSR has three light cruisers, three destroyers, a frigate and a corvette in the yards for refit, while the Coalition yards are refitting three destroyers, two frigates, two corvettes, and an escort. In addition, the Russians have laid down a new corvette, to begin replacing their heavy corvette losses, and the Coalition is building a prototype light cruiser hull that is scheduled to be launched in turn 49.
The debate over the warp point theory is ongoing amongst the leaders of the Coalition government. It comes to an abrupt end when the Navy points out that the new explorer class survey units that will be constructed at the ground-based shipyards will be very visible to the USSR, and will inevitably provoke questions that cannot be answered without threatening the new Alliance. Therefore, on Day 1 of the month, the Coalition CEO meets with the Premier of the Soviet Union and discloses the new discovery. The Premier is outraged that the Coalition hid this discovery for several weeks, but is somewhat chastened when the Coalition CEO points out that the USSR didn’t reveal information relating to its recent expanded R&D program. Coalition Intelligence became interested in the USSR’s R&D program when it became clear that they were developing systems that the Coalition had bypassed. In part, Coalition Intel discovered that the USSR had developed something they were calling IDEW(L), or Independently Deployed Energy Weapons (Laser). These bomb-pumped lasers are essentially area denial weapons, and can be place to prevent a fleet from moving into an area of concern. In the pre-Alliance political and military environment, the only possible use for these weapons would be around Earth to deny access to the opposing side. If the USSR managed to place these weapons around Earth, they would effectively have blockaded the Coalition, cutting it off from its colonies. While this is not a direct treaty violation, the Coalition CEO all but accuses the Premier of violating the intent of both the original treaty between the Coalition and the USSR, and the Alliance. The discussion is intense, and fraught with danger, but neither leader wants to withdraw from the Alliance in the face of continued Raider threats. Therefore, the Premier discloses the broad details of the “Orbital Defense Network”, which they claim was aimed at defending Earth orbit but was almost certainly aimed at the Coalition, while the CEO of the Coalition agrees to open the Coalition’s warp point research efforts to the USSR.
As a result of this discussion, the Coalition lays down its first Explorer class unit in the orbital yards, while the USSR makes plans to begin reactivating its explorer class units next month. Both nations agree to share research information on warp points, and to pool survey information. The massive refit programs are going to make it difficult for both nations to get a significant number of surveyors into space anytime soon, though.
Turn 46
Both nations continue their refit program, but scale back slightly to build new explorer class units, or in the case of the USSR, reactivate explorers.
Turn 47
The Coalition now has six explorers, and the USSR has three reactivated. The two nations send their explorers out to begin surveying the Solar System to test the scientist’s theories.
Turn 48
The Coalition develops Improved Science Instruments, but as the ten explorers of the survey fleet are busy surveying the Solar System, any refits will have to wait.
Turn 49
The survey effort in the Solar System continues, as does the refit program for both nation’s ships.
The Coalition launches their first light cruiser. It will return to the yards next month to be refitted with the latest technology.
Turn 50
Refits continue, as does the warp point survey of the solar system.
Turn 51
The last Coalition ships to be refitted enter the yards. Currently, one light cruiser, three corvettes, and an escort are in the yards for refit. The light cruiser will be in the yards for another two months, while the other ships will launch at the start of next month. It appears as if the Soviets will finish up their refit program at the end of this month.
The Alliance commanders have recommended that the two nations focus on enlarging and upgrading their explorer fleets once the battle fleets have been refitted.
Turn 52
The Soviet Union and the Coalition complete their survey efforts late in the month. Initial analysis of the survey results shows that the Solar System has exactly one warp point, located two hundred and fifty-two light minutes from the Sun, approximately ten light minutes from the area where the alien Raiders disappeared after attacking the shadowing corvettes.
Both nations recall their survey ships to be refitted with the latest survey instruments next month, and preparations are made to dispatch a task force to the newly discovered warp point.
Turn 53
The Soviets’ research into improved science instruments is lagging, so instead of upgrading their survey fleet they begin building additional surveyors. In addition, enough yard capacity is devoted to constructing a new shipyard to finish the orbital structure by the end of the month. The Coalition is also building a new shipyard, albeit slower than the Russians, and is converting all of its survey units to the latest technology.
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RCSN Ship Designs, Turn 53
The Brazwell Mk 2 adds datalink and upgrades the point defense emplacements of the light cruiser. The first unit of the class, the Brazwell, was upgraded to this design on Turn 53. The Coalition’s planned building program for this class was put on hold due to events throughout the Solar System, and the need to upgrade the fleet to the latest technology. Naval command intends to increase the numbers of these units in the near future.
BRAZWELL MK 2 class CL 9 XO Racks 45 Hull TL 3
[3] Sx4Ax4ZH(BbS)(II)(I)(II)(I)(II)WDMgM2WWDWLhWD(I)QMg [6]
45 RCP 5 MCP Trg:3 Cost = 639.5/ 95.9
HTK 33 Sx4 Ax4 Dx3 Wx5 Mgx2
400x SM
The Mark 2 refit for the Nelson class added datalink as well as standard point defense emplacements.
NELSON MK 2 class DD 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 3
[3] Sx3AAZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsMgWWDWD(I)QsMg [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 425/ 63.8
HTK 23 Sx3 Ax2 Dx2 Wx3 Mgx2
400x SM
As part of the “New Fleet-43” concept, the Discovery class had its missile weaponry removed and replaced by a laser. This class is intended to protect the battle line from attacks by alien beam-armed cruisers, or to close on the alien ships and engage at close range. The first unit was refitted to this design on Turn 47.
DISCOVERY MK 4 class CT 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 3
[2] SAx3ZH(I)(I)(I)DQs(I)L [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 210/ 31.5
HTK 13 Sx1 Ax3 Dx1 Lx1
The Mark 2 refit for the Outreach changed the weaponry to lasers under the “New Fleet-43” concept, and added long-range scanner so that the unit could act as an armed scout.
OUTREACH MK 2 class FG 4 XO Racks 22 Hull TL 3
[2] SSAZH(I)(I)(I)(I)XrLD(I)QsL [7]
22 RCP 3 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 329/ 49.4
HTK 15 Sx2 Ax1 Dx1 Lx2
The four units of the Napoleon class were upgraded to this design over several months, starting in Turn 45.
NAPOLEON MK 2 class ES (AC) 2 XO Racks 12 Hull TL 3
[2] SAAZH(I)(I)L(I)Qs [8]
12 RCP 13 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 156.4/ 23.5
HTK 10 Sx1 Ax2 Lx1
This class was rushed into service as soon as the RCSN had developed long-range scanners, in Turn 43. The deployment of these units throughout the Solar System has eased concerns of alien fleets cruising just beyond detection range, and allowed the two national fleets to concentrate their strength and develop a coherent plan to respond to alien aggression.
EX(S) class EX 1 XO Racks 6 Hull TL 3
[2] H(I)Xr(I)Qs [8]
6 RCP 19 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 95/ 14.3
HTK 5
This is the new explorer class for the RCSN, designed and built to survey the Solar System for warp points. The first unit of this class was launched on Turn 46.
EX class EX (AC) 7 Hull TL 1
[2] SH(BbS)X(I)(I)Qs [8]
7 RCP 18 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 107.7/ 16.2
HTK 7 Sx1
This upgraded design includes improved science instruments.
EX MK 2 class EX 7 Hull TL 3
[2] H(BbS)Xi(I)(I)Qs [8]
7 RCP 18 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 153/ 23
HTK 6
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Soviet Military Space Service Designs, Turn 53
The r1 refit adds point defense and datalink.
KRESTA R1 class CL 9 XO Racks 45 Hull TL 3
[3] Sx6Ax6ZH(BbS)(II)(I)(II)(I)(II)QMgWWDWDWDLh(I)Mg [6]
45 RCP 5 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 606.5/ 91
HTK 35 Sx6 Ax6 Dx3 Wx4 Mgx2
400x SM
Unlike the Coalition, the USSR decided to change the weaponry of its destroyers to lasers, as its frigates and corvettes had been decimated over the course of the battles with the Raiders. The r2 refit replaces the missile launchers with two lasers, and upgrades the point defense to standard mounts, as well as adding datalink.
UDALOY R2 class DD 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 3
[3] SSAx6ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsDL(I)QsDL [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 409/ 61.4
HTK 23 Sx2 Ax6 Dx2 Lx2
The r1 upgrade for the Kirov added point defense, datalink, point defense, and long-range scanners. The internal space for these upgrades came at the cost of the original design’s extremely heavy shields and armor.
KIROV R1 class FG 4 XO Racks 20 Hull TL 3
[2] SSAx3ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)XrD(I)QsL [7]
20 RCP 5 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 297/ 44.6
HTK 16 Sx2 Ax3 Dx1 Lx1
The r2 refit adds standard point defense and datalink, and changes the corvette’s weaponry to a laser.
KRIVAK R2 class CT (AC) 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 3
[2] Ax4ZH(I)(I)(I)DQs(I)L [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 212/ 31.8
HTK 13 Ax4 Dx1 Lx1
Designed in conjunction with the Alliance, this unit is intended to be the eyes of Alliance fleets in the future. The first unit of this class was launched in Turn 43.
EXS class EX 1 XO Racks 6 Hull TL 3
[2] HXr(I)(I)Qs [8]
6 RCP 19 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 95/ 14.3
HTK 5
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Turn 53, Day 1
Solar System
After much wrangling, the Alliance dispatches a grand total of thirty-six ships to the warp point. The task group includes all six Russian light cruisers and twelve destroyers, along with six ships equipped with long-range scanners. The Coalition’s leadership had been in favor of sending a small force to probe the area around the jump point while leaving the main fleets in reserve, but the Soviet Union had been adamant about sending a force large enough to deal with whatever the Raiders might have at the warp point. In the end the Soviet Union won the day, mostly by being obstinate.
Turn 53, Day 7
Solar System, New Warp Point
The Alliance squadron was arrayed around the warp point, with the missile armed-destroyers and light cruisers hovering three light seconds away from the newly discovered warp point, while the laser armed destroyers and corvettes patrolled just a light second from the anomalous point in space. All of the warships were at action stations, closed up and ready for battle. Two survey ships equipped with science instruments, one from each nation, were positioned a light second from the warp point to catch every detail as the probe ship jumped out.
Polhovnik General Lebedev nodded at his chief of staff. “Tell them to make transit, Yuri.” The order flashed away from the light cruiser Kresta, the flagship of the Alliance squadron, to the Kirov, a Russian frigate equipped with long range scanners and standing just off of the warp point. In response, the Kirov began slowly moving towards the point in space that the scientists claimed was a doorway to another system. Everyone on the auxiliary command deck of the Kresta, which had been fitted out for the fleet commander’s use, leaned forward to watch the plot as the frigate nosed into the area marked as the critical spot where the transit would take place. Sure enough, the Kirov moved into the correct area and immediately popped out of existence.
“Bozhe moi! It worked!” General Lebedev shook his head in disbelief. “I did not truly believe that such a thing existed.” In the upper left corner of the wall mounted monitor a clock had started running, showing the time since the Kirov had departed. Everyone in the auxiliary command deck watched silently as the clock counted steadily upwards. As the seconds stretched into minutes, the tension began rising. According to the scientists, the transit itself was supposed to take an infinitesimal amount of time. Therefore, the Kirov should be returning at or around the two-minute mark, which would give it enough time on the far side to get oriented and probe the surrounding area, and then return.
When the clock raced past two minutes and nothing happened, the tension aboard the Alliance ships really began soaring. Finally, as the clock reached five minutes, General Lebedev shook his head and punched up the comm link between his command ship and Rear Admiral Ruston aboard the Coalition’s flagship. The screen at General Lebedev’s station flickered and cleared to show Admiral Ruston in his somewhat more cramped command deck on the destroyer Nelson. “Admiral, I fear that the Kirov will not return.”
Admiral Ruston grimaced. “I concur. We will continue to watch, of course, but…”
General Lebedev nodded. “But it is almost certain that something happened to them.” General Lebedev looed at the Coalition Admiral intently. “We discussed this possibility on the voyage out here, but now that we are in this position, what are your thoughts?” Lebedev was curious. The Soviet scientists that briefed him and his staff prior to departure swore that this would work, but had mentioned that there were several unlikely possibilities which could endanger ships making a transit. He was curious what the Coalition’s scientists had told the Admiral. In his experience, the Coalition’s scientists tended to be a bit more…free-thinking than their Soviet counterparts.
Admiral Ruston took a second to order his thoughts. “According to our scientists, there were four possibilities if the probe ship failed to return. They all agreed that the number one most likely possibility was that the Raiders, or someone else, was waiting on the far side of the warp point and destroyed our ship as it came through. The second most likely possibility was that the warp point led to a system with either a black hole or other extreme environment that destroyed our ship the second it exited the warp point. They all agreed that this was very unlikely given the rarity of such phenomena. The third possibility is that the far side of the warp point is located in a dense cluster of asteroids, and that our probe ship exited the warp point and immediately collided with an asteroid or other rock.”
General Lebedev gaped. “But...I thought such a thing was against all of the theories of how these damned things work?”
Admiral Ruston shook his head. “I don’t pretend to understand it, but apparently the theory holds that there are several different types of warp points, and while most have gravitic currents and eddies that automatically clear the area around the warp point of all debris, there are several even more hypothetical warp points that have no such currents. They aren’t even sure such warp points exist, but if they do, and if they are located in close proximity to a dense cluster of rocks, then any transiting ship without heavy shields and armor is in trouble.”
General Lebedev’s eyes narrowed. “Surely even if that is possible it is extremely unlikely.”
Admiral Ruston grinned. “I sent the scientists into a tail-spin when I pressed them about just how likely this is. What they finally decided on was that there is actually no way to quantify the possibility as they don’t even know if “closed” warp points even exist. And even if they do, it is extremely unlikely that one would just happen to be situated in close proximity to a bunch of rocks. Furthermore, it is almost certainly not what is happening here.”
General Lebedev looked interested. “Why is that?”
“Well, for this to be what destroyed our probe ship, the far side of the jump point would have to be one of these closed warp points. If it is closed, if such things exist, then how did the Raiders find it? The scientists all swear up and down that there is no way to find these things except to go through a detectable warp point and exit through the undetectable side, thus pinpointing its location. If the Raiders are using this warp point to enter our system, then the other side has to be an open warp point, by definition.”
General Lebedev nodded. “And the fourth option?” He was fairly sure he knew what the Admiral was going to say, but it didn’t hurt to make sure.
Admiral Ruston nodded. “The scientists thought this was the most unlikely possibility. Basically, it is possible that their theories are wrong and the warp point isn’t actually a warp point, or it doesn’t actually work like we think it does. This would mean that everything about their theory was wrong and would need to be reworked, though.”
General Lebedev grimaced again. “And how long did your scientists want to rework their theory if this eventuality occurred?”
Admiral Ruston frowned. “Six months.”
General Lebedev barked out a laugh. “Ha! Ours wanted a year, perhaps two. I told them they would have a month. Our leaders agreed with this.”
“My leaders were not so…decisive.”
General Lebedev shook his head. “No, I agree with the scientists for a change. In a way. This last option cannot be the answer. Their theory predicted that our gravitic survey of the Solar System would find at least one warp point, and our survey ships found exactly what they predicted. Even better, this new warp point is within ten light minutes of the area where the Raiders were last seen. This cannot be a coincidence. They are sitting on the far side of the warp point, and they destroyed the Kirov.”
Admiral Ruston sat quietly for a few seconds, and then nodded. “Agreed. But you know our orders. We are to send a message back to command informing them of the fate of the Kirov. They will consult with our political leaders and come to a decision about our next course of action.”
General Lebedev looked intensely unhappy. “Yes. I…do not wish to wait. Every instinct within me urges an immediate attack, before the enemy can reinforce. But we have our orders.”
Admiral Ruston shook his head. “Actually, waiting may be for the best. Right now, whatever is on the far side of this warp point is on alert. They have to obey the same rules as we do. They can’t stay at alert status forever. If we wait and attack at a time of our choosing, then we will catch them by surprise.”
Lebedev grunted. “This is true. Very well, I will put together a report for your review. After my staff has made any changes you suggest we will send the report to HQ. And then we will see.”
Admiral Ruston nodded and General Lebedev broke the connection and gestured for his chief of staff to begin working on the report. Much to his surprise he liked the Coalition Admiral. He had been prepared to dislike a man who had so recently been an enemy, but Ruston was a competent leader and a truly helpful subordinate. And, in spite of their nation’s history, he had found that his hatred of the alien Raiders far outweighed his distrust and fear of other humans. He had had enough experience with the Coalition to know that they didn’t want to destroy the world, and that they would only do so if backed into a corner, much like his own leadership. The aliens, on the other hand, were a true threat to the USSR and to all humans. He would work with the devil to fight the aliens, and Admiral Ruston was very much not the devil.
The message went out fifteen minutes later. It would take over four hours to wing its way to Earth, and as long for a reply to return, assuming HQ replied immediately. They did not. An acknowledgement of their receipt of the message arrived eight and a half hours later, but no decision was made that day, or for several days after. In the meantime, the Alliance squadron continued to patrol the warp point, ready for what might appear.
************ Author’s Note************
When I was setting up the above story, I vaguely remembered something about a possibility that closed warp points might be located in a cluster of rocks, because they didn’t automatically ‘sweep’ the area around them, thus becoming a potential danger to anything that transited through them. As I was writing the above story, I decided I should try to find the actual rules so that I would be accurate in laying out the alternatives. I searched, and searched, and searched. And searched. Nothing, nothing, nothing, but for all of that my memory was persistent. After more searching, I decided to think it through. Finally, I realized that my memory was based on the Theban War supplement, Crusade. I figured if the rule was going to be anyplace, it’d be there, so I dug it out. Sure enough, Crusade introduced the concept as an integral part of why the Theban race had gone undiscovered, but it was a plot device. The main game, and the supplement, contained no such rules. Anyways, I mention the possibility here as humanity is very unexperienced with interstellar travel, and I’ll leave it at that.
***********************************
Turn 54, Day 10
Solar System, Warp Point (Outer System)
The scientist’s time had run out. They had been given a month to go over their calculations and review their theories. It wasn’t enough time, and everyone knew it, but they couldn’t wait forever. In any case, the scientists had found nothing new. As far as they could tell their theories were sound.
Twenty minutes ago, the Alliance squadron, now reinforced with an additional nine ships, had gone to alert status. Now, on General Lebedev’s signal, six destroyers sitting on the warp point moved into the vortex one by one. The first three were Coalition ships, with the third being the Coalition flagship led by Admiral Ruston. The next three were Russian destroyers. Lined up behind them were the remaining thirty-nine ships of the Alliance fleet. Admiral Ruston’s orders were to make transit and then get at least one ship back with a report on the conditions on the far side of the warp point. If no ships returned, then the Alliance would have to rethink its strategy. Based on the demonstrated fleet strength of the Raiders, though, both Admiral Ruston and General Lebedev thought it unlikely that at least one destroyer wouldn’t be able to make it back.
One by one the destroyers transited out. The plan had them exiting the far side of the warp point, executing a crash turn, and transiting back as soon as possible. General Lebedev stared intently at the monitor as the destroyers transited out. As before, a clock in the upper left portion of the monitor began counting up after the first destroyer transited out. The tension was nearly unbearable. In seconds they could be engaged in a battle for survival if a destroyer returned and called them through to support the other destroyers.
On board the destroyer Nelson, Admiral Ruston gasped as the entire universe seemed to lurch. His stomach rebelled, and he could hear someone else on the bridge throwing up. A fog seemed to lay over his mind, clouding his thoughts and slowing his actions. He looked around the bridge and saw the other members of the bridge crew looking blankly at their boards, or throwing up helplessly. Commander Torres, the destroyer’s CO, was looking around the bridge blearily, asking for status reports but no one was answering yet. Half of the bridge instruments showed red, the other half were rebooting.
Ruston knew he should be happy that the theories were right, and that the warp point actually had taken them somewhere, but right now he just wanted to lay down and get his rebellious stomach under control. Only later would he realize that he was among the first to make an interstellar transit.
Finally, thirty seconds after making transit, things seemed to snap into focus, not only for him but for most of the others, including Commander Torres. “Status?”
“Helm is responsive, we are turning back towards the warp point.”
“Sensors show no active drive fields within detection range aside from the rest of the squadron.”
“The threat board is clear.”
“Comms has contact with the other five destroyers. All are reporting some disruption to their crews and systems. No serious damage reported.”
Commander Torres turned to Admiral Ruston. He looked haggard but his voice was steady. “Your orders Admiral?”
“Continue as planned, Commander. Make transit back to the Solar System.” He really wasn’t looking forward to another transit so soon after the first.
“Very well. Helm, make transit back to the Solar System.” By Torres’ tone, he was looking forward to the transit just as much as his Admiral was.
Back in the Solar System the rest of the Allied Fleet was waiting to see the results of this latest attempt. Almost to the second as the clock hit one minute a destroyer appeared on the warp point. Everyone watching felt their tension peak as the destroyer’s drive field fluctuated in the aftermath of the transit, but it quickly became clear that this was the Nelson, and that she was undamaged. Seconds later the Soviet ship’s main monitor lit with Admiral Ruston’s face. Admiral Ruston looked grey and haggard, as if he had been put through the wringer. “Ivan, it is clear on the far side. No hostiles within scanner range. You can send the scouts through.” Ruston grimaced. “Oh, and warn them that the transit effects are…significant. Two transits within a minute are very bad.”
“Well done! We go, immediately!” General Lebedev ordered the scouts through, followed by his cruisers. Humanity was chained within the Solar System no more.
The scouts found no evidence of Raider ships in the new system. Space around the warp point, which was positioned two hundred and twenty-eight light minutes from the system primary, was clear. There was no sign of either the Raiders or the Alliance frigate which had been lost here last month.
The Alliance survey ships quickly determined that the system primary was a yellow star, much like the Sun, orbited by eight worlds and an asteroid belt. Astoundingly, two of the worlds were much like Earth, and possibly either the home of the Raiders, or at least an outpost. The scientists aboard the survey ships dashed at least some of General Lebedev’s hopes, though. If either of the planets were the home of a population similar to that of Earth, then they would be able to see them from their current location. A smaller population, of course, would be harder to see. To determine the truth of the matter, General Lebedev dispatched a long-range scanner equipped frigate along with at survey ship towards the inner system, to probe the primary system bodies and determine if there were any Raider outposts or populations in the system. It would take thirteen days for the ships to reach the inner system and return.
Day 16
The probe ships’ report arrived around mid-day. They had found no traces of life and were returning. General Lebedev dispatched a courier back to the Solar System to report the findings, and shortly thereafter survey ships belonging to the two nations began transiting into the new system, which General Lebedev had designated as the Moskva system. The Soviet exploration ships fanned out and began a warp point survey, while the Coalition ships, which were better suited for planetary surveys, headed for the inner system.
Shortly after the exploration ships entered the system, Admiral Ruston placed a call to General Lebedev. General Lebedev, despite having received the congratulations of both the Alliance command and his nation, was still morose when Admiral Ruston called. The aliens were gone, but he knew that they were out there, watching. Still, things continued moving forward. “Admiral, what can I do for you?”
Admiral Ruston looked no happier than his Russian superior. “Ivan, things appear to be going well. The survey ships have begun, and there is no sign of the aliens.”
General Lebedev’s face grew darker, but his words were mild. “There is no sign of the Kirov, either. It does not mean that the ship was never here.”
“What is bothering you, Ivan? It’s not just the lack of aliens, is it?”
General Lebedev shook his head. “No, it’s not. It’s those two empty planets, perfect for colonization. How long before our leaders start fighting over those planets? This is the start of a land-rush that will make America’s “wild-west” look like nothing. Our Alliance is new, can it withstand the wrangling that those planets will inevitably cause?”
Admiral Ruston looked pensive for a few seconds. “This had occurred to me, but it is a question for our leaders, not us. Fortunately, there are two planets, so maybe there is enough here for everyone.”
General Lebedev rolled his eyes. “Enough? There is no such thing. And unless the planets are identical, they will be difficult to divide.” He eyed the most recent report on the two planets, which was sitting on his desk in front of him. “And based on this report, they are not identical. The inner planet is hot, too hot to support a very large population, while the outer planet is perfect. Perhaps your Coalition would be willing to colonize the inner planet, while we colonize the outer?” One look at Admiral Ruston’s face made it clear what he thought of that. “Da, the same goes for my government.”
“They’ll work it out, Ivan. That’s what they do.”
General Lebedev’s face remained clouded. “Da, they will. Politicians make deals. They will make a deal. Which is perhaps worse. Tell me, how long before colony ships begin coming through this warp point?”
Admiral Ruston looked troubled. “I…” He trailed off, thinking furiously.
“Yes, I agree. The politicians will resolve their differences, and before we are ready there will be colonists on both of those planets, and we will be told ‘Defend them!’, whether we are ready or capable of such defense or not.”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “You are right about all of it, Ivan, but what can we do? It is a new age. Things are changing, and we must change with them, or be left behind. It wasn’t that long ago that you and I were pacing the bridges of our corvettes, staring at Earth between us and wondering when the other side would launch the latest Final War. And now here we are, in another stellar system, lamenting the fact that our race has two new planets to occupy. Things could be worse!”
General Lebedev looked unconvinced. “You are not Russian, my friend. We know that things will always get worse, even if it looks like it cannot. Still, you are right. I much prefer being here to where we were a few years ago. Perhaps this is progress?”
-
Turn 54
With the Survey Fleet enlarged and upgraded, the Coalition focuses on enlarging its orbital shipyard capacity. The Soviets, meanwhile, lay down a couple of new designs, a tug, a destroyer-sized fleet command ship, and a brand-new class of warship, the Moskva, a cruiser capable of matching the alien Raider’s cruisers in combat.
In addition, both nations begin refits of their PDC’s, removing older point defense emplacements and replacing them with the latest technology. This is an encouraging sign of the growing trust between the two super powers.
The Coalition’s survey squadron transmits the results of its survey of the habitable planets of the Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system back to the Solar System. The inner planet has a harsh environment and normal mineral content, while the third planet has a benign environment and very rich mineral classification. This information is shared with the USSR, and negotiations for colonization rights are begun immediately.
Turn 55
The USSR finally completes R&D on improved science instruments, allowing them to finalize their upgrade for their explorers. As their yards are occupied building up shipyard capacity and working on new ship classes, and the survey fleet is occupied in the Moskva system, plans for upgrading and enlarging the fleet are put on hold for at least a month.
Turn 56
The Coalition and USSR survey ships complete their survey at the end of this month. The Moskva (Sigma Draconis) system has two additional warp points. At General Lebedev’s insistence, the Soviet survey fleet will be withdrawn next month for refits. Privately, the General is furious at the Soviet survey fleet’s poor showing compared to the Coalition’s squadron, which did the lion’s share of the survey work.
Negotiations between the two nations over colonization rights continues.
Turn 57
The Soviet survey squadron returns to Earth for refit, while the Coalition survey squadron probes the newly discovered warp points, covered by the Allied Fleet. The Coalition survey ships find two remarkably similar systems through the two warp points in the Sigma Draconis system. Both new systems have red star primaries, and both primaries are orbited by a number of desolate ice balls and gas giants. The new systems are designated the Centaurus system and the Shaka system by the Coalition Survey Command. The Coalition squadron moves into the Shaka system to begin its survey.
The USSR begins construction on a mobile shipyard and several new survey ships of the latest design, while the Coalition begins construction on a new design as well, a DSB control ship.
The USSR completes research of HT 4, and begins immediate development of several critical systems.
With the probe of the two systems beyond Sigma Draconis (Moskva) complete, and no sign of the Raiders, the USSR and the Coalition agree to begin colonization of the two known habitable planets. Both sides prefer to have a planet to themselves, but neither will agree to take the less desirable planet, so the two sides agree to establish separate colonies on both planets. This shared sovereignty situation is not ideal, but is the only compromise that the two nations can agree on. Colonization will begin next month.
Turn 58
Both nations begin transferring colonists to the two planets in the Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system.
With the colonization of another system underway, the two nations sit down to hammer out changes to the Treaty of Alliance, and the underlying Armaments Treaty, that govern the emplacement of weaponry in and around Earth. No provisions were made in either treaty for populations on other planets, of the colonization of other systems, and with the newfound cooperation between the two nations some changes have become necessary.
Top level negotiating teams from the two nations meet in week 4, and by the end of the month they hammer out a new treaty, the Alliance II Treaty. This treaty modifies both the original Treaty of Alliance, and the Armaments Treaty. The main provisions are as follows:
1. The demilitarized zone around Earth is extended to ten light seconds. No active military units may be within this zone, with the exception of newly built units, and units proceeding too or from the orbital yards for repair or refit. Each nation is still allowed PDC’s with up to 150 weapons. All transits through the demilitarized zone will be preceded by notification to the other nation.
2. Both nations are allowed to build bases and/or asteroid fortresses, however, they cannot remain within the demilitarized zone around Earth once they are completed. They must be moved out of the demilitarized zone before they are crewed and activated. The emplacement of all bases or other fortifications outside of the demilitarized zone must be negotiated and agreed between the two nations prior to their construction.
3. Both nations are allowed to construct automated weapons, however, the same restrictions that apply to bases apply to automated weapons.
4. Both nations are free to deploy their naval forces within the Solar System as they see fit, within the restrictions of the original agreements (that mostly related to bans on limiting the movement of either nation’s freighters or populations). All deployments of naval forces beyond the Solar System will be under the auspices of the Alliance and the Joint Military Command.
5. All survey efforts of each nation will be shared with the other nation, without exception. This specifically includes information relating to habitable planets, and the warp links that lead to them.
6. All colonization efforts will be coordinated between the two nations, and no colonization effort will be undertaken without mutual agreement.
Turn 59
The Coalition lays down two new light cruisers this month.
Both nations continue their colonization efforts in the Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system.
The Soviet survey fleet, refitted and expanded to twenty-five survey ships, now leaves the solar system en route for the second system adjacent to the Moskva (Sigma Draconis) system.
Turn 60
The Coalition finally achieves HT 4 and begins R&D on force beams, capital survey instruments, and advanced missile launchers. In addition, with their orbital shipyard complex now increased to ten yards, the Coalition begins construction on a prototype heavy cruiser, the Rodney class, a destroyer, corvette, and two escorts. Also, the Coalition builds 200 laser buoys to be placed into reserve for system defense.
The USSR’s yards are full, although some construction capacity is diverted away from increasing the number of shipyards to building laser buoys.
The Coalition survey fleet completes survey efforts in the Shaka system this month, discovering four new warp points. The Soviet survey fleet will complete its survey of the Leningrad system next month, and its rough survey of the system has already discovered one new jump point. As the survey effort is primarily viewed as a military effort to locate the Raiders, the decision to allocate survey assets is currently being left to the Alliance, in the person of General Lebedev. After consulting with Admiral Ruston, General Lebedev decides to probe the newly discovered warp points with military ships in a measured and deliberate manner. The main Alliance Fleet will remain in the Moskva (Sigma Draconis) system, at the warp point to the Solar System, while a task group composed of several light units from the two navies and commanded by Admiral Ruston will be dispatched first to the Volvograd (Shaka) system, and then the Leningrad (Centaurus) system to probe the warp points. Contact will be maintained at all times, and the fleet will remain ready to respond to any threat.
Turn 61
The Coalition begins construction on three new destroyers, three light cruisers, and a prototype BS0 for warp point defense. This construction and deployment of this design has been discussed with and approved by the USSR.
The USSR begins construction on a light cruiser and 70 laser buoys.
An Alliance task force consisting of three Coalition destroyers, a Coalition frigate, three Soviet corvettes, and a Soviet scout has begun probing the warp points in the Shaka system. The first warp point in the Shaka system to be probed is the innermost, just thirty-six light minutes from the system’s star. The Coalition frigate-scout Outreach is the first ship through the warp point, and returns after a short period of time to report that the new system has a yellow star primary, orbited by an asteroid belt, a toxic world, Mars-like rock, two gas giants, and two ice worlds. Interestingly, the Outreach reports that the warp point on the far side of the link is a closed warp point, confirming the scientist’s theories about the existence of such objects. Admiral Ruston dispatches the Outreach, escorted by the three Soviet corvettes, to probe the inner system for outposts or alien ships and settles in to wait. The probe force returns twelve days later with a negative report and the task force moves on to the next warp point, which is located much further out. As before, the Outreach goes through the new warp point and returns shortly thereafter with the exciting news that this system contains a habitable world. The system has two stars, a yellow star primary and a red star secondary. The system primary is orbited by the earth-like habitable planet, two Mars-like rocks, a sun-blasted inner world, and a gas giant. The secondary star is orbited by no less than four gas giants, an ice world, and an asteroid belt. As before, Admiral Ruston dispatches the Outreach and the Soviet corvettes to probe the system while he remains behind with the Coalition destroyer group. The probe group returns by the end of the month with a negative report. The two new systems are named Hector and Epsilon Eridani by the Coalition, and Smolensk and Saratov by the USSR.
Turn 62
The Coalition launches two escorts and a corvette this turn.
The Alliance task force under Admiral Ruston’s command probes the last two unexplored warp points in the Shaka system this month. The third warp point leads to an orange star system with three gas giants, a rocky planet, three ice worlds, and an asteroid belt. The fourth warp point leads to another orange star system with two gags giants, three ice worlds, a rock ball, and an asteroid belt. Probes of both systems show no alien ships and no signs of habitation. The systems are named Epsilon Indi and Wolf 424 by the Coalition and Rostov-na-Danu and Sverdlovsk by the Soviets. Admiral Ruston’s task force will move to the Centaurus system next month to begin probing the warp points there.
The Coalition survey group in the Shaka system is cleared by Admiral Ruston to move into the Epsilon Eridani system, and by the second week of the month has moved into the system and begun survey efforts. The initial reports concerning the habitable planet are encouraging. It appears to have the perfect environment for human habitation and a very high mineral level.
Turn 63
The USSR launches a destroyer and a mobile shipyard.
Turn 64
The Coalition launches a destroyer and its first warp point defense base.
The USSR begins construction on an immense asteroid fort. They intend to place this fortress in the asteroid belt, where it will act as a fleet base and rallying site for their fleet. The construction and placement of this fortification was agreed to by the Alliance Guidance Council.
Representatives from the Coalition government meet with the Soviets about the disposition of the new habitable planet in the Epsilon Eridani (Saratov) system. In most respects the new planet is functionally identical to the planet now being colonized by both nations in the Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system. After some preliminary negotiations, the Coalition representatives make an offer. They will evacuate their colony on the benign shared planet in the Sigma Draconis system, in exchange for solitary colony rights on the new planet in Epsilon Eridani. The Soviets eagerly agree, as neither nation was entirely comfortable with sharing the planet. That still leaves the planet with the harsh environment in Sigma Draconis as a shared colony site, but both nations are eager to at least begin separating their colonies as much as possible. The Coalition agrees to begin moving its colonists to the Epsilon Eridani system next month.
In the Centaurus system, the Alliance task force under Admiral Ruston begins probing the innermost of the two new warp points in that system. The Coalition frigate Outreach jumped out and discovered…
-
Turn 64, Day 1
Centaurus system, Allied Nations of Earth
The warp point in front of the frigate Outreach was the fifth probe mission, and it certainly hadn’t become blasé. Every transit through a new jump point was an experience in fear and wonder, and so Outreach’s captain, Commander John Ford, had a small catch in his voice as he ordered his ship through the jump point, leaving behind the combined Alliance task force and known space.
The Coalition frigate materialized one hundred and ninety-two light minutes from an orange star, with a secondary red dwarf star offset even further away to the right of the primary. As Commander Ford’s stomach lurched and he struggled to hang on to its contents, alarms started blaring. He looked around his command’s small bridge as he tried to understand what was happening.
The sensor officer’s voice was blurred and sluggish, but his report was by the book. “Unidentified drive field contact at 5.5 light seconds range, bearing 270, not moving at this time. Multiple small objects detected at one-half light second distance, estimate buoys of unknown type.”
Commander Ford struggled to focus through his body’s disorientation. “Continue our turn back towards the warp point! Get those scanners up!”
The bridge crew was firming up as the frigate came around to point back at the warp point it had entered the system through. The sensor officer’s voice was under better control as he made his next announcement. “Long range sensors up! We now show four contacts, now at 090 relative. All are cruiser class, still not moving. One hundred forty-seven small objects surrounding us at point five light seconds are confirmed as buoys.”
Commander Ford stared at the wall mounted display showing the tactical plot. Those ships had to be Raiders, but they could have fired at them already and had passed up the chance. What were they doing? His thoughts were interrupted by the comms officer.
“Sir! Incoming message from the alien ships!”
Commander Ford nodded. They wanted to talk, and apparently that was why they hadn’t fired. He glanced at the mission clock. He had thirteen seconds before they jumped out. He thought about it for a couple of seconds and then nodded to himself again. If they failed to return Admiral Ruston would know why. He had to take this opportunity. “Very well. Helm, come to a halt but be ready to accelerate into the warp point on my command. Comms, put the transmission up on the main screen.”
The main screen at the front of the bridge flickered and then lit up to show, inexplicably, a human woman in a Coalition naval uniform. She was standing in front of a short but solid-looking Raider in some sort of armor. As Commander Ford and his bridge crew gaped at the monitor, she began to speak. “Outreach, this is Commodore Bonaventura. I am speaking to you from the D’Bringi starship Imperial Favor. I have been asked to communicate for the D’Bringi as they have not managed to fully decipher our language yet. May I come aboard?”
Commander Ford settled back into his chair, his mind racing. “I…” He stopped and marshalled his thoughts. “Commodore, I’m happy you are alive, but this situation is…unprecedented. My ship was just supposed to probe this warp point, we are overdue now. I am going to jump back to Centaurus and turn this information over to Admiral Ruston, and he will decide how we move forward. Will the…D’Bringi allow a ship to return to this system without firing on it?”
Commodore Bonaventura turned to the Raider behind her and spoke in something that certainly wasn’t English. After a second the Raider in armor waived his arm and spoke in a more liquid form of whatever language Commander Bonaventura had used. “Keeper-Cleric Half-Hand agrees to allow you to depart, and further agrees that one ship may return in peace, if it does not leave the warp point.”
“Very well. An Alliance ship will return shortly.”
Commander Bonaventura’s right eyebrow arched and she smiled. “Well, well, well. The Alliance. Things have changed. I look forward to your return, Commander.”
The monitor flickered out and Commander Ford nodded to his helmsman. “Chief Mikonos, take us through to Centaurus.”
“Aye, aye sir.” The frigate nosed into the warp point and disappeared. An immeasurably short time later it appeared in the Centaurus system to be confronted by five Allied warships sitting atop the warp point with their weapons and scanners hot.
Commander Ford, while struggling with transit effects that seemed so much worse for having suffered two jumps in less than five minutes, waived at his comms officer, who turned to his board and tried to set up a link. Before he could complete his task a button lit up on his console, signaling an incoming transmission. Sighing in relief, he punched the button and routed the comm link to the bridge monitor.
“Commander Ford, you are late!” Admiral Ruston looked like he was caught between relief and fear as he peered at the bridge crew of the Outreach.
Commander Ford’s bloodshot eyes focused on the Admiral. “Yes sir. But I’ve got good reason sir. It will be easier if I send the recording to you. It looks like the Raiders, who call themselves the D’Bringi by the way, want to talk.” He turned from the monitor and pointed at the comm officer, who then sent the recording of their conversation with Commodore Bonaventura to the Admiral.
The Admiral looked stunned at Commander Ford’s announcement that the D’Bringi wanted to talk, and looked down at his console to watch the video that had arrived from the Outreach. As the Admiral watched the video, Commander Ford saw the blood drain from his face. Finally, Admiral Ruston looked up from the monitor at his station. “I know the Commodore and that is definitely her. I thought she died at Saturn with her squadron. I…” Commander Ford didn’t quite know how to decipher the look on the Admiral’s face. It was a complex combination of loss and anger, overlaid by relief and hope and a bunch of other emotions harder to identify.
After a few seconds Admiral Ruston came back to himself. “Very well. I’m going to send a message back to the fleet, and then I’ll transfer to your ship and we’ll go back through and see what these ‘D’Bringi’ want to say.”
“Very well Admiral, we’ll be ready.”
Fifteen minutes later the Outreach transited back to the D’Bringi system with Admiral Ruston aboard. After giving them time to recover from the transit, the alien ship sent a comm request to the Outreach. After mentally preparing himself, Admiral Ruston nodded to the comm officer and the connection was made. The bridge monitor lit up to show Commodore Bonaventura standing on the alien bridge, again with the short, stocky alien D’Bringi in armor behind her. “Karen, it is you! I wasn’t sure, but…”
Commander Bonaventura smiled. “But it is me, Jonas. I was in my life pod for maybe fifteen minutes before the D’Bringi took me on board. The D’Bringi that captured me turned me over to Keeper-Cleric Half-Hand, and I’ve been here since.” The D’Bringi behind her rumbled something, and she nodded. “The Keeper-Cleric proposes a truce, to be followed by negotiations towards a more permanent peace treaty.”
Admiral Ruston carefully controlled his face. “That’s welcome news, but after the attacks they’ve made, particularly the attack on Triton, it’s going to take some convincing for our governments to be willing to sign any treaties with them.”
Commodore Bonaventura glanced behind her, and then turned back to the monitor. “I’ve discussed this with the Keeper-Cleric, and he says that the D’Bringi did not attack Triton. He claims that there are many other races in known space, and the attackers could have been any of them.” The Commodore’s face was carefully neutral as she spoke. “In any case, I’ve been told by the Keeper-Cleric that I will be returned to your custody as a sign of good will, and that they are willing to discuss returning the remaining spacers they hold as part of treaty negotiations. He says that they will send a cutter to transport me over to the Outreach immediately.”
Admiral Ruston settled back into his chair. “Very well. We will prepare to receive you.”
The D’Bringi rumbled again, and Commodore Bonaventura nodded. “See you soon.”
“Good. We’ll talk more once you are aboard. Ruston out.” He turned to Commander Ford. “Commander, prepare to receive the Commodore.” Commander Ford began to turn away, and Ruston put his hand on the other officer’s arm, stopping him. “I’ll be there to meet Commodore Bonaventura. I’ve known her since she was an ensign, I think I’ll be able to tell if she’s herself or not. In any case, I want armed security crew at the access hatch, just in case. Those ships can destroy us, but I’ll be damned if I’m just going to give them this or any other Coalition warship. I want you here, watching those ships for any signs of…well, anything. If they do anything unexpected, you are to transit back to Centaurus, immediately. Don’t wait for my order, just do it. Understood?”
Commander Ford braced to attention. “Understood.” He turned to his second in command. “Have the Master at Arms and his team meet the Admiral at the docking bay.”
Five minutes later, with six armed and armored crew members arranged around the small docking bay, Admiral Ruston waited as a D’Bringi cutter docked with the human frigate. He watched as the light over the boarding hatch turned green, indicating that a good seal had been established, and nodded to the rating standing by at the hatch. The rating pulled a small lever and the hatch rolled back, opening to reveal Commodore Bonaventura standing on the far side. She took a look around the bay and raised her hands, slowly, and stepped onto the human ship. Once aboard, she stopped when Admiral Ruston raised his hand. “Turn around, slowly, please, Commodore. Slowly.”
Seeing the armed crew members arrayed around the bay, all watching her anxiously, she nodded and slowly turned three hundred and sixty degrees. She was wearing a standard Coalition ship-duty uniform, basically a deep blue overall. It wasn’t skin-tight, but it did make it clear that she wasn’t carrying anything bulky or hidden. Admiral Ruston nodded at her, and as she put her arms down, he gestured at the rating behind her, who raised the lever on the board in front of him, causing the hatch to close and seal. A few seconds later the light over the hatch turned red, indicating that the D’Bringi cutter had moved away.
Commodore Bonaventura smiled. “Admiral, I…”
Admiral Ruston gestured to the armed crew members. “Take the Commodore to my cabin and post a guard.” He turned back to the Commodore. “Commodore, you will accompany the guard to my cabin, and you will stay there until I send for you. Understood?”
The young Commodore braced to attention. “Understood, sir. May I ask…”
“We’ll speak once we are back in Centaurus. I intend to inform the Keeper-Cleric that we will return to Centaurus to conduct your debriefing, and that our future actions, including our desire to begin negotiations, will largely be based on their treatment of you, and of the other Alliance crews that I believe they are holding.”
Bonaventura nodded. “They’ve treated us well, sir. There are four hundred and thirty-two of us currently in the custody of the Keepers, to my knowledge, all here in this system.”
“Very well.” He watched as the security team escorted the Commodore out of the bay, then returned to the bridge. “Commodore Bonaventura is aboard. Open a channel to the D’Bringi.”
It took a few seconds for the connection between the ships to stabilize. “Keeper-Cleric, I intend to speak with my officer concerning her treatment by the D’Bringi. We will return to our system to do so. If it is acceptable to you then one of our ships will return here six hours from now to coordinate future communications with you.”
The Keeper-Cleric sat silently for a few seconds, then a low rumble emitted from the armored figure. A D’Bringi device translated the Keeper’s message into broken English. “Acceptable.”
The Outreach jumped back to Centaurus thirty seconds later, and the entire human task force moved fifteen light seconds away from the warp point. Admiral Ruston dispatched a message back to the Allied Fleet informing them of the latest developments, and then had Commodore Bonaventura brought to his office, which was actually the frigate’s officers mess. When Commodore Bonaventura entered the mess, he gestured for her to sit across from him. She braced to attention then sat in the chair he had offered.
“Commodore, it appears that you’ve been treated well.” His tone was non-committal.
In contrast to the Admiral’s neutral appearance, Commodore Bonaventura was smiling as she looked around the mess. “Yes, Admiral, by their standards the Keepers did treat us well. It is a relief to be back, though.”
Admiral Ruston leaned forward. “What are these D’Bringi hoping to achieve by returning you. Are they trying to influence me?’
Commodore Bonaventura frowned. “No sir, but I could see how you might think that.” She leaned back and considered the Admiral’s statement for a second. “Or at least, they aren’t trying to influence you in the way that you mean.” Seeing the Admiral’s incomprehension, she continued. “Maybe if I give you the overview of what happened, you’ll understand a bit better.”
Admiral Ruston waived his hand in assent and settled back into his chair. “Go ahead, Commodore.”
Commodore Ruston frowned in thought. “It’s been almost two years since the battle over Saturn and the destruction of my task force.” There was a hitch in Commodore Bonaventura’s voice and she paused briefly to collect herself. “We didn’t know them as the D’Bringi yet, they were still just “the aliens” to us. After the battle they swept the combat area for life pods and rescued as many as they could. That fact alone convinced me that they weren’t the fanatical killers we all feared that they were. When they found out that I commanded the human warships, they separated me from the rest of the survivors and took me to their commander. Believe it or not, his name and title was B’Regost-Large Group Leader Skull Splitter, and I soon learned that he was a scary old D’Bringi fleet commander who had survived numerous attempts on his life, uncountable personal combats, and at least several fleet engagements.”
Admiral Ruston held up his hand. “I’ve got so many questions, but first, they spoke English?”
Commodore Bonaventura shook her head. “Not really sir. Well, kind of, and a bit of Russian as well. Skull Splitter never said, but I think that the D’Bringi have been watching us for a while. Or at least, the Keepers have. It’s kind of complicated. At any rate, the D’Bringi have a very hierarchical society, and as the surviving leader of the human forces around Saturn, that gave me some status. Old Skull Splitter was impressed by the way we fought, too, and that gave me even more status with them.”
“Skull Splitter? Really?”
Commodore Bonaventura laughed. “Really. And if you saw him, you’d agree that it suits him.” She paused and marshaled her thoughts. “I get the feeling that its more of a title than a name, kind of like, say, the Duke of Marlborough, or something like that. I don’t have the whole picture, but the D’Bringi don’t really have a centralized government, more like an ‘association’ of sorts. Skull Splitter is the leader of the military forces of Clan B’Regost, and the Leader-by-Right of the assembled clan forces that attacked us at Saturn. Based on what the Keeper-Cleric told me, the D’Bringi have three major clans, the B’Regost, the K’Rorin, and the T’Chau. And of course, the Keepers.”
“The Keepers aren’t a clan?”
“Not really.” She looked confused for a few seconds, then continued. “You have to understand, I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to learn their language, and help them learn ours, so that I could get to know them better. “I’m not an expert though, and its been slow going. I can understand them most of the time, and they us, but I’m sure that things are still getting lost in translation. As I understand it, the Keepers are separate from the Great Clans, but it really seems to be steeped in their impenetrable traditions in ways I can’t begin to understand. The simple version is, the Clans are interested first and foremost with their own fortunes, and only secondarily with the well-being of the D’Bringi race. The Keepers, on the other hand, claim to be only concerned with the well-being of the D’Bringi as a whole.”
“They ‘claim’ to be concerned with that?”
Commodore Bonaventura nodded. “Yes sir, they claim. Like I said, their entire society and all of their interactions are overlaid by centuries of traditions and even more centuries of history, that includes great alliances and great betrayals, and vendettas that have lasted for millennia.”
“They’ve been in space that long?” That was one of the Alliance’s biggest concerns. They were new to interstellar space, but it was possible that the Raiders had been out there for centuries or even thousands of years. The possibilities were frightening when viewed through the prism of the Raider’s hostility.
Commodore Bonaventura frowned. “I…I don’t think so, sir. Oh, they claimed that they invented the warp points and that their fleets rivaled the stars in number, but…” She paused and settled back in her chair thoughtfully. “That doesn’t match what I saw, sir. I never saw a ship larger than the cruisers that attacked us at Saturn, and aside from the four cruisers the Keepers have here and the nine that attacked us at Saturn I’ve never seen any more D’Bringi warships.” Seeing the frown on the Admiral’s face she continued. “I know, just because I haven’t seen them doesn’t meant they don’t exist. But, well, its kind of just everything I’ve seen and heard. All of the Clan nobles I’ve seen carry a vast variety of ancient weapons that actually look well-used, not like antiques at all. Skull Splitter took me on a tour of one of their assault transports during the trip out of the system. Their ground troops use powered armor that looks to be every bit as good, if not better than ours. They are equipped with projectile and beam weapons that again are as good or better than ours. But every armored trooper is armed with a close-combat weapon, a sword, axe, or pike, made out of hull armor, and they are expected to use them! Hell, based on the training that I saw, I think they prefer the close-combat weapons and train with them as their primary weapons. They are good with those weapons, but I can’t believe that they are superior to the ranged weapons both sides carry. It’s like someone took a high-tech civilization and pasted it on top of a bunch of old-style Vikings. I don’t think they’ve actually been in space all that long. I don’t know the extent of their travels, but based on what I’ve seen I’d be surprised if they’ve done much colonization or building of their economy. I can say with certainty that colonization, trade, and industry held absolutely no interest for Skull Splitter, at any rate.”
“That would explain a lot.” At the Commodore’s inquiring look, Admiral Ruston continued. “All of the reports from the Saturnine colonies agreed, the Raider troops were highly disciplined and good fighters. But, inexplicably, they seemed to prefer close-combat with edged weapons to other methods of accomplishing their goals, even when it led to increased casualties on their side. There was a mining supervisor on Tethys named Graves, he organized his miners into a resistance group and attacked the Raiders, or the D’Bringi, when they approached his mine. If that was a human combat unit in the same situation, they almost certainly would have pulled back at the first sign of resistance and built up their strength before attacking with overwhelming strength behind an artillery and air barrage. Instead the D’Bringi charged forward into the face of the miner’s attack and suffered casualties that otherwise might not have been necessary. Oh, they won the battle and scattered the miners without too much loss, but the point was, they didn’t have to suffer any losses if they had handled it differently.”
“That sound about right, sir. The D’Bringi would have viewed the miner’s resistance, after their space forces were defeated, as unlawful defiance by civilians. Were the casualties heavy on our side?”
Admiral Ruston frowned thoughtfully. “No, no they weren’t. And they could have been so much worse. After what happened at Triton, we feared the worse for the colonies at Saturn, but the D’Bringi just looted everything they could steal and left with a minimal loss of life. Even Graves’ miners, once they stopped shooting, were allowed to surrender.”
Commodore Bonaventura nodded. “That makes sense. Like I said, D’Bringi society is very hierarchical. Civilians rarely pick up weapons and fight, that sort of thing is left to the Clan troops whenever possible. A civilian who fights after the armed forces of his clan are defeated is either the worst, most despicable thing that the D’Bringi can conceive of, or it can be a heroic act beyond all honor, depending on how the D’Bringi decide to view it. The D’Bringi know what other races are different, and sometimes seem to make allowances. Or they viewed this ‘Graves’ and his miners as heroes. It’s difficult to say. As long as those miners were offering resistance, they were legitimate targets, but the second they laid down their weapons there was no honor in killing them, and the D’Bringi are all about honor. At least, their conception of honor, which doesn’t always seem to align with ours.”
“How did you end up with the Keepers?”
“I stayed with Skull Splitter until we left the Solar System. After we jumped out, Skull Splitter’s fleet met with the Keepers, and he turned all of us over to the Keeper-Cleric. I’ve learned since that while the Great Clans will raid other races, or fight wars against them, the Keepers are responsible for protecting the D’Bringi threats from outside threats. This causes a lot of tension, as the Great Clans, when they aren’t fighting each other, tend to launch raids on outsiders fairly often. This makes it fairly difficult for the Keepers to keep the peace, as you would expect. In fact, during my time with the Keepers, I found information that leads me to believe that the D’Bringi have conquered at least one other race close to their home world.”
“And these Keepers? You said they want to negotiate peace, but based on what you’ve told me I’m not sure they view peace the same way we do.”
Commander Bonaventura nodded. “They don’t, but the Keeper-Cleric is aware that we have different views of the concept. Based on my conversations with the Keeper-Cleric he is desperately interested in peace with humanity, if he can achieve it with honor. However, you should be aware that no matter what we sign with the D’Bringi, they will launch raids into our territory if they see an opening or perceive weakness on our part. The Great Clans will not be able to resist the temptation to raid us under those circumstances, not with so many rising clan lordlings desperate for honor. If those lordlings cannot get honor through combat, then they will find honor through fighting each other, their superiors, or their counterparts in the other clans. It is an old story for them.”
“It isn’t entirely unknown to us, either.” The Admiral’s dry tone made the Commodore chuckle.
“Yes, sir. At any rate, I think Half-Hand will negotiate in good faith, but we will always have to be on guard for any incursion from the D’Bringi. They will test us every chance they get, and if we show weakness, well, it could be bad.”
Admiral Ruston was lost in thought. “Very well, Commodore. You’ve done well. I want you to write up a report of your experiences over the last two years and we’ll send it off to the Allied Fleet.”
Commodore Bonaventura smiled. “The Allied Fleet? Things must have changed back home, huh?”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “Yes, they have. The Raider threat brought the Soviets and us together to face them as a united military force. It helped that neither of us had enough fleet strength to fight them separately, but together, well, that was different.”
“Yes sir. I was there on Skull Splitter’s command deck when he realized that our fleets weren’t going to fight each other and instead were standing together against him. It took some time for him to accept that we weren’t going to fight each other, or even fight separately. That was immediately after we left Saturn, headed for the combined fleets at Jupiter. He believed that the sight of his fleet approaching would force the human fleets to separate out of distrust of each other, and that he could then engage them separately. When they didn’t and it became clear that they intended to fight together, well, he was angry, but accepted that his plan wouldn’t work. He lost a lot of honor backing down, though. That was why they went on to loot the colonies at Uranus. He had to do something to placate the other clans and his own clan chiefs.”
Admiral Ruston frowned in thought for a moment, trying to remember something that had been nagging at him as he talked to the Commodore. Finally, he had it. “Commodore, one thing isn’t adding up. Based on what you’ve said, the D’Bringi are primarily raiders, and their primary goal is to gain honor both by fighting during raids, and by bringing back loot from the raid. That matches what they did at Saturn and Uranus perfectly. But it doesn’t explain Triton at all. Someone destroyed the Soviet picket corvette there and then the colony. Over three hundred thousand Soviet citizens, humans, died at Triton. That doesn’t sound like the D’Bringi, but who else could it be?”
Commodore Bonaventura faced the Admiral with a pensive look on her face. “I’ve been wondering about that same thing, Admiral. It doesn’t sound like the D’Bringi at all, and the Keeper-Cleric was adamant that the D’Bringi hadn’t attacked Triton. But…well, you remember what I said about the D’Bringi having a culture weighted down by centuries of traditions and vengeance honor and vendettas? Well, they are very experienced with intrigue, lying, and subterfuge. There are currents, both overt and covert, underlying everything the D’Bringi I met were doing. Both Half-Hand and Skull-Splitter appeared to be bluff, formidable old warriors, honest and dependable, but…well, I have enough experience with the D’Bringi to know that anyone who actually was what those two appeared to be wouldn’t last for ten minutes in D’Bringi high society. Their clan politics are cutthroat, sometimes literally. I don’t know that they did it, and they deny it, but… they are certainly capable of something like that, even if it is out of character.”
“Very well, Commodore.” Admiral Ruston stood and turned towards the door, and then turned back. “Use my office to begin your report. I’ll have the mess chief bring you some food. And,” his expression warmed for the first time, “welcome back, Karen.”
She smiled back at him as he left the cabin. The smile fell from his face as he made his way to the bridge. The coming months were going to be hard. He feared he knew how things were going to go, and if he did then the Alliance might not last. Of all things, the offer of peace from the D’Bringi might be the thing that drove the Coalition and the Soviets apart.
It took six and a half hours for the message from the Outreach to get to the Allied Fleet at the warp point to Sol in the Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system, relayed by a scout positioned at the warp point that linked the two systems. Once it arrived at the Fleet, General Lebedev relayed it on to the Earth. Once there it ignited a firestorm. The news that the D’Bringi wanted to talk, and perhaps negotiate a peace treaty, electrified the Coalition’s Senate, while in Russia the news was met with disbelief and anger. To the Russians, the D’Bringi denials of responsibility for the deaths of the colonists at Triton rang false. A meeting between the Alliance Guidance Council fell apart into acrimony when the Soviet representatives accused the Coalition representatives of being willing to sell Soviet dead for peace.
After a week, and several high-level meetings between the Soviet and Coalition governments, the two nations agreed to at least speak with the D’Bringi representatives. A meeting was scheduled with the D’Bringi Keeper-Cleric for early next month, and representatives from both nations were dispatched from Earth to Centaurus (Leningrad). At this point, though, it appeared that Admiral Ruston had been prophetic about the effects of the D’Bringi peace offer.
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Turn 65
The Coalition launches two light cruisers and three destroyers. The USSR launches three corvettes designed to control laser buoys. In addition, the USSR completes research into the shear plane and force beam, and immediately begins R&D on HT 5.
The Coalition survey fleet operating in the Sigma Draconis system has completed its survey and discovered one additional warp point. The Alliance Guidance Council has decided to halt all exploration of new warp points until the situation with the D’Bringi is resolved, so the exploration fleet moves on the Epsilon Indi system to start survey efforts there.
General Lebedev orders the Alliance Fleet to relocate to the Leningrad (Centaurus) system, to the warp link with the D’Bringi. In addition, he orders the USSR’s buoy control ships forward to Leningrad, as well as their entire stock of buoys (370). The Coalition focuses on defense of the home system, and deploys their first BS0 to the warp point to the Sigma Draconis system, along with 200 laser buoys.
Negotiators from Earth have arrived at the warp link to the D’Bringi system, and initial talks have begun. At this point the proceedings are intended to increase the communication skills of the two sides more than anything else.
Turn 66
The Coalition launches three light cruisers. The USSR launches a single CL from its yards.
The last of the Coalition colonists are moved from Moskva Prime (as it is now known in the Coalition), to the new colony site in Epsilon Eridani.
The Soviet survey group completes its survey of the starless area found through the second warp link in the Leningrad system and discovers no new warp points.
Talks with the D’Bringi continue, although progress is frustratingly slow. At the request of General Lebedev, Commodore Bonaventura has been assigned to his staff, and he has placed her in command of the efforts to establish full communications with the aliens.
On Earth, political wrangling between the Soviet and Coalition governments continues over the issue of future negotiations with the D’Bringi. While these talks are not as contentious as those of the prior months, they are not exactly friendly either. The two nations are having a difficult time finding common ground over the question of future relations with the D’Bringi.
Turn 67
Commodore Bonaventura reports that she has established full communications with the D’Bringi. Unfortunately, the Coalition and Soviet governments aren’t ready to begin serious negotiations yet, so the D’Bringi are delayed by preliminary negotiations.
The Coalition launches two BS0’s and two destroyer-sized laser buoy control ships. Both are sent to the Solar System’s single warp point.
The Coalition creates a new task force charged with the defense of the new colony in Epsilon Eridani. The colony has been named New Plymouth, and a total of eleven ships are dispatched to the system, including a scout and a scout-frigate.
The USSR launches five new light cruisers. By now the bulk of the USSR’s orbital construction capacity is devoted to building their new Fleet HQ, which is approximately 40% complete.
Turn 68
The Coalition launches a tug, three destroyers, and five BS0’s.
In spite of the acrimony between the USSR and the Coalition over the negotiations with the D’Bringi, they manage to agree to split the colony sites in the Sigma Draconis system between the two, much like the potential colony sites in the Solar System were divided. The Coalition begins sending colonists immediately.
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Turn 68
Interlude: An unknown number of warp jumps from Earth
The Torqual Benignity had been in space for centuries. They had known about the theoretical existence of warp points for decades. Eventually they would get around to figuring out if they really existed, and what to do with them if they did, but for now they were absorbed with contemplating the majesty of the universe, and in exploring and settling their own system, which contained an abundance of resources and living room. As far as they were concerned, it would be a long time before they needed any more living room, so they were in no hurry to expand beyond what they already had.
The Benignity had been founded two centuries ago, when the Torqual had decided, after decades of serious contemplation, to move into space and begin exploring their system. Before the Benignity, their planetary government was really just a congress that represented the five thousand, six hundred and twenty-two city states that comprised about ninety five percent of the Torqual people. This congress met once every other year and, when they did meet, spent about six months debating the merits of various proposals, some of which were even adopted, usually after a decade or two of debate. The Torqual found, though, that to expand into space they needed a bit more coordination between the city states and thus founded the Benignity, which allowed them to pool their resources at a global level. The Benignity has three legislative houses, one comprised of the old planetary congress, in which the congresspersons were appointed for life, one per city-state, one in which the congresspersons were elected by the citizens of their city-states, and the number of representatives per city-state was determined by population, and the last was populated by representatives of the professional groups that represented the laborers and skilled workers of the world. Unlike the old congress, which could be relied on to approve a proposal once every decade or so, the new Benignity government actually approved two proposals the first year it was in operation.
Now, two hundred and twenty-six years after its founding, the Benignity had led the colonization of five moons, eighteen asteroids, and the other habitable planet in their system. Over three hundred and ten million Torqual lived off of the home world at this point, and the number was growing every day.
Throughout most of their history, the Torqual had been mostly non-violent. The Torqual, individually and as a people, knew how to fight, and would if backed into a corner, but if given any choice at all they would try to find a non-violent alternative to fighting. Their preferred method of conflict resolution was to talk it out. And talk. And talk. Experience had taught them that if you talked enough, eventually everyone would forget what they were fighting about and then you could get on with the important stuff, like debating the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. That subject was a Torqual favorite, and indeed had been the subject of a monumental debate that had occupied the old planetary congress for almost one hundred years at one point. The fact that the congress had declared that they had determined an answer to what was previously thought to be an unanswerable question was surprising. Even more surprising was that they declared that the definitive answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything was indeed, 42. After that the congress disbanded and refused to discuss the question any further, or to answer any questions about the answer, except to say that no one really understood the question, and that you had to understand the question before you could understand the answer. A new congress was empaneled, but after some debate they decided to let the previous congress’s determination stand. The meaning of 42 has since become a favorite debate topic for all Torqual, and is a common theme of discussion across the entire system.
While the Torqual disdain the use of military force to resolve conflict, they are not stupid and have admitted, usually after substantial debate, that maintaining some sort of military force capable of responding to emergency situations is a reasonable precaution. Therefore, at the dawn of their space age, they set up the System Patrol. It was not always lavishly funded, but it does have a pedigree of continuous service since the first Torqual left the atmosphere of their home planet. Today, the System Patrol consists of six light cruisers of three different designs, and three BS2’s in orbit over Torqual Prime. An additional six light cruisers have been built and placed in reserve in the mothball fleet, orbiting their star at a hidden location.
On Turn 68, Day 4
Torqual Prime
The first hint the Torqual had that things had changed was at around 1200 hours when a drive field contact appeared on the planetary sensors on their home world. This contact did not correspond to any known ship, and was approaching the inner system from a direction that should have been clear of any shipping, as all of the colonial sites were currently located on the far side of the system.
Following standard procedure, the Torqual began broadcasting welcome messages to the contact. For the next twelve hours the Torqual broadcasted welcomes to the newcomers, and for the next six hours the newcomers ignored the broadcasts. By the dawning of day 5, the newcomers were forty-eight light minutes away and closing at a rate that meant that they would arrive in day 6. The Torqual kept up the broadcasts, but out of what they were sure was an excess of caution, put their fleet and bases on alert. Eighteen hours later their planetary sensors had resolved the incoming drive field contact into nine separate ships, now at twelve light minutes and closing. The commander of the System Patrol wanted to go and meet the incoming ships, but the Benignity government was inherently cautious, and the committee empaneled to determine the proper course of action had not yet issued any directives. In fact, the committee chair had not yet decided on the exact membership of the committee, and its meeting schedule. So, the System Patrol remained in orbit alongside the orbiting bases and shipyards.
Finally, when the drive field contact reached sixty light seconds from the planet, it was further resolved and the Torqual saw that it was nine heavy cruisers closing on their planet. If a human naval officer had been present, he or she would have recognized the cruisers and could have warned the Torqual about what to expect from the D’Bringi, but of course no humans were present. The Torqual continued sending welcoming messages even as the cruisers closed to four light seconds range and opened fire. Sixty missiles sleeted towards one of the Torqual light cruisers, which had prudently begun modulating its engines when the invaders entered weapons range. Twenty-four achieved target lock, and the hapless Torqual cruiser only managed to shoot one down with its basic point defense emplacement. The other twenty-three missiles savaged the Torqual ship, leaving it limping with one remaining engine room. Twelve missiles were launched in response by one of the Torqual cruisers, and four managed to get through everything the D’Bringi cruiser threw in their way, knocking down its shields and scoring her armor.
The salvoes from the two remaining D’Bringi data-groups were lighter, as they had no internal launchers and were relying on their XO racks, but between them they managed to damage another light cruiser. The return fire from the Torqual cruisers and bases knocked two of the D’Bringi cruisers out of their data groups and slowed one of them by 75%.
The next exchange of fire took place at three light seconds range. The Torqual light cruisers continued to modulate their engines and remained close to their bases, while the D’Bringi continued to race towards the Torqual. The two fleets were now within extreme range for their lasers and force projectors, and both sides used everything they had to savage the other side’s ships. The D’Bringi fire was more concentrated, but the Torqual steadfastly stood up to the incoming fire and gave back as good as they got. Two D’Bringi cruisers were now limping away, toothless and crippled, while two Torqual light cruisers were crippled and two were heavily damaged.
Four alien cruisers continued to close on the Torqual fleet, while the three missile-armed cruisers turned and began modulating their engines to provide some protection from the Torqual return fire. The four D’Bringi cruisers were now within range of their energy weapons and sprint missiles, and they opened fire with everything they had. The Torqual bases turned their missiles on the D’Bringi missile armed cruisers standing off, but between the cruiser’s point defense and engine modulation the Torqual bases had a hard time penetrating the cruiser’s defenses and did little damage. Closer in, another D’Bringi cruiser was knocked out of its data-group, but the return fire was beginning to tell and all of the Torqual cruisers were damaged to a greater or lessor extent.
The D’Bringi beam-armed cruisers continued to close while the bases focused on the D’Bringi missile armed ships. The D’Bringi had apparently had enough of the heavily damaged Torqual ships continuing to snipe at them while they concentrated on their less-damaged brothers, because now the D’Bringi beam-armed ships turned their fire on the Torqual cripples. The results were devastating. In exchange for one D’Bringi cruiser crippled by concentrated Torqual fire, the Torqual lost one light cruiser completely, and three more were left drifting wrecks. The Torqual bases, after a solid minute of pelting a single D’Bringi missile-armed cruiser with missile fire, had failed to knock the cruiser out of its data-group. That left the Torqual with one more or less intact light cruiser, a second with serious internal damage, and three intact bases.
The D’Bringi beam-armed cruisers now began modulating their engines, all except the ones armed with force projectors which were forced to divert engine power to their weapons, while the D’Bringi missile cruisers diverted their fire towards the bases. The more-or-less intact Torqual cruiser turned its weapons on the crippled D’Bringi cruiser, destroying it in a deluge of sprint-missiles and force projector fire. The D’Bringi seemed to go insane at the loss of their cruiser, and the last two D’Bringi beam-armed cruisers still in their data-group turned on the lone Torqual cruiser and reduced it to a pile of junk. The other D’Bringi beam-armed cruiser rapidly reduced the last damage Torqual cruiser to wreckage as the Torqual bases, tiring of their useless effort to damage the D’Bringi missile-armed cruisers, turned their weapons on the much closer beam-armed cruisers. With the Torqual cruisers now eliminated, the D’Bringi missile armed cruisers turned their fire on the Torqual bases, and their first combined salvo savaged one of the bases, ripping through its shields and armor and taking out some of its internal systems. The return fire from the bases destroyed one of the D’Bringi beam-armed cruisers, but that would be their last gasp.
The two remaining D’Bringi beam-armed cruisers turned and closed to point-blank range, while the missile cruisers continued to launch from three light seconds away. The Torqual bases managed to inflict internal damage on one of the D’Bringi cruisers, but then the return fire wiped them away. The battle was over, and the D’Bringi were victorious. At a cost, though. The vaunted D’Bringi Clan Fleets had lost two cruisers destroyed, with another two crippled and a third heavily damaged. At first the D’Bringi were thrilled with the honor that had accrued to them in such a momentous battle, but as they learned more of the Torqual, they began to question that honor. Afterall, how much honor could there be in beating a race that thought that the answer to life, the universe, and everything was 42?
As the D’Bringi troop transports settled to the surface of the inhabited planets, and D’Bringi clan troops began fanning out in search of targets worth their honor, and loot worth their time, the Torqual empaneled a new committee to determine the appropriate course of action in light of this new development.
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Turn 69
The Coalition launches three light cruisers. The Soviet Union launches it first heavy cruiser, and immediately lays down the keels for four more.
Negotiators from the USSR and the Coalition arrive in Centaurus to begin negotiations with the D’Bringi. While ostensibly the negotiators represent the Alliance, in reality both of the negotiating teams have their marching orders from their respective governments. The negotiations with the D’Bringi Keepers begin poorly when the Soviet Union’s representative demands an apology and reparations for the destruction of the Triton colony, and for the raids at Saturn and Uranus.
Coalition Fleet Deployments, as of Turn 69
Home Fleet, Earth:
6xCL, 6xDD, 1xFGS, 2xCT
Alliance Main Fleet, Centaurus (Leningrad) System
3xCL, 6xDD, 1xFGS, 12xCT, 3xES, 2xEX(S)
Plymouth Colonial Defense Group, Epsilon Eridani
3xDD, 1xFGS, 3xCT, 3xES, 1xEX(S)
Alliance Picket Groups, Sol
5xEX(S)
Alliance Picket Group Saturn
1xCT, 1xEX(S)
Alliance Picket Group Uranus
1xCT
Solar WP Defense Group
3xDD(DSB), 8xBS0, 1xEX(S), 50xDSB(L)
USSR Fleet Deployments, as of Turn 69
Home Fleet, Earth
1xCA, 6xCL, 3xDD, 3xCT, 2xEX(S)
Alliance Main Fleet, Leningrad (Centaurus) System
6xCL, 1xDD(Flag), 9xDD, 3xCT, 2xEX(S), 4xCT(DSB), 92xDSB(L)
Alliance Picket Groups, Sol
4xEX(S)
Alliance Picket Group, Neptune
3xCT, 1xEX(S)
Alliance Picket Group, Saturn
1xCT
Alliance Picket Group, Uranus
1xCT, 1xEX(S)
Total Fleet Strength:
Coalition: 9xCL, 15xDD, 3xFGS, 18xCT, 6xES (1277 spaces)
USSR: 1xCA, 12xCL, 12xDD, 11xCT (1136 spaces)
Turn 70
Negotiations break down, and all three nations decide to break off negotiations for two months, to allow everyone to reassess their positions. The D’Bringi are offering a permanent cease fire, with humanity having the right to the systems they currently hold, as well as any discovered through the warp points they are exploring, while the D’Bringi keep the systems beyond the Centaurus (Leningrad) system. Only limited contact will be allowed, with arrangements for transit through the shared warp link made by courier drone prior to any transit. The negotiators from the Coalition find these terms acceptable, especially as the D’Bringi currently hold nothing that could be considered Coalition or even Alliance territory. However, the Soviets do not agree. From the first the Soviets have demanded fairly exorbitant reparations and apologies, both things that the D’Bringi refuse to consider.
The Coalition finally begins research on HT 5, after developing force beams and capital survey instruments. A new round of refits for the Coalition’s smaller ships is begun, to get the new force beams into service.
The USSR upgrades their heavy cruiser design to include advanced missile launchers, replacing the older gum/missile launchers. This will make the Moskva class CA’s a pure long-range unit, with little short-range capability, meaning that it will have to be heavily escorted. As the Moskva’s primary opponents are likely to be slower D’Bringi cruisers, the Soviets feel that this is an acceptable tradeoff for the increased missile launching capacity. As the first Moskva class unit returns to the yards for refit, the Soviets begin construction on an additional four cruisers, bringing the grand total of heavy cruisers under construction or refit in their yards to nine. In addition, the USSR completes work on their new Fleet Headquarters, a command center built as part of a massive asteroid fortress. A Soviet tug takes the asteroid fortress out of the demilitarized zone and towards the asteroid belt location that the Soviets had said would be the permanent spot for the command center.
Turn 71
Intensive negotiations began between the USSR and the Coalition late last month and continue into this month. The Coalition is trying to find a way to bridge the position of the Soviets and the D’Bringi, but the Soviets are not being reasonable, at least in the estimation of the Coalition negotiators. The Coalition government now finds itself in an uncomfortable position as pressure from the public to find a way to peace with the D’Bringi is becoming overwhelming. By the end of the month the Coalition’s leadership is beginning to consider the possibility of a separate peace with the D’Bringi, if the USSR will not reconsider its current position.
The Coalition’s refit program continues, and their first BS1 is launched. Having completed a BS1 design, the Coalition fleet proposes a missile armed BS2 design, capable of challenging a cruiser. Because it is equipped with missiles it cannot be placed anywhere near Earth, so this design is intended for warp point defense, and for defense of colony planets such as New Plymouth. In any case, the Coalition fleet is forced to place any plans it had for this class on hold as the USSR’s representatives on the Alliance Guidance Council objects to the construction of these units until their purpose is made clearer.
The USSR’s yard capacity is largely devoted to the cruiser’s under construction. Both the Coalition and the USSR have become concerned about the growth of their fleets compared to their economy’s. The percentage of both nation’s economy devoted to upkeep has grown dramatically, and thus both have decided to scale back construction moving forward. This is being presented to the public in the Coalition as a sign of détente with the USSR, when in all actuality it is mostly a simultaneous agreement by the two nations to scale back construction to save their economies.
Turn 72
The Alliance negotiators meet with the D’Bringi again. Prior to this meeting, General Lebedev orders his staff, and his second in command, Admiral Ruston, to begin planning an assault through the warp point into the D’Bringi controlled system beyond. The Coalition representatives to the Alliance Guidance Council object to this overtly militaristic move, but in the end are overruled by their own government, which sees no harm in planning where the D’Bringi cannot see.
The first meeting with the D’Bringi goes poorly. The Soviet representative issues a list of demands from his government that he states are non-negotiable. The D’Bringi representatives don’t bother to look at the demands before rejecting them out of hand, while the Coalition representatives try to mediate and keep both sides talking. In response to the D’Bringi refusal, the Soviet representatives walk out of the meeting, leaving the Coalition representatives behind. Acting on contingency orders from their government, which cover this very contingency, the Coalition representatives begin negotiating a separate peace with the D’Bringi.
Over Earth, construction on their new heavy cruiser fleet continues in the Soviet yards, while the refit program for the Coalition’s smaller units continues.
On Day 18, the USSR formally announces that the peace talks are over and that the war will resume. This unilateral announcement is made simultaneously to the public and within an Alliance Guidance Council meeting. The Coalition members of the Guidance Council object strenuously to the Soviet’s action, and in turn state that the war cannot resume without the agreement of the Coalition government. Over the next week there are widespread, but generally peaceful, protests throughout Coalition territory to the announcement that the war will continue. The public sentiment in Russia seems to support the resumption of the war, however, it is always difficult to determine what the Russians are actually thinking. Finally, on Day 24, after several talks with the Soviet Premier, the CEO of the Coalition announces that the Coalition will seek a separate peace with the D’Bringi, and that the Coalition government will not approve a resumption of hostilities short of an overt hostile action by the D’Bringi. In reaction, the USSR walks out of the next scheduled Alliance Guidance Council meeting on the 27th.
On the 28th, Coalition negotiators meet with the D’Bringi and formally sign a peace treaty, ending the conflict between the aliens and the Coalition. The D’Bringi turn over all Coalition spacers they are holding, but keep the two hundred and twenty-three Soviet spacers they hold. The Coalition negotiators unofficially warn the D’Bringi that the USSR considers their cease fire to be over. The D’Bringi warn the Coalition that any ships which transit the warp point will be considered hostile, unless pre-arranged by courier drone. The Coalition negotiators pass this warning on to Admiral Ruston, who then tells General Lebedev.
On Day 30, the Coalition issues orders to Admiral Ruston to withdraw from the combined Alliance Fleet and return to the Solar System.
Turn 73
The Coalition fleet under the command of Admiral Ruston breaks away from the Alliance main fleet in Centaurus and sets its course for Earth, ostensibly for refits. Both Admiral Ruston and General Lebedev know that while the Alliance still officially exists, the combined Alliance fleet will not likely be reformed. General Lebedev requests reinforcements from the Soviet home fleet, however, he is told to attack into the Brezhnev system with his current force, while reinforcements move towards him from Earth.
Shortly after setting out for Earth, Admiral Ruston receives a communique from Coalition Fleet HQ re-designating his fleet as the Reformation Coalition 1st Fleet. Meanwhile, in the Solar System, both nations are redistributing their fleets because of the Soviet break with the Alliance. Both sides discontinue the picket groups that had been spread across the system watching the approaches from deep space. Now that the method of FTL travel is known, as is the location of the single warp point in the Solar System, it is no longer felt necessary to picket deep space. Both nations continue to picket their outer-planet colony sites, though.
With the peace treaty signed, the Coalition sends orders to its survey ships to probe the warp point in the Epsilon Eridani system. Epsilon Eridani is the location of the Coalition’s primary colonial site, New Plymouth, and the focus of the Coalition’s plans to expand. All survey efforts beyond known space had been curtailed under the wartime rules of the Alliance, however, with the Soviets no longer part of the Alliance and the signing of the peace treaty, the Coalition can begin surveying beyond known space. The survey ships jump out of Epsilon Eridani into a yellow-star system with two habitable planets, two Mars-like rocks, two gas giants, and two asteroid belts. The initial probe shows that there are no alien colonies in the system, and the survey fleet settles in to begin the planetary surveys. By the end of the month they have completed the planetary surveys, showing that one of the planets is perfect for colonization with a rating of benign/very-rich, while the other is a super-terrestrial planet rated hostile/very-rich. The Coalition government is ecstatic with this discovery, and plans are made to begin colonization next month.
While technically the Alliance still exists, the Coalition decides that the USSR is in breach of the treaty and therefore withholds the new survey data it is amassing, including the existence of a new habitable planet.
In a surge of excitement related to the peace treaty, the Coalition government approves the construction of a second survey fleet. The Coalition navy agrees to provide escorts for the survey groups, although it will take some time to organize and allocate the ships for these groups. In the meantime, the Coalition launches its first heavy cruiser. Construction is begun on two more as the Rodney leaves the yards.
On day 30 of the month, the USSR’s new Fleet HQ, a 500+ space asteroid fortress, moves into place just outside of missile range of the warp point. The USSR had previously claimed that the fort was to be located in the asteroid belt as a backup fleet anchorage in case of alien invasion of the solar system. With the breakup of the Alliance, though, the Soviets clearly feel that the critical location in the system is the warp point, which, until the appearance of the Soviet fortress, was dominated by the Coalition’s bases assigned to warp point defense. The Coalition protests the diversion of the fort, but receives no reply from the Soviets.
The Soviet Fleet is stretched to provide ships to cover Earth, the outer-planet colony sites in the Solar System, and reinforcements for the main fleet in Leningrad. Once the cruiser fleet has been launched from the orbital yards, things will look much better, however, it will be three months before the first group of cruisers launch, and it will take another month before the second is operational. The Kremlin does not want to wait that long to press into D’Bringi space, so the attack will begin this month.
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Soviet Military Space Service Designs, as of Turn 73
The Moskva class is intended to be the Soviet Union’s primary combatant once it is launched. The design is optimized for combat with Raider cruisers, and is faster tactically, allowing it to stay out of the range of the beam-armed Raider cruisers will pummeling them from long range. The keel for the first unit of this class was laid down in Turn 54, and it will be launched in Turn 69.
MOSKVA class CA 12 XO Racks 60 Hull TL 3
[3] Sx5Ax10ZH(BbS)(II)(II)(II)(II)(II)QWWM2WWDDWDWDLh(II)QMg [6]
60 RCP 40 MCP Trg:3 Cost = 862/ 129.3
HTK 45 Sx5 Ax10 Dx4 Wx6 Mgx1
The r1 refit for the Moskva changed the class weaponry to advanced missile launchers, doubling the cruiser’s rate of fire at long range but eliminating its capability to defend itself at short range. MSS designers felt that this was an acceptable tradeoff given the Raider’s reliance on commercial engines. Still, it is unlikely that a Moskva class cruiser will go anywhere without heavy escort. The first unit of this class to be refitted will be the Moskva, which will launch from refit in Turn 74.
MOSKVA R1 class CA 12 XO Racks 60 Hull TL 4
[3] Sx5Ax9ZH(BbS)(II)(II)(II)(II)(II)?0QRaRaM2RaRaDDRaDRaDLh(II)QMg [6]
60 RCP 40 MCP Trg:3 Bmp +1 Cost = 940/ 141
HTK 45 Sx5 Ax9 Dx4 Rax6 Mgx1
200x SM
The r2 refit for the Udaloy class changed out the ship’s weaponry for lasers. The MSSS intends for this class to be the primary escort ship for the Moskva class cruisers. The refit also updates the point defense suite.
UDALOY R2 class DD 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 3
[3] SSAx6ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsDL(I)QsDL [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 409/ 61.4
HTK 23 Sx2 Ax6 Dx2 Lx2
This class is intended to be a fleet flagship. While it is unarmed, the class mounts long-range scanners, a combat information center, and a communications center. The first unit of this class was launched on Turn 58.
MARSHAL class DD 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 3
[3] SAx4ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsXr(CC)D(CIC)D(I)Qs [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 541/ 81.2
HTK 21 Sx1 Ax4 Dx2
The first unit of this class was launched in turn 64.
CT(DSB) class CT 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 3
[2] H(I)(I)(I)(DCS)D(I)Qs [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 230/ 34.5
HTK 8 Dx1
Upgraded explorer design, largely copied from Coalition designs.
EXX R1 class EX (AC) 7 Hull TL 3
[2] H(BbS)Xi(Ic)Qs [4]
7 RCP 18 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 137.7/ 20.7
HTK 5
The Soviets began construction on the first unit of this class on Turn 57. It is intended to give the USSR the capability of assembling prefabricated bases at forward locations.
MSY class FT5 45 Hull TL 3
[3] AAH(BbS)(SYM)(IcIc)(Ic)(IcIc)DLh(Ic)Q [4]
45 RCP 130 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 385.2/ 17.6
HTK 16 Ax2 Dx1
This unit is intended to tow bases to their deployment locations, and can support the fleet if a ship becomes damaged and must be towed to the shipyards.
TUG class DD 30 Hull TL 3
[3] H(BbS)(IcIcIcIcIcIc)(Ic)(Ic)(Ic)TTDLh(Ic)Q [4]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 241/ 36.2
HTK 17 Dx1 Tx2
This refit adds standard point defense, a CIC, and a buoy control system to the Soviet’s PDC design.
PDC TERRITORY R1 class PDC 783 Hull TL 3
[1]Apx500HWx5MgMgWx5MgMgDx5Wx5MgMgWx5Dx5MgMgWx5Dx5MgMgWx5Dx5MgMgWx5Dx5MgMgDx5Wx5Dx5MgMgDx5Wx5Dx5MgMgWx5Mg(CIC)(DCS)Dx5Mg[0]
783 RCP Trg:1 Cost = 4167/ 416.7
HTK 623 Apx500 Dx50 Wx50 Mgx20
The MSS conceived of this fortress before the Alliance became a reality, when the Coalition was still viewed as the primary threat to the USSR. This fortress was intended to act as an anchorage for the fleet independent of Earth, and as such it contains not only command and communications facilities, but also vast storage facilities located deep within the asteroid to hold maintenance supplies for both the base and the fleet. This fortress was completed in turn 70. On turn 73 the USSR moved it to the warp point to Moskva and emplaced it three light seconds from the warp point. This move was made at a time of high tensions with the Coalition, after the collapse of the Alliance, both to warn the Coalition away from tampering with Soviet ships transiting through the warp point, and to protect the system from D’Bringi raiders.
FLEET HQ class AF 104 XO Racks 523 Hull TL 4
[1]Sx100Apx300ZH(BbL)Qx5Lh(CIC)QMgWx5MgQDDTWx5MgQDDTWx5MgQDDQLhM3Wx5MgDXr(DCS)(CC)LhDQ[0]
523 RCP 27 MCP Trg:4 Cost = 3728.5/ 186.4
HTK 457 Sx100 Apx300 Dx8 Wx20 Tx2 Mgx5
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Turn 73, Day 6
Brezhnev system, D’Bringi Expanses
The first ship through the jump point was a Soviet Udaloy class destroyer named Vice Admiral Kulakov, followed closely by the destroyers Marshal Vasilyevsky, Admiral Zakharov, Admiral Spiridonov, Admiral Tributs, and the Marshal Shaposhnikov. Their sensors showed as single D’Bringi cruiser sitting directly atop the warp point. Unfortunately, as the warp point was uncharted, they came out on random headings, but this had been incorporated into the assault plan. Once through the warp point, they sped away from their entry point at maximum speed, only turning at the last second to clear their blind spot and target the D’Bringi cruiser.
General Lebedev, riding aboard the Vice Admiral Kulakov, ordered his ships to open fire on the D’Bringi ship as they ran from the warp point, causing serious damage to the cruiser in spite of their warp addled senses. The D’Bringi cruiser sat motionlessly on the warp point, its weapons silent, however, shortly after the Russian ships opened fire, DSB-L’s began detonating around the warp point and sending their lasers into the Russian ships. In all seventy-eight DSB-L’s detonated, meaning that each Soviet ship was targeted by thirteen of the automated weapons. The Marshal Shaposhnikov was closest to the onslaught and was overwhelmed by the incoming laser fire, exploding and killing most of her crew. The other five Soviet destroyers were all damaged, with the closest to the warp point receiving the most damage. All had their armor holed and their datalink systems destroyed, and the most heavily damaged, the Admiral Spiridonov and the Admiral Tributs, lost most of their engines. General Lebedev was shaken about a bit as his flagship took damage, but other than that both he and his flagship survived the barrage.
As the remaining destroyers of the first wave curved back towards the warp point and the D’Bringi cruiser sitting atop it, three more Soviet destroyers entered, followed by three corvettes. The D’Bringi cruiser still wasn’t moving, but was streaming atmosphere. General Lebedev didn’t hesitate as his destroyer closed on the warp point and ordered his squadron to continue firing on the alien ship. The D’Bringi could have surrendered now that their ship was wounded, but they remained silent. The salvo of laser fire from the Soviet destroyers tore through the D’Bringi ship, utterly destroying it and bringing the battle to a close.
General Lebedev detailed the newly arrived ships to begin looking for life pods, while his damaged ships transited back to the Leningrad system. Once in Leningrad he transferred to the Marshal Ustinov, his Marshal class command ship, and transited back to the Brezhnev system. The Marshal Ustinov’s sensors confirmed that there were no additional ships within seventy-two light minutes of the warp point, so he authorized the survey group to transit into the system and begin surveying for warp points. In addition, General Lebedev ordered a scout to proceed towards the system primary star and probe for colonies or outposts.
The Brezhnev system was a binary system, with an orange star primary and a red dwarf companion. There were no habitable planets in the system, but there were numerous gas giants and rocky planets, as well as three asteroid belts.
Three days later, as the scout approached the primary star’s outer gas giant, its long-range sensors detected outposts on four of the planet’s five moons. The scout sent the contact report back to the fleet at the warp point, and General Lebedev sent it back to the Solar System, along with a request for troops to secure the D’Bringi colonies. The probe ship determined that there were ten D’Bringi mining outposts scattered across the binary system, totaling approximately five million D’Bringi.
Reinforcements for General Lebedev’s fleet arrive at the end of the month. The three light cruisers and three destroyers more than make up for his losses and the ships that he had to send back to the Solar System for repairs.
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Turn 74
The Coalition 2nd Survey Group leaves Earth this month and moves to the Epsilon Indi system, where it probes one of the system’s three unexplored warp points. The new system is named Sligo, and the Survey Group commander is thrilled when the probe ship reports back. The system is a binary system with no less than four habitable planets, two Earth-like and two super-terrestrial. The survey group’s scout is dispatched into the system to conduct a civilization probe. Just before the end of the month the probe ship reports back – there is a civilization on one of the Earth-like planets orbiting the system’s secondary star. It appears to be confined to its home planet, and no other populations are observed anywhere in the system. The civilization appears to be at the industrial tech level, and so not capable of meaningful travel between the planets of its own system, much less other systems. Oddly, the newly discovered race’s home planet is orbited by nearly fifty small space stations. The contact report is sent back to Earth for evaluation, and the survey group prepares to probe another unexplored warp point in the Epsilon Indi system.
The USSR’s orbital assets note the departure of what can only be a full-scale planetary colonization fleet from the Coalition’s territories on Earth. The USSR’s leaders realize that this means that the Coalition has not only resumed warp point exploration, but has also found at least one habitable planet without informing them. Therefore, on Day 5, the USSR formally dissolves the Alliance. The treaty prohibitions about weapons within a certain radius around Earth remain in effect, but the cooperation inherent in the Alliance is a dead letter. The Russian leaders are not ready to forego trade with the Coalition, so they take pains to make it clear to the Coalition’s leaders that trade will continue.
Four Coalition mobile shipyards leave Earth, bound for New Plymouth in the Epsilon Eridani system, a three-month trip.
Admiral Ruston’s force has returned to Earth and refits have begun on its smaller units. Ruston’s ships are rebranded as the Reformation Coalition 1st Fleet. Once refits are done the main fleet will be based at the warp point in the Solar System that leads to Sigma Draconis, with a task force based forward at the colony of Plateau in the Sigma Draconis system.
The USSR’s first cruiser, the Moskva, joins the fleet fresh from its refit. The five destroyers damaged in the battle to enter the Brezhnev system enter the yards for repairs, and construction begins on two new destroyers.
In the Brezhnev system, the Soviet survey fleet completes its rough survey of the system and discovers no new warp points. General Lebedev is disappointed, but orders the survey units to continue with their detailed survey. Occupation troops have arrived and taken up posts across the system, bringing the D’Bringi mining outposts under control. General Lebedev orders every effort to be made to discover the location and number of warp points in the system by examining records and interrogating D’Bringi who may know about that information.
Turn 75
The Coalition First Survey Group completes its survey of the Indigo system even as colony transports are landing colonists on Indigo III, which the colonists rename New Washington. The system is found to have two new warp points, and, when probed, these new warp points are discovered to lead to two new systems, each with a habitable type T planet. The 1st then moves into the Codalus system to begin survey efforts there. By the end of the month they have determined that the innermost planet is rated Benign/Normal.
The Second Survey Group probes the two remaining unexplored warp points in the Epsilon Indi system, discovering two new systems, each with an Earth-like planet. As the Coalition government still has not decided on contact with the new aliens discovered in the Sligo system, the survey commander sends her ships into the Orphicon system to survey the type T planet there. Their survey of the new planet is complete by end of the month, and the results are sent back to the Earth. The new planet is rated Harsh/Rich, and will be named New Sydney.
The Soviet survey group completes its survey of the Brezhnev system, confirming that there are no additional warp points. This forces General Lebedev to admit that the D’Bringi must have a closed warp point into the system. Unfortunately, intelligence teams working on the D’Bringi outposts report that they have not been able to develop any new information. This system appears to be a frontier system, and all of the populations in the system are little more than mining outposts. If they ever had any strategic information, it is long gone now. General Lebedev’s intelligence teams were able to confirm that there is a second warp point in the system, but cannot find anyone who knows its location, and all pertinent databanks appear to have been wiped. (Author’s note: The D’Bringi have a 90% Determination rating, meaning that it will be rare that they give up info). General Lebedev is forced to report back that their offensive has come to a halt, at least for now.
Turn 75
The Coalition is sending colonists to the Indigo and the Orphicon systems. The refits for the smaller ships in the fleet continue. Public approval of the peace treaty with the D’Bringi and of the Coalition government has soared now that the survey fleets have found no less than six Earth-like planets open for colonization. Even the public’s concern about the nuclear sword held over their heads by the Soviet’s, a constant since the Last War, has receded somewhat with the USSR’s preoccupation with the D’Bringi.
Early in the month, the Coalition government authorizes the commander of the 2nd Survey Group’s escort ships to establish contact with the planet-bound aliens in the Sligo system. Commodore Antonia Durant orders her destroyers to accompany her frigate to just outside of a seventy-two light minute bubble around the planet, and then proceeds inwards alone. Approximately a day later, shortly after the Coalition frigate crossed the thirty-six light minute line, it received a communication from the planet. Commodore Durant orders her contact specialists to begin working to decipher the alien communications, and transmissions begin flying back and forth.
Turn 76
With the completion of their survey efforts in the Brezhnev system, General Lebedev is forced to release the survey group for duty in other systems. The Soviet government has become very concerned about the public reports within the Coalition of the plethora of habitable planets that have been discovered. The survey group is ordered to proceed to the Smolensk system to begin probing the two unexplored warp points located there.
In the Solar System, the first five Soviet heavy cruisers have been launched. The original plan was to send them to General Lebedev’s fleet, however, given the lull in advance, the decision is made to put the newly launched cruisers back in the yards for refit to the latest version.
Turn 77
The Coalition mobile shipyards, having reached the Epsilon Eridani system, begin construction of a new prototype base intended for defense of the colony world. The base is big, almost 50% larger than a heavy cruiser, and mounts numerous advanced missile launchers along with several force beam turrets for close-in protection. It will take almost two years to complete construction on the prototype base, but the Coalition feels that he knowledge and capability gained will be worth it, especially as the construction is taking place far beyond the Soviet Union’s prying eyes. Such a base, armed with missiles, would almost certainly cause the USSR to object if it was built in the Solar System, and, of course, it could not be placed anywhere near the Earth under the existing treaties.
In the Sligo system, Coalition Commodore Durant has been having difficulties trying to establish reliable communications with the Tarek, as the locals call themselves. The Tarek are large and bulky, and look like a huge terrestrial crab, with a thick carapace and heavy armor over nearly their entire bodies. Over the last several months the Tarek have proven to be prickly and quick to take offense at the slightest opportunity. To facilitate communications, Commodore Durant ordered her frigate to close on the Tarek home planet to a distance of one light second, however, the Tarek apparently considered this a declaration of war and cut off all communications, after sending a communique that Commodore Durant is pretty sure was a declaration of their undying hatred and intent to conquer the Coalition. After repeated and fruitless attempts to communicate with the Tarek, Durant orders her squadron to head out-system towards the warp point. She is not sure what the Tarek actually intend to do, as her frigate’s sensors have confirmed that the Tarek have not achieved HT technology yet. The results of the communications attempts are sent back to Earth, and the response is immediate. The system will be surveyed and the other habitable planets will be settled. The Tarek will be left alone, as long as they do not venture off of their planet.
Unknown to the Coalition, a brilliant Tarek scientist made a breakthrough this month, and the Tarek would begin developing HT 1 systems even as the challenge was sent out to the interlopers in their system.
The Soviet exploration fleet passes through the Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system on its way to the Smolensk system, and its passage is noted by the Coalition naval forces stationed there. The contact report is sent back up the chain to Earth, where the Coalition government is faced with a problem. Since the collapse of the Alliance the Coalition has located and colonized numerous Earth-like planets. It is possible, based on the precedent set in the Sigma Draconis system, that the Soviets will demand settlement rights on those planets, something the Coalition wants to avoid. After some debate within the administration, and consultation with prominent legislators, the CEO of the Coalition signs off on a plan to exclude the USSR from the Epsilon Eridani and Epsilon Indi warp chains. The warp links to the system with unexplored warp points are as follows:
Sol---------Sigma Draconis-------------------Shaka----Epsilon Eridani
| / |
| / |
Centaurus Hector Epsilon Indi
Note: I can't get this to line up right. I will post a pic of the warp maps of both the USSR and the Coalition either today or tomorrow.
To date three habitable planets have been discovered in the warp chains past Epsilon Eridani and another three past Epsilon Indi. The warp links in the Hector system haven’t been explored by the Coalition yet, so what is beyond that system is unknown. Fortunately, Coalition scouts shadowing the Soviet exploration fleet confirm that it is headed towards the Hector system. The Coalition Navy sends orders to the Colonial Defense Detachment in the Epsilon Eridani system, and to one of the Survey Escort Groups in the area to establish blockades at the warp points into those systems in the Shaka system.
On the 20th the Coalition CEO meets with the Premier of the USSR and informs him of the decision of the Coalition government to declare the Epsilon Eridani system, and the Epsilon Indi system, territories of the Coalition. The CEO informs the Premier that in light of this decision, Soviet ships will not be allowed to transit into or through those systems. In exchange, the Coalition grants the USSR the sole rights to anything found in or beyond the Hector system, as well as all rights to the Centaurus system, and the D’Bringi systems beyond that.
The following discussion was acrimonious, by all reports, and the Premier did not agree to any of the Coalition’s offers, however, the CEO stood firm and stated that Coalition naval forces would defend Epsilon Eridani and Epsilon Indi as if they were Coalition territories on Earth. The meeting ended abruptly, and although the Coalition’s CEO did not get anything like an agreement out of the Premier, she and her advisors were pretty sure that the USSR would not risk war with the Coalition at the same time that they were at war with the D’Bringi.
Word from the Soviet exploration fleet arrives on Earth by the end of the month. The fleet arrived in the Smolensk (Hector) system and probed both warp points, finding systems with no habitable planets. The fleet will enter one and begin its warp point survey next month.
Meanwhile, in the Brezhnev system, it has become clear to General Lebedev that the only way that the location of the hidden warp point will become known is if the D’Bringi use it to enter the system. Therefore, he sends an urgent priority request for all available long-range sensor equipped ships to be put under his command. He currently has four, including his flagship, which is not enough to cover very much of the system. By the end of the month he has six additional scouts in the system, giving him some coverage, but still not enough. He intends to station enough scouts across the system to detect any D’Bringi force that enters the system. While it is unlikely that the scouts would be close enough to see the precise location that the D’Bringi entered the system at, even a general location would be enough to focus his efforts. As he disperses the scouts, he receives orders from the Kremlin. The fleet is to return to the Solar System, to counterbalance the growing strength of the Coalition.
Turn 78
The Coalition has a breakthrough into HT 5, and immediately starts construction on a prototype battlecruiser. This prototype battlecruiser hull will take fourteen months to build, and almost certainly will be outdated when it launches, but the RCSN is tired of being behind the USSR in construction of large hulls.
The USSR also completes research on HT 5 and begins R&D on various systems, including capital missiles and capital missile launchers. The USSR also begins construction on a prototype battlecruiser using off-the-shelf technology.
General Lebedev detaches three destroyers and three corvettes from his main fleet and leaves them to guard the nine scouts he is leaving to picket the Brezhnev system. The rest of his fleet sets out for the Solar system on the 1st and arrives at the Solar warp point on day 25. They are met at the warp point by reinforcements from Earth consisting of three heavy cruisers and three destroyers.
Meanwhile, light years away from human space, the three primary clan chiefs of the D’Bringi agreed. The humans weren’t going to come through the closed warp point. It was time to take care of other, more pressing, business. The nine cruisers of the Combined Clan Fleets turned away from the warp point that they had been guarding and set out across the D’Bringi Expanses. The Keepers could guard the warp point they were leaving behind. That was what they did. The Clans of the D’Bringi were riding to glory!
Turn 79
The nine cruisers that made up the Combined Clan Fleets of the D’Bringi were closing in on their target, an inhabited planet discovered by Keeper survey fleets some time ago. The attack on the aliens had been delayed due to the difficulties with the humans, but now that the humans had been stopped by the closed warp point it was time for another glorious war. Their scouts had confirmed that the pitiful aliens inhabiting the system had only a few defense ships, and from the D’Bringi point of view, such poor preparation was simply an invitation for them to come in and take all that the aliens had. After all, if they valued their possessions, they would have defended them better, like the humans had. The human’s fleet strength had limited the D’Bringi clans to raids, which had still been glorious, but these new aliens had no such honor, as was about to be demonstrated to them.
The aliens had detected the D’Bringi fleet a day and a half ago, and had been sending pitiful messages of friendship (the D’Bringi assumed), all of which had been ignored. Now, the D’Bringi cruisers had closed to weapons range, and the fun could begin. The nine D’Bringi cruisers faced one alien cruiser, two destroyers, and two corvettes, along with two large bases. The D’Bringi closed to four light seconds and then fired a salvo of missiles from their external ordnance racks and the internal launchers of three of their cruisers. This missile wave was targeted on the alien cruiser in an attempt to crush their spirit in the first blow. Given the fact that the approaching ships had failed to even try to talk, the alien defense force was modulating its engines to make themselves harder targets. In addition, the alien cruiser launched an EDM when it became clear that it was the target of the entire missile wave. The alien return fire was anemic, compared to the numbers of missiles fired from the D’Bringi ships, but their targeting was excellent and they scored far more hits, totally destroying one of the D’Bringi beam cruisers and shocking the Clan Chiefs, who responded in the only way they could – they ordered a charge into the alien guns!
The next round of fire took place at three light seconds range, with the D’Bringi again concentrating on the alien cruiser. Both sides had exhausted their external ordnance racks, so this exchange was purely from internal launchers. The aliens continued to modulate their engines and the cruiser again launched an EDM, confusing the incoming D’Bringi missiles, which only managed to achieve four hits. Correctly identifying the D’Bringi cruisers which hadn’t fired as beam armed ships, the aliens concentrated on the five beam-cruisers as they closed. The alien destroyers were launching two salvoes of a single missile each, indicating that they were armed with a single advanced missile launcher. The alien cruiser had fallen silent, perhaps indicating that it was armed with short-ranged weapons. The alien corvettes were silent as well, but the two bases were launching two salvoes of three missiles each. All of the alien missiles were aimed with incredible accuracy, and although there weren’t a lot of them, they were getting through the D’Bringi defenses, leaving a D’Bringi cruiser streaming atmosphere.
The three D’Bringi missile armed cruisers slowed to a halt at three light seconds and began modulating their engines while the beam-armed cruisers continued to charge ahead. Two D’Bringi beam armed cruisers let loose with lasers and energy projectors at two light seconds, continuing to target the alien cruiser, chewing through its remaining defenses and doing internal damage. The alien bases fired in response, each launching three missiles and a staggering thirteen sprint missiles at one of the incoming D’Bringi cruisers. The D’Bringi cruiser targeted by the base was simply swept away by the incoming fire, destroyed before it could get off a shot. The other two D’Bringi beam armed cruisers opened up with everything they had, including the sprint missiles they were carrying on their XO racks, all targeted on the alien cruiser. They managed to get two hits with their lasers and one hit from a sprint missile launched from their external racks. The D’Bringi missile armed cruisers continued to pelt the alien cruiser with missiles from three light seconds out, and the alien cruiser had been damaged enough that it was no longer able to continue engine modulations at the same level, so more missiles were getting through.
The D’Bringi clan chiefs were stunned. They had already lost two difficult to replace cruisers, in exchange for damaging a single alien cruiser. This was not the way this was supposed to go. Still, they could not order a retreat at this point, not without an almost certain fatal loss of honor. The attack would go forward. The next exchange of fire took place at one light second. Two D’Bringi beam-armed cruisers fired into the defiant alien cruiser, finally gutting it, leaving it a burning hulk drifting over the alien planet. The two alien bases fired in return, targeting two D’Bringi beam armed cruisers, destroying one and heavily damaging the other. The damaged D’Bringi cruiser was crippled seconds later by the alien destroyers. In return, the remaining D’Bringi ships targeted one of the bases, but it deployed an EDM and only two missiles, a sprint missile, and a single energy projector scored hits.
By now the clan chiefs knew they should have ordered the retreat, however, it was too late. The two remaining beam armed ships would never manage to get out of range of those bases. Even if they turned aside now, with their commercial engines it would take at least 90 seconds to get out of the range of the sprint missiles being fired by the bases, and they would never make it.
The three clan chiefs, each aboard their missile-armed flagships and safely out of range of the alien bases, came to a decision. The Clan Chief for the B’Regest Clan called his subordinates aboard the two remaining cruisers. “The clan expects honor and victory, and the two of you are the only ones who can make this happen. The Clan will honor your memories as heroes beyond all others. You know what to do. Victory!”
The communications line closed, and the chief officers aboard the two remaining beam armed cruisers paled, but a clan warrior knew what was expected. “Helm, target the bases. Ram them!”
The two D’Bringi cruisers raced towards the alien bases, closing rapidly to point blank range. At the last possible second the two bases let loose with every weapon they had, inundating the two approaching cruisers with nuclear explosions as sprint missiles exploded on the D’Bringi ship’s naked drive fields, shredding the ship’s armor and internal systems. For a few seconds it appeared that the bases were successful in stopping the rammers, but then the two D’Bringi ships, streaming atmosphere and chunks of their internal systems, emerged from the explosions that had obscured them and rammed the two big bases. Titanic explosions lit orbital space as the big cruisers slammed into the even bigger bases. When the massive explosions cleared, the two bases and the D’Bringi cruisers were gone. Just gone. So violent was the explosions that there were no life pods from any of the combatants, nor debris bigger than about a centimeter. The D’Bringi missile-armed cruisers launched a salvo at one of the remaining alien DD’s, which returned fire, to little effect on either side.
With that valiant act, the entire nature of the battle changed. The destruction of the two bases left the defenders just two destroyers, which now moved out towards the three remaining D’Bringi ships. The D’Bringi cruisers turned away from the approaching DD’s, keeping the range open as much as they could. The alien DD’s closed to two point two five light seconds and opened fire, knocking down a D’Bringi cruiser’s shields. The three D’Bringi ships returned fire, causing serious internal damage to one of the alien DD’s and slowing it to a crawl.
The last alien DD managed to close to one point five light seconds and fired again, shredding more of the D’Bringi ship’s armor, but then the three D’Bringi ships switched to sprint-mode fire for their missile launchers and bypassed the alien DD’s wickedly accurate point defenses, smashing through the DD’s passive defenses and crippling the ship. At this point the alien DD’s, and the two corvettes in orbit, dropped their drive fields, signaling that they surrendered. The battle was over.
Now in control of the world’s orbitals, the D’Bringi clan chiefs broadcasted a demand for surrender, followed by a few demonstration-strikes on out of the way islands. The aliens weren’t crazy, or suicidal, so they promptly surrendered as D’Bringi troops began landing. Another race had been subdued and put to work for the D’Bringi. The cost was high, though. Only one of the missile armed cruisers had been damaged, but five of the six beam-armed cruisers had been destroyed, and the only beam armed CA to escape destruction was crippled to the extent that it would eventually be scuttled.
Shocked by their losses, the clan chiefs met in orbit over their new conquest. Even as clan troops looted the planet below, the clan chiefs decided that their reliance on commercial engines would end. What had seemed prudent before, now seemed foolish. The interesting question was, why had their benefactors been so adamant that the D’Bringi use commercial engines on the ships that they built?
As was standard D’Bringi clan policy, the shipyard in orbit over the planet was destroyed, as the D’Bringi had no need of it, and it would delay the subject race’s recovery. The two damaged DD’s and the two corvettes that had surrendered were sent back to the D’Bringi home world for study and repair. The D’Bringi occupation troops would loot approximately 6,600 mega-credits of wealth from the Doraz Contingency’s home world as they took control, which would more than pay for the six cruisers lost, but the Clan Chiefs had held other plans for that money. There were many demands on the D’Bringi at this time, and the loss of six cruisers would be difficult to make up. The mega-credits looted here would go a long way towards patching the holes in the patchwork mélange that the D’Bringi called an economy.
Turn 79
The Soviet exploration fleet has completed a rough survey of the Kirov system (beyond the Smolensk system), and found four new warp points. The exploration group commander decides to probe the new warp points before continuing with the detailed survey in the hopes of finding a habitable planet. They find a habitable planet in two of the systems, while the third is filled with uninhabitable planets and moons, and the fourth is a starless area of space.
Turn 80
The D’Bringi auction off a system they recently discovered to several races that they have had contact with. The system has no less than five habitable planets, but unfortunately all five are type “T” (Earth-like) worlds, which the D’Bringi cannot use. There are two races bidding, the T’Pau Syndicate and the Rehorish Stellar Dominion. Of the two, the Rehorish were able to bid higher. The T’Pau are a Satrapy of the D’Bringi, and their economy still hasn’t recovered from the D’Bringi conquest that brought them into the D’Bringi star nation as an associated race. On the other hand, the Rehorish have a trade agreement with the D’Bringi, as the D’Bringi were impressed with the size and strength of the Rehorish navy at the time of first contact, and the Rehorish have a government style that the D’Bringi can understand and work with. Thus the Rehorish have a relatively strong economy and can outbid the T’Pau. The D’Bringi give the Rehorish the warp link information that will take them to their new system, based on an agreement that the D’Bringi will let them travel through their space freely to get to and from this system, and exchange the Rehorish will not explore any of the D’Bringi systems linking them to their new system or attempt to discover any of the other warp links in those systems.
The Coalition’s 2nd Survey Group moves into the Sligo system this month to begin survey efforts. Following orders, they skip the survey of the third planet of the secondary star, as that planet is inhabited by the hostiles known as the Tarek. The Tarek apparently detect the numerous small survey craft swarming through the inner system and the Coalition ships are bombarded by communications that can only be considered hostile, although no one has quite figured out the Tarek language, and the Tarek themselves don’t seem to feel that it is necessary for the humans to understand their language to get the point across. The Coalition’s survey efforts continue.
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Hmmm...I thought I added comments to the maps, to make it clear what some of the locations were. It seems I didn't, so I'll add some comments below the maps.
Soviet Warp Map:
(https://i.imgur.com/MKDoFGu.jpg)
The Brehznev system is the location of several conquered D'Bringi outposts and a suspected closed warp point to the D'Bringi empire. Saratov, Rostov-na-Donu, and Sverdlovsk have all effectively been ceded to the Coalition, although officially the USSR never actually agreed to this and still maintains that it has the right to transit those systems. This leaves the Smolensk system as the focus for all of the USSR's expansion efforts, but fortunately the Kirov system seems to have plenty of warp points.
Coalition Warp Map:
(https://i.imgur.com/mgjzrps.jpg)
The Coalition has given control of the Timor, Centaurus, and Galloway's star systems to the USSR, as they are believed to lead to the D'Bringi. Hector has also been ceded to the USSR to give them a route to expand.
Kurt
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Soviet Union
Turn 80
The USSR is engaged in a war with the D’Bringi and has conquered the D’Bringi mining system of Brezhnev, however, their offensive has stalled in that system due to a likely close warp point. During the Soviet preoccupation with the war, the Coalition seized the systems of Rostov-na-Donu and Sverdlovsk, as well as the unknown systems beyond the Saratov system. Since then, the Coalition has denied Soviet ships access to those systems and has stationed warships at the warp points leading to those systems. The Soviet government has protested those actions, but the regressive capitalists have ignored the rightful protests of the people of the Soviet Union. The seizure of those systems by the Coalition made the Smolensk system the USSR’s single route of expansion and Soviet survey ships are working diligently to expand the territories available to the USSR.
The USSR has been experimenting for the last six months with methods to control the D’Bringi population in the Brezhnev system. The D’Bringi clan system is nearly impenetrable for an outsider, and this gave the Soviet occupation troops no end of trouble in the first couple of months. On month 76 the Soviet government sent in cultural specialists to study the D’Bringi, and they have come to several interesting conclusions. For all that D’Bringi culture appears to be a complex web of alliances, duties, and responsibilities related to a person’s position within their clan, the specialists discovered that for the bulk of the D’Bringi people the clans are little more than overlords, oppressing them and taking what they make or grow. Their interactions with the clans, great and small, are of little interest to them, much as the ancient medieval serfs cared little which king or noble ruled the land. For them the name of the king mattered not at all, as their lives were the same regardless. And so it is for the D’Bringi. Every D’Bringi miner in every mining outpost throughout the system could tell you which of the great clans owned the mines they worked, but very few could give any differences between the clans. Upon digging deeper, the specialists have suggested that the D’Bringi are very recent to space and space travel. Most of the miners throughout the Brezhnev system can remember a time before space travel was common. Indeed, some can remember a time before flight through the atmosphere was possible. This would fit together nicely with the rather ramshackle nature of the D’Bringi government, and its backward and regressive organization. All of this has suggested an opportunity to the military rulers of the USSR. Although they themselves do not actually believe in communism, and have taken great pains to prevent the communist party from regaining the power they once had, they have kept the party around to help control the people and to give them some continuity to the past. Now, the Central Committee sees an opportunity to convert the D’Bringi workers to an anti-clan, communist mindset, under their control, of course. Their hope is to use D’Bringi from the Brezhnev system to cause chaos and unrest in the D’Bringi empire, should a route into that nation be found. Commissars and aide and support teams drawn from the rank and file communist party, formerly involved in goodwill reclamation projects in nations bordering the USSR on Earth, will be sent to Brezhnev to separate the workers there from the exploitative clans and convert them into good citizens of the USSR.
The Soviet Union currently has only one extra-Solar colony site, in the Moskva system. There is growing concern in the Kremlin that the Coalition is far ahead of the USSR in terms of colonization. Although the exact number of systems colonized by the Coalition is unknown, the number of colonists the Coalition has sent out of the Solar System is staggering, and it has been a nearly unending flow.
The Soviet Military Space Service has embraced the “big-ship” concept and currently has nine heavy cruisers in service, with another three under construction. In addition, a prototype battlecruiser is under construction and will be launched in turn 92. Previously, the MSS had continued to use lasers as the primary beam weaponry of its smaller ships even after the force beam became available. This was for two reasons, one because lasers were cheaper than force beams, meaning that more ships could be launched with lasers than force beams, and secondly, because lasers penetrated shields with ease. With the ongoing development of improved armor, the fleet’s lasers have become obsolete and will be replaced with force beams in the next round of refits. No decision has been made as the deployment strategy for the new capital missiles currently under development.
Fleet Deployments:
Solar System
Home Fleet (Earth): 6xCA, 3xCL, 6xDD, 2xCT(DSBC)
1st Fleet (at WP to Moskva): 3xCA, 9xCL, 1xDDC, 6xDD
Neptune Patrol Group: 2xCT
Saturn Patrol Group: 2xCT
Uranus Patrol Group: 2xCT
Sol WP Defense: 1xAF(HQ), 1xDD(Tug), 2xCT, 1xEXS, 245xDSB-L
(Once sensor buoys have been developed, the patrol groups around Neptune, Saturn, and Uranus will be replaced by buoys.)
1st Fleet, Picket Group (Brezhnev): 3xDD, 3xCT, 19xEXS
Note: The EXS are dispersed throughout they system with their drives down in an attempt to capture any D’Bringi ships that enter through a suspected closed warp point on their sensors. While they wouldn’t likely be able to localize the location of the closed warp point sufficiently to allow transit, they will be able to determine its location within twelve light minutes or so, giving the fleet someplace to concentrate its attentions. Currently, the scouts cover the entire system out to a range of approximately two hundred and fifty-two light minutes from the primary. This leaves a band approximately 72 light minutes wide around the outer edge of the system not yet covered by Soviet sensors. Eighteen more scouts will be needed to cover this area, but it is not clear when they will be available.
Exploration Group (Tomsk system): 25xEX
Leningrad WP Defense (Leningrad, wp to Brezhnev): 4xCT(DCSBC), 370xDSB-L
Under Construction: 3xCA, 1xBC
Note: The USSR is currently spending 48.9% of its monthly income on maintenance. In order to avoid overtaxing its economy, construction of new ships has been curtailed, and the government is considering mothballing light cruisers as the new battlecruisers come online.
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Reformation Coalition
Turn 80
The Reformation Coalition is at peace, and for the first time has felt relatively free from pressure from the USSR due to that nation’s ongoing war with the D’Bringi. Although the Coalition has no current information concerning the status of the war between the USSR and the D’Bringi, and the main Soviet Fleet has returned to the Solar System, it is clear that the war is ongoing as the Soviets have not announced their victory over that race, something they would be sure to do if they had won such a victory, if only to sway the non-aligned countries of the world to their side.
The USSR’s preoccupation with the war has allowed the Coalition to steal a march on them by claiming the Epsilon Eridani and Epsilon Indi systems as Coalition sovereign territory. This in turn gave the Coalition sole access to the six Earth-like worlds found in the systems beyond those two systems. The USSR would never have tolerated such a move before contact with the D’Bringi, but with the USSR distracted by the war and with their fleet occupied in or beyond Galloway’s Star, the Coalition government decided that making those two systems, and the systems beyond them, Coalition territory represented a reasonable risk. That decision proved to be prudent when the USSR limited itself to diplomatic protests, leaving the Coalition in sole possession of those systems. There were some that advocated for seizing the Shaka system as well, cutting the USSR off from all unexplored warp points aside from those in D’Bringi space, but that was felt to be too provocative and would be almost certainly grounds for war.
The Coalition currently has colonized five systems outside of the Solar System, and a colony fleet is on its way to begin settling a sixth. Two additional systems with habitable planets are being surveyed and will be colonized in the near future.
The Coalition has discovered one technologically advanced race during its explorations, aside from the D’Bringi. Little is known of the Tarek of the Sligo system as they broke off contact shortly after it was established by the survey group assigned to the system. Because the Tarek are confined to their planet the Coalition legislature has authorized the establishment of a colony on the second planet of the secondary star in spite of the proximity to the Tarek. Given their limited space-travel capabilities it does not appear that they have ever traveled to their sister planet and the Coalition government has determined that they have no claim to it as they do not have the capacity to settle or exploit it.
The Reformation Coalition Space Navy has been built up almost from the first as a reaction to Soviet fleet deployments rather than from a unified and coherent strategy. The first attempt to rationalize fleet design and deployments came in reaction to the D’Bringi threats, and resulted in a shift in weaponry from missile to beam in the fleet’s smaller combatants. Currently, the Coalition spends 42.7% of its monthly budget on fleet maintenance, which is actually down from almost 50% a few months ago due to heavy colonization efforts. In any case, the Coalition government has decided to slow the growth of the fleet to prevent the growth of its maintenance budget from breaking the national budget.
Fleet Deployments
Solar System
Home Fleet (Earth): 3xCA, 1xFGS, 3xCT
1st Fleet (at WP to Sigma Draconis): 9xCL, 3xDD, 1xFGS, 12xCT, 3xES, 2xEXS
Saturn Squadron: 3xCT, 1xEXS
Uranus Squadron: 3xCT, 1xEXS
Sol WP Defense: 1xFT4(Tug), 3xDD(DSBC), 3xBS1, 8xBS0, 1xEXS
Extra-Solar Deployments:
Plateau Defense Force (Sigma Draconis): 3xDD, 1xEXS
New Plymouth Defense Force (Epsilon Eridani): 3xDD, 1xFGS, 3xCT, 1xEXS
Colony Defense Group (Sligo): 3xES, 1xEXS *(the colony in this system is not yet established, the force is here to watch the Tarek)
Colonial Picket Codalus: 1xEXS
Colonial Picket Indigo: 1xEXS
Colonial Picket Kohl: 1xEXS
Colonial Picket Kowloon: 1xEXS
Colonial Picket Orphicon: 1xEXS
Picket Group Shaka: 5xEXS
Picket Group Sigma Draconis: 2xEXS
Survey Group #1 (Kohl): 20xEX
Survey Group #1 Escort (Kohl/Indigo WP): 3xDD, 1xFGS
Survey Group #2 (Orphicon): 20xEX
Survey Group #2 Escort (Epsilon Indi/Orphicon WP): 3xDD, 1xFGS
Under Construction: 1xBC
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Turn 81
The Soviet exploration fleet completes its rough survey of the Tomsk system, discovering an unprecedented eight additional warp points. A colony fleet leaves the Soviet Union for the Tomsk system, to colonize the Benign/Very Rich planet discovered there.
The eight unexplored warp points in the Tomsk system makes the system incredibly valuable to the Soviets. The Soviet leaders had been extremely concerned when it became clear that the Coalition had stolen a march on them by effectively seizing two of the three systems with unexplored warp points, leaving the USSR with only one outlet for exploration once the warp chain leading to the D’Bringi petered out. Now, with the Tomsk system a nexus of numerous open warp points, the USSR was assured constant access to new worlds and systems.
Turn 82
Coalition survey ships probing the single new warp point found in the Kohl system have found a new system containing another habitable planet. The new system is named Lassa. Coalition colonization begins in the Sligo system, targeted on the second planet in the binary system’s secondary star system, the uninhabited neighbor to the planet-bound Tarek. The Tarek have shown no sign of developing the ability to move beyond their world, but in any case, a small Coalition naval squadron has been stationed at the new colony to protect them should the Tarek prove to be unreasonable.
The Soviet survey fleet in the Tomsk system completes its detailed survey of the system and brings the total of newly discovered warp points to eleven. A message is sent back to fleet HQ requesting guidance. Given the D’Bringi threat, the Soviets are unwilling to allow unarmed exploration ships to probe the new warp points, especially in a system as valuable as the Tomsk system.
Turn 83
One hundred and ninety-two light minutes from the system primary, a small D’Bringi exploration ship appeared suddenly, out of seemingly nothing. The ship’s commander noted that the warp point they had materialized at was a closed warp point, which was undetectable unless you happened to have transited through it, as they just had. His interest piqued; the ship’s commander set his crew and computers to identifying the system they were currently operating within. Within minutes the ship’s computers and sensors had identified the system’s major planets and set to comparing them to a database of known systems. Within seconds they had a match. This was the Yeack system and was known to the D’Bringi. The explorer’s commander was more than excited. The clans would pay for this information, and pay dearly. Quietly, without being noticed, the explorer jumped out. None of the human ships in the system had noted its appearance or disappearance. The Leningrad/Centaurus system appeared the same as it always had. For now.
The Soviet survey group is given orders to move to the Novosibirsk system and begin survey efforts there. The 1st Fleet under General Lebedev will proceed to the Tomsk system and begin probing the warp points there. The Soviet high command is excited about the potential for the warp points in the Tomsk system to lead to a D’Bringi system, and wants the fleet on hand to exploit any opportunities, or to defend against any dangers.
Before the 1st Fleet leaves the Solar System, several ships are transferred from it to the Home Fleet, and from the Home Fleet to the departing 1st Fleet. The 1st Fleet now consists of six heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, nine destroyers, two frigate-scouts, and the General’s flagship-destroyer.
The Coalition’s bases at the warp point in the Solar System note the departure of the Soviet fleet with interest, and a scout will shadow them as far as the Shaka system, beyond which is Soviet territory.
Turn 84
The Coalition 2nd Survey Group probes the four new warp points in the Sligo system, discovering that the four new systems contain a grand total of five type “T” worlds. Three of the systems contain one type T planet, while the fourth has two. One of the planets is inhabited by a race at the industrial tech level. Although shaken by her failure with the Tarek, Commodore Durant follows SOP and attempts to establish contact with the newly discovered race in the Redwing system.
The planet would be considered harsh for human habitation, as it orbits its white star primary in the outer edge of the liquid-water zone and has an average temperature of just above freezing. As the Commodore’s ship approaches the planet, they find that the natives are using fairly weak radios to communicate. Contact is established, and the natives prove to be friendly and inquisitive. Between the Coalition’s growing skill in communicating with other races and the native’s apparently superior skills or intelligence, progress in understanding each other’s language is made almost immediately, allowing for rudimentary communication.
The Soviet 1st Fleet arrives in the Kirov system and splits into three task forces, each built around a long-range sensor equipped scout. Before the end of the month, the task forces probe three of the unexplored warp points, finding one system with two habitable planets, one with one habitable planet, and the third with no habitable planets. None of the planets are inhabited, and none of the systems show signs of exploitation.
Meanwhile, the Soviet survey fleet has moved into the Novosibirsk system, and begins its rough survey of the system this month. By the end of the month the fleet has accumulated enough survey information to complete its rough survey, and it discovers no less than six additional warp points.
Turn 85
The Soviet survey fleet completes its detailed survey of the Novosibirsk system, locating one additional warp point for a grand total of nine new warp points in the system.
In the Tomsk system, the Soviet 1st Fleet continues probing the remaining new warp points, bringing the total of habitable worlds connected to the Tomsk system to eight, located in five of the eleven systems. In one of the last systems probed, the Soviet frigate-scout materialized just thirty-six light minutes from the system primary. The system was a binary system, with a white star primary and a yellow star secondary, both of which were orbited by habitable Earth-like planets. The soviet scout was just twenty-three light minutes from the habitable planet in the primary system, and it lit up the scout’s sensors like a flare in the night sky. There was a significant population on the planet, and when the scout’s sensors recovered, they could see that there were a fair number of drive field contacts around the planet. The Soviet commander’s first instinct was to retreat through the warp point, but the aliens would have already detected them. Leaving now would only convince them that the humans were hostile. Instead, the Starshiy Liytenant commanding the frigate ordered his comms section to send a standard first contact message to the aliens. Shortly after the message would have been received at the planet, a group of nine ships left the planet headed for the Soviet ship. The frigate transited back to the Tomsk system to broadcast a warning to the rest of the fleet, then returned to the new system to await contact. Shortly thereafter the aliens contacted the Soviet frigate and the two races began efforts to decipher the other’s language.
Turn 86
With the warp point survey of the Novosibirsk system complete, the Soviet survey fleet sets out for one of the systems beyond the Tomsk system, to begin surveying the habitable planet in the system. The nine new warp points in the Novosibirsk system will be probed by the 1st Fleet, once it completes its contact efforts with the Bjering.
The Soviets begin construction on six heavy cruisers and six destroyers. This move catches the Coalition by surprise. Shipbuilding for both sides has fallen off recently as both fleets have expanded to the point where they are consuming 45-50% of their respective nation’s income each month to support themselves. This large new construction effort will both upset the current balance of power and potentially bankrupt the USSR, or at least make it harder for them to expand economically.
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Turn 86, Soviet system Jakutsk
By week 2 the Soviet efforts to understand the aliens they had contacted last month were proceeding well. The aliens called themselves the Bjering Consolidate, and were tall, bipedal, with four arms and slick grey skin. The aliens all wore what were obviously uniforms, some of which were ornate with numerous awards and ribbons. The alien fleet had positioned itself one light minute from the Soviet ship, and consisted of two battlecruisers, three destroyers, and four corvettes. One of the destroyers had left the main group of the fleet and closed to 7.5 light seconds from the Soviet ship, and all communications were with that destroyer.
One day ago, a second group of drive fields had left the same alien planet that the first fleet had come from. The six alien ships were now approaching the first fleet, which was positioned between the approaching fleet and the Soviet frigate. When the new ships closed to fifteen light seconds from the frigate the Soviet ship’s sensors could see that the alien squadron was composed of two battlecruisers, two destroyers, and two corvettes. The Bjering destroyer that had been communicating with the Soviet frigate returned to its main fleet before the newcomers approached, and all communications had stopped. The Soviets moved their frigate to the warp point and prepared to jump out, but without a direct threat to their ship they were unwilling to leave.
Amazingly enough, the new Bjering squadron opened fire on the Bjering ships that had been communicating with the Soviet ship. The human frigate’s commander sent his crew to action stations, but then they were forced to watch as the two groups of alien ships savaged each other. The newly arrived battlecruisers launched capital missiles at one of the Bjering battlecruisers that had been talking to the humans, and then the targeted battlecruisers responded. The human frigate’s commander decided to designate the attacking ships as Force A, and the defending ships as Force D, as they all appeared to be Bjering ships.
Force A continued to close on Force D, which was now detuning its engines. Heavy capital missiles continued to race between the two groups, but the Soviet ship’s sensors showed that while the Bjering missiles had performance characteristics similar to the capital missiles now being developed in Soviet labs on Earth, they had different warheads. The Bjering missiles were exploding short of the targeted battlecruisers, and doing less damage than predicted, but, strangely, the damage they were doing seemed to be skipping the defending ships shields, which remained at full strength, and instead striking the ship’s armor. Fascinated, the human ship’s bridge crew continued to watch the battle. After two salvoes it appeared as if neither side had done more than scratch the other’s armor.
After the second salvo struck home the defending fleet, Force D, seemingly unraveled. The three destroyers and four corvettes hovering around the two massive battlecruisers suddenly raced away, towards the oncoming Force A ships, which elected to stay together. Force D’s BC’s were now 4.25 LS from the approaching ships, while Force D’s DD’s had closed to 2.5 light seconds and the CT’s to 2.25 light seconds.
The next exchange of fire was puzzling to the Soviet watchers. The two sides threw everything they had at each other, including their XO missiles. Strangely, the Bjering XO missiles didn’t explode when they hit their targets, but rather emitted an intense burst of drive field energy that destabilized the targeted ship’s drive bubble. Force D’s destroyers and corvettes focused their fire on Force A’s battlecruisers, while Force A’s lighter ships fired upon Force D’s light ships.
Force A now turned broadside to the Force D light ships approaching at breakneck speed, while Force D’s BC’s continued to detune. Force D’s destroyers and corvettes, now missing one of their number which had been left behind, crippled, closed to close range as they continued pelting Force A’s battlecruisers with beam weapons. The two side’s battlecruisers continued pounding each other with long range missile fire even as the smaller ships clashed in a life or death struggle. Force A’s battlecruisers revealed their close-in armament as they opened fire with a single force beam turret on Force D’s corvettes, which had closed to .25 light seconds range, crippling one of the small ships with two hammer blows.
Then, much to the astonishment of the Soviet officers, the battle ended and Force A turned away. Force A’s battlecruisers limped away at two thirds their original speed. Neither of Force A’s BC’s were streaming atmosphere, although they both had lost their shields. It soon became apparent that Force B’s battlecruisers were in better shape as they set out to follow Force A at full speed, but they were not closing, they merely moved outside of weapons range of Force A and settled down to follow them at a distance. Three of Force D’s smaller ships were damaged and stayed behind. The damaged DD approached the human ship and resumed its former position and began communications efforts again, just as if nothing happened.
The Soviet officers were impressed with the battle, as mysterious as it was. Both alien fleets moved decisively, and the crews of both fleets appeared well drilled and capable.
After approximately an hour Force D turned back towards the human ship and settled into its former position of overwatch, again as if nothing had happened.
One week later a second force of six ships, again composed of two battlecruisers, two destroyers, and two corvettes, just like Force A’s composition, approached Force D and the lone Soviet frigate. The Soviet crew watched interestedly as the new squadron approached, but this time it settled into place eight light seconds to one side of Force D and fifteen light seconds from the Soviet frigate. Shortly thereafter the damaged ships from Force D left the area and headed back towards the nearest planet. Communications attempts continued.
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Turn 87
The Coalition begins construction on nine new cruisers, while protesting the new Soviet construction program. The Soviet government mostly ignores the protests, only making the statement that the government of the USSR will do whatever is necessary to protect its citizens.
The Coalition has established full communications with the race discovered in the Redwing system. The race calls themselves the Tlatelolco, or at least, that’s what their name for themselves is translated into. They have a world-state called the Enlightened Union, and, while physically smaller than humans on the average, the Tlatelolco is are heavily muscled, with dark black armored skin dotted with spikey protrusions and a mouth full of fearsome teeth. Although fearsome in aspect, they appear to be very gentle and thoughtful beings, and their society seems to be something approaching the utopia that humanity always seems to be striving for but never reaching. They are intensely curious about humanity and human civilization. The Tlatelolco are currently at IND-1 tech level.
The Coalition negotiators request a trade treaty, which the Tlatelolco readily agree with.
Turn 88
The USSR completes R&D on advanced maneuvering and the primary beam, leaving only the capital missile still being researched. With the development of new ship systems complete, the Military Space Service commissions new designs for its fleet to incorporate the new tech, particularly improved armor and the primary beam, as well as the capital missile, of course. MSS analysts have been pouring over the data from the battle a Soviet frigate recently witnessed between Bjering ships, and several new technologies were observed. Unfortunately, the frigate wasn’t close enough to the battle to obtain detailed sensor readings of the weaponry used, but tremendous amounts of information was gathered during the battle. The Bjering used several weapons that were more or less familiar to Soviet scientists, such as advanced maneuvering, capital missiles, and primary beams, but some that were not, including some sort of anti-drive missile and what appear to be laser warheads for their capital missiles. Soviet tacticians have been particularly interested in the primary beams used by the Bjering. Force A was forced to withdraw, ending the battle, and it was clear that although their armor was still intact, the Bjering battlecruisers had suffered serious engine damage. Some of that engine damage was attributable to the strange missiles that the Bjering launched from their XO racks, but not all. Observations revealed that the Bjering corvettes were armed with a primary beam, which while slow firing, means that the small ships can reach right through a capital ship’s armor and shields and inflict internal damage.
New designs are drawn up for the Soviet fleet, and they include a primary-beam armed corvette. The new capital missiles will be limited to battlecruisers and larger, due to their size. The Soviet’s first BC will be launched in four months, and barring some sort of disaster will be turned around and sent back to the yards for refit to include the latest tech systems. The Soviets decide to mount advanced maneuvering on heavy cruisers and larger ships, in order to keep the overall cost of their growing fleet down.
Three Moskva r1 class cruisers from the Home Fleet go into the yards this month to begin refits to incorporate the latest tech.
Turn 89
The Coalition squadron in the Sligo system notes a flurry of activity in orbit over the Tarek home world. The Tarek have launched a large space station that, upon closer inspection, appears to be a shipyard. This is a disturbing development, as it could indicate that the Tarek have gained HT 1 tech and will soon be venturing beyond their world.
The Soviet frigate engaged in communication efforts with the Bjering notices a Bjering cruiser conducting what can only be a warp point survey of their system. The Soviets make a breakthrough in communications with the Bjering, opening full communications this month. The Soviet political team first questions the Bjering about the battle that they witnessed several months ago. The Bjering contact team explains that the ships closest to the Soviet ship belong to Epsilon Fleet, which had been stationed at Bjering Secondus, their primary colony. Epsilon Fleet is commanded by Epsilon Admiral, the greatest military leader of the Bjering. Epsilon Admiral had been the first to notice the Soviet ship when it appeared, and so it had fallen under his jurisdiction. When it became clear that contact with aliens was a reality, and could be a valuable reality, one of the other admirals became interested and initiated a challenge for control of contact efforts. Epsilon Admiral and his fleet were able to prevail and maintain control of the contact, although after the challenge he was forced to ally with another Admiral for a brief time to maintain control. Prevailing over the challenge and maintaining control over contact with the Soviets has garnered Epsilon Admiral much honor and his position has risen in the Council of Admirals as a result.
The Soviets are fascinated by this insight into the inner workings of the Bjering. The skills displayed during the battle they had witnessed were considerable, and it was particularly interesting that no ships had been destroyed, almost as if the Bjering had gone out of their way to avoid such a thing. In any event the Soviets press forward on negotiations towards a more formalized relationship. As the negotiations evolve, it becomes clear that the Bjering have little interest in trade, and are interested in their economy only as a means of supporting their military. This matches well with the Soviet mindset, and so the two negotiating teams focus on a military alliance. By the end of the month the negotiators have hammered out an agreement between the two nations that amounts to a military alliance. Some of the more insightful negotiators note that the treaty is really a complicated method for retaining Bjering forces as mercenary units, something that has certainly not escaped the Soviet leadership.
This alliance will greatly benefit the USSR, which is still at war with the D’Bringi. Although the USSR’s leaders would not be willing to let the Bjering into the Solar system to face the Coalition, at least at the present time, they are perfectly willing to let the Bjering fight with Soviet fleets against their common enemy, the D’Bringi.
Turn 90
The Coalition develops the capital missile and improved armor, and begins research on HT 6.
The Coalition’s 1st Survey Group probes two newly discovered warp points in the Kowloon system. Oddly enough, one of the two warp points leads back to the Epsilon Indi system, which is already linked to the Kowloon system through another warp point. The other warp point leads to a system with a habitable planet.
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Soviet Space, Turn 90:
(https://i.imgur.com/RI47mvC.jpg)
Coalition Space, Turn 90
(https://i.imgur.com/8RrjEs2.jpg)
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USSR
Turn 90
The USSR has colonized four systems outside of the Solar System. Their total extra-Solar population is currently 57 million and growing. The Soviets maintain a trade relationship with the Coalition and a military treaty with the Bjering Consolidate. So far, the Soviets believe that they have been successful in keeping the Consolidate and their alliance with them a secret from the Coalition.
Soviet Fleet deployments have changed somewhat since the development of deep space sensor buoys. The Soviets have scattered buoys across the Solar System, giving them complete sensor coverage of the entire system. In addition, they have placed a similar sensor network in the Brezhnev system, giving them complete coverage of that system. In addition, they have placed sensor buoys and communications buoys at all of the warp points leading to the Brezhnev system. The USSR plans to eventually place such buoys at all of the warp points it controls. By placing these buoys, it has allowed the Soviet’s to concentrate their fleet units into larger squadrons.
The Soviet Military Space Service is focused primarily on defending Soviet space from D’Bringi incursions and finding a link to D’Bringi space to take the war to them. To this end, the MSS has been advocating for the construction of a second survey fleet, however, with maintenance currently consuming over fifty percent of the budget the government has been unwilling to expand the size of the fleet. Indeed, the six cruisers currently under construction are slated to go into mothballs shortly after launching, and given the current budget restraints, the fleet will have to mothball an existing cruiser when the battlecruiser under construction is launched.
USSR Economic Status
Income: 13,110
Income from Trade: 1,311
Upkeep: 7,554
Soviet Fleet Deployments
Home Fleet (General Fedorov)
Earth: 6xCA, 6xCL, 1xDDC, 6xDD, 1xFGS, 6xCT
Leningrad: 4xCT(DSBC), 370xDSB-L
Tomsk: 3xDD, 2xCT(DSBC), 200xDSB-L
Red Banner Fleet (General Lebedev)
Brezhnev: 3xDD, 3xCT, 19xEXS
Tomsk: 6xCA, 6xCL, 1xDDC, 9xDD, 2xFGS
Survey Fleet (Brigadir Popov)
25xEXX
Sol System Defense Command (Marshal Smirnov)
WP Defense: 1xAF, 1xDD(Tug), 2xCT(DSBC), 1xEXS, 135xDSB-L
Earth Defense: 3xPDC
Units under construction: 1xBC, 6xCA
Total Combat Units: 12xCA, 12xCL, 21xDD, 2xFGS, 9xCT (2056 Spaces)
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Reformation Coalition
Turn 90
The Reformation Coalition has taken the opportunity made by the peace treaty with the D’Bringi to expand far beyond the Solar System. The Coalition has found an astounding fourteen habitable worlds in and beyond the Epsilon Eridani and Epsilon Indi systems, and has colonized nine of them. Two of the worlds discovered are inhabited, one by the hostile Tarek and the other by the friendly Tlalelolco. Even now, a colony fleet is on its way to deliver colonists to another habitable planet, bringing the total of colonized planets to eleven by the end of the month, including the original colony in the Sigma Draconis system adjacent to the Solar System. The Coalition’s current extra-Solar population is 94.6 million and growing.
The Coalition’s government currently considers the risk from the Soviets to be low, as they are preoccupied with their war with the D’Bringi. That war seems to be going well, as there have been no D’Bringi incursions into shared-sovereignty systems such as Sigma Draconis, although there is little actual information available as the Soviets are being even more secretive than usual. The main Soviet fleet has been deployed into the Hector system or beyond and out of sight of the Coalition navy for some time, as has the Soviet survey fleet. Given that the only known contact point with the D’Bringi is in the Galloway’s Star system, the situation is somewhat confusing. The Coalition naval command and the Coalition government have both made efforts to learn the truth of the situation, but with little success. It is apparent that the Soviets are exploring beyond the Hector system, as several colony fleets have departed for that system, which has no habitable planets of its own.
The Coalition Fleet has established five separate commands to organize its defense and expansion efforts. These are: Home Fleet, 1st (Strike) Fleet, 2nd (Colonial Defense) Fleet, Sol System Defense, and Survey Fleet. The Survey Fleet and the 2nd Fleet are home ported in the Epsilon Eridani system, while the other three commands are based in the Solar System. The Coalition’s ongoing survey efforts have made the Coalition Fleet’s deployments somewhat easier. The warp chain from Epsilon Eridani leads to four systems, all with habitable, colonized, planets. Providing defensive squadrons for those systems would stretch the fleet’s resources, but now that the survey of the warp chain is complete, and no more open warp points exist in the chain, it has allowed the fleet to consolidate the defense squadrons for the colonized worlds to one squadron at New Plymouth in Epsilon Eridani, and a second squadron in the Sligo system. Both Colonial Defense Squadrons include several scouts to patrol the various colonized systems under their protection.
Coalition Economic Status
Income: 14,292
Income from Trade: 1,347
Upkeep: 7,111
Coalition Fleet Deployments
Home Fleet (Earth)
Earth: 3xCA, 1xFGS, 3xCT, 1xEXS
Saturn: 1xEXS
Uranus: 1xEXS
Sigma Draconis Picket: 3xDD, 1xFGS, 2xEXS
1st Fleet (Sol WP)
Sol WP: 9xCL, 3xDD, 1xFGS, 11xCT, 3xES, 2xEXS
2nd Fleet (Epsilon Eridani)
Squadron #1, Plymouth (Epsilon Eridani): 3xDD, 1xFGS, 3xCT, 3xEXS
Squadron #2, Wunderland (Sligo): 6xCT, 3xES, 3xEXS
Shaka Picket (Shaka): 5xEXS
System Defense, Plymouth: 4xMSY, 80xDSB-L
Survey Fleet (Epsilon Eridani)
Survey Group #1 (Kowloon): 20xEXX
Survey Group #1 Escort (Kowloon): 3xDD, 1xFGS
Survey Group #2 (Donwaltz): 20xEXX
Survey Group #2 Escort (Redwing): 3xDD, 1xFGS (Finalizing treaty negotiations with the Tlalelolco)
Sol System Defense (Earth)
Earth: 2xTerritory class PDC, 11xSS(SY)
WP: 1xFT4(Tug), 3xDD(DSBC), 3xBS1, 8xBS0, 1xEXS, 320xDSB-L
Under Construction: 1xBC, 9xCA, 50xDSB-L
Total Combat Units: 3xCA, 9xCL, 15xDD, 6xFGS, 23xCT, 6xES (1607 spaces)
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Reformation Coalition Ship Designs, turn 91
The Reformation Coalition Navy Design Bureau has wholeheartedly embraced the new technology developed by the nation’s scientists and engineers, and is committed to ensuring that the RCSN fields the best, most technologically advanced ships possible. This stance is approved by the RCSN’s admirals, who know that while the RCSN may not out-mass the USSR’s fleet, on a ton for ton basis the RCSN is qualitatively better than the USSR’s fleet. To this end, advanced maneuvering and electronic warfare technology is used extensively throughout the fleet, in spite of the expense.
This is the prototype version of the RCSN’s battlecruiser design, and the prototype will almost certainly be refitted almost as soon as it is launched to include capital missile technology, which was still being developed at the time that construction was started on the prototype. The prototype is scheduled to be launched in turn 92.
QUEENSLAND class BC 16 XO Racks 80 Hull TL 4
[4] Sx5Ax8H(BbS)(III)(II)(III)(II)(III)QXrRax4MgDM2RaRaDRax3DRaRaDLh?0(II)QMg [6]
80 RCP 20 MCP Trg:3 Bmp +1 Cost = 1380/ 207
HTK 53 Sx5 Ax8 Dx4 Rax11 Mgx2
400x SM
The Mk 2 is intended to be the standard version of this class, and the prototype will be sent into refit almost as soon as it is launched.
QUEENSLAND MK 2 class BC AM 16 XO Racks 80 Hull TL 5
[3] Sx5Aix16ZH(BbS)(III)(II)(III)(II)(III)QXrDRcRcMgDM2RcDRcRcD!1RcDLh?0(II)QMg [6]
80 RCP 20 MCP Trg:3 Bmp +1 Tem -1 Cost = 1503/ 225.5
HTK 59 Sx5 Aix16 Dx5 Rcx6 Mgx2
180x CM, 4x EDM (Mg)
The first unit of this class was launched in turn 72, and it quickly became the standard battle-line unit for the RCSN fleet. The RCSN decided to forego advanced missile launchers on this design, preferring instead to keep its ability to engage at short range with sprint missiles. This was a controversial decision within the RCSN, as it was known that the USSR had installed advanced missile launchers on its cruisers, giving them a higher rate of fire and thus an advantage at longer ranges.
RODNEY class CA 12 XO Racks 60 Hull TL 3
[3] Sx6Ax6ZH(BbS)(II)(II)(II)(II)(II)WWDWDWWDWWMgQDLh(II)QMg [6]
60 RCP 40 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 863/ 129.5
HTK 43 Sx6 Ax6 Dx4 Wx7 Mgx2
400x SM
The Mk 2 refit for the Rodney class added advanced maneuvering, ECM and ECCM, and improved armor.
RODNEY MK 2 class CA AM 12 XO Racks 60 Hull TL 5
[2] Sx5Aix10ZH(BbS)(II)(II)(II)(II)(II)WWDWDWWQD?0!1WWMgDLh(II)QMg [6]
60 RCP 40 MCP Trg:1 Bmp +1 Tem -1 Cost = 992/ 148.8
HTK 48 Sx5 Aix10 Dx4 Wx7 Mgx2
210x SM, 4x EDM (Mg)
The Mk 3 refit converts the Brazwell’s weaponry to force beams, as well as adding advanced maneuvering, ECM, and advanced armor.
BRAZWELL MK 3 class CL AM 9 XO Racks 45 Hull TL 5
[2] Sx4Aix8ZH(BbS)(II)(I)(II)(I)(II)FDM2FDF?0LhD(I)QF [6]
45 RCP 5 MCP Trg:3 Bmp +1 Cost = 768.5/ 115.3
HTK 35 Sx4 Aix8 Dx3 Fx4
The Mk 3 refit replaces the outdated point defense emplacements with the latest standard point defense.
NELSON MK 3 class DD 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 3
[3] Sx3AAZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsMgWWDWD(I)QsMg [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 425/ 63.8
HTK 23 Sx3 Ax2 Dx2 Wx3 Mgx2
400x SM
The Mk 4 refits replace the gun/missile launchers with force beams, and adds advanced maneuvering, improved armor, and ECCM.
NELSON MK 4 class DD AM 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 5
[2] Sx3Aix8ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsFD!1D(I)QsF [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Tem -1 Cost = 513/ 77
HTK 27 Sx3 Aix8 Dx2 Fx2
The Mk 3 refits replace the older lasers with force beams.
OUTREACH MK 3 class FG 4 XO Racks 22 Hull TL 4
[2] SSAZH(I)(I)(I)(I)XrFD(I)QsF [7]
22 RCP 3 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 349/ 52.4
HTK 15 Sx2 Ax1 Dx1 Fx2
The Mk 4 refits add advanced maneuvering, ECM, and improved armor. In addition, one force beam turret is removed and replaced with additional armor, improving the survivability of the class.
OUTREACH MK 4 class FG AM 4 XO Racks 22 Hull TL 5
[1] SSAix8ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)XrD?0(I)QsF [7]
22 RCP 3 MCP Trg:1 Bmp +1 Cost = 384/ 57.6
HTK 22 Sx2 Aix8 Dx1 Fx1
The Mk 5 refit replaces the older laser mounted on this class with a force beam.
DISCOVERY MK 5 class CT 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 4
[2] SAx3ZH(I)(I)(I)DQs(I)F [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 220/ 33
HTK 13 Sx1 Ax3 Dx1 Fx1
The Mk 6 refit adds advanced maneuvering and improved armor to the class.
DISCOVERY MK 6 class CT AM 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 5
[1] SAix6ZH(I)(I)(I)DQs(I)F [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 258/ 38.7
HTK 16 Sx1 Aix6 Dx1 Fx1
The Mk 3 refit replaces the laser with a force beam.
NAPOLEON MK 3 class ES (AC) 2 XO Racks 12 Hull TL 4
[2] SAAZH(I)(I)F(I)Qs [8]
12 RCP 13 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 166.4/ 25
HTK 10 Sx1 Ax2 Fx1
The Mk 4 refit adds advanced maneuvering and improved armor.
NAPOLEON MK 4 class ES (AC) AM 2 XO Racks 12 Hull TL 5
[1] SAix4ZH(I)(I)F(I)Qs [8]
12 RCP 13 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 193.4/ 29
HTK 12 Sx1 Aix4 Fx1
This design is intended to be utilized for planetary defense purposes, or to add long-ranged weaponry to warp point defenses. The first unit of this class is under construction in the yards over New Plymouth in the Epsilon Eridani system, and will be launched in turn 94. While it had originally decided to forego building any of these in the Solar System to avoid provoking the USSR and starting a new race to increase fortifications within the home system, the RCSN intends to build at least three of these to be placed at the warp point to Sigma Draconis, to balance the Soviet asteroid fort anchoring the Soviet defenses at the warp point.
BS3 class BS3 17 XO Racks 85 Hull TL 4
[1] Sx7Ax10ZH(BbS)Rax5QDRax5DM2Rax5MgDFLhDQF [0]
85 RCP 15 MCP Trg:3 Cost = 1185/ 59.2
HTK 46 Sx7 Ax10 Dx4 Fx2 Rax15 Mgx1
The Mk2 refit replaces the advanced missile launchers with capital missile launchers, and adds ECM and ECCM, and improved armor.
BS3 MK 2 class BS3 17 XO Racks 85 Hull TL 5
[1] Sx6Aix22ZH(BbS)RcRcQDMgRcx3DM2XrRcx3MgDFLhD?0!1QF [0]
85 RCP 15 MCP Trg:3 Bmp +1 Tem -1 Cost = 1224/ 61.2
HTK 54 Sx6 Aix22 Dx4 Fx2 Rcx8 Mgx2
190x CM, 4x EDM (Mg)
This class was originally intended to be deployed in the Solar System at the warp point to the Sigma Draconis system, however, the RCSN decided not to go forward with this class as the relationship with the Russians had improved under the Alliance and the Coalition government wanted to avoid provoking the Russians by building a base that might be viewed by the Russians as a threat to their shipping going through the warp point. Therefore, no units of this class were built.
BS2 class BS2 10 XO Racks 50 Hull TL 4
[1] Sx4Ax6ZH(BbS)XrRaRaMgM2DRaRaDRaTWDWDLhQMg [0]
50 RCP Trg:3 Cost = 704/ 35.2
HTK 31 Sx4 Ax6 Dx4 Rax5 Wx2 Tx1 Mgx2
The Mk 2 refit adds improved armor and ECM/ECCM to the design, and replaces the advanced missile launchers with gun/missile launchers, vastly improving this unit’s ability to engage targets at close range. To date no units of this class have been built.
BS2 MK 2 class BS2 10 XO Racks 50 Hull TL 5
[1] Sx3Aix10ZH(BbS)XrWx3MgM2DWDWTWD?0!1WDLhQMg [0]
50 RCP Trg:3 Bmp +1 Tem -1 Cost = 723/ 36.2
HTK 36 Sx3 Aix10 Dx4 Wx7 Tx1 Mgx2
380x SM, 4x EDM (Mg)
This base is intended to be the center of the Coalition’s warp point defenses in the Solar System.
BS1 class BS1 5 XO Racks 25 Hull TL 3
[1] Sx3Ax6ZHTDLDQsL [0]
25 RCP Trg:1 Cost = 290/ 14.5
HTK 17 Sx3 Ax6 Dx2 Lx2 Tx1
The Mk 2 refit changes the class weaponry to force beams.
BS1 MK 2 class BS1 5 XO Racks 25 Hull TL 4
[1] Sx3Ax6ZHTDFDQsF [0]
25 RCP Trg:1 Cost = 310/ 15.5
HTK 17 Sx3 Ax6 Dx2 Fx2 Tx1
The Mk 3 refit adds improved armor and ECCM.
BS1 MK 3 class BS1 5 XO Racks 25 Hull TL 5
[1] Sx3Aix10ZHTD!1FDQsF [0]
25 RCP Trg:1 Tem -1 Cost = 363/ 18.1
HTK 22 Sx3 Aix10 Dx2 Fx2 Tx1
The BS0 was the Coalition’s first dedicated warp point defense unit. While small, the tractor beam included in the design allows the base to latch on to any ship within range, improving its chances of staying within range of its weaponry and slowing the invading ship down to keep it within range of the other base’s weaponry.
BS0 class BS0 3 XO Racks 15 Hull TL 3
[1] Sx3AAZHTDQsL [0]
15 RCP 10 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 176/ 8.8
HTK 11 Sx3 Ax2 Dx1 Lx1 Tx1
The Mk 2 refit changes the lasers for force beams.
BS0 MK 2 class BS0 3 XO Racks 15 Hull TL 4
[1] Sx3AAZHTDQsF [0]
15 RCP 10 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 186/ 9.3
HTK 11 Sx3 Ax2 Dx1 Fx1 Tx1
The Mk 3 refit adds improved armor to the design.
BS0 MK 3 class BS0 3 XO Racks 15 Hull TL 5
[1] SSAix6ZHTDQsF [0]
15 RCP 10 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 202/ 10.1
HTK 14 Sx2 Aix6 Dx1 Fx1 Tx1
This unit is intended to control DSB-L’s placed at critical warp point links throughout Coalition space.
DD(DSB) class DD 4 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 3
[3] Sx4AAZHXr(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsD(DCS)D(I)Qs [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 493/ 74
HTK 21 Sx4 Ax2 Dx2
While the RCSN has no plans to upgrade the existing DD(DSB) units, all newly constructed units will be of this design, which adds improved armor, advanced maneuvering, and ECM.
DD(DSB) MK 2 class DD AM 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 5
[2] Sx3Aix4ZHXr(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsD(DCS)D?0(I)Qs [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Bmp +1 Cost = 562/ 84.3
HTK 23 Sx3 Aix4 Dx2
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Soviet Designs, Turn 91
The Soviet Military Space Service is much like other Soviet military arms. It adheres to the Soviet philosophy of quantity, quantity, quantity. To achieve this goal, the MSS has gone to lengths to keep the per-unit cost of its ships low, mostly by only installing expensive equipment such as advanced maneuvering or ECM on larger ships. To date this strategy has worked well, with the MSS fleet out-massing the Coalition’s at most points of contact.
This is the prototype design for the Sverdlov class. It was understood by all that the prototype unit will immediately be returned to the yards for upgrade, probably immediately after launching, to convert its weaponry to capital missiles, which were not ready at the time that construction was started on the prototype.
SVERDLOV class BC 16 XO Racks 80 Hull TL 4
[4] Sx6Ax10ZH(BbS)(III)(II)(III)(II)(III)QXrRax3M2DRax3DRax4MgDLh(II)QF [6]
80 RCP 20 MCP Trg:3 Cost = 1383/ 207.5
HTK 54 Sx6 Ax10 Dx3 Fx1 Rax10 Mgx1
200x SM
The r1 refit for the Sverdlov class brings it up to the standard intended for this class. The MSS design board has decided to limit the use of advanced maneuvering to capital units to reduce the overall cost of the fleet, so currently advanced maneuvering will only be utilized on the Moskva and Sverdlov classes.
SVERDLOV R1 class BC AM 16 XO Racks 80 Hull TL 5
[3] Sx6Aix20ZH(BbS)(III)(II)(III)(II)(III)QXrRcRcDRcRcDM2RcRcMgDLh(II)QF [6]
80 RCP 20 MCP Trg:3 Cost = 1458/ 218.7
HTK 60 Sx6 Aix20 Dx3 Fx1 Rcx6 Mgx1
93x CM, 4x EDM (Mg)
The r2 refit for the Moskva adds improved armor as well as advanced maneuvering.
MOSKVA R2 class CA AM 12 XO Racks 60 Hull TL 5
[2] Sx5Aix19ZHs(BbS)(II)(II)(II)(II)(II)?0QRaRaM2RaRaDDRaDRaDLh(II)QMg [6]
60 RCP 40 MCP Trg:3 Bmp +1 Cost = 1058/ 158.7
HTK 55 Sx5 Aix19 Dx4 Rax6 Mgx1
193x SM, 2x EDM (Mg)
The r2 refit adds improved armor to this class. There was a proposal to convert this classes weaponry to beams and to reclassify it as an escort for the new battlecruisers, however, the fleet has resisted such a proposal as it envisions deploying groups of Kresta class light cruisers on independent missions where they will likely need longer-ranged weaponry.
KRESTA R2 class CL 9 XO Racks 45 Hull TL 5
[3] Sx6Aix13ZHs(BbS)(II)(I)(II)(I)(II)QMgWWDWDWDLh(I)Mg [6]
45 RCP 5 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 646.5/ 97
HTK 42 Sx6 Aix13 Dx3 Wx4 Mgx2
200x SM
The r3 refit for the Udaloy class replaces the standard armor with improved armor, and replaces the lasers with force beams. The MSS design board was forced to conclude that lasers, which it had previously favored for their ability to pass unhindered through the shields of opposing ships, were now obsolete due to the development of improved armor. Therefore, all lasers throughout the fleet will be replaced with force beams.
UDALOY R3 class DD 6 XO Racks 30 Hull TL 5
[3] SSAix13ZHs(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QsDFQsD(I)F [7]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 469/ 70.4
HTK 30 Sx2 Aix13 Dx2 Fx2
The r2 refit for the Kirov class replaces the armor with improved armor, and replaces the now-obsolescent laser with a force beam.
KIROV R2 class FG 4 XO Racks 20 Hull TL 5
[2] SSAix6ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)XrDQs(I)F [7]
20 RCP 5 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 325/ 48.8
HTK 19 Sx2 Aix6 Dx1 Fx1
The MSS was impressed with the performance of the Bjering primary beams in the one battle that the Soviet contact ship witnessed. Therefore, the Krivak class units will all be converted to this design, which will make them a credible threat to the Coalition’s capital ships, if they are deployed in sufficient numbers.
KRIVAK R3 class CT (AC) 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 5
[2] Aix9ZHs(I)(I)(I)DQs(I)P [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 260/ 39
HTK 18 Aix9 Dx1 Px1
This is the proposed upgrade for the Fleet HQ asteroid fort class. The Soviets consider it imperative to upgrade the class to this standard as the Coalition will almost certainly be launching ships equipped with capital missile launchers in the next several months, and these ships will be capable of engaging the fortress from beyond its own range, negating its usefulness and rendering it vulnerable. However, the Politburo is unwilling to remove the fortress from the warp point in the Solar System, as that would remove much of the USSR’s ability to monitor and influence the Coalition’s presence at the warp point. There is a proposal to build another fortress to this standard, then replace the older fort at the warp point with the new one, meaning that the warp point won’t be left undefended, however, that would entail a massive investment in resources and yard time. No decision has been made yet.
FLEET HQ R1 class AF 117 XO Racks 585 Hull TL 5
[1]Sx100Apx300ZH(BbL)Qx5Lh(CIC)QMgWx5MgQDDTWx5MgQDDTRcx6QMgQDDQLhM3Rcx6MgDXr(DCS)(CC)Hx30LhQDQs[0]
585 RCP 40 MCP Trg:4 Cost = 4314.5/ 215.7
HTK 491 Sx100 Apx300 Dx8 Rcx12 Wx10 Tx2 Mgx5
400x SM, 250x CM, 28x EDM (Mg)
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Turn 91
The Coalition completes development of the last HT 5 system under research and begins refits to the fleet to bring it up to standard. Unfortunately, the bulk of the yards are occupied by the cruisers started several months ago, and won’t be clear until next month, so most refits will have to wait.
The Soviets launch six new cruisers, and immediately place three in mothballs, keeping the other three in active service. Refits continue on their fleet.
The Soviet Red Banner Fleet under General Lebedev relocates to the Novosibirsk system and begins probing the unexplored warp points in the system. The very first warp point probed reveals a binary system with two habitable and inhabited planets. The probe frigate returned immediately and reported that the exit warp point in new system was located in the inner system of the primary star, just seven light minutes from the habitable planet orbiting the primary. The frigate’s sensors immediately identified a small population on the planet, and a drive field orbiting the planet, so the probe ship’s commander ordered it to return and report. General Lebedev orders his fleet to close on the warp point to the alien system, as it is almost certain that the aliens detected the probe ship. The other frigate returned from its probe to report that it had discovered a system with a habitable planet, but no alien populations or ships.
Turn 92
The Coalition launches nine heavy cruisers and its first battlecruiser. While the bulk of these ships were originally intended to go into mothballs to act as a reserve, the RCSN, in consultation with the CEO’s administration, decides to keep them active at least for now. Some are sent back to the yards for refit to the latest technology. In addition, the destroyer group assigned to the Sigma Draconis system is rotated back to the Solar System to be refitted.
The Soviets launch a battlecruiser this month, and continue to send ships to the yards for refits. Construction is started on four additional battlecruisers as well.
The Soviet Red Banner Fleet probes two more warp points in the Novosibirsk system, discovering two systems each with a single type T planet. Communications efforts continue with the race discovered last month in the Kaliningrad system.
Turn 93
The Coalition’s new battlecruiser is returned to the yards for refit, and two new battlecruisers are started.
The Coalition’s trade alliance with the Enlightened Union of the Tlatelolco is six months old, and has been working out very well for both sides. The Tlatelolco are particularly happy with this arrangement, and have been very impressed with the examples of Coalition technology that they have been able to import. The Tlatelolco are currently technology similar to Earth of the 1950’s, and would like to advance more rapidly. The Coalition ambassador announces this month that the Tlatelolco have agreed to a trade and military alliance, and further have agreed to allow the Coalition to establish an outpost on their world to foster the exchange of technology. This outpost will largely consist of scientists, engineers, and trade representatives that will be involved in helping the Tlatelolco improve their technology base. Due to the Coalition’s expansive colony projects it will take a few months to establish this outpost, but once it is in place the technology transfer will begin. In addition, the Tlatelolco have requested that the Coalition station a squadron of warships over their planet, to deter aggression by anyone who might enter their system. The Coalition agrees to this request, however, as with the tech transfer it might take some time to get a squadron to the system.
The refit program is put on hold by the Soviet MSS, and sixteen new exploration ships are laid down. The Soviet government is aware that the Coalition fields two survey fleets, and although they do not know the exact results that the Coalition has gained, they do know that the Coalition is ahead of them in establishing out-system colonies. Therefore, a new survey fleet is to be commissioned, to restore parity. In the meantime, the Politburo has decided to enact certain measures to slow down Coalition expansion. These measures will almost certainly be seen as harassment by the Coalition, however, the Politburo feels that the USSR must act now to curtail the expansion of the Coalition, before the Coalition can grow its economy beyond that of the Soviet Union, leaving them behind. The disappearance of the D’Bringi, coupled with the alliance with the Bjering Consolidate, gives the USSR the advantage, and the Politburo is determined to use it to limit the Coalition’s growth.
The Red Banner Fleet probes the last three unexplored warp points in the Novosibirsk system, discovering two starless areas and one system with two type T planets. The communication’s specialists succeed in establishing full communications with the race discovered in the Kaliningrad system. The race calls themselves the Rehorish, and their nation is named the Rehorish Stellar Dominion.
The Rehorish are very large, uniformly over 2 meters, compared to the D’Bringi, who average 1.5 meters in height. Their bodies have a uniformly a purplish grey hue, with the exception of a purple carapace that extends from the top of their heads down their back. Their heads are comparatively small and set forward on their upper chest, and contain only their sensory organs, with their brain being located directly under their shell in the middle of their back. They have two eyes and two antennae in their heads with a small mouth hidden at the bottom of their head. They have two thickly muscled arms and two equally muscled legs, and a number of smaller grasping appendages down their sides.
The Rehorish appear open and friendly, and have stated that they are willing to open negotiations with the USSR. General Lebedev, encouraged by their friendliness, offers them a deal similar to the one agreed to by the Bjering Consolidate, essentially a military alliance. The Rehorish do not decline the offer, but say that they must get to know the Soviets better before they can consider such a deal.
Turn 94
The Coalition launches its first BS3 in the Epsilon Eridani system. Two more are started in the shipyards over New Plymouth. In addition, construction is started a full-sized shipyard is started as well. Meanwhile, over Earth, the refits of Coalition fleet vessels continue. Five Rodney class cruisers are in the yards for refit, along with a battlecruiser, three light cruisers, and a corvette.
The Coalition’s 1st Survey Group arrives in the Redwing system to begin survey efforts. The Tlatelolco have agreed to allow the Coalition to survey their system in exchange for the Coalition providing them with the results of that survey.
Soviet refits continue as well. The Soviet orbital yards are refitting a battlecruiser, three heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, three destroyers, and a frigate. Ships are being rotated out of forces deployed out-system to bring ships requiring upgrading back to the Solar system without unduly weakening the deployed forces.
The USSR’s new survey fleet, only partially complete, is dispatched to the Kazan system to begin survey efforts. Although the fleet only has sixteen of its planned twenty-five exploration ships, yard capacity has been diverted back to upgrading the fleet in light of the Politburo’s new policy of confrontation.
The Red Banner Fleet under General Lebedev is ordered to reposition to the Volvograd system and once there, to establish a blockade and inspection scheme on the Coalition’s colony transports. Coalition transits will not be stopped, not completely, just slowed and subjected to ‘random’ inspections. The fleet will be in position early next month. General Lebedev asks for clarifications to his orders relating to the use of force, and is told that he can take any reasonable action to accomplish his orders, and that the Coalition will back down, as it always has in the past.
Coalition pickets assigned to the Shaka system note the arrival of the Soviet Red Banner Fleet from the Hector system late in the month. The expectation is that the fleet will continue on through the Shaka system, likely towards the Sigma Draconis system and either Sol or the D’Bringi expanses. A contact report is sent off to the Colonial Defense detachments in Epsilon Eridani and Sligo, as well as to Fleet HQ on Earth.
Turn 95
Coalition scientists and engineers begin arriving on the Tlatelolco home planet. It will be several more months before the outpost is well-enough established to begin providing the Tlatelolco the support they have requested. Three colony fleets leave Coalition territories on Earth for newly opened colony sites on the frontier. One is heading to the Redwing system to help establish the scientific support mission to the Tlatelolco, the second is headed to the Donwaltz system to bring the colony there to settlement size, and the third is slated for the newly explored Parsifal system and the Harsh/Very Rich planet discovered there.
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Turn 95
The three Coalition colony fleets pass through the warp point in the Solar System to Sigma Draconis without incident. The warp point is heavily garrisoned, with the massive Soviet asteroid fortress brooding over the entire area on one side, and the assembled Reformation Coalition 1st Fleet, all thirty ships, on the other side. In the center, on the warp point, sit the Coalition’s bases and a small scattering of ships, including the DSB control ships and the 300 laser buoys the two nations had stationed to cover the warp point. The days of close cooperation between the two nations are gone, but here, with the two militaries in such close proximity, there is no room for a mistake. Therefore, when one side’s ships are scheduled to make transit, they inform the other side with plenty of time to prepare, so that no surprises unsettle the defenders or cause a mistake that could begin the Last War all over again. The colony fleet’s arrival had been anticipated for days, and it was no surprise when they made transit.
Once in Sigma Draconis the colony fleets crossed the system in good order, carrying almost eight million people in suspended animation. They were escorted across the system by the Endeavor II, an Outreach Mk 3 class scout frigate. Once they reached the warp point to the Shaka system they jumped out, and the Endeavor returned to the Coalition colony on Plateau.
The Shaka system was a crossroads system. It was claimed by both the USSR and the Coalition, and until now neither had stationed military forces here, although the Coalition had established a picket group of unarmed EXS class scouts, and the USSR had stationed DSB-Xr’s here. The system itself was uninteresting, as it contained no habitable worlds, but it was a gateway to the Coalition’s two main colony areas beyond Epsilon Eridani and Epsilon Indi, as well as the Soviet Union’s main colony area beyond the Hector/Smolensk system. Late last month the Soviet Red Banner Fleet, under General Lebedev, had arrived in the Shaka system from the Soviet territories beyond Hector. It had been under observation by Coalition picket ships since it arrived, and the Coalition had confidently predicted that it would either return to the Solar System or proceed to the Soviet controlled systems beyond Centaurus. However, it had done neither. Early in the month, as the Coalition colony fleets were leaving Earth, the Soviet fleet had taken up a position a close to the warp point from the Shaka system to the Sigma Draconis system, and sent two detachments to the warp points to Epsilon Eridani and Epsilon Indi. And then it waited.
On Day 10 of month 95, the leading colony transports jumped into the Shaka system from the Solar System. Captain Delila Tomlinson, commander of the lead freighter, shook her head to clear it as her crew recovered around her. She was one of the lucky ones that seemed to be affect by warp disorientation the least, but it still left her feeling as if briefly there had been two of her, and it took a bit of time for even her to recover. Still, they had a job to do, and a fleet of transports on a tight schedule behind them, so she cleared her head as best she could. “Helm, clear the warp point and get us on a heading for the jump point to Epsilon Indi, standard speed.”
“Yes, ma’am. Helm responding, computers resetting.”
“Ma’am!”
Delila turned in her chair to see her second officer frantically waving his hands. “Yes, mister Rollins?” This wasn’t the military, and she didn’t stand on formality and her crew wouldn’t stand for it if she did, but there were limits to decorum that she was willing to accept and excited yelling on the bridge was generally beyond the limit for her. She forgot her annoyance as she understood what the officer was trying to convey to her.
“Ma’am, multiple ships in close proximity. They have identified themselves as Soviet warships and demand that we stand to for boarding and inspection!”
“What! They can’t…How dare they?” A dozen thoughts went through her mind at once, mostly relating the insanity of the military mindset, but then her blood ran cold as the small plot screen in front of her cleared and the situation became clear. Fifteen Soviet warships clustered close around the warp point, including six monsters every bit as big as her freighter, but unlike her ship they were packed with screen generators, armor, and weapons. The Coalition fleet has ships as big, or bigger if the news reports were true, but they were all in the Solar system and she was here, with the Soviets demanding that she stand to for boarding. She was trying to think through the situation when the second officer turned from his console, his face white.
“Ma’am, the Soviets have given me coordinates and ordered that we assemble there and await inspection. They also say that if we launch a courier drone, the drone will be destroyed and we will be fired upon. If we do not change course in the next minute, they will open fire!”
Captain Tomlinson’s mouth hung open for a second as the blatant nature of the threat made its way through her mind. Then she pulled herself together and turned to the helm station. “Very well, there is nothing for it. Helm, change course, set a heading to the Soviet coordinates and assume station-keeping once we arrive.” She hit a key on her station. “Freight master, prepare for boarding an inspection.” She ignored that officer’s sputtered protests and closed the channel. “Steve, I’m going to record a protest to be sent to the Soviets. Once it is on the chip, send it to the Soviets and make sure it goes into our record.”
Steve Grayson, her second officer, shook his head. “Do you think that will make a difference, Cap?”
Captain Tomlinson shook her head. “To the Soviet’s, no. To our government and the owners and insurers, maybe. Now get to it.” She turned away and began composing her protest. She wished she had thought to launch a courier drone back towards the Solar System as soon the Soviet ships appeared on their sensors, but they weren’t the military and they hadn’t been expecting this whole thing. As Captain Tomlinson’s freighter turned towards the assembly point, Coalition freighters continued to stream through the warp point behind them.
Commander Thomas Wainwright, CO of the Coalition Shaka picket group and the RCSN EX(S)-007, currently assigned to the warp point from Shaka to Sigma Draconis, was shocked and appalled as the Soviets began herding the transiting freighters into a holding area. He had already reported the Soviet Fleet’s assembly at the warp point, but this was an escalation into a whole new area. “What are they doing?” He remembered where he was, and realized that his tiny command’s bridge crew, all two of them, were looking at him questioningly. The scout was a tiny ship, with only three officers and eighteen crew. The bridge crew consisted of the captain, the sensor officer, and the helmsman. “Sorry. Sensors, get all sensor takes on the record. Helm, prepare a course through the warp point. I…”
He broke off as a light on his console started blinking and the bridge computer said “Incoming priority message.”
Wainwright nodded to himself. It had to be the Soviets. He keyed in the command to play the message. “By order of General Lebedev, all Coalition transports will be inspected for contraband suspected to be aboard. Once the inspection is complete, all Coalition vessels, once cleared, will be free to continue on towards their destination. No Coalition ships will be allowed to transit back to Sigma Draconis until the inspection process is completed. A schedule of inspections will be posted shortly.”
Commander Wainwright gaped at his console in shock. How did the Soviets think they could get away with this? Then he realized that with transits back to Sigma Draconis banned, no one back there would know that anything was wrong for quite some time. And then another thought occurred to him. “Contraband?” He looked at the other two on the bridge in incomprehension. “What could they mean by contraband?” The other two shook their heads.
Wainwright thought furiously for a second. “Very well. I’m going to speak to General Lebedev and find out what this is about. In the meantime, Helm, prepare a course back to Sigma Draconis. Don’t engage until I tell you, but be ready.”
The helmsman nodded. “Yes sir, but, ah, what about what the Reds said? I mean, they’ve got heavy cruisers and we’re just a scout ship.”
Commander Wainwright nodded. “That’s right, but we are a ship in the Coalition Navy, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a Soviet tell me where we can go. Understood?”
The helmsman stared at him for a second, then nodded. “Understood.” She turned to her console and began to set up the course.
Commander Wainwright pressed a sequence of keys on his console, opening a channel to the Soviet flagship. A few seconds later the screen in front of him showed a Soviet Starshiy Liytenant aboard the Soviet flagship Marshal Zhukov. “Put General Lebedev on the line. Your behavior is outrageous, and he must explain himself.”
The Soviet officer glowered at the impudent Coalition Commander for a few seconds, then shook his head. “The General is too busy with our ongoing legal inspection operation to speak with you at this time. I am to inform you that no Coalition ship or crew will be harmed during the inspection process, as long as they do as ordered and offer no resistance. Any ship found to contain contraband will be seized and its crew arrested pending investigation. Once all ships have been inspected, they will be free to continue on to their destinations or return to the Solar System.”
“Contraband? What contraband? These ships are all bound for colony planets!”
“So you say. We have information that leads us to believe that you may have established trade with the very D’Bringi that threatened humanity and willfully killed Soviet citizens through a warp point unknown to us. Therefore, we will inspect all cargo ships bound for your frontier territories to ensure that you are not traitors, assisting the enemies of humanity.” From the Soviet officer’s tone, it was clear that he considered the Coalition navy officer on his screen a traitor, proof or no.
Commander Wainwright mustered a scowl of his own. “This is an outrageous violation of Coalition sovereignty, and I am formally notifying you that the RCSN finds these actions to be in violation of the standards of conduct established since we first moved into space. I will be reporting these actions to my superiors, who will certainly be raising the issue at the highest levels.”
The Soviet officer’s face took on a superior cast that Wainwright disliked intensely. “You are free to do as you will, however, all transit out of this system has been suspended. You and your ship are ordered to maintain their position until the inspection process is complete. If you fail to comply, you will be fired upon.” The channel closed.
Commander Wainwright looked at the plot. The colony fleet had been transiting for almost three minutes now. Given that it would take almost sixteen minutes for the entire fleet to transit, that meant that the bulk of the fleet, including all of the personnel transports with their eight million colonists were back in the Sigma Draconis system, waiting their turn to transit. He had no choice. “Helm, full speed to the warp point, make transit immediately.” The helmsman nodded and turned to his station, getting the small scout underway, while Commander Wainwright began composing a short message summarizing the events at the warp point, to be transmitted as soon as they materialized on the far side. Five seconds after they started moving, the sensor officer looked up from his board.
“Sir, the Reds are on the line.” She had taken over monitoring comms while the helmsman got them underway and the Commander worked on his message. “They sound pissed.”
“Ignore them.”
“Yes sir.” She hesitated, then said “Sir, they did say they’d fire on us.”
“I know, but I’m willing to bet that that’d exceed their orders. They’ve gone over the line here, but firing on an RCSN ship, even a small one, would be a declaration of war.”
“I hope you are right.”
Commander Wainwright looked over at her. “I do too.”
Tension aboard the small ship mounted as it ran towards the warp point, past the Soviet cruisers. Wainwright stared at the icon for the nearest cruiser as they approached the massive warship, wondering if he would have enough time to recognize what was happening if they opened fire. Then they were past and, in a blink of an eye, through the warp point. Even as the crew struggled to regain situational awareness in the aftermath of the transit, Commander Wainwright punched the button that initiated the comms messages he had set up. Four more freighters transited after the small Coalition scout appeared in the Sigma Draconis system, but then the long line of freighters and transports began turning away from the warp point in response to the scout’s message. A second message was winging its way to the warp point to the Solar System even as the freighters and transports turned away, and Commander Wainwright felt a brief sense of satisfaction, only to have it be squashed when Soviet cruisers began transiting behind him. Orders for the civilian ships to stand to for inspection flashed from the cruisers, and the flight of the civilian ships collapsed before it even began.
Day 11, 0202 hours
Six hours and forty-six minutes later after the Soviets stopped the colony fleets, the message from Commander Wainwright arrived at the warp point to the Solar System and was received by a Coalition scout assigned to picket the warp point. The scout immediately transited back to the Solar System and sent the message to both the 1st Fleet and Fleet HQ back on Earth. It would take over four hours to arrive on Earth, but Admiral Ruston aboard the cruiser Rodney received the message immediately. Within seconds of receiving the message, another message, this one from Soviet Marshal Smirnoff aboard the asteroid fort sitting three light seconds from the warp point, arrived at the Coalition flagship. Admiral Ruston set the recorded message to play at his station.
“Admiral Ruston, you have no doubt been informed that the Soviet Fleet has taken action under the Maritime Treaty of 1989 to initiate inspections of Coalition ships bound for your frontier. This legal action has been initiated due to reports that the Coalition has initiated trade with the D’Bringi and is shipping them war material. The rights of Coalition citizens and shipping companies will be observed, as long as said individuals and companies comply with the inspection regime as set out by the USSR and enforced by the Soviet fleet.”
Admiral Ruston settled back into his chair and his eyes narrowed. He had never even heard of the Maritime Treaty of 1989. He keyed the comm pad on his console. “Marianne, figure out what this maritime treaty is. In the meantime, bring the fleet to alert status, and warn the bases at the warp point.”
Captain Marianne Wilson, his chief of staff, nodded. “Do you think the Soviets are going to start something?”
Admiral Ruston started to answer, then paused for a second. “I don’t think so, but they are pushing this pretty hard. I’m tempted to take the fleet out to Shaka right now, on my own authority, but if I do it will almost certainly lead to war, one way or another. So instead we’ll pass it back to the politicians on Earth. But in the meantime, we won’t let them catch us by surprise here. Understood?”
Captain Wilson nodded and closed the channel. Admiral Ruston began composing his message to Earth.
Day 11, 0700 hours, Earth
CEO Campbell looked around the room. “Well?”
Helena Chapman, Minister for Health and Recovery Services, looked around the table. “Isn’t it obvious? We send in the fleet!” She saw that her colleagues weren’t very enthusiastic about this response, and stood up and leaned over the conference table towards them. “Damn it! We’ve got to get those ships moving! We can’t let the Russians do this to us!”
The attendees looked to the CEO to see if she was going to respond, but she merely looked back, inviting comment. After a few seconds, the Minister for Defense shook his head. “Helena, if we send the fleet to Shaka to confront the Soviets, one of three things will happen. Either the Soviets will back down, we will back down, or the two fleets will start shooting at each other, with our colony ships in between.”
Minister Chapman gritted her teeth. “They’ll back down! They have to!”
The Minister for Defense shook his head. “Why?”
The Minister for Health and Recovery Services stared at him in incomprehension. “Because they are wrong! That’s why they’ll back down. They’ll have to.” She looked around the room again and realized that she didn’t have them with her, so she tried again. “Look, I don’t care why the Soviet’s are doing this, or whether or not they really believe that we are trading with the damned D’Bringi. We have to get those ships moving again. We have to!” She turned towards the CEO. “You of all people should know this. With the election coming up, its critical that we keep the lifeline to the colonies open.”
The CEO frowned. “I’m not worried about that lunatic Abramson.” Lukas Abramson was her primary opponent in the upcoming election. Governor Abramson had been elected two years ago to represent the newly re-organized New York Territory, which was still recovering from the Last War, and was considered by the rest of the Coalition to be a hotbed of anti-Soviet reactionary politics. No one knew if Lukas Abramson believed what he touted on the campaign trail or whether he was just using it to rabble-rouse, but either way he was generally considered a pain in the rear by most of the centralist Coalition politicians currently in control of the government.
The Minister for Health and Recovery Services shook her head. “You should be. He’s taken the stance that you are soft on the Russians. If we are seen to be weak on this issue, we’ll be handing him a bat to hit us over the head with from now till the election.” She could see some of the other Ministers wavering. “Plus, the people need this. Look, things are better now than they’ve been in a long time. The economy’s booming, we’ve settled a bunch of other planets, everyone that wants to has work. That’s all good. But in spite of all of that, the average life span is down because of the lingering effects of the Last War, and the persistent fallout and radiation that lingers to this day. And the people know it! The flow of people to the colonies is the average citizen’s lifeline. Their way out to a better life. And who do you think they’ll blame if that lifeline is cut off, or even slowed down?”
A thoughtful frown had appeared on the CEO’s face, and the others knew the truth when they heard it. Silence fell as they digested this tidbit and Minister Chapman sat down to let them think. After a few seconds, the Minister for Industrial Development nodded. “She’s right. We can’t let those ships sit around out there. The shipping companies are going to miss deadlines, loose bonuses, even have to pay penalties. Insurers will have to get involved, and its going to be a big mess, and it’ll cost us billions in the end if we allow this continue. Plus, I’m convinced the Soviets are just doing this to slow us down a little bit. They have to have noticed that we are ahead of them in terms of colonization. This is their way of closing the gap.”
The CEO was watching Fleet Admiral Reese, who had been sitting quietly throughout the conversation. “Admiral?”
Admiral Reese nodded. “Admiral Ruston and his fleet are awaiting orders at the warp point. But sending him to confront General Lebedev is a very dangerous escalation. We should be very careful at this point.”
“Escalation!” Minister Chapman was on her feet again. “Escalation! The Soviets are the ones who escalated! We need to respond and get this stopped now!”
Admiral Reese looked at the Minister for Health and Recovery Services interestedly. “Ma’am, what orders would you give Admiral Ruston?”
Minister Chapman looked taken aback for a few seconds, then rallied. “Why, to put a stop to the Russian interference!”
“Okay, say we order Admiral Ruston to confront General Lebedev and order him to release our ships. What are our orders to Admiral Ruston if the General declines our orders? Should he open fire on the Russians?”
Minister Chapman started to answer and then stopped, considering. “They won’t disobey. Once confronted they’ll back down.” She didn’t sound certain, though, and her answer came out more as a question than anything else.
Admiral Reese leaned forward. “They might, but to be honest, the Russians aren’t noted for backing down when confronted. After all, that’s the way the Last War started.” Admiral Reese nodded at the Minister for Defense and continued. “Minister Durant is right. If the Russians don’t back down, then either we have to, or the two fleets will be shooting at each other, with our eight million colonists in between them. There is no guarantee that we will win that battle, or that the fighting won’t spread to here as well.”
Minister Durant nodded. “He’s right. It’s a huge risk that we might not have to take. This is a political problem, lets turn to diplomacy to solve it. Jane, can you set up a meeting between the Premier and CEO Campbell?”
The Minister for State found all eyes upon her, including the CEO, who nodded for her to continue. “Well, I’ve spoken to my counterpart in the Kremlin. He is being obstructive, as usual, but has indicated that they are willing to talk, if the talks take place at a high enough level.” She paused and looked around the table, trying to judge the mood, then continued. “I don’t know whether they believe their claims or not, its impossible to tell with the Soviets. But in either case, they have to know they’ve backed us against a wall, and that if we are pushed further, we may be forced to do something that will have bad results for all of us. We’ve all learned the lesson of the Last War – don’t back the other side into a no-win situation. They should be willing to talk.”
Everyone looked at the CEO, who appeared lost in thought. After a few seconds she nodded to herself. “Very well. Jane, set up a meeting with the Premier on some neutral territory, and schedule it for as soon as possible. In the meantime, Admiral Reese, order Admiral Ruston to move his fleet to the Sigma Draconis system. He is ordered to take up a position no closer than one light minute from the warp point in that system to the Shaka system. He is not to interfere with Soviet operations without further orders, he is merely to observe. Having his fleet on the move will allow me to apply some pressure to the Soviets during our negotiations.” She paused, then looked at her Defense Minister and the Fleet Admiral. “Gentlemen, if it should come to a shooting war, what are our odds?”
The Minister for Defense looked at the Fleet Admiral and nodded for him to field the question.
“Well, CEO, that’s a very complex question, but I believe I can break it down and give you a fair approximation. Our ships are better than the Soviet’s on a ship-to-ship basis, but their fleet is larger. If our 1st Fleet becomes engaged with the Soviet Red Banner Fleet in the Shaka system, the Soviets will likely win the battle, although almost certainly at a grievous cost. If the fighting spreads, the Soviet’s have the advantage at the Solar warp point, because of their asteroid fortress, and would almost certainly be able to secure control of the warp point, although again, that would come at a cost. And finally, if the fighting spreads here, the outcome is impossible to guess, although it would almost certainly involve the destruction of the biosphere and the death of the home world population of both sides.”
Everyone around the table looked appalled, as they should. The Admiral’s summary was sobering. Finally, the CEO nodded, a grim look on her face. “Very well. I will meet with the Soviet Premier. Admiral Ruston will advance on the Shaka system, but will avoid contact, at least for now.”
The meeting adjourned, and the Ministers hurried off to begin their tasks. Orders were dispatched within the hour to Admiral Ruston and the 1st Fleet. The fleet would depart early on the 12th, and their ETA to the warp point to the Shaka system was fourteen days.
The Minister for State began the process to set up a meeting with the Soviet leader. The process was facilitated considerably when the Soviets received word of the departure of the Coalition 1st Fleet from the warp point in the Solar System. Fortunately, a framework already existed for such meetings, which was largely a result of the Last War, and a recognition that both sides needed to have a method for their leaders to speak with each other, if only to clear the air and ensure a better understanding between the two powers.
The meeting was set for the 20th, with the Coalition 1st Fleet just over half way to the warp point to the Shaka system. The Soviet inspection of the Coalition colony fleets was still underway, grinding forward slowly. General Lebedev was insisting on a thorough search of every ship, and each search was time consuming. The entire process was being monitored by the Coalition scout that had sent the word of the Soviet actions in the Shaka system, and so far, at least, it appeared that the Soviets were sticking to their declared intent. Messages had been sent from the Coalition government to the colony ship’s crews, telling them to cooperate, at least for now, and there had been no incidents, much to the apparent relief of both sides.
On the 20th the leaders of the two nations met in Reykjavik, Iceland, long a neutral country perched between the two superpowers. The first day the CEO and the Premier met for a marathon eight hours, and upon breaking for the day the two men looked grim and withdrawn.
The meetings continued through the week. The Soviets were open to negotiation, but were insisting upon their right to inspect the ships. The Coalition’s CEO was adamant that the Soviets did not have that right, and early on had threatened to initiate inspections of Soviet colony transports if the Soviet’s did not back off their own inspection regime. Finally, on the 25th, with the 1st Fleet approaching the warp point to the Shaka system, the Soviet’s appeared to crack. They insisted they had a legitimate concern about trade with the D’Bringi, who they insisted on calling enemies of the entire human race, casting their continuing war as a heroic defense of humanity. But, acknowledging the confrontational nature of the inspection regime initiated this month, the Soviets suggested a less intrusive, less time consuming, inspection regime. Under their proposed agreement, the two nations would station inspectors at each other’s primary civilian spaceports, to ensure that cargoes loaded on each other’s freighters and colony ships were exactly what they said they were, rather than military aide for another race. Such inspections would be minimally intrusive, and would hardly slow the colonization process of either side.
The Coalition CEO was concerned about how his Senate would respond to such a proposal, but she was very aware of the timetable of Admiral Ruston’s approach to the Shaka warp point. War seemed to be looming over their heads, and finally the CEO was forced to admit that this appeared to be the only way out. And after all, allowing the Soviets to station a few inspectors at the civilian cargo ports in the Coalition was a cheap price to pay. They would be unable to gather military intelligence that way, and any civilian or economic intel was just as easily obtained from nearly any Coalition civilian database.
The meeting broke on the 25th with a tentative agreement between the two leaders, subject to agreement by their respective governments. As a measure of good faith, the Soviet’s sent orders to General Lebedev to let the Coalition colony transports continue on their way, and the Coalition sent orders to Admiral Ruston to return to the Solar warp point.
The Coalition Senate held hearings on the proposed treaty before the end of the month. Although there was some opposition by the anti-Soviet hardliners, the treaty was passed, largely as written, by a large majority of senators who were shocked at how quickly the two superpowers had come to the brink of war. Everyone who was ‘in the know’ about the confrontation between the two powers was relieved that they had found a way to back away from the brink. However, these events would have far-reaching consequences.
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Turn 96
Coalition scientists and engineers begin assisting the Tlatelolco in the Redwing system research IND-2 tech level.
Coalition refits continue. There was some debate in the Coalition government about freezing refits, to ensure that all fleet units were ready for duty in light of the recent increase in tension between the Coalition and the USSR, however, in the end the government and the Navy decided to continue with the refit schedule to ensure that the Navy fielded the best equipped units possible.
The Soviets continue with their refits as well.
Governor Lukas Abramson goes on the attack on the campaign trail, casting CEO Campbell and her administration as weak on the Soviets. While the press generally considers Abramson a fringe element and downplays his anti-Soviet pronouncements, he is gaining a following of people convinced that the Soviets are taking advantage of the Coalition’s government, which since the meetings of last month appears increasingly like appeasers as details of the new treaty leak out.
Turn 97
Refits for both the Coalition and the USSR continue. New colony fleets depart from Coalition territories this month, inspected by Soviet delegations at the Coalition cargo ports before departure.
The USSR initiates talks with the Bjering Consolidate about adding a trade component to their military alliance. The Bjering readily agree. In addition, the USSR succeeds in their long, drawn out negotiations with the Rehorish Stellar Union, who seem so delighted with the USSR that they not only agree to a trade relationship, but counter-offer a military alliance as well.
Turn 98
The Coalition 1st Survey Group discovers one new warp point in the Redwing system. The Survey Group’s escort force embarks a team of Tlatelolco scientists and politicians, and the scout frigate assigned to the group probes the warp point this month. Disappointingly, the warp point leads to a starless area of space. In any case, the Coalition promises to reserve that system, and any systems beyond it, for Tlatelolco expansion in the future.
Governor Abramson publicly uses this as another example of the Coalition government catering to alien interests, in this case the Tlatelolco.
Turn 99
The Coalition Colonial Defense Force squadron assigned to the Sligo system watches as the Tarek launch five medium sized space stations into orbit over their planet, along with a single escort class ship. The frigate-scout assigned to the Sligo Colonial Defense Group approaches to within 60 light seconds of the Tarek planet before the Tarek escort leaves orbit to drive it off. Close inspection reveals that the five space stations house medium shipyards, and that they have joined the efforts of the larger shipyard to duplicate itself.
These developments prompt Commodore Bonaventura to recommend a mission to neutralize the Tarek’s orbital assets, before they become a problem. The message is forwarded up the chain of command, and the Commodore’s repeated inquiries only receive messages confirming that the recommendation has been received by higher command.
The USSR completes construction on four BC’s, bringing their fleet up to five battlecruisers.
The Red Banner Fleet has been sitting in the Volvograd system, monitoring Coalition colony transports and other civilian traffic. Early in this month it sets out for the Kirov system. The Kirov system is the gateway to the Soviet colonial territories. Soviet survey ships discovered four warp points in the system during their rough survey, back in Turn 78, but never completed their detailed survey as they had been ordered to survey the habitable planets found through the existing warp points. A soviet survey group is scheduled to complete the detailed survey this month, and the Red Banner fleet will probe any newly discovered warp points next month.
Turn 100
The Coalition launches two additional battlecruisers, bringing their fleet to a total of three BC’s.
The Coalition’s 2nd Survey Group probes three new warp points in the Alfred system (beyond Donwaltz). The three warp points lead to a system with no habitable planets, a system with one type T planet, and a binary system with a grand total of three habitable planets. That system is named Medial, and the 2nd Survey Group jumps into the system to begin a planetary survey immediately.
The Russian Red Banner Fleet begins probing the unexplored warp points in the Kirov system. One of the warp points leads to the Novosibirsk system, giving the Kirov system two warp points that led to that system, one led to a starless area, one to a white dwarf with no planets, one to an essentially uninteresting system, and the last led to a system with one habitable planet. The Reb Banner Fleet sets out for the neighboring Vladivostok system to begin probing warp points there.
Abramson wins election as the Coalition’s new CEO. His last second revelation that the Coalition government was consistently ignoring the threat presented by the military buildup underway on the Tarek home planet proved surprisingly successful. He promises a more confrontational stance with the USSR, and to enlarge the Coalition fleet. He also orders the fleet to avoid contacting new races, if at all possible.
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Turn 101
The Coalition begins construction on three battlecruisers and six heavy cruisers.
Soviet scientists achieve HT 6. Work begins immediately on developing new systems.
The Soviet 2nd Exploration Fleet returns to the Izvesk system (beyond Novosibirsk) to begin a planetary survey of the type T planet found there. After entering the system and heading into the inner system to begin the survey, the exploration ships find a Rehorish colony already established on the planet. The exploration ships identify themselves to the Rehorish and agree to withdraw, and then report back to Soviet HQ on Earth.
The Politburo decides to send some DSB-L’s and control ships to the Novosibirsk system, along with a small group of warships to establish a picket in the system. Although the Rehorish are allies, the Soviets are firm believers in defending borders from possible threats.
The Red Banner Fleet begins probing unexplored warp points in the Vladivostok system this month. They find two starless areas, a system with a type T planet, and a system with a type T and a type ST planet.
Turn 102
Six Russian Krivak r3 class corvettes and four deep space buoy control ships leave Earth, bound for the Novosibirsk system. The USSR also ships 185 DSB-L’s to the Novosibirsk system, to set up a defense in that system.
The Red Banner Fleet probes a warp point in the Petropavlovsk system, discovering a system with a type T planet.
The newly installed CEO Abramson orders the Coalition Navy to conduct a demonstration cruise off of the Tarrek home world, in order to convince them to become less aggressive and perhaps open negotiations. Three cruisers and three destroyers from the home fleet leave Earth on Day 10, bound for the Sligo system.
Turn 103
The USSR begins construction on a second asteroid fort, alarming the Coalition. At the time the USSR built the first asteroid fort, the Coalition decided not to respond to it, as they feared that it would lead to an escalating defense arms race in the Solar system. The original fortress proved to be a thorn in the Coalition’s side, though, as it was stationed close to the warp point, and thus potentially controls all traffic through the warp point, even if the Soviets never exercised that command and control. To counter the fortress, the Coalition stationed their 1st Fleet at the warp point, balancing the strength of the asteroid fort, and giving their primary striking force a good strategic position. The problem with this arrangement was that if the fleet was called away from the warp point, as it was several months ago to counter the Soviet Red Banner Fleet, this effectively gave control of the warp point to the Soviets. The Coalition’s Home Fleet could be deployed to the warp point to counter the fort, but then that would give the Soviet’s the advantage at Earth, if it came to a showdown.
The new Coalition government is much more confrontational than the last. Therefore, the CEO and his ministers decide to begin construction on a group of BS3’s to be stationed at the warp point. This project will take some time, as the yards are currently occupied with a major expansion to the fleet, but once the new bases are complete, they will counterbalance the asteroid fort at the warp point, and the base constellation can be enlarged to balance the second fort as well.
On the Soviet side, their motivation to build the second fortress was primarily to give them the flexibility to replace the first so that it could be refitted. The current asteroid fortress was designed to give the D’Bringi pause, and to give the Soviet fleet a safe anchorage. When conditions in the Solar system changed, it became the perfect way to project Soviet command and control over the system’s only warp point, which had, up to then, been dominated by Coalition defensive bases and DSB-L’s. Unfortunately, with both sides deploying capital missile armed battlecruisers, the existing fortress was outdated and vulnerable. Its existing armament of standard missile firing gun/missile launchers was no longer sufficient, as a Coalition battlegroup of battlecruisers could stand off, outside the Soviet fortresses range, and bombard it into submission without possibility of response. It needed to be upgraded, but such a project would take time, first to tow it back to Earth, and then to refit it. During that period of time the warp point would effectively be under the control of the Coalition, unless one of the USSR’s two fleets were deployed to the warp point. Unfortunately, both of these fleets were needed where they were, therefore, construction was begun on a new, upgraded fortress. Once complete, this fortress would replace the one at the warp point, which would then be towed back to Earth and refitted. It would then anchor the USSR’s defenses close to Earth, although it could not be placed directly in Earth orbit due to existing agreements with the Coalition.
The Red Banner Fleet probes unexplored warp points in the Bratsk system, discovering a starless area, a system with no habitable planets, a system with one type T planet, and a binary system with three type T and one type ST planets.
On Day 20 the RCN cruiser group, with escorts, arrives at the colony of Wunderland in the Sligo system. There are celebrations across the colony when the cruisers enter orbit, and the ship’s crews are treated like heroes by the colonists, most of whom supported Abramson in the recent election and see the cruisers as a visible sign of Abramson’s commitment to their colony’s defense. After spending several days in orbit, the cruiser group and its destroyer escorts, along with the entire Sligo defense squadron, set out for Tarek Prime, and settle into place just eight light seconds from the planet. This is a provocative move, and closer than any Coalition ship has approached in the past. The Tarek fleet, which has grown to seven escort class units, sits impotently in orbit. Just one of the Coalition cruisers could likely deal with the entire Tarek mobile force, and the entire group comfortably out-massed every armed unit the Tarek had in space, including the armed space stations orbiting the planet. The Coalition commander attempts to communicate with the Tarek, in the hopes of establishing some sort of agreement. While the Abramson administration has taken a hard line in terms of relations with other races, it has no interest in war with the Tarek. CEO Abramson considers the Tarek to be inconsequential and a distraction from the Coalition’s real problem, the Soviets. The Coalition government is prepared to guarantee the Tarek’s right to colonize the rest of their system, including the two type ST planets, if the Tarek will agree to guarantee the existence of the Wunderland colony. Unfortunately, although they appear overawed by the Coalition cruisers, the Tarek refuse to talk with the Coalition officials.
Turn 104
The Red Banner Fleet moves to the Novosibirsk system, in transit to systems beyond which have unexplored warp points.
The Coalition begins construction on two BS3’s intended for the warp point defense detachment.
On Day 10, after spending a month in the Sligo system, the cruiser group departs. The Wunderlanders are very disappointed, as they thought that the cruisers would remain in the system.
Turn 105
The RCSN is becoming more and more concerned over the activities of the Tarek, in spite of the recent visit by a cruiser group to the system. The Tarek have continued to launch ships from their growing shipyards, and have fielded a fleet of nine escort class craft. Their construction capacity has grown as well, and they are building one additional escort every month. When their latest shipyard goes online their production will likely go up, unless they devote their new capacity to building another shipyard. While the Tarek do not pose a strategic threat to the Coalition, given the fact that they likely don’t know about warp points and haven’t even surveyed their own system, they can and do pose a potential threat to the growing colony of Wunderland. The Colonial Administrator of Wunderland has now added his voice to that of Commodore Bonaventura in calling for the Tarek threat to be confronted. The Colonial Defense Squadron assigned to the Sligo system consists of six latest-generation corvettes and three EXS scouts. Commodore Bonaventura feels confident that her corvettes can deal with the growing Tarek navy, for now, but warns that there will come a point, not that far down the road, when the Tarek navy will be able to overwhelm her command.
The RCSN is primarily focused on the increasing tensions with the USSR, and so continues to feel that it cannot divert any large units to the frontier. In addition, there continues to be a…distrust…of Commodore Bonaventura, who has been passed over for promotion after the loss of her command at Saturn and her extended stay with the D’Bringi. Finally, the RCSN decides to send reinforcements for Commodore Bonaventura’s command, delighting both the Commodore and the Colonial Administrator, but when those reinforcements arrive, both are disappointed. The reinforcements consist of three Napoleon Mk 4 class escorts, along with the warning that no further reinforcements will be available for some time.
The Soviet Red Banner Fleet moves to the Ivanovo system and probes the two unexplored warp points in the system. One of the warp points leads to a system with no habitable planets, while the other leads back to the Novgorod system, which is adjacent to the Tomsk warp nexus.
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Since the formalization of the treaty between the USSR and the Rehorish Stellar Dominion, the two nations had maintained embassies in their border systems. Representatives from both races resident in each of the border systems, to facilitate trade and military matters. For the USSR this was the colony of Titov in the Novosibirsk system, and for the Rehorish it was the colony of Sapporo Prime within the Sapporo system, located adjacent to the Soviet system of Novosibirsk.
On Day 25 of Turn 105, the Rehorish Ambassador to the USSR on the Titov colony requested an urgent meeting with the Soviet representatives. The Rehorish Ambassador stated that the Rehorish had encountered the D’Bringi while exploring, and that the D’Bringi had attacked their survey ships and were advancing on their home system. The Rehorish ambassador invoked the mutual defense clause of the military component of the treaty with the USSR, and requested immediate assistance. The ambassador provided sensor logs of the initial encounter with the D’Bringi, along with estimates of the D’Bringi force closing on their home system.
The Soviet ambassador immediately sent his courier/scout out-system to search for the Red Banner Fleet, last known to be located in the Ivanovo system, just one jump away. Once the scout was on its way, he dispatched several CD’s to Earth to inform the central government of this development. The CD’s would arrive in the Solar system in twenty days.
Turn 106
Day 1, 0200 hours, Ivanovo inner system
General Lebedev sat in his ship-board office on his flagship, the destroyer Marshal Zhukov, pointedly not looking at the paperwork piling up on his desk. He had set the wall display to show the planet below. The planet, much like most type T planets, was beautiful when seen from orbit, and the lights of the newly bustling colony of Afanasyev lit the continent below like a string of diamonds along the major land mass. His contemplation of the beauty was interrupted by the comm.
“General, we have received a message from the picket at the warp point to Novosibirsk. A courier has jumped into the system and has a priority message for you. We have downloaded the message and begun decryption.”
“Very well. Route it to my terminal for final decryption.” He closed the channel and settled back into his chair, wondering what had happened. There were many possibilities, but the fact that the message came from the Ambassador, rather that fleet command, was suggestive. After a minute or so his terminal chimed and he brought up the message, then keyed in his personal code to launch the final decryption routine.
The message from the Ambassador was short. The Rehorish claimed to have encountered the D’Bringi, and were requesting assistance. The Ambassador had included several files that appeared to be sensor logs, perhaps from the D’Bringi. After a few second’s thought, General Lebedev punched up the comm interface and connected to his chief of staff. “Yuri, call the staff together. I’m sending you some sensor logs. I want you to have them gone over with a fine-tooth comb. Ambassador Alekseyev’s message says that the Rehorish are requesting assistance under the mutual defense clause of our treaty, and that it’s the D’Bringi that are attacking them.” A wolfish grin spread across Polhovnik Khrunov’s face. “Yes, Yuri, if it is them then we finally have a chance to push this war home. Get the boys on those logs, and we’ll meet within the hour.” He almost closed the channel, but then turned back. “And spread the word, we’ll be moving out this morning.”
General Lebedev could feel the anticipation growing. Finally, they were going to come to grips with the illusive D’Bringi.
One hour later he was together with his staff in the flagship’s main plotting room. The room was circular, and built around a large table that could display system plotting information, or fleet dispositions, or whatever the General needed, either on the table top or on the monitors built into the walls of the room. Right now, it was set to show a visual representation of the logs provided by the Rehorish. Polhovnik Khrunov’s bulldog face was split by a wide smile as he pointed out the particulars being displayed. “As you can see, the logs clearly show a fleet of nine heavy cruisers with emissions identical to those of the D’Bringi fleet that attacked us. It is unmistakably the D’Bringi, there can be no mistake.”
General Lebedev stood up. “In light of this information, there can be no hesitation on our part. The Rehorish have provided information on their standing fleet, as well as astrogation information into their territory. They have requested that we send forces to assist them in fending off the D’Bringi, and then to assist in prosecuting the war all the way to the D’Bringi home world to bring their depredations to an end. I will be ordering the fleet to leave orbit this morning, with the intent of traveling to the Rehorish home system to face the D’Bringi fleet. The Rehorish fleet will meet us en route to the Rehorish home world, and together we will proceed to the site where we will meet the D’Bringi. Between our fleet and theirs, we will crush them.”
“Sir?”
“Yes, Mayor Volkov?” Mayor Volkov was his legal advisor, and in his opinion a pain in the ass and probably an informer for higher command. Still, the man had been useful on occasion.
“Sir, isn’t this properly a political situation that must be resolved before we commit ourselves?” He paused and looked at the other officers, and realized he had little support. Still, he plunged on. “Sir, the request by the Rehorish is a political one, by its nature, based on our treaty with them, and must be decided upon by our political leaders.”
General Lebedev nodded. “You are entirely correct. Or you would be if we were not already at war with the D’Bringi. The fact that war already exists means that, under the orders I have been given from fleet command, I can prosecute that war as opportunities arise, without waiting for confirmation from Earth. The Rehorish are offering us a route to the enemy, and we are going to take it. I am absolutely certain that specific orders to do just this will chase us as we advance into Rehorish territory.” Mayor Volkov opened his mouth and General Lebedev shook his head. “No. The question is closed, we will advance into Rehorish territory and assist our allies.”
The meeting broke up as the staff officers scurried away to their individual tasks. The fleet would set out for Rehorish territory within hours. Before moving out, CD’s were dispatched both to the Soviet Ambassador in the Novosibirsk system and to Earth.
On Day 15, with the Red Banner Fleet still an hour from the warp point in the Soviet Novosibirsk system to the Rehorish Sapporo system, General Lebedev turned to his chief of staff. “Yuri, remind me now about the procedure for us to transit into the Rehorish system.”
Polhovnik Khrunov’s face split with a smile that had chilled many junior officers when they spoke out of turn, or asked questions that the chief of staff thought they ought to know the answers to. The smile slid right over General Lebedev’s impassive face without apparent effect. “As you wish. We approach the warp point in our system. A Rehorish destroyer, from their picket force in the Sapporo system, awaits us, after having been allowed into our system to observe the transit. They will send a CD through as we approach, to warn their forces on the far side of our impending transit. Once we are through the warp point, the Rehorish picket force, which we are told is composed of a trio of destroyers, will accompany us to the warp point on the far side of the system where we will transit out of the Sapporo system.”
General Lebedev sat quietly for a second, absorbing this information that he already knew, testing it against his sensibilities. “Yuri, we will transit into the Sapporo system with the destroyers first. The cruisers will not transit until we know that everything on the far side of the warp point is as we have been told that it is. By our own ships.”
Polhovnik Khrunov’s face tightened. “Do you believe that the Rehorish present a threat?”
General Lebedev sighed. “No, Yuri, I do not. But there is no harm in being careful. We are the USSR’s striking power. I will be cautious. Now, what about the rest of our voyage?”
“Once we transit through the next warp point in the Sapporo system, we will be in a system the Rehorish have named Tokyo. This system, according to them, is uninhabited. The warp point to the next system is just 84 light minutes from the warp point to the Sapporo system. According to the information given to us, the next system after that is the Rehorish Home system. We will be met by the Rehorish Fleet just short of the warp point to their home system. Their fleet will escort us through the warp point and their home system. From there we will jump through one more system before reaching their contact point with the D’Bringi.”
“And the composition of the Rehorish main fleet?”
“They have provided us with general specifications. Their fleet is composed of six heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and three destroyers. They have other ships, such as the picket force in the Sapporo system, but they are scattered and only amount to another two destroyer squadrons. They are rushing to reactivate mothballed units, but fear that the D’Bringi will advance on their home system before they can be made ready.”
General Lebedev again sat silently for a few seconds. “Very well. We will continue.”
One hour later the Red Banner Fleet crossed over into Rehorish territory. The transit went as planned, and the Rehorish destroyer group escorted them across the system without incident.
Turn 106, Day 15, Earth:
The arrival of the CD’s from the Soviet Ambassador in the Novosibirsk system caused an uproar throughout the Politburo and the Soviet military. Some in the leadership had convinced themselves that the D’Bringi were gone, and that the war was effectively over. This new event was viewed either as a disaster or an opportunity by those in power in the USSR’s capital, depending on their point of view.
While the Politburo debated, the MSS was given orders to send limited reinforcements to General Lebedev, and to approve his almost certain decision to move to the assistance of the Rehorish. A battlecruiser group, accompanied by three heavy cruisers and three light cruisers, were ordered to move to support General Lebedev’s fleet. The Politburo also decided to activate their alliance with the Bjering Consolidate, and sent their ambassador orders to negotiate for as much Bjering fleet strength as possible.
Day 30, Turn 106, Rehorish Tokyo system
The Soviet Red Banner Fleet meets up with the Rehorish Home Fleet as they move through the Tokyo system. Soviet General Lebedev begins working with his counterpart, Cho-Sho Banzan, the commander of the Rehorish Fleet. He finds the Rehorish officer a bit standoffish, but skilled and knowledgeable.
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(https://i.imgur.com/Co7x46e.jpg)
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Day 3, Turn 107:
The Combined Fleets were approaching the warp point to the Rehorish Home System. The Soviet and Rehorish fleets were spaced five light seconds apart, and approaching the warp point, which was now four light seconds from the two fleets. Half of the Rehorish fleet would transit first, followed by the Soviet fleet, and then the rest of the Rehorish would transit.
General Lebedev had made sure that his best teams were on duty throughout the Soviet fleet, as they were transiting into their ally’s home system, and he wanted no mishaps or accidents to mar their progress. The Soviet ships were not at combat stations, though, as they were deep within their ally’s space and there was no reason for concern, as the last reported position for the D’Bringi was three systems away. Still, General Lebedev and his crews were watchful as they approached the warp point.
Suddenly, the calm throughout the fleet was shattered as alarms began ringing on every command deck in the fleet. Unidentified ships were transiting ahead of them, unexpectedly.
“Polhovnik, did the Rehorish schedule any transits?”
“No sir, nothing on the schedule!”
“Sir, scans have identified the transiting ships as cruisers. Four, now five in the system. They are coming to a stop just out of the warp point!”
A pit opened in Lebedev’s stomach. Cruisers. Both his fleet and the Rehorish used cruisers, but another race was known for their cruiser attack fleets.
Even as the General’s thoughts reached that point, the sensor officer called out again. “Contacts identified! D’Bringi cruisers entering the system, confirmed!”
General Lebedev punched the code into his console to silence the alarms ringing across his command deck, then opened the all-ships channel. “All ships, combat alert! Hostiles on the warp point! Prepare for action forward! The fleet will come to a halt and prepare for action.” He glanced at the plot and saw that it had been updated. Six D’Bringi cruisers were in the system, huddling close to the warp point as they recovered from the transit effects.
“Sir, priority communication from the Rehorish!”
General Lebedev opened the channel, and the wall plot was replaced by the bridge of one of the Rehorish cruisers. Cho-Sho Banzan’s various arms were constantly in motion, something General Lebedev had come to identify as a form of nervousness or agitation in the Rehorish. “General Lebedev, those are D’Bringi ships! I do not know how they got there! They cannot have beaten their way through our defenses! It is impossible.”
General Lebedev shook his head. “It doesn’t matter how they got there, Cho-Sho, they are in front of us now. I am bringing my ships to alert status. Together we can defeat them, I’m sure of it.”
“Yes, together. I will prepare.” The bridge of the Rehorish cruiser disappeared, replaced by the plot. There were now nine D’Bringi cruisers on the warp point, three light seconds in front of the stationary Russian fleet.
“Sir, the D’Bringi fleet is leaving the warp point, course directly towards us, standard cruiser speed!”
General Lebedev’s head whipped around at that last part. The plot clearly showed the D’Bringi ships moving at standard cruiser speed for a military engine equipped ship, indicating that they had made significant changes to their ships in the time since they had seen them last. They no longer used commercial engines on their cruisers. He needed to buy time to get all of his ships active. “All ships will pull back at the speed of the slowest unit. Maintain as much distance between us and the D’Bringi as possible.”
As the Russian ships pulled back and the D’Bringi raced towards them, the Rehorish fleet turned and began moving towards the Russian fleet at their full speed, obviously racing to their rescue. Something about the Rehorish maneuver bothered General Lebedev, but too much was happening at once. The D’Bringi had opened fire on the Russian ships, doing significant damage at 1.25 light seconds range. Three Soviet cruisers suffered serious internal damage, but two-thirds of the Soviet cruisers were returning fire, and about half of the smaller ships were active too. The D’Bringi paid heavily for their punishment of the Soviet cruisers, and three of their cruisers were slowed and leaking atmosphere.
The Soviet fleet continued turning away from the warp point, but had to turn to keep the D’Bringi out of their blind spot. The four undamaged short-range D’Bringi cruisers raced ahead, while the damaged cruisers, escorted by the long-range cruisers, turned away to open the range. The D’Bringi short-range force ended up just .75 light seconds from the Russian fleet, while the long-range force opened the range to 3 light seconds. Meanwhile, the Rehorish fleet raced towards the scene of combat, closing to 1 light second from the advancing D’Bringi cruisers, and the same distance from the fleeing Russian group.
General Lebedev had little to do at that point, aside from watch as his fleet and the D’Bringi fleet savaged each other at short range. His commanders were fighting their ships, and they were committed at this point, anything he did at this point would only throw them into confusion. The new force beams were working beautifully, ripping through the D’Bringi ship’s armor and shields, but the D’Bringi had obviously upgraded their ships as well, and were returning fire with force beams of their own, as well as sprint missiles and energy cannons. The result was horrendous. On the D’Bringi side, three of the four of their short-ranged cruisers were limping and streaming atmosphere through multiple holes in their armor. The D’Bringi were focusing their fire on the Soviet cruisers, and eight of the nine had suffered heavy internal damage, some from the armor-skipping energy cannons. The damage was shocking, but with the Rehorish about to enter the fight, it was all but over.
“Sir! The Stalingrad just blew up!”
“What!” General Lebedev’s head whipped around to look at his sensor officer in shock. The Stalingrad was his most intact cruiser. His mind reeled. How could this have happened? An inarticulate sound brought his attention back to the plot, where his chief of staff was pointing at the icons for the Rehorish fleet. The Rehorish were one light second behind his fleet, solidly in their blind spot.
“It was them!” Polhovnik Khrunov turned towards his General. “Sir, it could only have come from the Rehorish!”
General Lebedev fell back into his seat in shock. Just as he opened his mouth his sensor officer broke in.
“Sir, new force detected! Thirty-nine drive fields, twelve strength twelve, twelve strength nine, and fifteen strength seven! Closing at standard cruiser speed, now fourteen light seconds away.”
General Lebedev could feel the trap snap shut around him. Even as he watched, another Soviet ship, this one a light cruiser, exploded under fire coming in from their blind spot. As he tried to come up with something, anything, to get them out of this, his comm officer turned to face him.
“Sir, incoming message from Cho-Sho Banzan.”
The command deck fell quiet as General Lebedev stood. “Very well.” He nodded at the comm officer, and the bug-like Rehorish admiral appeared on the wall-monitor.
“General Lebedev, you are ordered to surrender your fleet immediately, or be destroyed. Lower your drive fields and deactivate all targeting systems, or my fleet will destroy yours.”
General Lebedev looked at the small plot at his station. All of his cruisers were damaged, some critically. His smaller ships were intact, though. For one long second he stood looking at the plot, while everyone else looked at him, their lives hanging on his next words. He slowly straightened and turned to the monitor. “Russians do not surrender to cowards and traitors.” He gestured to the comms officer to cut the link. When the monitor flickered off, he punched the all-ships channel. “We fight! Our primary target is the Rehorish Fleet! We will make them pay for their betrayal. We will die, but we will die free, and we will die fighting! All ships will launch all of their CD’s immediately! We must get word back home!”
The Soviet formation unraveled dramatically. With courier drones streaming away from them, the soviet cruisers each moved at their maximum speed, attempting to keep the range to the Rehorish open. Some were barely moving, while others were still at full speed. The D’Bringi close-range cruisers charged into their midst and were soon intermingled with the Russian cruisers. The five Russian light cruisers, still undamaged, all continued moving away from the oncoming Rehorish ships, but then began turning back towards their tormentors. The Rehorish cruisers closed on the fleeing Russian cruisers and then slowed to a halt behind the slowest Russian cruisers. The nine Russian DD’s all crashed to a halt right after General Lebedev gave his order, and began modulating their engines to make themselves harder targets. This move came as a surprise to the Rehorish cruisers, which overran the Russian DD’s in their eagerness to get to the Russian cruisers. The Russian command group, which included the two scout frigates and the command destroyer, continued ahead at full speed, trying to put some distance between themselves and the oncoming Rehorish fleet. They were forced to turn at the last second, to keep the Rehorish out of their blind spot, but that put the D’Bringi long-ranged ships solidly within their blindspot.
The battle was a horrific free-for-all, with ships desperately evading or trying to close on their enemies, and all semblance of tactical control evaporated. A Soviet destroyer group savaged a Rehorish cruiser that raced past it at point blank range, only to have the cruiser’s consorts turn their weaponry on the other Soviet destroyers. Within seconds most of the Soviet destroyers were heavily damaged, but two big Rehorish cruisers had exploded under fire from the stubborn destroyers. The Russian light cruisers, still in good formation, turned on two D’Bringi cruisers that had closed to a half light second, intent on targeting the Russian cruiser line. The light cruisers fired their missiles in sprint mode, chewing into the lead D’Bringi cruiser, gutting and leaving it barely under power. The two lead D’Bringi cruisers, in exchange, savaged one of the Russian cruisers that had turned to fire on the approaching Rehorish fleet, catching it before it could fire and ripping it from stem to stern.
Ships belonging to all three sides were exploding left and right as the fleets savaged each other. The two Soviet frigates, which had been escorting the Soviet command ship out of the fray, turned back and plunged into the furball, closing to nearly point-blank range on a D’Bringi cruiser before unleashing their force beams. The D’Bringi cruiser was already damaged and leaking atmosphere, and the two force beams from the frigates chewed deeply into its internal spaces. In response the wounded D’Bringi behemoth lashed out at its tormentors, wiping one of the frigates from space with its remaining force beams.
The Soviet ships were desperately evading their attackers, twisting and turning to either close to point blank range or, for the cruisers, attempting to keep the range open so that they could use their long-range launchers. For about a minute it looked like the Russians were giving as good as they got, but then the Rehorish cruisers out-maneuvered the Russian ships and closed to point blank range of the big Soviet ships. In a matter of seconds three Soviet cruisers were swatted from space by the Rehorish force and sprint missile fire, and the others were crippled. The Soviet light cruisers, which had maintained their organization and some separation from the battle, allowing them to pick their targets and avoid at least some of the return fire, now plunged into the heat of the battle to relieve their bigger brethren. The five light cruisers launched their standard missiles in sprint mode at the last second, ravaging a Rehorish cruiser, but then the Rehorish destroyer group swooped in on them from behind and let loose with their own weapons, savagely falling upon one of the light cruisers. The Soviet ship was tough, though, and took everything they had and continued throw hate at the Rehorish cruiser in front of it.
General Lebedev watched the battle, aghast at the destruction of his command. In ninety seconds of close-range combat the Soviet Red Banner fleet had ceased to exist. Five light cruisers remained intact, more or less, but were surrounded and had seconds to live. Three cruisers were technically still extant, but they were crippled hulks with no weapons or drive field. A single destroyer remained, reduced to a single force beam turret that continued to spit at the enemy ships around it. The enemy had paid a price, though. The D’Bringi lost three cruisers, and all six of their remaining CA’s were more or less damaged. The Rehorish lost two cruisers and had a third heavily damaged. As he watched his last five light cruisers plunge into the fireball at the center of the battle he came to a decision. “Communications: To all ships, it’s over. This is a priority command, cease fire and drop your drive fields.” Turning to his comm officer he saw that the order had gone out. “Get me whoever is in command of the D’Bringi.”
As the Soviet ships complied, dropping their drive fields and coming to a halt, the comm officer turned to General Lebedev. “Sir, D’Bringi Clan Chief Fortress-Breaker for you.”
The wall monitor flickered on to show a massive reptilian D’Bringi wearing a shaggy cape made of some beast, and holding an equally massive sword in front of him. “General. You fought well, but it is good you surrender now. There is little more glory to be gained here.”
General Lebedev stepped forward. “We are surrendering to you, do you understand. Not those oath breakers.”
The D’Bringi nodded, a gesture they had obviously picked up from the humans. “I understand, although I think you don’t have all of the information about the Rehorish that you should. In any case, we would like you to order your crews to…” Even as the D’Bringi Clan Chief spoke, life pods began to race away from Soviet ships as their crews abandoned them. A few seconds later, as the stream of pods ran out, the ships exploded. All of the ships, except one light cruiser and one crippled cruiser, self-destructed.
The D’Bringi Clan Chief grumbled to himself for a few seconds as he watched the Soviet ships blow up, then looked at General Lebedev again. “I expected no less, although I had hoped to have some ships as prizes.” He turned and sat down on what looked like a throne in the middle of his command deck. “I would ask that you surrender as well, General. True, you are clear of the battle and beyond our weapons range, but think, where will you go? This is a Rehorish system, and the only ways out are covered by Rehorish ships. You cannot escape.”
General Lebedev stared at the monitor for a moment, his mind racing to work its way through his options. His command ship was out of the enemy’s weapons range at the moment, and they could stay out of their weapon’s range indefinitely, but then what? The destroyers they had seen in the Sapporo system undoubtedly had the warp point back to that system picketed, and the only other way out that he knew of was the warp point in front of him, to the Rehorish home system, if that’s truly where it led. With the D’Bringi and Rehorish fleets in between him and that warp point, going that way was out of the question as well. They could remain free for some time, and perhaps lead some Rehorish ships on a merry chase for a while, but his ship had little in the way of supplies, and in a month or so they’d be forced to surrender or starve.
He came to a decision. Turning away from the monitor, he spoke directly to his chief of staff. “All hands will abandon ship. All officers will purge the databanks, and I will set the self-destruct.” Turning back to the monitor, he said, “We surrender. Our fight is over, but the war has just begun.”
Two minutes later, with life pods streaming away from the Soviet ship, the command ship of the Red Banner Fleet exploded as her engines overloaded. The life pods were picked up by the D’Bringi ships, as were the rest of the Soviet life pods. The battle was over.
The D’Bringi fleet split into two elements, based on the speed of the surviving ships. All of the D’Bringi ships headed for home and repairs, with the two slowest ships traveling together with an ETA at the shipyards of home of Turn 110. The other four D’Bringi cruisers were twice as fast, and would reach the home system on Turn 108.
The Rehorish fleet that had appeared to cut off the Soviet fleet closed on the scene of the battle and assisted the Rehorish ambush fleet with life pod recovery. Once that was complete, the two Rehorish fleets combined and set out for the Sapporo system, with sole exception of the Rehorish cruiser that had sustained damage. The damaged cruiser returned to the Rehorish home system for repairs.
Results of the Ambush in Tokyo:
D’Bringi Fleet initial forces: 9xCA
Losses: 3xCA
Damaged: 5xCA
Rehorish Fleet initial Forces: 6xCA, 3xCL, 3xDD
Losses: 2xCA
Damaged: 1xCA
Soviet Fleet Initial Forces: 9xCA, 6xCL, 10xDD, 2xFG
Losses: Total
The Rehorish captured one crippled cruiser with only two intact systems, an undamaged light cruiser, and a destroyer hull destroyed by energy beam damage.
-
Turn 107, Day 3, Soviet Novosibirsk system
The USSR had established defenses at the warp point to the Rehorish-controlled Sapporo system shortly after first-contact, mostly out of caution more than anything else, given the friendly nature of the Rehorish. There had been some talk about removing the defenses once the trade and military treaty was signed, but so far at least, the defenses remained in place. With civilian traffic a somewhat common occurrence, though, the defenders were at a rather low level of readiness. The Soviet Ambassador to the Rehorish, who essentially controlled relations with that race, had ordered the MSS to deactivate all DSB-L’s on the warp point and to keep them deactivated, to avoid any potential accidents that might threaten their relationship with their allies. This relationship was particularly critical now that General Lebedev had moved the Red Banner Fleet into Rehorish space. No mishap here could be allowed to endanger their relationship now.
The Soviet forward picket force, assigned to this system from the Home Fleet, consisted of one Kirov r2 class frigate/scout, six Krivak r3 class corvettes, and four corvette DSB control ships. They were stationed in a group two light seconds to one side of the warp point. Periodically they would reposition to another point two light seconds from the warp point, to avoid sitting in one place for too long. One hundred and eighty-five DSB-L’s were arrayed around the warp point, but were deactivated as ordered by the Ambassador.
On the far side of the warp point, in the Rehorish system of Sapporo, the reinforced Sapporo Patrol Group of the Rehorish Stellar Navy had gathered. Thanks to reports from the last group of civilian Rehorish freighters that had passed through the warp point just two days ago, Dai-i Watanabe, commander of the Sapporo Patrol Group, knew exactly where the Soviet ships were on the far side of the warp point, and the exact number and type of ships that waited for them. His orders to his ship commanders were clear, the Soviet corvette(DSBC) ships must die first, to prevent them from activating the DSB-L’s.
Dai-i Watanabe gave the order, and his ships began moving through the warp point. The Soviets were led to believe that the Sapporo picket consisted of a mere three Hosho class destroyers, when in fact it had been heavily reinforced before the Soviet fleet had passed through the system, on its way towards its rendezvous with destiny.
And so, the Soviet picket group was completely surprised when three Rehorish heavy cruisers emerged from the warp point, followed by three light cruisers. The Soviet ships were caught completely unaware, and beyond not knowing that the Rehorish border picket had been reinforced, didn’t even know that they were at war with the Rehorish or that the Red Banner Fleet had been destroyed several hours ago.
The three Rehorish heavy cruisers were through the warp point first, and once through the warp point, they headed straight towards the group of Russian ships sitting two light seconds from the warp point. Three light cruisers followed, also headed straight towards the Russian group. The Rehorish heavy cruisers fired first, unloading their salvoes of sprint missiles and lasers at the unsuspecting Russian DSB control ships. The Rehorish ships were still suffering the effects of warp transit, so their targeting wasn’t up to their usual exacting standards, but this was the Rehorish Stellar Guard. The lead cruiser battered through the Soviet corvette’s defenses and ripped through the small ship, crippling it and destroying its DSB control systems. The second cruiser fired right after the first, targeting the next Soviet control ship. This cruiser’s targeting was better, and the small Russian ship simply blew up under the punishment she was taking from the Rehorish cruiser. The soviet guard corvettes finally began firing back, targeting the lead Rehorish cruiser with their primary beams, but the surprise had thrown off their aiming and they missed their target. The third Rehorish cruiser’s weapons ripped through the third Soviet control ship, destroying its control systems and left it limping. Then the Rehorish light cruisers began firing, targeting the last Soviet control ship. The light cruisers were farther away, though, and had less weapons, so they struggled to inflict enough damage to destroy the last control ship’s internal systems. The last two light cruisers, in desperation, launched their XO mounted weapons in a last-ditch attempt to destroy the Soviet ship, despite the poor odds of getting a hit. Out of the eighteen missiles launched from the two cruiser’s racks, only one hit, but it was enough to wipe out the Soviet corvette’s control systems. In response, a single Russian corvette scored a hit with its primary beam on the lead Rehorish cruiser, destroying an engine, and the Russian frigate scored a hit on the same cruiser with its force beam, taking out its shields.
The Rehorish cruisers closed on the Russian force, which now turned sluggishly to open the range. Behind the Rehorish cruisers, six Rehorish DD’s entered the system and opened fire on the Soviet ships, adding their weight of fire to the fray. The line of Rehorish ships, led by the cruisers, curled around the Soviet group, in between it and open space, limiting its ability to turn away from the warp point. A Soviet corvette fired first, launching its XO-mounted missiles and firing its primary beam. The primary beam scored a hit, passing through the Rehorish cruiser’s armor and taking out a laser mount. At that point the battle pivoted, as the Rehorish cruisers had recovered from the transit effects and re-established their datalink. All three cruisers fired at once, at three of the Soviet primary-beam armed corvettes. All three corvettes were heavily damaged, one was left a drifting wreck without a drive field. The Soviet frigate returned fire with its force beam, taking out most of the lead cruiser’s armor, but then that was it for the Soviets. Their remaining corvettes had either failed to activate their weapons or had fired last turn, meaning their primary beams had to cool down before firing again. Most wouldn’t get that chance. The Rehorish light cruisers savaged the three remaining undamaged Soviet corvettes, and then the Rehorish DD’s joined in, ripping the Soviet frigate from front to back, leaving it a burning wreck with a few scattered life pods driving away from their former home.
The battle was nearly over. Of the six remaining Soviet ships, only the three DSB control ships had engine power, and they were reduced to about fourteen percent of their former top speed. The three primary-beam corvettes had all lost their engines and all of their other systems, only retaining their deeply buried primary beam armament. Dai-i Watanabe ordered his fleet to cease fire, and sent a message to the Soviet ships to surrender. The Soviet crews, enraged by the betrayal of those that they had considered allies, refused and, knowing that they were dead, continued to pump out primary beam fire at the lead Rehorish cruiser, hovering a half light second away from their crippled ships. Unfortunately for the Soviets, the Rehorish were exquisitely trained, and when they had come to a halt close to the Soviet wrecks, they had begun engine modulations to make it harder for the Soviets, should they prove to be stubborn, to hit them. Of the three Soviet corvettes that fired their primaries at the lead cruiser, only one hit, taking out the cruiser’s forward quarters. Meanwhile, the DSB control ships continued to try to escape, knowing that they were pitifully slower than the Rehorish ships, but refusing to surrender.
Reluctantly, Dai-i Watanabe ordered his ships to open fire, and in seconds the remaining Russian ships had been reduced to vapor. Three corvette hulls remained, stripped of their active systems by Rehorish energy cannons but otherwise intact. The battle was over. As the fleet began moving in-system, Rehorish survey ships jumped in behind them and began a warp point survey of the system.
Three hours later, emergency messages from the Soviet border guard force arrived at the colony of Titov in the inner system. The Soviet Ambassador and the colony’s governor immediately dispatched an emergency CD warning of the betrayal of the Rehorish to the Solar System. The Soviet Ambassador boarded one of the scouts remaining in orbit and departed for the Solar System as well.
-
Turn 107, Day 5, Soviet Tomsk System
The CD from the Politburo on Earth arrived on this date, instructing the Soviet Ambassador to the Bjering to file an official notification, requesting assistance under the military treaty between the two powers. The Soviet Ambassador immediately met with the Bjering Ambassador, who relayed the request on to his home system. On Day 6 the Bjering Admiralty Council agreed to assist the Soviet Union, in exchange for a sum of MC to be paid monthly to support the forces being sent to assist them. The Bjering agreed to send two fleets, a total of four battlecruisers, six destroyers, and eight corvettes. The forces will get underway and are to rendezvous with Soviet forces in the Novosibirsk system.
Turn 107, Day 6, Rehorish Tokyo system
One hundred and two Soviet courier drones launched by the Red Banner Fleet reach the warp point in the Tokyo system. Unopposed, they jumped out of the system, to the Rehorish Sapporo system. There the CD’s didn’t find the DSB-n that they were looking for. The DSB-n had been deployed by the Soviet fleet as it passed through the system, under their agreement with their ‘allies’ the Rehorish, but the Rehorish destroyer group had destroyed the DSB-n’s deployed by the Soviet fleet at around the same time that the Soviet fleet was being ambushed. Without the DSB-n many of the CD’s lost their navigation lock and wandered off into deep space. Only thirty-six continued on towards the warp point back to the Soviet-controlled Novosibirsk system.
Turn 107, Day 8, Novosibirsk warp point
Thirty-six CD’s, all that remained of the swarm launched by the Red Banner Fleet, jumped into the Novosibirsk system and immediately began searching for a friendly ship so that they could dump their data. Unfortunately, there were no friendly ships, just three Rehorish destroyers set to watch the warp point. After a short time, the CD’s shut themselves down, their message of warning from the Red Banner Fleet undelivered.
Later that same day the Rehorish forward fleet reached the Soviet Titov colony in the inner Novosibirsk system. The colony, having no defenses to speak of, promptly surrendered.
-
Turn 107, Day 15, Soviet Brezhnev System
For several years the USSR had known that the D’Bringi had a closed warp point into this system, and had planned accordingly. The system was covered by over one hundred DSB-Xr’s, as well as seventeen scouts and a small squadron of warships. For years the ships had watched the system, waiting for the D’Bringi to return. Their time had come.
At 1200 hours a force of D’Bringi ships jumped into the system through a previously undetected (but suspected) warp point. They appeared approximately three hundred and thirty-six light minutes from the system primary, and just twenty-four light minutes from a DSB-Xr and forty-eight light minutes from a Soviet scout. The Soviet ship was lurking with its drive field down, and was thus undetectable to the D’Bringi ships. None of the Soviet sensors was close enough to pin down the precise location of the warp point, but both had locked down the general area. D’Bringi ships popped into the system, and as more ships appeared the ones already in the system shut their drive fields down and then reactivated them, creating a confusing jumble of sensor contacts for the Russians. The Soviet scout sent a contact report to its fellow scouts, and the report was relayed by the other scouts into the inner system, where it was received by the commander of the six warships of the guard force. Unknown to them, they were all that remained of the Red Banner Fleet.
Following established protocol, the warships sent a CD towards the Solar System with a contact report, and then set out for an assembly point in the outer system. They could move with confidence that the D’Bringi did not know that they were there as the progress of the D’Bringi force was being followed by the sensors of the watch force.
On that same day, elsewhere in the Soviet Union’s territory…
Some time ago the D’Bringi had found a back-door into Soviet territory. Now, a D’Bringi fleet used that route to jump into an area that the Soviets thought was secure. This was the Leningrad system, located squarely between the Solar system and the Brehnev system, now under threat from a D’Bringi incursion. A fleet of thirty D’Bringi ships, led by three battlecruisers, jumped into the system. They entered the system unopposed and undetected. They immediately set course for their target; a point in deep space located in between the other warp points in the system. The D’Bringi fleet took an indirect course to get to their destination, avoiding getting too close to the warp point that leads back to the Solar system. After the combat units cleared the general area, another four ships jumped into the system. The four ships were a cruiser, a corvette, and two freighters, and once assembled they set out directly for the warp point that ultimately led back to the Solar System.
Turn 107, Day 20:
The D’Bringi fleet in the Brezhnev system arrived in the inner system on this date, settling into orbit over the main D’Bringi colony in the system. The fleet consisted of ten corvettes and several freighter/transports. They began landing troops on the administrative center, and one by one all of the outposts in the system signaled their surrender to the new arrivals. The D’Bringi had reclaimed their territory. During the landings, intelligence units in the colonies sent data-streams to the Russian squadron hiding in the system. None of the Russian officers noted that the D’Bringi ‘troops’ were little better than security guards, poorly equipped and barely trained.
Turn 107, Day 22, the Solar System:
CD’s from the Titov colony in the Novosibirsk system arrived at the warp point at 0800 hours. The Soviet asteroid fortress guarding the warp point received the data-dump and immediately passed it on to the inner system.
Four hours later the warning caused consternation and near panic throughout the Politburo. The general consensus seemed to be that if the Rehorish had attacked Novosibirsk, then they had almost certainly attacked the Red Banner Fleet first. And if they had used the threat of the D’Bringi to suck the Soviet fleet forward into unknown space, then the D’Bringi were almost certainly involved in the ambush.
As the Politburo debated, the Soviet Admiralty reacted. The Home Fleet was put on emergency alert status and warned to be prepared to move out with little notice. CD’s were sent to every Soviet ship and force outside the Solar System, including specifically the Home Fleet force advancing to reinforce the Red Banner Fleet. Even as the CD’s left Earth the reinforcements were transiting through the Smolensk system, on their way towards the Kirov system, where they would rendezvous with the Bjering before continuing.
The Politburo was still debating when the CD’s from the Brezhnev system arrived in the Solar System approximately twelve hours later. The fact that the D’Bringi were invading at exactly the same time as the Rehorish had attacked them was enough confirm their belief that the Rehorish had betrayed them. There was near panic in the halls of the politicians, but Marshal Padorin, the officer in command of the Military Space Service and all of its ships and bases, was not moved. He was known as a rock, immovable and imperturbable, and the fact that his stolid exterior hid a lively and intelligent mind was something that few guessed.
As Marshal Padorin walked down the hall approaching the General Secretary’s outer office, he passed a cluster of aides, all of whom were arguing over something, and none of whom were listening to what any of the others had to say. He snorted. That was typical for what was happening across the entire building. He entered the General Secretary’s outer office and was confronted by a group of Politburo members, all arguing just a senselessly as the junior aides had been outside in the hall. General Secretary Kuznetzov looked beleaguered, caught in the middle of an argument that appeared to have been going on for some time. Inwardly Padorin seethed, but of course none of his emotions reached his face. For a brief second he wondered what it was about political jobs that turned people, even good military officers, into politicians, but then he ordered his mind for the ordeal in front of him.
“General Secretary, I am here for your briefing!” Padorin’s bass voice rumbled across the office, quieting the arguments in spite of him not yelling, or even really raising his voice.
The General Secretary brightened. “Ah, good Yuri.” He turned to the other Politburo members. “Comrades, we will meet you in two hours for the general briefing.” Grudgingly, the other Politburo members filtered out, leaving the General Secretary and Marshal Padorin to continue into the General Secretary’s inner sanctum. Once they were in and settled, the General Secretary looked at the commander of his fleets. “What are we to do, Yuri?”
Padorin didn’t like the incipient despair he saw in the General Secretary’s eyes, so internally he switched gears from the presentation he had originally intended to give. After briefly hesitating to gather his thoughts, he began. “We must assume General Lebedev and his fleet are lost. The presence of a sizeable Rehorish fleet over the Titov colony can mean nothing else.”
“How is this possible? We had a treaty with the Rehorish!”
Marshal Padorin looked at the General Secretary incredulously, although his emotions never came close to his face. Was this the man who had skillfully played the broken European nations against each other, befuddling them with a web of conflicting treaties and alliances until they no longer knew who was on which side? The man who broke the threat of a combined Indian and Chinese alliance by enticing the Chinese into stabbing the Indians in the back at the critical moment? He really looked at the General Secretary for the first time and was shocked. The man was…old, and haggard. He looked as if he hadn’t slept, for the first time Padorin began wondering about the man’s health. “The Rehorish have broken our treaty. Perhaps the D’Bringi gave them a better deal. Or, perhaps, they were always in league with the D’Bringi and never bargained with us in good faith. Either way, it does not matter now. We must face the situation as it is, not as we wish it to be. We cannot bleat about words on a piece of paper, while missiles are flying. Still, we are not beaten. We are Russian, we do not give up, no matter what the odds! We survived a nuclear war to dominate this planet, and we will not let alien barbarians tear us down now!”
The General Secretary peered at him for a few seconds, teetering on the precipice, then visibly pulled himself together. After a few seconds some color appeared in the old man’s face, and he rallied. “Yes, we are Russian. We are used to setbacks. They merely make us work harder to achieve our goals, which, with the efforts of the people, are inevitable.”
Marshal Padorin settled back into his chair. “Yes, General Secretary. All is not lost. With your permission?” He gestured at the General Secretary’s desk. After the man nodded, Marshal Padorin spread a paper map out on the man’s desk.
The map depicted the warp map of Soviet territories. There were fifty-one systems shown at the present time. The Solar System was prominently marked, and at the center of the chains of warp lines that led to the various systems. Two warp chains were prominently marked as well. One, a relatively short chain, was marked in bright blue, and it led from the Solar System, through the Moskva and Leningrad systems, to the Brezhnev system, which was marked with an icon that denoted the presence of hostile D’Bringi ships. The second warp chain was longer, leading from Sol, through Moskva, Volvograd, and Smolensk, to the Kirov system. From the Kirov system the chain split, heading to the Novosibirsk system, which was marked with an icon denoting the Rehorish presence, with the other chain heading to the Bjering home system. The systems along this chain contained the vast bulk of Soviet colonies, as well.
Once the General Secretary had had a second to take in the map, Padorin continued. “We face two threats, along the two warp chains highlighted here. Of the two, I judge the D’Bringi threat to be more serious and immediate at this time. In the Brezhnev system they are a mere three jumps from the Solar System, and worse, they know the warp links in that area as well as we do. Perhaps better, given they know the location of the closed warp point in the Brezhnev system. The Rehorish, however, do not know they warp chain layout of the area they are advancing into. They may be able to obtain some information from the Titov colony, or from Lebedev’s ships, if they managed to capture any intact, however, even that will be of limited use. It will take months, even with their survey ships surveying ahead, to make progress. And, worse, at least from their point of view, they have no way of knowing which are the critical warp links that lead to important places. For instance, they have taken the Novosibirsk system. They know of the warp point that leads back to their systems, but that system has seven other warp points. Without capturing information, they cannot know which warp points lead to important systems, and which lead back to the home system. It will take them quite some time to figure out the correct route of advance.”
The General Secretary frowned, and pointed out the Kirov system. “All of that is true, but the Kirov system is critical. If we lose control of the Kirov system, we will lose access to not only our colonial frontier, but the Bjering as well. We cannot afford to lose that system!”
Marshal Padorin nodded, pleased that the General Secretary’s mind was engaged again. “This is true, however, as I said, it will take time for the Rehorish to figure this out, and, we have the added advantage that the warp link from Kirov to Novosibirsk is closed on the Novosibirsk side. They cannot find it with surveys. It is possible that they may find the information on Titov, but we cannot predict that one way or another.”
Both men stood and stared at the map for a few seconds, pondering the strategic situation that the USSR found itself in at the current time. Finally, Marshal Padorin leaned over the map, pointing at the Brezhnev system. “This is the most critical and immediate threat! The D’Bringi are closest to the Earth, and they know the route without having to explore and survey. We must stop them here!”
The General Secretary’s eyes narrowed. “The reports indicate only a force of light D’Bringi ships present in the system. You suspect a trap?”
Marshal Padorin nodded. “The D’Bringi don’t like standup fights. They misdirect, and try to hit us where we aren’t. They know that they risk revealing the location of the closed warp point in the Brezhnev system, and this warp point leads back to their systems. They would not run such a risk merely to regain a few minor mining colonies. I do not know what they have planned, but we have the advantage in the Brezhnev system. We have enough detection buoys spread across the system to see any force trying to sneak through the system, and we have automated weapons blocking their exit point back to our own territory. We will have the advantage there.”
The General Secretary peered at the map for a few minutes, thinking. “What is it that you propose?”
“It is simple.” Marshal Padorin’s finger stabbed down on the Kirov system. “I will order Polhovnik Semenov and his Second Fleet to hold here, along with the Bjering fleet. They will prevent the Rehorish from advancing into the Kirov system. In addition, they will picket the secondary route of advance through the Novgorod system, to monitor any Rehorish advance towards the Tomsk system. The 2nd Fleet, combined with the Bjering forces, is a powerful force with seven battlecruisers, and should be able to stop any probes from the Rehorish. In addition, I will give Semenov orders prohibiting him from risking his fleet, ordering him to withdraw back towards the Solar system if necessary. His fleet must remain intact to delay the Rehorish as long as possible, while we deal with the D’Bringi.”
Marshal Padorin shifted his gaze across the map, and once again his finger stabbed down, this time in the Brezhnev system. “In the meantime, I will order Polhovnik Fedorov to advance to the Brezhnev system with the Home Fleet. His orders will be to locate the closed warp point and to advance into D’Bringi territory. He will be warned that we believe the D’Bringi are present in the Brezhnev system in greater strength than they have shown, but he has six battlecruisers, which should be sufficient to deal with the D’Bringi, particularly if they have sent forces to assist the Rehorish in their battle with General Lebedev and their advance into Novosibirsk. The forces already in Brezhnev will shadow the D’Bringi and gather information for Fedorov while his fleet approaches. We do not have to worry about the D’Bringi breaking out of the Brezhnev system, because we have a blocking force in the Leningrad system, at the warp point to Brezhnev, with enough automated weapons to block any but the heaviest attack. Once Fedorov and his forces find the warp point to D’Bringi space, we will stab at their heart for a change!”
The General Secretary pondered the situation for some time before speaking. “Your plan is bold. I like that, it is a time for boldness.” He glanced at the door, and Padorin knew he was thinking about the other Politburo members, some of whom could still be heard arguing outside the door. “But you leave the Solar System stripped of ships. They will not like this.”
Marshal Padorin waived towards the door dismissively. “They will not like anything I do at this point. We have our defenses at the warp point to protect the entry point to this system, and even if they somehow bypassed that, we have our planetary defenses here.” He shook his head. “That’s assuming they get past our fleets, which I believe to be unlikely, or I would not be sending them out.”
The General Secretary nodded, still looking at the map spread across his desk. “That brings us to what the other Politburo members are actually concerned about. The Coalition. They have noted our fleet movements. They will have the advantage here, if we strip the system of ships. They fear the Coalition, in a way that they do not fear the D’Bringi and the Rehorish. The barbarians are not here, are not pointing hundreds of nuclear weapons at our homes and families. Your proposed movements, putting the fleets out of sight of the Coalition, will either worry or embolden them, at a time when we can ill afford it.”
Marshal Padorin looked at the map for a few seconds. It was true, he was focused on the external threat, and his plan was aimed there. He had given no consideration to the Coalition. Still… “Comrade General Secretary, the Coalition doesn’t want war with us. They will press any advantage they think they have, while they can, but even this new administration does not want to provoke open war. Just like the Rehorish, they are a threat for the future. We must focus on the most immediate threat.” He paused in thought for a few seconds. “And, there is always this. The Coalition has signed a non-aggression treaty with the D’Bringi, but not the Rehorish. The Coalition fleet will be bound to prevent the Rehorish from obstructing their shipping routes in the Moskva system, as it is the gateway to their colonies. That will delay the barbarians. And, should the worst happen and the barbarians penetrate even into the Solar System, think on this. Will the Coalition feel at ease with rampaging alien war fleets in the Solar system? I can tell you, for certain, that the Coalition will not allow the barbarians to engage our defenses here on Earth. Such an engagement would mean massive collateral damage to Coalition territories and populations on Earth, something they cannot and will not tolerate. So, not matter what happens, we will always retain our holdings here, at the seat of our power, and with those, we can eventually regain anything we lose.”
The General Secretary turned away and moved to the window, where he stared out at the sky for several minutes, thinking through what he had been told. Marshal Padorin simply sat and waited, recognizing his leader’s need to organize his thoughts, and put what he had been told within the framework of the politics of the Politburo. Finally, after nearly five minutes, the General Secretary turned back to the Marshal. He looked re-energized. “Very well. We will do as you say. I will convince the others. But, Marshal, much turns on this. If this goes poorly the responsibility is yours. And yours alone. Understood?”
Marshal Padorin stood and saluted. “Yes, General Secretary. I understand!” He turned and walked out.
The orders left Earth shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, in the Brezhnev system…
The Soviet forces in the Brezhnev system were following the plan established for this eventuality, meaning that the warships had withdrawn to the outer system, somewhere along the path that the D’Bringi ships would have to take during their move into the inner system. The task force’s orders were not to challenge the D’Bringi directly, but to continue to monitor the D’Bringi and attack targets of opportunity. The scouts attached to the force would move to try to localize their entrance point into the system. The entire force carried enough maintenance to sustain it for approximately ten months if cut off. The defenses in the Leningrad system, which was the next system inwards from Brezhnev, were alert and their DSB-L’s had been activated. Nothing would transit through without first being engaged.
Turn 107, Day 24, Leningrad System
The D’Bringi clan fleet that had entered the system undetected now approached their destination, sixty light minutes from the warp point to the Moskva system, and one hundred and eight light minutes from the warp point to the Brezhnev system. Once in place they shut down their drive fields and waited, watchfully.
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Turn 107, Day 27, Kirov system
The Soviet reinforcement group consisted of three battlecruisers, three cruisers, and three light cruisers, and had been racing ahead to join up with General Lebedev in Rehorish space. On this date a group of CD’s reached the group, sent from Earth with a warning and new orders. The group was now rebranded as the 2nd Fleet, and the Podpolhovnik in command, Dimitri Semenov, was promoted to Polhovnik and placed in overall command. He was ordered to wait in the Kirov system until joined by the reinforcements from the Bjering, and then to advance to the warp point to Novosibirsk and deter the Rehorish from advancing into Russian space. He was ordered to be cautious, and to avoid direct confrontation with the Rehorish fleet until further reinforcements reached his position.
Turn 107, Day 27, Solar System, WP to Moskva (Sigma Draconis)
The USSR’s Home Fleet, consisting of six BC’s, three CA’s, three CL’s, and seven DD’s, arrives at the warp point in the Home system and jumps through to the Moskva system in combat order, without hesitation or communications with the Coalition force guarding the warp point.
The Coalition officer in command of the defenses protests this unexplained move by the Soviet Home Fleet, and is essentially ignored by the Soviets. She immediately sends a report off to fleet HQ on Earth.
Shortly after the Soviet fleet transited out, a Soviet tug latches onto the massive asteroid fortress anchoring the Soviet warp point defenses and begins towing it towards the warp point. This is a direct violation of a long-standing, albeit unwritten, agreement between the Coalition and USSR. Prior to this both sides had kept their bases and ships positioned to keep the warp point just barely within range of their weapons, but out of range of each other’s forces. Now, by moving the asteroid fort towards the warp point, the USSR is changing the game. Once again, the Coalition commander is forced to send a report off towards fleet HQ.
On Earth, the Soviet deployments, taken without warning or notification, caused consternation throughout the upper ranks of the Coalition navy and the Abramson administration. CEO Abramson is very aware that he was elected on the strength of his promise to oppose the USSR, and feels that he cannot let these moves go unanswered. He therefore orders the 1st Fleet, stationed at the warp point, to transit into the Sigma Draconis system and to shadow the Soviet Home Fleet. He then orders the Coalition Home Fleet to move to the warp point and to assume a position within weapons range of the Soviet asteroid fortress, to ensure that Coalition civilian traffic continues to move through the warp point unimpeded.
Turn 107, Day 30, Kirov system
The promised Bjering reinforcements, consisting of four BC’s, six DD’s, and eight CT’s, arrive at the rendezvous point with the Soviet 2nd Fleet. Polhovnik Semenov is untrusting of his new allies, given the USSR’s experience with the Rehorish, but desperately needs the added weight of fire the Bjering will bring to his battle line. The combined force sets out for the warp point to the Novosibirsk system to probe to try to establish the extent of the Rehorish threat.
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Turn 108, Day 1, Solar System
The Soviet Ambassador to the Coalition meets with the Coalition Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Soviet Ambassador informs the Minister that the USSR has suffered minor setbacks in its war with the D’Bringi, and that the recent movement by the Home Fleet, and the redeployment of the asteroid fortress at the warp point were related to those events, and were not aimed at the Coalition in any way. In addition, he states that the newly constructed asteroid fortress will be towed to the warp point and will bolster Soviet defenses there. The Ambassador takes great pains to reassure the Coalition that none of these movements are intended to obstruct or hinder Coalition military or civilian movements.
Once his meeting with the Soviet Ambassador is over, the Minister for Foreign Affairs goes immediately to inform the CEO of this new development. If true, this could potentially mean that the Soviets have been weakened, giving the Coalition an advantage. The situation is complex, though, and the CEO ends up calling in his entire cabinet to discuss the situation. The meeting lasts the rest of the day and into the night, and no clear consensus is reached.
Essentially, the cabinet fears that if the situation is as the Soviet’s have presented it, then this is both an opportunity and a threat to the Coalition. After all, if the Soviets are desperate then they may become unpredictable, and, worse, if the D’Bringi are advancing into Soviet space, then no one can predict what the results will be. While the Coalition has a treaty with the D’Bringi, it is predicated on the D’Bringi staying on their side of the warp point that was their one point of contact. If the D’Bringi do advance into Soviet space, will they discriminate between Soviet civilian shipping and Coalition civilian shipping. And, if things came to their worst, could the Coalition allow the D’Bringi to advance into the Solar system? Even if the D’Bringi scrupulously adhered to the treaty and avoided Coalition shipping and colonies, certainly there was no way that the Coalition would allow the D’Bringi to bombard Earth, even if they were merely targeting the Soviet PDC’s. The collateral damage would be unthinkable. And then, of course, there were those that thought that the Russians were lying and that this was some sort of plot aimed at the Coalition. The Defense Minister championed this proposition, although she could not articulate what she thought that the Soviet’s might be up to with the plot. CEO Abramson stood aloof from the discussion, merely taking the temperature of the room periodically.
In the end the CEO decided to continue on with the position he had already taken. The 1st Fleet would shadow the Soviet Home Fleet in Sigma Draconis, while the Home Fleet would relocate to the warp point to balance the Soviet asteroid fort(s). The 1st Fleet was warned to be on the watch for D’Bringi incursions, and the fleet commander was brought up to speed on the new developments.
Turn 108, Day 4, Moskva System, warp point to Leningrad
The Soviet Home Fleet arrived in good order, with the fleet’s five Udaloy R3 destroyers in the lead. The destroyers jumped through to the Leningrad system, and cleared the area around the warp point, before sending one of their number back to report that the way was clear. The entire fleet jumped through and set out for the warp point to the Brezhnev system.
One light minute from the warp point, nine D’Bringi ships sat with their drive fields down, unnoticed by the Soviet fleet. The ships were two automated warfare ships, a cruiser and a corvette, two freighters, and five escorting warships, three corvettes and two destroyers. The D’Bringi ships observed the Soviet fleet entering the system, and sent a contact report via tight beam off to the D’Bringi fleet waiting sixty light minutes away.
The Coalition 1st Fleet, consisting of thirty-nine ships, remained in the Moskva system. The Coalition had effectively given the Leningrad system to the Soviets, in exchange for the Soviets staying out of the Coalition’s colonial areas, and if they continued to follow the Soviets they’d be in violation of the agreement. The Coalition ships took up a position thirty light seconds from the warp point and settled in to watch.
Turn 108, Day 5, Kirov System, WP to Novosibirsk
The Soviet 2nd Fleet, consisting of three Sverdlov class battlecruisers, three Moskva class cruisers, and three Kresta class light cruisers, hung in space a short distance from the warp point to the Novosibirsk system. With them were two Bjering ‘fleets’, consisting of a total of four battlecruisers, six destroyers, and eight corvettes.
The combined fleets had approached the warp point cautiously, as they had no idea if the Rehorish knew of its location. They were fairly sure that the Rehorish had not entered the Kirov system, for various reasons, but they had no way of knowing where the Rehorish fleet was in the Novosibirsk system, or even if it was still there. So, as a result, the ships of the combined fleet were all at alert status, and the battlecruisers, all equipped with long-ranged capital missile launchers, were hanging back from the warp point, outside of beam range, but within range of their own missiles. Three Bjering destroyers and a single Russian light cruiser approached the warp point, and then plunged through, the Bjering DD’s first, followed by the Russian CL. Thirty seconds later the Russian CL returned, along with a Bjering DD. The warp point was clear on the far side.
Two ships were positioned on the far side of the warp point, a Russian CL and a Bjering DD, while the rest of the combined fleets arrayed themselves in defensive positions around the warp point.
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Turn 108, Day 6, Leningrad system, Soviet Home Fleet
Polhovnik General Fedorov lurched out of his bunk and slammed his head into the low overhead, almost knocking himself out in his haste to get up. He blearily looked around his room, which was lit in tones of flashing red lights, and a wall speaker was blaring an alert signal. Shaking his head to clear it, he moved to the comm station at his desk, and realized that it too was blaring something at him. Trying to gain some coherence, he hit a button on his desk to clear the alert signal and the flashing lights. Suddenly, the comm announcement became clear.
“All hands, all hands, combat alert! This is not a drill! All crew to combat stations! Button up the ship and report status to the bridge immediately!”
A cold feeling sunk through him as he began pulling on his ship-suit, a combination of ship-side uniform and vacuum armor. As he did so he punched in the combination for his chief of staff into the comm unit, and almost immediately Polhovnik Sidorenko appeared on his screen. “We have been ambushed, comrade General! D’Bringi ships appeared fifteen light seconds away, and are now moving towards us! They must have been hiding with their drive fields down, waiting for us!”
A dozen questions raced through Semenov’s mind, starting with how the D’Bringi ships had gotten here, into this supposedly secure system, but none of that mattered now. “Order the fleet to turn away from the D’Bringi, to maximize our time to get the crews to their stations. I will arrive in the command center shortly.”
Polhovnik General Fedorov appeared on the command deck of his flag destroyer just under ninety seconds later. He immediately crossed the deck to the central plot, in the center of the area, where his chief of staff was standing. He took in the situation in a quick glance. The D’Bringi fleet had closed to twelve point seven five light seconds, and was moving twice as fast as his fleet, which had been caught off guard. “Status on the D’Bringi fleet?”
Polhovnik Sidorenko pointed to the icon for the D’Bringi fleet. “The D’Bringi fleet is composed of three strength fifteen drive fields, ten strength twelve drive fields, and twelve strength four drive fields, or three BC’s, ten CA’s, and twelve CT’s.”
Fedorov did a quick calculation. His fleet had a minor mass advantage, better than being out-massed but not really enough for a decisive advantage. “What is the status of our fleet?”
Polhovnik Sidorenko punched up a window showing the status of their fleet. Ninety seconds after the D’Bringi popped onto their screens eight of the eighteen ships in their fleet were at action stations and ready for combat. Semenov did some more quick calculations in his head and, although his crews were taking longer to get to their stations than they should, his ships would almost certainly all be at action stations before the D’Bringi reached the maximum capital missile range of seven point five light seconds. He frowned, his mind racing. Too many of his ships, particularly the larger ships, had green crews, which would almost certainly affect the battle.
As Polhovnik General Fedorov watched the plot, the D’Bringi fleet crept closer to his fleet, and the icons for several more of his ships, including two of his battlecruisers, changed color to denote they were now at action stations. Polhovnik Sidorenko, who was new to his staff, interjected cautiously – “It looks like we have the advantage in mass, sir.”
Polhovnik General Fedorov nodded. “We do. And, we have six battlecruisers to their three, which may be a critical advantage. But we do not know how those ships are armed. The D’Bringi have never used capital missiles, to my knowledge, but there is always a first time.”
“They have never shown us battlecruisers either, so we must be prepared for whatever the D’Bringi throw at us.”
Polhovnik General Federov’s lips tightened. “The D’Bringi cruisers we have observed in the past have been heavily armed with short-ranged beam weapons. Assuming most of those cruisers are so-armed, they will have a heavy advantage in close range combat, as we only have five destroyers armed with beam weapons. Our light and heavy cruisers are all armed with medium-range missiles, which may give us an advantage in that range bracket, but if the D’Bringi manage to close to beam range, they will be able to gut us.”
As the two officers discussed the situation, the D’Bringi continued to close, now at ten point seven five light seconds range. Most of the Soviet fleet was now at combat stations, with the exception of a single destroyer, and the battlecruiser Varyag. Polhovnik General Fedorov glared at the icon for the Varyag, and turned to his chief of staff. “Contact Mayor Popov and inform him that if he cannot get his crew to their stations in the next minute, I will have him ejected from his ship in a life pod!” Polhovnik Sidorenko blanched and turned away to contact the unfortunate commander, and General Semenov turned back to the plot. Watching the D’Bringi fleet close, he tried to weigh his alternatives. He could avoid combat, once all of his ships were at action stations, but to do so for any amount of time he would eventually be forced to retreat to the Moskva system, giving up this system to the D’Bringi. Or, he could accept combat, here and now. He was torn. If he lost this battle then there would be nothing between the D’Bringi and the Solar System. But if he could crush them, here, then their advance would be stopped and the USSR would have time to rebuild its fleets. Watching the icons for his ships, he came to a decision. His fleet would smash the D’Bringi fleet, and stop their threat here and now.
As the general watched, the icon for the destroyer Admiral Levchenko changed to indicate that it was now at combat readiness, but the icon for the Varyag remained stubbornly dark. Polhovnik Sidorenko returned to his general’s side, and they both watched as the clock counted down to the minute deadline that General Fedorov had given. Finally, seconds before the minute was up, the Varyag’s icon flickered and changed to show that it was at combat readiness.
Polhovnik General Fedorov’s finger stabbed down on the all-ships communicator button, and was linked to all of the ships under his command. “This is Polhovnik General Fedorov. The D’Bringi thought to ambush us here, to cause us to panic and run in fear. But they underestimate us! We are Russian, and we will bury them! They, and their cursed allies the Rehorish may have killed General Lebedev and destroyed his fleet, but we will repay them for that a hundredfold, and it begins here and now!” He paused, and he could hear crewmen all over the fleet cheering. “The fleet will come to combat speed and turn sixty degrees to the right. We will allow the D’Bringi to close to capital missile range, at which time we will begin a missile duel. I will designate our initial target, which will be one of the D’Bringi battlecruisers. All cruisers and light cruisers will stand by to engage if the D’Bringi reach standard missile range. Destroyers will screen the capital ships from any D’Bringi ships that reach beam range. We go to victory!” Once again cheers broke out across the fleet as it turned to allow the D’Bringi to close.
Polhovnik General Fedorov’s chest was filled with pride as he watched his majestic battlecruisers, the pride of the Soviet fleet, come about, now broadside on to the approaching D’Bringi fleet, and prepare to meet their tormentors. Less than a minute after General Semenov gave his orders the D’Bringi crossed the seven-point-five light second bubble and both fleets began flinging capital missiles at each other. This first salvo was something of a test for both sides. The D’Bringi battlecruisers fired first, with each launching seven capital missiles, all targeted on the rather unfortunate Soviet BC Varyag. The Varyag’s commander decided, because of the long range, to trust his point defense suite to stop any of the missiles that managed to achieve target lock on his ship, rather than deploying an EDM to decoy some of the missiles away. This proved to be a mistake as twelve alien missiles achieved target lock, and six of those managed to race through the point defense fire and hit the Soviet battlecruiser, taking out its shields and about half of its armor. The Varyag’s group fired in response, targeting one of the D’Bringi BC’s in return. The Soviet BC’s were each launching six capital missiles, and unlike the Varyag the targeted D’Bringi BC launched an EDM in its own defense. The Russian BC’s, with their green crews, had more trouble getting through the D’Bringi defenses, and none of the first salvo missiles hit their target. Surprising General Semenov, three of the D’Bringi cruisers launched capital missiles at his fleet as well, six each, all targeted on the Varyag, which had no EDM’s to launch now that most of its XO racks had been scoured from its hull. Four hit the Soviet BC, taking out a good chunk of its remaining armor. The second data group of Soviet BC’s fired their capital missiles at the same D’Bringi BC targeted by the first group, and this time they punched three missiles through its defenses, taking down its shields.
General Fedorov frowned at the plot. Something about the D’Bringi CA’s…yes! He punched the all-ships channel. “All battlecruisers will shift targeting to the designated D’Bringi heavy cruiser. We will allow the D’Bringi to close to four light seconds, then the fleet will turn to keep the range steady.” He settled in to watch the next exchange of missile fire, this time at five point seven five light seconds range. The first to fire was the Soviet battlecruiser group built around the Varyag, launching eighteen missiles at one of the D’Bringi capital missile armed cruisers. The D’Bringi cruiser launched an EDM to decoy the Soviet missiles, but three still got through to hit the D’Bringi ship, which lost its shields in response. The D’Bringi heavy cruisers fired back at the Varyag, punching three missiles through its defenses and eliminating the last of the Soviet BC’s armor. The second Soviet BC group punched another two missiles through the D’Bringi ship’s defenses, leaving it streaming atmosphere. General Semenov nodded; his suspicions confirmed. The D’Bringi capital missile armed cruisers were throwing salvoes every bit as large as those launched by his much bigger battlecruisers, and they also appeared to have relatively heavy point defense suites. The space for the point defense emplacements and the capital missile launchers had to come from somewhere, and the way the Soviet missiles tore through the cruiser’s passive defenses confirmed that those defenses were thinner than even one of his destroyer’s. Even as Fedorov watched, though, the second salvo from the D’Bringi battlecruisers ripped through the Varyag’s defenses and savaged the engine pods of the big ship, drastically reducing its speed.
General Fedorov brought up the all-ships channel again. “The Varyag will break off. The fleet will turn right at the designated point, and the cruisers and light cruisers will prepare to engage with standard missiles. I will designate targets.” The Varyag was doomed, he knew, as it had no real change of withdrawing at its current speed. Still, he had other things to worry about as he designated new targets for his heavy and light cruisers.
The intact Russian battlecruiser group fired first, targeting the D’Bringi BC that had been targeted earlier in the battle. That BC had lost its shields and at least some of its armor, and had used at least one EDM, making it a good target. In addition, at General Fedorov’s orders, the Russian BC’s threw their XO mounted missiles into the salvo, adding a total of fifteen more capital missiles to the mix. The results were gratifying. The big D’Bringi ship seemed to stagger in space as eight of the sixteen capital missiles that achieved target lock slammed into her drive field. The D’Bringi BC was left streaming atmosphere and slowed by 16%. The D’Bringi chose to launch their XO missiles as well, and the return fire from the two BC’s still in their data group totaled twenty-four CM’s, all aimed at the Kronstadt, a BC in the second, intact, Russian BC data group. The commander of the Kronstadt, having had the example of the Varyag before him, launched both of his XO mounted EDM’s to distract any D’Bringi missiles that managed to penetrate his ship’s active defenses. Thirteen missiles achieved lock-on, and seven fell to the Russian ship’s point defense, leaving six racing towards the ship’s drive field. The two EDM’s managed to decoy three of the six away from their target, leaving three to strip away the Russian BC’s shields. The two ship Russian BC group fired next, targeting the same D’Bringi BC as its fellow BC’s. This time six capital missiles got through, heavily damaging the D’Bringi ship and slowing it to one third its original speed. The unfortunate D’Bringi ship targeted the Varyag, doing additional internal damage, and the Varyag returned the favor, scoring a single hit on her tormentor. The D’Bringi heavy cruisers armed with capital missiles launched then, targeting the Kronstadt. The heavy cruisers managed to punch eight capital missiles through the Kronstadt’s defenses, shredding most of her armor. The three Russian Moskva class heavy cruisers joined the fray with their advanced standard missile launchers, targeting the D’Bringi CA damaged earlier in the battle. The range was at the extreme edge for their missiles, but their commanders had been waiting for this moment. The cruiser’s advanced launchers managed to fire twice as fast as the larger capital missile launchers on the battlecruisers, and the cruisers mounted six each. The Russian heavy cruisers managed to punch five missiles through the D’Bringi cruiser’s point defense, leaving her 16 % slower and streaming atmosphere. Unfortunately, a data group of D’Bringi heavy cruisers also joined the fray, but they had older and slower standard missile launchers. They targeted the Varyag, and got seven standard missiles through her defenses, causing serious internal damage to the limping battlecruiser. The Soviet light cruisers were able to fire as well, with their older standard missile launchers, and targeted the same D’Bringi heavy cruiser, hitting it three times.
General Fedorov watched the exchange of fire with satisfaction. His fleet was engaging the enemy on more or less equal terms, but that would change rapidly if he let them get into beam range. His fleet had a grand total of five DD’s equipped with force beams, while the enemy appeared to have twelve corvettes and four heavy cruisers equipped for close combat, based on the fact that they hadn’t opened fire yet. Coming to a sudden decision, he punched an order for a course change into the command net. Up to now the Russian fleet had been letting the D’Bringi slip in closer and closer, but now that would change. They couldn’t prevent the D’Bringi from getting closer, due to the need to keep them out of their blindspot, but they could reduce the rate of closure. The next exchange of fire took place at four point two five light seconds. The range was still long for standard missiles, but both side’s capital missiles were in their optimum range band. The exchange of fire was growing increasingly savage as the two groups of ships closed, and both groups were shedding damaged ships as they fell behind. The difference was, the damaged D’Bringi ships fell back, out of battle, while the damaged Russian ships fell directly towards the oncoming D’Bringi fleet. Indeed, the damaged Varyag was now within range of the D’Bringi force beams, and was ripped apart before she could get another salvo off from her few remaining launchers. The missile exchange between the two battle lines continued as the Varyag met her end. The Russian BC’s concentrated their fire on an intact D’Bringi BC, which immediately launched EDM’s in its defense. Both Russian BC groups and the Russian heavy cruiser group focused on that one ship, managing to score enough damage to rip away her shields and armor, leaving her streaming atmosphere but otherwise intact and still firing. All of the D’Bringi missile ships concentrated on the Kronstadt, savaging the big Russian ship and leaving her crippled and falling back towards the oncoming D’Bringi fleet.
General Fedorov knew that he couldn’t keep the D’Bringi out of beam range much longer. He had knocked all of their BC’s out of their data-group, forcing them to fire individually, but with the range dropping their beam-armed ships were rapidly becoming a larger threat to his fleet. After watching the plot for a few more seconds he began shifting the targeting for his ships to the D’Bringi beam-armed cruisers. The D’Bringi force had closed to three point five light seconds range, and both sides were now within range of their force beam weapons. The D’Bringi focused their fire on an undamaged Russian BC, the Senyavin. The Russian BC immediately fired two EDM’s to distract incoming missiles, and its point defense emplacements began swatting missiles from space. The Senyavin managed to survive the incoming salvos and the force beams targeted on it, but lost its shields and two thirds of its armor. The poor Kronstadt, falling back towards the D’Bringi fleet, stabbed out with its force beam turret but missed, and was answered by massed force beam fire from nine D’Bringi corvettes, leaving little but debris and drifting life pods. The Russian ships concentrated their fire on two D’Bringi beam armed cruisers, and the Russian CA’s and CL’s finally deployed their XO mounted missiles, thickening their salvoes. They crippled one D’Bringi CA and left the other slowed by 84% and falling behind.
The Russian fleet continued to run ahead, trying to keep the range open but having to turn to keep the D’Bringi out of their blind-spot, which allowed the D’Bringi to steadily close the range. The D’Bringi commander now released his corvette force, and it sprang ahead of the rest of his fleet, closing to 2.25 light seconds range while the rest of the D’Bringi fleet was at 2.75 light seconds range. The Russians continued to focus their missile fire on the D’Bringi beam armed cruisers, while the Russian light cruisers and destroyers began engaging the D’Bringi corvettes before they could get close to the Russian capital ships. The D’Bringi beam-armed cruiser force was heavily damaged, with two cruisers heavily damaged and falling back, and two with most or all of their passives gone but still forging ahead. The D’Bringi corvettes proved to be more resilient than the Russians had hoped, and two suffered damage to their shields and armor, but were otherwise intact. The D’Bringi focused their fire on the Senyavin, a Russian BC in one of the two-ship battlecruiser data groups. The Senyavin suffered two capital missile hits and nine force beam hits, and lost two engine rooms. With the Senyavin slowed and falling back, the D’Bringi shifted fire to the Pozharsky, a BC in the last two-ship data group. The D’Bringi missile cruiser group flushed its XO racks at the Pozharsky, hitting the big Russian ship with fifteen missiles, which was followed quickly by a barrage of force beam strikes from the oncoming corvettes that stripped the last of the Russian ship’s passives and destroyed two engine rooms.
The D’Bringi fleet continued to close on the fleeing Russian fleet. The D’Bringi corvettes raced ahead, now a full light minute ahead of the rest of their fleet. Two Russian BC’s fell back, towards the D’Bringi forces, no longer able to maintain full speed. The main D’Bringi force wasn’t able to close with the Russian main force, staying at two point seven five light seconds after the Russians made an unexpected turn, while the D’Bringi corvettes closed to one point seven five light seconds. The Russian CA’s continued to focus their fire on the two D’Bringi beam CA’s still in the fight, and they absolutely gutted one of them, pounding it with no less than twenty-five hits from their advanced missile launchers. The Russian CL’s and two battlecruisers, firing independently, targeted the second D’Bringi beam cruiser, gutting it as well, leaving it limping away at 16% of its original speed. The rest of the Russian fleet concentrated on the D’Bringi corvette force, causing armor damage to three corvettes, and seriously damaging a fourth. The D’Bringi, apparently shocked by the massive damage caused by the Russian cruisers, focused their fire on one, the Stalingrad. The Stalingrad launched its only EDM and put up a massive flak barrage in between its drive field and the oncoming missiles and beams. In spite of this, the D’Bringi standard missile armed heavy cruiser group managed to get eight hits on the Russian CA, and these hits were followed by a capital missile hit from a D’Bringi heavy cruiser, and two hits from force beams and another from a capital missile, all from two D’Bringi battlecruisers firing independently. The two Russian battlecruisers that were falling behind the main fleet focused their fire on the oncoming D’Bringi corvettes, now just one point two five light seconds away. The Pozharsky targeted a D’Bringi CT with all of its weapons, but its green crew failed to get even one hit. The Senyavin targeted a different D’Bringi CT, getting a hit with its force beam and two capital missile hits, slowing the D’Bringi corvette. In return, the D’Bringi corvettes, and the two D’Bringi beam cruisers, targeted the two Russian BC’s, causing additional internal damage and slowing both to just 16% of their original speed.
General Fedorov watched the battle develop, sweating as his precious battlecruisers were damaged or destroyed one by one. Three and a half minutes after the firing started, he had lost two of his battlecruisers, and two more were heavily damaged and about to be overrun by D’Bringi corvettes. His heavy cruiser data group was intact, as was his light cruiser data group, and his five destroyers. In exchange, the D’Bringi BC data group was broken, with one BC completely out of the fight and the other two firing independently, as one of the two was streaming atmosphere and had lost its datalink systems. The D’Bringi capital missile armed heavy cruiser group was reduced to two cruisers still in their data group, with the third heavily damaged and fallen back, out of the battle. The D’Bringi standard missile cruiser group was intact, but the four beam cruisers were all heavily damaged and falling back. The D’Bringi corvette group was closing on his damaged BC’s, but four of the twelve were damaged. General Fedorov could feel it, a rising tension in his chest. The battle was hanging on a thread, and could go either way. The D’Bringi had more damaged ships, as their damaged ships simply fell back, out of battle, while his were destroyed as they fell towards the D’Bringi fleet. But, he had more intact data groups, if you excluded the corvettes. They could still overwhelm him, but his fleet was doing significant damage to the D’Bringi. His fleet and crews depended on the decision he made next…
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Turn 108, Day 6, the Battle of Leningrad, continued…
General Fedorov could feel conflicting motives pull at him. He wanted, he needed, to rip the heart out of this D’Bringi fleet and end the threat to his nation. As overwhelming as that drive was, though, the awareness that this battle had not gone as well as he had hoped kept intruding on his thoughts. If he lost his fleet, which was still mostly intact, the USSR would have nothing to stand in between the D’Bringi and the home system.
He came to a decision. If he could destroy the D’Bringi corvettes as they pounced on his damaged BC’s, then the D’Bringi would be reduced to their missile ships, most of which were out of their data groups. They had to be concerned about the vulnerability of their damaged ships. If he could do enough damage to their remaining ships, they might withdraw to protect their damaged units, which had to represent a significant portion of their fleet. It might be the only hope he had to save his remaining units. He rapidly punched commands into his plot, ordering his fleet to turn and come to the aide of his two damaged BC’s. The only ships not turning into the fray were the three CA’s, which would continue to maintain the range.
Unknown to General Fedorov, his counterpart on the other side had made the same calculation, and come up with the same answer. The D’Bringi CT’s did indeed pounce on the limping Russian BC’s, but the main D’Bringi battle line turned away and began opening the range. The battle around the two limping Russian battlecruisers was intense. The D’Bringi corvettes got in the first strike, targeting the Senyavin and causing massive damage with their force beams at point blank range. The Pozharsky fired back, targeting a D’Bringi corvette closing on it with its force beam, and firing its missiles at a D’Bringi heavy cruiser with their main fleet. The Pozharsky’s force beam savaged an already damaged D’Bringi corvette, and its missiles scored a single hit on the D’Bringi missile cruiser, knocking its shields down. A D’Bringi corvette group then fell upon the Pozharsky, their force beams digging deep within the big Russian ship, causing massive damage to the faltering giant. The Senyavin fired its only remaining weapon, a force beam, at an undamaged D’Bringi corvette, knocking its shields down and causing armor damage. At that point the battle widened, and the D’Bringi capital missile armed cruisers targeted the Stalingrad, getting five hits and shredding her armor. The Russian cruisers immediately responded. The Russian cruiser group split its fire between three D’Bringi corvettes, all of which had suffered armor damage earlier in the battle, and thus lost their EDM’s. The missiles from the Russian cruiser group left two of the corvettes streaming atmosphere and destroyed the third. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to save the Pozharsky, as two D’Bringi corvettes swooped in on the grievously wounded ship and ripped her apart with their force beams. The Russian light cruisers targeted another D’Bringi corvette, causing serious damage to the small ship. With one of the two damaged BC’s destroyed, the D’Bringi heavy cruiser group fired its standard missiles at the Stalingrad, which had already expended its EDM. The Stalingrad suffered sixteen hits and slowed to a fraction of its former speed. The two D’Bringi battlecruisers still in the battle joined in and fired on the Stalingrad as well, causing additional damage. The Russian destroyers, joined by the two undamaged battlecruisers, focused their fire on the corvettes as well, leaving several more damaged and streaming atmosphere.
The Soviet heavy cruisers, minus the Stalingrad, which was now falling behind, continued to put space between themselves and the battle, while the main Soviet fleet circled the mortally wounded Senyavin and the corvettes swarming over the Soviet BC. Eight corvettes broke away from the Soviet BC and raced towards the Soviet main fleet, leaving three of the most damaged corvettes behind to harry the Senyavin. The D’Bringi main fleet continued to move away, opening the range. The Russian fleet focused its fire on the D’Bringi corvettes closing on it, and on the corvettes left behind to harry the Senyavin. The Russians managed to destroy half of the corvettes, including all of the ones left around the Senyavin, and three of the six remaining corvettes are left damaged. The Russian destroyers, in particular, performed well, taking out several corvettes as they began their run on the Russian battle line. The two remaining Russian battlecruisers joined in as well, firing their single force beam turrets at the closest D’Bringi corvettes, and showering those left around the Senyavin with capital missile fire. In return, the D’Bringi corvettes focused their fire on one of the two remaining Russian battlecruisers, the Tallinn. The corvettes were firing at a half light second, meaning their force beams did additional damage, and they knocked the Russian BC’s shields down and took out a good portion of her armor. And, incidentally, stripped away her EDM’s. This left the Tallinn open to D’Bringi missile fire, and the D’Bringi cruisers, both standard and capital missile armed, took advantage of this and showered the Russian BC with missiles, causing serious internal damage and slowing the big ship to 16% of its former top speed. A single D’Bringi battlecruiser fired a salvo of capital missiles as the poor Stalingrad, overwhelming its defenses and destroying the cruiser. In the midst of the destruction, it looked as if the battlecruiser Senyavin might actually survive, as the main Russian fleet destroyed the damaged corvettes that had been left behind to finish it off before they could fire. That wasn’t to be, though. The Senyavin fired its force beam at a corvette closing on the main fleet, and, as if it had reminded the D’Bringi that it existed, a D’Bringi capital missile armed cruiser fired a salvo at the BC, wiping it from space.
The last four undamaged D’Bringi corvettes raced towards the Russian battle line, while their main fleet continued to open the range. The Russian destroyers attempted to interpose themselves in between the corvettes and the main fleet, but the corvettes were too fast and closed to point blank range. The D’Bringi corvettes opened fire at the last second with their force beams, and at point blank range the corvettes were able to do devastating damage. The leading two D’Bringi corvettes fell upon the last intact Russian battlecruiser, the Suvorov, and knocked its shields down and took out some of its armor. The Russian light cruisers raced to their bigger brethren’s defense and savaged one of the two remaining corvettes that hadn’t fired yet, leaving it a glowing wreck after working it over with sprint missiles. The last D’Bringi corvette fired its force beam at the Suvorov, taking out more of its armor. The Russian destroyers then began firing individually, and each destroyer had two force beams, doing considerable damage to the resilient D’Bringi corvettes. In the meantime, one of the heavily damaged D’Bringi corvettes, which had fallen behind, fired on the limping Russian battlecruiser Tallinn, causing more internal damage. The Tallinn struck back, firing its force beam at the other crippled D’Bringi CT behind it, destroying the tiny ship before it could fire. The D’Bringi main fleet then opened up on the Suvorov, but the big Russian ship launched its EDM’s and weathered the incoming missile fire well, and actually still had some of its armor left after the blizzard of missiles ran out. In the meantime, the Russian destroyers fell upon the remaining D’Bringi corvettes with a savage will, destroying one and leaving the others crippled. The Russian heavy cruisers, having kept the range between themselves and the D’Bringi corvettes open, destroyed the crippled corvettes before they could recharge their weapons.
With the destruction of the last corvette, the battle ended, just that abruptly. The main D’Bringi fleet was technically still within capital missile range, at seven light seconds, but General Fedorov told his remaining battlecruisers to cease fire as the D’Bringi fleet was obviously intent on disengaging. The D’Bringi admiral had apparently issued the same order as his fleet ran, as they fell silent too, and in thirty seconds they were too far apart to continue firing. The Russian ships converged on the two heavily damaged battlecruisers, while the D’Bringi main fleet rendezvoused with their damaged ships, which had clustered together about eleven light seconds from the Russian fleet. Both sides transferred injured crew members to ships with intact medical bays, and performed emergency repairs where they could. After recovering all of their life pods, General Fedorov ordered his fleet to withdraw, slowly, allowing the D’Bringi to recover their own pods. While this was going on, General Fedorov ordered the launch of a group of courier drones, which immediately sped back towards the warp point to the Moskva system.
General Fedorov, considering the results of the battle, couldn’t decide if he had actually won or lost. Oh, he knew how his reports were going to frame the results for those back at headquarters, but in the reality of the moment, just to himself, he couldn’t quite convince himself that he had won, or lost for that matter. His light ships, the light cruisers and destroyers, were still all intact. But his heavy ships had suffered. He had lost four battlecruisers and a heavy cruiser, and of his two remaining battlecruisers, one was heavily damaged and slowed to 16% of its former maximum speed, and the other had lost most of its armor. As a striking force, his fleet had lost its long-range offensive strength. The D’Bringi, on the other hand, had suffered as well. They had lost twelve corvettes outright, and had five heavy cruisers and two battlecruisers heavily damaged. While they hadn’t lost any major ships in the battle, every one of the battlecruisers and heavy cruisers that was heavily damaged would be out of the war for many months, thus reducing the pressure on the Soviet forces. And, if this was all the D’Bringi had on this front, then his fleet had almost certainly stopped their advance, at least for now.
For the next twelve hours the two fleets struggled to repair what they could, and treat their wounded, all the while watching each other closely. Finally, with as many of the Tallinn’s engines repaired as possible, and the battlecruiser up to one third of her normal speed, General Fedorov gave the order to withdraw back to the Moskva system at their best speed. The D’Bringi fleet watched them move away, still working on repairing their damaged cruisers.
Once the Soviet Fleet was well-away, the D’Bringi fleet began moving away as well, towards the outer system. They were still within detection range of the Soviet fleet, so they were headed no-where in particular, just away from the Soviet Fleet, trying to break contact. A group of CD’s broke away from the D’Bringi fleet, headed on a course towards the outer system.
Ten hours after their launch, the Russian CD group approached the warp point to the Moskva system. General Fedorov had ordered his ships to launch twenty CD’s, on the theory that if there were some D’Bringi ships in the system, there might be more. He was right. Sitting on the warp point, waiting for the CD’s, were a D’Bringi heavy cruiser, two destroyers, and four corvettes. Between them, the D’Bringi ships managed to shoot down five of the CD’s before they slipped through the warp point and out of range. On the far side of the warp point, the Coalition fleet watched as a group of CD’s materialized on the warp point and sped away, towards the warp point to the Solar System. Shortly thereafter, two destroyers of an unfamiliar design jumped into the system, destroyed the Russian navigation buoy placed close to the warp point to guide CD’s after their warp jump, and then jumped back out. This caused alarm throughout the Coalition fleet, as the destroyers were not recognizable as D’Bringi ships. For their part, the two D’Bringi destroyers immediately sent off a contact report once they returned, but the Coalition fleet had been running with their transponders active, so the D’Bringi scouts had been able to properly identify them.
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Turn 108, Day 9, Sol System, Earth
Marshal Padorin, arguably the most powerful serving military officer in the USSR, looked up from his paperwork in annoyance at the disturbance in his outer office. After a few seconds an aide burst through the door, followed closely by soldiers with internal security insignias. One of the soldiers held his aide in an armlock, while the other two moved to stand before his desk, hands on their holstered pistols. “You will come with us, Comrade Padorin.”
Marshal Padorin looked at the two for a few seconds, contemplating the pistol he had tucked away in one of his desk drawers. After a few seconds he reconsidered. These two had made no decisions, and were only following orders. Shooting them wouldn’t give him a reprieve, only implicate everyone around him in open rebellion. Slowly, he stood up and put his hands up. “I will go peacefully.”
One of the two soldiers moved around the desk and took his hands, placing handcuffs around his wrists. At that point, the highest-ranking officer in the Soviet Union was unceremoniously taken from his office and hustled away.
Turn 108, Day 11, Leningrad system, approaching the WP back to Moskva
General Fedorov had placed his command destroyer, escorted by two Udaloy r3 destroyers, out ahead of his fleet as they approached the warp point. The long-range scanners on his command ship had detected drive fields around the warp point, and they had failed to respond to hails. As the Soviet fleet approached the warp point their sensors had resolved the drive fields as seven D’Bringi ships of various sizes, the biggest a heavy cruiser. The D’Bringi ships had moved back as the Soviet ships had advanced, and were hovering about fifteen light seconds away, watching, as the Soviet ships approached the warp point. General Fedorov, his command destroyer, and their two escorting destroyers, were two light seconds ahead o the main Soviet force as they approached the warp point. Cautious, General Fedorov planned to send his two escorts through the warp point first as a probe to ensure that the far side was clear, before bringing the rest of his fleet through to safety. When they reached two point five light seconds from the warp point, the command ship’s sensors picked up DSB-L’s deployed around the warp point, but there were only a few, and General Fedorov decided to forge ahead. When the Russian DD’s reached a half light second from the nearest laser buoys, the three Russian ships began firing their point defense and force beams in a concerted effort to remove the buoys. Over the next minute, the three Russian destroyers destroyed the buoys closest to them, but then the rest of the buoys suddenly detonated, probably after receiving a command from the D’Bringi ships hovering out of range. The three Russian DD’s were all modulating their engines, against just this possibility, and were outside of the laser buoy’s most effective range. All three destroyers received armor damage, but none suffered internal damage. With the laser buoys clear, General Fedorov ordered his ships to the warp point.
On the command deck of the Marshal Zhukov, General Fedorov’s command ship, the sensor tech suddenly stiffened in shock as his board flashed urgently. “Mines ahead!”
At the sensor tech’s cry, the ship’s helmsman immediately reacted, savagely throwing the destroyer into a tight curve to the right, away from the minefield that had suddenly appeared ahead of them. The command ship’s escorts, though, were not as lucky. Unlike the flagship, they weren’t equipped with long-range scanners and they didn’t see the mines until they were in amongst them. The flagship’s command deck crew didn’t have time to transmit a warning the two escort ships, and they sailed right into the minefield. Between the two destroyers they absorbed over a hundred mines. Both were smothered in explosions, that, when they cleared, left nothing behind. The Admiral Kharlamov and the Admiral Panteleyev were both gone.
General Fedorov was shocked by the close encounter with the minefield. The USSR currently had minefields, and their control systems, under development, but they were not expected to be available for deployment for many months. When development started, all officers of the Home Fleet had received briefings on the effects of minefields, with particular attention given to detecting and avoiding such things. General Fedorov and his entire staff was very lucky that the Marshal Zhukov’s helmsman had paid attention to this briefing, and reacted fast enough to the sensor officer’s warning. But the loss of two destroyers was dwarfed by the larger implications. His fleet was effectively cut off from the home system, and from repairs and resupply. He had no ships capable of sweeping the minefield, and the Solar System had been stripped of ships to reinforce General Lebedev and for his fleet. That meant it would be some time before he could expect relief.
After some consideration, General Fedorov made his decision. There was really no place else to go. The Russian fleet launched a second swarm of CD’s and turned away, headed towards the warp point to the Brezhnev system. There were Soviet units there, and an extensive detection network, along with an asteroid base equipped with enough supplies to support his fleet for some time.
As the fleet withdrew, the ten CD’s launched just before turning away raced through the minefield and jumped out of the system. Seven of the ten CD’s lost their navigation lock after transiting, as there was no nav-buoy present to reorient them. Three CD’s kept their lock, though, and raced away towards the warp point back to the Solar System.
Turn 108, Day 15, Kirov System, Soviet 2nd Fleet
Courier drones from Earth arrived early in the morning, informing General Semenov of the D’Bringi invasion of the Brezhnev system, and the dispatch of the Home Fleet. The messages indicated that he could expect no reinforcements for some time, and was not to risk his fleet. His basic orders were unchanged, he was to delay the advance of the Rehorish, but also to preserve his fleet. For now, the fleet’s orders remained unchanged.
Turn 108, Day 16, Novosibirsk system, Russian/Bjering picket group
At 0800 hours, the combined picket group picked up a drive field contact headed directly towards the warp point. Alarms were raised, and a Cd was sent back to the fleets on the far side of the warp point. The two ships that comprised the picket were surprised when a message bearing proper Soviet Fleet codes reached them, identifying the oncoming fleet as the Soviet 1st Survey Fleet. The 1st SF had been surveying the Jaroslavl system when the Rehorish betrayed the USSR and launched its surprise attack, and while a courier drone had been sent to warn the exploration ships, nothing had been heard from them since as they had been assumed lost. Now they were racing directly towards the closed warp point that led, ultimately, back to the home system. There were no Rehorish ships within range of the picket ships on the warp point, and the commander of the survey group claimed there were no Rehorish ships following his fleet, but the survey ships themselves didn’t mount long range scanners. General Semenov himself ordered the Brigadir commanding the survey group to turn around and exit the Novosibirsk system through the warp point that led (eventually) to the Tomsk system, but Brigadir Popov refused.
Thirty-six hours later the Survey Fleet arrived at the warp point and plunged through, several of the survey ships almost ramming each other in their haste to get through the warp point to safety. Even as the survey ships began making transit, the picket ship’s sensors picked up drive field contacts at extreme range, certainly Rehorish scouts that had followed the survey ships as they fled across the system. Fortunately, they weren’t close enough to pinpoint the location of the closed warp point, but now the Rehorish certainly knew that the warp point existed and its general location.
In a rage, General Semenov ordered his pickets to return to the Kirov system, as their presence in the Novosibirsk system would merely allow the Rehorish to further refine their information about the location of the closed warp point. Next, General Semenov ordered Brigadir Popov to report aboard his ship. When the Brigadir arrived, General Semenov had him arrested and summarily executed. The execution was broadcast across the entire fleet. The Bjering apparently approved of this move, as they congratulated General Semenov on his handling of a clear coward. The 1st Survey Fleet was ordered by General Semenov to retreat back to the Solar System for reassignment.
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Turn 108, Day 22, Moskva (Sigma Draconis) system
For the last month, ever since the Soviet Home Fleet left the system through the warp point heading to the Leningrad system, the Coalition 1st Fleet had sat at a respectful distance from the warp point that the Russians had left through, watching. At 0900 hours their vigil was broken by the transit of three D’Bringi heavy cruisers, followed by a D’Bringi battlecruiser, into the system.
Rear Admiral Ruston immediately initiated communications with the D’Bringi ships, and seconds later a battered old D’Bringi was staring out of the screen at him. “This is Admiral Ruston, commanding officer of the Coalition 1st Fleet. With whom am I speaking?”
The D’Bringi shifted. “I am Group Leader Foe’s Bane, commander of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. We greet you, Admiral.”
Admiral Ruston frowned. “What has happened to the Russian Fleet?”
The D’Bringi shook his head. “They are no more. Soon, my forces will advance into this system. I am grateful you are here, now, as I would speak with you before advancing. I wish no conflict with the Coalition.”
Admiral Ruston sat back in shock at the information about the Russian Fleet. “It is good that you are cautious. The innermost planet of this system has been colonized by the Coalition, and we also have established several mining installations throughout the system.”
“If you send us a system map with your colonies and outposts marked, we will avoid approaching them.”
Admiral Ruston thought this over for a few seconds. The D’Bringi had explored this system before humanity, he wouldn’t be revealing anything about the system layout to them that they didn’t already know. “Very well. This is acceptable.” He hesitated, then continued. “There will be Coalition civilian ships, transports and freighters, moving through this system, bound for our colonies.”
The D’Bringi waived one hand, as if dismissing the concern. “As long as the ships are displaying an ID code that identifies them as Coalition, they will not be disturbed.”
Admiral Ruston nodded, but resolved to send a recommendation to HQ that all civilian ships be escorted through this system for the time being. “We will not hinder you, as long as those conditions are met.”
The D’Bringi waived again. “Understood. We have another matter we wish to bring to your attention. We are not alone in this fight against the Russians.” The D’Bringi Group Leader turned and gestured, and a large, indistinct form moved forward into the camera focus. The newcomer was large, taller than any of the D’Bringi in view, and bulkier as well. It was uniformly a purplish grey hue, with the exception of a purple carapace that extended from the top of its heads down its back. The head was comparatively small and set forward on the upper chest, and boasted two eyes and two antennae, with a small mouth partially hidden at the bottom of the head. The alien had two thickly muscled arms and two equally muscled legs, and a number of smaller grasping appendages down its sides. Admiral Rustion’s immediate, gut reaction, was to scream “Cockroach!” and leap away, but he fought down the reaction with some difficulty.
The new alien chittered something in a rapid clicking that was, of course, completely incomprehensible. The D’Bringi Group Leader said… “This is a Rehorish. He says that he is honored to meet you.”
Admiral Ruston kept his face composed. “I am honored to meet him, as well.”
The D’Bringi moved closer to the camera’s pickup. “The Rehorish are our allies in this war. They wish peace with you, and want the same non-interference treaty with you that we have established between the two of us. We have brought the Rehorish Ambassador here to establish communications and facilitate the establishment of a treat between the Coalition and the Rehorish.”
Admiral Ruston sat back in his chair, stunned at these developments. “I would certainly be interested in establishing communications with the Rehorish Ambassador; however, I do not have the authority to agree to any treaties. I will, however, send word back to my superiors, and ask for guidance on that matter. In the meantime, my specialists will be overjoyed to begin working on deciphering the Rehorish language.”
The D’Bringi Group Leader gestured again. “That is all we can ask. We have time.”
Admiral Ruston handed the Rehorish over to his contact team, and then began composing a message to his superiors. The entire complexion of the war and Soviet power had changed in a few minutes.
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Turn 108, Day 25, D’Bringi Prime
The meeting was taking place at the castle-complex of the head of the Keepers, Castle Adamant, located in the wastes close to the great inland sea in the southern continent. Most of D’Bringi Prime was hot and dry, as the D’Bringi preferred it, but the Keepers, as a non-Clan organization, had been forced by the ancient clans to take up residence in a territory more ‘appropriate’ to their station. In other words, a less desirable area of their planet. It was damp and occasionally cold, both of which were anathema to D’Bringi. Naturally, the contrary Keepers had made enduring the environment a point of pride in their history and hardy natures. The decision to exile the Keepers to a remote and undesirable location had long haunted the various Clan Chiefs, as by tradition most inter-Clan meetings were held at the Keeper castle-complex, as it was considered neutral ground and the Keepers were generally acknowledged as having the best troops on the planet, limited in number though they were. As long as the various clan heads were at the Keeper castle, they were as safe as they could be in these modern days of hyper-sonic missiles and faster than light travel.
The heads of the three main clans were gathered to discuss the state of the war with the head of the Keepers, and none of them were particularly happy. Losses had been heavy, and too many within their clans had lost first sons and daughters to the war. Losses like these made senior clan members restless and angry, and that made the clan chiefs fear for their positions. Keeper-Cleric Half-Hand looked around the table at the other clan chiefs. They, like him, were all grizzled warriors, and like him, they were all of the last generation that would actually remember and honor the old ways. They had all been alive before the Benefactors had arrived and gifted them with the technology that made their current splendor possible. The young warriors these days knew nothing of the eternal desert and the equally eternal fight for survival that their people had engaged in before the arrival of the Benefactors. They knew nothing of the sorrow of parenthood, when most of the young died at birth, or shortly thereafter. They knew nothing of the eternal hunger that haunted everyone, even the richest ruler, or the certain fear that death lurked around every corner, over every dune. Half-Hand shook his head. No, the youth of these modern times had food, and medicine, that those of his generation hadn’t been able to conceive of before the Benefactors. They lived in glittering cities, and their younglings all lived, or at least they did until the infighting and jockeying for position began. Times were changing, Half-Hand knew, and he did not know if they were changing for the better. He only knew that they could not stop the change, merely ride it like a polja, and hope they did not fall off.
While Half-Hand ruminated, the others argued. Fruitlessly. They all had visions of themselves as the latest Great Khan, the one to unite their species under one banner and a unity of purpose. At times of great danger a Khan would arise, and every one of the clan chiefs, not just the senior-most here to meet with him, saw himself as the one to fulfill that role. Fools. Half-Hand pulled his hammer from its sheath and slammed it into the massive table in front of him, getting their attention. “You argue while our warriors die. We must come to a consensus and finish this war, securing our future.”
Skull-Splitter, chief of Clan K’Rorin, turned on the old Keeper. “Yes, we argue! Our losses have been horrendous. The parents wail for their dead children, as do their spouses. Our clan houses are filled with sorrow!” He paused, and looked at the others. “The discontent is dangerous. With all of our forces on the frontlines, we have little strength here to quell discontent. I have a single cruiser in orbit, and I know you are all in the same position. Should the…disappointment and despair…become too great, I cannot quell an uprising of the minor houses with one cruiser!”
The Keeper-Cleric had known that this would be their primary concern, as it must be. As usual, they had sent all of their best warriors rushing to the front with no concern for anything else. “I understand your concerns, even if I do not share them. Therefore, I will release Keeper legions to ‘assist’ your household troops in maintaining order. That should quell any dissent, at least long enough for our victory to ensure ultimate stability.”
The three clan chiefs were rocked by this offer. They looked at each other in shock, before one of them responded. Burning Blade, chief of the B’Regest clan, nodded. “I…would be pleased to allow a Keeper legion within my halls, but…this is most unprecedented. The Keepers never become involved in internal clan matters.”
The Keeper-Cleric nodded. “You are correct, they do not. But these are not normal times. The stability of your clans is necessary for the survival of our race, and thus is of concern to the Keepers. We are not a Clan! We do not play the great game; we ensure the survival of our race by preserving our history and the old ways. And now, in these modern times, we ensure our survival by safeguarding what has been given to us by the Benefactors. We have changed, and by changing will ensure the survival of all that we are, forever. If my troops can help ensure quiet within your clan halls, then I will commit them, happily.”
The Keeper-Cleric looked around, and realized that he had surprised them into silence, a rare thing. “Yes, we have suffered great losses, but we have also won great victories! In two great battles we have destroyed no less than four battlecruisers, nine heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, ten destroyers, and two frigates. In exchange, we have lost three heavy cruisers and twelve corvettes, with two battlecruisers and ten cruisers damaged. Yes, our front-line forces have been depleted, but reinforcements are already on their way to the front, and the Rehorish are advancing. In just days we will have six new cruisers fresh from the yards, and three of our damaged cruisers are ready to go into the yards and will be rapidly repaired. Once our reinforcements, and our new cruisers, reach the front lines, we will be able to seal the Russians into their home system, allowing the Rehorish to advance to meet us. And when their forces meet ours, we will crush the remaining Russian forces and force their home land to surrender!”
The Keeper’s stirring speech rallied the clan chiefs, but their own internal problems obviously continued to nag at them, so he continued. “And, think on this. Those six new cruisers will need additional troops, as will the invasion force we intend to send to secure the Russian colonies within Moskva and their home system. If these troop forces tend to be fleshed out with those who are a particular problem, and who are then placed in the forefront of the fighting, and thus given the greatest chance for honor and glory, well, then, who could complain. Indeed, who would be left here to complain?”
The three clan chiefs settled back with thoughtful looks on their faces. This was not new, it was an old trick in the endless and unending clan wars, but the new generation ignored the old ways. Thus, being ignorant of the old ways, would easily fall to their application. The clan chiefs all looked at each other and nodded. There would be consensus on this day. However, the Keeper-Cleric had one more issue to raise. “Finally, there is the issue of the T’Pau.”
The third clan chief, who had, until now, remained silent, rose from his chair. Fortress-Breaker was the one who had won the victory over the Russians in Rehorish territory, and had gained great honor when the remaining Russians chose to surrender to him over the Rehorish. The others fell silent as he began to speak. “The T’Pau are without honor. You would involve them?”
The Keeper had prepared for this particular attack, as obvious as it was. “Yes, I would. This is exactly what we released them for. So that they could serve us. They have six cruisers, and a number of light cruisers. In our service, under our command, they could do much. They could lead the way through the warp point into the Human’s home system, for example.”
Fortress Breaker’s hand slammed down on the table between them. “You would give them the honor of the lead position?”
The Keeper was unmoved by the other’s apparent fury. “Yes, I would. Tell me, how long will the lead ships last once they transit into the Russian’s prepared defenses? Seconds? Less? And while they die, absorbing weapons that otherwise would be aimed at us, they allow our ships to get into position and strike back. We created them as a buffer, in between us and the Humans, should they ever manage to find the closed warp point in the Brezhnev system. Now, with that system sealed off, we can send them to join our forward fleets, bolstering their strength at a time when our strength is sorely taxed.”
Fortress Breaker stood silent for a minute, considering what had been said. “Why not send them into the Brezhnev system to eliminate the Russian hold-outs, and to liberate our mining outposts?”
The Keeper-Cleric knew he had won. Fortress Breaker was now asking questions, instead of instinctively opposing him. “The Russians there are sealed off. They have withdrawn the automated weapons that were in the Leningrad system to block the warp entrance in the Brezhnev system from Leningrad, which has allowed us to move some of our mines in Leningrad from the warp point to Moskva to the warp point to Brezhnev, sealing them in that system. Better we leave them isolated while we advance on their home system. Besides, you saw the report from our decoy forces that briefly reoccupied the system. Our colonists there have been indoctrinated, or brainwashed, by the Soviets, converting them to their ‘communism’, whatever that is. When the war is over, we can deal with this, but I think leaving them alone is best for now. Besides, I propose using the T’Pau, not trusting them on independent actions. Who knows what would happen if we sent them into Brezhnev to subdue the Russian holdouts? No, the wise course is to send their forces to meet ours in Leningrad, before they advance into Moskva. Combined, our forces can watch theirs, and ensure compliance with our dictates.”
Fortress Breaker stared at the Keeper for a few seconds, then signaled agreement. “Agreed. However, I will go to the front as well, to lead our forces, and ensure their compliance.”
After a few seconds, the Keeper-Cleric and the other clan chiefs agreed.
-
Turn 108, Day 25, Leningrad System, Soviet Home Fleet
The Soviet Home Fleet reached the warp point to Brezhnev system early in the day, and was met by the four laser buoy control ships stationed there. General Fedorov was gratified to find that at least one location in the system remained under Soviet control, and the fleet passed through into the Brezhnev system without incident. Upon arrival, General Fedorov immediately began taking stock of the situation. The D’Bringi force was still present in the inner system, and a group of courier drones had arrived in the system and reached the inner system this morning. What those courier drones contained was unknown, but immediately after the drones arrived, the D’Bringi force left orbit and headed towards the outer system, leaving their troops behind. It was immediately clear to General Fedorov that his force would not be able to intercept the withdrawing D’Bringi group before it was able to jump out of the system. After some consideration, General Fedorov ordered the three destroyers and three corvettes that had been shadowing the D’Bringi force to follow them as they withdrew, but to avoid contact. In the meantime, General Fedorov ordered his fleet to head for the inner system to relieve the colonists there. As the fleet moved out, General Fedorov settled in to reorganize the forces available to him and to develop a plan of action.
Turn 108, Day 30, Brezhnev system
General Fedorov’s battle group settled into orbit over the primary star’s innermost planet, a desolate rock rich in minerals and useful materials originally colonized by the D’Bringi some time ago. The system had been conquered by advancing Soviet forces several years ago, and the conquers had found that the D’Bringi population of the system was composed mostly of oppressed and poor D’Bringi from minor clans that had been imported to work in the mines on the inhospitable planets and moons of this system. The Soviet conquers had rapidly discovered that the D’Bringi of this system were like oppressed workers in any country on Earth, apolitical and merely wanting to improve their own situation. The Soviets had recognized the opportunity presented to them, and had shipped in union organizers and commissars to teach the D’Bringi workers to be good communists. It was now clear that their efforts had worked far in excess of their early hopes. As the Soviet ships settled into orbit, the authorities on the ground contacted them and announced that the D’Bringi ‘occupation troops’ left by the D’Bringi fleet had all surrendered the second their fleet left orbit. Later investigation would discover that the occupation troops were mostly composed of low-level security guards and the dregs of the military, combined with groups of civilians swept off of the streets of their home towns and pressed into service with little or no training.
In any case, the D’Bringi informed General Fedorov that they had formally declared their independence from the D’Bringi Expanses, and were joined by all of their sisters and brothers throughout the Brezhnev system in declaring the formation of the United D’Bringi Soviets. The leaders of the UDS immediately pledged their people and wealth to support their fraternal socialist brothers within the Soviet Union, and stated that they would turn over all available economic output of the system to support the Soviet fleet trapped within the system. In addition, they promised to make their medical facilities, limited as they were, available to care for the wounded of the fleet. Finally, they agreed to allow General Fedorov to recruit from within their populations to fill out his crews, if necessary.
All of this was gratifying, but really didn’t solve General Fedorov’s problems. After reorganization, his forces were as follows:
Combat Group: 1xBCR, 2xCA, 3xCL, 6xDD, 1`xDDC, 3xCT
Automated Warfare Group: 4xCT(DSB), 370xDSB-L
Damaged Units: 1xBCR
Picket Group: 20xEXS
The primary problem was that his force required 2,048 MC’s every month to continue functioning. The output of the mining outposts within the system could offset slightly more than 10% of that, but he would still need 1,792 MC’s, in addition to the system’s output, every month to keep everything operating. The Fleet had stockpiled maintenance supplies in the system, at a hidden and remote asteroid, against the likelihood that the forces here would be cut off by a D’Bringi incursion, but those supplies hadn’t been intended to support an entire fleet. There were enough supplies to support his forces for almost four months, and then they would run out. His own estimate of when they could expect relief from the home system matched that of his staff. There was no way relief could arrive in less than six months, if then. The problems were manifold. First off, the fleet had stripped the Solar System of warships to bolster his fleet, and those ships had either been lost or were trapped here with him. A relief force would either have to be built, or would have to return from the Rehorish front. In any case, no matter which course the fleet decided to take, the USSR had no minesweepers, and thus even if they did find warships from somewhere, they would not be able to penetrate the mines in the Leningrad system at the warp point to the Moskva system. Those minesweepers would have to be built, and that would take time.
General Fedorov had little choice. Most of his ships would have to go into mothballs. The easiest decision was the battlecruiser Tallinn. The heroic ship was grievously wounded, and couldn’t be repaired with the resources available in the system, as there were no shipyards or repair docks. The second decision was equally easy. Three of the four laser buoy control ships were sent to join the Tallinn, leaving one to tend the laser buoys, all of which were relocated from the Leningrad system, at the warp point to Brezhnev, to the Brezhnev system, at the warp point back to Leningrad. The next decision was slightly harder, the disposition of the twenty explorer class scouts dispersed around the system. They weren’t armed, which should make the decision easy, but some in his staff had been arguing that they could be used as last-ditch defense units at the warp point, to ram anything that came through before it could get oriented. They were also useful in their original role, which was to track any D’Bringi ships that entered the system through the closed warp point, which they still hadn’t been able to localize. In the end, General Fedorov decided to mothball eighteen of the twenty small ships, leaving just two to watch the area around the suspected closed warp point against further incursion.
Doing all of that reduced the discrepancy to 1,256 MC’s, which meant that they could last five months before running out of supplies. Even by his staff’s most generous estimate this wouldn’t get them to a time frame where they could expect relief, so General Fedorov was forced to mothball more units. In the end he decided that a more reasonable time frame was one year till relief, which meant that he would have to mothball one half of his combat force. In a marathon session with his staff, the decided to mothball the Suvorov, the last remaining battlecruiser, both remaining heavy cruisers, and two destroyers and his flagship, all of which had suffered damage from clearing the laser buoys earlier in the month. This left him with the following forces:
Combat Group: 3xCL, 3xDD, 3xCT
Automated Warfare Group: 1xCT(DSB), 370xDSB-L
Picket Group: 2xEXS
Mothballed: 2xBCR, 2xCA, 2xDD, 1xDDC, 3xCT(DSB), 18xEXS
The mothballed units would be hidden in deep space, and with their drive fields down and their generators cold, they would be almost impossible to locate unless you knew where to look. Between the laser buoys on the warp point, and his remaining fleet units, General Fedorov was fairly confident that he could retain control of the system. Their greatest vulnerability was the closed warp point still lurking in the outer system. His scouts would make a valiant attempt to localize the closed warp point, but were unlikely to succeed. They were close enough, now, to localizing it that should the D’Bringi ever return they would be able to immediately pinpoint the warp point’s location, but until then they wouldn’t be able to defend the warp point, like they were defending the warp point to the Leningrad system.
-
Turn 108, Day 29, Rehorish Prime
The Prime Minister of the Rehorish Executive Council reclined in the pit of warm, salty water and relaxed, waiting as her guest stripped off his equipment harness and settled into the water and got comfortable.
“Tai-sho Okada, you are welcome here.”
The head of the Rehorish military inclined slightly as he settled into the water. “I thank you, Prime Minister. Your hospitality is legendary.” He suppressed a sigh of relief as he sat down. The Rehorish were amphibious, and almost always felt better when at least partially in water.
After allowing her guest to become settled, the Prime Minister got to the point. “How goes our war, Tai-sho?”
“It goes well, Prime Minister. Very well, as a matter of fact. Our forces have taken the Soviet colony on our border, and our allies, the D’Bringi, report that they have won a great victory over the Russians. And while they appeared to have suffered some losses, our liaison team with their fleet confirms the victory. Between the losses the Russians suffered in our initial attack, and the losses from the D’Bringi assault, we believe that most of the Russian’s mobile forces have been accounted for at this point.”
The Prime Minister looked at her senior naval officer carefully. “So you are saying that we are winning this war?”
“Yes. But…”
“But?” She didn’t like equivocation, and he knew it, therefore he must have had significant reservations to have spoken at all.
The naval officer gathered himself. “We are winning, but we must be cautious. Our ships are not as advanced as those of the Russians, or our allies the D’Bringi. Even should all of the technology we are developing right now magically become available tomorrow, and then somehow was installed on my ships the day after, we would still be behind both the Russians and the D’Bringi. Our sole advantage lies in the number of ships that we can field.”
“And what are you doing to remedy this situation?”
The Tai-sho waived his arm in negation. “There is little we can do at this point. The weapons and defenses now under development will take some to develop. When they are ready for deployment, we will almost certainly be unable to withdraw large numbers of ships from the front lines for refit, which means that while new construction will include the newly developed weapons and defense, our forward fleet will not, not for some time. And that will have serious implications as the war moves forward. Even assuming the D’Bringi are right, and we have eliminated the bulk of their mobile fleets, we will, at some point, encounter heavy Soviet defenses. And when we do, we will have to spend our ships and crews like water to breach those defenses.” As he spoke, he raised his cupped hand, allowing the water to run out of his hand in a glittering waterfall. “Our losses will be heavy. You must understand this, and prepare for it.”
The Prime Minister was taken aback by the Tai-sho’s honesty. Normally the military would drone on and on about their superiority, but this new honesty was refreshing. It was also an indicator of how worried her senior military officer was. “Perhaps I can do something about this technology disparity. The D’Bringi need us more than ever, now that this war is rolling forward. Surely, they can be persuaded to share some of their tech, in exchange for our continued good will.” She saw the Tai-sho prepare to speak, and waived him to silence. “I know that any technology that we get from the D’Bringi will not help our front-line forces now, but surely such a thing will help in the future. If indeed we suffer the losses you fear, having advanced ships to replace those losses will help improve our position, not hurt.”
“You are correct, Prime Minister. It could not hurt.”
“Very well, I will meet with the D’Bringi representative tomorrow. Now, what of our advance into Russian space?”
“Our main fleet is located in the system the Russian’s call Novosibirsk, on our border. Our survey fleets have been working to find the warp points we know to reside in the system, but, significantly, our occupation troops on the Soviet colony have managed to locate several computer systems that the Russians failed to wipe as our forces landed. It took some time, but my intelligence teams have obtained the warp point links two jumps out in every direction from the Soviet colony. That includes the location of several closed warp points that we would not have been able to find otherwise. And the location of no less than five Soviet frontier colonies.”
The Prime Minister half rose from the water. “This is incredible! When I reveal this news to the Executive Council, all doubt will fall away! Some have opposed our venture, even after our victory, but now, with this, they will at last be silent.”
The Tai-sho’s facial carapace darkened, an indicator of intense emotion in a Rehorish. “This is indeed good news, Prime Minister. Even now, task groups are being prepared to secure the Soviet colonies and establish pickets throughout our new territory. However, we move in muddy waters. We do not know if our new data has any missing areas, where the Soviets might have managed to hide a system from us, and, most importantly, we do not know which warp route leads to the Soviet home world. We have much work to do, and we have limited time before the Soviets recover. We are moving as fast as possible to discern the route to the Soviet home world, and join up with the D'Bringi fleet.”
“You will have all of the resources I can give you. We must push this war forward to victory!” She did not like that her primary uniformed officer had taken such a dark tone in spite of the good news he brought. Was he disloyal? Did he fear defeat too much to win a victory that her people needed?
“Agreed.” If the Tai-sho was aware of his Prime Minister’s thoughts, he gave no sign.
-
Turn 108, Day 30, Sol System, Earth
The General Secretary of the Soviet Union, an old man who increasingly looked as if events had overtaken him, stood at the podium, bent and frail-looking. His voice was still strong, though. “Former Marshal Padorin’s failures were manifold, and his strategic errors and short-sightedness are the reason we are in the position we are in now.” There was a stirring throughout the Presidium as the members took this announcement in. This was a clear signal from the General Secretary as to where the blame for the defeats suffered in the last two months would fall. “Therefore, in consultation with the General Soviet of the Armed Forces, I have selected an outstanding officer to assume the leadership of the military in this time of troubles. Marshal Alexi Kosygin will lead the glorious forces of the Soviet Union to victory against the invaders!”
The room broke into applause as it was expected to, however, the applause was perhaps not as enthusiastic as the General Secretary might have wanted. He sighed. It was only to be expected, given the grime news about the war that he had just given them, and the fact that he had placed the future of the USSR in the hands of a twenty-eight-year-old former Podpolkovnik. He stepped back from the podium, waiving the new young Marshal forward to give his address to the assembled members. As the young man hustled forward and got himself organized, the General Secretary went back over his decision process in appointing the young man. He didn’t see what else he could have done. Too many of the senior officers were tainted by their support for Padorin, and Kosygin had come highly recommended by those he spoke to about the matter. His thoughts were interrupted by the start of the new Marshal’s speech.
“Comrades, you are troubled by the current situation, and you are right to be troubled! You, and all of our political leadership, were ill-served by the time-wasters that led the military and who still inhabit the halls of our command centers and the dens of bureaucracies the govern everything that happens now. These idiots have led us to this point, and we have suffered defeats such as we have not experienced since the Great Patriotic War!”
The General Secretary was frowning as he listened. This firebrand was coming too close, and his criticisms could be interpreted to include his leadership, as well as those who had been disgraced and removed. Worse, this was not the speech that had been approved through his office. The speech continued…
“Things are dark. We are beset on all sides by enemies, and they seem to advance on us inexorably. However, we are not lost! We are Russian! We have been here before, and everyone that has attacked us has found out the eventual cost, to their dismay. The Hitlerians, the Capitalists, the anti-revolutionary White Guard, all have fallen before us! We will prevail, and when we do it will be through the wise leadership of our General Secretary!” The new Marshal turned and began clapping, which was picked up by the members of the Presidium and rose to a roar.
The General Secretary stepped forward and raised his hands, accepting the acclamation, all smiles now, and then stepped back and gestured for the new Marshal to continue.
“I have already begun my reforms. Even now, those who would oppose new ways of doing things within the military bureaucracy are being removed from office to clear the way for a fresh approach. Orders have already gone out to the 2nd Fleet, recalling them to the Moskva system to defend the Solar system. Our allies the Bjering have already agreed to stand on our border with the Rehorish and delay their advance, until we can must a force to relieve them. Orders have been sent to our colonies in the area, ordering them to resist to the last man if the Rehorish should break through while our fleet has temporarily returned to stabilize the situation in the Moskva system. In addition, I have recalled the 1st Survey Fleet. It will arrive in the Moskva system in the middle of next month, at which time its officers will be replaced by trusted and properly motivated officers, who will immediately move to defend the warp point to the Leningrad system. It is true that the survey ships are not armed, but they can be used to ram any ships that come through the warp point! They will stand between us and the barbarians until we can build proper warships to take over that job! Officers are already on their way to the Kirov system to meet the 2nd Survey Fleet, and once they are aboard those survey ships will defend the warp point to the Novosibirsk system along with the Bjering! If the Rehorish dare to come through, they will be met by a wall of steel!” He paused and looked out over his audience, and they began spontaneously cheering.
Marshal Kosygin let the cheers wash over him for a minute or so, then continued. “Over the next month, my staff and I will be reviewing construction priorities, to ensure that we have enough warships to meet and defeat the barbarians, and to deter the capitalists. In some cases we will almost certainly not be meddling with the construction schedules. For instance, we have twelve destroyers under construction, all of which will be available for deployment in month 111. These units were laid down at the start of the month, and will represent a powerful force once they are out of the yards. In addition, there are three battlecruisers and a new battleship under construction in the yards, all of which have one to two months of construction completed already. Given the reality that those battlecruisers will not be ready for duty until month 114, we almost certainly will reallocate the yard space devoted to those ships to more urgent and quickly completed projects in the coming months. In addition, I will make the relief and recovery of the Home Fleet, now trapped in the Brezhnev system, my highest priority, after that of defending this system. To this end, we will begin construction of minesweepers, already designed by the Korolev Design Bureau, at our surface construction facilities, so that we can devote our orbital construction capacity to building warships to bolster our fleets.” Again, cheering broke out in the chamber.
“Finally, as you are aware, even now advanced weapons are under development in our laboratories! These new weapons will become available over the next several months, and as they do, they will be rushed into production to increase our capacity to defeat the barbarians that challenge us! As it was during the Great Patriotic War, every citizen of the Soviet Union will be expected to do their duty to the fatherland! And I and my staff will ensure that their labors, their support, will not be wasted! And to those who would be wasters, who would hinder our efforts for their own gain, be aware that I will root you out root and branch! I will not allow anyone to hinder our progress towards our rightful place in the galaxy!”
The cheers were overwhelming this time, and the General Secretary stepped forward to take his new Marshal’s hand and bask in the approbation. Afterward, after the cheers had died down and the General Secretary and his supporters were leaving, he turned to his Internal Security chief. “Keep an eye on my new ‘hero’. He may be more of a problem than we anticipated.”
-
Month 109, Day 1, Kirov System, Soviet 2nd Fleet
General Semenov stood on the flag deck of his command ship, looking steadfastly at the video camera that was transmitting his image to his Bjering counterpart. This was going much worse than he had hoped. “Admiral, we are not abandoning our alliance with you! We are repositioning to defend our home world from a more immediate threat! Surely you can understand!”
The Bjering admiral facing him was the most senior Bjering admiral in the quintet that ruled the Consolidate, something General Semenov had previously taken solace from as a visible indicator of the Bjering commitment to their alliance. Now, though, he feared that he had done irreparable harm to their alliance by offending the highest Bjering leader. Admiral Alpha, as he was known, was pacing on his command deck, and his skin, normally a pale green, was now as dark as General Semenov had ever seen it. The scar that ran down Alpha’s face, partially covered by an eye patch where the scar ran through Alpha’s eye, was livid white against the Bjering’s greenish skin. Finally, the Bjering leader turned and faced the camera, and the Soviet General. He flung out a hand, pointing his finger at the Russian. “You! Repositioning? You are running, and abandoning your own colonists! You are leaving us here alone to face YOUR enemies! You are cowards! I will not commit my fleet to fight your battles, protect your people, when you run home to hide behind your defenses!”
“No, that is not what I’m saying. I have received orders from my headquarters, orders I cannot ignore. We have suffered heavy losses fighting our enemies in other systems, and my ships are needed closer to home. My leaders have asked that you remain here, until more of our ships can join you.”
The Bjering leader, who had started pacing again, stopped and whirled towards the camera. “When? When will your ships join us?”
General Semenov wished he could wipe the sweat from his forehead, but he wasn’t sure how the Bjering would take something like that. They were prickly at the best of times, which these most definitely weren’t. “I don’t know. Our losses have been heavy.”
“Very well. My advisors…” he turned and waived at several Bjering standing behind him, “wish me to wait, to give you a chance to remedy this situation. However, I am of the firm belief that pressure reveals the real nature of a being. We are seeing the real Russian nature. You are preparing to abandon your own people, and your allies. This alliance is over! Our fleet will return to our home, and we will see to our own defenses! You wish to see to your own defense? You will do so without our fleet!”
The scene from the Bjering ship flickered out, and General Semenov sagged into his chair, wiping his face. Disaster!
Five minutes later the Bjering fleet powered up and began moving away from the warp point that the formerly combined force had guarded, heading back towards Bjering space. The alliance with the Bjering was broken. The Soviet fleet set out for home shortly thereafter.
-
Turn 109, Day 1, D’Bringi Home System
Six cruisers, fresh from the yards and crewed with the most eager young warriors from the most vocal sub-Clans, left orbit, bound for the Leningrad system to reinforce the front-line fleet. Their ETA was 50 days.
Turn 109, Day 4, Solar System, USSR
Marshal Kosygin stood before the group of engineers and scientists assembled at the Rubin Design Bureau’s headquarters. Beside him stood the Bureau’s head, Igor Spassky. Spassky had initially resisted Marshal Kosygin’s requests. After all, the Rubin Design Bureau had been responsible, in one form or another, for designing first submarines and then later starships for the Russian people since before the USSR existed. Spassky’s objections had been steamrollered by Marshal Kosygin and his staff. The Marshal knew what he wanted, and it wasn’t more of the same. Therefore, after making sure Spassky knew his place, he had removed nearly the entire senior staff, replacing them with young, fresh minds, mirroring what he was doing in the military. Once again, the world was lining up against the Soviet Union, and Marshal Kosygin meant to put the best minds in position to solve their problems. In his mind that meant young, fresh viewpoints, uncluttered by devotion to outmoded models and political structures. And, as he saw it, it was his job to give these young minds direction and focus.
“As of today, this Design Bureau will be known as Ragnarok Design Bureau. You will have access to the latest technology and every resource you need. Our old designs and fleet concepts have failed. We have been pushed back to the Solar System by alien barbarians that will seek to take everything we have, just as all imperialists and conquers have always opposed us! The people of Russia are counting on you to give us the ships that will push those aliens back! The ships that will ensure our freedom and conquer our enemies! I want new designs, new ideas, new fleet concepts. First, and foremost, we need ships equipped with the latest technology that we can put on the front lines now. Not six months from now, not two years from now, but right now! And then we will need ships to take back our territory and liberate our people!” He emphasized that by pounding the podium in front of him with his fist.
The assembled engineers, scientists, and bureaucrats began cheering, and he turned and left the stage. Once out of sight he turned to Spassky. “I want results. I don’t care about anything but results. I’m leaving a team of guards here to keep an eye on things. This is Major Korolev, their commander. If anyone slows you down or tries to interfere with your progress you are to inform him, and he will tell me. And I will clear the way for you. I will smooth the road for you, but in exchange, you and your people will be expected to produce for us. Is that understood?”
Bureau head Spassky braced to something close to attention. “Understood, Marshal!”
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Turn 109, Day 5, Rehorish-controlled Novosibirsk system
The main Rehorish fleet, boasting seventeen heavy cruisers and forty-two smaller ships, had been hovering over the Rehorish-controlled colony in the inner system for the last month. Now, after receiving orders from the home system, part of the fleet began to move. Eighteen destroyers left the main body, headed for the warp points in the system leading to other systems no known to contain more Soviet colonies. The Rehorish were not ready to move their main fleet, yet, as they did not know which set of warp links led to the Soviet inner systems, but these picket groups would establish Rehorish control over the Soviet colonies and watch for Soviet reinforcements. In addition, one of the two survey fleets assigned to assist the offensive sets out for the Kirov system, to begin a warp point survey, while the second survey fleet remained in the Novosibirsk system to complete the warp point survey there. Although the Rehorish already had survey information on both systems, they did not trust the Soviet information and wished to double check to ensure that the Soviets had not deleted any critical information.
Turn 109, Day 5, T’Pau home system
Note: The T’Pau were conquered by the D’Bringi many years ago and have since been set ‘free’, with free being a relative term. They are required by the D’Bringi Expanse to maintain a defense fleet for their system; however, every ship must quarter a D’Bringi guard force, and the T’Pau Syndicate is expected to pay 1,000 MC every turn to the D’Bringi Expanse to cover D’Bringi expenses involved in ‘assisting’ the T’Pau nation. The T’Pau have three sexes, female, male, and neuter. The female and males are completely equal both legally and socially, and always have been. Neuters are fewer in number than either of the other sexes, and tend to be physically smaller and frailer. As the only gender that can carry an embryo to term, they are thus sheltered and cared for by the other genders. The T’Pau are bipedal, and are generally human in appearance. They are comparatively tall and spindly, with brownish leathery skin and a vestigial fin on their back. They have an elongated head, with a series of horns extending from the back of their head for several inches.
Orders for the T’Pau to dispatch their fleet to the front lines arrived several days ago, and the fleet is ready to depart.
Leutnant-General Morx, CO of the T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet, looked around the bridge of his flagship, the Salamander-001 (the T’Pau did not name their ships, as a rule, instead using class and number to ID their ships). His gaze lingered on the four D’Bringi guards, heavily armed and armored, standing at the back of the bridge. He turned before the D’Bringi could become aware of his gaze. Fleet CO or not, he did not wish to attract undue interest from the overlords. “Communications, does the fleet report ready?”
The Comms officer looked up from her station. “All heavy and light cruisers report ready. Expanse fleet command has transmitted the navigation data.”
Morx’s second in command stepped forward. “We are ready in all respects, Leutnant-General. Our ETA to rendezvous with the D’Bringi fleet is fifty days.”
“Very well. Set our course for the warp point to the Boche system. Maximum cruising speed.”
Without fanfare, the six heavy cruisers and six light cruisers of the T’Pau fleet set out for the outer system and the warp point out of their system. As the fleet began moving, Colonel Genr stepped closer to her CO, glancing at the D’Bringi guards as she did so. Seeing that the guards weren’t paying any particular attention, she leaned in closer. “I hope this is worth it.”
General Morx kept his gaze forward, away from the guards, and answered in a low voice. “The overlords have promised us an entire system with two habitable worlds, plus the right to explore beyond that system. That is not insignificant!”
“Is it worth our deaths, or the deaths we may cause in battle?”
General Morx’s gaze shifted to his second. “Are you under the impression that we had a choice in this matter?”
His second in command took a deep breath. “You are right, of course. I am uneasy, though, at the thought of going off to fight against a race we have never met, and have no quarrel with.”
Morx’s gaze hardened. “We play the hand we have been dealt. We will do what we must to defend our people, and ensure their future. If you cannot do this, I can find another to be my second.”
For a second the two officers stared at each other, then the Colonel straightened and saluted. “At your orders, general!”
The general turned back to the screen as his second moved back to her station. Behind them, the D’Bringi guards watched everything.
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Turn 109, Day 11, Kirov system
The Soviet 1st Survey Fleet had been making its best speed across the Kirov system, bound for the warp point to Novosibirsk, where it was ordered to take up guard positions and prepare to ram anything that came through the warp point. Its officers had been completely replaced by a group of young officer candidates shipped out directly from Earth, meeting up with the former survey fleets in the Smolensk system and turning the ships around to head back towards the front. These young officers had been selected largely for their fervent desire to serve the state, rather than any particular technical knowledge. The crews themselves were stripped down to the bare minimum needed to make the ships move and keep them running, and guards shipped out with the officers made sure everyone did what they were supposed to do.
Fleet command hoped that the group of rammers would slow down the advance of the Rehorish, giving the shipyards time to replace losses suffered so far, and, just possibly, convince the Bjering that the USSR hadn’t abandoned them completely. That was the intent of those in charge, at any rate, right up until the lone scout escorting the survey fleet detected unknown drive fields on its long-range scanners. The unknown apparently detected the survey group at the same time, because it changed course to close on the Soviet ships. This led to a hurried conference between the junior officers who had replaced the survey officers who had previously commanded the group.
The debate was heated, but short. None of the officers, all of whom were junior officers selected from the academy for their loyalty and willingness to obey orders, rather than any technical capability or tactical training, could see any alternative but to retreat back to the warp point they had entered from, and establish their guard position there. That would concede the Kirov system to the Rehorish, but none of their ships were armed. Their sole advantage would be in ramming a ship that had become addled from transit effects. Trying to ram enemy ships in open space would be disastrous, and continuing forward to try to establish the guard position at the warp point to Novosibirsk was a non-starter as well. Retreat was their only option.
As the Soviet ships turned and began making their way back towards the warp point that led to the Smolensk system, the Rehorish picket group followed them. Several CD’s were launched from the Rehorish destroyers, headed back to the Novosibirsk system and the main fleet.
Turn 109, Day 14, Novosibirsk system
The CD’s from the Kirov picket group arrived at the fleet in mid-day and caused immediate reaction. The encounter in Kirov was not definitive proof that the route to the Soviet home system lay through Kirov to Smolensk, but it was a good indicator. For now, the fleet would remain in orbit, the Cho-sho Banzan began making plans for his advance on Smolensk, once more information about the warp links on the Soviet frontier were available.
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Turn 109, Day 15
Many things happened on this day across known space, sometimes within a few light seconds of each other, sometimes light years apart, but all connected….
In the Moskva system, the Soviet 2nd Survey fleet arrived at the Gagarin colony in the Moskva system. There, the survey officers were removed from the exploration ships of the fleet and replaced with young and loyal volunteers from the Combined Armed Forces Academy on Earth. The survey fleet, now renamed Guard Group 2, set out for the warp point to the Leningrad system.
In the Kirov system, a large group of courier drones from the Soviet Military HQ on Earth slipped into the system and fanned out, heading for all of the colonies still not under Rehorish control. The Rehorish picket group in the system was busy shadowing the Soviet Guard Group, and was too far away to detect the CD’s when they entered the system.
In the Soviet colonial systems of Jaroslavl, Ivanovo, and Magnitogorsk, Rehorish picket groups consisting of three destroyers each settled into orbit over the colonies and demanded their surrender. All three governors surrendered, as they had no troops or defense, and saw no alternatives.
In the Tomsk system, the Soviet Governor received a message from the sensor buoy set up to watch the warp point to Kirov. The Bjering fleet had returned to the system. This was unexpected, and alarming, as the last report from the combined fleets had indicated no action from the Rehorish. Shortly after the message from the buoy reported the arrival of the fleet, the Bjering ambassador requested an audience with the Soviet ambassador and the Governor. The Bjering Ambassador then explained the events in the Kirov system, and the Bjering contention that the Soviet leadership had broken the alliance and abandoned their colonies. The Soviet Ambassador was shocked, but adamant that their leaders would never do such a thing. The Governor, on the other hand, was troubled and feared for the safety of his people. The Bjering Ambassador offered them an alternative, though. The Bjering leader, Admiral Alpha, who was aboard the fleet now in their system, had been greatly angered by what he viewed as the perfidy of the Soviet leadership. He had cooled off, though, during the voyage back to the Tomsk system, and in doing so he had realized that the Russian colonists were no more to blame for their leader’s actions than one of his officers would be for the orders he issued. Therefore, he offered to defend the Russian colony in Tomsk, as well as any other colonies in the surrounding systems from the Rehorish. It seemed that Admiral Alpha had had a revelation on the trip back. The Bjering and the Rehorish had never met. Unless the Soviets had told the Rehorish of the Bjering, he was fairly sure the Rehorish did not know his race existed. Now, with the mutual defense treaty broken, if the Bjering did not attack the Rehorish, the Rehorish would have no reason to attack in return. Or, at the very least, they would hesitate to do so while fighting the Russians. Given that the Rehorish knew nothing of his race, how would they be able to dispute his statement that the colony there was Bjering, not Soviet?
The Soviet Ambassador was against everything the Bjering said, and claimed that if the treaty was broken it was the Bjering that had broken it. After that he stormed out of the meeting in a rage. The Governor, on the other hand, was more receptive. In the end he agreed to allow the Bjering to make contact with the Rehorish if they entered the system, and to support their claim that the colony was a member of the Bjering Consolidate, if it came to that. He declined to make any other commitments until the situation became clearer, though.
Once the Bjering were on their way to the warp point, the governor contacted the Soviet fleet detachment that was assigned to guard the warp point to the Bjering home system. The detachment was small, just three destroyers and two automated weapons control ships, but it was the only naval detachment in the system, or indeed anywhere in the colonial territories if the Bjering were to be believed. The governor would have been more concerned about the Soviet naval presence, given what he was planning, but he knew the Polhovnik commanding the destroyer group personally. The man was reasonable, and would almost certainly realize that his only hope of keeping his destroyers in space was to work with the colonists.
The governor proved to be right, and the three destroyers and two automated warfare ships agreed to move to defensive positions over the colony.
With the tentative agreement in hand, the Bjering fleet settled into position around the warp point to the Kirov system. They remained a respectful distance away, as they had no wish to provoke combat as soon as a Rehorish ship came through, but instead assumed a position in between the warp point and the inner system.
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Turn 109, Day 17, Moskva system
Soviet Guard Group 2, composed of twenty-five explorer class ships and one explorer-scout, reached seventy-two light minutes from the warp point to the Leningrad system at 0800 hours and detected a group of drive fields around the warp point. Knowing that the Coalition 1st Fleet had been last seen in that area, the CO of the group sent out a warning that the group was inbound and would brook no interference. Admiral Ruston sent a reply stating that the Coalition had no intention of interfering with the Soviet ships, however, he then went on to warn the Soviets of the presence of D’Bringi ships on the warp point. The Guard Group came to a halt and, after consultation between its officers, splits up. The twenty-five exploration ships set out for the warp point to the Solar System, while the lone scout continues on towards the warp point to keep an eye on the D’Bringi force in the system.
Turn 109: Day 18, Tomsk system
Late in the day several courier drones from Earth arrive in orbit over the colony and broadcast their messages down to the comm centers on the surface. Within minutes the Soviet Governor and the Ambassador were reading the message from Marshal Kosygin. The two happened to be together when the message came in, and, as it was the same message for both the two watched it together in the Governor’s office. The Marshal’s message was stirring and patriotic, unless, of course, you happened to be one of the colonists who was being ordered to fight to the last man. When the Marshal’s speech ended the Ambassador, pale and frail-looking, staggered to a chair and sat down, his head in his hands.
Governor Orlov, a bluff former farmer who had risen to his position through sheer force of will, in spite of a lack of connections, was already pretty sure he knew that what the Bjering had claimed was true. Seeing confirmation in the Marshal’s message didn’t affect him the way it did the Ambassador, who had steadfastly insisted that there was no way that their leaders would abandon them. After a few seconds, the Governor pushed a button on his desk. In response, his aide entered the room and stood by the door.
“Sergey, I’m afraid the Ambassador is overwrought. Would you please help him to the aid station?”
“Of course, governor.” The young aide bustled over to the Ambassador, who allowed himself to be led out of the room. As the two left the room, a second aide entered.
“Ah, good, Boris. You saw?”
The young man smiled. “Yes, Governor. Sergey and I were watching from the other room.”
“Very good. In the next few days, the governors of the colonies in the Bernaul, Petropavlovsk, Vorkuta, and Bratsk systems are going to receive the same message. I want our own message to follow as quickly as possible. We must let them know that the Bjering offer us an alternative. Further, I want to call a meeting of the governors here, as we are centrally located. Even with Bjering protection we must stand together or we will fall separately.”
“I’ll get the invitations out immediately, governor.”
“Good.” The aide turned to leave, but the governor held up his hand. “Boris, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming meeting, we need to plan for the future. If we are to survive, we need to establish a bas of action, and our system is going to be the critical point, no matter what the other governors decide. After all, our contact point with the Bjering is here, and our access to the rest of the colonial territory is here. We are the central point. It appears that the Bjering are going to give us enough time to get our feet under us, and I want to use that time wisely. If we are to be anything more than a dependent of the Bjering, we’ll need a fleet of our own. To build that fleet, and defenses, we’ll need shipyards. I know there are designs for stripped down shipyards stored away somewhere against just this eventuality. I want you to find them and dust them off. I want construction to start as soon as possible, whether we have the agreement of the other governors or not. We’ll fund it out of our own coffers, begging, borrowing, or stealing whatever we need. If the other governors agree to this, then their resources will cover anything we borrow. If they don’t, then maybe the Bjering will give us a loan. Either way, I need options, and building a shipyard here will give us those options.”
Boris got a crafty look in his eyes as he considered the situation. “Governor, if I’m correct there were a number of freighters cut off in our area when the Rehorish moved into the Kirov system. Those freighters were all carrying resources back towards the Earth, to use in the war effort. If we send out messages for the freighters to assemble here, under our protection, and that of the Bjering, then we would have access to those resources.”
A wide grin split Governor Orlov’s face. “Perfect! Make it happen!”
Turn 109, Day 20, Tomsk system
Three Rehorish destroyers popped into existence, one after another. When their systems came back online, their long-range scanners warned them of the fleet hanging just under fifteen light seconds from the warp point. The four battlecruisers, six destroyers, and eight corvettes were not an overwhelming force, but it far out-massed their own picket group. The picket group commander was preparing to order his group back through the warp point when his sensor officer pointed out that the ships in the force were not Soviet, but rather were of an unknown design not consistent with any known race. Curious, the Rehorish command ordered communications opened. Thus, first contact between the Rehorish and the Bjering was established. As the two began working out how to talk to each other, the Rehorish picket commander ordered CD’s launched to inform Cho-sho Banzan of the new development. Progress was slow, primarily because the Bjering chose to conceal the fact that they knew the language of the Russians, which the Rehorish knew as well.
Turn 109, Day 25, Krasnodar System
On this date a Rehorish picket group arrived over the Russian colony in this system, which promptly surrendered. None of the colonies in the Soviet colonial territories had thought much of Marshal Kosygin’s admittedly stirring orders to resist to the last. None of the colonies had organized military troops with which to resist the Rehorish, and even if they did the Rehorish controlled their colony’s orbitals. Organized resistance under those circumstances would only get everyone killed eventually.
Turn 109, Day 25, Tomsk system
Courier drones had traveled from the colony here to the surrounding colonies, and then back. All of the governors agreed to meet, however, none had transportation, as there was only a scattering of freighters in the cut-off systems. Governor Orlov, recognizing that the situation was urgent and couldn’t wait until the cut-off freighters had been organized, and unwilling to send his only three warships, sent a request to the Bjering fleet at the warp point to the Kirov system. Admiral Alpha agreed, and corvettes were dispatched to carry the governors back to the Tomsk system for the meeting.
Turn 109, Day 30, Moskva System, 0600 hours
The Soviet 2nd Fleet arrives over the colony of Gagarin in the inner system. There are celebrations across the planet as the Soviet ships settle into orbit. After resupplying over the next six hours, the nine ships of the fleet, all that remained of the Soviet armed fleets, set out for the warp point to the Leningrad system. Their ETA was six days and eighteen hours. Th scout that had been dispatched to the warp point to observe the D’Bringi forces there had been driven off by D’Bringi ships, but it had been able to confirm their presence, if nothing else.
Six hours later, in the Leningrad system, a group of D’Bringi reinforcements arrived at the warp point to the Moskva system. This was the diversionary group that had originally drawn the Russian Home Fleet to the Leningrad system. The D’Bringi Fleet which was now assembled at the warp point to the Moskva system consisted of one battlecruiser, five heavy cruisers, and fourteen corvettes. Leaving behind a single corvette, the fleet departed for the inner system and the Russian colonies known to be located there. Their ETA is six days and eighteen hours.
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Turn 110, Solar System, USSR
Construction begins on the first designs from the new Ragnarok Design Bureau. These are two different versions of the Borodino class light cruiser, intended to assault defended warp points.
Turn 110, Day 3, 2000 hours, Moskva system
The two fleets had been advancing towards each other for several days, but at 2000 hours they finally came within sensor range of each other. At that range, seventy-two light seconds, they only detected indistinct drive fields, with little other identifying characteristics, except for course and speed. General Semenov, in command of the Russian fleet, was certain that the contact represented a D’Bringi fleet advancing into the system, as the Coalition had been very good about informing the Soviet’s about their fleet movements through their shared territories, and his last information showed the Coalition fleet still standing off of the warp point to the Leningrad system.
Foe’s Bane, on board his flagship, was equally sure that the drive field contact ahead of his fleet was a Russian force, as the bulk of the Coalition fleet was behind him, shadowing his fleet, and they certainly would have warned him if more of their ships were approaching.
Both commanders ordered their fleet to continue on course towards the other fleet.
Turn 110, Day 4, 1600 hours, Moskva system
The two fleets had now closed to twelve light minutes apart, and could now detect the number of drive fields in the opposing fleet. The D’Bringi now knew that the fleet approaching them was composed of nine ships, while the Russians detected nineteen ships approaching. The Russians had detected a second fleet behind the first, but it was broadcasting its Coalition ID openly, and General Semenov’s force had established contact with Admiral Ruston’s command some time ago to establish and confirm their identity.
Still, the fact that the D’Bringi force outnumbered his by better than two to one enraged General Semenov. He had requested, and then pled, for the twenty-five explorer class ships that had been recalled to the warp point in the Solar System to be released to his command and allowed to join his force. He wasn’t convinced that the explorers would be able to inflict very much damage on the enemy, but they would provide a distraction while his fleet pounded the enemy from missile range. With the explorers joined to his fleet he would at least have a chance of stopping the D’Bringi fleet, or driving it off. But the leadership on Earth wouldn’t release them, and they remained at the warp point, guarding it from attack. Without them, his orders were clear. He could not risk an engagement.
General Semenov ordered his fleet to come about and begin pacing the D’Bringi fleet as it forged ahead, and dispatched a message to the scout ship sitting on the warp point back to the solar system. Unfortunately, his battlecruisers were the only ships he had that were equipped with long-range scanners, and he wasn’t about to detach one of them to approach the D’Bringi fleet, so he was unable to gain any more data on the D’Bringi force. Nine hours later a response arrived. General Semenov was ordered to abandon the system and take up defensive positions at the warp point in the Solar System.
Turn 110, Day 7, Moskva system
The D’Bringi fleet arrives in the inner system early in the day, and moves into orbit over the Soviet Union’s largest extra-solar colony, Gagarin. The Soviet governor of Gagarin, flanked by Soviet Army officers, makes a defiant public broadcast across the planet and to the D’Bringi in orbit, refusing to surrender and promising to fight to the end.
The D’Bringi are taken aback by the defiant tone of the broadcast, but are unwilling to bombard the surface. They will have to wait until reinforcements arrive from D’Bringi prime later in the month. The reinforcements are escorting troop transports, and once they arrive the colony will be subdued.
Turn 110, Day 11, Solar System
One by one the ships of the 2nd Fleet transited into the Solar System, abandoning the Soviet Union’s last colony to the D’Bringi. General Semenov was outraged at the orders to pull back, and vehemently argued to be allowed to return to Moskva, but is overruled.
After boarding the asteroid fort that was the command center for the warp point defenses, General Semenov is arrested by troops loyal to Marshal Kosygin. He will be shipped back to Earth to be charged with treason and cowardice in the face of the enemy. His senior officers are arrested as well, and replacements, loyal to Marshal Kosygin, are en route from Earth.
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Month 110, Day 12, Earth, Coalition Capital
CEO Abramson turned from speaking with Fleet Admiral Reese and welcomed the others into his office. He had invited his core group of advisors for this meeting to determine the future course of the Coalition. Present were Fleet Admiral Reese, who commanded the Coalition fleet, Senator Teresa Obregon, the senior Reformist senator from the CEO’s party, and his good right hand in the Senate, and Minister Bisset, the Minister for Industrial Development. The two politicians were the movers and shakers of the Abramson administration, and Fleet Admiral Reese was the one who would do the moving and shaking for the administration.
When they were all seated Abramson sat and gestured for the admiral to move the front of the room. “I’ve asked Admiral Reese to give a presentation on what we know to date about the war between the Soviets and the D’Bringi. Taylor, you can start any time.”
Fleet Admiral Reese nodded, and looked at the others, taking in the mood of the room. They were all cleared to the highest level, so presumably they knew all of the things he was going to say, but the CEO had asked him to give the presentation, so here they were. “The first information we had that the war between the Russians and the D’Bringi had heated up came in month 106, when a portion of the Soviet Home Fleet left orbit over Earth at maximum cruising speed, shortly after the arrival of a series of courier drones from the Russian colonial territories. The Russian Red Banner Fleet under General Lebedev was known to be operating in their colonial territories at that time, and it was presumed that the units from the Russian home fleet were being dispatched as reinforcements. Over the next month our intelligence section noted a significant increase in Russian communications based on the number of courier drones arriving from their colonial territories, or departing to their colonial territories. Late in month 107 the Soviet Home Fleet left Earth, bound for the warp point to the Moskva system, after several courier drones arrived from the Leningrad system. The Soviet Home Fleet jumped into the Moskva system at the end of the month, shadowed by our 1st Fleet, commanded by Admiral Ruston. After arriving in Moskva, the Soviet Home Fleet set a course for the jump point to the Leningrad system.”
“It was at this point that we realized that the Soviets were engaged in actual fighting with the D’Bringi, after several years of quiet. We theorized that the Red Banner Fleet in the Soviet colonial territories was engaged with the D’Bringi, and that a second D’Bringi force had appeared in the Brezhnev system, which was a known contact point with the D’Bringi. We believed that the Soviet Home Fleet was moving to confront the D’Bringi forces in Brezhnev, while General Lebedev and his fleet was engaged in their colonial territories.”
“At the start of month 108, the Soviets, at a series of meetings set up at their request, admitted that they were engaged in combat with the D’Bringi fleet, and that their current fleet movements were aimed at countering the threat from the D’Bringi and had nothing to do with the Coalition. While they were not very forthcoming about the situation with the D’Bringi, the Foreign Relations Ministry seemed convinced that the Soviets were sincere in their desire to avoid provoking a confrontation with the Coalition. Early in month 108 the Soviet Home Fleet jumped out of the Moskva system to Leningrad. At this point the 1st Fleet, still in Moskva, lost sight of the Russian fleet as, per our treaty with the USSR, we were unable to follow them into Leningrad. Admiral Ruston set his fleet in defensive positions some distance away from the warp point and settled in to watch the warp point for developments. Several days later a group of courier drones jumped into the system, followed closely by two unidentified ships. The ships lingered on the warp point long enough to destroy the Soviet navigation buoy, then jumped back to Leningrad without accepting communications. Several days later another group of Soviet courier drones jumped into the system from Leningrad. The Soviet Home Fleet did not return. Late in the month, several D’Bringi ships jumped into the Moskva system from Leningrad and opened communications with our fleet. They informed our fleet that the Russians had been defeated in Leningrad, and that soon they would be advancing into the Moskva system to secure the Soviet colonies there. They agreed to avoid Coalition colonies and shipping, and, in addition, introduced us to their allies, the Rehorish. Admiral Ruston’s contact group began working on deciphering the Rehorish language immediately.”
“At that point the D’Bringi appeared content to wait at the warp point to Leningrad. We speculated that they were waiting for reinforcements, a supposition that turned out to be correct. By the end of Month 109, two groups of reinforcements had joined the D’Bringi fleet at the warp point, swelling their numbers to thirty-six ships, including one battlecruiser and seventeen heavy cruisers. On the 1st of this month, the D’Bringi fleet set out for the inner system, with Admiral Ruston’s force shadowing them. Independently, the Soviet forces in the inner system, now rebranded as the 2nd Fleet, set out for the warp point to the Leningrad system. We believe that the Soviets did not know about the D’Bringi fleet headed inwards from the warp point at that time. The Soviet fleet consisted of only nine ships, three battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, and three light cruisers. On day 3 the two groups detected each other, and, later on the next day, the Soviet fleet broke off and began retreating towards the warp point to the Solar System. The D’Bringi fleet detached two corvettes to shadow the Russian fleet, and continued on into the inner system. They six days ago, at which time the Russian governor of the colony refused to surrender. Yesterday, the Russian fleet returned to the Solar System.” The Admiral paused and looked at the CEO, who nodded. “General Semenov, the commander of their fleet, was arrested after returning to the solar system, along with his command staff.”
That caused a reaction from Senator Obregon and Minister Bisset, who had not heard this latest news.
Admiral Reese stopped for a few seconds to gather his thoughts. “We do not have anywhere near full information at this point; however, some things have become clear. It appears that the Soviet Red Banner Fleet has been destroyed or neutralized by D’Bringi or associated forces. In addition, the Soviet Home Fleet was also destroyed or neutralized in the Leningrad or Brezhnev system. The Soviets stripped the Solar system of warships when they dispatched their Home Fleet, therefore, at this point, the nine ships of the Soviet 2nd Fleet appear to be the only warships the USSR still has at its command. When the D’Bringi arrive at the warp point to the Solar system the Russians will be cut off from all of their extra-Solar possessions. It appears that the Russians have suffered a series of serious defeats, which have reduced their forces to a shadow of what they once were. We believe that the D’Bringi will wait to attack the Russian warp point defenses, guarding the entrance into the Solar System until their allies, who we believe to be advancing through the Soviet colonial territories, arrive in Moskva and join their fleet to those of the D’Bringi.”
The others had been looking at each other as he talked, each trying to figure out not only what this information meant for them, but what it meant for the Coalition’s position in the universe. Before they could begin speaking, CEO Abramson spoke up. “That you, Admiral. Next could you give your analysis of our possible future courses of action?” Before the admiral could speak, Abramson turned to his allies. “I’ve asked the Admiral to also present the military options he and his staff see for the Coalition at the present time. Keep in mind, he will only be speaking as to the military possibilities. The politics and the advisability of such options will, as always, be left to us.” He turned back to the admiral. “Admiral, please continue.”
“Thank you, Chief Executive. My staff and I see three main possibilities moving forward. We can either ally ourselves with the Russians and fight the D’Bringi and their allies, ally ourselves with the D’Bringi and fight the Russians, or try to remain neutral and take no action.” He paused. He could see that none of them seemed enthused about any of the options. Oh well, sometimes there were no good options, something which he was pretty sure the Russians would readily agree with. “First, we have the possibility of allying ourselves with the Russians. In such a situation we would then engage the D’Bringi fleet now in the Moskva system, and then go on to clear Soviet systems in conjunction with the Soviet fleet, before advancing into D’Bringi and Rehorish territory. Preferably, we would engage the D’Bringi before they unite with the Rehorish, and thus do to them what they did to the Russians, inflicting defeats in detail on their divided forces. We believe such a strategy has a good chance of success, at least initially. Our fleet is at full strength, and would be more than capable of dealing with the forces the D’Bringi now have in the Moskva system. On the longer term it is difficult to say, but with the resources of both of our nations available, I believe the D’Bringi and the Rehorish would have a difficult time stopping our fleets.”
Admiral Reese stopped for a second and took in the expressions of the politicians in the room. There was a marked lack of enthusiasm for the thought of allying themselves with their long-time cold war enemy. It was as the CEO had expected. “This course of action has several advantages. First, by attacking the D’Bringi in the Moskva system we avoid having alien war fleets entering the Solar system, a possibility I will cover in the other options in greater detail. Additionally, we should reasonably be able to extract concessions from the Russians for our assistance, and, if we are successful, will be able to take territory from the Rehorish and the D’Bringi. The down side of this option is obvious. If we take this option, we are still left with the USSR armed to the teeth here on Earth, pointing hundreds of nuclear weapons at our nation and our people. Additionally, we would be starting a war with two alien powers of unknown strength, although our intelligence division has some pretty firm estimates at this time. We believe we can prevail, but in war nothing is certain.”
“The second option is allying ourselves with the D’Bringi against the Soviets. Under this option we would negotiate with the D’Bringi out of sight of the Russians, and agree to a joint assault of the Russian warp point defenses. Our forces would attack the Russian defenses from this side of the warp point, while the D’Bringi and their allies would launch a simultaneous assault from their side. Such a simultaneous attack against the Russian defenses would almost certainly be successful, and would also likely wipe out the remaining Russian mobile forces at the same time. The combined forces would then move on Earth. We would have to present the Russians with an ultimatum at the same time as the attack on the warp point defenses, though, as once they realized we were attacking their forces there they would almost certainly confront us here in an attempt to intimidate us into backing down. In any case, they would be fools to wait until the forces that survived the warp point assault reached the Earth. They would either attack us here before they arrived, or surrender, or at least negotiate an end to the war before they arrived. Therefore, we would have to split our fleet and station enough forces here to ensure the destruction of the Soviet PDC’s before they can inflict too much damage on our territories on Earth. I cannot say whether the Soviets will be willing to negotiate once it becomes apparent that they have lost and the warp point has fallen. They may believe that we won’t risk the damage we would almost certainly suffer if we launch an attack here, and thus believe that they can hold out until they build more ships or defenses. We may indeed have to launch an attack on their PDC’s and accept the inevitable civilian casualties, as the Russians are not always known for their reasonableness. The advantages of this approach are obvious. We believe that we have the fleet strength to engage and destroy the Russian defenses, and once the Rehorish join the D’Bringi the odds should be well in our favor. The Russians may be willing to negotiate once their warp point defenses fall, and their fleet is lost, in which case we can win this without losses here on Earth. Even if they resist, we will win and the Russians will no longer be a threat and we will be the preeminent power in the Solar system. There are downsides, as well. We would be allowing the Rehorish, who we do not know, and the D’Bringi, into the Solar system. Should they betray us they will be inside our system defenses, and our fleet will be weakened by the fighting with the Russians. And, should the Russians decide not to be reasonable, we will have to initiate, or perhaps respond to, a nuclear exchange here on Earth. Even if the fighting remains focused on our PDC’s there will be serious collateral damage. Millions will die.”
“The final option is also the least viable, in my opinion. In this option we do nothing, but almost certainly we will end up being drawn into the fighting in one way or another. We have already begun talks with the D’Bringi against the eventuality that they will invest the far side of the Solar warp point in the Moskva system. Should that happen, the D’Bringi have agreed to allow our ships to transit through the warp point with prior warning, likely by exchanging CD’s. This will be an inherently unstable situation, though. The Russians will be extremely unhappy with any activity taking place close to the warp point, and while they will wish to avoid conflict with us, they will be trigger happy and accidents happen. Worse, one or both sides may decide to use our transiting ships as cover for launching an attack on the other side, something that will almost certainly result in one or both sides shooting at our ships and our ships shooting back. Even should we make it through this period without an incident, the D’Bringi and their allies will eventually launch an assault on the Russian warp point defenses. The Russians will be focused on improving those defenses, so it isn’t clear who will win that battle. If the D’Bringi win, though, they will then advance into the Solar system, and on Earth. At that point we will be forced to intervene. They will almost certainly call for the Russians to surrender, and the Russians certainly will not surrender, knowing that we cannot allow the aliens to engage the Russian defenses, as that will cause serious ecological damage to the Earth, and it will be almost certain that stray missiles will hit Coalition territories. The Russian refusal will force us to either join the aliens in calling for the Russians to surrender, and then joining them in an attack if they do not, or we will join the Russians and engage the aliens, who will then be in range of Earth and would be able to retaliate against our populations. This option has all the downsides of the other options and very little of the upsides. It is possible that we could extract concessions from the Russians as the aliens approach the Earth, or that the aliens might not be able to penetrate the warp point defenses. But we have no way of calculating those possibilities.”
CEO Abramson stood and nodded to the Admiral. “Thank you, Admiral Reese. We are going to discuss the situation. Would you please remain available if we have any further questions?”
“Of course. I will be in your naval liaison’s office, if I’m needed.”
CEO Abramson waited while the admiral walked out, and then turned to the others. “Well, that’s pretty much it, unless you can think of some other alternative that the Admiral hasn’t given us.”
The other two looked at each other for a second, then Senator Obregon nodded. “I can’t see anything. Lots of variations on a theme, but he’s right, there are three basic choices before us.”
François Bisset nodded in agreement. “And he’s right about that third option. Doing nothing is definitely our worst option.”
Senator Obregon shook her head. “The senate is very good at doing nothing. They have been perfectly happy watching the Soviet Union lose its fleet bit by bit.” She paused, and sighed. “Now, though, even they can feel that the time of decision is coming.”
CEO Abramson looked at two partners. They were two most powerful people in his administration, and he would have to have them onboard before he set anything in motion. Many others would have to be brought in to make anything work, of course, but whatever course they took would be decided here, this morning. “I think that, in the end, it all comes down to who we are more comfortable allying ourselves with. The Russians or the aliens.”
Senator Obregon looked sharply at the CEO. “The way you said that implies your bias. You would rather ally yourself with the Russians! That’s…surprising. After all, you ran on getting tough with the Russians.”
“I won on that issue. The people were tired of the Russians walking all over us.” Abramson got up and walked over to the window that looked out over the capital city. The Coalition had decided to locate its capital at Spokane, largely as a monument to the city that represented the turning point of the war against Russian expansion after the Final War. The Russians were turned back at Spokane, and in a burst of enthusiasm the people of the Coalition decided that that formerly backwater city would become the capital of their newly resurgent nation. Since then the city had grown by leaps and bounds, becoming by far the largest and richest city in the Coalition. Coalition Tower, the center of the national government, was one of the tallest buildings in the city, and the suite they were meeting in was near the top, giving them a stunning view of the glittering city. “That doesn’t mean I’m a fool. The Russians need us more than the D’Bringi. That means we can extract more from them as part of a new alliance.”
Bisset nodded in agreement. “Plus, allying ourselves with the D’Bringi will inevitably bring us to a situation where we will face the Russians here, on Earth. I am not convinced that the Russians will be reasonable, which means that it is almost certain that there will be an exchange of nuclear weapons here, on Earth. If Russian nuclear weapons are used against Coalition cities, again, none of us would be safe. Even if we survived, our own people would make sure of that. The memory of the Final War still lives.”
Senator Obregon stood and walked over to the window and stood next to CEO Abramson. “To be honest, I’m more confident that we can work out a deal with the Russians that we can live with, than with the D’Bringi and their allies. After all, we’ve maintained the peace between our nations here in the Solar System for decades. If we allied ourselves with the D’Bringi, even if the Russians backed down rather than launching another nuclear war, we would end up having to live with alien war fleets in the Solar System. Once we let them into the Solar System, we may never be rid of them. As much history as we have with the Soviets, I’d rather deal with them than the aliens.”
Bisset looked thoughtful for a second. “Better the devil you know, huh?”
Senator Obregon turned back to the other two, frowning. “The mood in the Senate is complex and disjointed. No one knows what is coming, and every one fears it. I can’t predict what’s going to happen once alien fleets enter the solar system. It is better that we approach this with a plan, and begin working towards a consensus now, rather than waiting for the events to overwhelm us.”
Abramson listened to his two friends and allies talk about it for a bit as he watched the city-scape below, then nodded and turned back to them. “I think we are in agreement. We will begin by building support within the administration and the senate for the idea of forging an alliance with the Russians. That will take some time, as I’m sure that even though we have the advantage, the Russians will demand at least some concessions to make this palatable to their own people. Once we have our side on board, we can approach the Russians. We must have a plan B, though. It is always possible that the Russians will remain intractable, meaning we may have to ally ourselves with the aliens, or fight both the aliens and the Russians. At any rate, let’s get the admiral back in here so we can get his input on our decision.”
The decision was made.
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Turn 110, Day 15, Tomsk System
The governors of the seven colonies scattered in and around the Tomsk system assembled on this day for their first meeting, after having been transported to the colony of Tereshkova in Tomsk. Governor Orlov, as the leader of the largest and most populous colony, and the most centrally located, chaired the meeting. The governors were all appointed by the central government, but were all selected from the local colonial populations, as the government had sought to avoid accusations of being unresponsive to local interests. Thus, the governors were all inclined to support local independence, in light of being cut off from the central government, at least for a temporary time until contact could be re-established. Admiral Alpha spoke at the conference as well, laying out his intention to draw out communications attempts and negotiations for as long as possible before the Rehorish realized that he was sheltering Soviet colonies. Admiral Alpha promised to seriously consider a mutual defense treaty with the colonies, should they decide to organize and offer such a thing.
The governors were somewhat suspicious of this offer, as it sounded as if Admiral Alpha was offering to make the Tomsk system a battle ground, to avoid the battle moving into his own system, however, Governor Orlov was quick to point out that the Bjering were not technically at war with the Rehorish, while the Soviet colonies certainly were. If the Bjering withdrew to their home system they would almost certainly avoid war, at least for now, while the governors assembled at the conference would certainly see their colonies gobbled up by the Rehorish. The debate continued through the day, and would continue for the rest of the month as the governors and their staffs tried to come to an agreement.
Turn 110, Day 30, Tomsk System
On this day the new Tomsk Union is announced. The Union is, for now, a loose alliance of the seven colonies in the area, with Governor Orlov of the Tereshkova colony appointed as Governor General of the new Union. Orlov’s position as first among equals was cemented when his foresight and dedication to the defense of the colonies became clear when it was discovered that he had diverted the freighters in the area to Tereshkova and used the resources they had been carrying back towards the Solar System to begin construction of small shipyards on the surface of Tereshkova. The obvious presence of the three former-Soviet destroyers didn’t hurt either. None of the other governors had thought that far ahead, and when they realized that Governor Orlov was thinking much farther ahead than they were, their choice became clear. In the same announcement, Governor General Orlov announced that the Bjering had agreed to a trade and military agreement with the Tomsk Union, and that their fleet would remain in the system for some time to ensure their security.
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Turn 110, Day 20, D’Bringi Prime
On Turn 103, the D’Bringi established contact with a new race they had located on their frontier, the Mintek Union. From the first the Mintek had been very friendly and open, and since first contact had worked vigilantly to establish communications. Normally that friendliness and openness would have been viewed by the D’Bringi as an invitation to attack, although the six battlecruisers the Mintek had met their exploration ship with would have forced the D’Bringi to build up their forces before launching the attack. In the run-up to the new offensive against the Russians, though, the D’Bringi had no interest in started another war, so they settled in to open communications with the aliens. After all, if conquest must be delayed, gathering military information on their future subjects while profiting from trade only made sense. The survey ship was replaced by a small freighter with a contact and communication crew aboard, and efforts had been ongoing for the last seven turns.
On Turn 105 the D’Bringi ship detected what were clearly Mintek exploration ships surveying the system for warp points. Now, on Month 110, Day 20, the D’Bringi clan leaders received a somewhat alarming report that the Mintek, ignoring requests and then warnings from the contact ship, had jumped through the warp point that the D’Bringi had used to enter the system, and probed the system beyond. That system, the Phyriseq system, contained a burgeoning D’Bringi colony on the fourth planet. The Mintek ship was gone long enough to penetrate far enough into the system to detect the D’Bringi colony, at which point the ship returned to the Mintek Home system. The Mintek, when confronted about this territorial violation, were apologetic, extremely so, but the leader of the contact team was unsettled enough to request warships to picket the warp point to the Mintek system.
The senior members of the Clan Council were debating this when, after several hours, a second message from the contact team arrived declaring that the Mintek language had finally been deciphered and that the Mintek, who continued to be very friendly, had agreed, in principle, to a trade agreement.
The debate amongst the senior members of the Council didn’t take long. The D’Bringi could use all the resources they could get to prosecute the war, so the trade treaty was approved almost immediately. The news of the success in establishing communications and the proposed trade treaty seemed to reduce the need for a military presence in the Phyriseq system, but the D’Bringi had always been firm believers in the need for defended borders. Unfortunately, not many warships were available. After some debate, the Council decided to dispatch three cruisers from the Clan reserves, two from Clan T’Chau and one from Clan K’Rorin. All three cruisers had been damaged in battle against the Russians in the ambush in the Tokyo system and recently repaired. Fresh from the yards they were going to be sent to the Russian front, but were instead dispatched to the secure the border with the Mintek.
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Turn 110, Day 25, Moskva system
Six Clan heavy cruisers joined the D’Bringi fleet over the Gagarin colony, accompanied by twelve T’Pau ships and a flotilla of ground force transports. The transports immediately began landing troops on the surface of the colony, and fighting broke out between the D’Bringi troops and the Russians, but with the D’Bringi fleet overhead the fighting was one sided. Gagarin would fall by the end of the month, and with it, the other Russian mining outposts and colonies in the system would surrender. The USSR had been forced back to the Solar System.
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Turn 111, Day 1
The war that now stretched across the Soviet territories had originally involved three races. From that beginning it had drawn in even more races, some, like the T’Pau were now directly involved, while others, like the Bjering, feared being drawn into the conflict. Exploration and colonization efforts had fallen off to next to nothing across known space as all of the races focused on enlarging or upgrading their fleets.
The Soviet shipyards over Earth were full of ships under construction. The yards had just launched twelve brand new destroyers, and had immediately filled up with new construction. In total, in orbit and on the ground, there was a prototype battleship, three battlecruisers, six light cruisers, and ten escorts under construction. Finally, six new, and very secret, planetary defense centers were under construction. These PDC’s were defensive in nature, with each mounting ten point-defense emplacements and moderate armor. The new PDC’s, built in extreme secrecy, were intended to bolster the existing PDC’s missile defense capabilities.
The Coalition’s yards were busy as well, in spite of the fact that they were not directly involved in the war. Six new battlecruisers were started last month. Two of the new BS3’s were launched at the start of this month, and the third would be ready next month. Construction was started on three more BS3’s was this month as well.
The yards orbiting Bjering Prime were empty. The Bjering had reactivated enough battlecruisers and corvettes to bring four of their five fleets to full strength, and their economy was straining under the burden of the additional upkeep. Resources would be hoarded until the new technology that was being developed was ready, and then those resources would be used to upgrade the fleet.
The four shipyards orbiting T’Pau Prime were occupied by the construction of three heavy cruisers and an additional shipyard. The T’Pau too were developing new technology and hoping to refit their fleet, should it ever return from the front lines.
The massive shipyard complex over Rehorish Prime was nearly fully occupied by new construction as well. Three heavy cruisers had just completed their upgrades and rejoined the Rehorish Home Fleet. A prototype battlecruiser, six heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, and five mobile shipyards were under construction. In addition, six heavy cruisers and three light cruisers from the Home Fleet were undergoing upgrades. The Stellar Dominion expected to have its latest technology ready for the field in the next two to three months, and then a new round of upgrades would begin, although, with the bulk of the fleet far from home the upgrades would be limited to the home fleet and to new construction.
The D’Bringi yards had just launched two new battlecruisers, three new corvette class mine tenders, and one hundred and twenty mines. The yards were now occupied building a battlecruiser, seven heavy cruisers, a mobile shipyard, and a corvette, as well as repairing two battlecruisers and two heavy cruisers.
Turn 111, Day 1, Moskva System
With the Soviet colonies under control, the D’Bringi fleet, along with the T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet, set out for the warp point to the Solar System. Their ETA was just over six days. The Coalition fleet continued to shadow them.
Turn 111, Day 1, Coalition Territory, Sligo system
At the start of the month the Tarek yards in orbit over their home planet launched six brand new explorer class ships, which immediately joined the lead ship in their class, which had been launched last month. The seven survey ships immediately set out for the innermost planet of the secondary star in their system, around which their own planet orbited, along with the Coalition colony of Wunderland. The innermost planet was a hostile “ST” type planet, and was clearly the target of Tarek survey efforts. The Tarek survey ships were escorted by six of the seventeen Tarek escort class warcraft orbiting their home world. Prior to their departure, a Tarek dressed in intricate and ornate armor appeared in a broadcast directed at the Coalition colony. Although the Republic still had not deciphered the Tarek language, due to the lack of cooperation by the Tarek, the intent of the message was fairly clear. It was a warning to stay away from their ships.
This development, coupled with long-range surveillance of the Tarek home planet and its shipyards, was enough to convince the Coalition to send a light cruiser squadron to reinforce the Sligo defense squadron. The Tarek had recently built a series of PDC’s across their planet, and what was unmistakably a heavy cruiser was under construction in their orbital yards. So far, the Tarek had not made a hostile move towards the Wunderland colony, but the colonist’s concerns were beginning to reach the upper levels of the Coalition government.
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Turn 111, Day 8, Moskva system
A single Soviet scout sat on top of the warp point to the Solar System, watching the D’Bringi fleet close. Finally, the D’Bringi fleet stopped at 15 light seconds out, and sat there, watching the scout and the warp point. After a few seconds, the scout sent a CD back to the Solar System.
Turn 111, Day 14, Kirov system
The Rehorish survey groups had completed their warp point survey of the Kirov system, confirming that the system contained no additional unknown warp points, and were now ready to move into the Smolensk system. A picket group of destroyers had followed a group of Soviet ships, presumed to be civilian ships of some sort, to the system, and the high command hoped that the Smolensk system was the gateway to the Soviet inner systems. Unfortunately, they had not captured any data about the Smolensk system, so the survey ships would have to do it the old-fashioned way.
One by one, under the watchful eyes of the picket group’s destroyers, three corvettes of the survey group jumped out of the Kirov system. The three corvettes materialized on the far side and found themselves surrounded by dozens of tiny ships, all sitting on top of the warp point. As planned, the three Rehorish corvettes conducted tight turns to line themselves up to return to Kirov with scans of the area around the warp point, but their maneuvers gained some urgency when the tiny ships sitting on the warp point began racing at them, clearly attempting to ram the Rehorish survey corvettes. At the last second the three corvettes raced clear of the trap, returning to the Kirov system. The picket group commander immediately dispatched CD’s back to the main fleet in Novosibirsk. If the Soviets were defending the warp point, then it was almost certainly the route towards their home system.
Turn 111, Day 15, Sol System, Earth
“So, we are all agreed?” CEO Adamson looked out over the assembled members of his cabinet, the heads of critical government ministries, and senior senators expectantly.
Everyone assembled in the smallish auditorium had attended numerous around the clock meetings over the last three weeks as the government worked towards a consensus and plan of action. It had been exhausting, but now they were there. Every point of view had been aired, at some level, and discussed. Everyone’s opinion had been heard, if not considered. They all looked at each other, then back at CEO Abramson and nodded.
“Very well. With the approval of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Senate Military Oversight Committee, I am directing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin negotiations with the Soviet Union, with the goal of forming an alliance to fight the D’Bringi and their allies.”
There was an exhausted cheer that rang out, and the attendees filed out to begin the really hard work.
Turn 111, Day 30, Kirov System
The Grand Fleet of the Stellar Dominion stood off of the warp point to the Smolensk system. Cho-sho Banzan, the CO of the fleet, had reduced the pickets he had established in the conquered soviet systems to rebuild his strength, however, he had been forced to send additional ships to the Kirov system warp point that led to the Tomsk system to reinforce the picket there, as an unknown and unexpected alien race had been discovered in the Tomsk system. The situation in Tomsk was troubling, as the information captured in Novosibirsk was clear that there was a Soviet colony there, but the aliens seemed adamant that the system was theirs, and Banzan was pretty sure that starting another war while already embroiled in the largest war his people had ever fought was a bad idea. So, he had ordered his contact team to avoid the subject of the Soviets completely, and had sent two older cruisers, supported by three light cruisers, to reinforce the picket group there.
The thirty heavy and light cruisers of the Grand Fleet were arrayed around the warp point, watchfully overseeing the preparations for the assault. The sixteen destroyers of his escort force would be used to force the warp point open, destroying or driving away the Soviet ships on the far side. His cruisers were too precious to risk against the apparent ramming craft on the far side of the warp point. With everything in readiness, the destroyers begin transiting out.
In the Smolensk system, the Rehorish destroyers began appearing on the warp point, one after another. There had been much discussion about the best strategy for the attacking destroyers, but in the end Cho-sho Banzan had decided that no finesse was needed or necessary. The destroyers would simply bull their way in and destroy the Russian ships, absorbing their ramming attacks if necessary. The Rehorish destroyers all maintained the same heading coming out of the warp point, resulting in a line of six destroyers headed away from the warp point. The Soviet explorer class craft were arrayed around the warp point in four groups, each composed of six or seven explorer craft. The groups were sitting a light second away from the warp point, and when the first Rehorish destroyers entered the system they began converging on the warp-addled warships like vultures. The Soviet ships were sluggish, but were close enough that most of them didn’t need their full speed to pounce on the attacking ships. One group of explorers sat right in the path of the destroyer stream and was overrun by the Rehorish ships before it could begin moving. That group began modulating its engines to confuse incoming fire, while the other three groups began converging on the Rehorish DD’s. The Rehorish destroyers began firing at the oncoming explorers, desperately trying to cripple the Soviet ships before they could get oriented and begin their ramming runs. The Rehorish ships were still recovering from their warp jump, but these ships were the pride of the fleet, and their crews were all crack or elite, the best of the best. Each destroyer was equipped with a gun/missile launcher and three gun-turrets, and they were at optimal range for gun and sprint missiles. Three of the tiny Soviet explorers were destroyed outright, while two were crippled and left hanging in space without propulsion.
The stream of Rehorish destroyers ended after the sixth ship entered, and the Rehorish destroyers already in the system continued to move away from the warp point. The Soviet explorers didn’t hesitate, but instead began ramming runs on the destroyers. The first group to do so were the six surviving explorers of the group that had been squarely in the path of the destroyers. They had been overrun by several of the DD’s, but simply set their course towards the next destroyer in line and plunged towards the warship on a death ride. The targeted destroyer had recovered from transit, and fired its weapons at the last second before the ramming explorers hit. The destroyer’s desperate evasion pattern confused the six rammers, and only two of them managed maintain their ramming course. The destroyer split its fire between the two rammers, knocking out one’s engines and leaving it drifting. The other suffered serious damage, but arrowed straight into the Rehorish destroyer, resulting in a massive explosion. The Rehorish ship reeled out of the explosion with its forward half gone, reduced to half-speed and streaming atmosphere and bits of its hull behind it.
The next group of rammers to attack were the five remaining explorers in the group coming up behind the last destroyer in the assault stream. This group was approaching from the destroyer’s blind spot, and although the DD’s crew knew they were there the DD wasn’t able to turn and clear its firing arcs before the explorers raced in on their final approach. Fortunately for the Rehorish destroyer, all five of the Russian explorers missed their target and the Rehorish DD was able to continue moving away from the warp point. The next attack was from the second group of rammers, and was targeted on the fifth destroyer in the line. This attack was coming in from the right front quarter, and was composed of four rammers. Only one of the explorers managed to close with the Rehorish destroyer, and the destroyer’s last second fire wiped the tiny ship out before it could ram. The last ramming attack was aimed at the sixth destroyer again, this one coming from directly in front of the destroyer as the seven explorers of the ramming group turned and raced towards the Rehorish ship. Two of the explorers managed to maintain their course in spite of the destroyer’s desperate evasions, and once again the Rehorish destroyer split its fire between the two rammers. Every weapon hit, but that was only enough to stop one of the rammers, not both. The second rammer slammed into the Rehorish destroyer, and as with the first, the destroyer emerged from the fireball missing its front half, staggered and bleeding atmosphere and hull plating. Four of the Rehorish destroyers continued moving away from the warp point and then curved around, turning so that their weapons would bear on the Soviet explorers, which were now in a confused gaggle close to the warp point. The four groups of rammers were facing in different directions, spread across a light second of space, and trying to come around to face the Rehorish destroyers. They were at a disadvantage, though, as their commercial engines meant that they were substantially slower than their prey. The four destroyers that hadn’t fired their weapons in a last-ditch attempt at defense now opened up on the explorers best positioned to finish off the crippled DD’s, destroying two and crippling a third.
The Soviet explorers, realizing that the intact destroyers were out of their range, turned on the two damaged destroyers and raced towards them, trying to close and ram before the other destroyers managed to pick them off. Only one group of explorers would be in a position to ram immediately, it would take time for the others to get into position. A second group of destroyers began entering the system behind the explorers, and two of the explorer groups raced towards the newly entered ships as they were too far out of position to attack the first group in a reasonable amount of time. The first group to move into position to attack was the depleted remnants of the third explorer group, approaching from behind the limping sixth destroyer from the first group. The two remaining explorers raced up the destroyer’s blind spot, and now they had a speed advantage. Only one of the two managed to hit, and the damage wasn’t catastrophic for either as the two explorers had approached from the rear. The destroyer was slowed to under one third its original speed, while the explorer lost everything forward of its engine room.
The four intact destroyers of the first assault group opened fire on the remaining explorers of the third group, sitting on top of the sixth, heavily damaged, destroyer. The destroyers managed to destroy both explorers, and destroyed a third in another group approaching the damaged DD’s. The newly entered destroyers opened fire as well, targeting the two groups of explorers that had split off to approach them. These destroyers, although suffering the effects of transit, extracted a toll from the explorers racing towards them, leaving only five of the tiny craft still mobile.
With only seven of the explorers still able to move, the battle was racing towards its conclusion. The two remaining explorers from the fourth group reached their target, the sixth destroyer from the second assault group, first. Neither explorer even came close to hitting the destroyer, which nimbly danced out of the way of the plodding explorer’s attempt to ram. The remaining two groups of explorers reached their targets simultaneously. The two explorers of the second group fell upon the most damaged destroyer from the first assault wave. Only one of the rammers hit the destroyer. The rammer’s approach from the side meant that the damage wasn’t as bad as it would have been from directly from the front, but it was bad enough. The rammer was destroyed, as was the destroyer. The last group to attempt to ram was the three explorers of the first group, arrowing in on the fifth destroyer in the second assault wave. All three missed their target.
With ten elite Rehorish destroyers in the area, all now recovered from transit effects, the remaining six explorers didn’t have a chance. Five of the six were destroyed in seconds by weapons fire from the vengeful destroyers, and the sixth was destroyed thirty seconds later as it attempted to approach the last damaged destroyer from the first wave. The crews from the six remaining explorers that had lost their engines earlier in the battle abandoned their ships, setting the self-destruct before they boarded their life pods. The battle was over. The Rehorish Grand Fleet was now in control of the warp point into Smolensk. After the remaining destroyers confirmed that no more Soviet units were near, and the damaged destroyer set out for home, the two survey groups jumped into the system to begin looking for warp points.
The Soviet 1st Guard Group had been cut off from the home system for some time, and its fate would go unknown until for quite some time.
Rehorish After Action Report
Two echelons of destroyers conducted an opposed warp point assault into the Soviet Smolensk system. The opposing forces consisted of twenty-six explorer class craft, all apparently survey ships equipped with commercial engines. The Soviet forces were arrayed around the warp point in four groups, and, upon entry of the first assault wave, approached the destroyers with the intent to ram. Total elapsed time for the battle was two minutes. The battle resulted in the destruction of one of the assaulting destroyers (see appendix for details and loss summary), and heavy damage to a second destroyer, both from successful ram attempts.
The Soviet ships performed poorly in the ramming role. Their sole advantage was a better turning rate, while their largest disadvantage was their relatively slow speed. Their chance of success in each ramming attempt was calculated after the battle to be between 10 and 20%, meaning that most of the attempts failed, leaving the Soviet ships open to counter-fire, and given their light construction and lack of passive defenses, this meant that the explorers were almost inevitably destroyed if targeted. It is estimated by command staff that the explorers might have had more success against larger ships. Certainly, while the larger ships would be better able to absorb damage, such damage would be more critical to the striking power of the fleet and future offensive actions. All in all, this defensive action by the Soviets must be considered an act of desperation and a low-order threat, unless the rammers are present in much larger numbers, or are composed of ships better suited to ramming. Of much more interest is the Soviet mindset revealed by this action.
-
Month 111, Day 22, Earth
The Coalition’s Minister for Foreign Relations met with the USSR’s Minister for Foreign Affairs on this day. At this meeting, the Coalition minister presented the Soviet Union’s minister a proposal for an alliance between their two nations against the D’Bringi and their alliance. The proposal went far beyond a simple military alliance, and would essentially combine both of their militaries into one force to fight the aliens. The Soviet minister was stunned at this development, as the USSR had made several diplomatic attempts to gain Coalition support for the war, without success. However, after viewing the proposal, he knew that it was unlikely to be approved by his superiors. The proposed alliance would virtually guarantee a superior position to the Coalition, with the USSR assuming an inferior position. He did promise to pass the proposal on to his superiors, though.
Month 111, Day 24, Earth
Marshal Kosygin looked up in annoyance as his chief aide, Polhovnik Turgenev, burst into his office. “What?!?”
“Sir, this information just came in from the political office.” The aide passed over a folder marked with icons indicating its top-secret nature.
“Humph.” He took the folder and settled back into his chair. The political office had originally been established by the old communists to watch the inner workings of the Army, but then, when the army had become ascendant after the Final War, it had been reformed to communicate between the active military and those officers that had been seconded to run the country. He had taken the initiative to reform it again during his purge of the officer corps, and it now kept him apprised of the actions of his political bosses. He had sworn to defend the Soviet Union, no matter the cost, and he was determined to do just that. He would allow nothing, not even perfidious politicians, to keep him from his goals.
He read the first paragraph and then slammed the report down on his desk. “The fools!”
Polhovnik Turgenev merely stood and watched as the Marshal exploded, his face impassive. He had seen displays of temper from his superior before, and would again, he was sure.
“Have you read this?”
“Yes, sir. I checked as much of this as I could with other sources, before bringing it to you. It appears that the political office is correct in their appraisal of the current mood of the Presidium.”
Marshal Kosygin looked away from his aide, frowning in concentration as he leaned forward over his desk. “Those old fools would bargain away our independence in exchange for promises of safety from the alien barbarians?” He stood up and began pacing. “They would make us all slaves of the corporations of the west, in exchange for a little comfort, and freedom from worrying about the D’Bringi and their allies?”
Polhovnik Turgenev shook his head. “The report says that they are considering the proposal, not that they have decided. Perhaps they will refuse the Coalition?”
Marshal Kosygin shook his head. “Those old men will take the path of least resistance. They will give up our independence in exchange for guarantees of our future, because they are old and tired, and like all old, tired men they fear the future and they fear change.” He crossed the room and seized his aide’s arm. “Yevgeny, we must not allow this to happen. We must take action!”
Polhovnik Turgenev stood to attention. “What would you have me do?”
Marshal Kosygin paced for a minute or so, thinking furiously. “I need a victory. With a victory in hand, I can force the Politburo to my will.” He came to a decision. “I will be relocating to the fleet. If they are truly considering this offer, then their first move will be to remove me. They promoted me to be their sword, but if they do this, they will fear that the sword they forged will turn on them. By relocating to the fleet, surrounded by officers I promoted, I will become very difficult to remove, at least for a time. In the meantime, I need you to begin building a network of officers loyal to us, who can be relied upon to take direct action, if needed. I need an insurance policy, in case things don’t go well in battle, or if the old men prove to be…reluctant to accept their fate.” The Marshal crossed the room to his friend, and grasped his arm. “It is critical that these men be trustworthy. One leak could destroy us. Is this understood?”
Polhovnik Turgenev saluted. “Yes, Marshal. It will be done.”
-
Month 111, Day 30, Sol System, USSR
The General Secretary was old and tired. This much was clear to the other men in the room, as he had to be helped to his chair at the head of the table. His face was thin and drawn, but his eyes still had a spark of lively intelligence in them. He wasn’t finished yet. “Thank you for coming. I’ve asked you to review the proposal from the Coalition. I would have your thoughts before proceeding.”
The other attendees looked at each other with carefully concealed dismay. The General Secretary’s voice was thin and reedy. To a man they wondered how much more time their leader and patron had. After a second, General Petrov spoke. “They cannot think that we would agree to…to this!” He slammed the folder containing the proposal down on the table. “It is an insult. They want to unite our nations, but with us as the junior partner!”
Petrov’s bold statement started a lively discussion around the table, and the General Secretary settled back in his chair, taking it in, trying to get a feel for their stance on this issue. He had little time left, and felt an overriding urge to point them in what he was sure was the right direction, perhaps even resolve this war before he was forced to depart. The discussions started to devolve into arguments after a couple of minutes, and he was tired of all of the arguments that constantly derailed any concrete action. “Enough!” There was strength in his voice still, and everyone fell silent almost immediately. He continued. “We must face reality. We have lost this war. It was, perhaps, inevitable. Based on trade data we know the approximate size of the Rehorish economy, and it was roughly the same size as ours, even before we lost our colonies. We have no information on the D’Bringi economy, but we must assume, given the size of their fleet, that their economy is at least the same size as ours as well. This means that we have faced enemies with a combined economic strength of at least twice our own. Even if we had not sent our fleets out willy-nilly to be destroyed piecemeal, we would likely end up in this same position, pushed back to the home system, with a crippled fleet and little hope.” He struggled to his feet, painfully, to emphasize his next words. “We need the Coalition, if we have any hope of defeating the D’Bringi and their allies.” This pronouncement caused consternation amongst the other men, and, seeing their dismay, he held up his hand. “That does not mean we have to blindly accept their offer. Marshal Kosygin predicts that the D’Bringi will delay attacking until the Rehorish have finished securing our colonies and advanced to the Moskva system. That will almost certainly take several more months. That will give us time. Not a lot of time, but some with which to negotiate with the Coalition. We could start with our own proposal, perhaps a military alliance aimed solely at defeating the aliens.” Out of energy, he sagged back into his chair.
The others discussed the situation as the General Secretary regained his strength. Unfortunately, they all agreed with the General Secretary’s assessment of the situation. Marshal Kosygin was working wonders in reorganizing the military and mobilizing the economy, but, after the losses they had suffered, none of them had really thought that it would be enough. Their only real hope had been that the D’Bringi would be unwilling to risk the losses it would require to break their warp point defenses, or that, if they did breakthrough, they would be unwilling to attack their Earth-based PDC’s out of fear of provoking the Coalition. None of them wanted to surrender the sovereignty that would be required by the Coalition proposal, but none of them could see an alternative.
Finally, General Petrov waived the others to silence, and turned to the General Secretary. “I think we are in agreement that we must seek an alliance with the Coalition, but how can we accept this?”
The General Secretary shook his head. “If necessary, we will accept it because we must. We cannot allow those aliens to penetrate into our home system and threaten us here! Still, the Coalition must be eager for this, there may be wiggle room. I suggest we begin negotiations with them, and lead with a counter offer of a simple military alliance, to judge their mood. They will almost certainly refuse, given that they must know that they have us over a barrel, but how they refuse will give us information as to their desire for a deeper alliance.” The others nodded, and they agreed to get together again later, without the General Secretary, to begin planning for a meeting with the Coalition. Normally the General Secretary would attend as well, but with his health fading as it was, he had a limited amount of time and energy each day to spend on such things.
As they began to walk out, the General Secretary motioned to General Petrov to come to him. Petrov walked over, deliberately going slowly so that the others would be out of the room by the time he arrived by the older man. Finally, with the others out of the room and the guards posted outside, the General Secretary leaned towards the other man. “General, I want you to watch Marshal Kosygin. He is loyal, but I fear he sees himself as another Peter the Great. He wants, more than anything, to defeat these barbarians and cement his place in history as the savior of the Motherland. He may react poorly if he believes that we intend to snatch his rightful place in history away from him. You must watch him. Watch him closely.”
-
Author’s Note: I decided to use a home rule for warp transits starting around this point in the campaign. This is the same rule I used in the Phoenix Campaign, and was published in Electronic Communique. I was never a fan of the warp point size limitations, as I am a huge fan of big capital ships, and the warp point capacity limitations in the standard rules puts significant limitations on the sizes of ships that can effectively be deployed by empires. In addition, at the same time as it limits the use of large ships, the standard warp point rules discourage the use of small ships as well. After all, if you are only going to get six ships through the warp point, wouldn’t you want six battleships rather than six corvettes?
The home rule published in Electronic Communique gives an alternate method for doing warp transits. In essence, the warp point capacity for each warp point is divided by five, giving a number between 20 and 100. This is the amount of hull spaces that can transit through the warp point each movement impulse. Thus, for a warp point with an adjusted 80 capacity, an 80 space battlecruiser can transit each movement impulse, for a total of six battlecruisers per turn. Multiple smaller ships can transit as well, but each ship after the first counts as 2x its normal hull spaces. So, instead of one battlecruiser per movement impulse, three corvettes could transit per impulse (16+32+32). If the ship is larger than the hull space capacity of the warp point, then it will take multiple impulses to transit. In our battlecruiser example above, if the warp point capacity was 20, then it would take four impulses for the battlecruiser to transit, meaning you could only get one and a half battlecruisers through per turn.
Month 112, Day 1, Rehorish Prime
The D’Bringi turn over research data on four critical high-tech six systems to the Rehorish – augmented shields, energy beams, plasma guns, and advanced gun/missile launchers. The D’Bringi agreed to provide this information essentially free of charge, in exchange for later considerations. The Rehorish immediately begin development of these systems.
Month 112, Day 7, Earth
Mid-level representatives from the USSR and the Coalition meet to discuss the possibility of an alliance. The meeting goes well, and the Soviet representatives clearly want the Coalition to join the war. An agreement is reached for higher level meetings to be held within two weeks.
Month 112, Day 7, Solar System, Warp Point to Moskva
The Soviet 2nd Fleet was drawn up before the warp point in the solar system, in assault order. The Fleet consisted of three battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and twelve destroyers. In addition, the twenty-five explorer class craft from the 2nd Guard Group were assembled alongside the warships, ready to follow them into battle. The fleet comprised the entire combat strength of the Soviet navy, aside from the nine new escort class craft launched a few days ago and working up around Earth. Marshal Kosygin hit the button on his desk to connect his communicator to the rest of the fleet. A few seconds later it flashed green, indicating that every ship in the fleet was linked in. He stood and walked towards the camera, an earnest look on his face. “Officers and men of the Soviet fleet. We stand at a critical point of the war! Our leaders, sitting in their bunkers on Earth, cower in fear and plot to betray us all to the Coalition, in exchange for safety! They believe that we cannot defend them! That we are weak, and cannot fight against what stands against us!” He walked forward, closer to the camera, and leaned towards the pickup, looking at it with an even more earnest look. “They are wrong! We are strong, and we can stop the onslaught from the alien barbarians. We will prove to everyone that we are soldiers! We are stalwart! We cannot be defeated! We will attack the fleet on the far side of the warp point, and we will destroy them. And once they are gone, we will show our leaders what true strength really is! We will show them that we, as Russian soldiers, will stand firm against anyone who challenges us! For Mother Russia!” He turned and nodded at his chief of staff, who turned off the cameras.
Once the cameras were off, he swiftly crossed to his desk and punched in the combination for the command group. In a few seconds he was connected with the commanders of the ships in his fleet. “The latest intelligence confirms that the D’Bringi are still located fifteen light seconds from the warp point. We will transit through the warp point and, once the transit effects are gone and the fleet is assembled, we will engage the D’Bringi fleet. I anticipate that the D’Bringi will use the same strategy as they did in the battle of Leningrad. They will engage our missile ships with their missile ships, while they attempt to get their beam-equipped ships in close enough to engage decisively and end the battle. You all know my plan, but I will reiterate it here. Our missile ships will engage theirs, while our destroyers and the ramming fleet moves to intercept the barbarian’s beam ships. I will determine the point at which we will shift targeting to the enemy beam ships from their missile ships. Is everyone ready?”
There was a chorus of “Yes, Sirs”, and Marshal Kosygin smiled. “This is the battle that turns the tide of the war! To victory!” The contact was broken, and the fleet began moving towards the warp point. Now that no one aside from his closest subordinates could see him, he began pacing. Everything rode on this battle. During the last week, as the designated time approached, he had gotten less and less sleep. Contrary to what it said in his carefully curated biography, this was the first time he had faced combat, and as the time approached the fear had grown inside of him. He found this fear undermining and a nearly intolerable personal betrayal, as after a life of service to the USSR he had never thought that he would feel this way. He knew that all of his plans for the future hinged on the upcoming battle, and he had confidence in his plan, but the fears ate away at him, particularly when he was alone. And now, with the battle approaching and his ship ready for transit, all he wanted to do was run and call it all off. It was only by a supreme act of will that he held on to the shreds of his courage and stayed on the command deck.
The latest intelligence showed that his fleet was out-massed by the enemy three to two, even including the rammers, which privately he was sure would only be good for a diversion. Those weren’t good odds, but he had no choice. He could feel the situation changing back home. The Politburo was filled with old men, tired and fearful. The Coalition offered them an out, an easy way to safety and to ensure their power, at least for the near-term, and they would surely grab at it as desperately as any starving man would grasp at food held before him. His promises of eventual victory would count for nothing, and if they were truly considering an alliance with the Coalition their first move would be to remove him from power before he could organize resistance. His only hope to counter them was to win a great victory, something he could use to rally most of the military behind him and convince the Politburo to back him rather than the General Secretary. Between the victory he hoped to win here, and the organization that his second, Polhovnik Turgenev, was putting together among the critical officers back home, he could seize power and prevent the corruption of the Soviet people by the west and its Coalition. But first he had to win that victory. As his flagship, the battlecruiser Admiral Ushakov, transited out of the Solar System, he wished he had more confidence that he could make that victory happen.
The first ships through were the three Russian battlecruisers and three cruisers, which together accounted for most of the long-range striking power of the fleet. Nine explorer class ships squeezed through the warp point with the bigger cruisers, their small size meaning they could dart through without causing interpenetration. Facing them was the D’Bringi fleet, one battlecruiser, eleven heavy cruisers, and twelve corvettes. Set off to the side from the main D’Bringi fleet was a second fleet, composed of six heavy cruisers and six light cruisers. Intelligence believed that these ships belonged to a race allied with the D’Bringi, and they had yet to reveal their capabilities.
The Soviet ships moved away from the warp point, interposing themselves in between the warp point and the D’Bringi fleet, as more ships began appearing behind them. The second group through were three light cruisers and three destroyers, accompanied by fifteen explorers that squeezed through between the bigger ships. The newly arrived ships moved to join the bigger cruisers positioned one point five light seconds from the warp point. The D’Bringi fleet sat another thirteen-point-five light-seconds beyond the Russian cruisers, a full six light-seconds beyond even capital missile range. Marshal Kosygin was relieved to see that the D’Bringi were still sitting fifteen light seconds from the warp point. If they had been sitting on top of the warp point they would have been able to force his fleet into a close-range duel almost immediately, something that would be disastrous for his fleet given the number of close range combatants the D’Bringi had. His staff theorized that the D’Bringi feared an accident if they took up close range positions, where they might accidentally engage a Coalition ship transiting through the warp point, even with prior warning, or that the Soviets might attempt to use a transiting Coalition ship as cover for an assault. By stationing themselves away from the warp point they gave themselves insurance against surprise and against an accident that might bring the Coalition into the war.
The next wave consisted of six destroyers and seven explorers, and now that the bulk of the fleet was on this side of the warp point Marshal Kosygin was able to relax at least a little. Getting trapped with half of his fleet on the other side of the warp point had been a particular fear of his, in spite of the improbability of that happening, given the D’Bringi deployment so far from the warp point. In another thirty seconds his fleet would be assembled. So far, the D’Bringi fleet had not moved, but he was sure that their crews were rushing to their stations and preparing for the coming engagement. Neither side would be able to surprise the other here.
The fourth wave was made up of the last three destroyers, which moved smartly to join the fleet. The D’Bringi began moving towards the Russian ships as the last destroyers entered the system, closing to twelve light seconds as the last destroyers joined the main fleet. The Russian fleet sat immobile for another minute, watching as the D’Bringi ships approached. Finally, when the D’Bringi fleet reached nine light seconds from the fleet, the Russian cruisers all turned 60 degrees to port, and began detuning their engines to make themselves harder targets for the oncoming D’Bringi ships. Marshal Kosygin watched as everything went according to his plan to give his force the maximum advantage possible in the upcoming engagement. He could feel his confidence building as everything went as he had planned.
The missiles began flying almost as soon as the D’Bringi crossed the seven-point-five light second range demarcation. Only the three Russian battlecruisers, and the D’Bringi datagroup made up of two heavy cruisers and their only battlecruiser were equipped with capital missiles, and so these were the only ships able to fire at this point. The Russian ships target one of the D’Bringi capital-missile armed heavy cruisers, only managing to punch one missile through its point defense fire and EDM’s. The D’Bringi ships targeted the Soviet battlecruiser Zhdanov, and got three hits, in spite of the Russian ship’s deployment of an EDM and its engine modulations. Marshal Kosygin felt as sinking feeling as the icon for the Zhdanov began flashing, indicating that its shields were down. He frowned. One of his irreplaceable battlecruisers had already lost its shields, thirty seconds into the battle. And they hadn’t even managed to knock a damned D’Bringi heavy cruiser’s shields down in return! The fear that had briefly left him came rushing back, nearly overwhelming him. If the D’Bringi could do that to the other battlecruiser, his could be next! Anger warred with fear within him as his mind betrayed him and the fear wormed its tendrils through him. Somehow, he held on to his emotions, and continued watching as the battle developed. Around him the battlecruiser’s bridge crew fought their ship.
The D’Bringi fleet continued to close on the Russian fleet, which continued to sit in place and detune its engines. The Russian battlecruisers fired at the same D’Bringi heavy cruiser, and this time they scored four hits and knocked down its shields. The D’Bringi capital missile datagroup targeted the Zhdanov again, also scoring four hits, damaging the big ship’s armor.
The D’Bringi fleet continued its advance, crossing into standard missile range, as the Soviet fleet continued to detune in place. The D’Bringi capital missile group targeted the Zhdanov again, getting six hits and wiping the last of its armor away. The Zhdanov and its sister ships managed to get a salvo off before any more incoming fire could destroy its datalink installation, and launched their XO rack mounted missiles as well, all targeted on the same D’Bringi heavy cruiser as before. The deluge of missiles overwhelmed the D’Bringi cruiser, which had no EDM’s left, and the D’Bringi ship disappeared in the heart of a massive explosion. The Soviet crews all cheered at the sudden destruction of the D’Bringi ship, at the visible evidence that their enemy could be destroyed. Marshal Kosygin’s hopes were buoyed, for a few seconds, but then a D’Bringi cruiser group armed with standard missiles targeted the Zhdanov, and in spite of the long range scored six hits, knocking the battlecruiser out of its datagroup and damaging its engines. The Russian heavy cruisers, now within range of their standard missiles, launched on a D’Bringi cruiser that hadn’t fired yet, scoring twelve hits between the two salvoes launched by their advanced missile launchers. The Russian light cruisers launched against the same D’Bringi CA, scoring three more hits, knocking down its shields.
Marshal Kosygin, worried that the loss of a battlecruiser so early in the battle, ordered the Zhdanov to retreat to the Solar system, and then ordered the beam force and the rammers to advance on the D’Bringi while the cruisers held the range open. The Zhdanov turned and closed to one light second from the warp point before the D’Bringi fired again. In the meantime, the Russian cruisers all turned away and attempted to keep the range open, but were forced to turn periodically to ensure that the D’Bringi didn’t get into their blind spots. The smaller Russian ships charged towards the D’Bringi fleet, which continued closing. The D’Bringi fleet was now four light seconds from the Russian cruisers, and two light seconds from the Russian destroyers and rammers. The battle became somewhat chaotic at this point. The first to fire were the Russian heavy cruisers, launching two salvoes from their advanced missile launchers and another salvo from their XO rack, all targeted on a D’Bringi beam armed cruiser, completely destroying the D’Bringi ship before it could fire. The remaining two Russian battlecruisers targeted a damaged D’Bringi cruiser, scoring three hits and leaving it streaming atmosphere. The Russian light cruisers focused their fire on a D’Bringi capital missile cruiser, launching their XO missiles as well, scoring sixteen hits and seriously damaging the D’Bringi ship. The Russian destroyers were now within range of their twin force beam turrets, and opened fire, targeting a D’Bringi beam armed cruiser and scoring fifteen hits. The tough D’Bringi ship’s shields went down almost immediately, but its armor withstood the incoming Russian force beam fire and remained intact, almost certainly indicating that the D’Bringi ship had improved armor.
The Russians didn’t have it all their way. The D’Bringi heavy cruiser/battlecruiser datagroup targeted a Russian heavy cruiser with a heavy salvo that included their XO mounted missiles, scoring ten hits, wiping its shields and almost breaching its armor. D’Bringi standard missile equipped cruisers targeted the Zhdanov, limping towards the warp point, scoring two hits, slowing it further. A group of D’Bringi beam armed cruisers targeted a Russian destroyer, getting seven hits with their force beams and energy pulse cannons. The Russian destroyer lost its shields and damage from the energy pulse cannon leaked through the ship’s armor and destroyed the Russian ship’s datalink. The Russian destroyer was staggered, and managed to fire back, but then was hit by more force and energy pulse cannon fire from a second group of D’Bringi heavy cruisers, suffering heavy internal damage. A D’Bringi corvette group targeted one of the oncoming Russian explorers, testing to see if they could be easily knocked out. Because the range was long for force beams, the D’Bringi corvettes only scored one hit and failed to slow the Russian rammer, so the remaining D’Bringi corvettes switched to targeting the more dangerous destroyers, scoring eight hits on an undamaged destroyer.
It was at this point that the second fleet of ships, consisting of six heavy cruisers and six light cruisers, joined the battle. Up to now they had been content to follow the D’Bringi fleet into battle, closely shadowing the D’Bringi ships, but had not fired. The Russians had managed to ascertain that these ships were not D’Bringi, and apparently not Rehorish, making their identity a mystery. Marshal Kosygin had hoped that this meant that they wouldn’t fight with the D’Bringi, and were merely observers, but he hadn’t really believed that. Now the alien heavy cruisers opened fire, each with three lasers and four guns, while their light cruisers mounted five lasers. The two datagroups of alien cruisers each targeted an intact Russian destroyer, each scoring multiple laser and gun hits, taking out the Russian destroyer’s shields and almost penetrating their armor. The two light cruiser groups then each targeted the same Russian destroyers, each hitting with nine lasers, causing serious internal damage to both Russian destroyers.
Marshal Kosygin watched the alien ships ravage his destroyers and fear stabbed through his heart. He came to a sudden realization. They weren’t going to win this battle. He had lost a third of his destroyers in the first exchange of beam fire, and, as he watched the D’Bringi and allied alien fleets turning he realized that his rammers would never reach the alien ships. They were too slow, and all they could do was delay the aliens. They wouldn’t be able to turn the battle, only delay the inevitable. He had already effectively lost one of his BC’s, and his heavy cruiser datagroup was about to be broken as well. And once the Zhdanov was gone, the aliens would concentrate their fire one of his two remaining battlecruisers, and in his heart he knew that the missiles would be targeted on his ship. On him. In a flash, he could see the outcome of the battle if he continued. The D’Bringi would target his ship, and he would be killed. What happened to his fleet after that wouldn’t matter. Win or lose, the result would be the same. The Politburo would declare him a Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously, crying crocodile tears the whole time, and then proceed with their cowardly plan to ally themselves with the Coalition. He suddenly came to a decision. He must live to save his country and people. He realized that it wouldn’t be cowardly to retreat at this point, it would be a heroic act to save his nation! He turned towards the plot to take in the tactical situation. The D’Bringi would eventually force a close-range engagement and his cruisers would die, rapidly. And in just another minute or so they would force him away from the warp point and all hope of retreat and salvaging anything from this battle. With his fear gibbering in the back of his mind, he realized that If he returned now, he might be able to salvage something of his plan. He could cast what had happened so far as a victory! He knew what he had to do. He activated the all-ships comm system. “This is Marshal Kosygin. We have struck a strong blow for the people of the Soviet Union. Having done that and achieved our objectives, it is time to withdraw. The cruiser force will head for the warp point and make transit home, while the rammers and the remaining destroyers will cover our retreat. To victory!” He shut off the communicator and collapsed into his chair. Around him the bridge crew worked at their stations, carefully avoiding looking at the Marshal. To Kosygin, it felt like they all were staring at him in disdain, as if they could all see his cowardice on his face.
Obedient to the orders of the Marshal, the Russian cruiser force turned towards the warp point, while the Zhdanov, slowed even more from the damage it had just suffered, limped towards the warp point at its best speed. The D’Bringi and allied fleets are forced to turn away from the Russian fleet, moving parallel to it, to avoid the oncoming rammers, which, while slower than the D’Bringi ships, have a better position as they are in between the D’Bringi fleet and the warp point. In addition, the rammers split into three groups, trying to predict the course the D’Bringi would take to avoid them. The nine intact Russian DD’s accelerated away from the rammers towards the D’Bringi fleet, and managed to slip into its blindspot due to the D’Bringi fleet’s preoccupation with the rammers. The allied alien fleet, accompanied by the D’Bringi corvettes, turned at the last second to keep the Russian DD’s in their firing arc, but this put them squarely on a course for one of the Russian rammer groups. The Russian destroyers ended up just half a light second from the D’Bringi fleet, while the two main fleets are five light seconds apart. The Russian rammers had split, with twenty two heading for the main D’Bringi fleet in two groups and ending up one point two five light seconds from their targets, while the other three split off and headed towards a heavily damaged D’Bringi cruiser that had fallen behind the main fleet after losing its weapons and being reduced to one sixth speed. The D’Bringi allies fired first, with their heavy cruisers concentrating on the Russian destroyers. Both sides were now within effective range of their weapons and were able to inflict substantial damage. The two alien heavy cruiser groups each targeted an intact Russian DD, with each heavy cruiser firing at a single destroyer, stripping them of their armor and shields with their guns and lasers. The Russian destroyers returned fire, but concentrated on the lone D’Bringi battlecruiser, getting eight hits between the two datagroups, leaving the big D’Bringi ship streaming atmosphere. The alien light cruiser groups then targeted the same destroyers, and like the heavy cruisers each light cruiser targeted an individual destroyer, leaving six Russian destroyers heavily damaged and limping. The last remaining Russian destroyer group targeted the D’Bringi battlecruiser as well, getting four hits with their force beams, causing heavy internal damage. The Russian battlecruisers, now heading for the warp point, targeted the D’Bringi battlecruiser as well, scoring one hit and adding to the internal damage. The D’Bringi heavy cruisers, unable to target the Russian destroyers in their blind spot, turned their weapons on the oncoming Russian explorers, obviously intent on ramming. Three full or partial datagroups of D’Bringi cruisers fired at the rammers, destroying seven from the group positioned most advantageously for ramming. The Russian heavy and light cruisers targeted the damaged D’Bringi battlecruiser, but the range is extreme and only managed to get three hits between them. The last intact D’Bringi capital missile ship, a heavy cruiser, targeted the damaged Zhdanov and scored three more hits, slowing the Russian battlecruiser to one sixth of its former maximum speed. The Zhdanov fired back defiantly, targeting the damaged D’Bringi battlecruiser, scoring three hits on the damaged D’Bringi ship. A damaged Russian destroyer, overlooked in the larger battle, choose that moment to fire its force beams straight into the big D’Bringi battlecruiser, causing it to explode in a shower of debris. The D’Bringi corvette force then unleashed on the remaining rammers in front of the allied heavy and light cruisers, destroying the last five in that group, ending the threat from the only group that was in a position to reach the main fleet.
Marshal Kosygin watched as the Zhdanov, slowed and burning, limped through the warp point and out of the system, finally. His cruisers were approaching the warp point as well, and would transit out in thirty seconds. The D’Bringi and allied fleets were still entangled with the remnants of his destroyers and rammers, and there was no doubt now that his cruisers would escape the battle. Without a word he turned and left the bridge for his small office, leaving the battlecruiser’s bridge crew speechless behind him. The battle continued on towards its now inevitable end, even without its architect. The main Russian fleet reached point seven five light seconds from the warp point before the next exchange of fire, while the D’Bringi’s alien allies charged the warp point, trying to close the distance before the Russians could escape. The D’Bringi fleet itself was caught up in a furball with the remaining Russian destroyers, only three of which were intact, and the rammers, which, while they had little hope of actually reaching the faster D’Bringi ships, were still valiantly trying. The three rammers that had split off to charge the damaged D’Bringi cruiser reached their target, and the damaged D’Bringi ship had no weapons to stave off the attackers and no other ships were close enough to help. The D’Bringi ship was crippled and moving at a quarter of the speed of the rammers, but it had a crack crew determined to do their best to survive and save their ship. The rammers all plunged towards the D’Bringi ship without hesitation, but their green crews were still new to space combat and had trouble controlling their ships. All three missed their target. The allied alien cruisers, still out of beam range of the main Russian fleet, turned their fire on damaged Russian destroyers, destroying one and heavily damaging two others. The intact Russian destroyers targeted an intact D’Bringi cruiser, knocking its shields down and causing armor damage. In exchange, the D’Bringi cruiser group targets one of the intact destroyers, wiping it from space. The Russian battlecruisers targeted the last D’Bringi capital missile armed cruiser, getting seven hits and causing heavy internal damage. Another D’Bringi beam cruiser group targeted the last two intact Russian destroyers, crippling both with their energy pulse cannons. The Russian heavy cruisers also targeted the D’Bringi capital missile cruiser, getting six more hits, causing more internal damage. The D’Bringi standard missile cruiser group targeted the damaged Russian heavy cruiser in response, getting two more hits at long range, causing additional armor damage. The Russian light cruisers also fired at the D’Bringi capital missile cruiser, scoring three more hits, causing yet more internal damage. At this point the D’Bringi corvettes began mopping up the damaged Russian destroyers, killing three in rapid succession. The remaining allied ships which hadn’t fired earlier now joined in, killing three more Russian destroyers. The last few Russian destroyers focused their fire on the D’Bringi corvettes that were harassing them, knocking one’s shields down and leaving the other streaming atmosphere.
With the last exchange of fire done the Russian cruisers transited out, leaving four crippled destroyers and thirteen explorers behind, entangled with the D’Bringi fleet. With the main threat gone, the battle was quickly over. The D’Bringi and allied fleets maintained their distance from the remaining rammers but maneuvered to engage the small ships at effective weapons ranges, and called for the small ships to surrender. The only answer from the Russian ships was the continuing ramming attack by the three Russian rammers harassing the damaged D’Bringi cruiser. They got one more chance to ram, but missed again due to the valiant efforts of the cruiser’s remaining crew. The rammers were coming around to target the crippled D’Bringi cruiser again when a heavily damaged Russian destroyer fired on a nearby D’Bringi corvette, getting a hit. This was enough for the D’Bringi, who opened fire on the remaining Russian ships without mercy, destroying most of them in an orgy of destruction. Only five rammers remained after the D’Bringi stopped firing, and it was clear to even their crews that they could do nothing more. Life pods spread out from the small ships, which then self-destructed. The battle was over.
In the aftermath of the battle, Fleet Leader Fortress Breaker feted the surviving crew of the valiant Clan B’Regest cruiser that had stood off the suicidal Russian ramming attack all alone. To honor the crew and the clan, Fortress Breaker granted the clan cruiser a name, Foe’s Bane, something usually only given to fleet flagships.
Initial Forces
Russian: 3xBC, 3xCA, 3xCL, 12xDD, 25xEX
D’Bringi: 1xBC, 11xCA, 12xCT
T’Pau: 6xCA, 6xCL
Losses:
D’Bringi
Destroyed: 1xBC, 2xCA (200 HS)
Damaged: 3xCA, 3xCT
Russia
Destroyed: 12xDD, 25xEX (535 HS)
Damaged: 1xBC, 1xCA
In the aftermath of the battle, back in the Solar System, the commander of the Soviet flagship, Polhovnik Kozlov, gathered the naval infantry that had been detailed to guard the bridge. With them in hand, he marched to the Marshal’s office, just down the companionway from the bridge. He was fairly sure that he knew what the Marshal had intended, and like any good officer, had waited until he knew which way the winds blew before he decided on which side he would fall. Marshal Kosygin’s failure made the decision easy. The Marshal’s office wasn’t locked, and gesturing for the junior officer and his squad to wait, he went in without knocking. He wasn’t surprised to find a mess. Marshal Kosygin had used his pistol to save them all a lot of time and effort. Grimacing in distaste, he left the room and called for the ship’s surgeon to attend to the mess in the Marshal’s office.
Ultimately, the Marshal’s remains would be shipped back to the Earth on the battlecruiser Zhdanov, which was dispatched for repairs shortly after returning to the Solar System.
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Month 112, Day 8, USSR, Earth
Polhovnik Turgenev stared at his computer in shock. The offensive was a failure, and Marshal Kosygin was dead. The government hadn’t made an announcement yet, but the information sent by one of his loyal subordinates was clear, the Marshal had taken his own life when his attack failed. Turgenev sagged in his chair. Without the Marshal, all of his preparations were in vain. Launching the operation to seize control of the PDC’s now would be futile, and suicidal. Without the Marshal to rally behind, the military would not support him, and his effort would be doomed to failure and would perhaps destroy Russia.
Polhovnik Turgenev’s options disappeared as he thought through the problem, when the door to his office opened and a quartet of KGB officers entered. “Polhovnik Turgenev?”
Turgenev merely nodded.
“You will come with us.” They led the former Polhovnik away. He was soon joined by several other officers known as fervent supporters of Marshal Kosygin. The days when the KGB could summarily execute military officers was over, but that did not mean that they would enjoy the coming days and weeks.
Month 112, Day 10, Coalition Colonial Territories, Sligo System
Three Coalition light cruisers arrive in the Sligo system to reinforce the Sligo Colonial Picket Group. The addition of the three light cruisers means that the Coalition force comfortably out-masses the Tarek fleet. There are celebrations on Wunderland welcoming the new cruisers to the picket group, and the cruiser’s crews are treated like heroes across the colony. What the Tarek make of this development is unknown.
Month 112, Day 20, Earth
The Representatives of the USSR and the Coalition agree, in principle, to form an alliance against the D’Bringi aggressors and their allies. Details still need to be worked out, but at this point the USSR has little choice in the matter. The General Secretary and the CEO of the Coalition will meet early next month to sign the alliance documents, which will then have to be ratified by the Coalition Senate and the Politburo. The Alliance Fleet begins making preparations for the initiation of hostilities.
Month 112, Day 30, Moskva system
A small D’Bringi squadron arrives to reinforce the fleet watching the warp point to the Soviet’s home system. The squadron consists of two new battlecruisers and a corvette class mine-control ship. A shipment of mines, relocated from the Yeack (Leningrad) system arrived soon thereafter.
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Month 113, Day 1, Around Known Space
Rehorish Dominion, Tokyo system
The first Rehorish repair ship began examining a Soviet light cruiser, captured intact during the Battle of Tokyo several months ago. Unfortunately, the Rehorish would find that the ship contained no technology that was new to them, but, as it was captured intact, it would be a valuable addition to their fleet.
Back in the Rehorish home system, new construction was falling off. Their reserves were almost fully activated, and their maintenance costs now consumed 64.7% of their budget, which was beginning to make it difficult to fund new tech development and other critical economic growth programs. The only new ship laid down this month was a corvette-class munitions ship meant to support the front-line fleets. The Rehorish Navy’s new prototype battlecruiser was still five months away from launching.
T’Pau Prime
The T’Pau launch their first extra-system colony effort with the approval of the D’Bringi. Their target is one of the two habitable planets located in the Abejorral system, four jumps away through D’Bringi space. The D’Bringi had promised this system, and any others found through the warp points located in this system, to the T’Pau in exchange for their assistance in their war against the Soviets. The fact that the D’Bringi could have merely required their assistance, with no recompense, was not lost on the T’Pau, and they were actually grateful to their overlords for this opportunity.
Solar System
The Soviet orbital yards launch two new battlecruisers to join their much-reduced fleet. The Soviet yards were a hive of activity, striving to replace the fleet’s prodigious losses. One new battlecruiser was under construction, and would be finished next month. The battlecruiser Zhdanov, a survivor of Kosygin’s Last Hope, was under repair and would be ready for action next month as well. The prototype battleship Kara was slowly taking shape in one of the yards as well, with a planned launch date of month 123. Finally, no less than fifteen light cruisers and twenty escort class craft were under construction both in orbit and on the ground. The Soviets were down, but not out.
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Month 113, Day 7, Rehorish controlled Soviet colonial territories
The Rehorish exploration fleets surveying the Smolensk system finish their detailed warp point survey, discovering one warp point in addition to the one they had entered the system through. This system had been identified as the most likely to lead back to the Soviet home systems, and thus the Rehorish efforts had been centered here. With the Soviet colonies under control, for the most part, it was now critical that the Rehorish Grand Fleet rendezvous with the D’Bringi fleet now guarding the warp point into the Solar System. Once the two fleets had joined, the assault into the Solar System could start. Unfortunately, it was taking the Rehorish much longer than they had anticipated in their pre-war planning to find the route to the Soviet home system. Some were beginning to suspect that the route might hide behind a closed warp point, in which case they would have to go the long route, back through their own territory, and then through D’Bringi territory, to join the D’Bringi fleets in the Moskva system.
In any case, the survey was done and there was one new warp point. The information was sent off to the Grand Fleet, which then began to relocate to perform a combat probe of the newly discovered warp point.
Month 113, Day 10, Rehorish controlled Soviet colonial territories
The grand Fleet was assembled in front of the new warp point, and, at the signal, the assault-probe started. Six destroyers jumped out, while light and heavy cruisers lined up for their turn to transit, if it became necessary. Thirty seconds later a destroyer returned with a report. The far side was clear of Soviet ships, or indeed, any evidence the Soviets had ever been there. The system was a binary system with no habitable planets. Cho-sho Banzan ordered a destroyer group to probe the inner system for ships or colonies, and then settled in to wait. While the probe ships went in Banzan ordered his exploration fleets to begin their warp point survey. There was no time to waste.
Meanwhile, on Earth…
Unknown to the D’Bringi-Rehorish alliance, the leaders of the Soviet Union and the Reformation Coalition met today in a televised conference. With great fanfare, the two leaders signed a treaty to formally join the two nations together in an alliance against the alien threat.
Interestingly, the new development was met with relief and approval in the Coalition. The citizens, who had been so against the continuation of the war that the Coalition had been forced to withdraw once the D’Bringi offered a truce, had now come to the conclusion that allowing alien ships into the solar system would be bad for everyone. Their gradual change of heart had given the Coalition government the maneuvering room to negotiate with the Russians, and indeed, the current government’s hard stance towards Russia had actually made the treaty more likely, as the people were less likely to perceive their government has having been weak towards the Soviets.
There were celebrations around the world as a populace that had grown increasingly concerned about the fate of the planet now saw hope for the future. In particular, the Indian Federation and the Allied States of China have expressed an interest in joining the new alliance and sharing in the fruits of interstellar exploration and colonization. Coalition representatives have been welcoming to suggestions relating to the inclusion of those nations, however, the Soviet delegation has been silent on the matter.
The new alliance will have to be ratified by the Coalition Senate and by the Politburo before it can take effect.
Month 113, Day 20, Rehorish controlled Soviet colonial territories
The probe group revealed no drive fields or colonies and/or outposts in the inner planetary systems of the newly discovered binary system. The exploration fleets continued their survey. The Rehorish Grand Fleet was bolstered by three light cruisers and six destroyers from the Home Fleet, arriving on this date. This brought the Grand Fleet’s strength up to eighteen heavy cruisers, nineteen light cruisers, and twenty destroyers.
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Month 113, Day 22, Coalition Colonial Territories
The Coalition 1st Exploration Fleet had completed its survey of the Siebold system, a rather uninteresting system located three jumps from the Sligo system, and discovered three new warp points. The Exploration Fleet’s escort group was now probing the new warp points, to determine if any of the new systems would be worth surveying. The first warp point to be probed by the escort group’s Outreach class scout frigate was designated as the Novaya Rodina system, in honor of the potential new alliance between the Coalition and the USSR. The Coalition frigate jumped out of the Siebold system, and appeared in the outer reaches of a system with a yellow star primary. A little bit of effort revealed two type T planets in the inner system, and after reporting, the frigate set out for the inner system while its three escorting destroyers settled in around the warp point. Three days later the frigate came to a halt, and then turned back towards the warp point. Its sensors had detected a very large population on the innermost type T planet, and current contact protocols called for survey units to retreat without contacting new races, if at all possible. With a war raging, the Coalition government had no interest in making contact with aliens that might currently be involved in the war, or might be drawn in. The system would be marked as restricted, and contact would be established at a later date.
Month 113, Day 25, Earth
The treaty of alliance is ratified in the Coalition Senate on this date. The Politburo ratified the treaty the day before, so it now takes effect. The two nations bound together, and the Coalition is now at war, even if its opponents don’t realize it yet.
Month 113, Day 30, D’Bringi controlled Moskva system
A small group of reinforcements reached the D’Bringi fleet in the Moskva system on this date. The group consisted of a single battlecruiser, accompanied by a heavy cruiser. These were D’Bringi Keeper ships, thus armed with capital missiles. This brought the D’Bringi fleet in the system up to three battlecruisers, eight heavy cruisers, and twelve corvettes, as well as the twelve T’Pau heavy and light cruisers.
Month 113, Day 30, Moskva system
D’Bringi occupation units had spread throughout the system while their fleet invested the warp point to the Solar System. The primary Soviet colony of Gagarin had surrendered when heavy ground troops appeared, and their surrender stimulated the other Soviet colonies to surrender when troops approached their locations. D’Bringi intel teams accompanied the occupation troops and began pouring over whatever they could find. The Soviets had had time to prepare, and had destroyed most of the data that the D’Bringi would find interesting. Still, the Soviets had been rushed, and had missed things. On Gagarin, the primary Soviet colony in the system, the Soviets hadn’t been as thorough as they might have been, but the information the D’Bringi found was mostly inconsequential. On Leonov, the colony site shared with the Coalition, the D’Bringi teams found an abandoned science station that had been overlooked by the Soviet military during its efforts to purge the colony’s computers of relevant data. For some reason the staffers of the station had stored astrographic information about the surrounding systems on the station’s computers, information that the D’Bringi mostly already had, with one interesting exception. The D’Bringi, having discovered Earth before either the Coalition or the Soviets knew about interstellar warp line travel, already knew the warp lines around the Solar System before this phase of the war started. However, they had not surveyed much beyond Earth. Earth was linked to the rest of the galaxy through a single warp line leading to the Moskva system, now under D’Bringi control. The Moskva system, though, had two additional warp lines. One of those warp lines led to the Brezhnev system, currently controlled by the D’Bringi, and ultimately led back to the D’Bringi Expanses through two different closed warp points. The other led to an otherwise uninteresting system the D’Bringi had named Taugh.
The Taugh system was a single-star system with a red star primary, six planets, and two asteroid belts, none of which were habitable. The D’Bringi Keepers theorized, correctly, that the Soviets, and for that matter, the Coalition colonial territories must be found through the Taugh system, as they certainly weren’t beyond the Leningrad system. The D’Bringi had not surveyed the Taugh system when they first discovered it, because they had the glittering prize of Earth dangling in front of them, and they had other, more interesting systems closer to home to survey with their limited survey assets, so aside from its mere existence Taugh was a blank slate to the D’Bringi. During the pre-war planning with the Rehorish, the Rehorish admirals had requested that the D’Bringi survey ships accompany their fleet and move into the Taugh system to begin an effort to link up with Rehorish forces that would be advancing through the Soviet colonial territories. The D’Bringi had declined to do so, for several reasons. Firstly, the D’Bringi were focused completely on the Solar System and bottling up the Soviets. Secondly, the D’Bringi only had one survey fleet, and they feared that if they deployed it near the front lines it would become a casualty. Finally, the D’Bringi clan council didn’t completely trust the Rehorish, and felt that slowing their advance down might bring them some needed humility, particularly in light of the inevitable success of the D’Bringi fleets in forcing the Russians back to the Solar system. Now, though, the D’Bringi intel teams made a significant find. The research station’s computers had a listing of the number and location of all of the warp points in the Taugh system. Unfortunately, the station’s computers didn’t show where the warp points went, but now the D’Bringi knew where they were.
Upon receipt of the information, Clan Senior Fortress-Breaker dispatched two corvette-scouts to the Taugh system to probe the warp points. He had been one of the most vocal opponents to the alliance with the Rehorish, as he didn’t trust them, and after the decision to coordinate their war efforts had been made, he had supported the concept of separate offensives. He had enjoyed the snail’s pace the Rehorish fleet had been limited to after their initial successes, but things were going to become critical soon. As much as he hated to admit it, they needed the Rehorish if they were going to break through the human’s defenses into the Solar System. The scouts would depart on the 1st of the new month. They would arrive at their first probe targets on the 8th.
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Month 113, Day 10, Coalition Space
On this date the leaders of the Coalition and the USSR met and agreed to an alliance. While it had not yet been ratified, its ratification was almost certain at this point. Therefore, the Coalition Navy began preparing for war.
The Coalition Navy had two Colonial Defense Squadrons in its colonial territories, one based in Epsilon Eridani and the other in the Sligo system. In addition, there were two other groups of warships present in the Coalition colonial territories, each assigned to escort one of the Coalition’s two survey fleet. Now, orders went out to the warships in the colonial territories to reposition. The survey group escort squadrons were recalled and ordered to join with the Colonial Defense Squadrons, to bolster their strength.
Colonial Defense Squadron 1, assigned to the Epsilon Eridani system, consisted of three destroyers, three corvettes, a scout-frigate, and three explorer class scouts. This squadron was often split up to patrol the four colonized systems beyond Epsilon Eridani, but now the squadron was assembled and stationed on the warp point to the Shaka system, along with the two BS3’s of the system defense group. Fortunately, the four systems beyond Epsilon Eridani were in dead end warp lines, so the area beyond Epsilon Eridani could be considered low risk, baring the existence of a closed warp point, which could not be completely dismissed.
Colonial Defense Squadron 2 was assigned to the Sligo system. Originally, it was intended to patrol the colonies beyond Epsilon Indi, however, over time its mission had evolved to become a deterrent for the hostile Tarek in the Sligo system. Explorer class scouts still patrolled the other systems, but for the most part the warships of CDS #2 remained in the Sligo system as a deterrent. Now, orders are sent to the squadron to redeploy to the Epsilon Indi system, one jump back towards the home system, to guard the warp point to the Shaka system. This news causes consternation on Wunderland when it gets out to the public. The CDS stationed in the system was recently reinforced, to counter the ongoing military buildup by the Tarek, and stripping the system of ships is not what the colonists want. The colonial government begins releasing information to educate the public about the threat presented by the D’Bringi coalition, but, while real, this seems far away to people that are looking towards a threat in the same system with them.
In the end, the squadron departs, regardless of the feelings of the local colonists. Three destroyers are left behind to guard the colony, and while they are out-massed and out-numbered by the Tarek fleet, they are considerably more advanced. In addition, while it isn’t clear if they can stand up to the Tarek fleet on a toe-to-claw basis, they are intended to act more as a deterrent than anything else. A video is prepared and transmitted to the Tarek before the departure of the squadron. While reliable communications have never been established, the two races have learned enough about each other’s tech to send videos to each other containing at least basic information. This video shows the Coalition squadron departing the system. Then, an animated segment shows recognizable Tarek escort class units attacking the human colony in the system, and attacking human ships and freighters. After the attack, the human squadron returns, only now vastly reinforced with ships clearly much larger than those that left, and one by one every Tarek installation and ship in the system is destroyed. The next segment again shows the squadron leaving, but this time the video shows human ships moving to and from the colony unmolested. The Tarek fail to respond to the video, and what they think about it remains a mystery.
Meanwhile, as the squadron departs, work is begun on several BS0’s by surface industry on Wunderland. Colonial Defense Squadron #2 will reach its destination in the Epsilon Indi system in fifteen days. The two survey escort groups will join it before the end of Month 114. After the survey escort ships join it, the squadron will consist of three light cruisers, nine corvettes, six escorts, two scout-frigates, and three explorer class scouts.
While the Tarek remain inscrutable, they do not react immediately to the departure of the squadron.
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Known Space, As of Turn 114
The D’Bringi Expanses
The D’Bringi are lizard-like bipeds, and their government is a loose alliance of the three main clans that dominate D’Bringi society. Although there are hundreds of minor clans, and dozens of major clans, the B’Regest, K’Rorin, and T’Chau are together known as the Great Clans and comprise 75-80% of the economic strength of the D’Bringi race. They alone, along with the Keepers, are allowed to build and maintain warships. The Keepers are clan-less and typically childless, and are regarded as the protectors of the race and their traditional values. Under normal conditions the Great Clans operate largely independently, coming together only under great threat or in the presence of a great opportunity. The Keepers operate independently as well, usually in service of their vision of the good of the race. Since the advent of the interstellar age for the D’Bringi, the Great Clans have largely worked together in an alliance with the intent of conquering and subjugating as many other races as possible, as a means of building up the power and industrial and military strength of the individual clans.
The Keepers are unique in D’Bringi society. As the Keepers cannot officially have children, their sect must maintain its numbers by drawing members from the other clans. The leadership of the Keepers generally is made up of younger sons and daughters of the Great Clans, who are usually exiled by their Clans to ensure clear succession rights and maintain inheritance within a certain bloodline. The bulk of the Keeper sect comes from the numerous smaller clans and even clan-less families living on the fringes of D'Bringi society. The Keepers as a group evolved during a time of great wars that consumed the continent that was the home of the clans that ultimately came to dominate D’Bringi society. The wars, utilizing primitive gunpowder weaponry, threatened to annihilate numerous clans, and, if they continued, appeared to threaten the very underpinnings of D’Bringi civilization. Therefore, the most powerful of the remaining clans gathered and agreed to appoint a group of neutral, non-clan, arbiters to help them come to a more or less equitable peace agreement. These arbiters eventually grew into the Keepers, an organization dedicated to protecting the D’Bringi race as a whole, rather than any individual, or clan. It was the Keepers who revealed the technology that took the D’Bringi race to the stars, and the Keepers have been responsible for several breakthroughs into advanced technology since then.
Since the start of their interstellar expansion, the D’Bringi have focused on conquering the races they meet and then incorporating them into their interstellar empire. They tend to view alliances as temporary conveniences, to be honored as long as necessary and then discarded when inconvenient. Their typical pattern upon meeting a new race would be to determine their economic, technological, and military strength as quickly as possible, then, if conquest is possible, launch a surprise offensive and overwhelm the defenders before the newly contacted race can build up its defenses or expand too far. While the D’Bringi are definitely conquest oriented, they are not particularly brutal or repressive by human standards. The D’Bringi will not generally consider bombardment of a population, for example, and the D’Bringi have no interest in the internal politics or behaviors of the races that they conquer, so long as those races perform the duties and responsibilities required of them by the D’Bringi.
To date, the D’Bringi have conquered the T’Pau, Doraz, and Torqual races. The T’Pau have been released as an “Associated State” of the D’Bringi Expanses, while the Doraz and the Torqual continue to be ruled directly by occupation governments made up of administrators from the Keepers and clan troops. As an Associated State, the T’Pau are required to assist the D’Bringi in military operations, and thus to maintain a military force for defense and assistance. In addition, the T’Pau have been allowed to begin surveying and colonizing along a warp line turned over to them by the D’Bringi, under supervision. The T’Pau are expected to turn over 1,000 MCr’s to the D’Bringi Expanse every month to cover D’Bringi expenses related to defending their system, and their military development and R&D are heavily monitored by the D’Bringi.
The D’Bringi have failed in their standard pattern of conquest once, and decided not to follow it twice. Their failure was with humanity. Upon first contact with humanity, the Keepers determined that the two human states were too powerful together for an immediate offensive, and instead recommended a peaceful contact followed by extended preparations. The Great Clans decided, instead, to launch a campaign of raiding in the hopes of raising the pressure on the human states until they either surrendered or even fought each other, something that had happened on D’Bringi Prime many times in the past. Their plan failed, obviously, and the war continues to this date.
The D’Bringi have decided to follow a plan of peaceful contact with the Rehorish and the Mintok. The Keepers recommended peaceful contact with the Rehorish for two reasons. One, because they appeared to maintain a very strong navy, and two, because they had a very familiar form of clan-based government. The Great Clans agreed in this case, largely because they were already at war with the humans, and this agreement turned out to be very fortuitous, as the Rehorish have proven to be strong allies in the war to date. The Mintok are a more recent contact, and, as the plan to attack the Soviets was moving forward, the decision was made by the senior clan leaders to make peaceful contact with them, at least for now. Little is known about their military strength, although their economy is estimated to be approximately 75% that of the D’Bringi (including the income from their conquests).
Fleets
Border Fleet (Mintek): 3xClan CA
Clan Fleets (Home System): 2xCA, 1xCT
Damaged Units (Various Locations): 1xBC, 5xCA, 2xCT
Forward Combined Fleet (Moskva System): 3xBC, 8xCA, 13xCT
Home System Defense Force: 9xBS3
Keeper AW Unit (Leningrad): 1xCA, 2xDD, 1xCT
Keeper AW Unit (Home): 1xCT
Keeper AW Unit (Techa*): 1xCT
Keeper Home Fleet: 1xBC, 2xCA
Keeper Occupation Fleet (Doraz Prime): 6xCT
Keeper Occupation Fleet (Torqual Prime): 6xCT
Keeper Repair Fleet (Headed towards front lines): 1xMSY
Independent Survey Fleet (on the frontier): 25xEX
Under Construction: 1xKeeper CA, 2xClan CA, 2xMSY
Refit: 5xClan CA
Repair: 1xKeeper BC, 3xClan CA
*Techa is the D’Bringi name for the T’Pau home system
The D’Bringi Expanse is currently researching HT 7, and has access to some limited wild-card tech. The main D’Bringi fleet currently consists of ships refit to HT 5 standards, with some units in the home system being refit to HT 6 standards.
T’Pau Syndicate
The T’Pau are humanoid, but compared to humans they are elongated, thin, hairless, and have spiney protrusions from the backs of their skulls and along their backs. The T’Pau government is a long-established confederation of states, and the T’Pau had been in space for some time, however, had not discovered warp points until they were discovered and conquered by the D’Bringi. The T’Pau are technically independent, but their foreign policy and military are largely controlled by the D’Bringi. While they are left largely to their own devices in their home system, they have little freedom in terms of interstellar activity or military action.
Fleets
Expeditionary Fleet (Moskva): 6xCA, 6xCL
Home Fleet: 3xCA, 2xCL
Survey Fleet: 15xEX
Under Construction: 2xCA, 1xCL
The T’Pau are currently researching HT 5 systems. The T’Pau fleet is equipped to HT 4 standards.
Rehorish Stellar Dominion
The Rehorish are insectoids, with an outwardly republican form of government. In their pre-space days, the Rehorish were governed by a loose federation of clans and family councils, however, in the century since that time the Rehorish society established a united planetary republic, with the clans retreating from direct political power and becoming more of a social institution. In recent years the Rehorish Republic has tended towards a more oligarchic format, with a permanent bureaucracy wielding the real power while the democratically elected politicians act as front-men or a façade for the government.
The Rehorish are largely pragmatic and fairly reasonable, but they do tend to view other races with disdain. This attitude comes from the fact that their government and social order is very old and long-established, giving them something of a superiority complex, particularly with the D’Bringi, who are relative newcomers to advanced technology and space.
Fleets
Colonial Picket (Kobe): 3xDD
Colonial Picket (Kumamoto): 3xDD
Damaged Unit (Kawasaki): 1xDD
Grand Fleet (Smolensk): 18xCA, 18xCL, 20xDD
Grand Fleet Picket Groups (Various Soviet Colonies): 5xDD
Grand Fleet Bjering Picket (Tomsk System): 2xCA, 3xCL, 3xDD
Home Fleet (Home System): 9xCA, 9xCL, 6xDD
Home System Defense: 6xBS3
Repair Group #1 (Tokyo): 1xMSY, 1xCL, 1xDD
Repair Group #2 (Tokyo): 4xMSY, 3xDD
Captured Soviet Ships (Tokyo): 1xCA, 1xDD (Both damaged)
Captured Soviet Ships (Novosibirsk): 3xCT (All damaged)
Survey Fleet #1 (Asahikawa): 20xCTX
Survey Fleet #2 (Asahikawa): 20xCTX
Under Construction: 1xBC, 3xCA, 1xCT
Refit: 2xCA
The Rehorish are currently developing HT 5 systems, along with some HT 6 systems that the D’Bringi have given them data on. The Rehorish fleet is currently equipped to HT 4 standards.
Reformation Coalition
The Reformation Coalition is one of the two primary governments on Earth. The Coalition is the primary successor to the western governments that mostly fell after The Last War in 1963. The government is a confederation of state governments, primarily from the old US and Canada. The Coalition government was intended to allow these independent states to join together for mutual defense, but allows each state government wide latitude in local issues. The Coalition government has grown more powerful over the years, as the long confrontation with the Soviets continued, and the necessities of interstellar defense and colonization required a centrally organized response.
The new alliance between the Coalition and the USSR means that the Coalition is gearing up for war. The bulk of the Home Fleet has been transferred to the 1st Fleet, with the remaining forces in the Home Fleet being largely newly launched units working up.
Fleets
Colonial Patrol Group, Shaka: 5xEXS
Colonial Patrol Group, Epsilon Eridani: 3xDD, 1xFGS, 3xCT, 3xEXS
Colonial Patrol Group, Sligo: 3xCL, 6xCT, 3xES, 3xEXS
Earth Defense Command: 2xPDC
Home Fleet (Sol): 6xBC, 6xCA, 4xDD, 1xFGS, 1xEXS
Home Fleet, Sigma Draconis Picket: 3xDD, 1xFGS, 2xEXS
Epsilon Eridani Fortifications: 3xBS3
1st Fleet (Sigma Draconis): 12xCA, 6xCL, 3xDD, 1xFGS, 12xCT, 2xEXS
Sol WP Defense: 3xBS3, 3xDD(AW), 3xBS1, 9xBS0, 1xEXS
Survey Group #1: 20xEX
Survey Group #1 Escort: 3xDD, 1xFGS
Survey Group #2: 20xEX
Survey Group #2 Escort: 3xCT, 1xFGS, 3xES
Under Construction: 6xBc, 3xBS3, 3xCL
The Coalition is developing HT 6 systems. The Coalition fleet is equipped to HT 5 standards, but some colonial squadrons are still a refit behind.
The Enlightened Union of the Tlatelolco
The Tlatelolco are firm allies of the Coalition, however, as they are rather backward this will mean little in the coming war.
Fleet – None
The Tlatelolco are currently IND-1 and close to achieving IND-2 level, with the assistance of a Coalition science mission located on their home planet.
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United World Republic of the Tarek
Tarek Prime is located in the Coalition colonial system of Sligo, which contains no less than four habitable planets, two type T and two type ST. The Coalition’s discovery of the system came at a time when the Coalition was under pressure to expand as quickly as possible, so as to match the perceived expansion of the Soviet Union. Thus, the planet of Wunderland was colonized, in spite of the fact that the Tarek inhabited the next planet out. Attempts were made to negotiate with the Tarek; however, those attempts were met with aggression and what can only be interpreted as threats, and to date the Coalition has not been able to decipher the Tarek language in any meaningful sense. In spite of this plans to colonize Wunderland went forward, as the Tarek at that time were confined to their home planet and had not yet developed drive field technology. Unfortunately, in Month 89 the Tarek assembled a shipyard in orbit over their planet and began building drive field-equipped ships. The Coalition’s Sligo squadron has maintained the peace since then, but has had to be reinforced several times as the Tarek navy grew. The Tarek have started exploring the planets of their system, however, to date the Tarek Navy has avoided Wunderland.
The Coalition’s Sligo Squadron has kept the Tarek survey group under careful surveillance, and so far they have been ignored in return. To date the Tarek have largely ignored Coalition ships in their system as long as they remain more than a light minute from Tarek Prime. There is no indication that the Tarek have discovered warp point theory, or the location of the warp points in their system.
Fleet
Home Fleet: 17xES
Survey Fleet: 7xEX
Tarek Prime Fortifications: 3xPDC, 43xArmed space stations
Under Construction: 1xCA (Due to be launched on month 130)
The Republic is nearing completion of research on HT-2. Once any new technology is developed, the Republic plans a massive overhaul and upgrade for its fixed defenses.
The USSR
The USSR’s fleet has suffered greatly during the war with the D’Bringi and their allies, and their losses have forced them to abandon their colonial territories and retreat back to the Solar System. Because of this the USSR has agreed to join the Allied Nations of Earth with the Coalition. Indeed, they had little choice given the disparity of forces that existed, and given the fact that they faced the naval forces of at least three races, the D’Bringi, the Rehorish, and the T’Pau.
The Soviet leadership have resigned themselves to being relegated to a secondary role in the new alliance, at least during the short term. They believe that they can use this time to rebuild their fleet and recover their territory.
Fleets
Brezhnev System (Isolated) Mothballs: 2xBC(Damaged), 2xCA, 3xDD(Damaged), 3xCT(AW), 15xEXS
Brezhnev Defense Fleet (Isolated): 3xCL, 4xDD, 3xCT, 1xCT(AW), 2xEXS
Frontline Fleet (Sol): 4xBC, 3xCA, 3xCL, 2xCT, 10xES
Home Fleet (Shakedown): 2xBC, 4xCLA
Planetary Defense: 3xPDC, 6xDefensive PDC
WP Defense: 2xAsteroid Fort, 3xTug, 1xEXS
Under Construction: 1xBB, 15xCL, 20xES, 35xMine
The USSR has almost completed R&D on HT 6 systems and has started research on HT 7. All new ships are being built to HT 6 standards. There are no plans to refit existing ships, as they are needed on the front line.
Bjering Consolidate
The Bjering Consolidate is ruled by a council of five senior admirals, one of whom, Admiral Alpha, is considered “First among equals”. The Bjering were formerly trade and military allies of the USSR, however, when the USSR withdrew its fleet to the Solar System and abandoned its colonial territories and its link to the Bjering, Admiral Alpha declared the alliance broken and retreated back to the Tomsk system, which neighbored the Bjering home system. Once there he offered the Soviet colonies in the Tomsk and nearby systems a deal. His fleet would remain and stop the Rehorish by presenting themselves as the controller of the Tomsk system. Admiral Alpha offered the Soviet colonists this deal as a means of keeping the aggressive Rehorish further away from Bjering territories. The colonists agreed and the plan worked, as the Rehorish, while they might have wondered at the relationship between the Bjering and the Soviet colonists, had no interest in starting a new war.
The Bjering have a trade and military alliance with the new Tomsk Union, and have agreed to maintain military forces in Tomsk to counter any Rehorish aggression. The Bjering have reactivated a portion of their reserves in the face of the Rehorish-USSR war, but their economy is straining to support the number of ships now active.
Fleets
Alpha Fleet (Tomsk): 3xBC, 3xDD, 6xCT
Beta Fleet (Tomsk): 3xBC, 3xDD, 6xCT
Delta Fleet (Home): 3xBC, 3xDD, 6xCT
Epsilon Fleet (Home): 3xBC, 3xDD, 6xCT
Gamma Fleet (Tomsk): 2xBC, 3xDD, 6xCT
Home System Forts: 8xBS4
Survey Fleet: 3xCAX, 1xDDX
Under Construction: 1xDD(AW)
The Bjering are developing HT-6 systems. The Bjering Fleet is equipped to HT-5 standards, with some wild card tech.
Tomsk Union
The Tomsk Union is a loose confederation of seven colonies in five systems clustered around the warp nexus in the Tomsk system. The highest population is just over twelve million on the colony of Tereshkova in the Tomsk system. The Union is led by Governor Orlov of the Tereshkova colony in Tomsk, which is also the largest economy in the Union, and the location where the Union’s new shipyards are being built.
The Union has a trade and military alliance with the Bjering, and has allowed Bjering Fleets to patrol the Tomsk system to counter the Rehorish. Governor Orlov has publicly stated that the Union is a stopgap measure to defend the people of the five Union systems, and that it will rejoin the USSR if and when the opportunity presents itself.
Fleet
Home Fleet: 3xDD, 2xCT(AW), 1xES
Under Construction: 9xES, 7xSYM
The Tomsk Union is at HT-5.
The Alliance between The USSR and the Reformation Coalition
The alliance between the two major nations formally begins on Day 1 of Turn 114. There has been some disagreement both within the respective governments and between the two governments about the name for the new organization. At the current time they have agreed that the new organization will be called the United Nations of Earth. This may be subject to change. The Russians feel that the Coalition is maneuvering to include other Earth nations within the new UNE, which they feel will weaken their position on Earth and potentially destabilize the status quo on Earth at a time when they can ill afford it. They aren’t wrong in this belief, but currently the Coalition’s government isn’t sure how far they can push this issue. Additionally, there are those within both governments that fear that such an “Earth-centric” name will signal that the new organization is focused solely on Earth and its benefit at a time when the economies of the colonial territories are burgeoning and becoming an ever more important factor in future decisions.
Both nations have agreed to set up an international military framework that will start with each nation contributing its existing fleet resources, and both have agreed to work towards a goal of combining officer corps and crews into multi-national integrated forces. Of necessity, and by agreement, the command of most fleet organizations will go to Coalition officers, with Russian officers as deputies to the higher ranked Coalition officers, as the Coalition will be donating far more hulls, and officers, than the Russians.
To provide unified oversight and command and control, the two nations have agreed to set up an organization to be called the Grand Council. This council will be composed of representatives from each nation participating, appointed in proportion to the military strength supplied by each nation. Members of the Council will be determined by each nation in a manner suitable to that nation, and their appointment to the Council will be for a length of time not to exceed one year. The Grand Council will determine overall strategy for Allied military forces.
Both nations are working towards the realization of the goals set forth in the treaty approved by both nations. It is clear to all that both nations have differing ultimate goals, so it is not clear what ultimate form the alliance will take. The Coalition government clearly wants to make the UNE a true multinational government which gives off-world opportunities to the other nations of Earth. The USSR equally clearly views the alliance as a necessary evil forced upon them by circumstance, and possibly a threat to the continued well-being of their state. How long the alliance can continue isn’t clear at the current time.
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Month 114, Day 1, Tlatelolco Prime, Coalition colonial territories
The Coalition had established peaceful relations with the Tlatelolco at around the same time that they had utterly failed to do so with the Tarek in the Sligo system. For all that their relations with the Tarek had been an unmitigated disaster, the Coalition’s efforts with the Tlatelolco had been an unmitigated success. While the Tlatelolco’s frightening physical appearance and harsh living conditions were off-putting to humans, they actually had a lot in common with humanity’s outlook on life and the universe, and with the Coalition in particular. At the time of their discovery the Tlatelolco had just begun industrializing and using steam power in a significant way, and with the Coalition’s help the Tlatelolco were nearing Ind-2 tech level, which was the gateway to high tech spacefaring status. The Coalition’s scientific and engineering outpost on Tlatelolco Prime had been such a success that groups of Tlatelolco students had begun attending prominent Coalition universities on Earth, and so far the students had made a big splash on Earth. In light of these successes, the governments of the Tlatelolco Enlightened Union and the Coalition formally announced that the Enlightened Union has accepted Associate Status within the Coalition as of this date. By an act of the Coalition Senate, Associate Status was designed for extra-Earth populations as a way for them to join the Coalition prior to becoming a full-fledged member state. The Coalition government has stated that efforts to uplift the Tlatelolco will continue.
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Month 114, Day 4, Moskva system
The D’Bringi and T’Pau fleets, now composed of three battlecruisers, fourteen heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, and ten corvettes, held its position approximately thirty light seconds from the warp point to the Solar system. As agreed, the Coalition 1st Fleet remained at least thirty light seconds from the D’Bringi Fleet, and was positioned approximately two light seconds from the warp point, off to one side from the D’Bringi fleet. The D’Bringi had emplaced a mine field around the warp point, over the Coalition’s protests. After negotiations with the Coalition, the D’Bringi had agreed to place the minefield a half of a light second from the warp point, instead of a quarter of a light second, as they had wanted to do, to allay the Coalition’s concerns about their civilian freighters and colony transports transiting into the system and into the danger zone of the mine field. The Coalition’s 1st Fleet consisted of twelve heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, three destroyers, a scout-frigate, and twelve corvettes.
Admiral Ruston, aboard his 1st Fleet command cruiser, turned from the plot and saw that there was just over fifteen minutes left until the Home Fleet began transiting. The status indicators showed that his fleet was at action stations and cleared for battle. He turned towards the comms officer. “Prepare to record a message for the D’Bringi.”
The comms officer nodded and typed on his console for a few seconds, then looked at Admiral Ruston again and nodded as a small drone lifted off from the rear of the bridge and took up station on Admiral Ruston to begin recording. Ruston had considered doing the recording on the bridge, but in the end had decided he wanted to set a more formal tone, so he left the command deck with the drone following him. Right off the ship’s bridge was a staff room that he had prepared for this, and he moved to the end of the room to stand in front of two flags that had been draped from the ceiling. On the left was the Reformation Coalition’s flag, and on the right was the USSR’s flag. Ruston smiled seeing the two flags, hoping that the message would come across clearly. They were still arguing back home about whether the new alliance should have a flag of its own, and if so, what it should look like. For now, the two flags would have to suffice. After a second, he turned towards the camera and cleared his throat. “I am Admiral Ruston, commander of the Coalition First Fleet. As of three days ago, the Coalition and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics have formally agreed to ally themselves together in the face of alien aggression. From that day forward, the USSR and the Coalition will stand together. I am hereby formally notifying the D’Bringi forces occupying the Moskva system, and any other human inhabited systems, that a state of war now exists between the Coalition and those races that make up the D’Bringi alliance. You are ordered to withdraw from all human territories immediately, or you will be destroyed.” He gestured at the drone, which bobbed and moved out of the room. The comms officer and his people would edit the statement, and insert translations into the audio feed so that the D’Bringi and their Rehorish allies wouldn’t have to wait for their own translations.
Once back on the bridge, Admiral Ruston looked at the plot. Nothing had changed. He had feared that the D’Bringi fleet might somehow detect his ships moving to action stations, but so far, their preparations seemed to have succeeded. He glanced at the clock display on his console. Five minutes to transit. Time seemed to crawl as time counted down to the final seconds, and then, seemingly all of the sudden, it started. The plot suddenly updated to show drive fields appearing on the warp point, and the silence on the bridge was broken when the sensor officer exclaimed “It’s started!”
Admiral Ruston turned to the comms officer. “Send the message.”
“Yes sir!” The comms officer hit an activator he had previously set up, and the Admiral’s recorded message was transmitted towards the D’Bringi fleet.
On the warp point, as the message made its way towards the D’Bringi fleet, Coalition battlecruisers had begun transiting in from the Solar System. With the message on its way, Admiral Ruston ordered his fleet to close on the warp point, to a previously established position just outside of the D’Bringi mine field. Coalition heavy cruisers followed the battlecruisers, and as the heavy cruisers filed into the system Admiral Ruston’s fleet came to a halt just outside the mine field. After the Coalition heavy cruisers entered the system the flow of Coalition ships ended and a squadron of Russian battlecruisers began entering, followed immediately by three Russian heavy cruisers. By this time the D’Bringi had begun reacting, and their fleet had turned towards open space and begun opening the range as presumably their crews raced to battle stations.
Two minutes later the Russian 2nd Fleet and the Coalition Home Fleet were assembled on the inside of the D’Bringi minefield, with the Coalition 1st Fleet just outside of the minefield. As one, twelve Russian and thirty Coalition ships, all cruisers of varying sizes, moved into the minefield. All of the ships had begun engine modulations, and all of the ships had deployed a single EDM before entering the mine field. The human ships were as prepared as they could be for what was coming. Immediately after entering the minefield the nine battlecruisers and six of the heavy cruisers were deluged with attacks from the mines. Their EDM’s managed to divert some of the mines, and their engine modulations decoyed others, but every ship still suffered multiple hits. Three of the nine battlecruisers, two Russian and one Coalition, had their shields knocked down and suffered armor damage, but all three battlecruisers came through with their armor intact. Only one of the six Coalition heavy cruisers targeted by the mines suffered armor damage, thanks to the fact that the cruiser’s all had well trained crews, unlike some of the larger battlecruisers, and the Coalition cruisers actually had heavier point defense suites than the Russian BC’s. It was at this point that the Russian fleet moved to the fore. Against the Coalition’s wishes, the Russians had sent their three brand-new Borodino class assault cruisers to join the fleet for the battle. The Coalition had opposed this move, as the ships had been launched on the first of this month, meaning that the attack planned for the first would have to be delayed until the ships could join the fleet at the warp point, and because the ships and their crews were untested, and in some cases the new ships still had contractors on board fixing last minute problems. Indeed, none of the ships had completed their shakedown cruise. Coalition fleet command, and Admiral Ruston in particular, had thought that sending the new light cruisers into battle in this manner would be little more than suicide, and had objected strongly, but the Russians, keen to prove their worth to the new alliance, insisted. Fortunately for the crews of the Russian assault ships, the mines had focused their attacks on the larger ships and ignored them. Now their moment came as they lashed out with their two force beam turrets at the mines surrounding them. The three Russian battlecruisers joined them firing their single force beam emplacement on wide-angle, sweeping hundreds of mines as they maneuvered to attack the human fleets. The two groups of Russian ships were the only ships in the combined fleet that could do this, as they were the only ships in the fleet that were equipped with both long-range scanners and beam weapons. Unlike the Russian battlecruisers, the Coalition battlecruisers had no beam weapons, as the Coalition designers had believed that additional point defense was more important on a missile combatant than a secondary beam weapon. While that may have been true in a long-range engagement, now the Russian design decision paid off and between them the six Russian ships swept four hundred and fifty mines from space.
That left a bare handful of mines to attack the six battlecruisers that continued to move through the minefield. These were the battlecruisers that hadn’t lost their shields in the first attack. The few remaining mines focused their attack on the lead Russian battlecruiser, the Sverdlov, and knocked down her shields. The Sverdlov came to a stop, while the other five battlecruisers continued moving within the minefield. The next attack came against the Queensland, a Coalition battlecruiser. This attack was at half strength, and once it expended itself against the big battlecruiser the mines were finished. The route from the Solar System to the Moskva system was clear.
With the fleets now combined, the human forces in the Moskva system now numbered nine battlecruisers, twenty-one heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers, seven destroyers, a scout-frigate, fourteen corvettes, and ten escorts. That gave the allied human fleets a clear two to one tonnage advantage over the D’Bringi fleet.
With the immediate threat gone, Admiral Ruston contacted General Semenov, the commander of the Russian fleet. General Semenov had been cleared of all charges in the wake of Marshal Kosygin’s fall from grace, and had been placed back in command of the last Russian fleet. Although Ruston was grateful to have someone like General Semenov in command of the Russian fleet, who at least had some experience maneuvering a fleet, he had been concerned from the start at Semenov’s aggressive attitude. Based on his reading of the material turned over to the Coalition by the Russians, it was the Russian’s overly aggressive reaction to the D’Bringi invasion that caused them so much trouble. The D’Bringi and their allies had planned a series of ambushes for the Soviet fleet, and the Russians had walked right into them, losing most of their ships. He had no intention of following the Russians into that lunacy again, but he couldn’t merely override his new second-in-command’s opinions. The alliance was new and fragile, and if he alienated the only Russian fleet commander it would not bode well for future cooperation. His ruminations were interrupted when General Semenov appeared on his screen.
The Russian general was all smiles. “Admiral! We are through the minefield and the path forward is clear! We have the advantage and we must press it home!”
Admiral Ruston settled back into his chair and smiled. “First things first! Congratulations! Your ships performed well! And I must admit, I was wrong about your assault cruisers. They did an incredible job sweeping the mines. We couldn’t have done this without them.”
General Semenov nodded. “They did what we needed them to do. And, I think, it’s a good example of our alliance! We couldn’t have launched this attack without your fleet, and you needed our specialist ships to penetrate the minefield. We work well together!”
“Yes, we do. But now we need to pause and regroup. Our capital ships’ shields are damaged, and they need time to restore them.” Ruston could see that General Semenov was about to object, and hurried on before he could speak. “Yuri, they are too far away.” Both of their eyes went to their respective plots. In the four minutes since the allied ships had started entering the system, the D’Bringi fleet had withdrawn an additional five light seconds, putting them about thirty-five light seconds away. Admiral Ruston’s eyes went back to the monitor. “They can see the tonnage disparity as well as we can. They are clearly refusing battle and withdrawing towards the warp point to Leningrad. And since they converted their ships to use military engines, they aren’t faster than we are strategically any more, but neither are we faster than them. We can’t catch them or force them to battle, not unless they want us to. Or they are forced to defend something they won’t give up.”
“You want to let them go?”
“No. I want to stick to the plan we developed last month. We restore our shields and then shadow them as they withdraw. They won’t want to get trapped here in the Moskva system, so they will almost certainly withdraw to Leningrad, and we will follow. If they defend the warp point, then we will crush them there. If they don’t, we will follow them until we can. They won’t get away from us.”
General Semenov frowned, but Admiral Ruston could tell that the other fleet commander could see the truth of the situation as well as he could. “They will escape if they get to their closed warp point, whether it is in the Leningrad system or in Gorkij. But we will be right behind them, and if we are lucky, we will be able to localize their hidden warp point and follow them right into their territory. Take the war to them for once!”
General Semenov brightened at that prospect. “Very well. We will regroup, and then follow. And then we will see what we see.”
The D’Bringi fleet spat out CD’s as it retreated. Several of the CD’s headed in-system, towards the colonies in the inner system, while others headed straight for the warp point to the Leningrad system. Interestingly, another group of CD’s headed towards the Shaka/Volvograd system.
Even as the D’Bringi CD’s sped away, two small groups of ships split off from the main Coalition fleet. Each group was composed of a frigate-scout and an explorer-scout. One of the groups headed for the other warp point in the system, while the second headed in-system.
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Month 114, Day 6, Taugh system
Two D’Bringi scout-corvettes were on a course that would bring them to the system’s two innermost warp points in two days. Their orders were to probe the system’s four newly discovered warp points, revealed by information gained from a Soviet settlement captured in the Duril system. The D’Bringi hoped that probing the warp points would open a route that would allow the Rehorish Grand Fleet to link up with the D’Bringi fleet in the Moskva system. Unexpectedly, though, CD’s had arrived carrying orders from the fleet commander. The messages on the CD’s informed the ship commanders that the fleet was in retreat, and that they were about to be cut off. Clan Leader Fortress-Breaker ordered the corvettes to carry out their mission regardless. It was too late for them to retreat in any case, even at their maximum speed they would be unable to reach the Leningrad system before the humans had arrived at the warp point in Moskva and closed that route of retreat for them. There was no going back, only forward. The corvettes continued on towards the new warp points.
Month 114, Day 8, Moskva system
The two Coalition scout groups, dispatched when the combined Coalition and Russian fleets put the D’Bringi fleets on the run, arrived at their respective destinations on this date. The scout group assigned to the warp point to the Shaka (Volvograd/Taugh) system arrived at the warp point without detecting any enemy ships. Upon arrival, the frigate-scout Outreach jumped through to the Shaka system and found it clear of ships within 72 light minutes of the warp point. There was no way to tell if there were D’Bringi ships sitting out there with their drive fields down, but, at least for now, the area appeared to be clear. The Outreach jumped back and sent off a report to the combined fleets which were shadowing the withdrawing D’Bringi fleet.
The second Coalition scout group arrived over the Gagarin colony in the inner system and found it abandoned by the D’Bringi. The colonists reported that the D’Bringi had loaded up on the freighters they had arrived on and left several days ago, and since then the colonists had kept a low profile, as they had no idea what the larger picture was. This group also sent a report on to the combined fleets.
Later in the day, in the Taugh/Shaka/Volvograd system
The two D’Bringi scouts had arrived at their respective warp points, and both jumped through with little fanfare. The innermost warp point in the Taugh system led to a single-star system with a yellow primary. The central star was orbited by six planets and an asteroid belt. None of the planets were habitable. The scout appeared two hundred and four light minutes from the system primary. After recovering from the jump, the scout set out towards the inner system in an attempt to determine if there were any other ships in the system.
The other scout jumped out of the Taugh system and arrived in a binary system with a yellow and red star. Much to the surprise of the D’Bringi scout-corvette, the warp point was surrounded by a squadron of ships and two BS3’s. The ships and bases were alert, thanks to the scout positioned on the far side of the warp point with its drive field down. The scout had watched the D’Bringi corvette approach, and had fed CD’s with reports through as long as it could, so the D’Bringi ship’s ETA was known, and so the squadron and the bases were at alert status. The squadron was the Coalition’s Colonial Defense Squadron #1, composed of three destroyers, a scout-frigate, and three corvettes, supported by the two BS3’s of the Epsilon Eridani system defense group. Almost immediately after the corvette appeared the three destroyers of the 1st Colonial Defense Group opened fire, pummeling the small D’Bringi ship with their force beams. All six Coalition force beams speared into the small D’Bringi ship, utterly destroying it before it could turn and retreat, or even fire in its defense. A thin scattering of life pods drifted away from the shattered hulk. The Coalition presence in the Epsilon Eridani system would remain a secret, for now.
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Month 114, Day 9, Moskva system
The D’Bringi fleet, which had retreated across the Moskva system with the combined Soviet and Coalition fleets in pursuit, reached the warp point to the Leningrad and jumped through without delay. During the long pursuit, the respective commanders of the Coalition and Russian forces debated the merits of going to full power on their engines to try to force the D’Bringi to battle, but neither of them felt strongly enough about the matter to push the issue, and in the end, they settled for letting the D’Bringi run ahead of them. In truth, both wanted the D’Bringi to retreat to their closed warp point, so that they could force them to reveal it if they attempted to use it.
The combined fleets, now re-designated as the 1st Combined Allied Fleet, would reach the warp point fifteen minutes after the D’Bringi fleet went through.
The Allied Fleet arrived at the warp point and came to a halt, assuming defensive positions around the hole in space. The warp link from Moskva to Leningrad was the largest type that existed, so six battlecruisers could make it through every thirty seconds with ease. However, the two leaders of the combined fleets were unwilling to risk their battlecruisers, some of which already had armor damage from forcing the warp point out of the solar system, in a probe of the warp point. Instead, a probe force of smaller ships lined up in front of the warp point, led by the three Soviet minesweepers, which were the smallest warships with the fleet that were equipped with long ranged scanners at this point. Four minutes and thirty seconds after they arrived, the assault force jumped out. It was led by the three Soviet light cruisers, and included an additional six Coalition corvettes and eight Soviet escorts. Their plan was to jump to the far side and immediately return, and then the logs from the long-range scanners, which should reactivate right before returning, would be evaluated.
The Allied ships appeared in the Leningrad system, on the warp point, exactly as planned. The ships appeared on multiple headings, to avoid a situation where any D’Bringi ships that remained behind might be in the blind spots of the entire force. What they found was shocking. The entire D’Bringi and T’Pau force surrounded the warp point, and, unfortunately, they were all at alert status. Eleven D’Bringi and T’Pau beam-armed cruisers, six light cruisers, and ten corvettes sat just three quarters of a light second from the warp point, waiting for the allied ships to appear. The first to fire was a trio of D’Bringi cruisers, each targeting a different Soviet light cruiser. As always, the D’Bringi short-range cruisers were a mix of types, carrying an eclectic mix of weapons. One of the first to fire carried gun emplacements as its primary weapons, backed up by two energy pulse cannons. The guns knocked down the Soviet light cruiser’s relatively light screens, and the energy cannons’ damage scorched through the light cruiser’s heavy armor and damaged its engines. The second D’Bringi cruiser to fire carried force beams as its primary weaponry, also backed up by two energy pulse cannons. The force beams knocked down the light cruiser’s shields, and scored its armor, while the energy cannons took out two engine rooms. The third cruiser was actually a medium range cruiser, armed with missile launchers. It had been slotted into the short-range data group to replace a damaged beam cruiser, and to make room in its medium-range data group for a Keeper cruiser armed with capital missiles, as the long-range data group was now filled with Keeper battlecruisers. The medium range cruiser launched its standard missiles in sprint mode, and all nine hit the Soviet light cruiser, taking down its shields and damaging its armor. The Soviet light cruiser fired back, targeting its tormentor, hitting with both of its force beam turrets, eliminating the D’Bringi cruiser’s shields and taking out most of its armor. A T’Pau cruiser group fired next, also spreading its fire across the light cruisers. The T’Pau ships were armed with lasers and gun turrets, and the heavy armor of the Soviet light cruisers absorbed their fire handily. A Soviet light cruiser returned fire, targeting the same heavy cruiser and getting two hits, penetrating the cruiser’s light armor and shields and destroying an engine room. The second T’Pau cruiser group fired, splitting its fire as the other cruiser groups had, and this time they managed to penetrate the light cruiser’s heavy armor and cause more engine damage to two of the three light cruisers. A D’Bringi close-range cruiser data group fired next, splitting its fire between three Coalition corvettes. This D’Bringi data group consisted of two cruisers armed with energy pulse cannons and force beams, and a single corvette that was replacing a cruiser dispatched to the rear for repairs. The two cruisers each destroyed their corvette-target, while the D’Bringi corvette merely managed to damage its target’s armor. The D’Bringi medium range group fired next, and its target, a Coalition corvette, was seriously damaged and slowed. The Allied ships continued focusing on the damaged D’Bringi cruiser, while the D’Bringi and T’Pau ships spread their fire across the entire attack wave. Of the seventeen ships of the probe force, only seven escorts returned to the Moskva system. Three Soviet light cruisers and three Coalition corvettes were lost to the initial exchange of fire, and three Coalition corvettes and one Soviet escort didn’t have enough engines left to make their turn and jump out with the other ships. They succumbed to the next round of fire, doing no damage to the D’Bringi force before being overwhelmed.
At the cost of three Russian light-cruiser minesweepers, six corvettes, and an escort, the Allied fleet determined that the entire D’Bringi force was guarding the jump point. No long-range scanner equipped ships returned, so there was no confirmation, but Allied intel analysts were certain that the D’Bringi had a mine field around the warp point. The D’Bringi force suffered serious internal damage to one heavy cruiser, and one of the Soviet escorts scored an internal hit on another D’Bringi cruiser with its primary beam. The surviving escorts observed no visible effect from the hit, but the cruiser had to have suffered at least some internal damage. Unfortunately, the rest of the escorts missed with their primary beams, perhaps because of the effects of the transit coupled with their green crews.
If the combined fleets were going to force the warp point, they were going to need a lot more ships, including particularly minesweepers. In the meantime, Admiral Ruston, with General Semenov’s concurrence, sent messages back to the Solar system requesting the redeployment of DSB-L’s to their position, to either deter any D’Bringi counterattack or make it costly should they attempt to return to the Moskva system. In addition, both commanders requested additional scouting resources be constructed and assigned to any fleets operating outside of the Solar System, given the D’Bringi penchant for ambushes.
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Month 114, Day 11, newly discovered system
The last surviving D’Bringi scout was approaching the inner system when it detected drive fields ahead. After some consternation aboard the scout they decided to press on, after all, they were hoping to make contact with the Rehorish main fleet. Just over seventy minutes after they detected the drive fields, a message from the fleet in the inner system arrived, identifying itself as the Rehorish Grand Fleet, and ordering the scout to identify itself. The scout’s crew celebrated as they sent their identity information, along with a status update from the D’Bringi fleet commander. The Rehorish now had an open route to humanity’s inner systems!
The Rehorish fleet dispatched CD’s back to their home system, updating them, and set their course for the jump point to the new systems revealed by the D’Bringi scout. It would take over a month for the information to make it to the D’Bringi fleet in the Leningrad system.
(just a short one today!)
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Month 114, Day 13, Earth
The messages from the two fleet commanders arrived on Earth, addressed to the two Fleet HQ’s. A joint Allied Fleet HQ was in the planning stages, but would not be established for some time. In the meantime, the two fleets had set up a temporary Joint Operations Fleet Command Center (JOFCC), staffed by both organizations, and the messages were routed to this command center, as well as to the respective fleet HQ’s. In theory, the JOFCC was authorized to make command decisions relating to the combined fleets, but in reality, the JOFCC was currently staffed by relatively junior officers and it was understood by both sides that any real decisions would be made by the respective Fleet HQ’s. This command structure was cumbersome and any decisions made would take time, and both sides knew this, but for now it was the best they had. Changes were coming slowly, and required extensive negotiations, sometimes all the way up to the leadership level. Fortunately, at least for now, an emergency atmosphere still permeated both governments and the decisions, which otherwise could have taken weeks to consider, were given high priority. In just under a day, the fleet HQ’s decision to support the fleet commander’s request was ratified. Unfortunately, the USSR’s automated weapons at Sol’s warp point had been depleted during the war, and had not yet been built back up again. In addition, the USSR’s DSB control systems were installed on their asteroid forts, and were not mobile, meaning that the response fell upon the Coalition. Therefore, the response came from the Coalition’s Sol warp point defenses. A small task group made up of a Coalition destroyer AWCS (Automated Weapon Control Ship) and several freighters carrying 230 Coalition DSB-L’s was dispatched to the Combined Fleet’s location.
Month 114, Day 15, Coalition Sligo system
The Tarek complete their planetary survey of the innermost planet in their component of their binary system. The planet is ST, and thus fundamentally unsuited to them, but it is the only semi-habitable planet in their component of the binary system left to them by the Coalition. The survey results are disappointing. The planet is rated very poor, and this is a massive disappointment to the Imperial Government. To make up for the disappointment, the government of the Tarek blames the poor rating on the Coalition, hinting that strip mining or other “alien trickery” is responsible. Tarek survey ships move on to begin surveying the non-habitable moons and asteroids of the “B” component, before moving on to the A component of the binary system.
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Month 114, Day 16, Taugh System
The Rehorish Grand Fleet, all fifty-three ships, transited into the Taugh/Volvograd system on this date. Once assembled, the fleet split, with five destroyers splitting off to watch the various warp points in the system. The rest of the ships set out for the warp point to the Duril/Moskva system.
Month 114, Day 24, Moskva system
The Coalition scouting group assigned to watch the warp link from Sigma Draconis/Moskva to the Shaka/Taugh system was split between the two sides of the warp link. A scout frigate sat in the Shaka/Taugh system, while an explorer class scout sat in the Moskva system, so that a watch could be kept on both sides of the warp point. At 0730 hours the scout frigate Outreach detected drive fields approaching on a direct course from the warp point that led to the Soviet colonial territories. They immediately sent a warning to the combined fleet at the warp point to the Leningrad system and settled in to watch the approaching fleet.
Several hours later a message from the explorer-scout assigned to the Shaka Picket group arrived. This picket ship had been repositioned from the warp point after the arrival of the combined fleet’s scout group, to a location approximately seventy-two light minutes inward, towards the warp point to the Soviet colonial territories. The explorer had been positioned off of the direct route of approach, positioned to gather information on any formation approaching the warp point to the Moskva system without being detected in return. The explorer scout reported that the approaching fleet was composed of forty-eight ships. Based on their drive field strengths, the fleet appeared to be composed of fifteen heavy cruisers, eighteen light cruisers, and fifteen destroyers. The explorer scout was forced to fleet after obtaining that information, as the Rehorish fleet was by then close enough to detect it even with its drive field down. Almost immediately after the Rehorish fleet was close enough to detect the drive field down scout, a trio of Rehorish destroyers peeled off to force the Coalition scout away. Fortunately, the explorer-scout was faster than the destroyers and able to stay out of range of their weapons.
This information was sent on to the combined fleets on the other side of the Moskva system.
On board the Rehorish fleet, alarms began sounding when their sensors detected the lone ship just off of their course towards the warp point. A trio of destroyers were dispatched to force the unknown ship away from the fleet, just in case it was hostile. Contact messages were sent, in the hopes that it was a D’Bringi ship, however, no response was received. Shortly after that, a new set of drive fields was detected on the warp point to the Duril system, seventy-two light minutes away.
The Rehorish Grand fleet continued on towards the warp point, but now a screen of destroyers was thrown out ahead of the fleet, to ensure no more surprises popped up.
Month 114, Day 24, Moskva System
The Coalition AWCS destroyer arrived at the Combined Fleet’s location at approximately 1700 hours. The 230 DSB-L’s carried by the accompanying freighters were quickly placed around the warp point, adding an extra layer of security.
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Month 114, Day 24, Rehorish Home System
CD’s carrying the messages from the Grand Fleet arrived on Rehorish Prime on this date. They caused excitement throughout the upper reaches of the government and fleet command, as the route to the Human’s home system was now open. D’Bringi messages had arrived the day before, informing the Rehorish that their fleet had been forced to retreat now that the Coalition had joined the war. Now the Grand Fleet would be able to balance the scales. Messages were dispatched to the Grand Fleet confirming their orders to seek out and join the D’Bringi fleet, while avoiding battle with the human’s fleets if possible. Whether these messages would arrive before the Grand Fleet engaged the humans was an open question.
Month 114, Day 26, Taugh system
The Rehorish Grand Fleet began its final approach to the warp point to the Duril (Sigma Draconis/Moskva) system at 1830 hours. The lone ship that had been shadowing them had raced ahead and joined the two drive fields sitting on the warp point. When the Rehorish picket destroyers reached fifteen light seconds from the warp point, the alien ships sent a message to the Rehorish ships. The message was in the human’s primary language (English, as the Rehorish learned it from the Coalition Fleet during their representative’s contact with the Coalition ships in the Moskva system). The message informed the Rehorish that the Coalition had entered the war, and that if the Rehorish fleet continued its advance, it would be destroyed by combined Coalition and USSR forces. The message also offered the possibility of peace to the Rehorish, if they withdrew from Soviet territory and ended their participation in the war.
The Rehorish fleet continued its course towards the warp point, and the ships on the warp point, now identified as Coalition ships, jumped back to the Moskva/Sigma Draconis system.
Month 114, Day 28, Sigma Draconis system
“Admiral, we are downloading a message from a courier drone that just moved into range. Decrypting now.”
Admiral Ruston nodded towards the camera. “Very well. Route it to my terminal.” He closed the connection and settled back into his chair, staring at the wall, lost in thought. He should be sleeping, but their situation was keeping him up. They had been at the warp point to Leningrad for over two weeks now, with no action on either side, since the loss of the bulk of their initial probe group just after arrival. General Semenov was receiving increasingly irate messages from his HQ demanding action, and the fact that they had managed to liberate the Soviet colonies in the Moskva system wasn’t enough to placate the Marshals back on Earth. They wanted the D’Bringi fleet destroyed or chased out of human territory, and the Brezhnev system, and the fleet that had retreated there, liberated.
A minute later his terminal chimed, and he opened the message icon that floated in the center of the screen. Seconds later he was swearing, and, still swearing, he reached for the comm button that would connect him with the bridge. Before he could key it, his monitor lit up with the face of lieutenant commander Bradford, the flagship’s bridge duty officer. “Sir, General Semenov is on the screen for you.”
Admiral Ruston shook his head, then nodded to the officer. “Put him through.” The screen blanked, then relit to show General Semenov. He had obviously been sleeping, which wasn’t surprising given the time. “General, I assume you’ve seen the message?”
The Soviet general nodded. “Yes. The Rehorish are in the Volvograd system in large numbers, and are likely already in this system.”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “We have to plan our next steps. Come on over and I’ll have my aide brew up some of that tea you like so much.”
“On my way.” The screen flickered out, and Ruston sent a message to his aide to prepare the briefing room for General Semenov and himself.
By the time General Semenov arrived, Admiral Ruston was in the briefing room looking at a holo display of the Moskva system. General Semenov moved to the table and the tea set, while searching the display for anything that looked out of place. The display had the system primary centered, with the inner planets, which contained the bulk of the colonies belonging to the two nations, all huddled close to the star. Approximately thirty-eight light minutes out from the star an asteroid belt circled the inner system. Several lonely outer planets orbited outside the asteroid belt, although only one, the gas giant Midas, had any colonies on its moons. The system’s three warp points were scattered across the outer system, with the warp points to the Volvograd and Leningrad systems almost directly across the system from each other, separated by nearly five hundred and twenty-eight light minutes. It would take the Rehorish fleet over fourteen days to reach their current position. However, the warp point to Sol was positioned in between the two fleets, offset to one side. Fortunately, it was closer to the human fleets than it was to the Rehorish. The Sol warp point linked the system back to the Solar System, and to all of the supplies and ammunition they needed to keep the fleet operational. General Semenov noted a sphere around the warp point to the Volvograd system. “I presume the sphere represents the possible locations for the Rehorish fleet?”
Admiral Ruston nodded and gestured for the general to take a seat. “They’ve been in the system for two days now. We have ships shadowing them but we won’t know for around six hours what course they took when the entered the system, or if they even left the warp point.”
“If they have left the warp point, they will either come here or head to the warp point to Sol. My guess is that they will head to the warp point. It is a location we must defend.”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “I’ve already ordered the fleet to prepare for departure, as I presume you have.” Admiral Ruston saw the Russian nod, and punched a code into the keypad in front of him. In response, the map disappeared and was replaced by a display of their fleet. The Combined Allied Fleet consisted of nine battlecruisers, twenty-one cruisers, nine light cruisers, three destroyers, eight corvettes, and ten escorts. The display showed a stylized hull for each class, followed by inset data windows showing numbers, weapons, and current status. The Coalition and Soviet ship hulls were similar, basically long and angular, with living spaces, engines, and weapons built out around a long keel. Five of the battlecruisers and two of the heavy cruisers were showing armor damage, from the effort to clear the minefield at the warp point to Sol. In general, the armor damage was light, but one of the Soviet cruisers had suffered near-total loss of its armor, and several of the battlecruisers had lost 10-20% of their armor. The damage had been a constant nagging issue for both fleet commanders. For the most part the damage wasn’t significant enough to justify detaching the ships to return to the shipyards in the solar system, but any impairment to their ship’s combat status was enough to worry the two men.
After a few seconds for the two men to take in the status of their fleet, Admiral Ruston punched another code into the keyboard and a second display appeared just to the left of the Allied Fleet display. This display showed what little information was known about the Rehorish fleet advancing into the Moskva system. The display showed globes in varying sizes for the Rehorish ships, as their hull configuration was currently unknown. Underneath the globes, data windows showed what information they had. The Rehorish fleet consisted of fifteen heavy cruisers, eighteen light cruisers, and fifteen destroyers. There was no information on the weapons or defenses of the Rehorish fleet.
Admiral Ruston punched in another command, and a third display appeared over the conference table, this one showing stylized icons for D’Bringi and T’Pau hulls, with numbers and known weapons and defenses below. The last information on the D’Bringi and T’Pau fleets had their strength at three battlecruisers, twelve heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, and ten corvettes.
Finally, Admiral Ruston called up a fleet mass comparison of the three fleets. The human fleet out-massed each of the other two comfortably. It was almost twice as large as the D’Bringi/T’Pau fleet, and 26% larger than the Rehorish fleet. However, both commanders could see that if they were able to join together, the Rehorish and D’Bringi fleets would out-mass the human fleets by nearly a third.
After staring at the display for a minute or two, General Semenov finally stirred. “We must not let them combine.”
Admiral Ruston, who had the same thought, said, “We may not be able to stop them. The Rehorish will almost certainly avoid combat if we move to intercept them, as we must. We cannot let them invest the warp point to the home system, or they will cut us off from the supplies and missiles that are necessary for our continued operations. In addition, if they do avoid combat with our combined fleets, I do not see how we can force them to fight. Their cruisers are as fast as ours, after all.” Admiral Ruston brought the system display to the fore again, while the fleet displays shrunk into the background.
General Semenov grunted. “We can either force them to fight or retreat, though. If we detach a small force that heads for the warp point to Volvograd, they will be forced to retreat to defend their supply lines.”
Admiral Ruston stared at the display for a minute, thinking furiously. “They would be forced to retreat, that is, unless their goal is to set the D’Bringi fleet free. If that is their goal then they will set their course for the warp point here, and try to slip around us to attack the defenses we’ve set up.”
General Semenov nodded. “True enough. In either case, though, we must intercept them.”
The two commanders talked and plotted for some time, then brought in their respective staffs to begin planning the campaign to try and trap the Rehorish fleet. The combined fleets would set out in three hours, leaving behind the warp point to be defended by the DSB-L’s. The D’Bringi, if they knew that the Allied Fleet left, could breach the defenses, but only at a cost.
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Turn 115, Day 1, Across Known Space
D’Bringi Expanses:
Repairs were completed on a battlecruiser and three heavy cruisers in the yards over D’Bringi Prime. In addition, three clan heavy cruisers left the yards after refits to the latest standard were completed. Finally, two new clan heavy cruisers left the yards to join the clan fleets. These ships were returned to the Keeper and Clan Home Fleets, which were now filling out with repaired ships and new construction.
Eight heavy cruisers and a battlecruiser left the planet, bound for the front lines to reinforce the D’Bringi fleet there. Four of the eight heavy cruisers were shaking down, either having just been built or just finished refits.
Rehorish Stellar Dominion:
Activity in the Rehorish home yards had fallen off in recent months, due to new tech under development and the fact that the burgeoning fleet reactivated from mothballs was straining the economy. A lone corvette-sized ammunition ship was launched this month, and a heavy cruiser finished refitting as well. In the Tokyo system, two ships, formerly with the Soviet fleet, were released from the Rehorish repair ships. The two ships, a heavy cruiser and a destroyer, were now completely repaired and refitted for use by the Rehorish. For new, the two ships join the group of warships escorting the repair group.
Reformation Coalition:
The yards in the Coalition were filled with hulls under construction, but no new ships launched this month.
In the Sligo system, the Tarek dispatch a fleet of freighters and personnel transports from their home planet. The Coalition colony of Wunderland watches the colony fleet, which is escorted by Tarek warships, carefully, but it turns in-system towards the innermost ST planet. The Tarek are expanding. The Coalition colonists find this disquieting, although the Coalition representatives have made it as clear as they can to the Tarek that humans have no designs on any other body in their system.
USSR:
The USSR’s orbital yards and planetary construction facilities, which had been mobilized after its stunning series of defeats, were now churning out more and more ships to make up for its losses. Twenty escorts were launched this month, and a new class of corvette sized mine control ship was laid down. This class, while not intended to participate in combat, was the first Soviet ship to be armed with the newly developed short-ranged plasma guns.
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Month 115, Day 4, Duril/Moskva system
The Rehorish Grand Fleet had been moving cautiously across the Duril system, heading for the warp point the Leningrad/Yeack system. At this point they were closer to the warp point to Yeack than they were to their entry point. So far their advance had been uneventful except for the near constant duel between the Coalition scout ships trying to get close to the Grand Fleet, and the Rehorish destroyers detailed to push them back and/or destroy them. The Coalition scout group consisted of three explorer class scouts and two larger frigate-scouts. Cho-sho Banzan had detached five of his precious destroyers to picket the warp points in the Taugh system, something he hadn’t wanted to do but until they linked up with the D’Bringi, the Taugh system was the fleet’s lifeline back to home. There were three unexplored warp points in the Taugh system, and a D’Bringi scout had disappeared through one of those warp points. They must be watched, so he had detached the only ships in his fleet capable of doing so, his long-range scanner equipped destroyers. That left fifteen destroyers with his fleet, and, if he had detailed all of them to push back the Coalition scouts, they likely would have been successful, although that was not a sure thing as the Coalition explorer-scouts were faster than his destroyers. In any case, he had only detailed five DD’s to push back the enemy scouts, and assigned the other ten DD’s to run ahead of the fleet to detect any possible ambushes by the humans. With only five DD’s facing five enemy scouts, the game of cat and mouse around the fleet had been continuous as Coalition scouts attempted to slip around their pursuers and make runs at the fleet to ensure it was still together, and to gather as much information as they could. In return, the Rehorish destroyers tried to sucker the Coalition scouts into weapons range for a crippling blow. They were still six days from the warp point to the Taugh/Leningrad system at this point.
At 1700 hours, the sensors on the lead picket destroyers of the Rehorish fleet detected drive fields seventy-two light minutes from the fleet, ahead and approximately forty-five degrees to the right of the fleet’s course. The information was transmitted to Cho-sho Banzan, who ordered the fleet to continue on towards its target, the warp point to Yeack and the D’Bringi fleet.
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Month 115, Day 4, D’Bringi Prime
“Why have you brought me here?” Skull-Splitter, chief of the K’Rorin Clan, was obviously in a bad mood, and being peremptorily summoned by a fellow chief to a more-or-less neutral meeting place likely had a lot to do with it. Skull-Splitter thumped ponderously into the room and took the proffered chair. He was large for a D’Bringi, and while his title, ‘Skull-Splitter”, had been handed down from some leader of the K’Rorin in the distant past, he certainly looked like he was capable of splitting any skull he encountered. Outside, K’Rorin guards surrounded the small meeting center, joining their B’Regest fellows in setting up a perimeter. The two guard forces were mainly concentrating on outside threats, but also were watching each other, alert for any possible treachery. Such treachery had been common in the time before space flight, but while it was uncommon now, especially amongst the highest leadership levels, it was not unknown.
Burning Blade, the leader of the B’Regest clan, sat a cup filled with water in front of the other clan leader, who looked at it disdainfully and pulled a flask out of his pack. “I see the Keepers aren’t here, or the T’Chau. Are they late, or did you just invite me?”
Burning Blade, generally considered the most urbane of the major clan leaders, sighed, and dipped his head. “Blunt as always. Very well. This doesn’t involve the Keepers, at least not yet, and with Fortress Breaker off world, with the fleet, if I invited the T’Chau we’d just get one of his innumerable sons who, of course, has no power of his own.”
Skull-Splitter’s eyes narrowed as he considered what his fellow clan chief was saying. “What has gone wrong?”
“Possibly nothing. But…there is something strange going on out on the frontier. This morning I received a strange report from one of my troubleshooters on Phyriseq IV.”
Skull-Splitter leaned forward. “Phyriseq IV? That’s that colony on the periphery, right? The Mintek are beyond there, and the trade goods we are getting from them comes in at Phyriseq, right?
Burning Blade shifted uncomfortably. “Yes.” If he was surprised that the other clan chief could pull those facts out of his memory, he didn’t let on.
“And, if I remember correctly, your clan has primary responsibility for the colony on Phyriseq IV, and thus the trade with the Mintek? Trade that you are supposed to ensure is fairly divided between the clans.” That last was said without emphasis, but with a focused glare that said volumes.
“Yes, and that’s why word of the issue has reached me.” He held up his hand when the other clan chief looked like he was going to interject. “I employ troubleshooters to deal with clan…problems, throughout the Expanses. These troubleshooters are usually the younger sons and daughters of the various family chiefs, and, while they have significant authority when on a mission, they have little hope of advancement or achieving a position through their family connections.”
“And thus, they are loyal to you. We do something similar.”
“Exactly. Five months ago, when we concluded the trade deal with the Mintek, I began receiving some troubling messages from my factors and labor bosses on Phyriseq IV. As part of the trade agreement, we had agreed to let the Mintek move freely on the two closest colonies, Phyriseq IV and Jerothal A-II, while our traders and tourists would be allowed free movement on two of the inhabited planets in their home system.”
Skull-Splitter suddenly sat up straight. “Wait! Jerothal? That system is the gateway to the human’s worlds! Our fleet confronting the human’s lies beyond Jerothal!”
Burning Blade’s expression turned even gloomier, if that was possible. “You begin to see at least one of my concerns. At any rate, my contacts on Phyriseq were telling me that the Mintek were up to something. They never were quite able to tell me what they thought the Mintek were up to, though. Every report just stated that relatively large numbers of Mintek were visiting the colony, and that they were very friendly and were talking to everyone. About a month later, the Mintek asked for permission to set up temples in several towns, and permission was granted. It wasn’t long after that that the reports of troublesome behavior dwindled to nothing. After that every report said that everything was fine, and all reports that mentioned the Mintek did so in glowing terms. I intended to follow up, but with the war…well, to be honest, it never happened.”
Skull-Splitter’s anger had dissipated, and now he was focused on what his fellow chief was trying to say. “So, what changed?”
“My staff noticed a relatively minor accounting discrepancy in the accounts for one of our mines on Phyriseq IV several months ago, and so I dispatched a junior troubleshooter to determine what the issue actually was. More than once, what appeared to be a minor error, when investigated, turned into a massive problem that we were lucky we brought to light early, so I tend to send the troubleshooters in unannounced, and early. Reports from the troubleshooter came in like clockwork, and revealed some very disquieting events were taking place on Phyriseq IV. There were Mintek temples in every city and town, and they were hosting daily events for the workers that were always well attended. One of the troubleshooter’s last reports indicated that the Mintek running the temples seemed to be very friendly with the clan overseers for the various cities and corporations responsible for operations for the colony, and stated that the troubleshooter was going to try to infiltrate the local temple to learn more. Nothing has been heard of her since.”
“This is bad!” Skull-Splitter leapt to his feet and began pacing. “We have warships in the system, right?”
“We do. Three cruisers intended to show the flag and defend the border. Two T’Chau ships and one of yours.”
“One of mine?” He paused his pacing to punch an inquiry into his pocket comp. “The Devastator, under Turiq. A good warrior. We must contact him immediately!”
“Wait! We must be very cautious. Think! Why has your commander not contacted you to report these events?”
Skull-Splitter turned on the other clan chief. “You accuse him?”
Burning Blade merely held up his hand, waiving away the others accusation. “I accuse no one. I merely fear that some, maybe many, officials in the system may have been suborned by the Mintek. This may be nothing more than the fever dreams of a minor official, or it could be that the Mintek already control one of our colonies.”
Skull-Splitter resumed pacing. “The other two ships of the squadron are clan T’Chau. Could they be in league with the Mintek?”
“And now you see why I didn’t invite them. We don’t know what is going on there, but we must respond, and we cannot tip off anyone in the system when we do so.”
“We have no ships left to send there, though. Between the three clans and the Keepers, there are no more than three warships left that are ready for battle, and one of those is a corvette.”
“Yes, I know. I propose diverting the reinforcements dispatched to Fortress Breaker and the main fleet at the start of the month. After all, they are already heading in the right direction, they merely have to divert from their original course once they reach the Chruqua nexus at the end of month. And, the reinforcements out numbers the border force in Phyriseq handily.”
Skull-Splitter stopped pacing and turned back to the other chief. “That is…doable. However, those reinforcements are needed on the front lines. They will go a long way towards regaining the fleet’s superiority over the humans.”
Burning Blade looked troubled. “I know, but it can’t be helped. I fear what is going on in Phyriseq, and I fear that if we don’t investigate now it boil over and engulf us all while the fleet is deployed far away.”
Skull-Splitter stood stock still for a second, then dipped his head in agreement. “Agreed. We will have to bring in the Keepers, though. The squadron you wish to divert is led by one of their commanders, on board one of their battlecruisers. And, there are two T’Chau cruisers with the group. If the T’Chau are in on whatever is going on, they will have to be dealt with.”
“I have called upon the Keeper-Cleric to attend us later this day, in the hope that we could come to an agreement. As for the T-Pau, we can put the squadron under a communication’s blackout, and leave them to watch the warp points in the Chruqua system. That will weaken the task group, but not severely.”
Skull-Splitter ceased pacing. “I will go out to join the reinforcement squadron. One of us must be there to evaluate the situation on-scene, and to provide command and control.” He stared at the leader of the B’Regest intently. “We must determine the intent of the T’Chau as soon as possible!”
“Agreed. I will remain here to coordinate our activities and response. I will have all of my agents begin investigating T’Chau activities across our territories, in areas where we are still receiving good information. In addition, I will send an auditing team with you, to go over all of the colonial government’s records.” The B’Regest leader stood and moved towards his counterpart. “We must stand together in this.”
Skull-Splitter dipped his head in agreement. “I will order our agents to investigate the T’Chau as well, and to report to you their findings. In the meantime, all new construction and newly refitted warships must be held here, to act as a reserve against the possibility of military action against the Mintek, should they prove to be a threat.”
The two leaders, having come to an agreement, moved to another room to bring their respective staffs together to begin the planning that would be necessary to divert he squadron and begin investigating the T’Chau. The Keeper-Cleric arrived just over three hours later, and having received some cryptic warnings from Phyriseq himself, agreed to place the Keeper ships in the reinforcement squadron under Skull-Splitter’s control. In addition, he agreed to send an elite team of Keeper Inquisitors with Skull Splitter.
Skull-Splitter would board the lone corvette in the home system belonging to the B’Regest clan, which would ferry him to the reinforcement squadron at its maximum speed, risking burning out its engines in its haste to reach the warships. The reinforcement squadron, which would be renamed to Attack Group Skull-Splitter upon his arrival, would arrive in the Phyriseq system next month, on day 5.
Meanwhile, on Mintek Prime, four days earlier…
The Mintek are entirely humanoid, and on first inspection appeared almost identical to humans, something that threw the D’Bringi for a considerable loop when they first encountered the newly discovered race. The sole visible difference is that the sides and back of a Mintek’s head is covered with what appears to be a shell, although it is made of a bone-like substance. The Mintek are hairless, and their internal organs and layout is significantly different from that of humanity, although those differences are not visible. The Mintek civilization also includes a second race, the Beoratal. The Beoratal evolved on the second planet of the Mintek system’s yellow-star component, while the Mintek themselves evolved on the third planet of the yellow star. A third habitable planet exists in the system, orbiting the white star primary of the binary pair, but this planet was uninhabited until the Mintek placed a colony there shortly after exploring the system. The Beoratal are entirely alien in appearance, being insectoid and possessing an exoskeleton. A human would likely think a Beoratal looked like a large grasshopper. Beoratal have been completely absorbed into Mintek society, and, indeed, largely think of themselves as Mintek at this point. Although they are not legally prohibited from travelling, they are not common off of their home world.
Chancellor Dukhon, the elected leader of the Mintek, smiled and rose when his Minister for Equality and Inclusion swept into his office. Dukhon always looked forward to Turval’s visits, as he always made an entrance, and always had something interesting to say, or some relevant wisdom to impart. The Ministry of Equality and Inclusion (MEI) was the most important bureau in the government, by almost any accounting, and certainly was the most powerful, should it choose to flex its inherent power. Of course, it was very rare for the MEI to do so until recently. Ever since the enlightenment of the Beoratal decades ago the Ministry, in spite of its sweeping powers and responsibility, had mostly limited its efforts to general education and oversight of the mental hygiene police. Now, though, with the contact with the unenlightened, the Ministry had been greatly enlarged to reflect its greatly enlarged responsibilities.
“Chancellor, good day to you!” Turval bustled into the room and bowed before the Chancellor, as was traditional and appropriate. “It is a beautiful morning; may we have our meeting on the balcony?”
Chancellor Dukhon smiled at his Minister. “Of course. I know how you love the view.” The Chancellor rose and gestured for his aides to move their food and drink to the spacious patio on the balcony adjoined to the Chancellor’s one hundred and thirty-seventh floor office at the peak of the capital city’s main government complex. The view was breathtaking, and both of them sat silently for a time, looking out over the city. Unity, as the capital city was named, would have been called ethereally beautiful by most humans. Its buildings were smooth and elegant, almost natural in appearance, and where people could be seen there was none of the hustle and bustle that was so common in human cities. Instead, the Mintek visible all appeared to be an integral part of the city, organized but not regimented, purposeful but not driven. The Mintek Universal Union’s two most powerful leaders often took their meals together on the balcony, as the harmony and tranquility of the city provided a useful backdrop to the decisions that had to be made, but were sometimes distasteful or disagreeable.
Finally, Dukhon turned to his minister and said, “How goes the outreach programs? Are the D’Bringi evolved enough to be brought to the light of Union?”
A huge smile broke across Turval’s face. “Of course they are Chancellor, as I have said before. I cannot believe that any sentient beings exist who are too depraved to see the light of the Perfect Union! Even now our Speakers move across two unenlightened D’Bringi planets, bringing harmony and a desire for Unity to the D’Bringi people.”
“And the D’Bringi government? We know from our experience with the Beoratal that regressive, pre-Unity governments can be blind to the truth, and indeed will try to organize against us and our attempts to spread the truth.”
Turval’s face took on a serious look. “We have infiltrated and subverted many in the local governments on the two worlds we have been granted access to at this point in time. We believe that we have prevented any warnings from getting out to the central D’Bringi government, however, we cannot be sure of this.”
“And what steps have you taken to continue the spread of the truth to the unenlightened?”
Turval settled back into his chair, an uneasy look on his face. “We have encouraged many of the newly converted D’Bringi faithful to emigrate to a new colony we have established for them on Mintek Tertius, in the home system. Here they will be safe from any reprisals brought by the regressive elements in the D’Bringi government, should they become aware of our efforts to bring their people to enlightenment. And on this new colony they can be trained in the truth of Unity. My reports show that they hold great promise. Many seek to become Speakers themselves, to spread enlightenment to their own people! The response of the common D’Bringi people has been gratifying. So far, over two million D’Bringi have agreed to come to Mintek Tertius and make a new life for themselves within the Light of Unity.” Turval’s face, which had brightened at the mention of the new colony, now grew serious again. “Of course, we cannot yet protect the Speakers who move through D’Bringi territory, or those faithful that remain there to assist in the spread of the truth. We must give the D’Bringi, including those within their government, the freedom to choose. As we saw with the Beoratal, when presented with the truth of Unity, any reasoning being will accept it and reorder their lives to live within the accepted dictates as presented by the faithful. We must give them that freedom of choice, until they prove they cannot be trusted with the choice. Only then are the faithful justified in sweeping away the regressive forces who would prevent their own people from reaching enlightenment. Yes, this will place the faithful, and the Speakers who lead them, in greater danger, but such is the way of the path to enlightenment.”
Turval stood at that point, and moved to the edge of the balcony, where he could stare out over the city. The Chancellor moved to join him. After a few seconds, Turval continued. “Our efforts to bring the D’Bringi to enlightenment have paid off, old friend. The Speakers on Phyriseq IV have convinced a group of newly converted low-level administrators within the colonial government to give them access to the D’Bringi government’s navigation databases for the region around Phyriseq. It seems the system has four warp points aside from the one that connects to us here, and one of those leads to a system with no less than twelve warp points. This system seems to be the center of D’Bringi exploration efforts, and there are no less than four additional systems located adjacent to the warp nexus with habitable planets and populations. Even better, these planets house four different races!” Turval turned to the Chancellor, his eyes blazing. “We have been given a great opportunity to spread the truth. Think! With one fell swoop we can begin the spread of The One and his promised Unity to four additional races!”
Chancellor Dukhon was staggered. This was an immense development. He shook his head. “It is, indeed, a great opportunity old friend. But think of the danger! Our expansion of the faith into D’Bringi space was done stealthily, and by stages, to ensure that the regressive elements within their government did not act prematurely and attempt to prevent the enlightenment of their own people. We have failed to subvert the warships the D’Bringi government stationed at the border, and instead have had to settle for isolating them and cutting off or subverting their communications with their higher-level commanders. If we launch enlightenment missions to these other populations, then we will be escalating to a new level, and inviting the regressive elements to respond, perhaps forcefully.”
Minister Turval’s face assumed a solemn look. “Chancellor, surely you agree that we must take risks to spread the truth across the galaxy? We cannot shirk our responsibility to enlighten those who dwell in ignorance, or we ourselves will fall from the truth of The One and their Unity.”
The Chancellor stared at his old friend for a few seconds, emotions warring within him. His concern and fear for the fate of the Speakers and their enlightened followers battled with his certain knowledge that they must spread the faith to all unenlightened. Eventually his faith in The One won out, as it must, and he nodded. “You may send your enlightenment missions to the new populations. But! While I cannot reduce the immediate risk, I will do what I can to protect the faithful. Our memory of the devastating losses to the faithful during the efforts to bring the Beoratal to the truth are lasting, and still painful. I will do all I can to prevent such things from reoccurring. I am putting the fleet on alert, and ordering it to redeploy to the warp point. I will direct Strategos Neroon to prepare a plan to support your expansion efforts, in case the regressive elements move to stop your Speakers of the Truth.” Turval moved to speak, but the Chancellor raised his hands. “No, I will not hear your arguments this time. I will not allow another massacre of the faithful while I have the strength to prevent it.” Seeing the look on his friend’s face, he relented, slightly. “I will tell Strategos Neroon to seek a peaceful resolution, if at all possible.”
Minister Turval bowed from the waist. “I will do as you direct, Chancellor.” He turned back to the table they had abandoned. “Come, let us finish our breakfast before we begin changing the galaxy.” He chuckled.
That very day orders would be sent out. Some of the orders went to the fleet orbiting Mintek Prime. Upon receipt of the orders, the immense superdreadnoughts of the main fleet powered up their engines and left orbit, escorted by the battlecruisers and destroyers that made up the rest of the Mintek Battle Fleet. The other orders were sent to the official Mintek Embassy on Phyriseq IV. From there they were distributed to the faithful on the planet, when then began organizing missions to the five newly discovered systems. They would go forth on D’Bringi freighters that had either been subverted or otherwise hired to transport the pilgrims, and they left the system without being noticed or questioned by the three D’Bringi cruisers that hovered next to the warp point that led deeper into the D’Bringi Expanses. The squadron’s commander was just becoming aware that something was going on, and that the responses he was receiving from fleet HQ were not in synch with the messages he was sending out. But he was not yet suspicious enough to act against D’Bringi civilian transports going about apparently legitimate business.
-
Month 115, Day 5, Duril/Moskva system
The combined human fleets and the Rehorish Grand Fleet were now approximately one light minute apart, and Cho-sho Banzan now knew that he was out-massed by about 25%. In spite of the elite crews of his warships, Banzan feared that the mass advantage, coupled with the human’s general tech advantage, would spell doom for his fleet in a general engagement. The human’s advantage made it all the more important that he link up with the D’Bringi fleet, which, according to reports from the D’Bringi scout that gave them the warp point information to reach this position, had retreated to the Yeack system.
As the two fleets had approached each other, Cho-sho Banzan had spent some time in consultation with his staff and his ship commanders. Their choices were limited. They could retreat, as the D’Bringi had, and settle for bottling the humans up in their home system and the adjacent Duril system. That choice had some merit, and would ensure that over the long run the humans would grow weaker while the D’Bringi and Rehorish grew stronger, but it also had some critical problems. Primarily, they would be conceding the initiative to the humans, who would be able to concentrate their fleet against one of the allied race’s forces and attack at a time of their choosing. Banzan was not in favor of any approach that conceded the initiative to the enemy. Or, they could attack the human fleet, in the hopes that the warrior spirit of their crews, coupled with their training and experience, would be enough to destroy the human ships in spite of their mass and tech advantage. Many of the Grand Fleet’s commanders supported this option. While Banzan was proud of his fleet, he knew that relying on intangibles like spirit and experience to make up for material shortfalls was a dangerous trap. The final choice was to attempt to slip past the human fleets and join the D’Bringi, and then engage the human fleets from a position of advantage. Several of Banzan’s staff officers were proponents of this approach, and Banzan himself favored it. He had noted during the previous engagement with the Soviets that their handling of their fleet was rough and amateurish. He felt fairly confident that he could maneuver past the human fleet.
In the end, Cho-sho had decided to attempt to link up with the D’Bringi. If they could slip past the human fleet, and then reach the warp point and determine what was placed there to stop the D’Bringi from entering the system, and then deal with it, then they could turn on the human fleet from a position of strength. Before beginning, he dispatched a group of ten CD’s at maximum speed towards the warp point to Yeack, to warn the D’Bringi of his intentions.
And so, the dance between the fleets began in the Moskva/Duril system, as the humans tried to close on the Grand Fleet and force them to fight, or at least away from the warp point to Yeack/Leningrad, while the Grand Fleet attempted to slip around the human fleet without coming too close. In spite of the disparity in mass, the two fleets were theoretically evenly matched in the arena of maneuver warfare. Both fleets had the same maximum and cruising speeds, and could match the other’s speed if needed.
The two fleets maneuvered across the system for the next twelve hours, with each attempting to force the other into an error. The humans would have had an easier time trying to out maneuver the Rehorish had they divided their fleet, but their commanders decided that such a move was too risky, and invited defeat in detail. In the end, Cho-sho Banzan was right, the humans were unused to working together and to fleet maneuvers on a system-scale. The Rehorish Grand Fleet, expertly guided by the Stellar Dominion’s best admiral, made the humans look slow and clumsy. The Rehorish fleet slipped past the humans neatly, and set out for the warp point to Yeack with the humans in pursuit. They lost some time because of the wild maneuvering necessary to avoid the human fleet, and their ETA was now in day 11.
After some consultation, the two human commanders decided to increase the pressure on the Rehorish in the hopes of forcing them away from the warp point, and so the human fleets increased their speed to military maximum. The Rehorish increased their speed as well, reducing their ETA to the warp point to Day 8. During the maneuvering and the subsequent increase in speed, Cho-sho Banzan had managed to increase the separation between the two fleets to 90 light seconds. The humans would have no chance to reduce this as they were all at their maximum speed.
Month 115, Day 6, Yeack (Leningrad) system
CD’s from the home system arrived on this date informing the D’Bringi fleet that their scouts had succeeded in meeting up with the Rehorish fleet, giving them a route into the human’s inner systems. The CD’s included a general timeline for the Rehorish fleet’s advance, giving their intended arrival at the warp point in the Moskva system to the Leningrad system in the last half of Month 115.
-
Month 115, Day 8, Moskva system, Combined Human Fleets
Admiral grimaced and punched in the command to link with General Semenov’s command ship. A few seconds later the view screen at his station lit with General Semenov’s habitually frowning face. “General, I’m afraid I have bad news. Two of my battlecruisers, the Canada and the India, are in the initial phases of engine burnout. They will have to reduce speed soon. As we are nearly to our target, I recommend slowing the entire fleet to mask the damage to the two battlecruisers. What is the status of your fleet?”
General Semenov nodded. “We have no new burnouts at this time. Two escort class units suffered burnouts prior to this, but because of their higher base speed have been able to maintain the fleet speed so far.” The Soviet General frowned in thought. “If it was anything other than battlecruisers, I would recommend leaving them behind, but that is one third of your battlecruiser strength.” He sighed heavily. “And in truth, I do not know what we hope to accomplish at this point. The Rehorish either have some way to deal with our DSB-L’s or they intend to bull through them, but in either case they will reach the warp point and be able to deal with the defenses long before we can reach the area, whether we slow down or not. I’ve been considering recommending that we stop now, and perhaps even turn away and begin increasing the range between the fleets, given the almost certainty that they will soon be able to link up with the D’Bringi.”
Admiral Ruston was silent for a moment, considering, and then nodded. “Very well, I’ll order a halt here, and we’ll see what the Rehorish are up to.”
The Combined Fleets slowed to a halt two light minutes from the warp point, finally reducing the strain on the engines of the two fleets. The fact that only four ships suffered burnouts was a near miracle, given the strain that they had been under. It took another ten minutes for the Rehorish fleet to close on the warp point. The Rehorish fleet continued on at full military speed, and at no time during the pursuit had their drive fields waivered. It seemed that whatever the Rehorish were, they were excellent engineers.
Suddenly, as the Rehorish fleet launched a swarm of small craft, all of which plunged into the fields of DSB-L’s surrounding the warp point. The Combined Fleet’s sensors couldn’t determine the type of small craft, but considering the explosions that began rippling through the DSB-L’s, it was soon apparent that the Rehorish had deployed assault shuttles to attack the laser buoys. It took just almost seven minutes before the explosions died out, and then a clutch of CD’s were launched from the Rehorish fleet and disappeared through the warp point. Soon thereafter the D’Bringi and T’Pau fleets began jumping into the system. Long before that the Human fleets had turned for the warp point to the Solar system and began retreating. They were now out-massed by almost 50%, and the Rehorish fleet was a complete unknown in terms of capabilities.
Combined Human Fleets: 9xBC, 21xCA, 3xCL, 3xDD, 8xCT, 9xES
Combined Alien Fleets: 3xBC, 27xCA, 24xCL, 15xDD, 10xCT
Shortly after the Rehorish and D’Bringi fleets were united they turned in pursuit of the human fleets, and almost immediately accelerated to full military speed.
General Semenov’s face appeared on Admiral Ruston’s monitor. “They are going to catch us.”
Admiral Ruston grimaced. The Russian general’s tone was flat, but it felt like an accusation all the same. Still, he wasn’t wrong. “I know. We have two choices. We can turn and fight, here, with our whole strength, or we can run for home.” He didn’t want to leave ships behind, to be destroyed in hopeless fights with the D’Bringi and their allies. He didn’t want to watch his fleet melt away, over the next four days it would take to run to the home system at full military speed, never knowing which ship would suffer an engine casualty and fall behind. But the alternative…
“We cannot fight them here.” Again, the Russian general’s statement was flat and without tone. A mere statement of fact. “If you commit to battle here, we will lose, and the home system will be open and vulnerable. If we retreat, and save what we can, then we will be able to mount a credible defense at the warp point, and stop them there. And, once we build up our strength, we will be able to push them back.”
Admiral Ruston knew the personal consequences of such a disastrous retreat might be dire, but he pushed that thought out of his head, willing himself to focus on the strategic situation and put his personal fortunes away. “We are going to lose ships.”
Now it was the Russian’s turn to grimace. “Yes. But not so many as we would lose if we fight here.” The doubt and indecision were clear on the Coalition admiral’s face, and the Russian general spoke before the other could get anything out. “I know the position you are in. I know it perhaps better than anyone. There will be those who sit safe in offices on Earth, who will criticize you. They may demote you, or cashier you for this. Believe me, I know. Other, who never faced danger or enemy fire, will call you a coward, and hint behind your back that you ran when you should have stood. Believe me, I know. But you must focus on what is best for the men and women of this fleet, and for the future of our nations. Your personal welfare, or reputation, cannot stand against that.
Admiral Ruston looked at his Russian counterpart for a moment. General Semenov had been arrested by the previous Russian government, and it was pretty clear that he had only been rehabilitated to serve in the demeaning position of second in command to a senior Coalition officer. All for making smart choices and saving as much of his fleet as he could. Admiral Ruston turned slightly to look at the force comparison he had up on his other monitor. The disparity was significant. Finally, he nodded. “You are right. There is no choice, really. Prepare to move to full military speed. I’m going to contact the commanding officers of the Canada and the India.”
General Semenov frowned in thought. “Those two battlecruisers can’t run with us, with their engine damage, but they can inflict damage on the aliens before they are destroyed. If they are going to be destroyed anyway, isn’t it better to inflict some damage before the end?”
Admiral Ruston shook his head. “I won’t order their crews to sacrifice themselves.” He hesitated, thinking quickly. “But I will ask for volunteers.”
General Semenov nodded. “I will prepare my fleet.”
Admiral Ruston set up a three-way comm channel with the commanders of the battlecruisers India and Canada. Both captains refused to leave their ships, and insisted on being allowed to lead an attack, as their ships could not flee with the rest of the fleet. In the end, it was decided that 60% of the crews of both ships would be lifted off and transferred to the other ships in the fleet, and the two battlecruisers would turn back and engage the oncoming alien fleet.
A short time later the preparations were made, the crews were transferred, and the two big Coalition ships turned back towards the oncoming enemy. The rest of the human ships accelerated to full military speed, leaving the two ships behind.
The two Coalition battlecruisers were running towards the approaching alien fleets at their best system-cruising speed, while the aliens were approaching at full military speed. It took twenty-eight minutes for the two groups to close to combat range. Once they were approaching capital missile range, the two Coalition ships accelerated to full military speed. While the damage they had suffered from straining their engines prevented them from running at full military speed for long periods, they could still manage it for short periods. And neither captain believed their ship will still be operational at the end of this particular battle, so conserving their engines was the last thing on their minds. The human ships edged into capital missile range at 1830 hours, and they immediately launched a salvo, targeted on a D’Bringi BC. The two human ships launched a total of twelve capital missiles at the D’Bringi BC. Four maintained target lock, and one slipped through point defense fire to hit the alien ship’s shields. The D’Bringi battlecruisers returned fire, slipping three capital missiles past the Canada’s point defense to knock down her shields. A single D’Bringi heavy cruiser also joined in, launching six capital missiles at the India. One managed to penetrate her active defenses and impact on her shields.
The alien fleet continued to forge ahead, while the two human battlecruisers suddenly decelerated and began diverting engine power to drive field modulations intend to make them harder targets. The two human battlecruiser’s internally launched missiles were joined by nine additional missiles launched from their XO racks, for a total of 21 capital missiles targeted on the same D’Bringi BC. The D’Bringi BC targeted by the missiles launched an EDM in its own defense, but five human capital missiles got through its defensive fire and hit the ship’s naked drive field, stripping away most of its armor. The D’Bringi battlecruiser group replied in kind, launching 34 CM’s from their internal launchers and external racks. Between the engine modulations and the two EDM’s launched by the Canada, only two CM’s hit the desperately evading BC. The D’Bringi heavy cruiser also targeted the Canada with its internal and external launchers, but didn’t manage to get any missiles past the battlecruiser’s defenses.
The two Coalition battlecruisers now accelerated away from the oncoming D’Bringi fleet, but their need to keep the alien ships out of their blind spot meant that the aliens could creep closer every second. The next exchange of fire took place at five point five light seconds, and this time the human ships weren’t modulating their drive fields and the Canada had used up its EDM’s. Of the missiles launched by the D’Bringi BC group and the heavy cruiser, six managed to penetrate the Canada’s defenses, stripping her armor and destroying her datalink system. The human BC’s return fire penetrated the D’Bringi BC’s armor as well, knocking it out of its data group as well.
The human BC’s continued to run ahead of the alien fleets, but the range was dropping. The damaged D’Bringi BC turned away, refusing battle and moving out of range quickly. And here, finally, the human ships, which had performed so well, stumbled. The two D’Bringi BC’s still firing within their datagroup slipped five missiles past the Canada’s faltering defenses, destroying three engine rooms and staggering the big ship. The return fire from the two human BC’s was unfocused and failed to penetrate the D’Bringi BC’s point defense fire, and the D’Bringi CA managed to slip another capital missile past the Canada’s defenses and destroyed a fourth engine room.
The crippled Canada fell behind her consort, slowed to a third of her normal speed. The D’Bringi capital missile ships focused their fire on the India, while every other ship within range fired their beam weapons and standard missiles at the hapless Canada. The India focused her fire on the D’Bringi capital missile-armed cruiser, slipping a single missile past her defenses, while the two remaining D’Bringi battlecruisers and the D’Bringi heavy cruiser returned fire, hitting with five capital missiles, stripping the India of her shields and a good part of her armor. The Canada joined in, and managed to get four hits on the D’Bringi cruiser, but failed to penetrate her passive defenses. Two D’Bringi heavy cruisers opened fire on the Canada with standard missiles, but failed to score any hits.
The Canada continued to fall behind the India. The India was four point five light seconds from the alien fleets when the next exchange of fire occurred, while the Canada had slipped back to just two point seven five light seconds from the alien fleets. The India hit the D’Bringi capital missile armed heavy cruiser with another missile, causing it to release a streamer of atmosphere from an opening in its armor. Before the Canada could fire, though, a D’Bringi cruiser group opened fire with a combination of standard missiles, force beams, and energy pulse cannons. Several of the standard missiles and four force beams ripped into the Canada, destroying another engine room and several missile launchers. The faltering human BC managed to get off a ragged salvo at the D’Bringi capital missile armed heavy cruiser, but missed. That would be the Canada’s last salvo. The rest of the D’Bringi fleet pounded the Canada with their force beams, leaving little but a single drive room and life support. For some reason the T’Pau and the Rehorish refrained from firing on the hulk of the Canada. Before they could change their minds, a wave of life pods raced away from the crippled ship, followed by an explosion that consumed the remainder of the ship.
The D’Bringi now focused on the India, which was now four light seconds from the combined alien fleets. The India got its next salvo off before the aliens, but the damaged D’Bringi heavy cruiser it had been focusing on had turned away and was running, and was opening the range. The longer range threw off the India’s targeting, and ship didn’t manage to get any hits with this salvo. The D’Bringi heavy cruiser was luckier, slipping two capital missiles past the India’s defenses and punching a hole in her armor. Next, the D’Bringi capital and standard missile armed ships scored multiple hits on the faltering battlecruiser, destroying five engine rooms and half of her missile launchers. It was clear the India’s time had come. Before the aliens could reload their weapons, the India self-destructed after a wave of life pods raced away from the doomed ship.
The alien fleets forged ahead, unwavering in their pursuit of the withdrawing human fleets. Two Rehorish destroyers lingered at the battle site, to pick up survivors, then raced back to the fleet. The two damaged D’Bringi ships, a battlecruiser and a heavy cruiser, turned back towards the warp point, weakening the alien fleets, at least a bit.
-
Month 115, Day 9, Moskva system, Pursuit Day 1
“Admiral, incoming comms from General Semenov.”
Admiral Ruston felt a pit open up in his stomach, but kept his feelings from his face. The stress of this pursuit was getting to everyone, him included, and his crew didn’t need to see their admiral worried and stressed out. “Very well, put him through to my monitor.”
A second later General Semenov appeared on his monitor. He looked even more grim than usual. “We are about to lose the Riga and the Kronstadt. Their engineers report they will suffer drive failures within the hour. An escort has suffered an engine casualty as well, but will be able to maintain fleet speed, at least for now.”
Admiral Ruston knew the answer, but had to ask anyway. “Are they sure?”
General Semenov grimaced. “Yes. I had my engineer check their engine status. There is no mistake.”
“Damn it.” Admiral Ruston searched his memory for the stats related to the two ships. The Riga was a heavy cruiser equipped with advanced standard missile launchers, while the Kronstadt was a light cruiser equipped with gun/missile launchers. After a few seconds he shook his head. “We’ll evacuate the crews and scuttle the ships.”
General Semenov stared at the fleet commander for a few seconds. “They might be able to inflict damage on the alien fleet before being destroyed.”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “Maybe. But the D’Bringi battlecruisers still out-range them, and will be able to destroy them without coming into their range at all. Should we throw away your crews, to no gain?”
General Semenov shook his head. “Of course not! But, even if they just absorb D’Bringi missiles, they will be doing us a service. The D’Bringi are at the end of a long supply chain. Every missile they fire at these two ships will be a missile they won’t have available for the coming battles.”
Admiral Ruston thought about if for a few seconds, but then shook his head again. “No, I will not trade human lives for a few missiles. Set scuttling charges and evacuate the ships.”
General Semenov actually looked relieved. “As you say.” The screen flickered out.”
Fifteen minutes later, with the crews safely dispersed to other fleet units, the two Russian cruisers self-destructed. The alien fleets showed no signs of burnouts or other issues, and continued pursuing the human fleets.
-
Month 115, Day 10, Moskva system, Pursuit Day 2
This time it was Admiral Ruston that initiated the contact. “General, we are going to lose one of our heavy cruisers shortly. What is the status of your fleet?”
General Semenov shook his head. “We have bad news. The battlecruiser Ordzhonikidze will lose an engine room shortly. There is nothing we can do. A second escort has also suffered an engine failure, but will be able to maintain fleet speed.”
Admiral Ruston shook his head. “We cannot continue to lose cruisers at this rate!”
General Semenov nodded. “This is ruinous, but we are more than halfway to our goal. Now, we must prepare. The commander of the Ordzhonikidze has volunteered to take his ship into the throat of the aliens. Will your cruiser accompany him?”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “I’ve already spoken to Captain Lemaire. They will go into battle with your ship. We are evacuating nonessential crew as we speak.”
General Semenov nodded. “Very good. Perhaps we were wrong about the bravery of the Coalition. Your ships have acquitted themselves well.”
Admiral Ruston smiled. It was a tired, ghastly sort of smile, but it was a smile. “We fight for our survival now, old friend.”
“Yes, we do. It is good that you realize that. I will prepare our ship.”
Five minutes later the Russian BC and the Coalition CA turned back towards their relentless pursuers, and began their run. Once again it took nearly a half hour before the two human ships reached weapons range of the enemy fleet. This time, the two human ships didn’t turn away, and instead plunged ahead, directly towards the alien fleet, only turning after they were within capital missile range. The first exchange of fire took place at five point two five light seconds range, just beyond standard missile range. The Russian BC targeted one of the two remaining D’Bringi battlecruisers, and flushed its XO racks, sending a total of eleven capital missiles at the alien BC. The D’Bringi ship launched an EDM and filled the space between it and the oncoming missiles with point defense fire. Only one human missile got through the defenses to impact against the D’Bringi ship’s shields. In return, the two D’Bringi battlecruisers launched fourteen capital missiles from their internal launchers, and managed to get three hits, knocking down the Russian ship’s shields.
The human ships allowed the alien fleets to close on them, while keeping the aliens out of their blind spots, bringing the Coalition heavy cruiser into firing range with the distance between the two groups of ships now down to four light seconds. The D’Bringi battlecruisers fired first, punching four capital missiles through the Russian BC’s defenses and scouring her armor. In response, the Russian BC punched two missiles through the D’Bringi BC’s defenses, knocking out her shields and lightly damaging her armor. Two D’Bringi heavy cruisers opened fire with standard missiles, getting six hits and further degrading the Russian BC’s armor. For the first time the Coalition heavy cruiser joined the battle, launching thirteen standard missiles from her internal and external launchers, getting two hits on the D’Bringi BC.
The alien fleets continued to close while the human ships tried to keep the range open, but their need to keep the aliens out of their blind spot forced the human ships to turn, causing them to slip closer to the alien fleets. At three point seven five light seconds, they were now within extreme force beam range, and the rest of the D’Bringi fleet joined their fire to their missile ships. The Russian BC fired first, getting a single hit on the same D’Bringi BC. The two D’Bringi BC’s returned fire, punching four capital missiles through the Russian ship’s defenses and getting a single hit with their force beams. The resulting damage eliminated the Russian ship’s armor and destroyed an engine room. The Coalition heavy cruiser launched its missiles against the same D’Bringi BC, and got a single hit on her armor. A D’Bringi heavy cruiser group opened fire with standard missiles and force beams, scoring eleven hits on the hapless Russian BC, destroying four more engine rooms. The rest of the D’Bringi fleet opened fire with their force beams as well, destroying much of the Russian BC’s armaments. Then, much to the surprise of the humans, the cruisers of the Rehorish fleet opened fire on the Coalition heavy cruiser, which had remained untouched until now. Each Rehorish cruiser fired three force beams, and, amazingly, most of them hit their targets. By the time the fifteen Rehorish heavy cruisers had fired, the Coalition ship was reduced to an engine room, crew quarters, and a magazine.
The crews of both human ships abandoned their ships and shortly thereafter the two ships exploded. They had managed to inflict moderate armor damage on one D’Bringi BC. Interestingly enough, shortly after the battle a T’Pau heavy cruiser and a Rehorish heavy cruiser fell out of formation and turned back towards the warp point to Leningrad, both moving at a reduced speed.
-
Month 115, Day 11, Moskva system, Pursuit Day 3
“We are losing two light cruisers today. One of our destroyers and a corvette has lost an engine as well, but will be able to keep up with the rest of the fleet. What is the status of your fleet?” This constant litany of losses was becoming disturbingly routine. Admiral Ruston’s face was haggard with concern for the constant attrition his fleet was suffering.
General Semenov nodded. “We have survived the day with no engine casualties.” He grimaced. “The randomness of this is galling. I must admit, not knowing what to expect makes the anticipation that much sharper.”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “I am ordering the crews of the light cruisers to abandon ship after setting scuttling charges. They will accomplish nothing trying to attack the aliens.”
General Semenov grimaced, but then nodded in assent. “I agree. We have wasted enough lives in this nightmare.” Silence fell for a second, as the two commanders considered their losses. Then General Semenov looked up. “This is nearly over, Jonas. We will almost certainly lose no more ships before reaching the warp point tomorrow.”
“Thank god.” The two nodded and closed the comms channel.
The human fleet forged ahead, towards its goal of escape from the system. Behind them, two more Rehorish heavy cruisers suffered engine damage and turned away, towards the Leningrad system.
-
Month 115, Day 12, Moskva system, Pursuit Day 4
The human fleets reached the warp point to the Solar system and jumped through in good order, suffering no more engine casualties before making transit. A Coalition light cruiser and a corvette suffered engine damage later in the day, as did a Russian cruiser, but by then they were safe in the Solar System. Admiral Ruston made the decision to keep the ships that had suffered engine damage at the warp point, instead of sending them back for repairs. They were still combat-capable and would be needed at the warp point if the aliens attacked.
Unseen, on the far side of the warp point, a D’Bringi battlecruiser and a Rehorish light cruiser suffered engine damage and turned to head back to the Leningrad system. The pursuit was over, and humanity’s fleets were once again bottled up in the Solar System.
On board the Rehorish and D’Bringi command ships, a conference was taking place. The T’Pau were not invited. Both participants, Cho-sho Banzan for the Rehorish and Clan Chief Fortress Breaker for the D’Bringi, were attending from their command ships via holographic interface. This was, in part, for convenience’s sake, as both were busy organizing and integrating their fleets, but also, in truth, because neither was entirely comfortable placing themselves within the other’s control.
Fortress Breaker, impetuous as always, started in almost as soon as the connection was made. “We must attack now! The humans are bottled up, and cut off from their colonial territories. Weakened! We must take advantage of this now, while they are off balance!” Unable to contain himself, the D’Bringi clan chief had risen within the holographic conference room they inhabited, and had begun pacing.
Cho-sho Banzan carefully controlled his antennae, keeping the disdain he felt for the barbarian in front of him to himself. He did not know if the D’Bringi understood enough of Rehorish body language to interpret the signals the cant of his antennae would send to another Rehorish, but he intended to take no chances. So impetuous! “There is much to what you say. The humans are off balance. And, they are close to their shipyards, making it easier to repair their ships and replace their losses. However, attacking now is impossible.”
Before the Rehorish admiral could continue, Fortress Breaker exploded. “What! What madness is this? Impossible how?” The D’Bringi war leader approached the table, leaning on it and attempting to loom over the smaller Rehorish admiral. The effect was somewhat less than he desired, given the holographic setting.
Cho-sho Banzan was used to D’Bringi outbursts, and viewed them much as he did the storm squalls in his birth territory on Rehorish Prime. The squalls would come on suddenly, and then disappear just as suddenly, leaving little evidence that they had been there. The D’Bringi that he had worked with during the ambush of the Soviet fleet in the opening round of the war had been much the same, temperamental and impetuous, but reasonable once the initial outburst faded. “I am under specific orders from my government to delay assaulting the human’s home system until reinforcements arrive.” The D’Bringi leader opened his mouth, but before he could speak Banzan continued. “Significant reinforcements are en route and will arrive in approximately thirty days. I cannot launch an assault until then.”
“Thirty days? That is an eternity! The human fleets will grow in that time, and ours will not, aside from your ‘reinforcements’!” Fortress Breaker knew, but could not say in front of his ‘ally’, that his reinforcements had been diverted to deal with a disturbance on the border with their new allies, the Mintek. He had not been told what the disturbance was, but he had been the Clan Chief of Clan T’Chau for decades, and he knew his fellow clan chiefs. If they had diverted vital reinforcements from his fleet, then the situation was indeed serious. The same message that had informed him of the diversion had pressured him to launch an assault on the humans as soon as possible, so as to end the war and enable the fleet to return to D’Bringi space. Fortress Breaker took a deep breath and sat down. “Allowing the human fleets to recover and grow stronger is unwise. We must act!”
“Actually, I agree with you, to an extent. However, a delay of one month will not be fatal. The humans will not be able to repair their damaged ships in that time, and any newly constructed ships that join their fleet will be barely combat-effective as they will still be shaking down when we launch our attack. In any case, I have little choice in this matter. I must wait for the reinforcements before attacking.” In truth, Banzan knew that his orders to wait were a recommendation more than an absolute order, as they must be for a fleet commander so far from home. However, he agreed with the intent of the orders. The reinforcement group was not large, compared to the strength he and Clan Chief Fortress Breaker had gathered here already, but the six heavy cruisers in the reinforcement group were the Rehorish fleet’s first long-range missile equipped units, and while they would not be overwhelmingly useful in a warp point assault into the human’s home system, they would be very useful to counterbalance the D’Bringi fleet’s long-ranged cruisers and battlecruisers. From the first moments of their alliance with the D’Bringi, the admirals of the Rehorish Naval HQ had distrusted the motives and intent of the D’Bringi, suspecting that the D’Bringi intended to weaken them in combat with the humans in preparation for betrayal and conquest after the fall of the humans. After his experience with the D’Bringi he had come to believe that they had no such intentions, but he couldn’t rule them out and agreed with Naval HQ’s precautions. There were also darker rumors of the intentions of his own government towards their D’Bringi allies, and, while he had no evidence, such things were not unknown in Rehorish history. In any case, given such doubts and uncertainties, he was inclined to delay the attack, at least for a short time, until his reinforcements arrived. He couldn’t shake a nagging worry that the D’Bringi admiral was right, delaying was a mistake.
The D’Bringi clan chief rose again and started pacing, considering the other’s words. “More time to prepare, train, and integrate our fleets will be valuable, I cannot deny it. This is a mistake, though.” The D’Bringi clan chief opened his mouth to say more, but then turned away. As he turned, he faded from the holographic room, leaving Cho-sho Banzan alone with his thoughts. The attack would be delayed.
-
Month 115, Day 19, Solar System
General Semenov and Admiral Ruston remained in command of their fleets, in spite of some within their respective high commands who had loudly advocated for their removal for incompetence after being forced back to the Solar System. They both suspected that their continued status as fleet commanders relied more upon their respective fleet HQ’s being reluctant to rock the boat with the aliens literally on their doorstep. Their experience in the Moskva system, particularly during the long retreat, had forged a bond between the two men, as well as a greater appreciation for the differing strengths of their respective forces.
After seven days without an attack by the alien forces on the far side of the warp point, the two commanders made the decision to dispatch all damaged units back to the Earth for repairs, including the ships that had merely suffered minor engine damage during the long retreat. While those units were technically fully combat capable on the tactical scale, on the strategic-system scale they were a liability, and would slow the fleet down at a critical time, if the upcoming battle became one of maneuver rather than brute force. In exchange, the Russian and Coalition warships orbiting the Earth would be dispatched to the warp point to reinforce them. It wasn’t a fair exchange, as only minor forces were left in Earth’s orbit at this point, but anything would help.
Month 115, Day 20
The Mintek missions to the five new planets were received in very different ways. On the D’Bringi colony planet in the Jerothal system, the mission succeeded in establishing embassies and missions in the major cities. On the planets of the two D’Bringi conquered subject races, the Torqual and the Doraz, the combined Mintek and D’Bringi missions were able to slip into the general population and begin establishing footholds amongst the D’Bringi occupation forces and their civilian support structure. In both cases the Mintek immediately began outreach programs to the conquered races, with the help of the D’Bringi who were supposed to be ensuring their fidelity to their conquerors. In the Boche system, the D’Bringi and Mintek missionaries were able to land on the T’Pau colony world and begin similar outreach efforts to the T’Pau residents, however, the T’Pau, having gained some limited independence from the D’Bringi, were somewhat reluctant to leap towards this new outreach effort, and the Mintek efforts yielded only minimal initial results. The T’Pau high command, concerned about how this might affect their relationship with their conquerors, dithered for a full ten days before informing the D’Bringi military in the T’Pau system about the presence of Mintek in the system.
In the Kumamoto system, the Mintek effort went disastrously wrong. The Kumamoto system was a Rehorish colonial system, and in fact was the system the Rehorish bought from the D’Bringi Expanses. It possessed no less than five habitable type “T” planets, all of which were almost useless to the D’Bringi, but which were immensely valuable to the Rehorish. The Rehorish, who while they were allied to the D’Bringi, were still somewhat standoffish and disdainful of their allies, and so they monitored every ship that entered their systems. Thus, while D’Bringi ships were allowed into the system to conduct trade, they were watched closely by the Rehorish internal security services. And so it was that when the D’Bringi freighter moved into orbit and sent shuttles down to the smallest and poorest of the five colonies in the system, as it was considered the best place for them to start their mission of spreading the Truth, the shuttles were met on the ground by armed troops and the entire mission was arrested and interned. Initially they claimed to be simple traders, with the Mintek being traders from another race allied with the D’Bringi, however, that stance was broken down rapidly by the Rehorish interrogators and their true mission was revealed. The local security chief immediately sent a warning to the home system, and increased the watchfulness of his forces across the system.
-
Month 116, Day 1
The D’Bringi launch two additional mobile shipyards this month, and complete repairs on a heavy cruiser and a corvette. In addition, a number of minefields are completed in the orbital yards, as are components for the establishment of an ICN. The ICN buoys are immediately shipped out to every D’Bringi-controlled system within four jumps of the home world.
The Rehorish yards complete construction of three heavy cruisers armed with standard missile launchers, as well as three corvettes. In addition, a new repair ship is launched.
The T’Pau government completes construction on a new orbital shipyard, and begins research into HT 6.
The Coalition colonial yards over New Plymouth in the Epsilon Eridani system launch six BS0’s to bolster their warp point defenses, and the Earth yards complete 100 laser buoys.
The Russian orbital yards complete construction on six assault light cruisers of varying designs. These ships immediately move to reinforce the fleets at the warp point to Moskva.
Turn 116, Day 1, D’Bringi Prime
“What?” Burning Blade, Clan Chief of Clan B’Regest and the only Clan Chief still on D’Bringi Prime, looked at Keeper-Cleric Half-Hand in shock.
“It is true. My agents among the T’Pau confirm it. The Mintek have sent agents, ‘Seekers of Truth’, they call them, to the T’Pau colony world in the Boche system. They are accompanied by clan-less D’Bringi who advocate for them. Because there are D’Bringi with them, the T’Pau government is reluctant to deal with them, and has asked for our assistance.” The leader of the Keepers leaned forward, watching the other leader carefully.
Burning Blade rose and began pacing, much like a trapped animal. “This is bad. We had no idea they had penetrated so far.”
“So, you are aware of the problem with the Mintek? And where is Skull Splitter? Are my reports true, has he taken command of the reinforcement group? What are his intentions?” The Keeper’s eyes were glittering with unspoken suspicions.
Burning Blade stopped pacing and turned towards the Keeper. This was so much worse than he had feared. It was time for the truth. “Yes, you are correct. Skull Splitter has taken command of the reinforcement group. He intends to lead them to the Phyriseq system and will place the entire system under quarantine, to determine the truth of the situation and the loyalty of our forces there.”
Half-Hand stood and slammed his fist into the table. “And you didn’t think to inform me! Is it not the Keeper’s duty to defend the race?” He paused, and his gaze sharpened. “Or did you think the Keepers were involved?”
Burning Blade irritably swiped at the Keeper, as if to push away his suggestion. “Of course, we suspected you, and Fortress Breaker as well.” Seeing the look on the Keeper’s face, he continued on. “Perhaps we should have brought you into this, but you must admit, such plots are not above the Great Clans, or even the Keepers.”
Half Hand stared at the clan chief for a few seconds, then shook his head in assent. “You are not wrong, but the Keepers would not conspire with aliens. If you had come to me, we could have assembled a better picture of what was going on. As it is, I had to discover your plot when my sources began reporting that the reinforcement force was being diverted. Once I discovered that, I was able to discover the reason for the diversion, and determine that my sources in the Phyriseq system had been silenced, something that should have come to my attention much sooner.”
“So, you were as unaware as we were?” Burning Blade was incredulous. The Keepers knew everything, or at least acted like they did. And while he knew they really didn’t know everything, they knew a lot, enough that it was dangerous to assume they didn’t know any given fact.
“No, I did not. Currently, as you know, most of our resources are directed towards the war with the humans, and on watching the Rehorish. The lack of reports from Phyriseq would have been noticed eventually, but had slipped from our notice for now. That is going to change. The Keepers will be sending a mission to T’Pau Prime, to investigate the Mintek and their D’Bringi helpers. The initial reports state that the Mintek appear to be what they claim to be, religious pilgrims, intent on setting up churches and retreats. That cannot be all that they are up to, and my people will determine their intent.”
“Skull Splitter’s force will arrive in Phyriseq in five days. Then we will start getting answers.”
The Keeper merely looked at the clan chief for a few seconds, then nodded, signaling disagreement. “We have a much larger problem. If the Mintek have penetrated to the Boche system, what other systems within our territory have they reached? The Rehorish colonies in the Rhoghan system are the same distance from Phyriseq as the Boche system, as are the home worlds for our conquered ‘allies’, the Doraz and the Torqual.”
Burning Blade stood in alarm. “If there is a chance that the Mintek have reached the Rehorish colonies, we must warn the Rehorish government immediately! We have no evidence that that Mintek mean harm, but it has been my experience that the Rehorish are touchy about their territory. If they suspect that this is an attempt by us to undermine their government, it…”
The Keeper raised his hands in a gesture that meant, essentially, ‘what is, is’. “They would almost certainly interpret this as an attempt by our government to undermine theirs. It could threaten the alliance. You must send a message to them immediately, warning of the incursions and reassuring them that we are acting to prevent future occurrences.”
Burning Blade gestured assent. “It will be done, immediately. And we must determine what the Mintek are trying to do.” He paused, and then brought up the other issue that they had both been dancing around. “What of the offensive into the human’s home system? Can we trust the Rehorish? And do we dare risk the losses we will certainly suffer, if we face a potential war with the Rehorish?”
The Keeper-Cleric lost his serene look, his face clouding as he considered the question. “I contemplated this very question before coming here today. Until we know the outcome in the Phyriseq system, and the true intentions of the Mintek, I do not think we can risk an assault and its attendant losses.”
Burning Blade looked troubled himself. “Giving the humans time to recover is a mistake, but I cannot see another course at this point. If the Mintek mean to attack, they are much closer to our home world than the humans. I agree, we must delay the attack, at least for now, until we can determine the Mintek intentions.”
The Keeper stood. “I will draft a recommendation for Fortress Breaker, along with all of the information we have so far. Will you add your imprint?”
“Yes. We must stand united.”
-
Turn 116, Day 5, Rehorish Prime
The messages from the security services in the Kumamoto system arrived at the Rehorish home world on this date. They immediately sent the Rehorish government into a panic. This incursion into their primary colonial system by the D’Bringi and a hitherto unknown alien race was intolerable. The ‘pilgrims’ captured by the security services in the Kumamoto system claimed that they did not represent the D’Bringi government, instead claiming to be ‘pilgrims of the Truth’, but this carried little weight with the Rehorish. They were very proud of their society and civilization, and would brook no interference or subversion. They had made this clear to the D’Bringi during the negotiations for their alliance, and now, it appeared, the D’Bringi had broken their agreements.
After some deliberation, the Rehorish government took several actions. The first was to order the Home Fleet to alert status, and to prepare to deploy to Kumamoto. In addition, the Home Fleet was ordered to dispatch forces to reinforce the Kumamoto picket, which had been reduced to a single destroyer at the start of the war. Then, a message was dispatched through the courier drone network through Rehorish space to the Grand Fleet, ordering them to delay assaulting the human home system, and to distance themselves from the D’Bringi fleet. This message was sent with brief on the events to date, so that the fleet commanders could evaluate the situation with the D’Bringi fleet. An assault could not be risked as long as the D’Bringi motives were in question. It wasn’t clear if the message would reach the Grand fleet before the assault, as the actions of the fleets in the human inner systems were fluid and dependent on many factors. Finally, the D’Bringi Ambassador was called to the Minister for Foreign Affairs offices and apprised of the situation. The Rehorish Minister made it clear that the alliance between the D’Bringi and the Rehorish depended on the answer given by the D’Bringi for the incursion.
-
Month 116, Day 5, Chruqua System
“Transiting to Phyriseq in five…four…three…two…one…transit!”
Skull Splitter, Clan Chief of the K’Rorin Clan and commander of the task force currently jumping into the Phyriseq system, held on to his chair and tried to keep the contents of his stomach inside. It seemed like the older he got, the worse transits affected him, and this one was no different.
“Alert! Sensors detect multiple drive fields located seven point five light seconds away, in-system! They are stationary.”
Skull Splitter jumped to his feet, hiding a lurch as his balance almost failed him as a step forward, towards the plotting tank in the center of the bridge. “Sensors! I need everything you can tell me about those ships. Helm, turn us away from the contacts, and open the range. Comms, contact the other ships in the task force and pass on my orders, then establish contact with the unknowns. ID ourselves and demand their identities under my authority.”
“Helm is responding. We have maximum speed.”
“Sensors are stabilizing. Fifteen seconds to long-range sensor activation.”
Skull Splitter stared at the tank as the rest of the task force entered behind his cruiser. The drive field contact was an indistinct blob at the edge of their current detection radius, but as soon as the long-range sensors aboard the Keeper missile ships following his heavy cruisers activated, they’d know exactly what they faced. There shouldn’t be anything here at the warp point. The squadron assigned to border patrol duties was supposed to be split between Phyriseq colony and the warp point to Mintek space.
Time passed slowly, but eventually the tank reset, and Skull Splitter could see that the indistinct blob had separated into three icons. All three were showing D’Bringi ID codes, and were in fact identifying themselves as the border patrol squadron assigned to the system.
“What in the names of all of the gods is going on in this system?” Skull Splitter returned to his chair and sat down, then turned to the comms officer. “Record a message for the Devastator!” After a few seconds the comms officer nodded, and the light surrounding the camera pickup at his station turned green. “Ship Leader Devastator, I am your clan chief. You will explain why you have abandoned your post! Immediately!” He ended the recording, and nodded to the comms officer, who turned to his board to send the recording to the other ship. The Devastator was one of his clan’s ships, the only Clan K’Rorin ship assigned to the border patrol squadron, and as a K’Rorin ship its commander answered to him first and foremost.
Skull Splitter glared at the screen, waiting for a response. The range to the Devastator was eight light seconds and increasing, so it would take at least sixteen seconds for a reply to return, plus however long it took to compose the response. Thirty seconds passed before the screen lit to show a senior Ship Leader with K’Rorin flashes on his harness. The Ship Leader was standing at rigid attention in front of the camera. “Clan Chief! You honor me by your presence! But…I don’t understand why you say we are out of position. We were ordered to assemble here three months ago. This is our assigned position.”
Skull Splitter froze the image and peered at it intently for a time, trying to discern whether anything was out of place or unusual. Failing to detect anything, he started the recorder again. “You will stand to for boarding. I will be coming aboard, with my guard, for an inspection of your command. Your officers and senior ratings will present themselves at the boat bay for my personal inspection. Skull Splitter out.”
He gestured for the message to be sent, then turned to the bridge crew. “Close on the patrol squadron. All ships are to be at combat status, defenses active, shields on. I don’t know what is going on here, but we will get to the bottom of it.”
The seven ships of the task force turned back towards the patrol squadron. There were two more cruisers in Skull Splitter’s task force, but they were T’Chau and thus under suspicion, and so they had been left on the far side of the warp point until he could determine the situation in the system.
In short order, Skull Splitter ad his guards had boarded the Devastator, where they were met by the officers and senior crew of the ship. Everything was as expected, nothing was out of place or suspicious. The ship’s commander voluntarily turned over his orders to redeploy to the warp point to the Chruqua system. The orders had originated from the Phyriseq colony’s governor three months ago. And while that personage didn’t have the authority to order warships about, he was a senior clan official, and the orders had carried the approvals of even more senior clan officials back on D’Bringi Prime. At first glance those approvals looked official, but Skull Splitter knew that they were not. No orders to reassign the squadron had come from the home world. And because the orders originated from the Colonial Governor, Skull Splitter knew where to start. First, though, there was the matter of the T’Chau.
Even as Skull Splitter and his guards boarded the Devastator, Keeper Inquisitor teams were boarding the two T’Chau cruisers. Their senior officers would be put to the question. They would probably survive the experience, but their survival didn’t concern Skull Splitter, the truth was all he cared about now. And Keeper Inquisitors were very experienced at extracting the truth.
-
Month 116, Day 6, Phyriseq system
The Inquisitors cleared the officers of the T’Chau cruisers, both those with the border patrol squadron and those assigned to Skull Splitter’s squadron, of suspicion. The military, at least, remained loyal. Skull Splitter combined the patrol squadron into his task force, and the twelve cruisers set out for the inner system and Phyriseq colony. Their ETA was five days.
Month 116, Day 10, Rehorish Prime
The D’Bringi Ambassador met with the Rehorish Foreign Minister on this date, on orders from his government. Orders had arrived early on this day, direct from D’Bringi Prime, to reveal the existence of the Mintek and the D’Bringi relationship with them, and to reassure the Rehorish government of the D’Bringi Clan’s dismay over the incursion into Rehorish territory.
The D’Bringi Ambassador’s words actually carried some weight with the Rehorish Minister, as there had not yet been time for the Rehorish protest to make it to D’Bringi Prime, and for a response to return, meaning that the D’Bringi government had sent this information to their Ambassador before the Rehorish protest reached them. This went some ways towards diffusing the situation between the Rehorish and the D’Bringi, but the Rehorish were a suspicious people, and having betrayed their treaty with the humans, were naturally suspicious of others doing the same to them.
In the meantime, the D’Bringi and Mintek ‘pilgrims’ had been arrested, isolated, and interrogations were continuing.
Month 116, Day 11, Phyriseq colony
Skull Splitter’s task force split into four groups of three cruisers each and surrounded the D’Bringi colony planet. Once they were all in place, Skull Splitter set up an open comms channel to the planet.
“I am Skull Splitter, Clan Chief of the K’Rorin. Under an agreement with Clan B’Regest, and the Keepers, I hereby announce that this colony is interdicted. No travel off-planet will be allowed. Both freighters in orbit will be quarantined until searched and cleared by my troops. I require that the colonial governor present himself here, aboard my ship, for an accounting. In the meantime, my troops will be landing to assume control of critical defense functions. They have been ordered to have no contact with any resident of Phyriseq colony. Any colonial resident that attempts to communicate with or otherwise contact K’Rorin troops will be arrested and interrogated. That is all. For now.”
Skull Splitter turned from the camera. “You may begin your landings. Let’s see how long it takes for the governor to come to me.”
-
Month 116, Day 15, Duril/Moskva system
Nine Rehorish ships arrived at the warp point late in the day. The reinforcement group consisted of six heavy cruisers and three light cruisers. With the arrival of his reinforcements, Cho-sho Banzan was now ready to commit to the assault. However, he discovered that his D’Bringi counterpart was now reluctant to proceed.
“What do you mean, you now wish to wait? Just yesterday you were pressing to attack immediately after my reinforcements arrived. What has changed?” Cho-sho Banzan was curious. His intelligence report that afternoon had noted that the D’Bringi contingent of the fleet had received an unusually large number of CD’s earlier in the day. It was rare for a day to go by without all three of the fleets clustered around the warp point getting at least one CD, however, receiving more than one at a time could indicate the importance of the message being carried, especially given the fact that one CD had enough storage capacity to contain any number of conceivable messages. Sending so many CD’s at once indicated that whomever had sent them wanted to ensure that the message got through.
Clan Chief Fortress Breaker looked uncomfortable, but determined. “I have been informed that there is a situation back home. In the interest of our alliance, I have decided to turn over to you all of the information on this situation that I have been given, as it also affects your nation.”
Cho-sho Banzan leaned over his desk, staring into the camera intently. “What is going on, Fortress Breaker?”
“Some time ago, we contacted an alien race. They call themselves the Mintek. By all accounts they are friendly, civilized, and readily agreed to establish trade relations with us. They seemed to be the perfect neighbors. However, our government recently determined that the Mintek had infiltrated our colony world adjacent to their home system, and was actively converting our people to their beliefs. Why they are doing this, or what their ultimate goal is, we do not know. Last month, my government dispatched a squadron to that system to determine the true situation, as information coming out of that system is unreliable at best. Before the squadron arrived, though, we discovered that some of the Mintek, along with some of our people, tried to enter a T’Pau colony system. Your colony system of Kumamoto is the same distance from our apparently subverted colony system as the T’Pau system, so my government fears that the Mintek may have tried to do the same to your system. Warnings were sent to your government, and I was ordered to turn over this information to you in the interest of affirming our adherence to the alliance. In any case, until the true situation with the Mintek, I have been ordered to assume a defensive stance and to avoid heavy casualties, as our forces may be needed closer to home.”
Of all of the things that the D’Bringi admiral could have said, Banzan had not anticipated this. “That is quite a claim. I anticipate looking over this information as soon as you send it over.” It was interesting that he was hearing this from the D’Bringi, instead of his own government, but, the latest exchange of information with the D’Bringi had confirmed that their path back to their home world was slightly shorter than his path back to Rehorish Prime. It was certainly possible that a message was making its way to him right now. In the meantime, he could no more make the D’Bringi attack the human home system than they could make him do it, if he didn’t want to. They would wait, and see what messages reached them from home.
-
Month 116, Day 16, Phyriseq colony
“Report, Chief Auditor.” Skull Splitter settled back into his chair. The auditors had been furiously busy for the last five days, and he was curious about what they had discovered.
The B’Regest auditor looked uncertain and hesitated, but then plunged in. “Esteemed clan chief. First, I must again request that my people be allowed to relocate to the planetary surface and be allowed to interact with the local governmental officials. It is very difficult for us to do our jobs this way, and has delayed what could be a straight forward process.”
“I understand the limitations of the current set up, but I’m afraid you will have to continue working from orbit with only limited and monitored interactions with the colonists. I fear that something has subverted this colony, and until I know what has happened, I will not allow the infection to spread to my ships. Or your auditors. Is this understood.”
The Chief Auditor looked more confident now that she had been allowed to voice her concerns. “We understand clearly, Clan Chief. I merely wished to make sure that you understand our position.”
“Very well. What have you discovered?”
“Nothing for sure, as yet, Clan Chief.”
Skull Splitter was astounded. The auditors had been working furiously for five entire days, and they had found nothing. A scowl slipped across his face. “Nothing?” The warning tone in his voice would have been clear to any of his subordinates.
It was apparently lost on the auditor, who merely nodded. “Nothing for sure, Clan Chief. We are talking about a colony of over 14 million people. My team, while it is relatively large compared to some audits I have participated in, will take some time to go through the records of the organizations on the colony world. I do, however, have some preliminary notes on the progress of the audit that may be of interest.”
Skull Splitter took a deep breath. Clearly dealing with auditors was quite different from dealing with the military personnel he was more comfortable with. “Continue.”
“Large sections of records appear to be missing, leaving us with large discrepancies we cannot account for. This is common early in an audit; however, the missing records are missing on a larger scale than normally occurs. This is the reason for my continued requests to relocate to the planetary surface. As things stand now, we must send requests for records to the surface and depend on them to respond adequately. Quite often, they do not give us what we request. Sometimes they send other records, other times they send partial data-sets, and in some cases, they do not respond at all.”
Skull Splitter paused to think for a second. “Are these evasions willful, or a sign of incompetence?”
The auditor frowned. “Unknown at this time. However, once it became clear that we had incomplete data, and that the people on the surface were less than responsive, I reviewed the log of our communications with them. I have trained my people to be precise in their work, and I wanted to ensure that the problem was not on our side. It is not. My staff has been clear and concise in our requests, the problem is on their end.”
Skull Splitter was beginning to lose his patience with the situation. The planetary governor was locked in a stateroom on board his cruiser, and had been subjected to several interrogations, none of which had revealed anything adverse. Whether the man was behind what was going on or merely blind to it was unclear at this point, but so far nothing particularly incriminating had been found on the surface by his troops or intel teams either. Aside from the fact that there were far more Mintek present than he was comfortable with, and that was not even disallowed under their current treaty with the Mintek. Something was going on here, he could feel it, but so far it merely looked like the Mintek were friendly and making friends. And converting people to their religion, of course. A lot of people. But as far as he could tell, their religion wasn’t particularly objectionable, and the D’Bringi Clans had long had a policy of letting the lower orders and clan-less worship whomever or whatever they chose, as long as it didn’t get in the way of the Clan’s interests. Still, he had to resolve this, and sooner rather than later. He couldn’t keep an entire colony planet shut down for months, and sooner or later the Mintek were going to start making inquiries about the welfare of their people in the colony. “Redouble your efforts. I want a list of names of the officials on the planet who are being obstructive, or who are providing inaccurate data, or who fail to respond to your requests. We will begin investigations on the surface to discover their motivations.”
The auditor seemed satisfied. “It will be done. Accurate and timely responses are vital to our work. If you can ensure those responses, then our efforts to get to the bottom of the problems below will be successful.” She rose and left his office.
Skull Splitter issued orders for his intel teams to investigate the list of names provided from the auditors, and ordered them to shift their focus from the upper levels of the government and clan corporations to the workers. Sometimes the lowest saw the most, and many times they were willing to speak, if they felt something was wrong or they had been left out.
Month 116, Day 17, Phyriseq Colony, 0800 hours
For the last thirty-six hours the group of two ships had been on the task force’s scanners. They were Mintek civilian ships, identified by their transponders as freighters, and when contacted their captains had stated that they were part of the regular trade run. Skull Splitter had declined to inform the Mintek captains about the presence of his task force, and instead all comms had been handled by the colony government, as normal, except, of course, it was his people handling the actual communications.
Now the Mintek freighter group was approaching the point at which their limited sensors would reveal the presence of the D’Bringi task force. When the ships reached ten light seconds range, Skull Splitter decided that total surprise was undesirable in this case. “Send the message.”
The comms officer nodded and punched in the code to send the warning message on its way. The message ordered the Mintek ships to power down and standby for boarding and inspection, as allowed by the treaty between the two races. Simultaneously with the dispatch of the message, the Devastator moved out of orbit and set out to rendezvous with the incoming Mintek ships.
Seconds after receiving the message, the Mintek ships obediently dropped their drive fields, however, one also launched a CD which immediately raced back towards the warp point to Mintek territory. There was nothing that Skull Splitter or his task force could do about the CD, so he let it go. In any case, intercepting it, even in D’Bringi space, would be a violation of their treaty with the Mintek, and without knowing what was going on Skull Splitter was reluctant to rock the boat with the Mintek. It was bad enough that he had diverted badly needed cruisers from the front lines. Provoking a new war while the old one raged would be the height of folly.
Ten minutes later, a message arrived from the commander of the Devastator. “Clan Chief, we have boarded one of the freighters. It is in fact a colony transport with freight capacity. And it is currently carrying about twenty thousand people. The bulk of the people on board are Mintek, but there are some D’Bringi amongst the complement, perhaps a thousand. The ship’s capacity is approximately 50,000. We do not yet know what the other transport is carrying. I am awaiting your orders.”
Skull Splitter sat back, lost in thought. What in all of the god’s names was going on here? He quickly came to a decision. “Detain the ship and question the crew and passengers. Lightly. For now, they are our allies and we have no evidence of a treaty violation, although a population transfer on this scale is edging very close to the boundaries of the treaty.” In truth he wasn’t sure that the treaty even gave limits for population transfers, because who would think it would need to limit such a thing? “Inspect the cargo as well, and the ship’s records. I want to know if there are arms on board, or any weaponry at all. Select groups of the D’Bringi, particularly any mid or high-status clan members, and detain them aboard your ship for more intensive interrogation, but handle the Mintek with care. The D’Bringi are ours, we can do with them as we like, but we will respect the treaty with the Mintek. For now. Skull Splitter out.”
Skull Splitter watched the icon for the Mintek CD speed away from the inner system. It would take the CD approximately two and a half days to reach the warp point, and then at least some time for it to reach the Mintek capital. Possibly not long, if the Mintek had light-speed comm buoys or ships on the far side of the warp point. It would take a similar amount of time for a message with a protest of their actions to return, but if the Mintek sent ships to back up their protest it would take much longer, perhaps half of a month or so. Either way, he had time to figure out what was going on, but not a lot of time.
Just an hour later the lead auditor marched into his office. She sat without asking for permission, and began speaking before he could get a word out. “Clan Chief, I understand that you have detained a group of Mintek transports. Is this true?”
Skull Splitter stared at her curiously. “Yes, it is true. They are approximately the size of a Clan Tal-Shok class freight transport, but unlike our transport they carry both colonists and freight.”
The auditor nodded. “That makes sense. My people have uncovered a very disturbing situation in the colony.” When Skull Splitter nodded for her to continue, she plunged ahead. “The data continues to be disturbingly vague, but the data-flow from the ground has improved now that your people have become involved on the surface. As the data-picture improves, so does our understanding of the situation below. I am now certain that the data corruption we have encountered, and the difficulty obtaining data from the surface, is not mere incompetence but rather an organized effort to disrupt my investigation. While we have not been able to discover what they are hiding, we have come across tantalizing hints. Did you know that ‘trading fleets’ of Mintek transports of similar size and number to the ones you’ve detained have been coming to Phyriseq colony twice a month? And that they don’t land at the capital? I have records of their arrival, but not of their landing, or taking on or dropping off cargo. Just their arrival and departure twice a month.”
“What? The treaty requires that all trade goods are transferred at the capital!”
“I know. That is why we noted the landing patterns. Or lack thereof. Additionally, the colonial government was initially very reluctant to turn over any population data to my team. Their compliance rate has improved markedly since you replaced the managers below with new people, but then we had the opposite problem of too much data, some of it conflicting. One thing has become abundantly clear, though. There aren’t enough people in this colony.”
Of all the things Skull Splitter had expected, that bald statement wasn’t one of them. “What? What do you mean?”
“The last census was conducted in Month 110, at which time the population of the Phyriseq colony was placed at slightly over 14 million. According to the data reported to the home world, the Month 115 census for the Phyriseq colony placed the population at that time at 15.157 million, which would match almost exactly the expected growth rate for a colony of this size. However, based on the limited data we have received from the surface, it appears that the colonial population has not increased at all, or may actually have decreased.”
Skull Splitter leaned forward intently. “How sure are you about this?”
“We have limited facts, and are having to fill in too much information for a definitive determination. However, when you put the facts we do have about the population numbers together with the fact that the Mintek are sending two groups of colony transports to our system every month, the picture is becoming clear.”
“It might interest you to know that I had my staff estimate how many colonists that group of transports could move per month. One hundred thousand is the answer. And they are sending two groups a month.”
The auditor nodded again. “Two groups could move a million colonists in the five months between the census.”
“Yes, they could.” Skull Splitter dismissed the auditor, and began issuing orders. It was time to take the gloves off with the colonial government. In spite of the increasingly clear treaty violations, he would still take a measured approach to the Mintek, but the D’Bringi knew their responsibilities to their clans and to the race. If they had forgotten that, then it was time he reminded them. Five minutes later the general commanding his ground troops and the leader of the Keeper Inquisitor Group were authorized to conduct large-scale interventions across the colony. The leaders of every Mintek temple, whether they were Mintek or D’Bringi, were to be detained and interrogated. He also authorized the arrest of most of the upper levels of the colonial government and the major clan corporations as well. The gloves were coming off.
-
Month 116, Day 17, late in the day, Phyriseq system
The CD launched by the Mintek transport wasn’t actually headed for the warp point, although it was a reasonable assumption for Skull Splitter to make. After all, he didn’t know about the Mintek fleet sitting ninety-six light minutes from the colony with its drive fields down. Just a few minutes after the new day started, the CD dumped its messages to the fleet’s command ship and deactivated.
After several minutes, the fleet activated its drive fields and set out towards the colony.
Month 116, Day 18, Phyriseq system
The Mintek fleet was now just outside the 72 light minute detection bubble of the D’Bringi ships and colony in the inner system. The fleet came to a halt before it crossed over the point at which the D’Bringi ships would detect them, and dropped their drive fields. A lone ship, a battlecruiser, continued on into the inner system.
Month 116, Day 19, Phyriseq colony
Skull Splitter jumped out of his rack the second his personal alarm began sounding. A long life filled with both physical and political combat had enabled him to go from deep sleep to relative lucidity rapidly, and he demonstrated that now. “What!”
The aide on his comm screen sent a view of the plot to his chief’s viewer instead of his face. “Sir, we have a new drive field contact, in-bound on a direct bearing from the warp point to the Mintek system. The contact is moving at the standard cruising speed for a cruiser class vessel.”
Skull Splitter’s eyes narrowed as he considered the plot. The contact was right at the edge of visibility, too far out for them to gain any additional information. And it was either a warship, or a very large freighter, based on the speed. He quickly called up the course information for the CD launched by the Mintek transport on his wrist comp. He grimaced. The CD from the Mintek transport hadn’t had enough time to reach the warp point to the Mintek home system yet. Which meant that this probable warship was either already in the Phyriseq system when the CD was launched, or it had been en route on unrelated business. He knew which way he’d bet. Given the fact that his border patrol squadron had been ordered away from the border, they had no idea how many Mintek ships were in the system. His thoughts had gotten that far when his aide interrupted with new information.
“Sir, Mintek message incoming.”
“Route it here.” Skull Splitter settled back into the chair at his desk, and waited as the system decrypted and interpreted the Mintek message. Finally, the ‘wait’ sigil on the screen cleared, and a Mintek appeared before him. “I am Strategos Neeron. I have been dispatched to resolve the difficulties that appear to have arisen between our governments in a peaceful and mutually satisfactory manner. I am proceeding to orbit of the Phyriseq colony; however, I am willing to meet with a D’Bringi representative in any location that you find suitable. Until I receive a response, I will continue on my current heading.”
Skull Splitter thought furiously. The Mintek official sounded entirely reasonable, however, their actions to date were unreasonable, and arguably in violation of the treaty, or at the very least of the intent of the treaty. Not to mention the fact that Neeron’s presence in a D’Bringi system in a warship was a clear violation of the treaty, D’Bringi sovereignty, and a provocation. For all of Neeron’s seeming affability, he had the feeling that the situation was racing towards a confrontation that he did not want, but could not avoid. After a few second’s consideration, he made up his mind and opened a link to his aide. “Prepare the fleet to intercept the Mintek ship. Send a message telling them that we will come out to meet them 36 light minutes from the colony. I’m coming to the bridge.”
Five minutes later the task force left the colony, heading out to intercept the Mintek ship.
Month 116, Day 20, Phyriseq system
The Mintek ship and the D’Bringi task force were now fifteen light seconds apart and holding position. The D’Bringi task force had now gotten a better look at the Mintek ship, and based on its engine strength it was clearly a battlecruiser. As a fifteen second light-speed delay between them would make a conversation difficult, the two leaders had agreed to board small craft and meet in between the two forces. Skull-Splitter had boarded an assault shuttle carried by the Keeper battlecruiser that anchored his task force, while the Mintek Neeron was approaching in his own small craft.
As the two small craft approached each other, Skull Splitter was interested to note that Neeron’s craft was twice as large as his assault shuttle. The D’Bringi shuttle’s sensors and computers weren’t effective enough to evaluate the capabilities of the larger craft, but it was apparent from the limited scans they had obtained as it approached that it was more heavily armed than their shuttle, and likely had a longer endurance. The shuttle’s pilot also pointed out, as the Mintek craft came to a halt, that the alien craft appeared large enough that it might theoretically be able to make a transit through a warp point.
Skull Splitter pushed that from his mind as the monitor in front of his station in the shuttle’s cramped interior lit up with Neeron’s face. “Clan Chief Skull Splitter! I am honored to appear before you. I am Neeron, Strategos of the Mintek Union. I have come before you to negotiate on behalf of my government, and to resolve any grievances you may have.”
“Grievances! Your people have infiltrated our nation! Subverted our people! And you speak of grievances?”
Neeron looked serious, which Skull Splitter found interesting as the D’Bringi and Mintek people had different ways of expressing that particular emotion. “The Mintek government takes your concerns very seriously. We may have failed to control the more…enthusiastic…elements of our population, and we would like to discuss to possibility of reparations from our government to atone for the excesses of our people.”
Skull Splitter settled back into his chair, surprised at this development. In spite of his belligerence, he would go far to avoid a conflict at this point, but the Mintek being so…agreeable…was throwing him off. This was not normal. “Reparations would be welcome, but before we can move forward, agreements on the limitation of movement for Mintek within D’Bringi space will have to be clarified, and our people returned from where ever you have sent them. We know that you have been taking large numbers of our colonists, and this is unacceptable.”
Neeron nodded. “Your concern is understandable. In addition to reparations, the Union would be more than willing to allow D’Bringi clan officials to inspect the new D’Bringi colony that has been set up for them on Mintek Tertius in our home system. I assure you, the D’Bringi there are not only well treated, but are thriving in their new environment. Any who wish to come are welcome.”
“No! These are our people. They do not belong there, they belong on our colonies, in our territory. You had no right to take them!” In spite of his belligerent tone, Skull-Splitter felt no heat, merely curiosity. The belligerence was a necessary negotiating stance, nothing more.
“Surely you cannot object to the education we are giving the D’Bringi that have decided, of their own, to travel to the new colony? What harm have we inflicted on your government, your people? These were the dregs of your society, the lowest of the low. The clan-less petty laborers, outcasts, and the problematic petty criminals that plague every society. They decided of their own free will to cast all of that away and learn a new way to become productive members of society. Surely your own auditors have told you that in spite of their relocation they have continued to pay the required clan tithes, and indeed, that clan tithes for this colony and the Jerothal colony have increased over the last several months. We have been scrupulous in adhering to the laws of the D’Bringi clans, even on the new colony on Mintek Tertius. So, what, really, lies behind your complaints?”
Skull Splitter’s eyes narrowed. So, this Neeron knew about the auditors going through the Phyriseq colony’s records? He had wondered if the Mintek ship was receiving information from the colony, and it appeared that his suspicions were confirmed. And, it was appearing more and more certain as Neeron talked that whatever was going on was part of a planned action by the Mintek government, rather than ‘enthusiastic citizens’, as Neeron had claimed. “Very well. I suggest we stop dancing around the issue. My government finds the situation in this system unacceptable. We require that you close all temples on Phyriseq colony, as well as any others on any colony in D’Bringi territory. All Mintek citizens currently within D’Bringi territory will be withdrawn, immediately. We will also require that in the future all trade transfers will be limited to one location that will be selected by my government. This outpost will be the sole point of contact for our two races, until and unless further contact is negotiated between the two governments. Finally, we require that all D’Bringi within the Mintek Union be returned to our custody within three months. This is non-negotiable. If you refuse, then I am authorized to cancel the trade treaty between our two nations, and will instead insist on only limited contact in the future.” Skull Splitter watched the Mintek, interested in the changes that came over the alien. He wasn’t familiar with Mintek facial expressions, as his race’s faces were covered in scales and relatively inflexible. The Mintek were much like the humans, though, and their faces could express a wide range of emotions. His desk comp had been loaded with their best information on the Mintek, and small data boxes were now appearing around the Mintek’s face, indicating that he was expressing unhappiness and stress.
“I am dismayed by your stance, Clan Chief. This is not what we want. The D’Bringi are a remarkable race, and we are learning so much from you. We would not want our current level of intercourse to stop.” The Mintek’s visage changed then, and the data boxes on Skull Splitter’s monitor indicated that he was now expressing stern determination. “We cannot make you trade with us, however much we wish that condition to continue. However, we cannot abandon the faithful D’Bringi that have been brought to the light of Union. We will allow any D’Bringi within our territory to return to the D’Bringi Expanses, should they wish to do so, however, we will not force them, and to be honest, considering the way they were treated by your clans, I do not think many will elect to return to that life. We will withdraw our people from your territory, if you require it, but we will require assurances that the faithful within your territory will be respected and granted the freedom to continue their belief as they see fit. And I’m afraid that I will have to insist that such assurances be monitored by Mintek Seekers qualified to evaluate the true conditions amongst the faithful within your territories.”
Skull Splitter gaped at the monitor. The sheer affrontery of this Mintek was shocking. It had been a long time since the D’Bringi clans had had to deal with anything as primitive as religion, which had been a thing on D’Bringi Prime in ancient times but had faded away naturally as D’Bringi society advanced. In truth, the clans had done much to aid that process, finding the old religions an impediment to their control of the masses, but in any case, no D’Bringi had worshiped something as primitive as a god in ages. He found himself at a loss trying to believe what the Mintek was saying, and instead he could only feel that the Mintek was lying, using this situation to push for an advantage for his race and his government, and to continue the penetration of D’Bringi space. The thought that the Mintek believed what he was saying was unthinkable. Skull Splitter knew that he couldn’t risk another war, but he also could not allow this situation to continue, or allow what this Neeron was proposing. “Unacceptable. If that is your position, then I’m afraid that we must withdraw from the trade treaty. Your people will be returned as soon as is possible. I request that you return the D’Bringi you have taken, but if you are adamant in keeping them then I will not insist. They, however, will be the last D’Bringi that you take. Your ‘Seekers’ will have no access to our territory, this is unacceptable. That would be an intolerable violation of our sovereignty, and we cannot allow it.” Once again Skull Splitter had the feeling that the situation was slipping beyond his control, but he simply could not allow what the Mintek was requiring, even in the face of a two-front war.
Neeron shook his head. “This is your final decision? I cannot change your mind?”
“No, I’m afraid you cannot, unless you are willing to agree to my conditions.”
Neeron turned from the pickup and gestured to someone off screen. “Then I’m afraid our negotiations are over. I am truly sorry that you cannot hear what I have to say. We only care about the wellbeing of your race and people. I am sorrowful that you do not.”
The large Mintek small craft turned away, and accelerated back towards the waiting battlecruiser. Skull Splitter signaled his pilot to turn back as well. Several minutes later the two small craft docked with their mother ships. By the time Skull Splitter had made it to the bridge, the Mintek ship had turned and was moving away at maximum cruising speed. After a moment’s thought, Skull Splitter ordered his task group to follow. They were in D’Bringi Space, and he intended to ensure that they left.
Just over a half hour later, a drive field contact appeared in front of the D’Bringi task group, approximately thirty-six light minutes away. Skull Splitter did not believe in coincidences. This was a Mintek fleet. And, after checking, he confirmed that it was sitting just outside of the detection radius of the Phyriseq colony. And, interestingly, whatever it was had activated its drives at right around the time it would have taken for a light-speed comms message to arrive from the Mintek battlecruiser ahead of them. Skull Splitter ordered his fleet to continue shadowing the withdrawing Mintek battlecruiser.
Month 116, Day 21, Phyriseq system
Skull Splitter willed his body to stillness as the databoxes on the main plot began filling with information. They were finally close enough to the Mintek drive field contact to learn more about the composition of the squadron that they faced. They had learned some time ago that the Mintek squadron was composed of eighteen ships, plus the battlecruiser that had come to meet them. This outnumbered his task force of thirteen, and was concerning. However, on the plus side, the approaching Mintek squadron was only moving at two-thirds of his current cruising speed, for some reason. No one had been able to determine the reason for this, unless some of the Mintek ships were damaged. One officer had suggested that the Mintek had built ships with slower top speeds in order to devote more mass to defenses and weapons, but this was generally regarded as a stupid approach to ship design.
There were gasps around the heavy cruiser’s bridge as the new information was displayed. The captain of the Indefatigable turned to the Clan Chief. “Excellency, the enemy squadron is composed of six strength twenty drives, seven strength fifteen drives, and six strength seven drives. All are military drives.
Skull Splitter grunted. So, seven battlecruisers and six destroyers. But what were the strength twenties? “Captain, any ideas on the strength twenties?”
“No, Excellency. They match no known profile.”
Skull Splitter considered the situation for a moment. He had ordered his task force to turn and run ahead of the Mintek squadron, keeping the range open for now, but he needed more information about what they faced. “The squadron will come about and close on the Mintek force to ten light seconds range.”
“Very well.” The Indefatigable’s commander turned away and began issuing orders.
Skull Splitter watched as the two groups of ships closed. Ten light seconds range would allow them to gather more information, but was still two and a half light seconds beyond the range of capital missiles, so they should be safe enough. And unless the Mintek were deliberately going much slower than their actual top speed, he felt fairly confident that he could choose the range at which he followed, or fought, them. Just then the plot chimed, signaling the fact that it was updating with new information.
“Sir, we have confirmed seven battlecruisers and six destroyers, but the strength twenty drive fields belong to no known class. Each of them is 60% larger than one of our battlecruisers.” The captain sounded aghast.
Skull Splitter had been leaning forward in his chair. Now he settled back, lost in thought. The Mintek had ships that were 60% larger than any warship in known space. A ship like that could carry a lot of extra armor, shields, and weapons, and would be a formidable foe in battle. He thought furiously as the D’Bringi ships turned and kept pace with the Mintek force, keeping the range at ten light seconds. His force was the most advanced in the D’Bringi Expanse. All of his cruisers, except the former border patrol squadron, were either new construction or had recently been refitted, and were of the latest designs with the latest weapons and defenses. But they were out-massed by better than two to one, and those behemoths fielded by the Mintek were…concerning…to say the least, and would be of concern even if they weren’t so severely out-massed.
Skull Splitter thought for a time, as the two groups of ships ran towards the Phyriseq colony. During this time the Mintek showed no signs of increasing speed, and did not deviate from their course towards the colony. The large ships of the Mintek were concerning, but they clearly had weaknesses as well, chief among their weaknesses apparently being that they were slow. Skull Splitter knew, from his discussions with the Clan’s shipbuilders, that hulls larger than battlecruisers were possible, but he and the other Clan Leaders had been reluctant to fund their development. Speed was life for the clan fleets, and the shipbuilders had been clear that any hull larger than a battlecruiser would be slower, so the Clan Leaders had passed on funding development of the larger hulls. It seemed that the Mintek had decided that the advantages of the larger hulls outweighed being slower, and had built and deployed them. The Mintek force was formidable, but slow, giving him an advantage.
“Captain, open the range to one light minute. Once that is done, arrange a meeting for me with the senior clan representatives, and the Keeper-Commander of the battlecruiser. Then, we need to send out warnings to the home world and the main fleet.” In spite of being outnumbered, they still had many options. In the meantime, the command ship spit out a number of CD’s. The CD’s all headed for the jump point to the rest of the D’Bringi Expanses.
One hour later, after meeting with his subordinates, Skull Splitter issued his orders. The D’Bringi force, which had been running ahead of the Mintek force, towards the Phyriseq colony, now turned 90 degrees and accelerated to its maximum cruising speed. Initially the Mintek force continued towards the D’Bringi colony, however, when the D’Bringi fleet circled around the Mintek ships and set its course for the warp point to the Mintek home system, the Mintek fleet came about and began pursuing the D’Bringi force. By then the D’Bringi task force had reduced its cruising speed to match that of the Mintek force, maintaining a one light minute separation. Their ETA to the warp point to the Mintek home system was fourteen days.
Month 116, Day 22, Phyriseq System
The CD’s dispatched by Skull Splitter reached the warp point from the Phyriseq system to the Chruqua warp nexus. Once through the warp point, they split into two groups, one headed towards the home world and the other towards the fleet on the front lines.
-
Month 116, Day 30, D’Bringi Home system
“And so, my inquisitors detained the entire group of Mintek and their D’Bringi followers that were sent to the T’Pau colonial system. In addition, they have detained any T’Pau or D’Bringi that had any significant contact with them. All have been questioned. They appear to be exactly what they claim to be, religious missionaries intent on setting up temples in the T’Pau cities in their colony in the Boche system. Their transports carried no weapons or other illicit materials, and their only violation of Expanse laws or customs is that this entire venture was undertaken in secrecy, without proper approvals.”
Burning Blade, Clan Chief of the B’Regest clan and the only major clan leader still in the home system, shook his head as the Keeper-Cleric filled him in on the situation on the T’Pau colonial system. “This doesn’t seem too bad, except for the ongoing strangeness in the Phyriseq system, where Skull Splitter insists there is more going on than it appears on the surface.”
The Keeper-Cleric gestured in the negative. “No! This is bad. It would be bad enough that they are attempting to subvert our people, but in sending a mission to the Rehorish and the T’Pau they are attempting to destabilize our entire alliance! We must act, and act now!”
Burning Blade made his own gesture in negation. “What would you have us do? The entire force available to us in the home system amounts to two clan cruisers, and if I’m not mistaken you are limited to one battlecruiser, as well.” Burning Blade rushed on before the other could speak. “I know, we’ll have an additional three cruisers out of the yards in days, but that is still not a formidable force. I repeat, what would you have us do?”
The Keeper-Cleric stood. “I would have us do the only thing we can. We must give all of the information that we have about the Mintek to the Rehorish, and inform them that a state of war now exists between the D’Bringi Expanses and the Mintek. We must activate our alliance with them, and request that they send their reserve forces to the Chruqua nexus, to join with our forces. Surely, they will see that the nexus is the critical point to be defended, as their colony, which is adjacent to the nexus as well, is threatened. And we must prevail upon the T’Pau to send their reserves as well. Everything must be sent to the Chruqua system!”
Burning Blade pondered this for a few seconds. There was merit to what the Keeper was saying, but… “What about our fleet facing the humans in the Duril system? What of them?”
“They must remain in the system for now, keeping the humans bottled up. Meanwhile, we rush everything we can find to reinforce Skull Splitter!”
Burning Blade had no better ideas, so he agreed. “Very well. It will be as you say.”
The CD’s to the Rehorish and the T’Pau went out two hours later.
The brand-new communications network set up by the Keepers functioned beautifully, getting the message to the T’Pau home world in a mere eight hours. The message to the Rehorish had farther to go, and would reach the Rehorish home world in twenty-four hours. The D’Bringi Alliance would be mobilized against the new threat.
-
Month 117
The Enlightened Union, allies of the Coalition, achieve IND-2 tech level this month. The Union begins development of many of the systems that are now available to them, the cost of which is covered, in part, by a loan from the Coalition.
The Coalition launches three CL’s and six battlecruisers, all of which begin working up in the inner system. In addition, repairs are completed on a heavy cruiser, a destroyer, and two corvettes, all of which join the newly launched ships exercising in the inner system. Finally, two new BS0’s were completed in the Epsilon Eridani system, and nine were launched in the Sligo system.
The USSR launched four light cruisers and eight escorts, and completed repairs on two battlecruisers and four escorts.
The D’Bringi launched one new heavy cruiser, completed repairs on a battlecruiser, two heavy cruisers, and a corvette, and finished refitting two heavy cruisers.
The Tarek, in the Coalition Sligo system, send out expeditions to establish mining bases on four moons in their system, avoiding the Coalition colony.
Month 117, Day 1, Rehorish Home World
The alert from the D’Bringi government arrived at the Rehorish home world on this date. The message contained a full data-dump on the Mintek race and the warp link layout from Rehorish territory to the Mintek home system. Interestingly, the Rehorish discovered that the D’Bringi colony system of Phyriseq, which was their contact point with the Mintek, also had a warp point link to a starless nexus that the D’Bringi had never bothered to survey. This nexus was already known to the Rehorish, as it lay in the Soviet colonial territories and was under their control. The Rehorish government decided to keep this interesting fact secret for now. The Rehorish government had been suspicious of D’Bringi involvement with the Mintek after the incursion into their colonial system of Kumamoto, however, with this message the Rehorish were convinced that the D’Bringi were not plotting against them, but were rather the victims of subversion by the Mintek. This was concerning, but the Rehorish government was not yet convinced that it was in their interests to start a war with yet another race. However, given the proximity of the Kumamoto colonial system to the events transpiring in the D’Bringi Expanses, the Rehorish government decided to send a significant portion of their reserves to the D’Bringi Chruqua nexus to meet with the D’Bringi fleet, to determine the seriousness of the situation.
The Rehorish Reserve Fleet consisted of six cruisers and three destroyers, and set out shortly after the message was received. This left the Rehorish home system nearly stripped of ships.
Month 117, Day 2, D’Bringi Prime and Duril System
CD’s from Skull Splitter arrived on this date at the D’Bringi home world and in the Duril system, location of the D’Bringi Forward Fleet. These CD’s brought the news that the D’Bringi were at war with the Mintek, and that a Mintek fleet had entered D’Bringi space. Clan Chief Fortress Breaker, commander of the combined clan fleets that made up the Forward Fleet, immediately shared the information with his Rehorish counterpart. At this point, the Rehorish fleet greatly out-massed the D’Bringi fleet, which had been much reduced first in battle against the humans, and then by the long pursuit. Eight of his ships were awaiting repair in the Yeack (Leningrad) system, and another four had just completed repairs and were holding in the Yeack system as reserves, depending on the next decision he made.
Fortress Breaker’s problem was that his forces were too weak, by themselves, to change the situation against the Mintek. The Rehorish fleet, however, was most impressive, and was as yet largely undamaged by the war. Based on Skull Splitter’s reports, he needed the Rehorish fleet to defeat the Mintek. Therefore, he reached out to Cho-sho Banzan, to begin negotiations. Much to his surprise, he found his fellow commander ahead of him. The Rehorish fleet commander had received several communiques from his home world, warning of the Mintek threat, and ordering him to avoid significant losses until the new situation could be assessed. In light of the new information from Clan Chief Skull Splitter, Cho-sho Banzan was inclined to agree to move to face this new threat in as expeditious manner as was possible. There was one condition, though. The Rehorish would insist on an agreement similar to the one they had with the D’Bringi concerning the humans. The income derived from the conquest of the Mintek would be split between the two races 50-50. He didn’t require Fortress Breaker to agree to this demand, as it was almost certainly under negotiation between their respective governments as they spoke, but he did want Fortress Breaker to be aware of the Rehorish conditions. Fortress Breaker readily agreed to approve the Rehorish demand, as he was fairly sure his fellow clan chiefs would agree, but then they settled down to the real issue that faced them. Should they withdraw all of their forces, or leave some to keep them bottled up in their home system. They couldn’t afford to leave behind significant forces, as to do so would weaken them against the Mintek at a critical time, but if they didn’t leave any ships behind, the human scouts that still lurked in this system would alert the human fleets in their home system that the D’Bringi and Rehorish fleets had retreated. If the humans followed quickly enough, they could shadow their fleet to the Yeack system, and perhaps, if they followed closely enough, even pursue them to their closed warp point and into D’Bringi space, which would be a disaster to rival the Mintek invasion.
The two leaders discussed the situation for some time, then brought their respective staffs in on the question. For two days they wrangled, trying out different approaches. Finally, they made a decision. Freighters began picking up the mines emplaced around the warp point to the human’s home system, and then the entire force set out for the Yeack system.
The departing alien fleets were watched carefully by several Coalition scouts positioned to watch the space along the path between the warp point to the Solar System and the warp point to the Yeack system. Those scouts sent messages to other scouts positioned just outside of sensor range of the warp point to the Solar system, and those scouts promptly launched CD’s which raced towards the warp point.
Twelve hours later the CD’s from the scouts reached the WP to Sol and jumped through, without opposition.
-
Month 117, Day 4, 2000 hours, Solar System, Combined Fleets
Admiral Ruston immediately called a meeting with General Semenov. Before meeting, he ordered a Coalition frigate-scout to jump through the warp point and confirm the departure of the alien fleets. Even as the two fleet commanders entered their virtual conference, the scout returned with confirmation that the aliens had left and that space was clear around the warp point.
Before Admiral Ruston could speak, General Semenov began speaking. “We must follow them. We have no choice.”
The Russian commander was as dour as ever, but Admiral Ruston caught an added note in other’s tone that hadn’t been there the last time they had spoken. “They almost certainly out-mass us, unless something major has changed. This could be a trap.”
The Russian general shook his head. “It may be. Knowing the aliens, it almost certainly is. Still, we have no choice. We must follow. And you know why.”
Admiral Ruston’s face hardened. They had avoided speaking of it since they returned to the Solar System, but they both knew that there were whispers of cowardice attached to their names since their retreat in the face of the alien fleets. They both had kept their positions, but both suspected it was more because no one wanted responsibility for a possible disaster should the aliens jump into the solar system than for any other reason. “We did the right thing when we avoided battle and retreated. You know that. Are you suggesting we do the wrong thing now? For what reason? To prove we aren’t cowards? Should we waste our crews in a battle we can’t win just to prove what we both already know?”
The big Russian shook his head. “No.” He looked directly at Admiral Ruston, his eyes piercing. They had bonded during the Long Retreat, as they struggled to save as many as they could and were forced to watch their ships fall behind, one by one. “We must go because if we don’t, our respective commands will relieve us and appoint someone else in our place. I don’t know about your side, but if they relieve me, the one who would replace me would almost certainly be a political creature, not a leader. Is it the same for you?”
Admiral Ruston wished it wasn’t, but he knew that the same was true on his side. The other true leaders had been sidelined over the last several years, leaving a bunch of politically ambitious admirals who would almost certainly make decisions based on their effect on their careers more than anything else. Admiral Ruston held the other’s eyes for a few seconds, then looked away. “It’s true. The only reason they haven’t already replaced me is because they are afraid that the aliens will attack and overwhelm us, and if they are in charge when that happens, they will be held responsible.”
“With the new reinforcements working up in the inner system there is already movement back home as the political generals begin jockeying for position. Those reinforcements will give us an advantage in mass, unless the aliens have received major reinforcements, and they all want to be in charge during the glorious offensive that will start once the reinforcements are ready.”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “It is the same on my side. We have seven battlecruisers working up in the inner system, along with seven smaller ships. I estimate that I will remain in command of the fleet until those reinforcements reach our position next month, and no longer.”
“That is why we must strike now! If we wait, we will be replaced as soon as it becomes clear that the aliens have departed, and our replacements will blunder into trap after trap in their eagerness to win a big battle. We must continue to protect our crews, and our nations, as long as we can, and to do this we must move now.”
Admiral Ruston looked at his friend intently. There was more here that he wasn’t admitting. The last intel reports from Earth had made it clear that unrest in the USSR was on the rise. “There is more, isn’t there Dimitri?”
The Russian looked at him for several seconds, then nodded. “Yes. Things are deteriorating back home. It is almost certainly worse than you know. Two weeks ago, General Secretary Yakubov died. He had been sick for some time; it was not unexpected. His death, though, has exacerbated already existing instabilities within my nation. He was the hero, the great man, that held us together after the Last War, and no one could speak against him. More than anyone else, he held our people together, because they knew that his leadership was what held our nation together when all of the other governments fell during the Last War. With him gone, I’m afraid that the last thing that held us together is gone.”
Admiral Ruston frowned. “There have been no announcements. I didn’t see anything in my last briefing packet from home.”
General Semenov shook his head. “The fools that are now running my government have kept his death a secret. Or, at least, they have tried. In typical Russian fashion they tried to suppress the information, and then began arresting people when the news of his death began spreading. That just forced the news to spread faster and farther. And caused a proliferation of rumors, including that there has been a coup and that the General Secretary is either dead because of the coup, or is languishing in a jail cell. This has exacerbated an already existing situation. Before his death, the General Secretary was forced make concessions to the more…reluctant…of our allies to ensure their continued cooperation. Our losses in troops and ships were so heavy that we feared that uprisings could spread among the more discontented, and if they were widespread enough, we would not have enough troops to put them down. So, we made concessions.”
Admiral Ruston looked at his counterpart curiously. “What kind of concessions?”
The Russian general shook his head. “The usual. Increased self-rule, local elections, limited autonomy.”
“And now?”
“It was a mistake. With the death of the General Secretary, and the floundering of the general’s council that has replaced him, the people have lost faith in the government and our ‘allies’ see this as an opportunity.” The big Russian sighed dramatically. “But, to be honest, there were no good options. Almost 60% of the orbital workforce in our shipyards are European, and many of our best remaining ground troops are Arab. The Arabs were certainly willing to put down revolts in Europe, but if the orbital workforce went on strike, or even slowed down production…”
“There was no one to replace them.”
General Semenov shook his head. “No. It would be a disaster. And if we send European and Arab troops into Russian cities to put down riots, it will ignite a rebellion of titanic proportions. So, we gave in on some of their carefully worded demands. Now that we are on the brink of a new offensive, with the General Secretary dead, they are demanding more freedom, more independence, and worse, there is unrest spreading throughout the heart of Russia.” He shook his head. “For too long the generals have ruled with an iron fist. They cared nothing for ideology, justifying their continued rule by pointing out that it was only by the means of their strength of will that Russia continued after the Last War when all of the other governments failed. And the people listened. We were grievously wounded, but with our military in control of our enemies and the General Secretary in control of the military we were still great, and everyone could see that even the lowest in Russia had it better than most everyone else outside of Russia. But the generals never gave them a unifying belief and instead just trusted in their continued strength and the people’s faith in the General Secretary to ensure their rule. And then, when the interstellar age dawned, it became more and more clear to our people that their leaders had squandered the wealth that they had conquered during the Great War. It had been used to give Russia the illusion of wealth, but it wasn’t real. The standard of living in the Coalition passed that of Russia long ago, and has done nothing but climb since, and the Russian people know it. Their obedience to the generals was ingrained by then, so it continued, but when the generals continued a war that the Coalition ended, and then lost that war, their faith in their government began leeching away. And so now, with our ‘allies’ pulling away and our people marching in the streets, our leaders are panicking.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Worse. I received a warning two days ago that this fleet may be recalled to Earth, to conduct ‘pacification’ operations on Earth.”
Admiral Ruston jumped to his feet, appalled. “That would be a treaty violation! They can’t be serious!”
General Semenov shook his head. “The message came from a low-level planning bureau and was a warning only, but it is indicative of their concern.” General Semenov leaned forward. “That is why we must leave, now! If we are in pursuit of the aliens, my government will not be willing to recall the fleet, and our positions will be secure, at least for now. Between us, we can watch for alien traps and misdirection, surely.”
“If the situation in Russia is as bad as you say, then my government may not be willing to see my fleet depart either.” Admiral Ruston turned from his pacing. “Have you received direct orders in this matter?”
General Semenov shook his head. “I have not. The leadership is divided on the course of action to take, and I don’t think they anticipated the alien fleets suddenly leaving.”
Admiral Ruston thought furiously. “Our official orders from the Allied High Command are to guard the warp point and ‘react to alien movements’. I’m sure they meant us to react to an assault into the Solar System, not an unexpected retreat, but still, that gives us a lot of leeway.” He came to a sudden decision. “Order your fleet to prepare, we will jump to Sigma Draconis within the hour.”
General Semenov disappeared from the virtual conference, and Admiral Ruston began issuing orders. Thirty minutes later the fleet jumped out of the Solar System and began pursuit of the alien fleets.
-
Month 117, Day 5, Phyriseq System
Skull Splitter’s task force reached the warp point to the Mintek home system, and then passed it, with the Mintek fleet in pursuit. Because his force was composed of heavy cruisers, he could outrace them at any time, but for now he was content to see what the Mintek would do. He had no interest in fighting them, he merely wanted to force them to flail about, wasting time, until reinforcements could assemble in the Chruqua nexus.
The Mintek fleet moved over the warp point and settled into defensive positions. Skull Splitter watched as one by one the larger Mintek ships jumped back to their home system, and then reappeared in the Phyriseq system ten or fifteen minutes later. Unless he missed his guess, those ships were jumping back to the Mintek home system and taking aboard supplies. His run at the Mintek warp point apparently taught the Mintek that their big ships were vulnerable to having their supplies cut off, and were now remedying that weakness. He could anticipate their next action fairly well. Once their ships were resupplied, they would set out for the warp point to the Chruqua nexus, in an attempt to cut his force off, threatening his supply lines just as he had threatened theirs. And he would have to respond to that threat, just as they had.
Sure enough, several hours after they arrived at the warp point, the Mintek force set out on a direct course for the warp point to Chruqua. This was a threat pointed directly at Skull Splitter’s force. He must either attack them before they could invest the warp point, or run ahead of them and jump out, ceding the system to them. For Skull Splitter the decision was easy. The Phyriseq colony was of minor importance in the larger scheme of things. The Chruqua nexus was of vital importance to both the D’Bringi and the Rehorish, and it must be defended.
The D’Bringi fleet turned to follow the Mintek, then accelerated to maximum cruising speed and raced ahead of them, then settled down to pace the Mintek force to the warp point out of the system. Their ETA to the warp point to the Chruqua nexus was twenty-six days.
Month 117, Day 10, Yeack (Leningrad) system
The combined alien fleets arrived in the Yeack system early in the day, successfully jumping out of the Duril (Moskva) system and leaving the pursuing human fleets behind. The fleets paused while the mines deployed at the warp point were picked up and added to the mines recovered from the WP to the human’s home system, and then the combined fleets departed for the closed warp point back to D’Bringi space. For all intents and purposes, the D’Bringi were abandoning this front and withdrawing to their space.
Month 117, Day 11, Moskva system
The Combined Coalition and Russian fleets arrived at the warp point approximately fourteen hours behind the withdrawing alien fleets. Once in place, Admiral Ruston and General Semenov issued an urgent request for reinforcements. Scouts shadowing the withdrawing alien fleet had confirmed its strength – one battlecruiser, twenty-eight cruisers, twenty-six light cruisers, fifteen destroyers, and eight corvettes. Compared to the human fleet strength, six battlecruisers, eighteen cruisers, fourteen light cruisers, nine destroyers, one frigate, six corvettes, and twenty-five escorts, the alien fleets still out-massed the human fleets by about a third, raising the question of why they were withdrawing.
In any case, regardless of why they were withdrawing, there was no way that Admiral Ruston or General Semenov were going to order an assault against a warp point that was likely defended by a superior force. The forces working up in the inner Solar System consisted of nine battlecruisers, a heavy cruiser, seven light cruisers, a destroyer, three corvettes, and twelve escorts. These ships would go a long way towards redressing the imbalance between the human and alien forces, and would give the human force twelve light cruisers designed to assault warp points and eliminate minefields.
The request from the two fleet commanders was received approximately eight hours later on Earth after being relayed through the warp point by scouts positioned there as comm relays. Allied Fleet Command approved the request and issued orders to the newly built ships working up in the inner system, and the two groups set out for the warp point to the Moskva system.
-
Month 117, Day 13, Moskva System
Admiral Ruston watched as General Semenov boarded his flagship. The Russian general looked old and tired, in a way that he hadn’t during the Long Retreat. The intelligence reports must be true, Ruston thought, as his friend and second in command walked forward and grasped his hand in greeting.
“Admiral, we need to talk.”
Admiral Ruston had anticipated this and led the big Russian to a nearby conference room. “The intelligence reports are bad, Dimitri. Tell me that we have It wrong.” Ruston took a chair while gesturing for his second in command to do the same.
The Russian shook his head, settling heavily into the proffered chair. “It is worse. I believe that within a matter of days my fleet will be recalled to Earth by the Politburo.”
Admiral Ruston leaned forward. “That would be disastrous! Not only would it be a treaty violation on several levels, but it would leave us open to attack here! If you withdraw, I’d have to withdraw as well, or face an attack from the combined alien fleets alone.”
“It’s worse, old friend. My leadership fears an internal revolt and secession by our allied states. My orders will almost certainly be to return to Earth and provide support to our military to put down the rebellions.”
Admiral Ruston looked aghast. “But…to do that you’d have to be in orbit over Earth, and that would be a violation of the Earth Defense Treaty. If your fleet crosses the ten light second line, it will almost certainly mean war with the Coalition!”
General Semenov looked even more haggard, if possible. “I know. The leadership has become increasingly detached since the death of the General Secretary. They believe that everyone else is weak, and that a show of force will be sufficient to cause everyone else to back down.”
“You know that won’t work. They are playing brinksmanship with nuclear weapons!”
“I know. And that is why I am here. I have no intention of taking my fleet back to Earth. That can only lead to a world-wide war and the final annihilation of Earth. Therefore, as of now, I have instituted a communications blackout throughout my fleet. We will accept no further communications from Earth. I have the support of most of my officers, and those that do not support this course of action have been removed. That would not have been possible just a short time ago, but most of the firebrands went down with Marshal Kosygin, and the Long Retreat has forged a bond amongst those of us that remain. To make this work, however, I will need your assistance. Your staff must impose a blackout on your fleet as well, or word will inevitably leak to someone in my fleet. Together we can retain sanity here, on our fleets, if nowhere else.”
Admiral Ruston settled back in thought. “I have been considering just this. With the worsening news back home, the crews are becoming restless at being so far away. A blackout would give us time. Eventually we are going to have to tell them something, but at least for now we can keep the lid on.”
The two fleet commanders talked for another hour, and came to an agreement. Both commanders would send messages home emphasizing the importance of their current mission. General Semenov would impose a total blackout on his fleet, while Admiral Ruston would severely limit contact with Earth.
Month 117, Day 14, Earth
On this date politely worded demands arrived in Moscow from the Warsaw Pact nations and the Arab Soviet Socialist Republics (ASSR). After the Final War, the victorious USSR had consolidated all European nations into the Warsaw Pact, and formed a ‘semi-autonomous’ SSR out of the remnants of the Arab states that survived the war. Both of these areas had been devastated by the Last War, and Europe, in particular, had been further impoverished after its conquest by the USSR. However, in the decades since the war, both areas had recovered, to a certain extent, and were now important parts of the Soviet empire. The Politburo had long been concerned by the growth of nationalism and independence movements in the two semi-autonomous zones, and much of the USSR’s internal politics for the last decade had been a delicate balancing act aimed at weakening the independence movements in those areas while catering to their political leadership and benefiting from their economies. Now, though, that delicate balancing act was falling apart. The defeats suffered by the USSR in the war had forced heavier requirements upon the two semi-autonomous zones to make up for the losses, at the same time that it brought into question the effectiveness of the USSR’s leadership. The death of the General Secretary followed by protests in many of the cities in Russia proper, including Moscow, had greatly emboldened those pushing for independence for the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR.
The demands were brought to Moscow by small delegations of politicians and negotiators from the two states. In essence the demands called for increased independence from the USSR and the freedom to run their economy and government in the manner that they wished, without interference from Moscow. The two delegations were received by low level bureaucrats and put into hotels while the council of generals who were now running the USSR consulted.
Month 117, Day 15, Earth
The delegations from the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR were arrested early this morning. Orders were sent to all Soviet military units to begin mobilization and redeployment, and messages were sent to the two semi-autonomous zones informing them that their political leaders were declared invalid and were to be removed from office immediately. If those demands were not met, the Soviet Army would be deployed to both zones to enforce the will of the Russian People.
In addition, messages were sent to the Soviet Fleet units both in the Solar System and in Moskva, withdrawing them from the Alliance. The fleet in Moskva was ordered to return to Earth, while the reinforcements currently headed out-system towards the warp point to the Moskva system were ordered to continue the warp point and hold there, to ensure that the Coalition did not interfere with the return of the fleet.
The Coalition government is shocked by the rapidity of the developments in the USSR. It had been aware of the growing discontent in Russia, but the death of the General Secretary and the rapid increase of the boldness of the separatist movements had caught them by surprise. The Coalition government issues a formal protest against the actions of the Russian government in withdrawing its fleet from the Alliance, and sends orders to the reinforcements now headed out-system to shadow the Russian reinforcement group. In addition, it sends a warning to Admiral Ruston.
Month 117, Day 16, Sol, warp point to the Moskva system
The Soviet reinforcement group reaches the warp point to Moskva on this date. In accordance with its orders it holds position on the Solar System side of the warp point, taking station off of the two Soviet asteroid forts guarding the warp point. The Coalition reinforcements take station with the Coalition bases guarding the warp point.
The Russian fleet in the Moskva system, commanded by General Semenov, has gone silent and is not responding to messages from Earth.
Month 117, Day 17, Sol, warp point to the Moskva system
Early in the day two Soviet light cruisers and six escorts break away from the group of Soviet ships that arrived yesterday and immediately transit out of the system. This causes a flurry of conflicting orders from the group commander and the commanders of the two asteroid fortresses which breaks down into a three-sided argument. During the argument, the battlecruiser Admiral Ushakov, which had just been repaired, transited out as well. Ultimately, the remaining twelve ships in the group are ordered to take up a station well away from the warp point and warned against approaching for any reason.
The ships that jumped out immediately set course to join up with General Semenov’s force at the warp point to the Leningrad system.
The Coalition High Command wants to order the Coalition force on the warp point to Sigma Draconis (Moskva) to jump out to join Admiral Ruston’s force, but fears the growing instability of the USSR and needs to counter balance the Russian force at the warp point in the Solar System. Therefore, the Coalition ships in the Solar System will stay in the Solar System. However, the Coalition government confirms Admiral Ruston in command of his fleet, and sends him orders to clear the Sigma Draconis system and the surrounding systems of aliens.
-
Month 117, Day 20, Chruqua Nexus, D’Bringi Expanses
Four T’Pau cruisers arrive in the Chruqua nexus. These cruisers, two heavy and two light, are the first of the forces converging on the nexus to arrive. The force immediately sets out for the warp point to the Phyriseq system, where the D’Bringi have ordered all reinforcements to assemble.
Later this same day the Rehorish, D’Bringi, and T’Pau fleets that had retreated to the Yeack (Leningrad) system reached the closed warp point in that system and jumped through to the Jerothal system. The D’Bringi and their allies had succeeded in breaking contact with the human fleets and withdrawing beyond their reach.
-
Month 117, Day 25, Earth
The USSR has received no response to its demands that the political leadership of the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR be removed and arrested. Its mobilization of its ground military forces continues, and units have begun assembling along the borders with the two recalcitrant states. Both the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR have begun mobilizing their own military forces, and while they cannot face the Russian military in a direct fight, they are not inconsiderable.
Early in the day the rumors of the death of the General Secretary are confirmed by the beleaguered Russian government. This news, coupled with the withdrawal of the major military units from across Russia, prompts massive protests in nearly every major city in Russia as the people give vent to their frustrations and anger at their government.
In frustration and fear, the Russian government sends multiple messages to every ship commander in the fleet deployed in Moskva, ordering them to arrest General Semenov and to return to the Solar System.
Month 117, Day 27, Moskva system, WP to Leningrad
The Russian ships that broke away from the Soviet force at the warp point in the Solar System joined the Russian fleet under General Semenov today. Their commanders brought word of the riots in Russia and the death of the General Secretary.
With his communications blockade effectively broken by the arrival the new ships and their release of the news, General Semenov decided to address his fleet before the rumors started or the situation degenerated too far.
“Comrades! By now you have all heard of the grim news from home, and many of you will be wondering if the communications blackout I imposed on the fleet is related. I will be honest with you. I knew of the rumors of unrest, and the rumors of the General Secretary’s death, and I did not want mere rumors to divert you from your duty. We are the front line, protecting the Motherland against vicious aliens. The same vicious aliens who, we must never forget, destroyed our colony on Triton for no known reason. We are all that stands in between those aliens and our homes.”
General Semenov paused and shook his head. “There are some back home that want to order us to return to Earth and put down the unrest in our cities! I say no to that! This fleet is a weapon of war! A weapon of mass destruction! If we return home there is only one way to influence events on the ground, and that is to threaten to launch our missiles at those who are disobeying the government! And what then? What if they ignore us? Do we destroy our own cities? And if we try, the Coalition will try to stop us. Perhaps our own defenses will try to stop us! I do not support the unrest in our cities, or the actions of our allied governments, but I do not believe that it is our place to intervene! We are Fleet! We are the last line of defense between our people and the denizens of the galaxy that would loot and rape our planet! I say we should stay here, where we can defend our people, rather than return. Let our people decide what they want, while we defend them! While we go forward and liberate the Brezhnev system, the Home Fleet, and all of our colonies that languish under an alien yoke!”
General Semenov, who had been standing and leaning into the camera, now sat down and took a deep breath. “I know this is all new. I know that this is a lot to adjust to on very short notice. But I am asking you to stand with me, here, defending humanity against the alien threat. Talk amongst yourselves. If you decide that you must return, I will give those who so decide ships and allow them to go freely. I will be disappointed, but I will understand. You have four hours to decide.”
Soviet Fleet: 4xBC, 2xCA, 12xCL, 2xCT, 31xES, 1xEX
Perhaps, if a larger proportion of the fleet’s crews were from Russia proper, or even Earth, his speech would have failed. But the percentage of crew persons from the colonies had been increasing for some time, and now a majority of the crews and sizeable percentage of the officers were from off world, and had a smaller stake in what happened on Earth. In the end, just over eight percent of the officers and crews decided to return to the Earth. General Semenov kept his word and transferred them all to eight escorts and allowed them to depart.
Month 117, Day 28, Moskva System
With the situation deteriorating back home, Admiral Ruston and General Semenov decide to take a risk and probe the Leningrad system to determine if the D’Bringi are still there.
The probe force will consist of six Soviet assault light cruisers accompanied by a Coalition frigate-scout and four corvettes. Their orders are to transit into the Leningrad system and immediately turn around and return. If they survive, the entire probe should take around a minute to complete.
The ships transit out one by one, and sure enough, thirty seconds later they begin returning. All of the ships return except the Coalition frigate-scout, which remained behind to scan the area around the warp point. The probe force commander confirmed that the area around the warp point was apparently clear out to seventy-two light seconds.
Admiral Ruston and General Semenov had been in their virtual conference, waiting for the report. Before Admiral Ruston could say anything, General Semenov broke in. “We must take advantage of this! The D’Bringi are gone. The route to the Brezhnev system is clear. We must determine the fate of the Home Fleet and those who remained in the Brezhnev system.”
Admiral Ruston shook his head. “Dmitri, we must be cautious. The D’Bringi and their allies out-massed us significantly, and are known for their ambushes. This has to be a trap! Why else would they retreat when they have a superior force?”
General Semenov leaned forward. “Who knows? Perhaps they have been attacked closer to home, or maybe their alliance has fallen out and they now distrust each other. In any case, now is not the time for undue caution. We must act, before events back home deteriorate further. If I can reach the Brezhnev system, and the Home Fleet still survives, that may be just the boost that the people back home need to calm things down!” The big Russian general sat back. “Still, you are not wrong about the D’Bringi. Therefore, I have a suggestion. I will take only a small force with me into the Leningrad system. If we still hold the Brezhnev system then I will not need more, and if it is a complicated ambush then we will not be risking much. While I am doing this, you must move to the Volvograd system, or the Shaka system, if you prefer. The Rehorish are still present there, and are blocking our routes to our colonial systems. If we can dislodge them and force them back, then the resulting morale boost back home will also be valuable, particularly for you. We will have obtained solid results that no one can dispute.”
The two leaders discussed the possibilities for a short time, then agreed on that basic course of action. The Russian and Coalition fleet split into three groups. The smallest was a squadron of Coalition ships left on the warp point from the Moskva system to the Leningrad system, to watch for D’Bringi raiders. General Semenov’s group was somewhat larger, while the main force under Admiral Ruston was the largest.
Moskva-Leningrad Picket: 3xCL, 3xDD, 2xEXS (Coalition)
Leningrad Expeditionary Force (General Semenov): 1xBC, 2xCA, 6xES, 1xEXS (Russian)
Main force (Admiral Ruston):
Russian: 3xBC, 12xCL, 2xCT, 17xES
Coalition: 3xBC, 16xCA, 1xCL, 6xDD, 1xFGS, 4xCT, 2xEXS
The forces under the commands of Admiral Ruston and General Semenov separated and set out for their destinations, leaving the picket group behind to watch their backs.
Before departing, General Semenov sends several messages back to the Solar System, informing leaders within the Russian military of his plans to liberate the Home Fleet and the Brezhnev system.
Month 117, Day 30, Chruqua Nexus
The Rehorish Reserve Fleet arrives in the nexus and immediately sets its course for the warp point to the Phyriseq system. D’Bringi reinforcements are also in the nexus, and the T’Pau squadron has already reached the assembly point.
Late in the day the combined Rehorish, D’Bringi, and T’Pau fleets enter the Chruqua nexus from the Jerothal system.
Month 117, Day 30, Earth
General Semenov’s message arrived early in the day, and caused quite a stir in the Naval Headquarters in Moscow. For weeks General Semenov had been under threat of arrest, branded a traitor by the Council of Generals. Unfortunately, Semenov was about as far from Russia as he could get, and he had proved that he was beyond the power of the Council, at least for now. Some within the HQ still supported General Semenov, and when the message containing his plans arrived, they seized on this to attempt to rehabilitate the general and his fleet. In normal times this would not have worked, however, these were far from normal times. Everything was chaos, and several purges had already worked their way through the upper reaches of the armed forces.
At this particular moment, the Council was looking for ways to rally the people, many of whom were marching in the streets screaming for their blood. Tomorrow would almost certainly bring a new policy, but today the Council was all about reconciliation and rallying the people. And the message from Semenov arrived at just the right time. The Home Fleet and its ambush in the Leningrad system and subsequent escape had achieved almost mythic proportions amongst the people. Now, with the situation deteriorating daily, the Council seized on this new development as the opportunity they had been looking for. Nationwide announcements were made about a new planned offensive to reach the Home Fleet. General Semenov was rehabilitated and all arrest warrants and mentions of treason were removed.
For a time, it appeared that the announcements would have the effect the Council wanted. Public opinion shifted, and the riots quieted, at least somewhat. After the announcement Semenov’s faction in Naval HQ seized upon the moment to send the USSR’s four mobile shipyards away from Earth, loaded with supplies, with authorization to jump out of the Solar System and join up with General Semenov’s fleet. The shipyards would be needed to help recover and repair the Home Fleet units in the Brezhnev system, if they still existed. They tried to break loose some of the combat units that had been held in the solar system, but the Council of Generals was not ready to go that far and those orders were rescinded.
-
Month 118
D’Bringi:
Repairs are completed on four corvettes, a heavy cruiser, and a battlecruiser. Four heavy cruisers finish refits that bring them up to the latest standards.
The D’Bringi have redeployed to face the Mintek threat, and have apparently successfully broken contact with the humans and withdrawn through their closed warp points.
Rehorish Stellar Dominion:
First battlecruiser is completed in the home system yards. Three BS3’s are reactivated from mothballs and take station at the warp point leading to the D’Bringi Expanses. Two captured Russian ships are repaired and join the fleet.
The Rehorish Grand Fleet withdrew with the D’Bringi Forward Fleet and is moving to engage the Mintek. The Rehorish government is concerned about the fact that they now have insufficient forces in the conquered Russian territories to stop a human advance, but for now believe that the Mintek are a greater threat.
T’Pau Syndicate:
New technology becomes available (ECCM (UTM)). A light cruiser is launched, and 125 laser buoys are completed.
Reformation Coalition:
Three BS3’s are completed in Sol, intended for the warp point defenses. Two BS0’s are completed in Epsilon Eridani. Four frigate-scouts are launched in the Solar System as well.
USSR:
Four light cruisers are launched from the orbital yards.
Month 118, Day 1, Earth
The Politburo withdraws troops from the invasion forces assembled on the borders, and sends them into Russian cities to restore order. In Moscow and several other major cities, the presence of foreign troops amongst the ‘peacekeepers’ drives the people wild and fuels a rebellion that spreads rapidly, in spite of the deployment of troops.
-
Month 118, Day 2, 0200 hours, Phyriseq system
Skull Splitter’s force reached the warp point to the Chruqua nexus and began jumping out. The Mintek force was coming up behind them, but the D’Bringi force, which was faster, had been able to ensure that they would have enough time to leave the system. Skull Splitter was on his command deck, at his command station, watching as his cruisers jumped out one by one. After watching for a few seconds, he nodded at his comm officer, then, looking into the video and audio pickup, began his message. “Strategos Neeron, if your fleet advances into the next system, it will be destroyed. If you do not withdraw from the Phyriseq system, you will be destroyed. We will return.”
The comm officer ended the recording, and then at a signal from Skull Splitter, send the recording to the pursuing Mintek force. Thirty seconds later Skull Splitter’s flagship jumped out.
On the far side of the warp point, Skull Splitter’s force met up with the T’Pau reserve force. The T’Pau force was only four ships, two cruisers and two light cruisers, but its presence was welcome all the same. Additionally, the Rehorish Reserve Fleet and the D’Bringi Reserve Fleet were five days away, and the Combined Fleet, which had withdrawn from human space, was ten days away.
Given the presence of heavy reinforcements in the system, Skull Splitter decided to withdraw from the warp point, rather than set up a defense, as he had originally intended. If the Mintek pushed through, then he could afford to retreat and join up with the reserves and the Combined Fleet. Once joined, the allied forces now in the Chruqua system would out-mass the Mintek force over four to one. Plus, the mines emplaced around the warp point would ensure that if the Mintek did want to push into the Chruqua nexus, they would have to pay for the privilege.
Ten hours later…
The Mintek fleet was drawn up in front of the warp point to the Chruqua nexus. It had arrived ten hours ago, and now, finally, the order to assault the far side was given. The mammoth superdreadnoughts led the way, with three passing through the warp point every thirty seconds. CD’s returned over a minute later, confirming that the D’Bringi had withdrawn, but that the warp point was surrounded by a minefield. Strategos Neeron was unprepared for the minefields. The Mintek knew of the existence of minefield tech, and had deployed a few minefields in their home system, but had not thought that the D'Bringi, whom they considered to be relatively backwards, had deployed them. This created a problem for Neeron. His orders were to secure Phyriseq and the missionaries located there, prepare for further expansion into D’Bringi space to secure the missionaries that had been sent to other systems, and to reduce or eliminate the D’Bringi Fleet, but to limit casualties to his fleet. Pursuing the D’Bringi into the Chruqua nexus would necessitate punching through the minefield, which would damage his ships and put him at a disadvantage during the next battle. And, the D’Bringi could just keep withdrawing, drawing his force away from the Phyriseq system and the troop transports that had entered the system to liberate the colony from its D’Bringi Clan oppressors. In the end he decided to set up his fleet in defensive positions in the Phyriseq system at the warp point to the Chruqua nexus, with a single SD located on the far side of the warp point to watch the D’Bringi fleet, which had withdrawn to ten light seconds, outside of the of range of capital missiles.
Month 118, Day 5, Chruqua nexus
The D’Bringi reinforcement group, consisting of one battlecruiser, four cruisers, and four corvettes, joined up with Skull Splitters force while the lone Mintek SD watched from the warp point. With the reinforcements, Skull Splitter’s force now had near parity with the Mintek. The remaining reinforcements were five days out, and still out of range of the sensors on the Mintek superdreadnought sitting on the warp point. Skull Splitter didn’t want the Mintek to know how massively he was about to be reinforced, so he ordered his newly enlarged fleet to advance on the warp point.
The Mintek SD watched them come, and Skull Splitter wondered if the Mintek would fight, or retreat. Unknown to them, this was the last chance they would have to fight the D’Bringi on an even footing. After a minute, the Mintek SD jumped out, conceding the warp point to the Mintek. The approach of the remaining reinforcements would be unobserved.
-
Month 118, Day 8, Leningrad system, WP to Brezhnev
The small force under General Semenov approached the warp point to Brezhnev cautiously. There had been no sign of the D’Bringi or their allies during the ten days it took them to travel to the warp point, and there was no sign of them anywhere around the warp point.
General Semenov ordered his fleet to assume a defensive position ten light seconds from the warp point, out of caution, as they didn’t know who was in control on the far side. Once they were in position, his flagship launched a CD, which promptly ran towards the warp point and jumped through.
Five minutes later a CD returned, bearing messages encrypted with the Russian codes that had been current at the time that the Brezhnev system was cut off. The messages were signed by Polhovnik General Fedorov, the CO of the Home Fleet at the time it was forced to retreat to the Brezhnev system, and appeared valid in every way. Polhovnik General Fedorov was suspicious of the CD’s coming through the warp point, and their messages, and wanted assurances before he allowed any ships into the Brezhnev system.
The two leaders, each suspicious of the other and of possible D’Bringi tricks, finally agreed that General Semenov would come through himself, aboard the smallest ship in his fleet. General Fedorov knew General Semenov personally, and if they could meet in person, he would be reassured that this was not a trick. It was a risk for General Semenov, but he was willing to take the risk if it meant liberating the Brezhnev system.
General Semenov boarded the ES-001, nicknamed the ‘Lightning’ by its crew, and jumped into the Brezhnev system. Once there they found themselves surrounded by a small group of Soviet ships hovering around the warp point. They were a welcome sight to General Semenov, as he recognized the codes of all of the ships as ships that had belonged to the Home Fleet before it disappeared.
One of the light cruisers around the warp point disgorged a cutter, which made its way to General Semenov’s escort. General Semenov was waiting at the lock as the cutter docked. When the airlock cycled, four Soviet naval infantry men in bulky armored power assist suits entered the corridor and fanned out, scanning for threats. After a few seconds they signaled to someone in the cutter, and General Semenov saw General Fedorov himself enter the airlock.
“Ivan! Welcome to the Lightning! And welcome back!”
General Fedorov had stopped at the exit to the air lock and looked around, scowling. When he saw General Semenov, his face broke into a huge smile and rushed forward to hug the other general. “Dimitri! You dog, of course it would be you! Who else would come all the way here for us!” The two generals broke apart and General Fedorov signaled to his guards that they could withdraw.
Before General Fedorov could speak further, General Semenov shook his head. “We must talk, Ivan. Much has happened.”
General Fedorov searched the others face for clues, but saw nothing. “Very well, Dimitri. Let’ s talk. I have much to tell you as well.”
General Semenov led the other general to a small room near the bridge that had been set aside for their use. On the way General Fedorov looked around interestedly. General Semenov noted his interest. “It’s a wartime design, stimulated largely by the defeat and disappearance of your fleet.”
General Fedorov nodded. “Very basic. No frills. I like it.”
The two generals arrive and entered the cabin, closing the door behind them. General Semenov began. “Ivan, it must have been hard, trapped in the Brezhnev system for all of this time.” He gestured at the other general, who looked generally healthy, if somewhat gaunt. “It’s been ten months. How have you survived?”
General Fedorov shook his head. “It hasn’t been easy. I mothballed most of my fleet when we got here. We just didn’t have enough supplies to support the fleet, and the former D’Bringi mining outposts here can only generate so much. I kept a small force active to guard the warp point, and to patrol the location we believe contains the D’Bringi closed warp point, but aside from that everything was shut down. Even so you cut it close. We had just over four more months of supplies left, and then we were going to have to mothball most of our remaining ships.”
“Well, that’s over. We are here now. That’s at least one problem we can solve.”
“Why did it take so long? I thought maybe the Motherland had fallen and everyone had forgotten we were here.” General Fedorov shook his head. “The despair was a problem. As the months wore on, we began losing crew members and even officers to suicide. The unending watch after watch, with no end in sight and with hope leaking away day after day became too much for many of my people. But now that’s over. Word is spreading already, and your arrival will change everything.”
General Semenov looked his old friend in the eyes and grimaced. “I’m afraid it’s not completely over, Ivan. The Motherland is not the same as you remember. The General Secretary died just over a month ago.” He paused as General Fedorov sat back in shock. “A Council of Generals led by General Petrov has taken over since his death, and things have steadily worsened. Europe and Arabia are in revolt, and our own citizens are rioting in nearly every major city.”
General Fedorov had paled as the enormity of the disaster became apparent. “And what of the Coalition? What part do they have in this?”
“The Coalition is, in theory, our allies.” General Semenov noted the surprised look on his friend’s face but continued on. “After the defeat of your fleet and my retreat back to the Solar System, they finally admitted to themselves that they couldn’t allow the aliens free run of the Solar System. They signed an alliance with us and attacked the D’Bringi in concert with my fleet. However, the D’Bringi were able to link up with the Rehorish fleet, and their combined fleets forced us back to the Solar System.”
“What changed? Something must have changed if you are here now.”
General Semenov looked faintly discontented. “We don’t know. After chasing us back to the Solar System they just disappeared back to their own space, presumably back through the closed warp point in the Leningrad system that they used to ambush your fleet. We’ve been pushing out, trying to find them, but so far, aside from a force in the Volvograd system, we’ve found nothing.”
General Fedorov’s eyes narrowed. “With the unrest at home, its remarkable that the government gave you permission to come this far out. If I know Petrov, he wants this fleet in orbit to threaten anyone that even looks like an enemy.”
General Semenov looked troubled. For all that General Fedorov was a friend, Ivan Fedorov was also known as a patriot first and foremost. And, General Fedorov out ranked him. Should Fedorov decide that the fleet must return to Earth, General Semenov would have a hard time opposing him. Knowing this was coming, he had already decided that he would follow General Fedorov’s orders, whatever they were. “I have received several orders to return home. Orders I have ignored.”
General Fedorov frowned. “You have ignored these orders? And your officers supported you?”
“I spoke before my crews and officers and gave them a choice to either return home, or to defend the Motherland from marauding aliens. I may have hinted that one of the ways we would be defending the Motherland would be by liberating this system and its valiant defenders. There is much support within the fleet for rescuing you and your ships and crews.”
“And the situation back home?”
“Worsens. But there is little we can do about that except make it even worse. That is why I am here.”
“And the Coalition Fleet? What of them?”
“I have grown close to their commander, Admiral Ruston, during the time we have served together since the treaty was signed between our nations. I believe him to be an honorable man. Even now he is leading the Coalition fleet, along with the bulk of our new fleet, to Volvograd, to open the routes to the colonies.”
General Fedorov settled back to think. After a minute or two, he narrowed his eyes and looked at his old friend. “And what will you do if I order my fleet and yours to return home?”
General Semenov took a deep breath. “I will follow whatever orders you give. I have thought much on this. With the Motherland falling apart, we must stand together out here, or surely all is lost.”
General Fedorov jumped to his feet. “Good! I agree entirely. We cannot affect what is going on back home, but we can make a difference for our people out here. First, we must evacuate this system of our loyal citizens and fleet units, and then retreat to the Moskva system and secure it. Once there we can re-evaluate our situation and determine our next course of action.”
General Semenov was cautious. “What do you see as our most likely actions at that time?”
General Fedorov smiled at his old friend. “Why, to begin liberating our colonies, of course.”
General Semenov realized that his mouth was hanging open. “But…”
“But…you expected that I would order the fleet home, right?” When General Semenov nodded, he continued. “Maybe a year or two ago I would have, regardless of what I thought was the right thing to do. Now, though, well, things are different. I spent nearly a year in this system at a near starvation diet, thinking about how my orders led us to this point, and how blind our leaders back home were to the true situation out here. I will do the right thing for our people, and the people I can help are out here.”
General Semenov was nearly overcome with emotion. After a few seconds he pulled himself together. “What forces do you have available? What do you need?”
“I wasn’t able to keep very many of my ships active. I have a squadron of light cruisers here at the warp point, along two understrength destroyer squadrons and a corvette squadron. In addition, there are two scouts watching over the sensor buoys watching the area where we believe the D’Bringi close warp point is, and a DSB control ship here at the warp point to watch over the limited number of automated weapons we managed to deploy.”
General Semenov was disappointed but not surprised. “That’s better than I had expected.”
General Fedorov looked surprised. “That’s just what I have managed to keep active. We put the rest of the fleet into mothballs in a hidden location in the outer system. I have two battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers, three destroyers, three automated weapons control ships, and fifteen scouts sitting out there.”
General Semenov was stunned. The battlecruisers alone would bolster his battlecruiser strength by 50%. “That is…amazing! Those ships and their crews will be very welcome! Very welcome indeed.”
General Fedorov held up a hand. “They will need to be reactivated, and many of them are damaged to a greater or lesser extent.”
General Semenov smiled. “Well then we are very fortunate that my supporters in Naval HQ were able to secure for us four mobile shipyards, all of which are headed here and will arrive before the end of the month.”
General Fedorov burst into laughter at that. “Good news indeed! We must begin preparing to evacuate this system.”
Now it was General Semenov’s turn to hold up a hand. “We are evacuating the D’Bringi colonists of this system? Back to our territory? Is this wise?”
General Fedorov sat down and leaned forward. “The D’Bringi of this system are loyal allies. They have unflinchingly supported my fleet throughout our isolation, even at great cost to their people.” General Fedorov gestured to his gaunt frame. “Believe me, while it may not appear so, my crews get the best food in the system, and the most. The D’Bringi here have sacrificed greatly to support us, and I have promised to take them to safety when possible. And it is possible now, correct?”
The general’s last words had the unmistakable ring of command and General Semenov leapt to his feet and saluted. “It is possible, sir!”
General Fedorov stood and returned the salute. “Well then, let’s make it happen.”
The two generals went forth to begin the evacuation of the Brezhnev system.
Month 118, Day 10, Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system
The Coalition fleet under Admiral Ruston arrived at the warp point to the Shaka system without incident, and without spotting an alien ship. During the trip they had been receiving reports from the scouts which had remained behind in the system when the combined human fleets had been forced to retreat to the Solar System, so he knew that the immediate area around the warp point was clear on the far side, but that a Rehorish force of unknown strength was present 72 light minutes from the warp point, watching the Coalition ships that were watching them.
Knowing that the warp point was clear on both sides, Admiral Ruston’s fleet began transiting immediately after arriving at the warp point. Once assembled on the far side, Admiral Ruston ordered his fleet to begin closing on the Rehorish contact. The Rehorish appeared content to let him close, as they remained where they were, waiting.
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Month 118, Day 10, Chruqua System
Finally, the last group of reinforcements, the Combined Fleets, arrived at the warp point. With the arrival of the Combined Fleets, the D’Bringi Alliance now had a combined force of ninety cruisers of all types, and thirty-four smaller ships. This assemblage represented nearly the entire fleet strength of the Alliance. And the Mintek had no idea that they were here.
Skull Splitter and Fortress Breaker had been in communication as the fleet had approached, along with Cho-sho Banzan, and all had agreed on an immediate assault into the Phyriseq system, before the Mintek could bring up automated weapons to impede their advance. No one consulted the T’Pau, who would do as ordered. Therefore, when the Combined Fleet arrived at the warp point, they merely took a few minutes to reorganize and integrate the ships already there, then launched an immediate assault.
Skull Splitter, as the Clan Chief who had been dealing with the situation for the longest, and who knew the situation the best, took command of the overall assault. He had to agree to allow Fortress Breaker to lead the D’Bringi contingent of the assault to get the other clan leader’s agreement to his overall command. The Rehorish had already agreed to D’Bringi overall command of the combined fleets, given the fact that this action was taking place in D’Bringi territory. As usual, the T’Pau didn’t get a say.
As the first wave lined up in front of the warp point, Skull Breaker linked all of the ships in the fleet into a communications net. “Warriors of the Alliance! The Mintek are cowards! Instead of open and honorable attack by force of arms, they sought to subvert our colonies and those of our allies! They chose the coward’s way, and now they will pay the price. What you do here today will bring honor to your clans and your people for all time! Your honor will ensure their safety! We will sweep the Mintek from space and destroy their shipyards! We will ensure that they never raise a hand against our great Alliance again!” The crew of Skull Splitter’s flagship cheered when he paused, their warrior’s blood stirred by the thought of battle.
“The Rehorish and their ancient and glorious clans know honor! The D’Bringi clans are honor itself! And the T’Pau are learning honor by following our example! I speak now to the T’Pau leaders and crews of the ships in this fleet! Know that by your bravery and service you are securing your people’s place within the Alliance! Your sacrifice today ensures their future! To honor!”
Skull Splitter gave the signal for the first wave to move out. The warp link from Chruqua to Phyriseq had the largest known capacity, thus making the assault easier and more likely to succeed without excessive casualties. T’Pau heavy cruisers led the way, accompanied by D’Bringi corvettes flying in close formation with their ‘allies’.
The first wave transited into Phyriseq, to find the Mintek fleet waiting for them. Six Mintek SD’s and six DD’s were sitting just three quarters of a light second from the warp point, arrayed around it to surround the warp point with firepower. Six Mintek BC’s were located four point five light seconds from the warp point, while the seventh was ten light seconds away and out of weapons range.
The first three T’Pau cruisers through the warp point had assembled their data group on the warp point as they came through, and then began moving away on a pre-plotted course which just happened to take them directly between a Mintek SD group and a DD group. One of these cruisers was the first ship to fire, targeting its three lasers and four sprint missile launchers at one of the big Mintek SD’s. In spite of the debilitating transit effects, the T’Pau ship hit with all three lasers and two sprint missiles, but the Mintek superdreadnought shrugged off the damage. One by one the remaining five T’Pau cruisers opened up on the same Mintek SD, getting nine laser hits and ten hits with their sprint missiles. Even the massive Mintek superdreadnought couldn’t stand up to this firepower, and the big ship staggered, its drive field fluctuating.
It became apparent that the assault had caught the Mintek off guard when only a single Mintek DD and two BC’s fired in response. The two Mintek BC’s scored several hits with capital missiles on the lead T’Pau heavy cruiser, with each BC launching three-missile salvoes, while the lone Mintek DD that managed to get to action stations hit the same cruiser with a new weapon that launched balls of plasma. The beleaguered T’Pau cruiser’s point defense managed to stop one of the two plasma balls, but the other slammed into the ships weakened passive defenses, stripping them away and taking out its datalink before it could stabilize after the warp transit.
While the T’Pau cruisers were contending with the Mintek SD’s and BC’s, the D’Bringi corvettes of the first wave were fighting their own battle against a group of Mintek DD’s. Because Skull Splitter had no way of knowing the Mintek deployments, he had purposefully sent the ships of the first wave on different courses away from the warp point, hoping to scatter the defenders before the later waves arrived, and hoping to avoid having the defenders end up in the blind-spots of the entire force. By random chance the lead group of D’Bringi corvettes ended up at point blank range of one of the Mintek destroyer groups, and the corvette crews gleefully opened fire at the bigger destroyers as they closed. The transit effects had degraded their gunnery, though, and only one force beam hit the target, but it stripped away most of the Mintek destroyer’s shields. Two of the second group of D’Bringi corvettes also opened fire, but were three quarters of a light second distant, so their force beams did less damage. The third corvette held its fire, as it was armed with the latest plasma guns. This new weapon was powerful, but slow firing, and the D’Bringi captain decided to delay firing until his targeting systems recovered from the transit. The other two corvettes hit with both of their force beams, punching through the Mintek DD’s shields and armor and damaging its engines.
The second assault wave consisted of six Rehorish heavy cruisers and three D’Bringi corvettes. They emerged from the warp point to find that the battle between the first wave and the Mintek defenders had evolved into a furball, with a group of first wave cruisers chasing the Mintek BC’s that were trying to maintain the range, while a Mintek DD group chased after them. One of the Mintek SD groups managed to close to point blank range of a T’Pau cruiser group as it left the warp point, while the second SD group closed on the warp point to engage the second wave. Meanwhile, the first wave corvettes were swirling around a Mintek DD group. The Mintek ships were struggling to get to action stations, while the first wave ships were recovered from the transit effects.
The first units to fire were two Mintek DD’s that were facing off with a D’Bringi corvette group that had closed to a quarter light second. Two of the DD’s had managed to get their crews to their stations, and the DD’s were each armed with a force beam and two plasma guns. The two Mintek ships divided their fire between two corvettes, and only missed with one plasma gun. One of the D’Bringi corvettes disappeared in a fireball, while the second was heavily damaged. A T’Pau cruiser group which had managed to close to point blank range of a Mintek SD group opened up with twelve sprint missile launchers and nine force beams, ripping through the big ship’s defenses and destroying an engine room.
Two Mintek BC’s opened fire on the T’Pau cruiser group that was chasing them, targeting the same cruiser that had been damaged earlier. The Mintek BC’s also launched capital missiles from their XO racks, and scored five hits on the already damaged CA, wiping out most of its engine rooms. The T’Pau cruisers chose to focus their fire on a closer foe, the Mintek DD group that was closing, trying to distract them from the Mintek BC’s. They targeted an already damaged DD and wiped it from space in a deluge of laser and sprint missile fire. The two remaining Mintek DD’s returned fire at the T’Pau cruisers, swamping one of them in a tidal wave of plasma fire that overwhelmed the damaged CA, leaving it a burning wreck.
The first datagroup of Rehorish cruisers in the second wave ended up poorly positioned, and could only target the lead group of Mintek SD’s which was one and a half light seconds away. They targeted the lead SD, which was streaming atmosphere from earlier laser hits, and the elite crews of the Rehorish cruisers proved their worth when nearly all of their weapons hit their target in spite of transit effects, stripping away the SD’s remaining shields and taking out most of its engines. The second Rehorish cruiser group had emerged from the warp point on a reciprocal heading from the first group, to cover its blind spot, and found themselves facing the second Mintek SD group at three quarters of a light second. These crews excelled as well, scoring hits with most of their weapons and severely damaging the already damaged SD.
One minute into the assault and none of the Mintek SD’s were active yet. That changed as the third wave entered the system. The third wave was comprised of six D’Bringi heavy cruisers, and was led by Clan Chief Fortress Breaker aboard his Clan’s flagship. Even as the last ship of the first wave entered, the heavily damaged Mintek SD that was limping towards the warp point opened up with all of its remaining weapons, six plasma guns. The crack crew of the clan flagship managed to stop two of the plasma balls before they hit, and one missed entirely, but the remaining three slammed into the clan cruiser and wiped away all of its passive defenses. One of the D’Bringi cruiser’s consorts returned fire with force beams and energy pulse cannons, punching deep within the big Mintek ship, and when the other D’Bringi cruiser fired its gun/missile launchers in sprint mode, the big Mintek ship simply blew up.
It was at this point that the other heavily damaged Mintek SD opened fire on a Rehorish heavy cruiser that had closed with it. The big Mintek ship fired eight plasma guns at the Rehorish CA, but two missed and the cruiser’s elite crews managed to intercept three of the six remaining plasma balls with their massed point defense fire. The three remaining plasma balls were sufficient to wipe away the cruiser’s older standard armor and shields, and burned deep within the ship, taking out most of its engine rooms. The damaged Rehorish cruiser’s datagroup companions returned fire, and the elite crews hit with five out of six force beams, and all eight sprint missiles hit as well. The remaining Rehorish weapons wiped out the big SD, leaving an expanding wave of debris and life pods.
It was at this point that a third Mintek SD opened fire. This SD was part of the group sitting just a quarter of a light second from the warp point, engaging newly arrived ships. The Mintek SD targeted an intact D’Bringi CA that had just transited in, and fired twelve plasma guns at the CA. Three missed and two were intercepted by point defense, but the seven remaining plasma balls ripped the D’Bringi cruiser apart. The Mintek SD also targeted a T’Pau cruiser two light seconds away with five capital missiles, and it launched eight XO mounted sprint missiles at a second D’Bringi cruiser on the warp point.
The lead T’Pau cruiser group had closed on one of the Mintek SD groups, and the three T’Pau cruisers opened fire on one of the two remaining SD’s in the group, wiping away its shields and armor with their massed laser and sprint mode missile fire. Meanwhile, three Mintek DD’s, only two of which were at action stations, were tangling with five D’Bringi corvettes at point blank range. The two active DD’s opened fire, each targeting a different corvette, destroying one and heavily damaging the other. In response, the other three D’Bringi corvettes targeted the last DD that hadn’t fired yet, cutting through her armor and doing light internal damage. The second Mintek DD group targeted a Rehorish cruiser that had already been damaged, but only managed to hit with their two force beams, doing light damage. The second Rehorish cruiser group, approaching the Mintek DD group from behind, targeted them at three quarters of a light second and destroyed one of the Mintek DD’s with a deluge of accurate laser and sprint missile fire. Two T’Pau CA’s coming up alongside the Rehorish cruiser group also targeted the remaining Mintek DD of that group, heavily damaging it. Fortress Breaker’s cruiser group was pursuing one of the Mintek SD groups, but a Mintek DD lay in between his cruisers and their ultimate goal, so it became a target for the D’Bringi cruisers. The hapless DD was overwhelmed by energy pulse cannon fire, left a drifting hulk.
The battle had now degenerated into two close-range fights, centered on the two Mintek SD groups. The Mintek BC’s were standing off and sniping from a distance, and the last remaining Mintek DD group had broken free of its corvette assailants and was coming around to assist one of the SD groups. Six more Rehorish cruisers entered in the fourth wave. By random chance, all were headed away from the battle.
The lead Mintek SD group was beset by five Allied heavy cruisers, three Rehorish and two T’pau. The Rehorish CA’s fired first, gutting an already damaged SD with nine force beams and twelve sprint missiles. That SD’s consort returned fire, firing everything it had into a T’Pau cruiser a quarter of a light second ahead of it. The T’Pau ship was overwhelmed and destroyed by the deluge of fire. The remaining two T’Pau cruisers in the datagroup avenged their loss by savaging the already damaged SD, leaving it a drifting hulk.
The two SD’s of the second SD group, now active, unleashed their broadsides on the Rehorish cruisers that were closing on them. Each SD fired eight XO mounted sprint missiles, twelve plasma guns, and five capital missiles, each targeting a separate Rehorish cruiser. Both cruisers suffered heavy damage. The return fire from the other cruisers nearby ripped through one of the two SD’s leaving it limping and heavily damaged.
The six Mintek BC’s had maintained their range from the main battle, but two D’Bringi corvettes were still closing on them, and were now at three point five light seconds range. The two BC groups turned their fire on the two corvettes, damaging both. The corvettes fired back with their force beams, causing minor shield damage on one of the battlecruisers.
The remaining Allied ships fired on which ever superdreadnought was closest. This left two of the three remaining behemoths burning in space, still active, but heavily damaged. Six more allied cruisers entered as the cruisers already present fell upon the floundering SD’s like wolves. A hapless T’Pau cruiser raced in front of the last undamaged Mintek SD at exactly the wrong time and was targeted by the SD’s entire broadside, which had just recharged. The T’Pau cruiser was vaporized.
Two Rehorish cruisers were on top of the lead ship in the second SD group, which had been moderately damaged earlier in the battle. The Rehorish cruisers slammed their force beams and sprint missiles deep within the SD, heavily damaging it. The SD’s damaged partner returned fire, crippling one of the two Rehorish cruisers in return. The last crippled SD finished off the Rehorish CA in front of it, but its time was limited.
All three remaining Mintek SD’s were damaged and slowed, and the Mintek BC’s were clearly withdrawing, as were the two remaining intact Mintek DD’s. The end came quickly. A D’Bringi cruiser group closed on one of the limping SD’s and raked it with their energy beams and sprint mode missiles, destroying it before it could fire. The other two Mintek SD’s had recently fired their plasma guns and were struggling to recharge, but wouldn’t get the time. They were overwhelmed by vengeful Allied cruisers before they could get another shot off.
Clan Chief Skull Splitter, now in the Phyriseq system with the remaining Allied ships, began reorganizing his fleet and detailing ships to pick up life pods. His losses were painful, but lighter than expected.
Intact
D’Bringi Forward Fleet: 4xBC, 20xCA, 2xDD, 2xCT
Rehorish Grand Fleet: 20xCA, 23xCL, 18xDD, 2xCT
T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet: 5xCA, 8xCL
Damaged
D’Bringi Forward Fleet: 1xCA, 6xCT
Rehorish Grand Fleet: 3xCA
Destroyed
D’Bringi Forward Fleet: 2xCA, 4xCT
Rehorish Grand Fleet: 1xCA
T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet: 3xCA
The Mintek losses of six superdreadnoughts and two destroyers far outweighed the Allied losses, both in terms of sheer mass and as a percentage of their overall force, so all in all Skull Splitter was satisfied. Fortress Breaker was elated, having survived being in the heat of the battle. Fortress Breaker was in particular impressed with the performance of the T’Pau cruisers, which could have hung back and minimized their casualties, but instead plunged into the hottest parts of the battle with near reckless abandon, inflicting severe damage to the Mintek whenever the opportunity presented itself. Indeed, Lieutenant General Morx, the commander of the T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet, barely survived the destruction of his flagship by massed plasma gun fire from a Mintek superdreadnought at point blank range. He was rescued from his life pod by Fortress Breaker’s command ship, and personally welcomed aboard by the Clan Chief, who, since the battle, has been regaling the entire fleet with tales of the bravery of the T’Pau warriors during the assault.
After consultations between Skull Splitter, Fortress Breaker, Cho-sho Banzan, and for the first time Lt. General Morx, the decision is made to split the Allied Fleet into three forces. A small group of Rehorish and D’Bringi ships will be left behind at the warp point to the Chruqua nexus to guard their lifeline to their home worlds. A similarly small force of D’Bringi ships would be dispatched to the inner system, to secure the colony against any Mintek ships left behind in the system. The bulk of the Allied Fleets would pursue the withdrawing Mintek. They would be unable to catch them, as the Mintek force had lost its slower ships, but they could chase them back to their home system and ensure they left.
With the preliminaries resolved and squadrons detailed to their assignments, Clan Chief Skull Splitter ordered the fleets into motion.
As they departed the warp point, he sent a message to the withdrawing Mintek Fleet asking for negotiations towards a possible peace deal. While he was not sure that a true peace was possible with the Mintek, he was ever mindful of the fact that the Humans would be advancing out of their home system. With the Mintek fleet defeated and withdrawing, he had to try and resolve the situation with the Mintek without further losses, if possible.
There was no response from the Mintek fleet.
Author’s Note: For this battle I used the standard readiness rules in 3rdR (and in the URD for that matter). These rules give every ship in the defending fleet a 30% chance to be active and fire on attackers on the first turn of the assault, with increasing chances of activation on the following turns. For this battle the Mintek suffered because their ship’s crews are all green, which gave them a -1 to their activation rolls, meaning only 20% were active on the first turn. I guess the lesson there is that you want better trained crews if you are in that situation <G>.
This battle reminded me of why I don’t like these rules, though. For smaller forces, like the Mintek fleet, this method is way too random and a few bad rolls, like the ones the Mintek suffered through, can change the whole battle. Worse, I don’t think these rules reflect the way it would work in real life. After all, if you were in command of a fleet guarding a position that could disgorge numerous hostile enemy ships at any second, you would want every ship close to that position to be ready for battle in every respect. They couldn’t stay that way forever, obviously, but while they are within weapons range of that position, they’d want to be ready fire at as soon as possible. Unfortunately, as written the standard rules don’t allow for anything like this. Under the standard rules the defender must place his ships and then after that it’s randomly determined which ones activate. That means the defender must choose to either put ships in harm’s way that won’t be able to activate for some time, or put them in positions out of range of attackers so that they have time to activate, but if they randomly activate on the first turn they can’t affect what is going on at the warp point until they close to combat range.
Therefore, I dug up the alternate activation rules from Electronic Communique. Actually, they were in the same edition that had the warp point assault transit rules I’ve been using. Under these rules, the defender divides his fleet and bases into five groups, and then randomly determines which of the five groups will be active on the first turn of the assault. They can then position their forces based on this information, with active forces close in and inactive forces further out and presumably safer.
I think this system more accurately reflects a defense commander’s ability to have at least some ships at ‘action stations’ and ready to fight, and I will be using this system going forward.
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Month 118, Day 10, Earth
The Politburo has been forced to withdraw more and more forces from their invasion groups to reinforce the military units trying to put down the growing rebellion in the major cities. In some areas the leadership suspects that Army units are actually aiding the rebels rather than putting them down, but cannot crack down on anything less than open disloyalty at this time for fear of provoking an open break. These developments have caused the USSR to order its forces on the border of the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR to assume defensive positions until the unrest in the Soviet Union is resolved. This development does not go unnoticed.
On this date the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR, emboldened by the appearance of weakness in the Soviet Union, announce that they are withdrawing from the USSR. Both newly independent governments send delegations to the Coalition to request military and economic support for their fledgling independent nations.
Month 118, Day 11, Earth
The USSR denounces the breakaway nations as rebels, and sends a firm warning to the Coalition to avoid interfering in the internal affairs of the USSR. Orders are sent to the troops deployed to the cities, which had been gaining the upper hand against the rebels, to return to their mustering points on the border. This has several effects. First, multiple Army units, which had been actually aiding the protesting citizens of the cities they had been assigned to patrol, began moving but reported difficulties in relocating and only slowly began following their orders. Secondly, the governments of the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR began discussing the possibility of a spoiling attack against the Russian forces on their border, although they both still hoped to avoid open warfare. Finally, the Coalition government ordered their forces across the planet to a higher level of readiness, but took a conciliatory stance towards the Russian government, again offering to mediate between the different sides of the dispute.
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Month 118, Day 12, Shaka System
The Rehorish ships waited until the combined human fleets reached fifteen light seconds range before they turned away and started running ahead of the human fleet. Apparently, they wanted the same thing the human commanders wanted, which was a good look at the opposing fleet. The Rehorish fleet in the Shaka system was composed of two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, eleven destroyers, and three corvettes. It obviously wasn’t a large enough force to impede Admiral Ruston’s combined fleet, and so they ran across the system, with the Rehorish force headed directly for the warp point to the Smolensk system and the Russian colonial territories.
Month 118, Day 15, Earth
The Coalition government, having received no response to its offers of mediation, now warns all three governments against military adventurism. The Soviet government responds with a threat of nuclear attack against the Coalition if they interfere in any way, followed by a warning to the breakaway states that the USSR will use its nuclear arsenal against them if they persist.
The Coalition government is shocked by how quickly this situation has devolved, and the CEO convenes emergency meetings to determine a plan to resolve the multiple situations facing the Coalition. The Senate wants to recall the fleet, but the CEO warns that if the Coalition recalls its fleet, the Russian fleet will likely return as well.
Month 118, Day 20, Earth
The Coalition government begins a massive diplomatic effort across the planet to put together an alliance of nations to oppose the military adventurism of the USSR. In particular, the Coalition government is focusing on the various Asian nations that have remained neutral and self-involved since the Final War. In addition, the Coalition government agrees to send humanitarian aid to the breakaway nations, which are suffering from economic dislocations now that they are isolated from the USSR’s internal market. The Coalition offers this same aid to the USSR, but receives no response.
Month 118, Day 22, Earth
The government of the Soviet Union again threatens the Coalition and the breakaway states with nuclear attack, and accuses the Coalition of supplying the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR, now renamed the Arab Caliphate, with military arms and support. Unfortunately, the Soviet Union’s attempt to redeploy its Army back to the borders has resulted in chaos in the large cities. Several Army units have openly refused to redeploy, claiming that their presence in their assigned cities are the only thing that is holding the city together. Elsewhere, in the areas where the Army did withdraw, the rebels have regained control or are openly contesting with local authorities for control of the cities. Several military units are suspected of going over to the rebels, but the nation’s communications are spotty in large areas and this is not confirmed. All and all, the redeployment to the border is taking much longer than it should, leaving the forces deployed to the border areas weaker than the Politburo would like.
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Month 118, Day 20, Phyriseq System
The Combined Allied Fleets arrived at the warp point to the Mintek system shortly after the remnants of the Mintek fleet transited out. The fleet’s leaders ordered their ships into defensive positions and settled in to wait. As no more reinforcements were on their way they wouldn’t wait long, but right now the Mintek defenders were undoubtedly on the alert, and so the Allied Fleets would wait until the defenders were forced to stand down.
Month 118, Day 22, Phyriseq System
The first wave was lined up in front of the warp point, ready to transit through to the Mintek Home System. They had no idea what was waiting for them, but the leaders of the Allied Fleets were fairly sure that the Mintek did not have a significant force of mobile units waiting. If they had a large number of mobile units, surely, they would not have allowed the Allied Fleets to chase them back to their home system. However, just because the Mintek probably didn’t have a lot of ships left didn’t mean anyone thought this was going to be a walk over. Home systems tended to have significant defenses, and no one thought the Mintek were any different. Just what form those defenses took was uncertain, but the fleet’s commanders knew they had to resolve this situation and quickly. The humans were already advancing out of their inner systems and towards Rehorish territory. Fleet units would have to be diverted there and quickly.
Clan Chief Skull Splitter looked over the deployments. The first wave was composed of six heavy cruisers, three T’Pau and three D’Bringi. Once again, the T’Pau were leading the way. He activated the all-ships channel, and spoke. “To all ships in the Allied Fleets. We strike today to end a threat to all of our planets. Make no mistake, the Mintek are a threat to everything that we stand for, and should they win they will make every effort to change us and our people into something that we don’t recognize. They are insidious! They are not fighting for honor, or conquest, or even resources, but for our very souls! If we are to remain who we are, then we have to fight now, and if we must, then we will make the ultimate sacrifice!” He paused for a few seconds, marshaling his thoughts. “Once again the valiant T’Pau lead the way into danger and destruction! Once again, they show us their bravery and honor. We will honor them by following them into battle and defeating our enemies! Onwards to victory!”
At the signal, the six heavy cruisers of the first wave transited into the Mintek home system.
On the far side, the Allied heavy cruisers jumped into the middle of a cauldron. Nine mammoth bases surrounded the warp point, positioned just a light second from the emergence point of the attacking ships. The bases were almost 50% larger than the Mintek superdreadnoughts, and those were larger than the largest ships fielded by the D’Bringi and their allies. In addition to the bases, there were five destroyers completing the ring of defenses around the warp point, and an additional twelve destroyers and six battlecruisers sitting four light seconds away from the warp point. If there were mines or other automated weapons nearby, the Allied cruiser’s warp-addled sensors couldn’t detect them.
Lieutenant General Morx, the commander of the T’Pau contingent of the assault, was aboard the lead ship in the T’Pau squadron. As his vision cleared and the plot updated, he saw his death in the Mintek defenses that surrounded him. As planned, his squadron had stopped just after exiting the warp point, as they had no idea if the Mintek had mines around the warp point, and they had no wish to run into a minefield with transit degraded sensors and weapons. Not knowing which of the massive bases were active, he ordered his cruiser to target one of the destroyers hovering a light second away, knowing that the other T’Pau ships in the first assault wave would follow his lead.
The lead T’Pau cruiser fired everything it had at a Mintek DD, scoring hits with two of its lasers, but missing with the third laser and its sprint missiles. Then one of the pairs of Mintek bases fired. Their target was the trio of D’Bringi cruisers that followed the T’Pau cruisers through the warp point. Each base fired eight plasma guns, four force beams, and some sort of heavy laser, divided between the three D’Bringi cruisers. The results were uneven. Two of the D’Bringi cruisers were targeted by eight plasma guns and a heavy laser each. One of the two D’Bringi ships simply melted under the fire when all eight of the plasma guns hit their target, while the other suffered relatively minor damage when only three of the plasma guns targeted on it hit. The third cruiser was targeted by eight force beams and some sort of heavy sprint missile, resulting in heavy damage that cut deep into the ship.
The third D’Bringi cruiser, the Indefatigable, was heavily damaged but fired next, targeting one of the mammoth bases for its two remaining energy beams. It missed, but also launched a CD which immediately began heading back towards the warp point. Next, a Mintek destroyer group targeted one of the T’Pau cruisers with six plasma guns and three force beams, hitting with most of them and heavily damaging the cruiser. An undamaged T’Pau cruiser fired next, scoring additional laser and gun hits on the same Mintek DD targeted earlier. The T’Pau cruiser also launched a number of CD’s back towards the warp point. Mintek return fire from the remaining destroyers stripped away the passives from a T’Pau cruiser, while the return fire mostly missed.
Thirty seconds into the battle and the attackers had lost one cruiser completely, and had four others more or less heavily damaged. Only Lt. General Morx’ command cruiser was left undamaged. In exchange, the attackers had done minor shield damage to one of the Mintek bases and light internal damage to one of the destroyers. Even as General Morx tried to come to grips with what they faced, his sensors cleared and confirmed that there was a minefield surrounding the warp point.
Even as the CD’s launched by the attacking cruisers jumped back to the Phyriseq system, the second wave of attacking cruisers jumped into the Mintek system. This wave was composed of six Rehorish cruisers, and the elite ships fanned out facing a different direction than the first wave. Like the first wave, though, they came to a halt on top of the warp point.
The same two Mintek bases that had fired earlier opened fire on the newly arrived Rehorish ships, targeting the first four cruisers with sixteen plasma guns, eight force beams, two heavy lasers, and eighteen capital missiles. Lt. General Morx watched the resulting destruction with amazement. His race did not use plasma guns, but his understanding was that they took approximately a minute to charge. Therefore, each of the mammoth bases had to mount sixteen of the devastating weapons to maintain their current rate of fire. The results were horrible. Three of the elite Rehorish cruisers took crippling damage, with the fourth taking only light damage from the base’s relatively inaccurate close-range capital missile fire. In response, General Morx’ crack cruiser gutted the Mintek destroyer it had targeted before, but none of the T’Pau, D’Bringi, or Rehorish ships were in their datalink groups and it fired alone. An intact Mintek destroyer group targeted the Rehorish cruiser that had been lightly damaged by the base’s capital missiles, but their plasma guns were recharging. The destroyer’s force beams cut into the Rehorish cruiser’s hull, doing internal damage. A Rehorish cruiser turned on the damaged Mintek destroyer and gutted it with its force beams and sprint missiles, and one by one the damaged cruisers of the assault force fired what weapons they had remaining, all targeting the destroyers sitting one light second from the warp point. Two of the Mintek destroyers were eliminated, and one of the two remaining DD’s suffered internal damage. Once again, the attacking ships all launched CD’s, which all turned back towards the warp point.
After watching the devastation of the second wave, General Morx knew that their assault was a failure. Even though no new Mintek units activated and fired, the few active units were able to cripple half of the second wave. Once more Mintek units came online, the situation would become completely untenable.
Back in the Phyriseq system, Skull Splitter watched as the third wave of cruisers, this time D’Bringi, began jumping out. Fortress Breaker was with this wave, and would take command from General Morx on the far side after he arrived. Even as the third wave ships jumped out, Skull Splitter’s plot updated with data from the CD’s that had returned from the 1st wave ships. These CD’s had been launched seconds after the ships arrived, and would have only rudimentary data. What the plot showed, though, was not good. Nine massive bases surrounded the warp point, along with five destroyers. Additional ships sat four light seconds away, doubtless ready to move in to support the bases. The information he had didn’t show what the Mintek bases were armed with, or what the results of the first exchange of fire were, but he knew it wouldn’t be good. After a few seconds hesitation he activated the comm system and issued an order for the assault to stop. It was too late for the third wave, the last ship of which was jumping out, but he could prevent the loss of any more cruisers.
Back in the Mintek system, General Morx had recognized Clan Chief Fortress Breaker’s command ship in the newly arrived third wave, and opened a comms channel even as his ship engaged one of the Mintek DD’s. “Clan Chief, you must retreat with any ship able to return! I will remain here and cover your retreat!”
Even as General Morx spoke, the lead group of Mintek bases, which had been active from the start, focused their fire on three of the newly arrived ships, including the flagship. The comm channel cut out as the Clan Chief’s ship was hit by numerous plasma guns, evaporating its passive defenses and melting about half of the ship. General Morx wasn’t sure that the Chan Chief had survived until an ‘all-ships’ channel opened and Chan Chief Fortress Breaker ordered all ships to retreat. Even as the order went out, the two sides continued to tear at each other. It soon became clear that the situation was beyond retrieval when five additional bases opened fire on the beleaguered attackers. The first pair to fire crippled the three remaining undamaged cruisers in the third wave, and then the newly activated bases began firing on the ships from the earlier waves. In addition, the six battlecruisers hovering four light seconds away began taking pot shots with their capital missile launchers, targeting heavily damaged cruisers which were struggling to get turned around.
After the deluge of fire, the attackers only had one ship that was still intact. Miraculously, General Morx’ flagship, the first ship through the warp point, had remained untouched. The rest of the attacking fleet was not so lucky. One T’Pau cruiser and four D’Bringi cruisers had been destroyed, and the other eleven cruisers were heavily damaged. Compliant to Fortress Breaker’s orders, the attacking cruisers began exiting the system, those that could. A damaged T’Pau cruiser led the way, followed by two damaged Rehorish cruisers from the second wave. The other two Rehorish cruisers were too damaged to complete their turns, and all of the D’Bringi cruisers of the third wave had only begun their turns when the defenders fired again.
It was at this point when a heavily wounded D’Bringi cruiser from the third wave fired its X-Ray lasers for the first time, hitting one of the big Mintek bases with all four, doing considerable damage to its armor. The bases returned fire, killing a D’Bringi cruiser and, for the first time, General Morx’ command ship came under fire as the two bases fired eight force beams, two heavy lasers, and eighteen capital missiles at it. The damage was considerable, and the cruiser lost most of its weapons and engines. General Morx opened his mouth to order his crew to abandon ship, but before the words came out a second pair of Mintek bases fired on them, destroying his flagship in a deluge of fire and destruction. Morx was killed instantly. Clan Chief Fortress Breaker’s ship blew up shortly thereafter, beaten into destruction by the awful broadsides of the mammoth Mintek bases.
Clan Chief Skull Splitter watched a grand total of three cruisers limp back into the system, all burning and heavily damaged. General Morx and Clan Chief Fortress Breaker were not among the survivors. Fifteen cruisers had been lost along with the two leaders, greatly reducing the fleet’s strength. All in exchange for destroying four Mintek destroyers, damaging another, and minor armor damage to one of their bases.
In the aftermath of the disastrous attack Skull Splitter ordered his fleet into a defensive formation, and ordered his automated warfare ships to begin moving the minefield that had been emplaced in the Chruqua nexus to his current location. If they couldn’t eliminate the Mintek, they’d bottle them up.
There being no sign of Mintek forces in the Phyriseq system, Skull Splitter called the forces he had left at the warp point and at the Phyriseq colony forward to join his depleted main fleet.
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Month 118, Day 22, Shaka System
The Combined Human Fleets arrived at the warp point to the Russian territories on this date. The Rehorish squadron had run ahead of them, maintaining the distance and jumping out when they reached the warp point to the Smolensk system. After arriving at the warp point the Human force waited for six hours before jumping through, to give the Rehorish time to stand down from action stations if they were defending the warp point. The Russian assault light cruisers led the way, but found the far side of the warp point clear of defenders. When their long-range scanners came up, they realized that the Rehorish were still there, waiting for them, one light minute away. The rest of the fleet jumped through and set their course for the next system down the line. The Novosibirsk system was the first system they’d encounter that was inhabited, and thus was likely going to be the place the Rehorish were going to defend, if they were going to defend anything.
Month 118, Day 22, Brezhnev system
Four Russian mobile shipyards arrived in the Brezhnev system, loaded with supplied and spare crews for the mothballed ships. They immediately set out for the mothballed ships of the Home Fleet.
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Month 119
D’Bringi Expanses:
The Keepers are making progress on an extremely secret project. No details have leaked, and indeed the Clans have no idea about the project. This may not be surprising given their focus on the Mintek war and the Human’s advances in the Rehorish-controlled territories. Repairs are completed on two clan cruisers, and several Keeper automated warfare ships are launched.
Rehorish Stellar Dominion:
The Rehorish complete R&D on the plasma gun, but there are no immediate plans to incorporate this new weapon in their fleet. Several laser buoys are completed, and an automated warfare ship is launched in the home system.
T’Pau Syndicates:
Repairs are completed on a heavy cruiser, and two new heavy cruisers are launched.
United World Republic (Tarek)
The Tarek colonization efforts continue, with colonies being placed on three moons of the outer gas giants. In addition, the Tarek complete R&D efforts into HT 2, and begin development of several new weapons and defenses.
Reformation Coalition:
Five new frigate-scouts join the fleet.
Bjering Consolidate:
The Bjering complete research into the last HT 6 system, advanced gun/missile launcher.
USSR:
Two new assault light cruisers are launched from the orbital yards. In the Brezhnev system, the mobile shipyards began reactivating the mothballed ships. In addition, transports arrived to take the colonists of the Brezhnev system to the Moskva system, where they will be settled in the asteroid belt.
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Just a short one today. I'll have a bigger, more humancentric post tomorrow.
Month 119, Day 1, Phyriseq System
Cho-sho Banzan, CO of the Rehorish Grand Fleet, meets with Skull Splitter and states that he is taking his fleet to meet the humans in battle, to stop their advance. With the Mintek bottled up and unlikely to attack after the decimation of their fleet, he strongly feels this is the best course of action. Skull Splitter ultimately agrees, but convinces him to leave some ships in the Phyriseq system to assist the blockade. The Grand Fleet sets out for the Russian territories by mid-day.
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Month 119, Day 1, Earth
Once again, the Russian government is forced to withdraw troops from the border and send them to the interior. Moscow is quiet, but saw riots in the early days of the unrest and is heavily patrolled by trusted troops. To cover the withdrawal, the Russian leaders again threaten the Coalition and the breakaway states with nuclear devastation should they interfere.
Frustrated that the Coalition won’t actively support them, the Arab Caliphate and the new European Union sign a mutual defense treaty begin shifting forces to support each other in case of an attack.
Month 119, Day 2, Earth
The Coalition warns everyone against military adventurism and specifically warns the USSR against the use of nuclear weapons, warning that it will use its strategic offensive and defensive capability to respond to any attack by the USSR against any nation or group on Earth. The Coalition government once again offers to mediate to resolve the differences between the Soviet Union and its breakaway states. Both the Organization of Indian States and the United Chinese Front also offer to mediate or deploy peacekeeping forces to the borders of the rival states to ensure peace.
The European Union and the Arab Caliphate both accept the offers of mediation, but the USSR refuses and accuses the other nations of interfering in its internal affairs.
Month 119, Day 2, Russian Smolensk system
The Combined Human Fleets had chased the Rehorish across the system directly to the warp point to the Kirov system. Both the Smolensk and the Kirov system were uninhabited, but the Kirov system differed in that it connected to three colonized systems, one of which would lead to Rehorish space after several more jumps.
As before, the Combined Fleets paused at the warp point, wary of an ambush, and then pushed through after waiting seven hours. Once again, the Rehorish declined to defend the warp point, but they had obviously been reinforced. The Rehorish squadron now consisted of three cruisers, four light cruisers, fifteen destroyers, and three corvettes. Still not a match for the Combined Fleets, but growing in strength.
Month 119, Day 4, Russian Kirov system
Shortly after the main fleets moved beyond detection range of the warp point back to the Smolensk system, taking their Rehorish shadows with them, two groups of ships jumped into the system. The two groups of ships were each composed of eight ships, a light cruiser, corvette, and six escorts, and all of the ships were Russian. Admiral Ruston had detached them from his fleet before he jumped into the Kirov system, out of sight of the Rehorish. Hopefully, if the Rehorish noted the difference they would think that he had left the missing ships to picket the Smolensk system. After pausing the ensure that the area was clear, the two groups split, with one headed for the warp point to the Krasnodar system, and the colony there, while the other headed towards the Tomsk system and the colonies there.
Month 119, Day 5, Earth
The Soviet government is losing control of the cities, and the external pressure to allow the Coalition to mediate the dispute is growing. The Politburo is sure that the Coalition intends to use this emergency to fragment the Soviet Union and put together an international coalition that will squeeze the USSR out of space, and is determined to regain its position. The leadership favors a quick and limited decapitation nuclear strike against the Caliphate and the European Union, followed by a lightning strike by armored forces, but has grown concerned about the reliability of the leadership of its strategic nuclear forces. To gain time while they regain control of the nuclear forces, the USSR launches conventional invasions of both the European Union and the Caliphate. The Coalition is warned to stay out of the fighting.
Month 119, Day 8, Earth
Both Soviet invasions have bogged down, having gained little ground. Both invasion forces were understrength, and once again, several critical units either refused to advance or melted away once the fighting started. Russian forces gained the most ground in eastern Europe, but even there they have failed to gain their first day goals after three days of heavier than expected fighting.
Month 119, Day 11, Earth
Both invasions have failed. The forces in the Caliphate are holding against counter attacks, but the forces in Eastern Europe have been forced to retreat past their start positions by heavy counter attacks by combined European and Caliphate forces. To cover their failure, the front commanders are claiming that the enemy forces are using latest generation Coalition military technology, which isn’t true but further panics the leadership in Moscow.
The Coalition, fearing an increasingly desperate USSR, signs a mutual defense treaty with the two breakaway states, offering to cover them with a strategic umbrella against nuclear attack. The treaty won’t allow the Coalition to enter the fight, or to supply the two states with military aid, and requires that the two nations stop at their border and remain outside of the USSR, to avoid putting too much pressure on the USSR and perhaps provoking a nuclear attack. Because of these terms the two new nations agree to call a halt to their advances at the border, in some cases ordering a retreat, leaving Soviet territory.
Month 119, Day 12, Russian Kirov system
The Combined Human Fleets had arrived at the warp point early in the day. The retreating Rehorish fleet had jumped out several hours ago. Cautiously, Admiral Ruston sent a frigate-scout through to probe the far side. Thirty seconds later the scout returned to report that the Rehorish squadron was waiting for them one light minute from the warp point, exactly as they had done in the Smolensk and Kirov systems.
Admiral Ruston ordered the fleet through the warp point, fairly sure that this time the Rehorish weren’t going to retreat any further. The Novosibirsk system was the last system in this warp chain that had belonged to the Russians. Beyond Novosibirsk was Rehorish territory, and he was certain the Rehorish weren’t going to make things easy for him.
Once through the warp point Admiral Ruston ordered his fleet to set a course for the Russian colony in the inner system. For the first hour the Rehorish ships ran ahead of them, as they had for the last several weeks. But then the fleet ahead seemed to unravel. Fourteen Rehorish destroyers left the main group and began spreading out around the human ships, while the nine remaining Rehorish ships in the main force remained ahead of them, keeping the range steady. Eventually the Rehorish destroyers had spread out around the human fleets, closing to ten light seconds range. Curious to see how the Rehorish would respond, Admiral Ruston ordered his four corvettes and five Russian escorts to chase down one of the destroyers. The corvettes and escorts were faster than the Rehorish ship, and together would be able to overwhelm it. Unfortunately, the Rehorish saw the small ships coming and the DD’s around the targeted DD began closing on it while the targeted DD turned away from the fleet and its pursuers.
After watching this play out for a while, Admiral Ruston ordered the ships back to the main fleet. The Rehorish main group then turned and began moving away from the human fleets, running around them and then turning for the warp point they had just left. It was clear to Admiral Ruston that the Rehorish were willing to allow him to advance into the system, but at the cost of being cut off from support from his supply lines to the inner planets.
In the end, Admiral Ruston was forced to detach a force of six heavy cruisers and six destroyers to watch the warp point. The detachment wasn’t quite strong enough to stand up to the Rehorish squadron in a one to one fight, but Admiral Ruston didn’t actually think that would happen. His intention was to set out for the WP to Rehorish territory once his own supply lines were secure, thus cutting off the Rehorish. If they wished to attack his stay-behind force, they could, but it was strong enough to give the Rehorish a fight if they wished to challenge it, and would be able to keep them occupied for a time. In the meantime, Admiral Ruston’s fleet, which would presumably be right behind them if they tried to slip past his fleet to make a run at the warp point, would be able to come up behind them and crush them.
The Rehorish squadron watched as the human fleet split, then settled for following the main fleet as it set out for the warp point to the Rehorish-controlled Novosibirsk system.
Month 119, Day 13, Kirov system
The Russian squadron detached by Admiral Ruston came to a halt eight light seconds from the warp point to the Tomsk system and launched a CD, which immediately headed towards the warp point. Admiral Ruston had been worried about the possibility that some of the Russian colonies had held out against the Rehorish and had therefore mounted some sort of defenses at their warp point. The last thing he wanted was a friendly fire incident, so the CD would go first.
Several minutes after the CD jumped out, a CD returned. It carried old, pre-Rehorish conquest codes, and the messages it carried stated that the territory in and around the Tomsk system was controlled by the Tomsk Union, which had been formed out the five colonies in and around the Tomsk system.
After some negotiation the defenders agreed to allow a ship to come through to their side, and the Russian corvette jumped through to the Tomsk side. The reunion was joyful, but there was caution amongst the Tomsk Union personnel. They clearly felt that they had been betrayed and left to their own devices by the Russian government. They way forward would be difficult, for both sides.
Month 119, Day 14, Kirov system
The second Russian squadron reached the warp point to the Krasnodar system and it too paused to send through a CD. This time nothing came back, and after waiting for a time, the squadron commander dispatched his corvette to probe the far side. The corvette returned to report that the far side was clear, so the squadron jumped through and set out for the colony in the inner system.
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Month 119, Day 15, Earth
Disposition of forces in the Solar System
Coalition:
Coalition Reserve Fleet (WP to Sigma Draconis): 7xBC, 1xCA, 3xCL, 1xDD, 2xCT
Coalition Earth Squadron (Earth): 9xFGS, 1xEXS
Earth PDC’s: PDC Atlantic, PDC Pacific
Coalition WP Defense: 6xBS3, 3xBS1, 9xBS0, 1xEXS, 3xAWCS
USSR:
Soviet Planetary Defense: 3xPDC, 6xAnti-Msl PDC
Soviet Earth Fleet: 1xBC, 8xCL, 1xAWCS, 14xES, 2xEXS
Soviet WP Defense: 2xAsteroid Fort, 1xEXS
Note: Both sides have been ‘improving’ their PDC’s in secret. By treaty, neither side can improve their PDC’s without approval and negotiations with the other, but both have been doing so anyway, in secret. They both ran the risk of being discovered and causing an international incident, but both succeeded in keeping their programs a secret. The Russians expanded their missile defense by adding six small PDC’s with point defense only, while the Coalition was much more ambitious, overhauling both their PDC’s in small increments over the years, replacing older gun/missile launchers with advanced gun/missile launchers and the more powerful standard sprint missile launchers (G’s). The Coalition improved their PDC’s more simply because they felt more threatened by the USSR than the USSR felt threated by the Coalition.
Rebel forces throughout the USSR declare the establishment of a new Free Russia, to be based in Leningrad. The citizens of Moscow rise against the military occupation of their city once again, and this time the weakened military forces available cannot stop them, although the military manages to remain in control of the city center. Feeling their control slip away, in a last-ditch effort to stabilize the situation, General Petrov, with the agreement of the Council, orders a nuclear strike against the Coalition, Europe, the Caliphate, and both India and China. The strike is limited, not employing the full arsenal, and is intended more as a warning than anything else. The leadership knows that the Coalition has its defenses ready, and believes that most, if not all, of the missiles will be intercepted, thus the ‘warning’ nature of the attack. At 0810 hours, ten sprint-mode standard missiles (SM’s) are launched from one of the Soviet PDC’s, targeted on industrial centers in Europe, Arabia, and the Coalition, as well as the breakaway state’s military units massed on the Soviet border.
In the two Coalition PDC’s, the response was immediate. The PDC’s massive ranks of point defense emplacements sprang into action immediately, without waiting for human confirmation, as they were designed to do. Unfortunately, sprint-mode missiles are hard to stop, and even though point defense mounted on PDC’s at least has a chance to destroy the incoming missiles, where point defense on ships does not, it still is not a great chance. Coalition point defense stops only four of the ten missiles, leaving the other six to hit industrial complexes in all three nations, as well as one that hit an Arabian army group.
Thirty seconds had passed since the Russian launch, and it was too soon to expect any civilian leader of the Coalition to authorize a response. Because of the incredibly fast nature of modern combat when confined on something as small as a planet, both side’s PDC’s were actually controlled by a limited AI which was governed by “response patterns” preauthorized by the country’s political leadership. In this case, the CEO of the Coalition had authorized a limited, proportionate response when tensions escalated. Therefore, approximately thirty seconds after the Soviet launch, one of the Coalition PDC’s launched ten sprint-mode SM’s of its own, targeted on one of the Russian PDC’s. The Soviet PDC’s managed to intercept six of the incoming missiles, leaving four to hit the PDC’s armor, barely scratching it.
At this point everything paused as the people of the Earth held their breath. In the Coalition, the CEO’s personal defense team was rushing him to his bunker, and he was desperately trying to contact the Russian leadership to head off further conflict. In the meantime, the CEO had denied the military’s request to continue engaging the Russian PDC’s.
In Russia, the Council of Generals, or at least the generals who really mattered, were already in their bunker, both out of fear of the Coalition response and because of the masses of people rioting in their capital city. The generals were stunned that the Coalition had actually responded to their attack, as they had convinced themselves that the weak Coalition wouldn’t risk a nuclear war to protect the two breakaway states. General Petrov, the leader of the Council, was in a particularly weak position as he had done most of the convincing, and he knew who the other members would turn on when it became clear that this plan had failed. Therefore, he did the only thing he could. He rallied the other members of the Council and ordered a full-scale assault on the Coalition’s PDC’s. This would be all or nothing.
Four minutes after the first exchange of missiles, the USSR launched a full strike on the Coalition’s Atlantic PDC. The Coalition’s point defense took out seventy-six of the incoming missiles, leaving seventy-four to hit the PDC’s very thick armor.
In the Coalition, the CEO was now close to his bunker, but had failed to get through to the Russian leadership, partially because of confusion and chaos within the Coalition’s comm systems, but also because the Russians really didn’t want to talk. In any case, the CEO’s desires became moot when the Russians launched, as the AI’s controlling the Coalition PDC’s had just one pre-authorized acceptable response to a full Russian attack, and that was to immediately launch against the attackers. Thirty seconds after the Russians launched, the Coalition responded. For the next ninety seconds the two sides launched missiles at each other PDC’s in a concerted attempt to take the other side’s defenses out. Millions died from collateral damage on both sides as nuclear fireballs blossomed across the Earth.
At the end of the ninety seconds, General Petrov realized that they were in trouble. The armor on one of their three PDC’s was almost gone, while it appeared that the Coalition PDC’s were weathering the storm. While it was impossible to tell just how much armor the other side’s PDC’s had, intelligence had been clear for some time that the Coalition PDC’s were heavily armored, and now it appeared that the reports were true. Worse, somehow the Coalition PDC’s were putting out far more firepower than they should. This was partially balanced by the USSR’s superior defenses, but not completely. With the other members of the Council wavering, General Petrov ordered a change in targeting. One PDC would target the Coalition’s orbital yards, while the other two would target Coalition and independent cities. At the same time, General Petrov sends a demand to the Coalition government to surrender or face continued bombardment of their cities.
In orbit, the Coalition’s eleven shipyards are contained within a massive space station equipped to support them. The space station, by treaty, is unarmed, however, relatively recently the Coalition navy refitted the station to install a datalink system, so that the orbital shipyard could be protected by the PDC’s point defenses. This would be tested now, as a Russian PDC turned its fifty gun/missile launchers on the Coalition station. Coalition PDC’s attempted to defend the shipyard from the Russian missiles, but the task was nearly impossible and twenty-six sprint-mode SM’s made it through the defenses to hit the station, destroying two shipyards. The remaining Russian PDC’s targeted major cities around the world. Coalition point defense stopped many of the missiles, but they couldn’t get all and nuclear fireballs exploded over city after city. Millions died in seconds.
The Coalition PDC’s continued targeting the Russian PDC’s when the Russians switched to the cities, and finally the armor of one of the Russian PDC’s was penetrated, even as the Russian missiles were exploding over the world’s cities.
The damaged Russian PDC continued to target the Coalition shipyards. The Russian missiles did heavy damage to the yards even as Coalition missiles wiped the Russian PDC off the map. The other Russian PDC’s continued to target cities across the globe. In the Soviet command bunker there was chaos. The Council, aghast at the destruction they were wreaking, had turned on General Petrov and were attempting to get orders to the remaining PDC’s to cease fire. General Petrov’s security had responded, and there was now a firefight in the bunker. General Petrov, isolated in his office by the rest of the Council, which is now fighting Petrov’s guards, orders the Russian Fleet holding station ten light seconds from Earth to join the battle and bombard Coalition territories.
The Russian fleet near Earth consisted of one battlecruiser, eight light cruisers, one corvette, fourteen escorts and two scouts, and was commanded by a newly rehabilitated General Lebedev. General Petrov had recently released General Lebedev from prison after he agreed to support the new regime. General Petrov needed the support from a general of the old guard, and ensured Lebedev’s cooperation by holding his family as hostage against his compliance. Unknown to General Petrov, General Lebedev still had some supporters in the military, and when the nuclear exchange started, he asked them to rescue his family from the secret police that were holding them. Not long before General Petrov ordered the fleet to intervene, General Lebedev had gotten word that his family had been freed. Thus, when the orders came in, General Lebedev declared his support for the people of Russia, and his opposition to the corrupt leaders that even now were destroying Russia. The officers and crews of the Russian fleet, who had been watching the ongoing destruction of the Motherland with shock, supported General Lebedev almost uniformly. It didn’t hurt General Lebedev’s position that there was only one ship in the fleet that could attack ground targets, and the lunacy of General Petrov’s orders were clear to all. As one, the Russian fleet declared for the Russian people, and refused the orders sent by Petrov. The Coalition’s Earth squadron was composed entirely of newly constructed scouts, and was completely incapable of intervening as well.
The two remaining Russian PDC’s continued targeting the orbital shipyards and cities. The Coalition’s capital city was destroyed by Russian missile strikes, killing the CEO and most of the Senate. The Coalition PDC’s shifted fire to a second Russian PDC and began wearing away its armor. General Petrov is now back in control of his bunker, and declares that the General’s Council has been disbanded for treason. In desperation, outraged at the betrayal by the fleet, General Petrov orders the Soviet asteroid forts at the warp point to interdict all traffic entering or leaving the solar system. The orders are largely aimed at the Russian fleet that betrayed Petrov, but in his rush to get the orders out he does not specify which traffic. It will take several hours for the orders to arrive, and by then the situation will be resolved on Earth, one way or another. It isn’t clear if General Petrov realizes this, and there is no one left to question him.
The commanders of the two remaining Russian PDC’s, in the absence of orders from the Council, and based on rumors that General Petrov has arrested or killed the entire Council for treason, both decide to shift targeting back to Coalition military targets. Both Russian PDC’s begin targeting the same Coalition PDC that they had targeted earlier, trying to get through the PDC’s thick armor. For the next four minutes the Russian PDC’s pound the Coalition base, but fail to get through its armor as one by one they are taken out by Coalition counterfire.
In the Coalition PDC code-named Atlantic, Captain Alicia Hardesty, the CO of the base, had watched her nation destroyed. Her family and nearly everyone she knew had been killed in the Russian bombardment, and the government she served had been almost completely destroyed. When she was young her grandparents had told her many times of the terrible destruction of the Last War in 1963, and the family they had lost and the disease and deprivation that had scoured the country. Her parents had been cast loose as children in a war-torn nation that had suffered terrible destruction at the hands of the Soviets. Captain Hardesty had joined the Coalition military to ensure that something like the Last War never happened again. And she had failed. And not only had she failed, but it was the Russians who had yet again destroyed her nation. For the last thirteen minutes her PDC had been pounded by the Russians, who had been trying to get through the defenses to kill her people, the people she had sworn to protect. Now the Russian PDC’s were gone, but the Russian nation survived. And that was intolerable to Captain Hardesty. She made her decision in a split second, and keyed in the codes to lock her command center down, isolating the center from the rest of the PDC. Then she activated the lockdown for her offices, isolating her from the rest of the command center. Once that was done, she ordered the base AI to target Russian cities and begin launching. This shouldn’t have been possible, but with the destruction of the Coalition’s government too many safeguards had been removed. The AI accepted the order and began launching missiles at Russian cities.
In the other PDC, codenamed Pacific, the CO frantically tried to get through to Captain Hardesty, but all communication channels into the other base were cut off. Moscow was the first Russian city to go as the Coalition missiles struck targets across Russia, unhindered by any defenses. For the next two and a half minutes PDC Atlantic continues to pump missiles into Russia while the CO of PDC Pacific tries to get through to the commander to get them to stop. Finally realizing that the other PDC will not stop, Captain Nikau Smith, CO of PDC Pacific, ordered his base to engage the other Coalition PDC in an attempt to get them to stop firing at defenseless people.
Captain Smith continues to try to get through to Captain Hardesty even as the two bases tear at each other, but what he doesn’t know is that Captain Hardesty killed herself shortly after ordering her AI to fire at Russian cities. The AI continued following Captain Hardesty’s last order until the situation changed when PDC Pacific began targeting it, and so, following its mandatory response pattern, the AI shifted fire to the immediate threat. For the next six and a half minutes the two PDC’s fire at each other and nuclear explosions boil over both bases. Fortunately, PDC Atlantic’s armor was damaged by the Russians, and PDC Pacific got in the first strike, giving it a significant advantage. Finally, the nuclear fire chewed through PDC’s Atlantic’s armor and destroyed the base, and its valiant crew, who had finally realized something was wrong and were trying to burn through to the command center even as the base was destroyed.
The war was over. Billions were dead and Earth was devastated.
In the aftermath, General Lebedev attempted to contact his own government, and then the Coalition government. He was unable to find any civilian authorities on either side, but finally established contact with Captain Smith in the surviving Coalition PDC. The two quickly agreed that the war was over, and that whatever reasons it had been fought for were now moot. The two agreed to begin coordinating relief efforts to help as many people on the ground as could be helped.
Four hours later, the orders from General Petrov, who was by then radioactive dust dispersing through the Earth’s tortured atmosphere, arrived at the warp point. The message was received by the two asteroid forts at the same time. Up to two months ago Marshal Smirnov had been in command of the defenses at the warp point, but the Council of Generals had removed him for being insufficiently obsequious to one of the Council’s auditors. He was replaced with two Brigadirs, one on each of the fortresses. The two were each told to run their command independently, and further told to watch each other and their crews for disloyalty. The situation had been tense, but when events on Earth began to spiral out of control the two new commanders contacted each other and agreed to place their fortresses under the command of General Fedorov. A scout was dispatched to the Moskva system to inform the colonies there of the events in the Solar System, and to send a message to the ships stationed at the WP to the Leningrad system.
After a few hours, the Coalition squadron at the warp point departed for the inner system, intent on doing what it could for the people of the Earth.
Even as the Coalition fleet moves inward, a stream of refugee ships begin heading outward from Earth towards the colonies. The news of the destruction of Earth and the fall of the USSR and the Coalition spreads outward faster than the ships can run.
Approximately seven hours after the end of the Final War, Part 2, messages bearing the news arrived at the colonies in the Sigma Draconis/Moskva system. These colonies were both side’s largest and most established and prosperous colonies. The shock to the people and their leaders was palpable. The leaders of the Russian colonies immediately declared their support for the Russian Fleet, which they had begun viewing before the final conflict on Earth as their only bulwark against the growing chaos on the home planet. All of the colonial leaders in the system agreed to stand united and send aide to the remaining peoples of Earth.
Late that same day, Generals Semenov and Fedorov received word of the final destruction of their homeland. The message had traveled by light-speed relays between ships stationed at the intervening warp points, and so had arrived quickly. While it was not exactly a surprise, it was shocking. After taking some time to compose themselves, they made the announcement to the entire fleet, and announced that the bulk of the fleet would be returning to the Solar system to provide what aid they could to the survivors. A small detachment of ships would remain behind to secure the system and the mobile shipyards, but the rest of the ships would depart immediately.
The news would take considerably longer to reach Admiral Ruston, as it would have to travel at the speed of courier drones rather than light speed.
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Author’s Note on the effects of the destruction of the Coalition and the USSR
Starfire, as a game system, doesn’t really deal with combat between two HT races on the same planet very well, so I’ve had to “role-play” out a lot of what is going on. In essence, the Coalition and Soviet governments have been destroyed, and the bulk of the population of both nations is dead or dying. In addition, the USSR launched decapitation strikes against most other states to destabilize them, ostensibly to give it time to recover after the nuclear war. Its leaders didn’t survive, so that didn’t work, but it made sense at the time. Kind of.
The rules provide for direct damage to populations, and collateral damage from weapons targeted on PDC’s, and even misses do damage on planets, but there are no rules for dust, nuclear winter, and lingering radiation effects. That has long been a point of contention within the Starfire community, as there is no provision for changing the habitability rating of a planet after the inhabitants have been nuked, and even if you did change the rating to make it less habitable for the current inhabitants, you’d actually be making it more habitable for someone else, which isn’t really the intent. Therefore, I have eliminated both the Coalition and Russian populations from Earth in their entirety, and created a new, much smaller population that comprises everyone who is left. This new population includes Russian and Coalition survivors, as well as all other populations on Earth. Earth will remain unproductive for a period of time that will be random, but much shorter than it would be in reality, just because this is Starfire and time is wacky. I will not allow this population to grow beyond medium for some time, to reflect the damage that has been done to Earth.
The destruction of a large part of Earth’s population creates a problem for humanity. This problem is directly related to the slower than normal growth rates I have imposed on the game. I wanted to avoid the bloat that afflicts most campaigns by mid-game, so I slowed down growth to one fifth of its normal value. In other words, instead of the populations growing every turn, as is normal in Starfire, I set SA to do growth only once every five turns. This has worked well to keep the various race’s income reasonable. As a quick comparison, in the Phoenix Campaign, by turn 119, construction for two of the two major governments in the game, the ASR and the 2nd Empire, totaled thirty-eight capital ships (mostly light monitors and carriers), and refits for seventy other capital ships, mostly light monitors. That should tell you a lot about the income disparities between the two campaigns.
While slowing down the population growth has worked to slow down income growth, it has also had some other significant effects. Most of the main race’s earlies colonies have only managed to grow to 200 to 240 PU’s by turn 119. This is far below the 401 PU’s that is important in Starfire for an independent nation. 401 PU’s is the smallest population that is considered “Medium”. Medium populations are important for a lot of reasons. They are smallest population that can support colonization from their population without significantly depleting their numbers. It is also the smallest population that can support R&D efforts.
All of this means that humanity is screwed in the game. Until the Earth recovers and becomes productive again, humanity has no populations that can support R&D or colonization. Now, I think humanity should suffer significant consequences for this, but this is just too much. So, what I will be doing over the next several turns is boosting the populations of several different colonies to just over 400 PU’s by bringing in refugees fleeing from Earth. This will give each faction a viable population center that will support growth and R&D. Now, whether it can afford colonization and R&D will be another entire matter, but it at least gives them a chance. Note, these boosted populations will not come close to making up for the income loss from the destroyed populations on Earth.
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Month 119, Day 19, Krasnodar System
The Russian squadron arrived over the Krasnodar colony by mid-day, to find the colony occupied by Rehorish troops. The commander of those troops was willing to talk to the newly arrived ships, but it became obvious that he would not surrender unless the humans brought up troops to threaten his positions on the ground. The Russian squadron commander sent CD’s to both Admiral Ruston and General Semenov and then settled in to wait.
Month 119, Day 22, Epsilon Eridani system
The Epsilon Eridani System was the home to the Coalition’s New Plymouth colony, the pride and joy of the Coalition. Unlike Russia, which had focused on building up its colonies in the Moskva system, the Coalition had focused on the New Plymouth colony, as it was not in a system shared with the Russians and could thus be secured. Indeed, prior to the resumption of the war with the D’Bringi, the Coalition had planned to establish a command center in the system for both the colonial administration and the fleet. Those plans had fallen by the wayside when the war started up again, and that had proved problematic when the Coalition government was cut off from its colonies by the D’Bringi and their allies. Without a recognized governmental authority to bind them together, the Coalition’s colonies had split into two groups, each centered around the largest colony in their respective areas.
For the four colonized systems beyond the Epsilon Eridani system, New Plymouth was their rallying point. Word of the destruction of the Coalition arrived at the colony early in the day, and the New Plymouth leaders reacted much the same as the colonies in the Sigma Draconis/Moskva system. They immediately began preparing for refugees and organizing relief efforts for the home system.
Month 119, Day 22, Epsilon Indi system
Epsilon Indi was uninhabited, but it was the gateway from the Solar System to the bulk of the Coalition’s colonies. When the Earth was cut off from the rest of the galaxy by the Rehorish, the colonies beyond Epsilon Indi rallied around Wunderland in the Sligo system, just as the colonies beyond Epsilon Eridani rallied around New Plymouth.
The news arrived early in the day, and then was relayed on to the Sligo system by the Coalition Colonial Defense Squadron stationed in Epsilon Indi to protect the colonies beyond from D’Bringi incursions.
Meanwhile, in the D’Bringi Expanses:
Month 119, Day 20
Simmering unrest on two planets conquered by the D’Bringi, fed by the missionaries sent by the Mintek, boils over into open rebellion on both planets. The clan picket ships immediately send word via the new ICN to both the home system and the fleet.
Thanks to the relatively new D’Bringi communications network, word was received on D’Bringi Prime within hours.
Not wanting to strip the blockade fleet, Clan chief Burning Blade decided to send large contingents of troops supported by a single clan cruiser to each of the rebelling worlds. This will strip the home system of almost all of the ships remaining there, but the rebellion must be put down.
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Month 120
D’Bringi Expanses: The D’Bringi Home System shipyards launch three new cruisers for the Keeper fleet, and a cruiser and two corvettes are repaired.
Rehorish Stellar Dominion: Repairs are completed on three heavy cruisers and a light cruiser, and refits are finished on three light cruisers and two destroyers.
United World Republic (Tarek): The Tarek yards launch six additional exploration ships.
Former Coalition: Wunderland has stopped all outgoing communications. The governor of New Plymouth begins work on re-establishing the Coalition government, and has invited representatives from the other colonies to join together on New Plymouth to begin down that road. The Coalition Fleet is divided, with the bulk far away on the Rehorish front and the rest rushing back to the Solar System to assist in relief efforts. Refugees should start arriving at the nearest colonies early in the month, and most of the colonial government’s efforts and attention is focused on preparing for their arrival. All efforts at R&D have been shut down for the foreseeable future to save resources for more important uses in light of the disaster.
On Wunderland, the new government has decided to attack the Tarek as soon as the squadron assigned to the Epsilon Indi system joins them.
Former USSR: The first wave of refugees has arrived in the Moskva system and caused chaos among the Russian colonies located there. The colonies were initially willing to receive refugees, but the numbers fleeing the destruction of Earth are massive and overwhelming. Resistance to accepting refugees is growing among the governments of the Moskva colonies and some are being refused admittance. As with the Coalition, the Russians have shut down all R&D due to lack of funds.
On Earth, the situation is chaotic. Millions, perhaps billions, survived the cataclysm, but many will die without help. Cities that were not destroyed in the conflict have been beset by refugees, and both the Russian and the Coalition Fleets are doing their best to help with supply distribution and organizing transportation to out-system colonies willing to accept refugees. Most of the refugees from Russia are heading to the major Russian colonies in the Moskva system, while the Coalition and other refugees are heading farther, to the Coalition colony systems of Epsilon Eridani and Sligo.
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Month 120, Day 1, Moskva system
The Russian fleet under Generals Fedorov and Semenov jumps into the Moskva system early in the day. Upon arrival the fleet is deluged with messages that are being broadcast across the system. Many of the messages are emergency reports from overloaded refugee ships from the solar system, while the rest are overworked colonial government personnel trying to find places for the refugees to go. Disturbingly enough, there are messages from the colonial government on Gagarin making it clear that they will accept no further refugees, and threating to fire on any refugee ship that approaches. Gagarin is the largest and best equipped Russian colony in the system, situated on the best, most benign world in the system. For it to be turning away refugees is unthinkable.
The two generals had originally been intent on heading directly to the Solar System, however, with this development, it is now clear that at least one of them will have to remain here to coordinate refugee movements and to lean on the local governments. They decide that General Semenov, who is better known to the local authorities, will remain in the Moskva system with the bulk of his fleet, while General Fedorov will continue on into the Solar System to take command of operations there.
Month 120, Day 4, Tomsk Union
The Tomsk Union was thrown into political chaos when the Russian fleet re-established contact last month. Many, probably most, were relieved that the war was going well and that the D’Bringi and their allies were on the retreat, but no one had forgotten the excesses of the USSR and their often-corrupt colonial administrators. Opinion amongst the general population on rejoining the USSR was split between those that feared that refusal would bring war with the homeland and the people who favored complete independence, regardless of the price. Worse, no one was sure what the Bjering would do in the case of war with the Motherland, in spite of the defense treaty. It was possible that they might decide it was an internal human matter and stand aside, in which case the Tomsk Union would almost certainly fall if pitted against the might of the Soviet navy. No one was sure if they could believe the reassurances of the Russian navy officers who were insisting that the fleet under General Semenov would not participate in reprisals or unjust expeditions of conquest.
All of those calculations changed when the Russian squadron that had re-established contact relayed the messages that had just arrived from Earth describing the nuclear holocaust that had overwhelmed the planet. The destruction was horrific, the death toll appalling. It quickly became clear to Governor General Orlov that the USSR probably didn’t exist anymore, and even if it did, certainly wasn’t in a position to launch conquest efforts at its former colonies. Governor Orlov sent messages to the Russian ships promising aid for the Earth and agreeing to cooperate with the Russian fleet in any way necessary to ensure the safety of humanity. He also offered to accept any refugees that wanted to resettle in the Tomsk Union. These messages were sent back to the inner systems immediately.
Month 120, Day 4, Novosibirsk system
Admiral Ruston and the combined human fleets received word of the destruction of the Coalition and the USSR on this date. The news was devastating, not only personally but for their campaign against the Rehorish as well. This news made it clear that not only would no further reinforcements be coming from the inner systems, but that they probably couldn’t depend on reliable supply shipments as well. And, as almost all of the ground forces that would be needed to take back the Russian colonies from the Rehorish would have had to come from Earth, there was no possible way to force the Rehorish ground forces off of the conquered Russian colonies.
After making an announcement to the crews, Admiral Ruston ordered the fleet to turn for home. Their campaign was a failure, but through no fault of their own. They would now have to retreat at least far enough to establish reliable supply lines, which, given the events in the home system, might mean retreating all the way back to the Moskva/Sigma Draconis system.
Month 120, Day 6, Moskva system, Gagarin colony
General Semenov’s squadron arrived over the Gagarin colony by mid-day, and General Semenov’s first action was to order the governor of the colony, one Egor Abakumov, to report aboard his flagship. That worthy arrived promptly; no doubt due to the shuttle full of naval infantry the General had sent to collect him. The governor was in a receptive state of mind, having wondered during the trip up if he was going to be returning to his planet in one piece. General Semenov did nothing to disabuse him of his fears, and told him in no uncertain terms that the Russian fleet would be coordinating the flow of refugees, and that all colonies designated as reception sites would take their allocated refugees without argument. The governor was somewhat mollified by the General’s statement that he would have his staff work with the various colonial governments to coordinate the dispersal of not only refugees but supplies to help in the establishment of those refugees.
One hour after meeting with the governor, General Semenov sent a message to the entire system announcing that he was declaring martial law for the duration of the emergency. The Coalition Fleet was already handling their side of the evacuation, so Semenov was content on focusing on the Russian refugees.
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Month 120, Day 10, Novosibirsk system
On this date the retreating human fleets detected a drive field approaching their position from the side. Admiral Ruston dispatched scouts to identify the new contact. The Rehorish squadron following them continued shadowing the human main fleet and let the scouts go without molesting them.
Twenty-four hours later the scouts confirmed the presence and size of what was almost certainly the main Rehorish fleet.
Combined Human Fleets (1765 HS)
Coalition: 3xBC, 10xCA, 1xCL, 3xFG, 4xCT
Russian: 3xBC, 10xCL, 5xES
Rehorish (2328 HS)
Grand Fleet: 9xCA, 8xCL, 16xDD (1380 HS)
Shadowing Force: 3xCA, 4xCL, 18xDD, 3xCT (948 HS)
The balance was clearly against the human force, and Admiral Ruston knew that losing his fleet here and now could spell doom for a humanity which had just lost its home world. He briefly considered his options. If he ordered his fleet to close with the main Rehorish fleet at full speed it was possible he could force an engagement while the enemy forces were divided. With his superiority in heavy ships, and attacking the main enemy group while it was separated from the other force, he believed he could defeat the Rehorish, but even if he was victorious it would be a costly victory, and humanity couldn’t afford to lose any of his ships or trained crews at this precarious time. His ships were literally irreplaceable.
He decided to gamble. He sent and message to the newly arrived main Rehorish fleet, asking for a temporary cease fire to discuss terms for ending the war. In the meantime, his fleet continued retreating towards the warp point back to the Kirov system.
One hour later Cho-sho Banzan received the human message. His interest was piqued. He was fairly sure he could defeat the human fleet, but the humans would be sure to make his victory costly. A costly victory here would leave the Alliance weakened if the Mintek counterattacked, or if the Humans had more forces elsewhere. After considering the situation for a brief period he decided to talk to the human. Over the next several hours the two admiral’s teams set up a meeting between the two, to take place on small craft between the two fleets.
One day later, the two admirals, each aboard an assault shuttle, met in between the two fleets, which had come to a halt and were warily watching each other for any signs of betrayal. The two admirals remained aboard their own shuttles, linked to each other by laser comms and close enough that there was no appreciable lag. This method was actually better than meeting in person, as it allowed the shuttle’s computer systems to interpret the incoming communications line in near real-time, giving a better experience for the two participants.
Admiral Ruston was sitting in the crew compartment of his shuttle when the comm link opened and the holo image of the Rehorish admiral appeared across the compartment from him. He tried not to flinch at the appearance of his counterpart. The Rehorish had been described to him as large cockroaches, and that description wasn’t far off. After a second the Rehorish began speaking. Admiral Ruston could hear a faint clicking and hissing that was almost certainly their actual speech, but it was almost immediately replaced by a deep male voice by the shuttle’s interpretation software.
“You asked for this meeting, Admiral Ruston. What do you have to say?”
The preliminaries for this meeting had included exchanging information on the identity of the two leaders, so they were able to skip that part of the meeting, but Admiral Ruston still found Cho-sho Banzan to be abrupt. “I wish to establish a temporary cease fire with the goal of establishing negotiations to end this war.”
The Rehorish stared at him for a few seconds, then began chittering again. “What terms do you propose for ending the war?”
Admiral Ruston shifted in his chair, leaning forward slightly. “That will be up to my government to decide, but tentatively I propose the withdrawal of all Rehorish space and ground forces from human territory, and the payment of reparations from the Rehorish and D’Bringi to the Coalition and the USSR for the deaths and destruction this unprovoked war has caused.”
The Rehorish admiral sat quietly for a second, then shifted, looking at something off-camera. Finally, he turned back to Admiral Ruston. “That is an interesting demand for someone in an inferior situation, facing the destruction of his fleet, to make. Perhaps you do not truly understand your position?”
“I think you overestimate your ability to destroy my fleet. But even if I’m wrong, I’ll destroy the heart of your fleet. And, think on this. You know that this isn’t the entire force available to me. Perhaps you should be worried about where the rest of humanity’s fleets are. The D’Bringi think their closed warp points are secure, that we can’t follow them. How sure are you of this?”
Cho-sho Banzan’s hearts seized at the mention of the closed routes into the human inner systems. The D’Bringi had no defenses around those warp points, only a few picket ships. If the humans burst through those warp points, they would be in the Alliance’s rear areas. Worse, they wouldn’t be far from the Phyriseq colony, and the combined D’Bringi and Rehorish fleets bottling up the Mintek. If they attacked there, and managed to contact the Mintek, who knows what would happen. Cho-sho Banzan got ahold of his racing thoughts. Surely if the humans knew about the closed warp points then they would not tell him so. I had to be a bluff. Even so, the if the smallest chance of that existed, they had to prepare. And fighting a two front war was madness. With the Mintek still free to cause trouble, and rebellions among the D’Bringi subject races, peace with the humans, if possible, was beginning to sound like a good idea. “I cannot speak for my government, much less for my allies. But it is within my power to agree to a temporary cease fire to give our governments time to decide.”
Admiral Ruston felt hope grow for the first time since the news of the destruction of Earth arrived. “That is good. Talking is always preferable to fighting.”
The Rehorish admiral’s next response proved that there were some constants that transcended racial divides. “Then clearly you have not spent enough time with a politician. Very well. I propose that both fleets hold in their current location in this system, and that neither side is allowed to bring more ships into this system. The cease fire will apply across all points of contact, to take effect as soon as messages can be gotten to the ships and troops in those areas. Is this acceptable?”
“Yes. I would like to schedule meetings for as soon as possible to discuss making the cease fire permanent. However, I understand it takes time for messages to be sent and received. I will hear back from the capital in approximately thirty days. Will that be acceptable?”
Cho-sho Banzan considered the situation for a few seconds. His home system was much closer than the human’s, but his government would want to confer with the D’Bringi before making any decisions. “That should work. Tentatively I can agree to hold the first discussion in one month.” The two leaders ended the comm link and their small craft set out for their respective fleets. Once back aboard their flagships, each admiral sent multiple CD’s back towards their home systems detailing the information they had gathered and the proposals by the other side.
Month 120, Day 16, Sol System, Earth
General Fedorov arrived over Earth on this date, and made a similar announcement to the one made by General Semenov in Moskva. The General’s Coalition counterparts in both systems had already done the same, and both fleets agreed to assist each other.
General Fedorov found a planet in chaos. The countries in the northern hemisphere are largely destroyed, while the countries in the southern hemisphere are heavily damaged and in chaos. Three relatively large-scale wars are raging on the surface, one of which is being fought by the remnants of the militaries of the breakaway states and the USSR fighting a fitful war over the devastated remains of their countries, while the other two are southern hemisphere states fighting over the spoils or trying to retain control of their borders in the face of waves of refugees from devastated countries. Both navies had established refugee evacuation camps on the surface to provide aid and to organize efforts to get the refugees off of the planet, but several times the orbital fleets have had to intervene to maintain the security of the camps, with one of the interventions taking the form of a nuclear missile launched as a warning to an aggressive local warlord.
Looming over all of this was the extensive damage done to the environment by the nuclear exchange. The dust and radiation from the ruined northern hemisphere nations was spreading across the entire planet. Currently the fleet’s scientists were unsure of the long-term effects. Most agreed that while the planet would not become entirely uninhabitable, it would be much cooler and significant effort would have to be taken to mitigate the radiation effects if people were going to continue living there.
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Month 120, Day 25, Moskva system
Message: From General Semenov to Admiral Ruston
I cannot at this time relay your information regarding the proposed negotiations with the Rehorish-D’Bringi Alliance to any civilian authorities, because at this time no such authorities exist. I know you suspected as much when you sent your message, however, I agree that forms must be followed. However, having said that, at the current time it would be unwise of us to turn this matter over to any existing civilian authorities within the former Coalition or USSR. I will explain why.
For all intents and purposes, the governments of the Coalition and the USSR have ceased to exist, as have the nations that they represented. As near as we can determine, no city of over 100,000 population in either country survived the war intact, and many smaller cities were destroyed as well. No senior members of either government have come forward to date, and, given the extent of the damage to the capitals of both nations, and the fact that the majority of both governments were gathered in those locations to deal with the crisis, I believe it is unlikely that any senior members of either government have survived. Perhaps if either government had moved forward on their plans to decentralize and to move more of their functions off-world this would not be the case and we would still have a functional interstellar government, but neither had done so by the time of the final conflict. Worse, the colonial authorities on both sides are focused narrowly on their own colony’s concerns to the exclusion of all else, making interstellar governance by civilian authorities problematic. I believe that we must declare martial law and enforce order to ensure an orderly evacuation of refugees from Earth, although I agree with your stance against the imposition of a military government.
All of this is my way of saying that the decision to make peace or continue the war lies with us, and solely with us at the current time. Having said that, I believe there is no actual choice. We must make peace at all costs given the disaster that has befallen us. As things currently stand, we will have to begin mothballing fleet units within two months unless we can effectively organize the colonies to support the fleet, and even then, we may be forced to downsize the fleet considerably. I cannot see how we can continue to prosecute an offensive war, and, as things stand now, if the D’Bringi their Rehorish allies wait a few months they may be able to advance to Earth with a single cruiser squadron, racing past our mothballed fleets that we cannot support.
To give you an idea of the situation we face at home, I will give you a rundown of the current situation within the inner systems. As I said, the Coalition and the USSR have ceased to exist, as have many of the other governments on the planet. At least two of the missile strikes launched by the Soviet PDC’s were aimed at ‘neutral’ nations, as decapitation strikes designed to limit their ability to exploit the situation while the USSR recovered from the nuclear exchange. This has resulted in general chaos across the planet. At the current time three large-scale wars are being waged on Earth. The first is in South America, which emerged from the nuclear exchange with the least damage (relatively). With the threat of refugees from the north and the east, though, the surviving nations have fallen to fighting amongst themselves for resources and to avenge past wrongs. With the removal of much of their political leadership in the nuclear attack, the militaries of these nations have seized power and fallen upon each other in vicious attacks that appear, from my vantage point in orbit, to be pointless. The second major conflict is based in China, and is mostly a civil war between warlords controlling the various surviving cities and provinces in China as they try to consolidate power and secure the resources to survive. The final conflict is between remnants of the Soviet Army and the armies of Europe and Arabia. Both of those separatist nations have largely been destroyed by the nuclear exchange, and it appears that the militaries of both sides are merely continuing the war without any real goal beyond survival. Repeated attempts by my forces to establish contact with either side has failed, although we will continue to try.
There exist two centers of relative calm and organization on Earth at the current time. One is centered on the Coalition’s “Pacific” PDC, which is the only offensive PDC belonging to either side that survived the war. This PDC suffered relatively little damage, and so the damage to surrounding territory is relatively light. In the weeks since the war the PDC’s commander, Captain Smith, has sent the troops quartered at her base out to help the surrounding communities and has opened her supply vaults to help refugees. For the most part she has been successful in establishing an island of calm in the center of the chaos that has befallen our two nations. The second bright spot is the ANIA, the Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia Alliance. Through random chance these nations survived the war relatively intact, with only several minor cities suffering bombardment during the war, and as a result the alliance has managed to maintain law and order in their part of the world, and has been of great assistance to our forces in our efforts to save as many people as we can.
My fleet, with the cooperation of your forces in the Solar System, have established a network of refugee assembly and evacuation centers across the planet. We have used what supplies we have to support anyone who can make it to our centers, then arrange transport off of the planet. Several of our evacuation centers have come under attack by local groups, and in one case we were forced to warn off a potential warlord with a demonstration nuclear strike from my flagship. I cannot say whether the situation is stabilizing or continuing a downhill slide, it is too soon to make that sort of determination.
The situation among the Russian colonies in the Solar system and Moskva is relatively straight forward. The Russian colonies in the Moskva system have been convinced to take refugees as necessary, and although they are reluctant, they have been persuaded to cooperate by the presence of my fleet. I fear that in the absence of my fleet, many of the refugees would have been refused entrance to most of the colonies. In addition, I have been in communication with the Tomsk Union, which your forces discovered during your advance. They have agreed to take a large number of refugees and to help with supplies if needed. Still, this situation has caused a large amount of resentment on the colonies in the Moskva system, and I fear that as they become organized, they may present a united front against the efforts of our forces to continue to relocate people away from the disaster zone on Earth.
The situation among the Coalition colonies is more complex. I have been working with Commodore Bonaventura, the commander of your forces in the Solar System and Moskva. The Coalition refugees coming from Earth have flatly refused to resettle in the Moskva system, as the Coalition colony there is co-located with a Russian colony, and after the war it is hard to blame them. For that reason, Commodore Bonaventura has decided to send the refugees on to the New Plymouth colony in Epsilon Eridani, and the Wunderland colony in Sligo. The Commodore’s relationship with the governor of New Plymouth seems good, and the refugees are being welcomed there, however, it has become increasingly clear that there is a problem in the Sligo system. The Commodore has told me that communications with the colonies in that area have been cut off, and that she has only received limited responses from the Wunderland government system. Most disturbingly, there has been no response to her orders to dispatch ships from the Colonial Defense Squadron assigned to the Sligo system to Earth for recovery efforts. At the current time we cannot spare ships to probe the Sligo system to determine what is going on, and to be honest, given the scale of disaster in the Solar System, this is where our attention needs to be centered for the foreseeable future.
As you can see, we must have peace with the Rehorish, however, you must do the best you can to get the Rehorish to release the colonies they have occupied. The resources those colonies produce will go a long way towards helping us survive the coming year as we deal with the ongoing disaster on Earth.
I have spoken to the surviving senior officers of both fleets, and we are agreed. You have our support to negotiate with the D’Bringi and the Rehorish and we will support any agreement you come to with the aliens.
(Message sent to Admiral Ruston via courier drone)
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Month 120, Day 18, D’Bringi Expanses
The D’Bringi survey group had finished its detailed warp point survey of the Zudyn system this month, and had discovered a total of four warp points in the otherwise uninteresting system. Following standard orders, the exploration ships probed the newly discovered warp points in the hopes of finding a habitable planet to exploit. As it turned out, only one of the four new systems had a habitable planet, and so an exploration ship was sent into the system to probe it for civilizations. The probe ship reached eighteen light seconds of the planet before detecting the small population there, and it immediately turned around and headed back out system without attempting to establish contact. At the point that it detected the population, it was well within that population’s detection range. Fortunately for the D’Bringi, the warp link between the new system and the rest of the Expanse was closed on the alien’s side, which meant that they wouldn’t be able to follow the explorer back.
The Bjering military commander of the colony immediately sent a contact report to headquarters.
Month 120, Day 30, Doraz Prime and Torqual Prime
The Doraz had risen against the D’Bringi occupation forces last month, and the militaristic Doraz had the D’Bringi occupation forces on the ropes since then. The D’Bringi had maintained only light forces on the planet, partially to maximize the resources being sent home rather than being spent on support for the occupation forces, but also to convince the Doraz that the D’Bringi had no interest in interfering with their internal affairs. This strategy had backfired when the arrival of the Mintek missionaries had sparked a rebellion. Indeed, by the end of the month the D’Bringi occupation force had lost control of much of the planet and had been forced back to several enclaves that were under constant attack. Worse, the occupation forces were running short on equipment and supplies, and this was beginning to have a serious effect on their combat effectiveness. The only thing that really saved the occupation force was its tech level advantage over the Doraz rebels.
That all changed on this date with the arrival of the Relief Force. The Relief force was four times as large as the occupation force, and bought a large amount of desperately needed supplies. In one fell swoop the situation changed for the better and the D’Bringi forces were able to begin pushing the rebel Doraz forces back again.
On the Torqual home planet the situation was somewhat different. The Torqual planet had a population over 50% larger than Doraz Prime, but, as a people the Torqual were not very militaristic and had a much lower tech level than either the D’Bringi or the Doraz. Thus, although the force disparity between the Torqual rebels and the D’Bringi occupation force was actually greater than the one between the D’Bringi and the Doraz, the Torqual were having a much harder time pushing the D’Bringi back. Indeed, this month the D’Bringi occupation group managed to push the rebels back in several locations, forcing the desperate rebel groups to destroy industrial units as they retreated. The arrival of the Relief Group was welcome, particularly their equipment and supplies, but the occupation forces already had the rebels on the run.
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Turn 121
D’Bringi Expanses: The Keepers complete development of a top-secret research project, and begin construction of a new class of ship. The ship is small, destroyer-sized, and unconventional. The Clans note the new construction, but because the ship is small and appears to be configured to carry small-craft they pay little attention. The refit on a corvette is completed, and four corvettes are repaired.
Rehorish Stellar Dominion: The Rehorish launch six new destroyers of the latest design from their home system yards.
T’Pau Syndicate: The T’Pau launch a heavy cruiser this month.
Month 121, Day 10, Novosibirsk System, Combined Human Fleets
Once again Admiral Ruston was facing Cho-sho Banzan across a virtual link. This time the two had foregone their small craft, and instead had met each other midway between their two fleets in a frigate and destroyer, respectively. The ships offered greater comfort and staying power, and allowed the two leaders to bring their respective staffs to the negotiations.
Admiral Ruston was grimly determined to make peace with the Rehorish at nearly any cost. The information from the inner planets was about as bad as it could be, and the economic situation for the Coalition fleet was growing ever more serious by the day. General Semenov’s joke that if the Rehorish and the D’Bringi merely waited a few months they could reach Earth with a freighter escorted by a lone destroyer wasn’t looking like much of a joke at this point. He had to resolve the threat from the aliens and get back to the inner systems before humanity fragmented even further.
Cho-sho Banzan interrupted the human admiral’s musings. “I have been authorized by my government to negotiate with you, Admiral. You requested these negotiations, so I believe you should start.”
“Very well. For the most part our terms haven’t changed. We ask that you withdraw all forces from human territory, including the occupation forces on Russian colonies throughout their territories. In exchange, we agree to a permanent cease fire, and will not advance into Rehorish or D’Bringi territory.” Admiral Ruston looked down at his pad for a second, then back up. “In addition, we require reparations for the ships and lives destroyed by the unprovoked invasion by the Alliance.”
“Unacceptable. We are willing to discuss peace, but my government finds those conditions completely unacceptable. We will not pay reparations of any kind, and, my government requires a buffer between the Stellar Dominion and Russian territories. Preferably a buffer under our control.”
Hope blossomed in Admiral Ruston’s chest. To obtain peace he was willing to give the Rehorish a lot, but if this was their opening bid, how far could he push this negotiation? He settled in to begin bargaining.
The negotiations took two days, and almost broke down several times, but in the end both sides agreed to end the war. The D’Bringi Alliance agreed to evacuate all occupation forces, and the humans agreed that no reparations would be required. It was the Rehorish requirement for a buffer had become the sticking point that stretched out the negotiations. Finally, Admiral Ruston agreed to the Rehorish terms. The Novosibirsk system would be declared an independent state, under the control of neither power. Both the Rehorish and the human states would be allowed to station a small number of scouts within the system to ensure that neither side was preparing to attack. The people of the Russian colony in the system were not consulted. They were being sacrificed, as it were, to ensure peace between the two sides. The new treaty allowed both states to set up trade with the newly independent state, but neither side was allowed to assert “undue influence” on the buffer state.
With the agreement in place, the two fleets moved apart. By the agreement, Cho-sho Banzan was allowed to send small escort forces to retrieve his occupation troops, and those forces set out for the various colonies while the main fleet withdrew to the Sapporo system.
The Combined Human Fleets sent small groups to watch the Rehorish evacuation ships, and Admiral Ruston detailed a small group of scouts to remain in the Novosibirsk system to watch for Rehorish incursions. The remainder of the Combined Fleets set out for the Kirov system.
Three days later the Combined Fleets jumped out of the Novosibirsk system. Once out of sight of the Rehorish, Admiral Ruston boarded a Coalition corvette and set out for the inner systems at full military speed. The corvette was escorted by three other Coalition corvettes, in case one lost an engine. While normally he would have to remain on the border to monitor the progress of the peace treaty, he urgently needed to return to the inner systems to assist General Semenov in stabilizing the situation. He would arrive in Moskva at the end of the month.
Month 121, Day 30, Torqual Prime and Doraz Prime, D’Bringi Expanses
D’Bringi ground forces, thanks largely to their timely reinforcements, managed to put down the rebellions on both planets this month, and work will be able to begin reestablishing the occupation governments next month.
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Month 122, Day 5, Moskva System
Admiral Ruston, having just returned from the peace negotiations, met with his subordinates in the Moskva system first, to ascertain the state of Coalition forces in the inner systems and the situation in the colonies. The news was not good, pretty much across the board. After meeting with his officers, Admiral Ruston met with General Semenov aboard his newly recommissioned Marshal class flagship destroyer, Marshal Zhukov. While small, the destroyer was designed as a fleet flagship and had a command deck, flag officer accommodations, and an enhanced communications suite. The Zhukov had been the flagship of the doomed Soviet Home Fleet, and had ended up trapped in the Brezhnev system along with the rest of that fleet. General Semenov had placed the ship at the top of his list of ships to reactivate, as it would be the most useful in the current situation.
Looking around the flag deck as he was escorted to the General’s office, Admiral Ruston could see why the General had made the decision. The deck was relatively large, and built in a wedge shape, with a large holo plotting tank along the wide part of the space, flanked by various large displays showing information important to the officers arrayed around the room. The general’s position was at the back of the room, overseeing everything. Right now, though, General Semenov was waiting for him in a small office located just off of the command deck.
General Semenov jumped to his feet and embraced Admiral Ruston in a bear hug as he walked into the office. “My friend! You have returned, and with a peace treaty we can live with!”
Admiral Ruston shook his head as he took a seat across from the big Russian. “I was worried about the whole buffer state in the Novosibirsk system situation. After all, I was giving away Russian territory!”
General Semenov grinned. “Nonsense! You got us back more planets than you gave away! And as long as it isn’t under the occupation of the Rehorish or the D’Bringi, I can sell it to my officers.”
Admiral Ruston grew serious. “What are we going to do, my friend? This situation here is deteriorating. As things stand, I cannot afford to support my fleet. I’ve already given orders to begin mothballing fixed defenses in the Solar System and in Epsilon Eridani. But I cannot afford to begin mothballing ships until the situation is stabilized. Equally, I cannot afford to keep my fleet active. Already some of my captains have been ‘requisitioning’ supplies from ships carrying refugees. It won’t be much longer before some turn to outright piracy, or worse.”
General Semenov grunted. “Some on my staff are pushing me to establish a military government to enforce discipline on the civilians. They point out that between your fleet and mine, there is no force in human space that could stop us should we decide to take power and reorganize the colonies along ‘more efficient lines’.”
Admiral Ruston stared at his friend for few seconds. “And your response?”
General Semenov shook his head. “I will not reinstitute the military government that we had under the USSR. That system failed. We must try something new out here.” The general paused for a few seconds, considering. “But my officers are right. We must do something. In anticipation of your return, I have called for a summit of all flag officers and the leaders of every colony, to take place next month. I have a proposal I wish to place before them.”
Admiral Ruston settled back to listen as his friend laid out his plans. For the next hour General Semenov laid out his plan and Admiral Ruston asked questions. Finally, Admiral Ruston settled back into his chair. “It is ambitious, to be sure. But I agree, it is what we need. First, though, I need to resolve the situation in the Sligo system. We’ve received a report from the Coalition survey groups that retreated through the Sligo system when they stopped receiving supplies after the fall of Earth. The reports state that the Wunderland government has declared independence and intends to attack their alien neighbors. I intend to take the Coalition combat forces in the Solar system to Sligo to stabilize the situation. I will return with their leader, who will attend your summit. I’m leaving a small force in the Solar System to support the ongoing evacuation efforts.”
General Semenov nodded. “Whatever you leave should be enough. The situation on Earth has stabilized, somewhat, and the worst of the wars have either guttered out due to lack of support or been defused through our mutual efforts. And…I’m glad you are back. We need every human colony to work together or we are finished. The situation in Sligo has concerned me for some time, but my hands have been tied. It is not my territory, and your officers felt that they could not initiate action without your presence. If you can resolve this, our chances of moving forward to a better future improve immeasurably.
Month 122, Day 10, Moskva System
Admiral Ruston joined the Coalition fleet as moved through the Moskva system, en route for the Sligo system. The fleet consisted of a solid core of six battlecruisers, escorted by six heavy cruisers and six destroyers, and was supported by six frigate-scouts. It would take a month to get to the Sligo system, so he would have time to prepare for the big summit that General Semenov was organizing.
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As of Month 122, Admiral Ruston is on his way to the Sligo system at the head of a fleet. Having successfully concluded the war with the D’Bringi Alliance, he is now trying to get organize the former Coalition Colonies. Of particular concern is the colony on Wunderland, in the Sligo system. Wunderland dropped out of contact with the rest of the Coalition colonies just after the nuclear war on Earth, and has refused to acknowledge messages sent via courier drones since then. Worse, the Coalition squadron assigned to the system has also dropped out of contact. Admiral Ruston and his fleet will arrive in the Sligo system in Month 123.
Now we will jump back to the events in the Sligo system just after the fall of the Earth…
Month 119, Day 24, Sligo system
The news of the latest final war on Earth arrived on Wunderland by mid-day. The reaction here was different than on the other colonies. Unlike many of the other Coalition colonists, the Wunderlanders had been focused on a threat in their own system, and had been since before the war. Discontent over the Coalition Navy’s apparent unconcern over the threat posed by the Tarek, and the Coalition government’s apathy, had driven the Wunderlanders to become much more militant and reactionary over the years. Many Wunderlanders had joined the Coalition navy, far out of proportion to their population, and Wunderlander society had become militaristic, with every Wunderlander required to serve in the Wunderland Defense Corps, first in an active role and then later in the reserves. The Wunderlanders took the defense of their colony seriously, and the threat posed by the Tarek even more seriously.
Now, when the news of the destruction of the Coalition government arrived, the colonial government of Wunderland decided to act. Colonial Governor Faraz conferred with her ministers, put several emergency plans into motion, then made a public speech as the first steps in a long-term plan. Her speech pre-empted all channels and reached nearly everyone on the planet, and all of the Coalition warships in orbit.
“Wunderlanders, I come before you with grave news. “Today, I received a message from Earth. A message I never wanted to get. Nine days ago, the USSR launched nuclear weapons at multiple civilian targets. The Coalition responded, and the war spiraled out of control. I’m afraid I have to report that both the Coalition and the USSR have been destroyed. Billions are dead on Earth, and the situation is chaotic. It appears that the main Coalition and Russian fleets played no part in the war, and are focused on dealing with the D’Bringi and their allies. The rest of both fleets are occupied in the Solar System with relief efforts.” She paused, knowing exactly what would be on the minds of the citizens of Wunderland. The second they got over the shock of the destruction of most of Earth, they’d begin worrying about the Tarek. Everything was always about the Tarek. Their concern about the Tarek was what got her elected, and she had focused her administration on preparing their colony for war with the Tarek, when they inevitably decided to attack. The Coalition had made this very difficult, of course, as they didn’t see the Tarek like the people who had to live in the same system with them.
“All of this means we are alone. We cannot expect the rest of what remains of the Coalition to come to our assistance. In fact, I expect that the warships now orbiting our planet will soon get orders to withdraw to the Solar System or to the Rehorish border.” She knew exactly how that would go over with her people, and the best part of that was that it was a true statement. The Coalition would be calling in every warship it could over the next few weeks, and the bureaucrats and admirals in charge wouldn’t care what withdrawing those ships would do to the colonies they protected.
“Therefore, over the next days and weeks I will be taking action to ensure our safety. I have already issued orders to mobilize the Wunderland Reserve Corps, to ensure the safety of all and the stability of our colony. To ensure the safety of Wunderland, and indeed all humanity, I now declare that Wunderland is an independent and sovereign nation. The captains of the warships in the Coalition squadron orbiting Wunderland have already agreed to form the new Wunderland navy. Over the next few weeks, I will be inviting the governors of the colonies in the surrounding area to join us in our new Republic. They share our concern with Tarek expansionism and aggression, and I’m sure they will join us. Our government will remain essentially the same, however, we will no longer have to answer to the bureaucrats on Earth who were willing to sell our safety to the Tarek in exchange for peace! You can be sure that my government takes the Tarek seriously, and that we will put an end to the threat that they pose to our planet!”
Messages inviting the colonies to the new Republic of Wunderland were sent to every population within reach. Governor Faraz was not as sure of their response as she had made it seem in her announcement. To them the Tarek were more of a remote threat, and they had always resented Wunderland’s position in the territory as the first among equals.
She had been much surer of the response from the Coalition Squadron in orbit over Wunderland. The Coalition had made efforts to ensure that the ships assigned to the Sligo system were crewed and officered by Wunderlanders, in an effort to ensure that the Wunderlanders felt represented and defended. This meant that when the Coalition destroyed itself, it had become an easier decision for the various ship commanders than it otherwise might have been.
The messages would take weeks to arrive at some of the colonies, but events were in motion.
Month 120, Day 15, Republic of Wunderland
“Governor, I mean First Consul Faraz, we have a problem. The Coalition transport Agema just entered orbit. They are carrying refugees from Earth, and have requested landing coordinates. They say that we were informed of their arrival, but no one can find any record of any messages from the Solar System.”
First Consul Faraz grimaced. The orbital control officer couldn’t see her, as she had activated the line in audio only, as she had feared just this situation. “Yes, this situation was anticipated. You are to contact General Morrison. He will be handling all refugee affairs from now on. Thank you.” She disconnected and settled back, thinking over her plans.
The refugees were going to be a problem. The Coalition fleet was shipping them out of the solar system with whatever supplies and support they could find. Their warnings had made it clear that the refugees would need significant support from the colonies they were being sent to, however, with every available resource being focused on preparations for war with the Tarek, there was little left to give to the refugees. Worse, flooding her cities with refugees could cause chaos and discontent at exactly the wrong time, especially as the refugees would almost certainly question the wisdom of going to war with an alien race when so much was happening throughout the human territories. She couldn’t allow that to happen. The distraction of the rest of humanity was exactly what she was counting on to give them enough time to establish their independence and end the Tarek threat.
She had hoped that ignoring the messages from the fleet in the Solar system would convince them not to send the refugees, but obviously that hadn’t deterred them. Fortunately, she had a backup plan. Of all of the continents on Wunderland, Tiamat was the least exploited. Very few Wunderlanders lived there, largely because there were so many better and unoccupied spots closer to Landing, the capital and economic and social center of the colony. Therefore, when she realized that the refugees were likely on their way, she had tasked the new Republican Army with establishing refugee camps on Tiamat, well away from other cities and towns. The refugees would be isolated there, until the Republic was established and the Tarek were no longer a threat. She had ordered the Army to give the refugees whatever assistance they needed, but to ensure that the war preparations continued and that their refugee efforts did not interfere with their preparations. She had also made it clear that their best troops were to be tasked with preparing for the invasion of Tarek Prime, and that only troops not otherwise needed for the invasion were to be used for this duty. General Morrison, a retired staff officer, had been chosen by the Army commanders to command the effort, and he had relocated with his troops to Tiamat several weeks ago to begin preparations.
With that resolved, she went back to the pressing business of preparing her new Republic for war.
Month 120, Day 30, former Coalition colony of Wunderland
The Republic of Wunderland received the final confirmation today. All of the surrounding colonies had agreed to join their new government. First Consul Faraz made the announcement to the public with great fanfare, bolstering the public’s morale with the knowledge that they weren’t alone.
Privately, Faraz is pretty sure that the other colonies joined with Wunderland not because they believed in their mission to eliminate the threat from the Tarek, or because they wanted to join the newly independent Republic out of some sort of ‘colonial patriotism’, but because Wunderland had a fleet and they didn’t, and Wunderland’s fleet sat squarely on their route to the rest of humanity. All of that meant that her continued control of the other colonies hung on their ability to eliminate the threat posed by the Tarek, but of course that was already true. Her Wunderlanders supported her government because they had promised to do something about the Tarek. If she failed, they would quickly find someone else to lead them. She had no illusions about that. And if her fleet failed, she had no doubt that the other colonies would suddenly find their support for the new Republic waning, and would have a renewed interest in rejoining the rest of humanity. Success bred success, and failure, well, failure had a way of breeding too. She had no doubts about that.
Month 121, Day 1, Sligo system
The Navy of the Republic of Wunderland was assembled just beyond weapons range from Tarek Prime. The Wunderland Navy consisted of three light cruisers, three destroyers, nine corvettes, and six escorts. Facing it was the Tarek Fleet, twenty-three escorts, backed up by three planetary PDC’s of unknown size and capability, and forty-three small orbital stations. Seeing that everything was in readiness for the attack, Commodore Steinbrenner, the newly promoted commander of the fledgling Wunderland Navy, keyed in the command to play First Consul Faraz’ speech across all comm channels in the fleet.
A video of First Consul Faraz, standing in her office in front of the flag of the Republic, flanked by the senior officers of the Republic’s military, and the leading legislators from the Wunderland Legislature, appeared on nearly every screen in the fleet. “Officers and crews of the great fleet of the Republic! You stand on the brink of victory over the threat that has been aimed at us since the day we arrived in this system. The Coalition has shown the Tarek nothing but reasonableness and a conciliatory attitude that has only provoked them to greater and greater disdain for us! We’ve all seen their transmissions, and we understand enough of their language to understand that they want us gone! They want us dead or dislocated from our homes, and they have refused to negotiate with every delegation that our out-of-touch rulers from the Solar System foisted upon us! You fight for every Wunderlander today! You fight to protect our homes and our children! You fight to prevent what happened on Earth happening here! You have every advantage we could give you! Your ships are more advanced, and your weapons are better than anything that the backwards Tarek have been able to build! We have supported you with everything we have, now go to Tarek Prime and show them why humanity is to be feared!”
The video cut out, and Commodore Steinbrenner could hear cheers building up in his flagship as the ship’s crew reacted to the speech. He sighed. He wasn’t as sure of himself now as he was when he was outlining the plan to the Governor. Although he was sure of their technological superiority, all of the sudden he was realizing that they knew little about how the Tarek ships, stations, and PDC’s were armed. Worse, as he had warned First Consul Faraz, only his three Nelson Mk 3 class destroyers were capable of engaging the PDC’s on the surface of the planet.
Steinbrenner began pacing on the bridge of his command cruiser as he considered the situation. The Tarek defenses consisted of their fleet of escorts, a large number of small orbital space stations, presumably armed, and three PDC’s on the surface of the planet. In his original plan, the priority targets for the fleet were to eliminate the enemy’s mobile units and to destroy the Tarek orbital shipyards, and thus their ability to replace their losses. Unfortunately, First Consul Faraz and her people had vetoed that plan, as they wanted the Tarek orbital yards for their own plans. Steinbrenner understood, after all it took a long time to build shipyards and Wunderland’s first yard was still three months from becoming operational, but by denying him the ability to destroy the enemy’s productive capacity they had removed an important safety feature of his plan. If the Tarek proved tougher than they anticipated and survived the first attack, then the destruction of their yards would remove their capability to rebuild and give Wunderland time to launch a second attack. Now, with the yards off limits, if the attack failed Wunderland would be open to reprisals and counter attacks.
Still, his career and Wunderland’s future depended on this attack. First Consul Faraz was using the threat posed by the Tarek, and the other aliens, as something to bind her new nation together, and if his attack didn’t succeed it might spell the end of Wunderland as an interstellar capital.
Finally, Commodore Steinbrenner realized he was putting off the inevitable, and ordered the attack. The Wunderland fleet leapt forward. The three missile-destroyers launched their missile attack against the Tarek PDC’s at just under four light seconds. Each of the three destroyers launched three standard missiles, targeted on one of the PDC’s. The Tarek apparently hadn’t developed point defense yet, as the missiles streaked in unmolested. Five of the missiles hit the PDC’s armor, while the other four hit the ground near the PDC’s, killing anyone living or working close to the defense center.
Gratified that the Tarek didn’t return fire, Commodore Steinbrenner ordered the missile destroyers to move to optimum standard missile range, while his fleet continued to close on the orbital targets. The DD’s obediently closed to three point two five light seconds range and then began detuning their engines, while the rest of the fleet continued racing towards the planet. The Tarek fleet finally reacted by turning and moving away, maintaining the range.
It was at this point that the Tarek PDC’s opened fire. The PDC targeted earlier opened fire, launching thirty missiles targeted on one of the Wunderland light cruisers. The Tarek missiles weren’t very accurate, with only twelve of the thirty achieving target lock, and of those only three penetrated the cruiser’s point defense, but it was a warning that the PDC’s had to be taken seriously. A second PDC joined the first in targeting the light cruiser, and this one managed to punch four missiles through the light cruiser’s active defenses. The third PDC was unable to fire as it was located on the far side of the planet and unable to target the Wunderland fleet.
The Commodore had already given the word, and the fleet returned fire with a vengeance, targeting the small orbital stations that cluttered the planet’s orbitals. The light cruiser group spread its fire across three of the small orbital stations, with each light cruiser firing all four of its force beams at a station. Unfortunately, the stations proved to be armored and all three targeted stations survived without armor breaches. One of the stations fired back with a single missile launcher and a sprint missile launcher. Like the missiles the Tarek were using, the sprint missiles launched by their stations were older models, less powerful than the ones currently in use by the Wunderlanders. Both hit the targeted light cruiser, though, further weakening its armor. One by one the Wunderland corvette data-groups opened fire on one of the orbital stations, and after the third corvette group fired the station blew up. That still left plenty of the stations, though, and one by one they responded with their own weapons fire, chipping away at the Wunderland light cruiser’s armor bit by bit. It took the fire from twenty-one of the small stations to do it, but the Wunderland light cruiser Victory was left heavily damaged and slowed to one third of its original speed. The remaining orbital bases switched their fire to a second light cruiser, the Indomitable. Ten orbital stations fired their basic missiles and early sprint missiles at the indomitable, followed by twelve stations armed with a single laser firing at the hapless cruiser. The indomitable suffered light internal damage, including the loss of one engine room. The Wunderland missile destroyers continued to target the same PDC, scoring nine hits this time.
Commodore Steinbrenner ordered the Victory to withdraw, and then ordered the rest of his fleet to charge forward, into the teeth of the Tarek defenses, where his force beams would have the advantage. The Tarek escort fleet turned and closed on the planet as well, attempting to bring their weapons into range at what might be the decisive moment. A Tarek laser station fired first, cutting deeply into the Indomitable’s engine section, but the Indomitable’s return fire wiped out two of the enemy’s laser stations before they could fire as the human’s force beams proved deadly at close range. The Indomitable’s sister ship, the Inflexible, destroyed two more of the laser stations even as the Indomitable continued to be pelted by return fire. The close-range beam fire was damaging to both sides. In a matter of seconds, the Tarek had only five laser stations left, but the indomitable was crippled and her drive field was down. Life pods began spilling from the Indomitable as a sprint missile from an orbital station streaked in and finished the light cruiser off. The Tarek stations began targeting a Wunderlander corvette next, while the Wunderland ships continued picking off the laser stations. The Wunderlander escorts began targeting the Tarek escorts, which had closed to a half light-second, with the first escort group to fire wiping out a Tarek escort with its massed force beam fire. The Tarek escorts began returning fire, targeting a Wunderlander corvette as well. The short-ranged beam fire from the Tarek escorts was devastating, crippling three Wunderlander corvettes in short order. Sprint missile fire from the missile stations finished off all three corvettes, with the remaining missile bases taking out a fourth corvette. With the main Wunderland fleet now too close for the PDC’s to target effectively with their missiles, the ground bases turned their fire on the Wunderlander missile destroyers which were still at three point two five light seconds, modulating their engines for defensive protection, and launching on the PDC’s. The two PDC’s launched a total of sixty missiles but only scored two hits, while the DD’s scored seven hits of their own.
The Wunderland fleet had lost one light cruiser and four corvettes, and one light cruiser was limping away from the battle. The Tarek had lost nine orbital stations and two escorts. Commodore Steinbrenner ordered his fleet to plunge ahead, to point blank range. The Tarek fleet also forged ahead, meeting the Wunderlanders over their planet in an orgy of destruction. The orbitals over the planet were filled with burning ships ripping at each other desperately, each trying to survive by destroying as many other ships and stations as possible. The Wunderlanders had the tech advantage, with their force beams, datalink, and advanced armor, but the Tarek had numbers. In seconds five Tarek escorts and two laser bases were gone, destroyed by heavy force beam fire at point blank ranges, and while the Wunderland fleet lost only three escorts destroyed, the other three escorts in the fleet were crippled and the Inflexible took heavy damage as well. The Wunderlander missile destroyers continued to bombard one of the Tarek PDC’s, and the return fire had almost penetrated one of the destroyer’s armor belts.
Commodore Steinbrenner, shocked by the damage to his fleet, ordered all of his ships to withdraw. By this time his flagship, the Victory, had withdrawn beyond the Tarek weapons range. Only five corvettes and two escorts were able to leave Tarek orbit, leaving a lone escort in a decaying orbit with its drive field down. The captain of the Inflexible refused to leave and charged into the Tarek guns, firing his remaining force beams until his ship was overwhelmed by laser fire. The two escorts were too damaged to make it out of weapons range, and the Tarek orbital bases were able to finish them off before they could escape. The Wunderlander missile destroyers targeted the crippled Wunderland escort that had lost its drive field for one last salvo, to prevent its capture by the enemy, and then withdrew as well. The final parting salvos from the Tarek PDC’s finally managed to penetrate one of the destroyer’s armor and caused serious damage before it could withdraw.
The results of the battle were serious for both sides.
Wunderland Losses:
Destroyed: 2xCL, 4xCT, 6xES
Damaged: 1xCL, 1xDD
Tarek Losses
Destroyed: 11xArmed SS, 6xES, 3xIndustrial Units (Collateral Damage)
Damaged: 1xPDC, 2xArmed SS
There was a difference in the damage, though. The Tarek had shipyards to repair their damage and replace their losses, while the Wunderlanders were still several months from launching their first yard.
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Month 121, Day 3, Sligo System, Republic of Wunderland
On this date riots broke out in three of the five refugee camps on the Tiamat continent, as the refugees isolated there finally had had enough with the poor food and even worse treatment by the Wunderland troops assigned to “help” them. Fortunately for the refugees, their ‘riots’ were actually well coordinated attempts to seize the camps by American national guard soldiers who had been evacuated from the Earth along with the civilians they had been helping to escape the devastation. General Morrison’s garrison was among the first to fall, and the refugees were able to find copious evidence of graft and misuse of the funds devoted to assist the refugees. The refugees were able to seize much of the guard force’s equipment as well, and immediately set about seizing the remaining two camps. While the takeover isn’t bloodless, the losses were relatively light for both sides, largely because of how unprepared the guards were.
Month 121, Day 4, Sligo System, Republic of Wunderland
General Richards, the head of the Republican Army, sends a message to the soldiers holding the refugee camps, informing them that there would be no negotiations and ordering them to stand down and submit to troops that were being assembled to retake the camps. In response, the leaders of the refugees uploaded to the planetary network evidence of graft and corruption among the former refugee camp guards and General Morrison, including evidence of serious crimes committed by camp guards prior to the uprising. Within hours every major news source on the planet is carrying lurid stories of abuse of the refugees, and the government’s attempts to focus on the threat from the Tarek does nothing but emphasize their complete failure to either defeat the Tarek or care for the refugees.
Month 121, Day 5, Sligo System, Republic of Wunderland
The Wunderland Legislature has opened an investigation of the events on Tiamat, and promised amnesty to the refugees for most crimes that may have been committed during their rebellion. Bowing to the inevitable, First Consul Faraz, already under fire for the failure of the fleet, agrees to disband the refugee camps and allow the refugees the freedom to travel where ever they want, and supplies to help them get established on Tiamat if they wished to remain.
Month 121, Day 16, Sligo system
Resource shipments from the other colonies that had agreed to join the Wunderland Republic have tapered off. The initial shipments arrived as planned, and were instrumental in Wunderland’s efforts to begin rebuilding its fleet, however, as word of the fleet’s defeat at the hands of the Tarek spreads, the other colonies have begun rethinking their position.
Month 121, Day 18, Sligo System
Messages are sent to the other colonies by the Wunderland government via courier drones, reminding them that they pledged loyalty to Wunderland, and making thinly veiled threats to dispatch warships to any colony that refuses its duties under the compact they all agreed to just over a month ago.
The threat is a bluff, and the colonial leaders know it. With the Tarek at their doorstep, the Wunderlanders cannot afford to send any of their ships away, and even if they did most of their remaining ships are beam-armed and could do little but sit in orbit of the recalcitrant colonies and make impotent threats.
Month 121, Day 30
The governors of New Sidney and New California, the two largest colonies in Wunderland’s alliance after Wunderland itself, meet in secret and agree to jointly send a message to the Coalition Fleet, detailing the situation with the Tarek and Wunderland, and asking for assistance.
Month 122 Day 3, Sligo system
The Tarek Navy, all fifteen escorts, set out for Wunderland early in the day. Sixteen hours later they arrived. The Wunderland Navy, what was left of it, was arrayed alongside the nine small bases that had been deployed by the Coalition for orbital defense.
The fifteen attacking escorts crossed the maximum range of the defender’s missile destroyers at full speed, intent on closing to point blank range as quickly as possible. The first exchange of fire happened at three point two five light seconds, and just outside of the attacker’s lasers, but within range of the defender’s force beams and missiles. The Tarek lost an escort to missile fire, and another escort was heavily damaged by force beam fire.
The Tarek escorts continued to close, while the Wunderlander missile destroyers moved to keep the range open. The Tarek escorts opened fire at one point two five light seconds, targeting the damaged Wunderlander light cruiser that sat at the center of their defense. The Wunderlander force beams were now close enough that they did additional damage, and this hurt the Tarek. Four escorts were heavily damaged, while the Tarek laser fire, focused on the Victory, destroyed most of the light cruiser’s remaining weapons and engines.
The Tarek ships plunged to point blank range. Both side’s lasers and force beams were at their optimum range, and ships were carved apart or smashed right and left. The Victory was destroyed almost immediately, but the almost indiscriminate destruction was weighted heavily against the Tarek. The Wunderlander’s heavier force beams coupled with their datalink systems, which allowed three of their ships to fire as one, allowed the Wunderlander fleet to bludgeon the Tarek fleet into oblivion in less than a minute. It cost them the Victory and a corvette, along with heavy damage to another corvette. The Tarek had failed in their attempt to destroy the Wunderlander’s mobile fleet, however, the Wunderlander’s few remaining ships were obviously not enough to engage the Tarek’s orbital and planetary defenses.
The two sides had exhausted themselves.
Month 122, Day 5, Sligo System, Wunderland Republic
First Consul Faraz was arrested this morning by Legislative Lictors and held on charges of treason and malfeasance. The Legislature votes unanimously to appeal to the Coalition Fleet for assistance and to replace Faraz with an acting First Consul until the situation is resolved.
-
Month 123, Day 1, Epsilon Indi system (Coalition Space)
The fleet led by Admiral Ruston was still ten days from Wunderland when it encountered a large group of CD’s heading away from the Wunderland system, en route for the inner systems of human space. Ruston’s flagship queried the CD’s, and their Coalition fleet codes prompted a download of the CD’s messages. The CD’s were carrying messages from the governors of the Orphicon, Kowloon, and New Hebrides system colonies, appealing for the Coalition Fleet’s assistance in resolving the situation in the Sligo system. The messages carried details of the Wunderland colony’s declaration of independence, and the subsequent battles with the Tarek. This information increased their knowledge of events in the Sligo system, but didn’t really change anything about their mission. The fleet continued onwards.
Month 123, Day 5, Sligo System
“Sir, the lead elements report they have received a message. It originates from a coalition scout positioned sixty light seconds in-system from the warp point. The scout is ID’ing itself as the Wunderland Space Navy Scout Icarus.”
Admiral Ruston settled back into his chair, trying to get his rebellious stomach back under control after the warp transit. It always affected him this way. “Very well. Route it to my console.”
A few seconds later a window popped up over his console, showing a small scout’s bridge, with an officer front and center in the camera’s pickup. The officer was wearing a standard deep blue Coalition duty jump suit; however, it had been stripped of unit tags and other identifiers. Ruston didn’t recognize the officer, but that didn’t really mean anything. “Coalition Fleet, this is the WSN Icarus. You are welcome in Republic of Wunderland territory. The First Consul of Wunderland invites you to Wunderland and requests your assistance in resolving the situation with the Tarek.”
Admiral Ruston noted the new terminology for the former Coalition colony, but decided not to make an issue out of it now, with a scout commander who had little authority. He keyed his console to begin recording. “Scout Icarus, thank you for your welcome. We will proceed to Wunderland immediately.”
With the message sent, he detached two scout-frigates to watch their back at the warp point and ordered the fleet to move inwards, towards Wunderland.
Month 123, Day 10, Sligo System
Admiral Ruston stood in the corridor adjoining the boat bay of his flagship, the CSN California, and waited for the shuttle he had sent to the surface to collect the Wunderland delegation to dock. While he waited, he went over the information he had about the Wunderland government, but his staff had had a hard time wading through the available information to come up with a coherent briefing. Based on what they had been able to glean from the colonial info network, Coalition Governor Faraz had declared independence four months ago, right after word of the destruction of the Coalition and the USSR arrived, and then promptly declared war on the Tarek. Her long-planned attack on the Tarek failed, largely because of their extensive defensive network, and then governor Faraz was deposed after a Tarek counterattack destroyed most of what remained of the Wunderlander’s fleet. The news grew confused after that. It appeared that Faraz was replaced as governor, or First Consul, whatever that was, by a senior legislator from their colonial legislature, however, that worthy had stepped down within days after being implicated in a scheme to enrich himself by defrauding the government effort to support the refugees from Earth. His resignation had thrown the Wunderland government into chaos, and it wasn’t clear who had power at this point. A person claiming to be Governor Whitmore of the Wunderland Sector Provisional Government had contacted the fleet as it approached Wunderland and requested a meeting at whatever location Admiral Ruston deemed appropriate. Ruston had decided to set the right tone from the first, and agreed to a meeting aboard his flagship. The delegation from below would be met with the appropriate honors and courtesy, but his military might would also be on display, and the message would be obvious.
The Admiral’s thoughts were interrupted as a tone sounded in the corridor, and a shuttle nosed into the bay beyond. The bay doors closed, and in less than a minute the bay was pressurized and the lock to the bay opened. A file of marines in dress unforms marched into the bay in the lead, and took up positions around the shuttle’s lock. A second group of marines, these in heavy combat armor, entered the bay behind them and took up defensive positions around the back bulkhead, a not-so-subtle reminder of where the power-balance lay. Finally, Admiral Ruston and his senior officers entered the bay and marched to the shuttle, after which the shuttle’s lock opened and a short ramp descended. A group of civilians exited the shuttle and looked around the bay, taking in both groups of marines before seeing Admiral Ruston and his party. The group of civilians moved forward, approaching Admiral Ruston, with a formidable older woman in the lead.
The woman and her group stopped just short of the admiral and his party and she smiled. “Admiral Ruston, I presume?”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “Yes ma’am. Governor Whitmore? Not First Consul Whitmore?”
Whitmore smiled and shook her head. “No, we got rid of that nonsense when we took over. I think Faraz was trying to establish a mystique around her new government to try to give it some credibility, some link to the past. They had a whole bunch of plans about renaming things to bring them in line with the old Greek republics, but they didn’t get around to it before their campaign against the Tarek fell apart.”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “That makes sense. And I sorry, but my staff has been able to find little about you in the colonial databases. May I ask…”
“Where the heck I come from? Certainly. I am the former Coalition Governor of the New California Colony in the Kowloon system. I was sent here by my colony as the New California representative to the Wunderland Republic that Faraz was setting up. We were promised positions in the ruling council and the new legislature, and I was to ensure that the interests of New California and the other out-system colonies were represented until the new government was established and elections could be held. When I arrived Faraz had just been deposed, and no one knew what was going to happen. The stuffed shirt that replaced her resigned just six days later, and the colony’s government was thrown into confusion. After a week of infighting a group of senior legislators and military officers approached me and asked if I would step in as First Consul, until the emergency was resolved. I was uncomfortable with that, as I didn’t know what changes Faraz and her people had made to the powers and authorities of the position, but I did agree to become Acting Colonial Governor until higher authority arrived from the Coalition. Like you.”
Admiral Ruston shifted uncomfortably. He instinctively liked this woman, who seemed to be a force of nature and squarely honest, but he had to be careful in this situation. While he had significant authority based on the emergency powers granted to him under the state of Martial Law that existed throughout the Coalition territories, that authority was based on the fleet behind him, not the government that issued the declaration, given the fact that the Coalition government no longer existed. His authority would only last as long as his fleet supported him, and very soon many of the officers and crews throughout the fleet would be asking some very hard questions. If he began imposing solutions on civilian authorities, resentment would build. And his only tool was force, or the threat of force. That was a road he didn’t want to travel except in the most extreme situations. He realized Governor Whitmore was watching him curiously. “Thank you, Governor Whitmore, that brings me up to date nicely. Why don’t we move to more comfortable surroundings?”
He stepped aside and gestured, and his Chief of Staff stepped forward. “Please follow me.” The civilians followed Captain Kennedy, followed by the Admiral and then his staff. The marine honor guard took up a rear position, following the entire group.
The trip was a short one, to a large crew training area that had been set up for the meeting. One wall was step up to display the fleet surrounding the flagship. The displays had been set to magnify the surrounding ships, so that it appeared that the flagship was escorted by a dozen cruisers of various sizes, all within close proximity. It was an awesome display of naval might, designed to impress the civilians with the fleet under his control. He suspected that the display was no longer necessary, a suspicion that was confirmed when he saw the sly smile that flitted across Governor Whitmore’s face as she looked at the displays. The group sat down at the table that had been set up, and once they were settled, Admiral Ruston nodded to the governor. “Ma’am, let me lay out the situation as I see it. I have arrived to find a colony that is technically in rebellion, which has misappropriated Coalition government assets, namely Coalition naval forces assigned to this system, and which has not only mistreated refugees from Earth but has also started a war with the indigenous alien race of this system! Have I missed anything?”
The Wunderland delegation looked morose over the Admiral’s statement, but Governor Whitmore smiled a genuine smile at his summary. “Oh, there are a few more things we’ve uncovered since I’ve taken over. It appears that while Governor Faraz wasn’t particularly corrupt herself, she and her administration were quite willing to overlook a lot in their rush to establish their new government and prosecute their war with the Tarek. I’ve given the government’s auditors and internal affairs people quite a bit of work since I took over. But, that said, let me point out a few mitigating factors. First off, I think you would be hard pressed to identify exactly what Wunderland and the other colonies out here are in rebellion against, since the Coalition government no longer exists in any functional form. Or am I wrong about that?” Governor Whitmore watched the Admiral curiously. A lot rode on his answer.
Admiral Ruston would have been reluctant to admit this point to anyone else, but he could sense that she was trying to hold things together out here, so he settled for nodding. “The old Coalition is gone, it is true. However, there will be a conference in less than a month in the Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system to discuss a replacement for the Coalition and ways to move forward. I hope that you, or your representative, will attend.”
Governor Whitmore nodded. “We certainly will attend.” She turned to her assistant and asked him to make a note of that for future attention, then turned back to the admiral, a serious look on her formidable face. “Your point about the refugees is entirely correct. The refugees have placed the colonies out here in difficult situations, but there is no excuse for the way that the refugees were treated by the Faraz government. There is a full investigation of the government’s actions underway, and several high-ranking individuals, including the former army general in command of the resettling effort, are under arrest and will be facing serious charges, as are multiple lower ranked individuals who committed serious crimes against the refugees in the absence of effective oversight. Governor Faraz herself recognized her error and began to remedy it before she was removed. Since then we have allowed the refugees, under the leadership of the group that so effectively overthrew Governor Faraz’ corrupt refugee managers, to set up their own refugee resettlement centers, with the assistance of Wunderland’s government. I will open their books to your people as soon as I return, so that you can assure yourself that their treatment is as fair and equitable as we can make it.”
Admiral Ruston nodded, taken with her obvious distress at the treatment of the refugees from Earth. “We had gathered as much from the public information networks, but it is good to hear you admit the issue.”
Governor Whitmore smiled. “As for your second and fourth points, the Coalition naval forces in this system, and the war with the Tarek, they are inextricably linked together. I’m not a resident of this system, but my colony is just two jumps away and believe me, we have followed the progress of the Tarek since our founding. The Tarek have not hidden their hostility to humanity, and while reliable communications have never been established, that’s not because we don’t understand their language. It is because they won’t talk to us. Wunderland has been monitoring their communications from the start, and the Tarek have never hidden their intent to take their system back from the ‘Invaders’, as they so quaintly call us. The officers and crews of the Coalition’s Sligo Squadron voted nearly unanimously to join Wunderland’s new nation on the provision that they be sent against the Tarek, to end the threat to their families and their colony. The Coalition had been ignoring the situation for years, focused as it was on events in the Solar system and various wars with the aliens. The Coalition government’s response to every attempt to get it to deal with the Tarek was to accuse the colonies out here of alarmism and xenophobia. While Wunderland might have started the shooting war with the Tarek, that war was inevitable, and if we had waited the Tarek would have just started it when they felt they had an advantage.” The Wunderland delegation around her were all nodding their heads in agreement. This was clearly a sore point to not only the Wunderlanders, but also the other colonies in the area.
Admiral Ruston knew she had a point. He had argued more than once for an increased naval presence in the Sligo system, to deter the Tarek, but he also had known that such a deterrent only worked while it was present. Sooner or later any capital ships deployed to this system would have been withdrawn, and the Wunderlanders would have been right back to the start, with the Tarek looking for ways to gain an advantage. Still, there was no way that the Coalition was going to start an unprovoked war against a nearly helpless alien race, and he had opposed those officers that had argued for a first strike against the Tarek. He felt then that there had to be a better way. Of course, the Wunderlanders were pretty sure that the first provocation that the Coalition would receive would be the bombardment of their colony, which was also unthinkable, so the Coalition government, which had many larger issues closer to home to focus on, tended to ignore the situation in Sligo and hoped that the Tarek would become more reasonable with time. “I agree that the colonists here had a right to defend themselves. But starting a war that they then promptly lost was clearly not the right way to deal with the situation.”
“Point taken. Governor Faraz and her people had a credible fear, though, that once the Coalition fleet got organized it would withdraw the bulk of the Sligo squadron to put out fires across the human territories, or to face the D’Bringi, leaving us open to Tarek aggression. That wasn’t an unreasonable fear, was it?”
Admiral Ruston, wanting to be honest with Whitmore, nodded. “I had no plans to withdraw the squadron at this time.” Seeing the look on the Wunderlander’s faces, he continued. “But I can’t say that I would have left them here. There is a lot of unrest and instability throughout the human territories.” He looked at the Wunderlanders, and at Governor Whitmore, and saw the fear underlying everything they had done. It was clear if you knew to look for it. “What’s done is done. I can’t change it any more than you can. All we can do is deal with the situation as it is. And the situation is that whatever the Tarek intention was, the shooting war between the Tarek and humanity has started. The scout I dispatched to watch Tarek Prime reports that the Tarek will launch six escorts at the end of this month, and that six months from now they’ll launch a heavy cruiser that’s been under construction in their yards for quite some time. In the meantime, the yard being built here won’t even be ready until next month, and you haven’t been able to agree on a plan to build ships on the ground to replace your losses to date.”
Governor Whitmore nodded. “That’s a fair summary. The situation is desperate. Now that we’ve established a government here more representative of all of the colonies that have joined together, we have vastly greater resources available, but the Tarek have the lead and I fear that it would have been only a matter of time until they overwhelmed us here.” Her gaze sharpened on the Coalition Admiral, and she gestured at the displays showing the fleet surrounding them. “But now you are here. May I ask what you plan to do now?”
Admiral Ruston’s face grew bleak. “I am going to deal with the Tarek. They have a legitimate grievance against humanity, but I will not allow them to attack a human colony, or to continue to pose a threat to the humans in this system. My fleet will remain here while we verify the information you’ve given us, but before the end of the month we will move against the Tarek and ensure that they do not pose a continuing threat against the people of Wunderland.”
For the first time Governor Whitmore looked taken aback. Perhaps she was truly realizing for the first time that there was no one above Admiral Ruston. No one that she could appeal to, or who could limit the Admiral’s actions once he decided to act. “May I ask what exactly you intend to do?”
The Admiral’s face never waivered from its grim set. “My fleet will advance on Tarek Prime. We will give them a chance to negotiate peace with the people of Wunderland, and if they refuse, then we will sweep their skies clear of everything capable of shooting back at us. My fleet will eliminate every armed ship, every orbital station, and all of their shipyards. And once that is complete, I will warn them against deploying any armed unit outside of their atmosphere. They can be hostile on their planet’s surface all they want, but if they venture beyond the surface it will be in unarmed ships, or not at all.”
Governor Whitmore was stunned. While he was avoiding bombarding the surface, this was quite a step for a Coalition Admiral to take. She looked at her delegation, which was mostly composed of Wunderlanders. As one they nodded their agreement. While they didn’t exactly get a say, they approved of anything that limited the Tarek’s ability to attack them.
Month 123, Day 14, Sligo System
The Coalition fleet was arrayed just outside of basic missile range of the planet, at four point five light seconds. The Tarek had shown no sign of having anything more advanced during their fight with the Wunderlanders, and Admiral Ruston was confident in his fleet’s ability to deal with anything the Tarek might throw at them, even if they had suddenly deployed more potent weaponry.
In the months since the failed Wunderland attack on the Tarek, they had repaired the damage to their orbital stations and ground bases, and deployed an additional three ground bases to give themselves complete coverage from any approach. In addition to the six ground bases, the Tarek had four orbital stations containing full-size shipyards, five stations with medium shipyards, and a grand total of thirty-two armed orbital stations. It was an impressive defense, especially for such a low-tech race, but they were about to find out what a bad idea it had been to be so blindly hostile as to provoke a war with a much more advanced race. There was a price to be paid for such blind intransigence, and the Tarek were about to pay it.
Admiral Ruston checked his uniform once more, then keyed on the video recorder. “I am Admiral Ruston of the Coalition. I have come to resolve the state of war that exists between the human residents of this system and the Tarek. I would like to resolve this war peacefully, and would be willing to discuss reparations along with establishing safeguards to ensure that this does not happen again in the future. Please respond to me on this channel within one twentieth of your planet’s daily rotation. If I do not receive a response within the given time period, I will be forced to resolve this war by other means.” He cut he recording out, and then signaled for his comm officer to send it to the Tarek. They then settled in to wait.
The allotted time period went by quickly. There was no response from the Tarek of any sort. Admiral Ruston gave them a little more time, then opened the comm channel to the Tarek again. “You have unwisely decided to ignore my fleet. I prefer to resolve this situation peacefully, however, it seems you will not allow this. Therefore, in ten minutes my fleet will attack each and every orbital station over your planet, including your shipyards. We will do so from beyond your own range to respond. You cannot stop this, and I urge you to either begin negotiations or to evacuate your orbital stations before I destroy them.” He cut off the comms channel and again they settled in to wait.
The ten minutes passed without incident, and also without the Tarek doing anything. It seemed they either didn’t believe his threat, or wanted to make this as hard as possible. He punched up the battlecruiser’s bridge. “Captain Hannover. You may begin. All units will begin the bombardment as ordered.”
Captain Hannover nodded and the comm channel went dark. A few seconds later the battlecruiser shivered as it and its consorts moved away from the planet. They could have launched from their current position, but Admiral Ruston wanted to make a point to the stubborn Tarek.
The Coalition Fleet moved to five-point-five light seconds, and then turned back towards the planet. A few seconds later the California resounded with dull thuds as her launchers begin expelling capital missiles. Each of the human battlecruisers targeted a different armed station, leaving six burning, crippled stations after the first salvo slammed home. The stations had no active defenses, and the human fleet was a full light second and a half beyond their own missile’s range, so there was nothing they could do as the capital missiles raced towards them. Every thirty seconds the human battlecruisers launched another salvo of capital-missiles at the orbiting stations, like clockwork.
After three such salvoes, the situation changed. Suddenly the stations over Tarek Prime began sprouting life pods, and Admiral Ruston called a temporary halt to the bombardment to allow the life pods to get clear of the immediate area. One minute later the battlecruisers began launching again. The battlecruisers launched six full salvoes before they had worked their way through all of the stations. Only a few had been destroyed outright, but all were damaged and some were heavily damaged. After that the orbital stations were destroyed one by one as the battlecruisers began firing individually, splitting their salvoes between two targets. The orbital stations weren’t really like warships or true combat-capable bases, they were more like civilian space stations that had been equipped with armor and weapons. Once their armor was breached, they fell apart quickly under continued fire, and they had nothing that would stop the incoming missiles. It took just three additional salvoes to finish off the remaining orbital stations, and then the battlecruisers could focus on the orbital yards.
Admiral Ruston had noted that the Tarek hadn’t evacuated the shipyards at the same time as the crews abandoned their battle stations, so he ordered his flagship to launch just three missiles against one of the larger shipyards, to get his point across. Two of the three missiles hit the station, and the Tarek got the point. There were a lot more Tarek on the orbital yards, so Admiral Ruston gave them several minutes to clear the area before his ships began firing again. It took two full salvoes to destroy the yards, but in the end the Tarek’s orbital presence was gone.
Admiral Ruston again opened the comms channel to the Tarek. “I will not attack your surface installations, but be warned, if you launch any armed units, whether they are ships or orbital battle stations, my ships will return and destroy them as soon as you launch them. I will allow you to travel throughout this system and beyond, but only in unarmed ships. And you may only build unarmed orbital stations, such as shipyards. Everything you launch will be scanned by my ships, and if it is armed it will be destroyed. If your ground bases fire on any human ship, for any reason, they will all be destroyed by bombardment, regardless of how many collateral casualties this causes. Be very clear, Humanity wants peace with you, but we will not abide a hostile race threatening us. Continue as you have and you will be destroyed.”
The human fleet turned away and set out for Wunderland. As they left, a message reached them from Tarek Prime. It said only, “We will comply.” It seemed that Admiral Ruston had finally impressed them with Humanity’s intention to deal with their aggression.
Admiral Ruston’s fleet returned to Wunderland before setting out for home. Governor Whitmore invited him to meet with her on the surface, and he agreed, shuttling down later the same day.
The two met at a small but well-appointed retreat maintained by the Wunderland government in the mountains to the southwest of the capital. Admiral Ruston’s shuttle landed on the airfield attached to the retreat, where he was met by Governor Whitmore herself. A few guards were present, watching the perimeter, but she was alone, her aides having apparently been dismissed. Seeing this, Admiral Ruston told his aides and guards to remain on the shuttle, and he walked out into the cool, crisp evening air to meet with the governor.
She smiled as he exited the shuttle, and came forward to meet him. “Our savior!”
He shook his head. “They never had a chance against my fleet. They just didn’t know that. A lot of Tarek spacers died today, learning that lesson. I didn’t enjoy teaching it.”
Governor Whitmore took in the Admiral’s demeanor and shook her head. “No, I don’t suppose you did. Still, it had to be done.” She gestured back towards the lodge. “Come, lets get inside. I’ve got a fire going, and we have a lot to talk about.”
He allowed himself to be led inside, and soon they were seated in front of the warm fire, each with their preferred drink in their hands. The silence was companionable, but he had been invited here for a reason. “You clearly have something to say.”
The pensive look on her face fell away, and she smiled. For a brief second he realized what a truly beautiful woman she must have been in her youth, but to be honest, he preferred the formidable woman in front of him. She was competent, and appeared to be trustworthy, although that could only be determined after time had passed. “Admiral, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen when you arrived. We had justifications for what had been done, but none of that would have mattered if you had taken a harder line on our independence than you did. You could have swept our defenses away as easily as you did the Tarek’s, and our ground forces would have been forced to surrender under threat of bombardment from orbit that we couldn’t answer or defend against. Some in my government expected you to do just that and were urging either abject surrender or a fight to the death.”
Admiral Ruston looked at Whitmore curiously. “And what were you preparing for?”
She smiled again. “I was prepared to do what I do best. Talk. As my kids always used to say, I talk and talk and talk, and somehow people just end up agreeing with me. I think they agree just to get me to stop talking, but there you go.”
“And if I wouldn’t talk to you? If I demanded your surrender?”
“I would have ordered my people to stand down. I’m not sure all of them would have. I’m still something of an outsider here, but most of them would. I’m a big believer in living to fight another day.”
“That’s not always an option.”
“No, but against the Coalition I thought it was the right move.” She frowned, watching the Admiral’s face intently. “Why didn’t you impose martial law and remove the independent government we’ve been setting up? You have the power. No one here can stop you, and I suspect that there is no one anywhere that can countermand your orders.”
Admiral Ruston sat silently for a moment, staring into the fire. Finally, he stirred. “The Coalition is gone. No government official higher than a city mayor survived the war on Earth. A few low-level elected officials have appeared here and there, but no one of consequence. For all intents and purposes, the Coalition ceased to exist in that war, and what is left is merely an idea. In the chaos since the fall of Earth, my fleet and the Russian fleet have had to work together to impose order and ensure that the flow of refugees continued and that resources got to Earth to stabilize the situation there, at least as much as possible. The emergency created by the destruction of the Coalition and Russian governments on Earth gave General Semenov and me all of the authority we needed to impose martial law, and we needed to do so to legally order the civilian colonial governments to accept the refugees. The imposition of martial law gave us the cloak of legality, however, that cloak only covers so much. The governments that promulgated those laws are gone, and they aren’t coming back. If we use those laws to set ourselves up as dictators, or to enforce membership in a government that no longer exists then soon enough the colonies will begin resisting. I will not see my fleet become an instrument of oppression, and General Semenov feels the same. He grew up under a military government, and is painfully aware of its failings.” Admiral Ruston paused, and then looked up from the fire, into her eyes. “Tell me, if I had returned from destroying the Tarek defenses and announced that you were all guilty of treason against the Coalition, and announced arrests and that I was putting one of my officers in control of this colony, what would you have done?” He was watching her curiously.
“I’ve already said it. We would have complied. We cannot fight your fleet.”
“But?” He could hear the word ‘but’ in her answer, in spite of it having gone unsaid.
She sighed. “But, the imposition of martial law would be seen as a military dictatorship, particularly if it wasn’t replaced quickly by some sort of civilian government. That would have caused resistance to grow, not only here, but everywhere throughout the colonies, which are known to be notoriously independent. In the end I think if you took that path you would succeed for a while, but in the end human space would be rocked by secession and civil war. Probably sooner rather than later.”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “Exactly. General Semenov and I have had this very discussion since the fall of Earth. Supplies for our fleet are running short, and we must put together an organization of colonies to support our ships or bad things will happen. If we can’t support our fleets, we will lose control of them, and then piracy will be the least of our problems. Tinpot dictators will spring up right and left, setting up petty empires and ‘protection-rackets’ to support their ships and crews. To maintain our fleets, we need a large colonial organization, and If, as some in our staffs suggest, we impose that order on the colonies to create a state capable of supporting our fleets, then we will clearly have to do so by force. Some of the colonies will resist, if only out of sheer stubbornness, and by using force to impose our solution we will be creating the conditions for our own overthrow.”
She looked at him curiously, growing more and more impressed with this military leader who refused to impose a military solution on the fall of a civilization. “And so?”
“And so, I find myself here. Asking you to help put together a voluntary organization of colonies to help support the fleet that defends us all. As I’ve asked other political leaders elsewhere.” His gaze sharpened on the governor. “You said you’re known for talking. We need that. I need that.” He gestured towards the outside, away from the fire they were both watching. “The fact that the colonies out here joined together so readily means something. If I come in and deny that, and impose the old conditions by force, I’d be ignoring the reality. Keep your independence, if you must, but recognize that we have enemies out there and that we must work together to maintain the fleet that is all that stands between these worlds and those enemies.”
Governor Whitmore looked into the fire for a few seconds, shocked at the honesty coming from one of the two most powerful men in the human territories at the current time. She was deeply impressed by his determination to bring the colonial leaders together to talk, rather than imposing a solution with the force that was so readily available to him. The temptation to use that force must have been nearly overwhelming, as it was the tool he had trained for his whole adult life to wield. She came to a decision.
“I will help. I will go to your conference personally, and I’ll talk to anyone who’ll listen. I have to finish up things here, first, to ensure that the government here stays on the right path while I’m gone, but if you’ll leave a ship to convey me to the conference I’ll be there before it starts.”
Admiral Ruston settled back into the couch as relief blossomed in his chest. There were so many ways this could go wrong, but he had a feeling that something had broken right, for once. The two talked late into the night, strategizing their approach to the conference, before Admiral Ruston had to return to the fleet.
Month 123, Day 15, Sligo system
Some of the Coalition fleet leaves Wunderland to return to the Sigma Draconis system. Admiral Ruston left behind three battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, and three destroyers, to impress upon the Tarek the need to adhere to their agreement.
Admiral Ruston and a delegation from the Wunderland Association, the latest name the locals had decided upon, left aboard two small scouts that raced out of the system at full military speed, and would reach the Sigma Draconis system in eleven days. Another scout was left behind for Governor Whitmore, who would leave when she felt her Deputy Governor had things in hand on Wunderland.
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Month 123, Day 26, Sigma Draconis System (Moskva)
The conference to determine the future course of the human colonies begins today. Premier Noah Clark, leader of the ANIA, is a surprise attendee. Although the situation on Earth has not yet stabilized, the ANIA has taken a leading position in recovery and stabilization efforts, and can make a credible claim to represent the majority of the people remaining on the planet.
Month 124, Day 5, Sigma Draconis System
The Colonial Conference has been going relatively well. Initial attempts by the representatives of the former Coalition colony in the Epsilon Eridani system to get the various colonial governors to sign on to unifying under one flag, with the capital located at their colony, failed spectacularly, with the representatives from the Tomsk Union flatly refusing to agree to such a move, considering it premature, and the representatives of the Wunderland Association preferring to defer judgement on such a thing until the intent of the fleet is made more clear.
In spite of this failure, it is clear that almost all of the colonies agree that they must band together, at least to a certain extent, and after the failure of this initial initiative, the representatives settled down to the serious work of developing a framework they could all live with.
Month 124, Day 25, Moskva System (Sigma Draconis)
The first ever Convention of Colonial Governments concludes. The convention went surprisingly well. Most attendees attribute this to the abject example of Earth and the failure of the Coalition and the USSR to peacefully resolve their differences. Premier Clark of Earth, and Governor Whitmore of the Wunderland Association both provided strong leadership examples of cooperation and commitment to overall human welfare, and General Semenov and Admiral Ruston’s limitation of their involvement to pleading the case for support for their fleets went a long way towards encouraging the various colonial government towards looking to a common future rather than to their own immediate needs.
Several groups of aliens attended the conference as well. The Tlatelolco from the Redwing system, and the D’Bringi rescued from the Brezhnev system by the Russians both attended the conference and announced their support for the two human fleets. The D’Bringi, in particular, were fervent in their adulation of the Russian fleet, which is perhaps understandable given the fact that the Russians freed them from their clan masters and then transported them to a benign (for them) world in the Petropavlovsk system, within the Tomsk Union.
The end result was a commitment to a united future, the Colonial Union. Although fragmented into multiple separate states at the current time, all of the leaders agreed to mutual defense and trade treaties, and to support the former Russian and Coalition Fleets. Admiral Ruston and General Semenov agreed to support all of the governments in attendance, regardless of former nationalities, and to act together in support of the common defense. Every colony agreed to send its resources to support the fleet, as none of the new colonial nations could support the fleet on its own.
During the conference, General Semenov and Admiral Ruston announced the formation of the United Colonial Defense Fleet. While the announcement is more ceremonial than anything else, it signals their clear intention to amalgamate their fleets into a single combat force dedicated to protecting humanity throughout the colonial territories.
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Month 122, Day 30, D’Bringi Expanses
The D’Bringi government announces that as a result of the T’Pau race’s valiant service during the war with the Humans and the Mintek, they have been granted partnership status within the D’Bringi nation. The D’Bringi government notes that this is only the first set towards granting the T’Pau an equal position within the D’Bringi nation, and that as a result of this development, the T’Pau will no longer be required to pay tribute, and will have full access to D’Bringi territories for exploration and settlement purposes.
Behind the scenes, this is an example of a change in direction in D’Bringi internal politics. The recently concluded war with the Humans, and the ongoing war with the Mintek, have convinced the D’Bringi that they need to have a closer relationship with their allies, and can no longer depend on merely dominating other races. In addition to this effort, the D’Bringi have agreed to increase cooperation with the Rehorish in hopes of improving the relationship between the two primary allies.
Month 123, D’Bringi Expanses
The D’Bringi government announces that the occupation of Doraz Prime will be ending this month. The newly reorganized Doraz government as agreed to accept a similar relationship with the D’Bringi as the T’Pau, beginning next month. This development came after massive D’Bringi investment greatly increased the standard of living of the average Doraz citizen. The Doraz government was impressed not only with the D’Bringi generosity in investing in their economy, but also by the adroit negotiation skills shown by the joint D’Bringi-Rehorish negotiation teams sent to the planet to manage improving their relationship with the D’Bringi
(Author’s note: I rolled a nat 100 on their political acceptance roll. The Doraz love the D’Bringi now, perhaps as a result of their rebellion being so handily crushed.)
The Torqual have also accepted an improvement to their status, and now become associate members (trade & military alliance) of the D’Bringi Expanses.
Month 123, Day 18, D’Bringi Expanses
A D’Bringi exploration probing a newly discovered system detects a new civilization inhabiting one of the system’s five habitable planets. Only one of the planets is an ST planet, as the D’Bringi prefer, but the other three will be valuable to the T’Pau, and the newly discovered race, which appears to be low-tech, will be a valuable addition to the D’Bringi nation, once they are civilized. The system is designated as the Nemor system.
Month 124, Day 1, D’Bringi Expanses
A conquest expedition sets out for the Nemor system from D’Bringi Prime. It will arrive on Day 15, Month 125.
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State of Humanity in Month 125
After the fall of the Coalition and the USSR humanity has fragmented into several different states. Perhaps because of the recent example of the rivalry between the Coalition and the USSR, all of these successor states have agreed in principle to cooperate together and work towards a common future under the auspices of a united fleet led by Admiral Ruston and General Semenov. For now, this means that all of the major human states have signed trade and military treaties with each other, agreeing to the common defense, and to support the United Colonial Defense Fleet. All of the human states have also agreed to a web of mutual aid and defense treaties that form the Colonial Union. While more of a concept right now than anything concrete, the Colonial Union will provide a framework for growth and cooperation for the future.
Eridani Confederation
The Eridani Confederation is centered on the New Plymouth colony in Epsilon Eridani. New Plymouth was intended to be a regional capital by the Coalition; however, the funding had not yet been approved when the war happened on Earth. As the one location in the Coalition’s colonies that had shipyards and system defenses, it was immediately identified by Coalition naval officers as the obvious fallback point when the yards over Earth were destroyed. As the largest colony in the area, New Plymouth has become the natural leader for the surrounding colonies, and has become the resettlement site for many of the refugees from Earth.
The Confederation started with the four colonies in the Epsilon Eridani warp chain which had naturally banded together for mutual defense when the invading Rehorish cut the area off from Earth, but has expanded to include the colonies in the Sigma Draconis system and the off-Earth colonies in the Solar System. This expansion took place with the facilitation of Admiral Ruston, whose officers had taken over managing the two systems during the emergency, while the fleet was deployed to the Rehorish border.
The Eridani Confederation currently has no indigenous naval units, as all Coalition units assigned to the area have been subsumed into the United Colonial Defense Fleet (UCDF). The Confederation does maintain system defenses in the Epsilon Eridani system, as well as the orbital yards over New Plymouth and a group of mobile shipyards that fled to the system after war consumed Earth. Much of the system’s fixed defenses were mothballed after the peace treaty with the D’Bringi Alliance was announced, in an attempt to free up resources that could be used to support the UCDF.
The Confederation is the human state most closely aligned with the Coalition portions of the UCDF, and is considered one of the two home ports for the UCDF, with the other being the Russian colony of Gagarin in Moskva. The Russian Colonial Union, which is based on the Gagarin Colony, with the assistance of Admiral Ruston and General Semenov, have forged a closer relationship (Partnership) with the Confederation than the other human nations, agreeing to act in concert and support the UCDF, instead of building up their own navies.
The Confederation also maintains the research outpost on the Tlatelolco home planet in the Redwing system, and continues to maintain close ties with the Tlatelolco’s Enlightened Union. Due to its current dire economic situation, the Confederation has not been able to continue the Coalition’s economic and research assistance to the Tlatelolco, however, the Tlatelolco have been very understanding and have offered to send economic assistance to help support the UCDF, if necessary.
Total Income: 5,444 MCr
Epsilon Eridani Fixed Defenses: 6xBS0
Epsilon Eridani Mothballs: 3xBS3, 3xBS0
Russian Colonial Union
The Union consists primarily of the Russian colonies in the Moskva (Sigma Draconis) system, the Solar system, and several of the colonies freed from Rehorish occupation. The Union is based on the Gagarin colony, which is the first stop for Russian refugees from Earth, although many of the refugees are then sent on to the Tomsk Union, the Eridani Confederation, or the new Titov Free State. The Union was the brainchild of General Semenov, who, before the fall of the USSR, recognized the need for an economic base to support his fleet. When it had become clear that the USSR’s colonies were on their own, General Semenov acted to prevent the various colonies from falling into isolationism by bringing the heads of the major populations in the Solar System and Moskva together to discuss a union that would be able to deal with the refugees from Earth and support his fleet.
The Union government is still new, untested, and unsure of itself. For these reasons, and because of the unrest caused by the huge number of refugees that have flowed from Earth, they were willing to sign agreements with the other human states to ensure that they received the assistance they needed to deal with the refugees.
The Union has no naval assets or fixed defenses under its control, and thus relies completely on the UCDF for its defense. General Semenov has promised to turn over the mobile shipyards currently deployed to the Brezhnev system to reactivate and repair the Russian Home Fleet to the Union government for their use once their mission is complete, thus jumpstarting their naval construction capabilities. The Union is the human state most closely aligned with the Russian portion of the UCDF, and the Gagarin colony is one of the UCDF’s two home ports. The relationship between the Russian second in command of the UCDF and the Union’s political leadership is uneasy, as the USSR had a long history of military rule, and the civilian government of the Union is not yet convinced that General Semenov does not intend to take a more direct role in their government.
Total Income: 5,284
Tomsk Union
The Tomsk Union was created after the Russian colony in the Tomsk system, and the colonies in the surrounding systems, were isolated by the Rehorish advance into the Russian colonial territories. The Tomsk Union managed to survive the Rehorish advance largely due to the presence of warships from the Bjering Consolidate, a former ally of the USSR and neighbor to the Tomsk system. The Bjering’s warships had fallen back to the Tomsk system after the USSR’s fleet had retreated to the inner systems. The Bjering met with advancing Rehorish forces and convinced them to avoid the Tomsk system during their advance towards Earth, claiming that the Tomsk system was part of the Bjering Consolidate. The ploy worked, although it is not clear whether the Rehorish believed the Bjering statements that Tomsk was a Bjering colony, or whether they merely wished to avoid conflict with yet another race while fighting a major war with the humans. In any case, the Tomsk Union is the only human multi-stellar organization that has existed for more than just a few months, having been on its own since the Russians retreated to the inner systems.
The Tomsk Union consists of seven Russian colonies in six systems, and its capital is on the Tereshkova colony in the Tomsk System. Tereshkova has been one of the primary refugee resettlement sites, and has seen its population swell as a result. This boost in population has allowed the Tomsk Union to become more expansive, and colonization of the innermost asteroid belt of the Tomsk A planetary system has recently begun.
The Tomsk Union maintains a small navy and some system defenses in the Tomsk system, and is the only human successor state to have launched its own survey ships. In addition, the Tomsk Union has recently begun research and development on the next tech level, the only human state which has done so. The Union has agreed to help support the UCDF, with its support primarily going to the Russian portion of the combined fleet.
The Tomsk Union has a trade and military treaty with the Bjering Consolidate, and although the other human states have sent representatives to the Tomsk Union to interact with the Bjering, to date the Bjering have preferred to limit their contact with the other human states.
The Tomsk Union sees itself as being on the frontier of human expansion, and is located squarely between two powerful alien races, the Rehorish and the Bjering. Although it has no direct contact with the Rehorish, the people of the Tomsk Union are very aware of their proximity, given the facts of the creation of the Union, and for these reasons their support for the UCDF is unwavering.
Total Income: 6,695
Home Fleet: 9xDD, 1xFGS, 16xES
Shipyards: 7xSYM
Survey Fleet: 10xEX
System Defenses: 2xCT(Automated Warfare), 200xDSB-L
Wunderland Association
The Wunderland Republic broke away from the Coalition almost immediately after the fall of Earth, largely driven by the threat posed by the Tarek in the Sligo system. After failing to destroy, or even defeat the Tarek, the Wunderland Republic was overthrown and reorganized into the Wunderland Association, a multi-stellar organization of fifteen colonies in thirteen systems. Unlike the Republic, which was a purely Wunderland centric organization, the Association is run by an executive board made up of representatives from every colony. While Wunderland is its largest population center and its capital, the Association is far more representative of the disparate colonies that make up the organization.
The Association has agreed to cooperate with the other human successor states, and has agreed to support the UCDF, and indeed its representatives were instrumental in making the recent Colonial Conference a success. The Association maintains a small navy of former Coalition naval ships, and recently completed work on a new shipyard over Wunderland.
Total Income: 8,397
Home Fleet: 3xDD, 2xFGS, 4xCT, 20xES, 3xEXS
Fortifications: 1xSY, 9xBS0
Consolidated Earth States
The Consolidated Earth States is the emerging global government centered on the Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia Alliance. While not completely in control of the entire globe, the CES is on track to pacify and incorporate the remaining areas within the next several months, with the assistance of the UCDF.
With the success of the CES, the refugee flow from Earth has dropped considerably, and will probably taper off in the next two months. In an effort to divest itself of assets no longer considered critical to the success of its mission, and to assist the CES in its ongoing mission to reunite the Earth, the UCDF has formally transferred control of several military assets in the home system to the CES. In addition, the last surviving Coalition PDC, and the six surviving Russian anti-missile PDC’s, all joined the CEF early in its efforts to unite Earth.
The CES is almost totally focused on internal problems and political issues, and this is not likely to change at any point in the near to medium future. The CES leadership has pledged to support the UCDF with any resources that are available beyond those required for recovery efforts.
Total Income: 3,025 MC
Earth Planetary Defense: 1xOffensive PDC, 6xAnti-missile PDC
Sol WP Defense: 2xAst Fort, 4xTug, 6xBS0, 2xEXS
Mothballs: 6xBS3, 3xBS1, 3xBS0,1xDD(AW)
Enlightened Union
The Tlatelolco are steadfast allies to humanity, and are currently closest with the Eridani Confederation. They are currently at IND-2 tech level, and are in the midst of developing systems that will allow them to begin developing HT-1 in the near future. While not officially members of the Colonial Union, the Tlatelolco have expressed support for a united humanity, and have pledged to help to support the UCDF in the future.
Total Income: 697 MC
United D’Bringi Soviets
The UDS is composed of former mine workers from the D’Bringi system of Chraough, which was conquered by the USSR and renamed the Brezhnev system. The mine workers of the system, which had no habitable planets, quickly came to view the humans as their liberators, particularly when Soviet Special Warfare Groups began operating in the system. The USSR viewed the D’Bringi of the system as uniquely valuable assets in their ongoing war with the D’Bringi, and hoped to convert the D’Bringi of the system to their side and create spies and special warfare groups capable of operating within D’Bringi territories. The first part of this plan worked very well, as the oppressed miners latched on to communist theories with a will, using the collectivist ethos to improve their living conditions and overthrow the remaining clan overseers. Unfortunately, the USSR never had the chance to implement the rest of their plan, when the D’Bringi offensive cut off the Brezhnev system. When the Soviet Home Fleet was trapped in the system, the D’Bringi miners, now completely converted to a fairly pacifistic version of communism, proved to be invaluable to the trapped fleet, providing most of their food and resources to the trapped fleet to ensure its continued operation for as long as possible.
After the relief of the system by General Semenov, the leader of the trapped fleet, General Lebedev, insisted that the D’Bringi miners be evacuated from the system before the fleet left. As the plan was to abandon the entire warp chain, due to the near certainty of multiple closed warp points that led to the D’Bringi Expanses, General Semenov agreed and relocated the D’Bringi in the system several asteroid colonies in the Moskva system. From there they were relocated to an ST planet in the Tomsk Union that was perfect for their new colony.
The UDS has promised to support the UCDF and is a fervent supporter of the Russian side of the Colonial Union.
Total Income: 258 MC
Titov Free State
The Titov Free State was created by the terms of the peace treaty between the USSR, the Coalition, and the D’Bringi Alliance. The Titov Free State is intended to act as a buffer state between humanity and the Rehorish, and is independent, in theory, from both. By terms of the treaty, both human governments and the Rehorish are required to sign trade and military treaties guaranteeing the independence of the Titov Free State, and both super-powers are allowed to station small forces of scouts in the Novosibirsk system to ensure that the other side has not violated the treaty.
The Titov Free State consists of the Russian colony of Titov, located in the border system of Novosibirsk. Free State’s government is currently a loose confederation of the colony’s primary cities, but the political situation is in flux as unrest from the influx of refugees combines with the uncertainty generated by the home system’s apparent willingness to cut them loose in treaty negotiations with hostile aliens.
The citizens of the Free State do not yet know of the destruction of Earth. Admiral Ruston imposed a complete blackout on information from the inner systems during his campaign to liberate the are from the Rehorish, and has maintained that blackout since then, to prevent the Rehorish from learning of the destruction of Earth and the crippling of humanity’s production. While the information cannot be kept secret forever, Admiral Ruston hopes that it can be withheld long enough for the human colonies to become organized enough to present a united front to the Rehorish and D’Bringi alliance. Certainly, as the influx of refugees grows, the secret will come out, but as of yet only a trickle of refugees have reached this distant system.
The Free State was not asked to participate in the Colonial Conference, and has not been asked to support the UCDF, as it does not yet know of the fall of Earth. In addition, by the treaty with the D’Bringi Alliance, the Free State must remain neutral with both sides. The Free State has begun construction on a shipyard, which will be launched at the start of next month.
Total Income: 1,995 MC
United Colonial Defense Fleet
The UCDF is the brainchild of Admiral Ruston and General Semenov, and was intended from the first as a way of combining the two fleets and protecting all of the human successor states. The current fleet’s maintenance requirements, over 18,000 MCr’s, is far beyond what any single human successor state could provide, therefore, something like the Colonial Union, with pledges by every member to support the UCDF, is necessary to keep the fleet operating. Both Admiral Ruston and General Semenov agree that the fleet will have to be reduced in size to reduce operating costs and the resulting burden on the successor states, but with the ongoing unrest throughout the colonies due to the refugee situation, the new and untested peace with the D’Bringi Alliance, and the recent trouble with the Tarek, no reductions in force have been made and none will be made in the next few months.
The UCDF is primary deployed to the Solar System and the Moskva/Sigma Draconis systems as a peacekeeping and refugee assistance force, and to the Sligo system to watch the Tarek. The other primary deployment is to the Kirov system in the Russian colonial territories, to watch the Titov Free State and the Rehorish.
Commanding Officer: Admiral Ruston
Second in Command: General Semenov
UCDF: United Colonial Defense Fleet)
UCDF Squadron #1 (Epsilon Eridani): 7xBC, 7xCA, 1xCL, 4xDD, 7xFGS, 3xCT, 3xEXS – Home Fleet
UCDF Squadron #2 (Sigma Draconis/Moskva): 3xCA, 3xCL, 5xEXS – Peace Keeper Force
UCDF Squadron #3 (Sligo): 3xBC, 3xCA, 3xDD – Peace Keeper Force
UCDF Squadron #4 (Sol): 3xCL, 2xFGS, 6xCT, 3xEXS – Peace Keeper Force
UCDF Squadron #5 (Kirov): 6xCA, 6xDD, 4xFGS, 4xEXS – Rehorish Border Squadron
UCDF Squadron #6 (Moskva/Sigma Draconis): 18xCL – WP Assault Group
UCDF Squadron #7 (Kirov): 3xBC, 2xCL, 2xCT, 23xES, 1xEXS – Rehorish Border Squadron
UCDF Squadron #8 (Moskva/Sigma Draconis): 2xBC, 2xCA, 1xDDC, 14xES, 1xEXS – Home Fleet
UCDF Squadron #9 (Sol): 3xCL, 1xDD, 1xEXS – Peace Keeper Force
UCDF Squadron #10 (Brezhnev): 2xBC, 2xCA, 5xDD, 3xCT, 2xEXS – Under repair and reactivation
The UCDF has also inherited assets from the former Coalition and USSR for which no decisions as to their dispositions have been made. These assets include the following:
Coalition Exploration Group #1 (Epsilon Eridani): 20xEX, 1xEXS
Coalition Exploration Group #2 (Epsilon Eridani): 20xEX, 1xEXS
Russian Mothball Site Alpha (Solar System): 3xCA
Russian Earth Shipyard Complex: 11xSY – (1xBB, 9xCL under construction, currently paused)
The CES is currently negotiating with the UCDF over the status of the shipyards in orbit over Earth. The Coalition’s shipyards, and all of the ships under construction there, were destroyed during the war, but the USSR’s shipyards were never targeted and survived, along with the ships under construction. In the immediate aftermath of the war, the shipyard’s staff paused all construction and most of them returned to Earth to search for their families. Since then, some have returned and done work necessary to keep the ships under construction viable and ready for the re-initiation of construction.
The yards have been a relatively low priority issue for both the CES and the UCDF, although now that the UCDF is getting on its feet and beginning to look towards the future the issue has become more of a priority, at least for them.
The Russian mothball site in the Solar System was part of the Russian build up prior to the D’Bringi Alliance offensive. Several times plans were made to reactivate the three cruisers stored there, but the need for warp point assault ships always derailed these plans. Currently, the UCDF has tentative plans to sell these mothballed units to the CES, which will use them to form the backbone of their own navy.
The two former Coalition exploration groups are somewhat controversial, and no decision has been made as to their disposition. Both Admiral Ruston and General Semenov want to use them to begin expanding humanity’s borders again, however, they face serious opposition to this plan from various groups within the successor states. Some of these groups want to reduce the financial burden upon their states, and while the exploration groups are not particularly expensive to support compared to the large number of warships in the UCDF, they are a significant expense. The more serious opposition, though, comes from politically influential groups that fear the possibility of the exploration groups discovering more hostile alien races. This possibility cannot be discounted, and it is possible that the exploration groups will be mothballed in the near future.
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State of the D’Bringi-Rehorish-T’Pau Alliance in Month 125
D’Bringi Expanses
D’Bringi experiences with the recently concluded war with humanity, and with the Mintek, have convinced the D’Bringi Clan Chiefs that they must form closer relationships with their allies, and that they must fundamentally change their relationships with their subjugated races. Between the failures to conquer both the Mintek and the humans, and the insight and guidance provided by the Rehorish, the senior clan leaders now believe that creating a strong alliance will benefit the D’Bringi the most. These events have convinced the two remaining senior clan leaders, Skull Splitter and Burning Blade, that the D’Bringi can no longer rely solely on their own strength to succeed in the galaxy, but will instead need to have a strong alliance with as many alien races as possible, which the D’Bringi will, of course, lead. To this end the D’Bringi government has changed its goals in conquering newly discovered alien races. In the past, the D’Bringi clans merely intended to gain honor in the conquest, and then exploit the conquered alien races for all of the resources that they could provide, to build up the Clan’s fleets as much as possible. This is now seen as inefficient and short-sighted, particularly in light of the reality that planets suitable for D’Bringi colonization (ST type planets) appear to be fairly rare.
In the last several months, the D’Bringi have ended their occupations of the Doraz and the Torqual races, after signing mutual defense and trade agreements with both races. In addition, the T’Pau, who served during the war with both humanity and the Mintek with distinction, have now been elevated to equals within the D’Bringi Alliance, and have been granted full independence and access to the D’Bringi territories for colonization purposes.
The Clans recently authorized the expansion of the survey corps to two survey groups, and will likely authorize further expansions once the ongoing fleet modernization refits are completed. These new survey groups are tasked with finding new ways into the Mintek territories, in the hopes of avoiding the massive fixed defenses they have placed around the warp point that constitutes their current point of contact.
A small clan fleet has been dispatched to the Nemor system, to bring a newly discovered low-tech race into the fold. The clan fleet is escorting a large ground force that will overwhelm the defenders and begin the process of civilizing the natives.
Total Income: 13,535
Clan Home System Forces: 5xCT
Keeper Home Fleet: 2xBC, 7xCT
Conquest Fleet (bound for the Nemor System): 3xCA, 3xCT
Forward Fleet (Phyriseq): 3xBC, 22xCA, 2xDD, 1xCT (Combined Keeper and Clan forces)
Home system Defenses: 9xBS3
Doraz System Watch Force: 2xCA, 2xCT
Torqual System Watch Force: 4xCA, 6xCT
Survey Group #1: 25xEX
Survey Group #2: 25xEX
Rehorish Stellar Dominion
The Rehorish were the prime motivators behind the peace treaty with the humans, just as they were the prime motivators in launching the new offensive against the humans in Month 107. Fleet actions against the Humans and the Mintek proved to the Rehorish high command that while their crews were equaled by none, their ships were outdated and a liability. The Rehorish had the sheer numbers to match the other races, including their allies, but their tech was significantly behind all of the other races involved, with perhaps the exception of the T’Pau, and this had become a become a source of concern for the Rehorish government even before the Mintek invaded with massive warships and weapons that the Stellar Dominion couldn’t hope to match on a one-to-one basis. The sad fact was that the bulk of the Rehorish ships serving on the front line with the D’Bringi fleets were significantly behind even the older D’Bringi cruisers, and were primitive compared to the latest D’Bringi cruisers rolling out of their yards. And while efforts had been made to remedy this tech imbalance, including by buying tech advancements from the D’Bringi, the Rehorish had not been able to translate those new systems into newer and better ships on the front lines due to the need to keep their maximum strength concentrated at the point of the most imminent threat. Therefore, when the Humans offered to negotiate, the Rehorish jumped on the chance to eliminate one active enemy, which would allow them to withdraw ships to their home yards for refit. And while those refits wouldn’t make their cruisers the equal of the latest D’Bringi and Human ships, much less Mintek, the refits would make their ships much more effective, particularly in light of their superior crews.
When the backward nature of their technology became clear to the Rehorish government as the war ground on, they began a number of projects to remedy this situation. Several were direct attacks on the problem, such as buying tech from the D’Bringi, but others were efforts to remedy weaknesses in the D’Bringi Alliance that the Rehorish government felt could threaten their prospects for long term success. Primary of these efforts was an outreach effort to the D’Bringi themselves to improve their relationship with their subject races. The Rehorish government had no moral issue with the D’Bringi efforts to conquer newly contacted races, as such, but felt that the D’Bringi determination to us such races as resource banks was short sighted and inefficient. Therefore, the Rehorish had been working with senior clan officials to advocate for a more enlightened treatment of the subject races, with an eye towards eventual voluntary incorporation of their races into the Alliance as equals (well, more or less as equals). This effort met with more success than the Rehorish had anticipated, largely due to the T’Pau military’s bravery in battle, and the Mintek efforts to undermine D’Bringi rule on Doraz Prime and Torqual Prime. With the D’Bringi now converted to the Rehorish mindset of voluntarily incorporating subject races as near equals, the Rehorish have begun advocating for a system of technological assistance to lower tech races, to help them reach the D’Bringi tech level. The benefits of this are obvious, and the D’Bringi seem willing to help out with such a plan. In addition, the Rehorish government has decided to pay the D’Bringi to emplace a communications network throughout the Rehorish Dominion. The benefits of this are obvious, but giving access to Dominion space to the D’Bringi is a big step for the Rehorish, who have had issues trusting the other races in the past.
The Rehorish Navy has stationed small squadrons at the two contact points they have with the humans, and a guard force in Phyriseq, and has withdrawn the rest of the Grand Fleet to the home system for refits with their latest technology, which should bring the fleet up to match the last generation of D’Bringi ships. Once the Grand Fleet is refitted, it will be relocated to the Phyriseq system to replace the ships there so that they can be refitted.
Total Income: 20,428 MCr
Border Defense Force, Kure: 3xCL, 6xDD, 3xCT
Border Defense Force, Sapporo: 3xCA, 6xCL, 6xDD, 1xCT
Mintek Guard Force, Phyriseq: 5xCA, 21xCL, 11xDD, 1xCT
Home Fleet: 1xBC, 25xCA, 6xCL, 22xDD, 3xFG(AW), 1xCT
Home System Defenses: 9xBS3, 1xBS1
Survey Group #1: 20xCT
Survey Group #2: 20xCT
T’Pau Syndicate
The T’Pau were the first race conquered by the D’Bringi, and had long ago resigned themselves to living in the shadow of their stronger, if less culturally advanced, neighbors. The leadership and bravery demonstrated by Lt. General Morx in the campaign against the Mintek, though, changed many things. The T’Pau agreement to provide ships for the D’Bringi campaign bought them access to a colony system unused by their D’Bringi masters, and the performance and bravery of their fleet has now given them a new freedom within the Alliance, and access to many of the type T planets discovered but unused by the D’Bringi.
The T’Pau Syndicate is now in negotiations with the D’Bringi to receive technological assistance, and several colonization efforts are underway throughout the D’Bringi Expanses.
Total Income: 8,615
Expeditionary Fleet (Phyriseq): 6xCA, 9xCL
Home Fleet: 3xCA, 2xCL
Survey Fleet: 15xEX
Doraz Contingency
The Doraz are militaristic, slug-like beings who were greatly impressed by the D’Bringi martial strength, and who have now agreed to join the Alliance as independent members. They are currently working on launching two shipyards.
Total Income: 2,764
Torqual Benignity
The Torqual are tall, grey humanoid beings who are, by nature, very peaceful. They recently won their freedom by agreeing to participate in the Alliance, however, they cannot be said to be enthusiastic members. The Torqual are participating more out of necessity than anything else, and although they prize peaceful pursuits above most other things, they are also pragmatic and understand that the D’Bringi will require their participation in the Alliance’s military forces. They are currently building shipyards and expanding their colonies in their home system.
Total Income: 6,275
Total D’Bringi Alliance Income: 51,617 (Includes trade)
Total D’Bringi Alliance Fleet Strength: 6xBC, 73xCA, 47xCL, 47xDD, 30xCT (8865)
Total Human Income: 29,800 (Not including Titov Free State)
Total Human Fleet Strength: 17xBC, 23xCA, 30xCL, 32xDD, 16xFGS, 18xCT, 73xES (6566)
Note: Both the D’Bringi Alliance and the assorted Human States have more ships than they can comfortably support. The Human states desperately want to start mothballing ships to free up resources to begin colonization, research, and industrial expansion again. The D’Bringi are rebuilding their fleets after the losses they’ve suffered, but the Rehorish are spending approximately 80% of their income supporting their fleet and have little left over for economic expansion. Given this fact, both sides have a vested interest in maintaining the peace, and will likely start mothballing at least some ships soon.
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Month 125, Day 15
The D’Bringi conquest expedition arrives over the inhabited planet in the Nemor system. The Nemor system is of particular interest to the D’Bringi, as the system has five habitable planets, one of which is usable for the D’Bringi (type ST). The second planet of the binary system’s primary yellow star is inhabited by a low tech (IND-2) race recently discovered by D’Bringi explorers. The race below was just becoming aware that something was going on in their system when the D’Bringi troop transports began landing and disgorging hordes of clan troops. The operation was covered by three clan cruisers in orbit, while a trio of corvettes picketed the warp point into the system.
The native race called themselves the Chirq, although the D’Bringi didn’t know that yet. The D’Bringi were taken aback by the fierce martial appearance of the Chirq in the beginning, as individually the Chirq were much larger than a D’Bringi warrior. A human would have compared the Chirq to a centaur, as they had a large abdomen with four large legs, although that portion of their body appeared more like a spider than a traditional horse or centaur. Their thorax was set forward on their abdomen, and had two large, strong arms for grasping and manipulating, and two additional smaller arms set below the main set of arms. These smaller arms ended in vicious barbs, and appeared to be used mainly for spearing and impaling their food. The Chirq head was a nightmare of multiple eyes and a large mouth that appeared quite capable of tearing apart live prey. In spite of the formidable appearance of the Chirq, the D’Bringi clan warriors soon discovered that the Chirq had little interest in fighting pitched battles, and quite often tried to talk their way out of tight spots rather than fight to the end, in spite of the fact that the two races couldn’t understand each other.
Even had the Chirq been as formidable as they appeared, it wouldn’t have made a difference. The D’Bringi clan troops were equipped with power armor, cybernetic enhancements, gauss rifles and plasma support weapons, along with grav tanks and hypersonic interceptors. The natives were equipped with effective weaponry, for their tech level, but assault rifles and tanks with ceramic-composite armor were no match for a D’Bringi infantryman, whose standard issue gauss rifle could penetrate the frontal armor of a Chirq tank at range. The D’Bringi had learned their lesson in past conquests, and knew that sending an inadequate invasion force would only prolong the issue and end with more deaths, so the conquest force was specifically designed to overwhelm the defenders, and it did so with ease. Large scale fighting was over in days, and mopping up operations, which would go on for some time, settled down into a routine in a matter of weeks.
Month 126
The D’Bringi occupation forces eliminate the last holdouts on Chirq Prime, ending open resistance. The Chirq have been pacified, but full communications have not yet been reached. Much of the invasion force is disbanded in place, with most of the excess D’Bringi clan officers becoming subsumed into the newly conquered race’s new planetary government, while the former clan soldiers are put to work in their various former specialties across the planet to prepare them for expanding beyond their current limits.
D’Bringi scientists and engineers begin assisting Alliance members with their R&D projects this month. The Rehorish, Torqual, Doraz, and T’Pau all benefit from this assistance. In addition, D’Bringi freighters begin placing communications and sensor buoys throughout Rehorish space. The Rehorish government will be paying the D’Bringi for these buoys for several more months, but the network will be in place at the start of Month 128.
Month 127
The UCDF takes ownership of the newly commissioned Kara, Humanity’s first battleship. After the launch, ownership of the shipyards is officially transferred to The CES (Consolidated Earth States). In addition, the UCDF transfers control of the three mothballed Russian heavy cruisers in the Solar System to the CES, which immediately tows them to the orbital yards to begin reactivating them.
The UCDF begins mothballing combat units to reduce the strain on the colonial budgets. The units that were mothballed are: 1xBC, 1xCA, 31xCL, 1xDD, 3xCT, and 14xES. The bulk of the light cruisers that were mothballed were Russian assault designs.
The Tomsk Union begins its first out-system colonization effort in a system discovered some time ago by explorers operated by the USSR. The Pskov system is two jumps away from Tomsk, and was discovered in Month 109. Tomsk’s new exploration fleet just finished the planetary survey, classifying the system’s habitable planet as type T, with a disappointing mineral rating of “poor”.
Month 128
The Russians complete the reactivation and repair of the ships mothballed in the Brezhnev system, and begin their withdrawal from the system. By the end of the month, the only human presence in either the Leningrad or the Brezhnev systems will be a scattering of scouts and a large number of sensor buoys, guarding against the return of the D’Bringi.
The D’Bringi complete the Rehorish communications network, linking all Rehorish colonies and border stations with the Rehorish home world.
The Rehorish begin mothballing some ships in an attempt to free up resources for economic expansion and tech advancement.
The Torqual Benignity dispatches its first exploration group out of its home system. The D’Bringi have transferred the information that they have on the systems adjacent to the Torqual home system, but only probed those systems and advanced no further. The Torqual survey group will begin surveying the adjacent systems for warp points in the hopes of discovering more habitable planets.
Month 129
The Wunderland Association launches its first colonization effort, sending colonists from Wunderland to a system discovered by Coalition explorers four jumps away from the Sligo System. The system, like several others in the area, were scheduled for colonization but when war engulfed the home system the Coalition’s colonization effort halted due to the diversion of resources and the blockade of the Solar System.
The T’Pau, with D’Bringi assistance, reach HT 6 this turn, and begin developing augmented shields and minefields.
The Consolidated Earth States reactivates the three mothballed heavy cruisers transferred to them from the Russians, forming their new patrol fleet. The CES has no plans at the current time to build more warships.
Month 130
The Keepers take possession of five additional destroyer-sized small craft carriers. Clan Chiefs Burning Blade and Skull Splitter, growing alarmed at the amount of wealth the Keepers have devoted to this apparently useless project, demand explanations. The Keeper-Cleric acquiesces, and demonstrates the Keeper’s latest development, the strike fighter. The Clan Chiefs are unimpressed. They are currently focused on completing refits on their heavy cruisers, which they consider to be the backbone of D’Bringi strength, and are exploring the possibility of eventually replacing their heavy cruisers with battlecruisers. Neither the very large ships used by the Mintek, or the gnats the Keepers are playing with have impressed them.
In addition to the six CVE’s now in service, the Keepers have also built two medium sized asteroid fortresses equipped with fighters for home system defense, and prefabbed six small fighter carrying bases for assembly in the Phyriseq system. With HT 7 systems becoming available over the next several months, the Clan Chiefs are likely to monopolize shipyard space for their project to begin replacing the heavy cruiser fleet with battlecruisers, so it isn’t clear how many more fighter carriers the Keepers will be able to construct.
The Rehorish reach HT 6 this turn, and begin developing minefields and targeting scanners. The Rehorish do not plan to develop much more from this tech level, as most of the critical systems were already developed with the assistance of the D’Bringi.
The Eridani Confederation transfers control of the United Colonies Defense Fleet Survey Group #1 to the Wunderland Association. The Eridani Confederation has no open warp points to explore, and the Wunderland Association was paying the upkeep for the squadron anyway, so the transfer became inevitable when the starless nexus adjacent to the Tlatelolco home system being surveyed by the group proved to have no other warp points.
The United Earth States announces that it will be ending support for the UCDF and will be neutral in all extra-solar affairs in the future. This announcement causes little interest in the other human governments, as the CES had only been sending minimal support to the UCDF anyway, and this announcement is merely a formalization of a trend of isolationism that had been growing in Earth’s politics for some time.
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Month 131
The governments of the Eridani Confederation and the Russian Colonial Union announce their intent to amalgamate. This is the goal that General Semenov and Admiral Ruston have been working towards since the destruction of the Coalition and the USSR, and they have been essential to the process, largely working behind the scenes to bring the various colonial leaders together and demonstrate the advantages of cooperation over distrust and disunity. At the joint request of both governments, General Semenov agrees to resign from the UCDF and help shepherd the amalgamation process. Admiral Ruston will remain in overall command of the UCDF, with General Fedorov as his second in command. The process of joining the two colonial associations will be complete in Month 137.
There is broad public support for this move in both the Russian Colonial Union and the Eridani Confederation. Both governments are controlled by Unity parties that are primarily composed of politicians and supporters from the old colonial populations, and which were elected on the platform of unifying the disparate human nations. In the Russian Colonial Union, the second most powerful political party is the newly emerged New Dawn Party, composed primarily of refugees from Earth. This party is pro-military and anti-alien, and aggressively expansionist, and it also supported amalgamation, making it a foregone conclusion in the former Russian territories. There is a similar movement in the Eridani Confederation, among Coalition refugees from Earth, but it has been unofficially suppressed by rules and regulations promulgated by the older colonial parties “in the interests of fairness and cultural advancement”, and its leaders have been regularly hounded by the press.
Month 132
The Torqual Benignity, with the assistance of the D’Bringi Alliance, has completed research on HT 3.
Month 133
The D’Bringi 1st Survey Group discovers a low-tech race in a newly discovered system two jumps from the Chruqua nexus. Word is sent back to the nexus via courier drones, where it is picked up by the communications network and relayed to the home system. A conquest fleet will be dispatched next month to bring the new race into the fold.
The Doraz Contingency, which was given survey data on the nearest systems by the D’Bringi Alliance, along with authorization to begin colonization efforts, begins colonization of one of the two type T planets in one of the systems adjacent to their home system.
The Russian New Dawn Party, in the Russian Colonial Union, has been devoting large amounts of money and effort towards establishing footholds in the Eridani Confederation as the political and economic barriers between the two nations come down as the amalgamation moves forward. These efforts are largely low-profile efforts to establish offices in the primary cities of the various colonies, and education and out-reach towards population groups that might be interested. These efforts are meeting opposition by the established parties in the Confederation, including the ruling Unity Party, which is using its contacts within the press and the various social organizations throughout the colonies to ridicule the New Dawn Party and to hinder their efforts.
In the Solar colonies administered by the Eridani Confederation, the New Dawn Party’s efforts to establish a presence have run squarely into an anti-alien isolationism that is spreading from Earth. While the New Dawn Party shares an anti-alien orientation with the sentiment being exported from Earth, the Solar attitudes are turning squarely towards isolationism and is in opposition to the expansionism espoused by the New Dawn Party.
The Russian New Dawn Party has been making similar outreach efforts to establish a presence in the Tomsk Union, but has been much less successful. The party’s anti-alien sentiments are finding much less acceptance in the Tomsk Union, which is closely aligned with the Bjering and credits them with their freedom from the Rehorish invasion. While the movement is not facing official government sanction or repression, it is only finding acceptance from those refugees that have been unable to integrate into Union society and are thus living on the fringes in marginal existences.
Month 134
The Wunderland Association launches a BS3 into orbit over Wunderland. This BS3 is a variant on the standard Coalition capital missile armed defense base, and this unit is intended to be the centerpiece of the defenses over Wunderland. Construction on a second base is started, and a third base is planned for the future.
The D’Bringi finally establish full communications with the Chirq, the race they conquered some time ago. This will pave the way towards ending the occupation and brining the low-tech race into the Alliance.
Riots happen in the Solar colonies of Europa and Io as New Dawn supporters clash with parties supporting isolationism and union with Earth. The Eridani Confederation is forced to send increased police and military assets to the Solar colonies to suppress the violence.
Violence begins to spread in the Tomsk Union as well, as the fringe groups that have accepted the New Dawn philosophy begin agitating against what they perceive as government repression of their beliefs. As the movement in the Tomsk Union becomes more and more extremist, the official New Dawn Party in the emerging Colonial Union becomes alarmed and withdraws support, further alienating the extremist groups within the Tomsk Union.
Month 135
The D’Bringi conquest fleet arrives over the inhabited world in the Pelor system on the 21st. The inhabitants are at IND-1 level of technology, or early 20th Century, in human terms. They are quite fearsome in appearance, with long snake-like bodies with four insect-like legs and two harpoon-like arms. Their bodies are covered in thick leathery skin, and they boast large wings that appear to be remnants of an earlier, flight-capable, form. For all of their fearsome appearance, though, the D’Bringi can find no evidence of an organized military from orbit.
The first landings of clan troops go off without a hitch, and once the beachheads are established the follow-on troops begin flooding in. Surprisingly, there is very little resistance. The locals have no organized military, and seem to prefer talking over their differences rather than fighting. When faced with the overwhelming D’Bringi invasion, the locals surrender almost immediately.
On the Chirq home planet, the D’Bringi make a large investment in upgrading the native’s industrial plant, and begin improving their technology.
Violence continues in the Tomsk Union, and worsens. The Union government blames the New Dawn Party in the Russian Colonial Union, and issues a formal complaint the Russian government and to the newly forming Colonial Union. The New Dawn Party completely repudiates the New Dawn movement in the Tomsk Union, and ultimately turns over all information it has on its outreach efforts in the Union to make it clear that it has disassociated itself from the extremists. Initially, the New Dawnists in the Union had satisfied themselves with marches and protests in the larger cities, many of which had turned violent as they moved forward. These had been poorly attended and were largely ridiculed by the general population and the press, and therefore the Dawnists, as they had become known, moved from protests and marches to attacks on Union governmental facilities and the governing Independence Party’s offices. These attacks had started out as largely symbolic, but had been viewed as ineffective and so, by the end of the month, the Dawnists had begun setting bombs and burning enemy’s offices where they could. The government, which had been initially dismissive of the Dawnists, has now become aware that it has a significant problem, and is martialing forces to respond.
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Month 135 Update
Human Nations
Eridani Confederation & Russian Colonial Union
These two colonial states are well on their way to completing their amalgamation. This result was expected, almost from the first, but still has made the other human states nervous. The United Colonial Defense Fleet is primarily based in these two states, although it operates throughout the human territories, and the creation of this new combined state is seen as the work of Admiral Ruston and General Semenov, although they both have remained out of the limelight. The UCDF contains the vast bulk of humanity’s military strength, and could crush any of the colonial states should it decide to take such a course of action. The Tomsk Union has grown increasingly concerned about the spread of the anti-alien New Dawn Party in the emerging Colonial Union, resulting in a cooling of the relationship and the beginnings of a movement in the Tomsk Union to defund the UCDF. The Wunderland Association, on the other hand, has been relatively positive about the coming amalgamation, and has promised increased support if the Tomsk Union reneges on its agreement to support the fleet.
The Eridani Confederation and the Russian Colonial Union have been primarily focused on finding ways to continue supporting the UCDF, and have not had significant funds to divert to economic expansion. In any case, the Eridani Confederation has no open warp points to exploit, and all of the habitable systems in its territory are colonized. The Russian Colonial Union has been able to send out settlement expeditions to several worlds in the former Russian Colonial Territories, but has primarily been focused on building defenses for the Moskva system. To date the Russian’s limited construction resources have only been able to build five BS0’s to station at the warp point to the Leningrad system, but it is a start and the Russians intend to continue this effort to secure this vulnerability. The two state’s income has increased approximately 20%, and this is due to the Eridani Confederation’s heavy in-system colonization efforts in their primary system, and the Russian Colonial Union’s colonization and industrial expansion efforts.
The D’Bringi miners saved by the Russian Fleet during the war were resettled on a type ST planet in the Tomsk Union’s territory, with the agreement of the Union. The D’Bringi settlers have industriously worked to increase their limited income, and have, for the last six months, sent most of their income to support the UCDF. While the total amount is small, every bit has helped to support the fleet, and the UCDF has stationed a small squadron in the D’Bringi colony’s system to ensure security.
The Tlatelolco have continued their efforts to increase their technology, with the assistance of the Eridani Confederation. The Tlatelolco have required continuing support from the Confederation, as their economy is not robust enough to support their research efforts, but the amount required is fairly small and the Confederation has agreed to continue providing this assistance for the foreseeable future.
Combined Income (All Sources): 12,895 Mcr
Active UCDF: 1xBB, 16xBC, 22xCA, 8xCL, 19xDD, 13xFGS, 11xCT, 23xES, 16xEXS
Mothballs: 1xBC, 1xCA, 31xCL, 1xDD, 3xCT, 14xES, 3xBS3, 4xBS0
Consolidated Earth States
The CES has made significant progress during the last ten months. Earth has largely been pacified and organized, and the large-scale die-offs of humans and other species has largely been ended. The CES has launched its own patrol squadron, and made significant progress in enlarging its civilian shipping network. Currently, transports built by the CES and leased to the civilian transport network are providing over ten percent of the CES’s base income, and that percentage will be increasing over the next few months. The CES has currently has no access to colonization sites, and has no current interest in colonization, as it is focused on restoring Earth. Therefore, the CES has been funding industrial expansion and using its large orbital shipyard to build freighters that can then be leased to the civilian network and increase resources available to the government. The CES’s income has increased by approximately 34% over the last ten months.
The rising isolationism on Earth has spread to the Solar colonies, and has caused significant unrest in those colonies and isolationists have begun clashing with Unity Party supporters and New Dawnists. Several colony leaders, including those from the most affected colonies, have sent representatives to Earth to explore the possibility of joining the CES rather than the emerging Colonial Union.
The CES has no plans to expand its military, and is currently debating placing much of the remaining fixed defenses in the Solar System into mothballs to reduce the strain on their economy. The last offensive PDC on Earth is under repair, and will almost certainly be placed in mothballs once the repairs are complete. The CES’s leadership currently believes that having the large offensive PDC on the surface of the Earth is inviting bombardment of the planet in any future conflict. There are proposals to replace the Earth PDC with multiple emplacements on Earth’s Moon, but no decision has been made as of yet.
Current Income (All Sources): 4,066 MCr
Defenses: 7xPDC (on Earth), 3xCA, 2xEXS, 2xAst, 6xBS0
Mothballs: 6xBS3, 6xBS0, 1xDD
Tomsk Union
The Tomsk Union is the oldest of the currently existing human governments, and although its production is second to the Wunderland Association, it has more spendable resources as the Wunderlanders have pledged a larger portion of their income to support the UCDF. There is a lively debate going on amongst the public and within the halls of the Union’s government about the treaties the Union has with the newly forming Colonial Union, particularly in light of the growing xenophobia in the Colonial Union’s core worlds.
The Tomsk Union has initiated extensive colonization efforts, taking advantage of many habitable planets discovered and surveyed by the USSR, and has completed an extensive in-system colonization effort in the Tomsk system. In addition, the Union has been utilizing its shipyards to build government-owned transports that are leased to the civilian network once they are completed, providing additional funds for expansion. The government owned transports currently provide approximately 5% of the nation’s income. The Union’s income has expanded by 43% over the last ten months.
The Union welcomed the settlement of the D’Bringi colonists in the Petropavlovsk system, and the newly resettled D’Bringi have forged close contacts with the Union government. This pro-alien attitude has conflicted with the anti-alien sentiments of the growing New Dawn Party, and has resulting in unrest and instabilities within the Tomsk colony.
The Tomsk Union is the only human successor state to have begun R&D after the fall of the Coalition and the USSR. The Union was behind the rest of human space, as a result of being cut off, so currently it is playing catch-up, but it is the only human state with an active R&D effort. In addition, the Union is the only human state to build and operate its own survey group, which is currently surveying systems discovered by the USSR to open them for colonization, before moving on to probing known unexplored warp points.
The Union military mothballed its escort force, which was built immediately after the Tomsk system and its neighbors were cut off from the Soviet Union. These ships were intended as a last-ditch defense force, and thus, when peace arrived, they were mothballed. The government is currently debating additional force-reduction measures, in light of current efforts to expand fortifications in the Tomsk system. These efforts are currently centered around the capital of Tomsk. The Tomsk system shipyards were themselves a wartime emergency build, and they consist of seven mobile shipyards housed in FT4 hulls. These were funded and built by the fledgling Tomsk government largely because they were an existing design inherited from the USSR, and because they could be built faster than full-sized shipyards. Their reduced construction capacity has forced the Union to focus on smaller ships, and this has resulted in a move to expand the orbital yards with a locally designed space station with full-sized shipyards and enough armament to protect itself and the colony.
Current Income (All Sources): 9,601 MCr’s
Current Military: 9xDD, 1xFG, 2xCT, 25xEX
Mothballs: 16xES
Wunderland Association
The Wunderland Association has the largest income of the successor states, but slightly less spendable income than the Tomsk Union because it has pledged a larger share of its income to support the UCDF. This pledge was largely made in response to the UCDF’s intervention in the Association’s predecessor’s disastrous war with the Tarek. The local New Dawn movement, which has grown increasingly powerful in the last few months, is squarely in support of the ruling Peace and Unity Party’s intent to support the amalgamation of the Russian Colonial Union and the Eridani Confederation, and in fact has been urging closer ties to the newly emerging Colonial Union. The New Dawn Party has also supported the government’s military buildup, although it has different long-range goals than the current ruling party. The Peace and Unity Party views the military buildup as a means to an end, with the goal of forcing the Tarek to negotiate a lasting peace with the eventual goal of bringing them into the larger human civilization. The New Dawn Party views the military buildup as good in and of itself, and also as a means of dominating the Tarek should they become aggressive again.
The Association has focused largely on building up its shipyards and sending colony expeditions to worlds discovered by the Coalition before its demise. In addition, the Association has invested significant resources in expanding its industry, and has built a few of small freighters that have been leased to the civilian network to provide extra income. Currently, that lease income only provides a small share of the national income, but it is increasing. The Association currently has three shipyards in orbit over Wunderland, and a fourth is under construction. The Association’s income has increased by 33% over the last ten months
Unlike the other human states, the Association has not chosen to mothball any of its fleet, as it is still distrustful of the Tarek. Indeed, the Association has launched one capital-missile armed BS3 into Wunderland orbit, and is building two more to fill out its orbital defenses. Once those are complete, and the orbital shipyards are built out, the Wunderlanders plan on building their own battlecruiser force, to ensure that their navy is strong enough to deal with the Tarek, should they become a problem again.
The Tarek have been quiet since the UCDF destroyed their orbital defenses. They have so far limited their movement around the Sligo system to unarmed survey ships and colony transports. They have continued to expand their colonies throughout the system, and, encouragingly, have mothballed a small force of armed escorts they built in the immediate aftermath of the recent war, along with some of their planetary PDC’s. The Wunderlanders have watched them like hawks, but so far, the Tarek have given them no reason to suspect that they intend to violate the cease fire or the restrictions that were placed on them by Admiral Ruston. They have avoided further contact with the human inhabitants of the system, except for negotiating what amounts to a non-interference agreement that limits them to only unarmed shipping outside of the immediate area around the home planet.
Current Income (All Sources): 11,180 MCr
Military: 3xDD, 2xFGS, 4xCT, 20xES, 3xESX, 1xBS3, 9xBS0
Total Human Income: 37,742
Total Active Human Fleet: 1xBB, 16xBC, 25xCA, 8xCL, 31xDD, 16xFGS, 17xCT, 23xES, 16xEXS
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D’Bringi Alliance
Both the Rehorish and the D’Bringi governments intended for the last ten months to be a mere pause in their war effort against the Mintek. Both governments intended to use this time to reorganize and refit their fleets, and reorganize and strengthen their defenses and economies, before launching a new offensive against the Mintek. However, while the refits and reorganization of their societies have progressed well, neither the D’Bringi clan fleets or the Rehorish navy have developed a viable assault plan against the defenses known to exist in the Mintek home system. Therefore, both nations have shifted towards shoring up their defenses and exploring for a new way into Mintek space. Indeed, the pressure in both nations to begin mothballing warships to relieve the pressure on their economies is reflective of a growing awareness that the current stalemate is likely to continue.
The D’Bringi, in particular, are concerned about this growing acceptance of the stalemate, but the clan leaders also are aware that, if given time, their empire will be considerably strengthened by the course they have chosen of freeing their subjugated races and then voluntarily associating with them. Launching an assault into the Mintek system now, without a proper plan or preparation, could threaten everything they’ve begun building. A major defeat, with its concomitant weakening of their military, could encourage their newly independent ‘allies’ to strike out on their own, abandoning the D’Bringi Alliance in its time of need. For their part, the Rehorish government is in favor of the current stalemate, and has no wish to waste its finally honed crews in a blunt-force attack into a heavily fortified warp point. They know that even as the Alliance has been upgrading its navy, the Mintek almost certainly have been improving their fortifications, which were already formidable.
Finally, there is a relatively small faction that has pushed for the renewal of the war against the humans, now that the war with the Mintek has stalled. These are almost all either younger clan warriors eager for the glory of conquest, or particularly militaristic Rehorish that lament the way they were chased out of human territory. Neither the Rehorish government nor the D’Bringi clans have entertained this possibility, as the peace with the humans is working out well, so far. There is limited contact with the main human states in the human buffer state, the Titov Free State. This contact will likely increase now that the Rehorish government has finally established trade relations with the Free State, and there have been no other unanticipated contacts so far.
D’Bringi Expanses
The D’Bringi agreed with the Rehorish determination to make peace with the humans in order to give them time to reorganize their empire, refit and redeploy their fleet, and prepare for a new offensive against the Mintek. The war against the humans revealed glaring weaknesses within the D’Bringi Expanses, and these weaknesses became critical when the Mintek intervened in D’Bringi internal affairs. The need for a communications network that would bind their territory together, and improve communications with their allies had become apparent early on, but it was the rebellion of the subjugated races that brought home to the D’Bringi clan chiefs the weakness of their current system and their lack of foresight in not having a long-term plan for their conquests once they came under D’Bringi control.
Meddling by the Mintek, and the subsequent rebellions, merely illustrated the fallacy of eternal occupation. Not only were those races a potential threat if they rebelled, but their economies were not growing, and they were falling farther and farther behind in terms of technology. Therefore, during negotiations with the Rehorish over the peace treaty with the humans, the D’Bringi clan chiefs suggested a unified approach to liberating the conquered races. By bringing in Rehorish governance and negotiation teams, the D’Bringi would be able to defuse some of the long-standing resentment that had built up in the two subject races and make a fresh start. This approach has worked brilliantly, and the Torqual and the Doraz are now valuable allies. Both races are aggressively expanding their economies and performing R&D with D’Bringi assistance.
Upgrades to the D’Bringi fleet are largely completed, although some refits for Keeper units continue. The D’Bringi shipbuilding focus now has shifted to refitting the home system’s fixed defenses, improving and expanding the automated warfare force, and building up the defenses in the Phyriseq system. There is some pressure to mothball at least some of the fleet to reduce the pressure on the economy. Large amounts of industrial investments have had to be liquidated over the last few months to keep the economy on track and support the ongoing refits of the fleet and improvements to the newly conquered race’s economies. It is not clear yet if the fleet strength will be reduced, as the clear and present danger of the Mintek looms large over the D’Bringi Expanses. The economy has grown by around 18%, largely due to early industrial investments, technology advancement, and limited colonization.
Current Income (All Sources): 16,020
Military: 5xBC, 31xCA, 26xCT, 50xEX, 6xCVE, 9xBS3, 1xBS0
Doraz Contingency
The Doraz are enjoying their newfound, if somewhat limited, freedom under D’Bringi ‘oversight’. The D’Bringi have granted the Doraz the right to explore and colonize any worlds they discover along their warp chain. The Doraz warp chain originates in the Chruqua nexus, and the D’Bringi have restricted the Doraz from sending ships to the nexus without prior authorization. Along their warp chain, though, they are free to explore and expand.
The Doraz were thrilled to find that the D’Bringi had discovered no less than four type T planets within two jumps of their home system, and have so far established colonies on one of the planets. In addition, the Doraz have completed in-system colonization of their home system, and built four orbital shipyards. Doraz income has increased by 27%.
Although the Doraz are allowed a small military fleet under their treaty with the D’Bringi, they have focused on reactivating five frigate sized survey ships from a hidden cache of mothballs ships that survived from their days of independence prior to the D’Bringi conquest. The D’Bringi have noted this effort, and have informed the Doraz government that they are unconcerned about the mothball stockpile, as long as the Doraz comply with the treaty limits for their fleet and fixed defenses.
Current Income (All Sources): 3,503 MCr’s
Military: 5xFGX
Torqual Benignity
Like the Doraz, the Torqual are enjoying their newfound freedom. The Torqual have been focused on building a new exploration fleet, as the systems granted to them by the D’Bringi, located along their warp chain, which originates in the Chruqua nexus, have no habitable planets. The Torqual have built several shipyards in orbit over the home planet, and have succeeded in raising their tech level to HT-3, with the assistance of the D’Bringi. Torqual income has increased by 18%.
Current Income (All Sources): 7,407 MCr’s
Military: 3xCTX, 22xEX
T’Pau Syndicate
The T’Pau have perhaps benefitted the most from the D’Bringi decision to change their relationship with their conquests. They have been elevated to full members of the Alliance by the D‘Bringi and the Rehorish, and the D’Bringi have granted them full access to their Expanses for exploration and colonization. This has been very beneficial to the T’Pau, as the D’Bringi had discovered and surveyed a fair number of type T planets that they could not use. They have granted the T’Pau the right to colonize all of these planets, and the T’Pau have been busily doing just that. The T’Pau have so far colonized seven worlds in six systems, and their efforts are ongoing. In addition, the T’Pau have been investing heavily in industrial growth, and have been utilizing their shipyards to build freighters that can be leased to the civilian network for additional income. The T’Pau focus on colonization and industrialization has caused their income to increase by nearly 30%.
The T’Pau recently increased their tech level to HT-6, with D’Bringi assistance, and are developing a number of new systems that will enhance their fleet. The D’Bringi and the Rehorish, both of whom are looking at reducing their fleet’s due to the strain they are putting on their economies, are both pressuring the T’Pau to increase the size of their fleet and their military commitment to the Alliance. The T’Pau have agreed to increase military building, but have stated that they want to complete development of new systems and incorporate those into the fleet before building new ships.
Current Income (All Sources): 11,130 MCr
Military: 9xCA, 12xCL, 3xCTX, 22xEX
Rehorish Stellar Dominion
The Rehorish have used the time since the peace treaty with the humans, and the stalemate of the war against the Mintek, to refit their fleet with the best technology available to them. This program of refits is nearly complete, but it has been massively expensive. With the refit program nearing completion, the Rehorish plan on turning their focus to their economy, and improving defenses along the human border. This may require the downsizing of the fleet, as fleet maintenance plus research costs nearly exceed current income, making economic expansion plans problematic. Indeed, the Rehorish government has found it necessary to liquidate large amounts of their industrial investments over the last few months to continue funding R&D, the refit program, and colonial expansion. This focus on military expansion has meant that the Rehorish economy only expanded at a comparatively anemic 7%.
Current Income (All Sources): 21,923 MCr’s
Military: 1xBC, 33xCA, 27xCL, 58xDD, 4xFG, 5xCT, 40xCTX, 9xBS3, 5xBS1
Total D’Bringi Alliance Income: 59,983 Mcr
Total Active Fleet Strength: 6xBC, 73xCA, 39xCL, 58xDD, 5xFG, 31xCT, 6xCVE
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In the new era of relative peace in the Cold War campaign, exploration fleets have become much more important as the various races attempt to find new routes to their enemies, and new planets to colonize. There are a number of different approaches to survey fleets in the current game, and I thought I’d do an overview as I’m kind of curious how the different fleet’s stack up.
Bjering Consolidate
The Bjering are a very militaristic race, and therefore believe in big combat-capable survey ships. A standard Bjering survey fleet is composed of three Berserker class survey cruisers and a single Tyr class survey destroyer. The Berserkers are equipped with three capital survey instruments and military engines, meaning that the group can perform a complete warp point survey of a system in three months. These ships are relatively inefficient, as they are strategically slower than smaller survey ships or survey ships with commercial engines, but the Bjering believe that the combat capability that the Berserkers bring to the survey fleets more than compensates for this inefficiency. Each second-generation Berserker mounts four advanced gun/missile launchers as its primary weaponry, and carries ADM’s on its external racks to discourage pursuit. The second-generation Tyr class survey destroyers comprise the survey group’s planetary survey component. The Tyr class, like the larger Berserkers, mounts military engines. Its armament is limited to a single force beam. For planetary survey’s, the Tyr class carries ten cutters and an assault shuttle, along with improved survey instruments. The Tyr and its small craft can perform one segment of a detailed system body survey per month. This means that if a system contains habitable planets, asteroids, and non-habitable worlds, the Tyr would take three months to complete the survey.
Each Survey Fleet costs 7,113 MCr’s to build and 1,050 MCr’s to maintain. With the current Bjering construction technology, it would take five months to build a Berserker class heavy cruiser.
Advantages: Armed, all ships mount long-range scanners.
Disadvantages: Very expensive, relatively inefficient.
Humanity
Currently, all existing human survey ships are Coalition designs, as the Russian survey ships were expended as rammers during the war with the Rehorish. In any case, Russian and Coalition designs were substantially similar.
A Coalition Survey Fleet is composed of twenty explorer class survey ships and one explorer class scout ship. The explorer class ships are the smallest hulls capable of jumping through warp points, and the cheapest. A Coalition survey ship mounts improved survey instruments and carries two cutters for planetary surveys. The fleet can complete a rough and detailed warp point survey in two and a half months. The fleet’s small craft can perform a planetary survey on an entire system in one month.
Each Survey Fleet costs 3,489 MCr’s to build and 474 MCr’s to maintain. Humanity’s current construction tech can build two of these small survey ships in a month, per shipyard module.
Advantages: Cheap, efficient, fast
Disadvantages: Unarmed, only one ship has long-range scanners
D’Bringi Expanses
The D’Bringi clans care little for exploration except as a means of finding new planets to exploit, and new races to ‘civilize’. Therefore, they have contracted out exploration to several medium sized clans that own and operate the actual survey ships. At times the D’Bringi fleet has escorted the survey groups with warships, however, the exigencies of war have meant that warships could not be spared from other duties for the last several years. The D’Bringi expanded their survey ships from one fleet to two just after the peace treaty with the humans was signed.
As ships operated by smaller clans, the survey ships have been, by necessity, small and unarmed. The D’Bringi use explorer class units for this role, as they are cheap and easily replaced. The standard survey ship carries improved survey instruments and two cutters for planetary surveys. Each survey group is composed of twenty-five survey ships. A D’Bringi Survey Group can complete the rough and detailed warp point surveys in a system in two months, and its small craft, if properly deployed, can complete a planetary survey of both components of a binary system in one month.
Each survey group costs 3,917 MCr’s to build and 527 MCr’s to maintain. D’Bringi construction technology allows one shipyard module to build two of these small ships per month.
Advantages: Cheap, efficient, fast
Disadvantages: Unarmed, no long-range scanners, cannot effectively or safely perform system probes of newly discovered systems.
Rehorish Stellar Dominion
The standard Rehorish survey unit is a corvette class ship. Each survey corvette is equipped with military engines, improved survey instruments, long-range scanners, and active and passive defenses. Prior to the war with humanity, the Rehorish navy typically escorted its survey groups with a trio of destroyers, but these escorts were withdrawn at the start of the war to bolster the main fleets.
The Rehorish currently have two survey fleets, each comprised of twenty survey corvettes. There are no escorts assigned from the navy, although this may change as the navy emerges from the current refit schedule. A Rehorish survey fleet can complete a rough and detailed warp point survey in two and a half months, and a complete system body survey of a system (habitable/non-habitable/asteroid) in two months. Because the Rehorish survey corvette has no small craft, the group cannot perform warp point and planetary survey’s simultaneously.
Each survey group costs 6,720 MCr’s to build and 1,008 MCr’s to maintain. Rehorish construction technology allows Rehorish shipyards to build one of these ships in two months.
Advantages: All units equipped with long-range scanners and defenses, fast.
Disadvantages: No small craft, unarmed
Mintek Universal Union
The Mintek currently field two Exploration Squadrons composed of six version 2 light cruiser sized survey ships each. Each version 2 light cruiser is equipped with commercial engines, two capital survey instruments, long-range scanners, and active and passive defenses. In addition, each survey ship carries one armed pinnace and four cutters for planetary surveys and probing newly discovered warp points, and a fighter squadron for defense.
The Mintek Exploration Squadron can complete a rough and detailed warp point survey under two months, and its small craft can completely survey a single-star system in two months.
The Mintek Exploration Group costs 8,991 MCr’s to build and 1,158 MCr’s to maintain. Mintek construction technology allows a shipyard module to build one survey light cruiser in three months.
Advantages: Well-armed, every unit has long-range scanners.
Disadvantages: Costly
Overall Evaluation
A quick comparison shows that the most cost-efficient survey groups are those based on explorer class units. For example, Humanity’s explorer-based survey fleets are faster surveyors than the Bjering survey fleets, and cost less than half as much to build and maintain. The disparity is even greater between the Human survey groups and the Mintek, where the Mintek group is around two and a half times more expensive to build and maintain, although it is somewhat faster on warp point surveys. Granted, the explorer class units are hideously vulnerable if not escorted, but their loss would be less painful than such a loss would be to either the Bjering or the Mintek. On the other hand, the two races that use armed survey fleets, the Mintek and the Bjering, have less to worry about with their fleets, and they are more versatile and can assist the main fleets during war time without the need for heavy escorts.
Interestingly, the Rehorish corvettes, while mounting some defenses and long-range scanners, are around twice as expensive to maintain as the explorer-based groups, but are unarmed and thus vulnerable.
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Month 136
The Tlatelolco achieve HT-1 and immediately begin research on several systems, including military engines and shipyards. The Eridani Confederation continues to assist the Tlatelolco, with the economic assistance of the Wunderland Association.
The Tarek in the Sligo system have assembled two shipyards in orbit over their home planet, and have launched two freighters to enhance their civilian freight network.
The Doraz, with D’Bringi assistance, increase their tech level to HT-5.
The Bir have settled into an uneasy relationship with their D’Bringi conquerors. The Bir seem to have no concept of an organized military, or even of conquest, at least at the national level. While they don’t understand the D’Bringi intent in conquering them, they are smart enough to understand its effects and the requirements the D’Bringi are laying upon them. Both sides are now working towards deciphering the other’s language.
In response to the amalgamation between the Russian and Coalition colonial governments, and the unrest caused by clashes between the New Dawn loyalists and the isolationists, the former Russian and Coalition colonies in the Solar System vote to join the CES, leaving the new Colonial Union. The governments of the Tomsk Union and the Wunderland Association watch for the Colonial Union’s response with interest, but the Colonial Union’s new government, after a series of meetings with the representatives of the colonies, agrees to support this transfer.
With Dawnist violence on the rise in the Tomsk Union as the amalgamation between the Russian Colonial Union and the Eridani Confederation approaches, the Tomsk government takes decisive action. Heavy police forces, supported by the military, launch a series of raids this month that effectively dismantle the Dawnist movement in the Union. Almost all of the leaders of the organization, and most of the key members are arrested over a three-day period. While scattered violence will continue for some time, the movement’s momentum has been lost, and ultimately the remaining members will either be arrested or flee to other regions.
The violence of the Dawnist movement has convinced the average citizen in the Tomsk Union that New Dawn is a dangerous fringe movement, and has turned public sentiment against the newly emerging Colonial Union in general. There have been persistent rumors that the UCDF is riddled with New Dawn Party members, and that the UCDF assisted the Dawnist movement by funneling money and weapons to them, using its warships to get the supplies into the Tomsk Union. The Tomsk government’s investigation turned up no such ties, and indeed the evidence found during the crackdown supports the Russian New Dawn Party’s statements that it cut ties with the Dawnists when they became violent. This information has had little effect on the Tomsk public, which is calling for sanctions against the Colonial Union and a withdrawal of UCDF forces from Tomsk Union territories.
Month 137
The Eridani Confederation and the Russian Colonial Union have completed their amalgamation, and will henceforward be called the Colonial Union. The Colonial Union’s new government reassures the other human states that its treaties and agreements with them will continue to be honored under the new agreement, and the United Colonial Defense Force will continue the guard the borders and patrol the internal warp lines as it has in the past.
The Tomsk Union, unnerved by this development, and its experiences with the Dawnists, states that it will be sending representatives to renegotiate its status with the new government, and threatens to withdraw support for the UCDF. The Wunderland Association, which shares its home system with a potentially hostile race, confirms its current agreements with the Colonial Union and promises continued support.
With the potential withdrawal of support from the Tomsk Union a possibility, and growing distrust for the Colonial Union among some of the colonial governments, the new Union Assembly votes to downsize the United Colonial Defense Fleet, beginning immediately. This move serves several purposes. First, the stated reason is to defuse the growing fear among the other governments. In addition, there are some fears within the Colonial Union that the Navy is too powerful and influential, and this downsizing will go a long way towards convincing the people that the Navy is under the control of the government, not the other way around. Finally, to be a viable defender of humanity, the Navy must be supported by a strong economy and growing tech base, and as things stand the Colonial Union has neither of those things. The new government hopes that by mothballing a part of the fleet they can free up enough resources and trained people to jump-start their economy.
The New Dawn Party opposes this fleet downsizing, and moves into official opposition of the government. This is less important than it would have been just a month ago, as it has lost relative position in the new Colonial Union Senate, as it was relatively weak in the Eridani Confederation. To remedy this situation, the New Dawn Party vastly increases its outreach and education efforts in the former Eridani Confederation’s colonies.
Month 138
The Colonial Union hosts the annual “All Colonies” Summit in the Sigma Draconis system, on the colony world shared by the Russian and Coalition.
The Summit begins against the backdrop of violent clashes between Unity Party supporters and New Dawn supporters on nearly every planet of the former Eridani Confederation. These aren’t full-fledged riots or civil insurrections, but they are increasingly violent. The Eridani Confederation’s press is fully on the Unity Party’s side and portrays the New Dawn Party’s outreach and education efforts as racist and violent, however, the New Dawn Party pushes back strongly, and the major media organs in the Russian Colonial Union had been embedded in the Party’s outreach efforts from the first, by invitation. When footage of thugs wearing Unity Party emblems beating young and earnest looking New Dawn supporters and burning their offices begins appearing throughout the new Colonial Union, the Unity Party is forced on the defensive. Eventually the coverage becomes so negative that the Unity Party is forced to apologize, and several prominent politicians are forced to resign. This gives the New Dawn Party the space it needs to grow rapidly in the Confederation’s territory, where many who supported the movement felt oppressed and unable to express their opinions.
The Tomsk Union completes R&D on HT-6, and completes construction on its first full-sized shipyard, which is also armed and equipped with significant defenses. By the end of the month, the Tomsk Union will withdraw its support for the UCDF, in spite of attempts by the Colonial Union’s government to defuse the widening split between the two governments. For now, the Tomsk Union agrees to continue to allow the UCDF to have access to their territory, in part because of the D’Bringi colonists that were settled in their territory by the Russians, and who are under the protection of the UCDF.
Late in the month, the Bjering 2nd Survey Fleet, which has completed its rough warp point survey of the frontier system of Gunnar, probes the two newly discovered warp points. A survey cruiser is dispatched through each warp point, and, following protocol, both return within sixty seconds to report on the system they have discovered. One of the new systems has a type “T” planet, while the other has a type “ST” planet. There is much excitement among the survey ship commanders at the discovery of the type T planet, as the Bjering have not had a lot of luck discovering habitable planets to date. The two cruisers jump back to the new systems after sending their reports to the other survey ships in the system.
In the system with the type T planet, the survey cruiser detects a high-tech population on the system’s sole type T planet as it moves inwards. The cruiser’s sensors immediately identify the population as human, and following protocol the cruiser’s captain opens communications with the population. They soon discover that the colony belongs to the Wunderland Association, and the colony’s leaders eagerly approach the cruiser’s captain about the possibility of trade. The captain agrees to convey their interest back to his leaders and then heads back to Bjering space.
The second Bjering Survey Cruiser probes the other newly discovered system, and it too discovers a high-tech population on the habitable planet. Unlike the human colony system, this planet is home to a very large population, obviously a racial home-world. As the warp point the survey ship entered the system through is in the outer system, there is little likelihood that the Bjering cruiser was detected, and so the captain follows protocol and withdraws. A message is sent back to report the discovery of a new race.
The D’Bringi launch their first clan battlecruiser. The Fortress Breaker becomes the flagship of Clan T’Chau’s fleet. Two more beam-armed battlecruisers are under construction for the other two clans.
The D’Bringi occupation forces finally establish full communications with the Bir. The occupation group, working with Rehorish specialists, immediately begin working to industrialize Bir Prime, and to lay the groundwork for improving their technology. Many advanced technologies have already been brought in to help improve the lives of the Bir. Overall, the Bir are bewildered. The D’Bringi have taken much of the economic output of their planet, but given their low-tech level compared to the D’Bringi that economic wealth cannot compare to what the D’Bringi spent to conquer them and to improve their planet’s economy. Still, the Bir elders have become resigned to the fact that while it might not make much sense, the D’Bringi are here and are not likely to leave.
Month 139
The Tomsk Union begins construction on its first capital ship, a battlecruiser. This ship was designed with the extensive assistance of the Bjering, and the start of construction is overseen by Bjering engineers and construction specialists. This is part of an initiative to form a closer relationship between the two nations.
The Tarek, in the Sligo system, send their small survey fleet to begin surveying their system for warp points. The Colonial Union had offered them the coordinates of the warp points in the system, but the Tarek refused their assistance. So far, the Tarek have acted within the limitations imposed on them by Admiral Ruston, and have not built any armed ships or bases. In fact, they have mothballed three of their PDC’s, and have focused their economy on colonizing their binary system.
With the amalgamation of the Colonial Union complete, the New Dawn Party in the Colonial Union has now had an opportunity to establish contact with the very similar New Dawn Party in the Wunderland Association. The similarity between the parties has allowed them to establish strong ties, and the two parties have begun coordinating on a drive to bring the Wunderland Association into the Colonial Union.
In the D’Bringi Alliance, the D’Bringi and the Rehorish, both feeling the pressure on their overstretched economies from the massive fleets they have been forced to maintain, have been pressuring the new members of the Alliance to increase their fleet sizes and contribute more to the common defense. The Doraz have agreed to divert resources from building up their economy, and have begun work on bringing six old heavy cruisers out of their hidden mothball cache. These ships will form the core of their new navy. The Torqual also begin reactivating two squadrons of light cruisers from their hidden mothball cache. These ships are less capable than frontline Rehorish and D’Bringi designs, but will be welcome additions to the combined fleet blockading the Mintek when they become available.
Month 140
The flow of emigrants from Earth continues. It has become clear that the Earth’s ability to support a large population has been extremely reduced as a result of the war, and this flow must be maintained to prevent the possibility of famine and collapse. Through mutual agreement, the emigrants are nearly evenly divided between the three largest colonial powers, the Colonial Union, the Tomsk Union, and the Wunderland Association. The cost of paying for this population relocation is heavy, but all three colonial governments have agreed to cover it to prevent horrible things from happening on Earth. This population flow has had the benefit of greatly increasing the populations of the capitals of these nations, but at a cost. This wave of emigrants is a boon to the New Dawn Party, as many of those leaving the Solar System share their pro-military and anti-alien views.
The Bjering decide to dispatch one of their squadrons to establish contact with a race discovered several months ago. Contact will be made early next month. When the war between the humans and the D’Bringi alliance ended, the Bjering mothballed quite a bit of their fleet, in order to free up resources for economic expansion. Now, with a first contact situation, and the previous incursion into the Hymir system by an unknown race, they are feeling the need to expand their fleet. Hymir is of particular concern, as it is adjacent to the home system and the site of the oldest Bjering colony. To this end, work is begun on activating three battlecruisers from the mothball reserves.
The D’Bringi plans to establish contact with the Bjering are postponed until the refits of B’Regest ships are underway and some are available to participate.
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Note to readers: I am usually writing 10-20 turns ahead of what I am posting. The latest post was turns 136-140, and I am just finishing up writing turn 149, so I’m a little behind where I usually am in terms of having a queue of things ready for posting. As I was looking this over to get ready to post it, I realized I had made a significant error in continuity. This puts me in a difficult position.
One of the D’Bringi Clan Chiefs died in the attack on the Mintek home system. Fortress Breaker, chief of the T’Chau, died in the assault. I knew I was going to have to replace him at some point subsequent to this event. Also, the D’Bringi are undergoing a fairly large upheaval in the way they’ve always done things. The Keepers have introduced fighters, the Rehorish have been pushing them to deal with the conquered races differently, and they have having to shift from an offensive mindset to more of a defensive stance. I decided to put all of these together into a short story about the investiture of the new Clan Chief. However, I discovered that I had made a mistake in the meantime. The lost clan chief was from Clan T’Chau. I wrote this story from that point of view. However, moving forward, I forgot the clan making the changes was T’Chau. In the stories moving forward the clan making changes is B’Regest. Everything in SA, all of the new or refitted ships, belong to B’Regest. If I was going to stick to strict continuity, I’d have to change everything I wrote after this story to reflect the correct clan, and make numerous changes in the database. To be honest, that’s a lot of work, and I’d rather continue pushing the story forward. Therefore, I changed the clan that lost its chief to the B’Regest in this story, which is much easier than changing everything else.
I’m not sure anyone would have noticed anyway. I have meant to flesh out D’Bringi society before this, including the clans, but it has only been relatively recently that the focus has shifted from primarily resting on the humans to a wider view, including the D’Bringi Alliance and some of the independents.
Current D’Bringi Leaders
Clan Chief K’Rorin: Skull Splitter (Old Warrior, bluff and open, but wily)
Clan Chief T’Chau: Burning Blade (politician, prefers being behind the scenes)
The Cleric Keeper: Title only, no name (Dedicated to the welfare of the race, unknown other motives)
New
Clan Chief B’Regest: T’Qek (Young, ambitious, pushing change)
Month 139, Day 28, D’Bringi Prime
The meeting was being held, once again, at the Keeper’s fortress monastery, so that the three senior Clan Chiefs could be assured that one wasn’t being honored over the others. As always, that also meant that they were uncomfortable, as the Keepers had been granted the least attractive areas of the planet as their own, as a reminder of their status. The Keepers had taken that insult and made it the heart of their order, priding themselves on their hardiness, and missed no opportunities to give the high and mighty clans an opportunity to experience the harsh environment they lived in.
The two elder Clan Chiefs, Skull Splitter of the K’Rorin, and Burning Blade of the T’Chau, had joined with the Cleric-Keeper to receive their newest member, the young heir of Fortress Breaker, who had been killed in the last assault on the Mintek. That young worthy now was escorted into the room by a ceremonial guard of Keeper attendants. The new leader of the B’Regest was physically imposing, but all of those present were struck by her piercing gaze, which seemed to linger on each of them as she approached the high table where the others stood.
Skull Splitter nodded to himself. Watching the young B’Regest noble approach the table confirmed his limited intelligence on the girl. The B’Regest heir was relatively unknown, one of the former Clan Chief’s younger daughters, and apparently unaccomplished. In spite of this she had risen over her siblings to take the old chief’s place, and without a costly bloodbath, as so commonly occurred when the top position in a clan became suddenly available. This spoke volumes of her capability, and perhaps the capabilities of old Fortress Breaker as well, as succession to Clan Chief positions were hotly contested, commonly with blood, and for her to rise without copious amounts of blood to be spilled meant that the old leader almost certainly had selected her to be his heir, and prepared the way, at least to a certain extent.
The B’Regest heir made her way to the high table, leaving behind her escorts, and then, as she confronted the other clan chiefs, she nodded to each in turn. This was a meeting between equals, in theory, and she was not a supplicant, exactly. Clan succession was purely an internal matter, something that the other clans were supposed to remain aloof from, and they had no place in approving or confirming her status. However, they could reject her from this council. It had happened in the past, rarely, and almost always lead to war between the clans. That would not happen in this case, though. Not only did the other clan chiefs have no interest in banning her from the council, but they all agreed that showing a united front to their allies was utterly necessary, especially when the race was surrounded by enemies.
Skull Splitter, as the senior Clan Chief, began. “B’Regest heir, be welcome here as the leader of your people. What name have you chosen, for your rule?”
She looked carefully at the others. “I will be known merely by my name. I will rule as T’Qek.”
Skull Splitter was caught at a loss. This was unprecedented. Tradition dictated that the Clan Chief chose a rule-name from the history of his clan. Skull Splitter’s name came from the earliest days of his clan, from the hero that first united the K’Rorin and began their rise to prominence. Burning Blade’s name came from the leader that secured Clan T’Chau’s place at the high table, and his blade still hung in the palace, over his successors throne. This was…not done.
Looking over at his fellow leaders, Skull Splitter saw that the Keeper Cleric was as caught out as he was, but that Burning Blade had a small smile dancing around his mouth. Seeing the hesitation in the others, Burning Blade now stepped forward. “T’Qek, I welcome you here, to the high table. Perhaps you could explain your break with tradition, so that we may understand your thoughts?”
The young woman stepped forward. “I mean no disrespect to you, who have proven yourself great war leaders, but I, along with many of my generation, feel that the old ways have dominated our thinking for too long. I mean to bring changes to the B’Regest, to modernize our clan, as changes have been brought to the Alliance over the last year, through your enlightened leadership.”
The Keeper-Cleric scowled at this, as he had been against the changes that had led to the loosened controls on the conquered races, and thus their current strategy of bringing other races into the Alliance by conquest, then reordering their societies and releasing them as allies. Skull Splitter saw the Keeper-Cleric’s reaction, and re-examined the new Clan Chief’s words. They could be interpreted as criticism of the old leadership, but he detected no sarcasm in her tone. He dipped his head towards her, inviting her to continue.
“I do not seek revolutionary change, despite what some may think.” She glanced at the Keeper-Cleric, but he remained silent and she continued. “The younger generations believe that we must change, evolve, to meet the new demands of interstellar empire, and I intend to take the lessons we have learned and implement them, enhancing our ability to rule our empire and change with the times. I will change what is not working, and keep the best of our ways, to ensure that we remain at the forefront of the interstellar nation we are building.”
The Keeper-Cleric was clearly not mollified, but he had no real vote here, just influence. Skull Splitter could see that Burning Blade had expected this, and welcomed it, likely for his own reasons. Coming to a decision as well, Skull Splitter moved aside. “Welcome to the high table, T’Qek, Clan Chief of the B’Regest. We have much to discuss.”
The new clan chief moved past the older leaders and took her place at the table. “Yes, we do.” As the others sat down, she looked directly at the Keeper-Cleric. “For example, when, exactly, were you planning on telling us that the Humans have destroyed their own home planet?”
Skull Splitter looked at the Keeper-Cleric in shock. The leader of the Keepers, as befitting an old warrior adept at both physical combat and the political intrigue that swirled around the highest levels of the D’Bringi government, showed no reaction at all. Skull Splitter, no novice at the game of politics, saw that the new leader’s jab was true, mostly by how the Keeper-Cleric didn’t react than by anything he did.
After a few seconds, the Keeper-Cleric sighed. “It is true. My information is that the competing human states fought a war on their home planet that devastated much of the planet and killed much of its population.”
Burning Blade turned on the Keeper, his eyes blazing. “And you kept this from us?”
The Keeper-Cleric didn’t flinch from the clan chief’s obvious anger. “Yes. The humans are absorbed with their internal problems and do not present a threat at the current time. My information is that their internal war destroyed much of their planet’s defenses, but did not touch their fleet, which has rallied to defend the remaining human populations. It is our analysis that the humans are not capable of offensive action at this time, but have maintained a credible defense force. We could overwhelm them, but doing so would take most of our forces, and in the meantime how would we maintain the blockade of the Mintek? It is our judgement that we much remain focused on the Mintek, as they are the primary threat to our race.”
Skull Splitter leaned forward. “And so, you kept this information from us? Out of fear of what? That we would start another war with the humans, leaving the Mintek border unguarded?”
The Keeper-Cleric remained silent for a few seconds, considering the other leaders. “Yes. The clans are not known for their restraint. We thought it best to monitor the situation in the human territories while we focus our real efforts against the Mintek.”
Skull Splitter sat back and turned his gaze to T’Qek. She had obviously come across this information somehow, and had chosen to release it here. For what purpose? Simply to cause division? Coming to a decision, he focused on the new leader. “You have brought this information out for your own purposes, clearly. What are you suggesting? That we launch an assault on the Humans? Because, while I don’t like the fact that he hid the information from us, the Keeper is right. The Mintek are the true threat at the current time. Attacking the humans, no matter how vulnerable they are, would be a diversion from the real threat.”
Clan Chief T’Qek shook her head in agreement. “Of course. I merely wanted to clear the air between us, so that we could make informed decisions.” That last was said acidly, with a barely concealed glare at the Keeper-Cleric. “But, having said that, we must make a decision about the course we will take in the future. Our economy is strained to the limit supporting our fleet. In fact, unless I am wrong in reading the briefing materials sent prior to this meeting, we have had to take loans from our ‘allies’ to keep our economy afloat for the last two months? This cannot be supportable, and places us in an unenviable position with races that should be looking to us for support, rather than the other way around.”
Skull Splitter looked across the table at Burning Blade, who dipped his head and turned to the new clan chief. “You are correct in all respects. However, we find ourselves in a difficult position. We must enforce the blockade of the Mintek in the Phyriseq system, and our Rehorish allies must invest their border with the humans. Between us, this is absorbing every ship we have. We have been encouraging our allies to enlarge their fleets, to take some of the burden off of us, allowing us to mothball some of our fleet and divert increased resources towards enlarging our economy, but this takes time.”
“And in the meantime, we cannot muster the force required to either attack the Mintek or the Humans.” Clan Chief T’Qek grimaced. “You all have admitted that the Mintek are the primary threat to our alliance, however, do we have a plan to assault the Mintek and eliminate the threat? Or are we merely huddling behind our defenses?”
Skull Splitter jumped to his feet in anger. “Do not question us as if we are novice warriors! We have reached this situation by surviving all of the threats that have confronted us.” He turned away from the table and began pacing, his extended claws scratching at the stone floor as he furiously walked back and forth. “Our exploration fleets look for the Mintek even now, and we have modernized our fleet and improved the strength of the Alliance as a whole, all in preparation for attacking the Mintek wherever we find them.” He stopped and turned, facing the other leaders. “I was there, in the Phyriseq system, when our broken ships limped back through the warp point from Mintek. Their defenses are too strong for a frontal assault. Even if we could overwhelm them, our losses would be so catastrophic that we would be unlikely to survive the aftermath.”
T’Qek, who had not moved through the diatribe, now leaned forward and raised her arms in a gesture of placation. “Peace, Skull Splitter. I meant no criticism. I am merely pointing out the unenviable situation we find ourselves in at this point in time. Even now the Mintek are surely building up their forces, in preparation for an attack.” She paused, and Skull-Splitter, partially mollified, sat down again. “We must decide on a strategy for moving forward, though. It is clear that the Council intended to take a temporary break from the war with the humans and with the Mintek to rearm and refit our fleet. That has now been done, but in the time since we have fallen into a defensive mindset. We must find a way to regain the offensive. And I believe that we have that tool within our grasp.” Once again, she turned to the Keeper-Cleric. “Keeper, your fleet has deployed a new weapon, correct?”
The Keeper’s face was stone. “Of what do you speak?”
Skull Splitter burst out in laughter. “You joke!” Seeing the look on determination on the Keeper’s face, he leaned forward. “She is talking about your new toys. Your ‘small-craft carriers’, I think you call them.”
At the mention of the Keeper’s new ships, Burning Blade’s gaze turned to the Keeper, and his attention sharpened. “Yes, Keeper, tell us of your new toys.”
The Keeper-Cleric looked at the other three and then shook his head. “We believe they may be useful in enhancing our blockade of the Mintek, and so we’ve deployed most of our new fleet there.”
“I think you understate their utility greatly, Keeper-Cleric.” She turned to the other two Clan Chiefs. “One of my first acts after assuming power was to ask for a complete review of our fleet, and our building and research efforts. During that review, I first encountered the reports given to the Clans by the Keepers, on their new weapon. It was clear to me that the Keepers, while they did not hide the basic data, were willfully obfuscating the utility of their new weapon, something my former shipmasters and builders abetted. To be most efficient, these new small-craft require purpose-built hulls, something that my cruiser-captains assure me is counterproductive and worthless. However, being curious, I commissioned a study of the new systems, and discovered something interesting. The Keepers are understating the usefulness of their new weapon, dramatically. These new small craft have the endurance to attack from beyond the range of any beam or even missile, and can carry useful loads of weapons in such an attack. And while defenses can be built, as presently configured, our cruisers would have a difficult time defending against such an attack.” He eyes swiveled to the Keeper-Cleric. “You have attempted to keep this new weapon to yourself.” Her tone was questioning, as if she was truly curious. “This weapon could revolutionize our fleet, and its ability to deal with the Mintek, or the Humans. And yet, you’ve kept it to yourself. Why?”
The Keeper-Cleric had clearly thought this through. “I have provided the basic information and tech data to the Clans, as required. I am not required to force the Clans to see the utility of the weapon, if they chose to ignore it.”
Skull-Splitter suspected that the Keepers were perfectly happy to keep this development to themselves. Whether the new small-craft were really as effective as T’Qek claimed was another thing. Still, the Keeper’s actions seemed to indicate that they thought the small-craft would be effective in battle. “And what do you intend to do with this information?”
“I have already done it.” She transferred specifications for new warships to the other leaders, and then put them up on the table’s holo system. A series of hulls appeared over the table, starting with several cruiser designs followed by a small corvette. “These are the designs for the new B’Regest fleet. I will be scheduling refits, to begin next month.”
Burning Blade leaned closer to the holo displays, peering at the specifications below the holographic ships floating over the table. Perplexed, he turned to the B’Regest clan chief. “But you’ve reduced the weapons load on your new x-ray laser cruiser, and gutted the armament of the standard-missile equipped cruiser! No one cares what you did to the corvette, but you’ve virtually destroyed the effectiveness of your cruisers!”
T’Qek stood and pointed at the holographic cruisers floating over the table. “No! I haven’t reduced their effectiveness, I’ve improved it! By reducing the weapons load of the x-ray cruiser we’ve freed up enough space to install hangar systems to accommodate six of the new…what do you call them, Keeper-Cleric?”
“Fighters.” The Keeper-Cleric responded sourly, but he knew he couldn’t fight what was going on.
“Yes, fighters! This hybrid cruiser-carrier isn’t optimal, but it gets fighters out to our fleets now! And no one, not even our cruiser-commanders, likes the Knucklepuff missile design. By gutting its armament and replacing it with fighter bays, we’ve allowed the cruiser to launch a strong attack on any target from well beyond that target’s own weapon’s range. If the attack fails, the cruiser-carrier can retire to be reloaded with more fighters, which are relatively cheap and easy to replace. Much cheaper than replacing cruisers, at any rate. And as for the corvette, we have been trying to make those into effective warships for some time, but they are just too small to be really effective. But yet my ship commanders insist that they are necessary. I suspect that their insistence is rooted in their desire to have more warships that would need more commanders, who could then valiantly prove their worth in battle, rather than any belief that they could be effective in battle. By replacing their weapons and most of their defenses with fighter bays and long-range scanners, we will create a scout that can defend itself or add to a fleet’s defensive and offensive capabilities. And you all know that we desperately need scouts for our fleet’s, despite our commander’s insistence on ever increasing numbers of cruisers.”
Skull Splitter leaned back in thought, his eyes on the holographic ships over the table. She wasn’t wrong in her statements about the domination of cruiser commanders throughout their fleets. Her drastic plans to refit her fleet were perhaps not the correct response, but it was her fleet to do with as she chose. Skull Splitter wasn’t entirely convinced that the new fighters were the wonder weapon she claimed, but he intended to have his own people study the information sent by the Keepers to determine if they were as effective as she claimed. Still… “More refits. This will force us to remain on the strategic defensive for longer.”
“Yes, it will. But at the end of the refits, we will have a fleet capable of rolling over the Humans, and maybe the Mintek too. If these designs prove out, the B’Regest will build no more cruisers. Instead, we will be transitioning to a carrier-only fleet concept, to maximize the utility of the new weapon system.”
Skull-Splitter was taken aback by the new clan chief’s intention to completely revamp her fleet. This would have several implications. First, it would almost certainly result in a number of very dissatisfied senior officers in the B’Regest fleet, as their beloved cruisers were pushed into what they would almost certainly perceive as a support role. He would have to speak with his chief military officer about trying to recruit the better officers away from the B’regest. Such things were rare, but they were not unknown, and if this eager young clan chief thought she could change so many things so quickly, she would find that there were consequences for such actions. Also… “Where will you find the yard space for your refits? The yards are committed for some time, last I checked.”
T’Qek smiled at the Keeper-Cleric. “I’m sure the Keepers will cede me their yard commitments, to make up for their hoarding of this vital information.”
The Keeper-Cleric looked like he was about to object, but then he saw the faces of the other two clan chiefs. They might not agree with the young leader in her evaluation of the new technology, but they would support her against the Keepers out of reflex. The Keeper-Cleric hesitated, then nodded grudgingly.
“There is one more issue I would like to discuss. Almost two years ago, in the waning days of the war against the humans, one of our survey groups discovered a system with a colony from a high-tech race. The scout, following SOP, broke contact and retreated through the closed warp point they had entered through. Subsequent analysis of the data gathered by the scout revealed that the colony was almost certainly from the Bjering, a race on the periphery of the human empires. Given the challenges that faced us at the time, I understand the decision to avoid contacting them, or attacking. Some in my fleet are pushing for a re-evaluation of this decision. They wish to attack, once our new fleet is ready. I have told my officers I would discuss it with the Council. What are your thoughts?”
Burning Blade leaned forward, urgently. “The same complications that apply to renewing the war with the humans applies to the Bjering. Their strength is unknown, and they are allied to at least some of the humans. If we attack and fail to immediately overwhelm them, then we face a drawn-out war that will drain our resources even as we try to maintain the blockade against the Mintek. Worse, we may rouse the humans from their introspection and draw them into an alliance with the Bjering.”
T’Qek shook her head. “I think you underestimate the capabilities of our new fleet.” She held her hand up when Burning Blade made to reply. “I understand your concerns, and agree with them. We do not have the strength to blockade the Mintek, fight a new war, guard against the humans, and expand our economy. We may not even be able to do three of those things, much less all four. However, what if we establish peaceful contact with the Bjering, with the goal of opening up trade relations? Such trade would be a welcome boost to our economy, at a time when we need it most. And perhaps the Bjering will be interested in a closer relationship? If we can woo them away from the humans, all the better!”
Burning Blade and Skull Splitter looked at each other for a few seconds, then turned to the new leader and nodded. “Your idea has merit. Let’s discuss it.”
They discussed the merits of contacting the Bjering, as well as the claimed advantages of the new B’Regest carrier fleet. The other two senior leaders were not convinced of the utility of the new fighters, but were very interested in opening relations with the Bjering.
The meeting broke up shortly thereafter, with the two senior clan leaders determined to review the new weapons system and determine if it was worthy of implementation, while the Keeper-Cleric intended to initiation an internal investigation to determine where the new clan leader was getting her information. A squadron would be sent to contact the Bjering next month.
-
Month 141, Bjering Consolidate
Trade relations are established between the Bjering and the Wunderland Association.
Month 141, Day 5, Sigma Draconis System
Former General Semenov, now Senator Semenov of the Colonial Senate, watched curiously as his shuttle approached the Colonial Flagship. The Kara rapidly went from being a small dot to a massive warship as the shuttle approached. The shuttle’s pilot, with the concurrence of the battleship’s flight control officer, slowly moved around the big ship’s hull, giving the Senator time to see everything.
Unlike the Coalition’s hulls, the Kara was a quintessential Russian design. The ship’s hull was an elongated pyramid on its side, with the ship’s massive engines poking out of the base of the pyramid. A heavily armored and blocky superstructure containing the ship’s bridge was on the ‘top’, while the ship’s numerous missile launchers were arrayed along the opposite face. Overall, unlike some of the Coalition’s designs, the Kara was brutal and powerful looking, the exact opposite of elegant, which was how the Coalition battlecruisers were most often described. Finally, Semenov waived to his pilot to dock with the flagship. It was time.
The shuttle nosed into the Kara’s docking bay and settled into its landing frame as the bay doors closed behind it. Senator Semenov had to wait a few minutes while the bay was pressurized and the greeting party assembled before he could debark.
Admiral Ruston saluted as Senator Semenov left his shuttle. The senior senator on the Senate’s Military Affairs committee, Senator Semenov was also an old friend and former commander of half of the UCDF. He held the salute until Senator Semenov stopped in front of him and his command staff.
“Relax, Admiral, relax!” The big Russian tugged at his collar. “The formality of these situations will be the death of me yet!”
Admiral Ruston grinned at his old friend. “So you keep saying. And yet somehow you keep ending up in these formal situations.” He gestured for the Senator to accompany him, and the two set out for the auxiliary control center, which had been cleared out today for their use.
Senator Semenov looked around interestedly as they walked through the ship’s long corridors. “She looked big from the outside, but once you get inside you truly realize the scale. On my old command ship, it took me ten seconds to get from my bunk to the flag deck. Here? It would take me forever to get anywhere!”
Admiral Ruston nodded. “Well, she masses over three times as much as your old flagship. Compared to our cruisers, she has more shields, armor, missile launchers, more everything.”
The two reached the aux con, and the marines following them set up outside as the two entered and the door slid shut behind them. As soon as the door shut, Senator Semenov shook his head. “My friend, you might as well stop trying to mothball this ship. The Senate will not allow you to mothball the Colonial Union’s flagship.”
Admiral Ruston took one of the chairs arrayed around the central plot tank and waived the senator over to the others. “You know why I’m doing it. All they see is ‘big’ and they are ignoring all of the other factors.”
Senator Semenov shook his head. “I understand. The Kara is an albatross. She is slower than our battlecruisers, which make up our battleline, and thus would either be left behind or slow them down. She is more expensive to maintain, which I’m sure is nearly intolerable given the fact that you can’t deploy her with the fleet because of her slower speed. And, we currently have no plans to build any more, which leaves her orphaned and without a proper squadron.” Senator Semenov waited for the Admiral to nod before continuing. “I understand your reasons. The other Senators understand your reasoning. But you are ignoring all of their reasons. Humanity was shaken to the core by what happened on Earth, and we faced oblivion if the D’Bringi continued their war. It was only through chance that the D’Bringi had another enemy that distracted them at just the right time, allowing you to negotiate a badly needed peace treaty. After the death of our mother countries, everyone on the scattered colonies was feeling small and vulnerable. Seeing the Kara, our first battleship, launched in the aftermath of the conflagration that engulfed the Earth, gave them something to rally around. A point of pride.”
Admiral Ruston looked sour. “Well, their point of pride is an albatross!” Senator Semenov chuckled and Ruston grinned. “So how many ships am I going to be left with at the end of the current round of down-sizing?”
“You’ll have the Kara, of course, along with twenty-one battlecruisers and heavy cruisers, sixteen destroyers, and twenty-eight scouts of various classes.”
Admiral Ruston sent a sharp look at his friend. “How many battlecruisers am I keeping?”
“All of them. You’ll keep two squadrons of heavy cruisers, but the rest will be your precious battlecruisers.”
Admiral Ruston looked at least slightly mollified. “Well, that’s something, anyway.”
“It’s more than something, any you know it!”
Admiral Ruston put his hands up in mock surrender. “I understand how it is. I’m just saying that with every ship that goes into mothballs my job gets harder.”
“I understand, believe me I do.” Senator Semenov shook his head. “You may as well prepare. There will be more cuts to come.”
“More!” Admiral Ruston leapt to his feet and began pacing.
Senator Semenov let his friend work off some energy before speaking again. “You must understand, this round of cuts brings us down to where the maintenance for the fleet is barely supportable without crippling our economy. That’s a big deal, because it means with the resources that are paid by the Wunderland Association defraying some of the costs of the fleet, we can invest in growing our economy. And I know you’ll agree that a growing economy is necessary for a healthy fleet.” He waited for the Admiral to nod before continuing. “But we must look to the future. The D’Bringi have always been ahead of us in technology, and right now that lead is widening. The pressure for us to restart our R&D program is becoming intense. But to do that we will almost certainly have to have another round of cuts.”
Admiral Ruston sighed and took his seat. “I can’t argue with any of that. We need R&D to keep up with the D’Bringi. And my fleet is going to need refits. Hell, most of my units don’t even have the latest shields, as you know.”
Senator Semenov nodded. “Believe me, I know. However, there is good news as well. The Senate is finalizing an agreement with the Wunderland Association that will be the first step towards unifying our two states. Once we add their resources to ours, cuts will no longer be necessary to pay for R&D and economic expansion.”
Admiral Ruston grunted. “It’s about time. The Wunderlander’s have been after me to station more ships in their system, even with their new buildup. I guess this way they’ll get more of a say.”
“Yes, that’s true. There is more, though. As you know, our success in political relations with the Wunderlander’s have been offset by the concomitant worsening of our relations with the Tomsk Union. Three months ago, they ended UCDF aide payments.”
Admiral Ruston nodded, and if anything, the sour look on his face worsened. “That was offset by an increase in aide from the Wunderlanders. I know.”
“What you don’t know is that the Tomsk Union has issued a demand for the withdrawal of the UCDF from their space, to begin in three months.”
Admiral Ruston shook his head. “Not unexpected, but still disconcerting. What about the D’Bringi in the Petropavlovsk system? After the riots in the Tomsk system, Petropavlovsk is the only place we currently have warships stationed in Union territory.”
“That’s the stumbling point. We have an agreement with the D’Bringi in that system, and we intend to honor it, but it won’t help them, or anyone else, if we have to go to war to enforce our access. The Tomsk Union understands our issues, but to get to Petropavlovsk we have to go through the Tomsk System, and that’s giving their public fits right now. The Prime Minister is negotiating with Union representatives, and we’ll come to an agreement at some point, but for now you are going to have to limit our transits through Tomsk territory. Official notification will be coming down from the Prime Minister’s office today, but she wanted me to let you know before it goes public.”
“How is the New Dawn Party positioning itself in all of this?”
Senator Semenov frowned at the mention of the up-and-coming party. “Officially they are against allowing the Tomsk Union to shut off our access to the Petropavlovsk system. Unofficially, it’s not that simple. One of the New Dawn Party’s core beliefs is unifying humanity. Allowing the Tomsk Union to drift away and form a closer relationship with the Bjering goes against that belief. Supporting the D’Bringi in the Petropavlovsk system goes against their general anti-alien stance as well, but the bulk of the New Dawn Party is still Russian and many Russians still have close ties with those D’Bringi for their role in saving the men and women of their Home Fleet. In short, its complicated, and this has limited the New Dawn Party’s influence in this matter, at least for now.”
“That’s something, at least.”
“There’s more. As you know, I haven’t joined any of the parties. This allows me to move more freely and mediate between various groups that otherwise would have difficulty coming to a meeting of the minds. It also allows me to see currents in the Senate more clearly than others, who generally have become coopted by their party’s stated position. If the elections go the way I expect, the New Dawn Party will win enough seats to force the Unity Party to form a coalition government with the New Dawn Party as the junior partner.”
“But, most of the news outlets have been saying that the upcoming elections are going to go badly for the New Dawn Party, based on the unrest in the Tomsk Union.”
“Yes, they do say that. Most of them are controlled in one way or another by the Unity Party, and they are desperately pushing a world-view that they wish existed, instead of what is. The New Dawn Party is poised to become the second largest party in the Union, and while the Unity Party will still have a majority, it will lose its supra-majority. To form a government after the elections, the Unity Party will need to either bring the New Dawn Party in as a junior partner, or will have to align itself with a coalition of the smaller parties, some of whom are even more radical than the New Dawn Party.”
“So, what is this going to mean for the UCDF?”
Senator Semenov shook his head. “It is unclear at this time. The New Dawn Party is very pro-military, so it is likely that, at least at first, their ascendance will lead to increased budgets for the military, particularly the navy. However, the New Dawn is for aggressive expansion, to include a more aggressive stance towards non-Colonial Union humans and the D’Bringi Alliance in particular. They very vocally espouse the unification of all humans under one government, to better face the alien threats to our existence.”
Admiral Ruston grunted. “That doesn’t sound too bad, although taking an aggressive stance at this point isn’t maybe the smartest thing we could be doing.”
The Senator settled back, an unhappy look on his face. “I predict that for now they will settle for an increased budget for the UCDF and a more aggressive foreign policy, however, should they take the majority, I fear that will change. If they are serious in their plans to unify humanity, they will have to use force. Probably against the Tomsk Union, almost certainly against the CES. Will you lead the UCDF into that war? Will they follow?”
“You know the answer to that!” Admiral Ruston stood and walked to the far bulkhead, thinking furiously.
“At that point, if this comes to pass, they will be the legitimate government. Your options will be limited.”
“I will not lead the fleet against our own government. Just as I will not lead it against other human states in a war of aggression.”
“Then, my friend, I’m afraid that you will not be leading the fleet at all.”
“Hopefully, it won’t come to that. Was there anything else that you wanted to let me in on?”
Senator Semenov stood. “I’m transferring to you a ‘suggestion’ from the committee that you prepare to transfer at least another cruiser group to Wunderland. The official orders will be coming down shortly.”
“I could see that coming. Where do you suggest I get the ships? Anywhere I take them from, it’s going to hurt.”
“From Epsilon Eridani.”
“But that’s our reserve!”
Senator Semenov nodded. “I know, but the Epsilon Eridani warp chain is closed, and there are no known threats in that area.” Seeing how unhappy the Admiral was, the Senator continued. “We now have twenty-one defensive bases on line in the Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system, along with over six hundred mines and laser buoys. Once the Senate’s confidence in their defenses grows, we’ll be able to release some of the ships being held there for other duties.”
“It can’t happen soon enough.”
“I understand, old friend, I understand.”
Month 141, Rehorish Stellar Empire
The Rehorish achieve HT 7 this month, and immediately begin R&D on datalinked point defense.
Month 141, D’Bringi Expanses
The Bir Meritocracy comes to terms with the D’Bringi, bringing the D’Bringi occupation to a close. The Bir have agreed to become associate members of the D’Bringi Alliance on terms similar to the Torqual and the Doraz, although given their limited technology, IND-1, it will be some time before they can expand into space and contribute to the common defense.
Month 142, Colonial Union
The Union’s first combined Colonial Senate elections are held this month, with one third of the Senate’s positions up for election. The election goes smoothly, which is gratifying in the newly consolidated Union. In an upset, the New Dawn Party erodes the Unity Party’s dominance of the Senate, reducing it to holding a mere majority instead of a supra-majority. This is portrayed by the Unity Party as a victory, as they held on to a majority, but there is a grim atmosphere in the Unity Party’s HQ that evening, while the general attitude in the New Dawn Party’s HQ is one of jubilation. The Prime Minister announces that the new government will be formed in a partnership with the New Dawn Party.
Month 142, Bjering Consolidate, frontier
Gamma Fleet, consisting of a battlecruiser flagship, four combat corvettes, and two scout corvettes, jumped into the Outgard system on day 15. Explorers had discovered a high-tech civilization in the system four months ago, and Gamma Fleet, and Gamma Admiral, were here to establish peaceful relations. Gamma Admiral being the lowest ranked and least powerful of the five admirals that ruled the Consolidate, had no illusions about why she was here. The ruling quorum wanted one of their number on scene to control the situation, but should the contact go wrong, they felt that it should be their most expendable member who was at risk. She accepted her situation, understanding how the Quorum worked and she knew that she would have to take risks to move up its ranks. This was one of those risks.
Once in the system, Gamma Fleet, assumed a defensive position around the warp point and one of the corvette-scouts set out for the inner system, with Gamma Admiral aboard.
Month 142, Day 19, Bjering Consolidate, Outgard System
The Gamma Fleet scout had been steadily approaching the inner system for the last four days. The scout was now one hundred and twenty light minutes from the system primary, well out of detection range of anything in the inner system, but was only sixty light minutes from one of the outermost ice planets and its moons, well within long-range sensor detection range of any ships or outposts on the planet’s moons. Gamma Admiral had chosen this course purposefully, to show the locals that she was not hiding, not sneaking up on their home planet. It was at this point that a communication signal reached the scout. The signal was audio only, and completely incomprehensible, as expected. Gamma Admiral ordered her scout to halt in place, and began to prepare to meet the locals.
Month 142, Day 22, Bjering Consolidate, Outgard System
Gamma Admiral watched as the alien ships approached her scout. By the engine strength, the alien fleet consisted of two battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, a light cruiser, and three destroyers. A powerful force, but not overwhelming in terms of the overall fleet strength of the Bjering. Of course, she was very aware that this force was the only one within detection range of her scout, which did not mean that it was the only fleet the aliens had. But still, it was rather reassuring that the force the aliens had sent to meet her was not completely overwhelming. That had been one of her fears, as she had waited in the dark for the aliens to approach.
The alien fleet stopped at fifteen light seconds, a respectful distance, and after a few seconds the light cruiser left the rest of the fleet and approached. This too was a hopeful sign to Gamma Admiral. Granted, the alien light cruiser was large enough to destroy her scout in short order, but she took the fact that they were not just charging in with their entire strength as a hopeful sign.
As the light cruiser approached, Gamma Admiral ordered her comms section to begin transmitted first contact messages. The alien light cruiser approached to eight light seconds and came to a halt, and began transmitting their own signals, presumably their version of first contact protocols.
Month 143, Colonial Union
The Colonial Union’s new Minister for Foreign Relations, Natasha Goncharov, reorients the Foreign Ministry to focus on clearing the way for amalgamating the Wunderland Association, and to improving the Union’s relationships with the CES and the Tomsk Union.
Month 143, Day 25, D’Bringi Expanses
On this date, a D’Bringi force consisting of a battlecruiser, a heavy cruiser, a strike carrier, and three corvette-carriers, jumped into the Nedyn system. The D’Bringi had discovered this system some time ago, along with its Bjering inhabitants. The D’Bringi scout had immediately jumped out of the system, following SOP, as the D’Bringi Alliance was deeply involved in the war against the humans at the time, and they did not need any complications that might divert warships from the front lines. They knew the scout had been detected entering the system, though, as it had appeared just 48 light minutes from the system primary, well within detection range of a population that later analysis identified as Bjering. However, the warp point was an undetectable closed warp point, and so the scout withdrew, leaving the Bjering with a mystery.
Now, the D’Bringi battlegroup jumped into the system, intent on contacting the Bjering. Once in the system the battlegroup came to a halt, with a lone corvette continuing to advance a full light minute into the system, towards the colony. Once it reached one light minute from the warp point, the scout-carrier came to a halt and began beaming contact messages at the Bjering.
The Bjering response was immediate. A force of seven ships left the colony and set their course for intercepting the scout-carrier. While this force was approaching, the Bjering responded to the communications attempts with their own.
Note: The Bjering had limited contact with the Rehorish during the Human-D’Bringi Alliance war, and but never established full comms and had a very negative view of them based on the Rehorish betrayal of their treaty with the Russians.
Meanwhile, the Chirq Cooperative agrees to D’Bringi terms and is released from occupation. They are currently at IND-2 tech level, and it will be some time, even with D’Bringi assistance, before they can become contributing partners within the Alliance.
The Doraz, an associate member of the D’Bringi Alliance, dispatches a force of six heavy cruisers to the Phyriseq system, to bolster the blockade force. This leaves their home system unprotected, except for a small force of D’Bringi ships, but they are waiting to build orbital defenses until R&D on capital missiles is complete.
Month 144
The Wunderland Association begins construction on its first capital ship, a completely new design capital-missile armed battlecruiser.
The Torqual Benignity, under protest, dispatches six light cruisers to the Phyriseq system to reinforce the blockade. The Benignity is decidedly pacifistic and was reluctant to deploy warships outside of its home system, however, the D’Bringi and the Rehorish brought significant pressure to bear and the Benignity’s leaders finally agreed.
In the Sligo System, the recent elections give the New Dawn Party a significant majority in the planet’s legislature, and thus control of the Governorship. Governor Whitmore, the head of the Wunderland Association, stands for re-election in two months. She faces a strong challenge from the New Dawn Party, which has dominated politics on Wunderland, but Whitmore’s support is stronger on the other colonies that make up the Association, and the election appears to be a close-run event.
Month 145, Colonial Union
The Colonial Union begins research once again. This is a huge step forward, as basic research has languished since the fall of the Coalition and the USSR. Restarting research has been a basic goal of both the Unity Party and the New Dawn Party, and both political groups take credit for the accomplishment.
The emigration from Earth continues. The emigrants are no longer refugees, exactly. Earth’s environment continues to be fragile, and can only support a medium sized population. As Earth’s population continues to grow, the environment becomes strained and the infrastructure that supports the population becomes overloaded. Therefore, the Consolidated Earth States has made shipping the excess population out of the system one of its number one priority, otherwise draconian population controls would have to be enacted. The three main colonial governments, the Colonial Union, the Wunderland Association, and the Tomsk Union, have agreed to accept this excess population, and in fact these people have been a boon to the economies of the successor states. However, this has not come without a cost. The cost of relocating these people is enormous, and while the colonial governments welcome the new workers (and tax payers), the cost of resettling them is undercutting their efforts to expand their economies. Further, the New Dawn Party, and its lobbyists, have been speaking against the isolationism of the Solar System, implying that it is a betrayal of the rest of humanity. Therefore, the representatives of the three colonial governments present the CES with an ultimatum this month. The CES will be required to pay half of the resettlement costs, or the colonial governments will begin to refuse to accept the Earth’s excess population.
The CES protests this ultimatum, but in the end, they have little choice but to comply. The alternative is unthinkable.
Month 145, Day 25, Surtr System, Bjering Consolidate
Five months ago, a survey group from the Bjering Consolidate discovered the Surtr system. The system was a gold-mine, with three habitable type T planets, and the survey group immediately began work on surveying the system. The survey confirmed the value of the system, with two of the planets rated at benign, one of which was rated ‘very rich’ in resources, while the other benign planet was ‘rich’. For the Consolidate, which had struggled to find habitable planets for some time, this was an incredible find.
The survey had been completed, but the effort to colonize the Surtr system had been put off while the colonization of another system was completed. That system only contained one habitable planet, and it was rated ‘poor’ in resources, but colonization had already started when it became clear how valuable the Surtr system was, so it was decided to complete colonization efforts in Gerd before colonizing Surtr. At the start of the month a massive colonization fleet departed Bjering Prime, bound for the benign very-rich planet in the Surtr system. It would arrive at the end of the month.
On Day 25, the colonization fleet jumped into the Surtr system and set out for the inner system and its intended target. The colonization fleet consisted of just over sixty cruiser-sized CFN transports, and the leading transports streamed towards their colonization target in a disorderly gaggle even as more transports jumped into the system. A single CFN transport dropped a communications buoy and a sensor buoy at the warp point back to the rest of the Consolidate, and then set out for the system’s second warp point to place a second pair of buoys at that location. This meant that the system was now tied into the Consolidate’s new communications network. Trouble came almost immediately when the newly emplaced sensor buoy detected a drive field twenty-four light minutes from the warp point. There were no other Consolidate ships in the system, and the detection report panicked the transport captains. Their ships were unarmed, and had no escorts. The detection report had already been sent back towards the home system by the automated detection system, but the transport captains added their panicked cries for help to the contact report as they retreated to the warp point, abandoning their mission in the face of an alien incursion. One quick thinking captain sent a CD towards the survey group in the next system outwards, pleading with them to return and assist the colonization group. The survey group’s three heavy survey cruisers were armed, and were much closer to the colonization group than the home system.
The T’Pau survey ships, which had been engaged in routine survey of the incredibly promising system, abandoned their mission as well, and sent CD’s back towards home reporting the contact with this new alien race. Not wishing to give away the location of their entry point, which was a closed warp point, the T’Pau survey ships jumped out of the system after ensuring that none of the alien ships were close enough to see them.
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I forgot a bit of stuff from Month 145. Here it is:
Month 145, Colonial Union
The Enlightened Union of the Tlalelolco is ready to begin R&D for HT-2, and, pursuant to the agreement they had with first the Coalition and then the Eridani Confederation, they request financial aide to fund the research. In the past this had been pro-forma, and such requests were quickly granted. This time, however, the New Dawn Party opposes the request for funding on the basis that the Colonial Union’s budget is overstretched. The Unity Party, which is for granting the funding, decides to table the motion for now as it does not want an open confrontation with the burgeoning New Dawn Party, which is poised to take control of the Senate if things continue as they have. The Tlalelolco are on their own.
Month 145, Day 6, D’Bringi Expanse
A small D’Bringi survey ship materialized in the outer system, one hundred and eight light minutes from the system primary. The survey ship determined that this was a binary system, with a white star primary and a red dwarf secondary star. While both stars had planetary systems, the primary star was orbited by a type T planet. The small survey ship was only equipped with survey instruments, and so could not determine if the planet was inhabited at this range. In fact, it would have to close to almost point-blank range to detect an outpost, and even if the planet had a very large population it couldn’t detect it at this range. Further, the exploration ship determined that its entry point was a type fifteen closed warp point. Following SOP, the explorer jumped back out and sent a CD back towards the inner planets, requesting a military expedition to probe the newly discovered system.
On the system’s inhabited planet, the newly placed Mintek colonists went about their business, unaware that they had been discovered by the D’Bringi.
Month 145, Day 14, D’Bringi Expanse
The courier drone from the explorer had to travel through three systems before it reached a link to the D’Bringi communications network, at which time the message was uploaded into the comm buoy and sent on its way.
The message’s arrival on D’Bringi Prime caused a bit of a stir, although this happened on a semi-regular basis. Clan B’Regest, spoiling for a chance to use its new fighter carriers, volunteered to dispatch a force of corvette-carriers to probe the system. The other clans had no objections, and a group of six corvette-scouts, each carrying six fighters, set out for the frontier the next day. It would take the group two months to reach their objective.
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Month 145 Update
Humanity
Colonial Union
The Colonial Union has made strides in integrating its constituent colonies into a single nation. The Colonial Union is composed of thirteen colonized systems, with two systems, Epsilon Eridani and Sigma Draconis, containing three colonies with medium populations. All of the other systems contain colonies with populations rated as ‘small’ at the current time.
The Union’s military has been reduced in size over the last twelve months, to allow the Union’s economy the excess funds its needs to grow, and to allow the Union to begin basic R&D. The Union government has no plans to expand its navy at the current time, however, with the growing power of the New Dawn Party making itself felt, it is unlikely that there will be further cuts.
While there has been little direct contact between the Colonial Union and the D’Bringi Alliance, the Union’s Foreign Ministry has stepped up diplomatic and intelligence efforts in the Titov Free State, which borders both nations. The increased diplomatic efforts have been aimed at improving the relationship between the Free State and the Colonial Union, while the intelligence efforts, both overt and covert, have been aimed at gathering information about the D’Bringi Alliance’s activities and intentions.
While the Colonial Union has been making attempts to improve its relations with the other human states, it has been neglecting its relationship with the Tlatelolco and the D’Bringi miners relocated in the Tomsk Union’s territory. This has caused the United D’Bringi Soviets, as their state is called, to turn to the Tomsk Union as an alternative. The Tlatelolco have no such alternative handy, as they are located in the Wunderland Association’s territory, and the Association has grown increasingly intolerant of alien influences over the last few months. Therefore, the Tlatelolco have turned to reinforcing their ties to the Unity Party and its friendly politicians and ministers.
Although the Union’s base income has increased over the last ten months, its overall income has barely increased due to the loss of the trade revenue between the Eridani Confederation and the Russian Colonial Union (the constituent states of the Colonial Union) after the amalgamation occurred.
Income (All Sources): 13,189 MCr’s (2% increase)
Active Fleet: 1xBB, 15xBC, 6xCA, 16xDD, 12xFGS, 33xEXS
Consolidated Earth States
The CES has withdrawn from its mutual defense treaty with the Colonial Union, although it continues to allow trade with the other human governments. This is part of a wave of isolationism that has moved through the population of Earth and the Solar colonies. Having been through two nuclear wars, the population of Earth has decided that turning their backs on the rest of the universe is the best course of action while they try to put their society back together.
The CES has avoided an increase in militarism, for now, and is concentrating on improving its economy and the environment on Earth. That may change, as the recent decision by the major extra-solar governments to force the CES to pay for a substantial part of the relocation costs of the emigrant flow from Earth has forced economic hardship on the CES and threatened its plans to improve its economy.
The CES has continued a vigorous shipbuilding regimen, and now has fourteen large, cruiser sized freighters built and leased to the civilian transport network. The income from these freighters provides approximately 11% of the CES government’s budget.
Income (All Sources): 5,449 MCr’s (+34%)
Active Fleet: 7xPDC (on Earth), 3xCA, 2xEXS, 2xAst, 6xBS0
Tomsk Union
The Tomsk Union has downgraded its relationship with the Colonial Union, cancelling the military treaty between the two states while maintaining, at least for now, the trade relationship. In addition, the Tomsk Union has severely limited the UCDF’s freedom of travel in their territory, essentially limiting the UCDF to pre-planned transits to and from their base in the Petropavlovsk system.
While their relationship with the Colonial Union has deteriorated, the Union’s relationship with the Bjering Consolidate has commensurately improved. In fact, late in Month 145, the Tomsk Union offered a partnership agreement to the Bjering Consolidate. The Consolidate, which is currently facing several potential threats, immediately accepted the Union’s proposal. In addition, the Tomsk government offered the United D’Bringi Soviets a trade agreement, and as a result of the UDS’s increasing discomfort with the Colonial Union they have agreed.
The Tomsk Union currently has fifty corvette-sized freighters in service, leased to the civilian transport network. The income from these freighters provides approximately 4% of the government’s budget. Construction of the freighters has ceased as the Union has been focusing on colonization and building its new capital ships. The Union’s first battlecruiser will be launched next month, and its two squadron mates will be ready four months after that.
Current Income (All Sources): 12,961 MCr’s (+35%)
Active Fleet: 9xDD, 1xFG
Wunderland Association
The Association continues to have the largest economy of the successor states, and continues to devote a significant portion of its productivity into growing its economy, either through colonization or industrial investments. Up to now the Association has been focused on growing its shipyard capacity, and seven yard now orbit Wunderland, with two more under construction. Once the currently building yards are completed, the Association plans on devoting more of its resources towards building up its fleet, both to deter the Tarek and to assist the UCDF in its peacekeeping missions.
The Association’s government is currently focused on the election campaign for Governor, with Governor Whitmore favored to win reelection. Relations with Colonial Union continue to be good, and talks between the two governments about the possibility of amalgamation continue.
The Association Navy, along with the UCDF force stationed in the Sligo system, continue to monitor the Tarek World Republic closely. They have begun surveying the Sligo system for warp points, and have scrupulously avoided any provocations or open violations of their agreement to demilitarize their space operations.
Current Income (All Sources): 16,045 MCr’s (+43%)
Active Fleet: 3xDD, 2xFGS, 4xCT, 20xES, 3xEXS
Total Human Income: 47,644 MCr’s (+26%)
Total Active Human Fleet: 1xBB, 15xBC, 9xCA, 28xDD, 15xFGS, 4xCT, 20xES, 38xEXS
Note: The measure for total human income and total human fleet strength is becoming less useful, given the growing division in between the Colonial Union/Wunderland Association alliance and the Tomsk Union.
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Independents
Bjering Consolidate
The Bjering Consolidate was not directly involved in the war between the D’Bringi Alliance and the human states, but was allied to the Tomsk Union, after that state was cut off from the rest of humanity during the Rehorish advance. Due to the high possibility of war, the Consolidate decided to activate a portion of its mothballed reserves, which strained the economy and crippled efforts to grow the economy. Once the war was over, the Bjering lost no time in mothballing a significant portion of their active fleet, and doubled the size of their survey corps. In the time since the war the Bjering have been fairly successful in growing their economy, and now, with a first contact effort going forward on their frontier, and the appearance of a D’Bringi Alliance task force in one of their inner systems with the stated goal of establishing friendly relations, the D’Bringi are concerned that their military forces are inadequate to their current needs, and are thus in the process of reactivating some of their mothballed reserves again.
The Bjering are HT-7, and are well on their way to reaching HT-8. The active Bjering Fleet is equipped to HT-7 standards, but the reserves are not, and would require refits before they were deployed to the front lines.
Total Income (All sources): 17,951 MCr’s
Active Fleet: 8xBC, 30xCT
Titov Free State
The Titov Free State was formed as a result of the peace treaty between the human states and the D’Bringi Alliance. The Titov colony is located in the Novosibirsk system, on the border of the former Russian Colonial Territories and the Rehorish Stellar Empire. The Rehorish, fearing human reprisals after the war, demanded the establishment of an independent buffer state on their border, and the human representatives, in a poor position after the destruction of the Coalition and the USSR on Earth, were forced to agree. Thus, the Titov Free State was born. The Titov colony had been occupied by the Rehorish since the start of the war, and had fared well during the occupation. The Rehorish believed in minimal control of the conquered human colonies, and as long as resource requirements were met cared little how the humans ran their societies. The colonists on Titov obediently supplied their conquerors with their surplus resources, and thus largely prospered until the end of the war. The populace was distrustful of the Rehorish, but also resented the way the Soviet government apparently abandoned them, and then negotiated them away without even asking their opinion. Thus, the new Titov Free State was born with a vague distrust of both the Rehorish and the human governments.
The Titov Free State has trade and mutual defense treaties with both the Colonial Union and the Rehorish Stellar Empire. The mutual defense treaties were not signed by choice, but were rather a requirement of the peace treaty between the human states and the Rehorish. Both sides are obligated to come to the defense of the Titov Free State should they be attacked by anyone. This was intended mostly as a ‘trip-wire’ to make it clear that should either side move into the Free State’s territory in force, it would trigger a war. Both sides have the right to station scout groups in the Novosibirsk system as trip-wire forces, and, at times, both sides have had small groups of ships stationed in the system to watch the other side’s forces.
The Novosibirsk system is a nexus of eight warp lines. One of these warp lines leads back to the Colonial Union, while two lead to the Rehorish Stellar Empire. The other five lead to systems discovered by the USSR. Two of the five are starless regions, while the other three contain five habitable planets, four of which are rated either benign or harsh for human habitation. Two of the four were colonized by the USSR prior to the war. These systems have become a point of contention in between the Colonial Union and the Titov Free State. The treaty that created the Free State granted the Titov colony sovereignty over only the Novosibirsk system, and the Russian representatives present for the creation of the treaty insisted that the surrounding colonies would not be considered part of the new Titov Free State, in spite of the fact that their only connection to the Russian territories would now run through the newly independent Free State. As the colonists on Titov and the surrounding systems had no say in the treaty, this was not viewed as an issue at the time the treaty was signed, however, it has become a much larger issue, at least for the Free State, since its formation. The treaty requires the Free State to grant free passage to Colonial Union transports and warships headed for any of these colonies, and prohibits the Free State from exploring or colonizing any of these systems. This situation has become increasingly problematic for the Free State, which has no outlet for growth and expansion. In addition, the surrounding colonies, largely cut off from the Colonial Union mainstream, have been feeling increasingly detached and unrepresented by the Union, especially in light of the increasingly anti-alien and militaristic stance of the Union. They fear that the Colonial Union’s new aggressive political stance will reignite the war, and they have little interest in that.
Therefore, representatives from the surrounding colonies have been meeting with the Free State, tentatively discussing the possibility of joining with them, while the Free State has been pushing the Colonial Union to modify the treaty that created their state, to give them access to at least some of the surrounding systems. Under the previous government, the Colonial Union had little interest in modifying their treaty with the Free State, as their unofficial policy was to keep it weak and contained. This is changing under the new regime in the CU’s Foreign Ministry, which as agreed to talks in Month 147 about this and other issues of interest to the Free State. Representatives from the surrounding colonies have been invited to attend as well.
The Titov Free State is HT-6, although its ships are designed to the HT-5 standards that were prevalent throughout the Soviet territories before the final war. The Free State has recently begun R&D efforts on several HT-6 systems, such as improved shields, but has not begun R&D on the next HT level as that is currently considered to be too expensive.
The Free State has received some of the flow of emigrants from Earth, although not to the same extent of the other human states. With its expansion opportunities limited, the Free State has focused on colonizing the Novosibirsk system, and building freighters to expand its freight network. At the current time, the Free State’s twenty-six destroyer sized freighters provide almost 13% of the government’s budget.
Because of the increased tensions with the Colonial Union over the Free State’s desire to explore and colonize the surrounding systems, the Free State government has decided to build and deploy three additional destroyers to supplement the three it already has.
Total Income (All sources): 4,409 MCr’s
Active Fleet: 3xDD
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D’Bringi Alliance
The Alliance Council, made up of representatives from the D’Bringi, Rehorish, and T’Pau races, has decided that the Mintek will remain the primary focus of the Alliance for the foreseeable future. Because the Mintek remain the primary threat to the Alliance, good relations will be maintained with the human states, and the D’Bringi will seek to form a positive relationship with the Bjering.
D’Bringi Expanses (Founding Member, D’Bringi Alliance)
The B’Regest Clan has successfully converted its heavy cruisers to hybrid cruiser-carrier designs, and has bought many of the corvettes fielded by the other clans, and the Keepers, and plans to convert those to carrier-scout designs. The other clans were thrilled to unload their corvettes, which were built during the war to get more armed hulls to the front lines, and plan to use the money to fund the construction of battlecruisers for their fleets.
The D’Bringi have not mothballed any of their ships, in spite of the strain that this has placed on their economy. The Clans insist that their current fleets are not big enough to cover their commitments, at least not until the other races in the Alliance increase their fleet contributions to Alliance commitments. This has created a situation where the fleet’s maintenance and the R&D budget nearly exceed the total income of the D’Bringi state. This leads directly to month shortfalls as clan colonization efforts are funded, in spite of the shortage of available funds. To cover these shortfalls, the D’Bringi government has been taking payments from the junior Alliance members, who have yet to contribute significant fleet elements to the Alliance defense effort. This has worked well up to now, however, the Torqual and Doraz states have both recently dispatched squadrons to reinforce the Mintek blockade fleet, and both states reasonable expect that their payments to the D’Bringi will be reduced or eliminated given their contributions. The D’Bringi Clan Council has not yet decided on how to deal with their ongoing economic issues.
Because the D’Bringi have not mothballed any ships, and because they have been liquidating industrial investments to fund R&D and limited colonization, their economy has grown at a very weak rate. The Clan Council has become alarmed at this development, and plans are being developed to reduce fleet strength without mothballing ships, primarily by selling ships to the weaker states in the Alliance.
The D’Bringi Clans are currently at HT-7, and are well on their way to reaching HT-8.
Total Income (All sources): 16,281 MCr’s (+1.6%)
Active Fleet: 9xBC, 26xCA, 6xCAV, 1xCVS, 12xCVE, 6xCTV, 14xCT
Rehorish Stellar Dominion (Founding Member, D’Bringi Alliance)
Since their massive fleet refit project was completed, the Rehorish have focused on improving their economy and their technology. Rehorish shipbuilding has fallen off to nearly nothing, with most new construction focused on pre-fabricating new frontier bases that will then be transported to either the Sapporo or the Kure systems, both of which connect to the Titov Free State. The vast bulk of the Dominion’s resources are being devoted to R&D, colonization, and industrial expansion. The Rehorish Stellar Dominion recently reached HT-7, and is developing several HT-7 systems at the current time.
Total Income (All sources): 31,046 MCr’s (+41%)
Active Fleet: 1xBC, 33xCA, 18xCL, 36xDD, 3xCT
T’Pau Syndicate (Full Member)
The T’Pau Syndicate has been focusing most of their available resources into colonial and industrial expansion. The D’Bringi have granted them full access to their territory for exploration and colonization, as the D’Bringi utilize type ST planets, and thus had discovered a fair number of type T planets that they could not use. Since gaining access to those planets, the T’Pau have been busily colonizing every available planet, and thus have seen a dramatic increase in their income. To date, the T’Pau have colonized twelve type T planets in seven systems across the D’Bringi Expanses. In addition, with D’Bringi assistance, the T’Pau have recently reached Ht-6, and are in the final stages of developing several critical systems. Once these systems are developed the T’Pau plan to refit their fleet with the latest technology, and, in addition, plan to dramatically increase the size of their fleet, at the urging of the D’Bringi and Rehorish. In the meantime, the T’Pau have been building large numbers of freighters to lease to the civilian network. To date they have launched twenty destroyer sized freighters, and eight additional freighters are currently under construction.
Total Income (All Sources): 16,714 MCr’s (+50%)
Active Fleet: 9xCA, 12xCL
Bir Meritocracy (Associate Non-Voting Member)
The Bir are currently at IND-1 tech level, and have initiated R&D, with D’Bringi assistance, into IND-2. The Bir have no naval forces at this time, and will not be able to field a fleet for some time.
Total Income (All Sources): 451 MCr’s
Chirq Cooperative (Associate Non-Voting Member)
The Chirq are at IND-2 technology level, and are researching HT-1 with D’Bringi assistance. The Chirq have no naval forces at this time, and will not be able to field a fleet for some time. The Chirq system contains no less than five habitable planets, four of which are type T and one is type ST. The Chirq occupy one of the type T planets, and the D’Bringi have colonized the type ST. The T’Pau recently completed a colonization effort on the other three habitable planets in the system. The Chirq were not given a choice in the matter.
Total Income (All Sources): 976 MCr’s
Doraz Contingency (Associate Non-Voting Member)
The Doraz have reached HT-5, with D’Bringi assistance, and are finalizing R&D on improved armor, after which they will institute refits on their ships to improve their effectiveness. The Doraz fleet currently consists of six heavy cruisers, all of which have been deployed to the Phyriseq system to support the Mintek Blockade. In addition, the Doraz have launched three battlecruiser sized bases to defend their home system.
The primary focus of the Doraz has been to improve their tech and grow their economy. The Doraz only brought the heavy cruisers and bases out of mothballs at the insistence of the D’Bringi and Rehorish, and have no plans to launch more units at the current time.
Total Income (All Sources): 5,851 MCr’s (+67%)
Active Fleet: 6xCA
Torqual Benignity
The Benignity has been focused on improving its technology and growing its economy, and has made great strides in this area. It has finished development of most HT-3 systems, and started research on HT-4. Two colonies have been planets on the two habitable planets of a nearby system, and mining outposts have been placed in several additional systems.
The Benignity’s survey fleet has been recalled to be refitted with improved survey instruments, and six light cruisers have been brought out of mothballs and deployed to support the Mintek Blockade. In addition, the Benignity is working towards a deal with the D’Bringi Keepers to buy several of their older missile-armed heavy cruisers, which will also be deployed to the Blockade.
Total Income (All Sources): 10,036 MCr’s (+35%)
Active Fleet: 6xCL
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Month 146
Human Territories:
The Tomsk Union government agrees to bankroll the Tlatelolco’s R&D efforts, and loan them a significant amount of money to keep their research efforts moving forward.
In the Wunderland Association, Governor Whitmore loses her re-election bid to a New Dawn challenger.
The Tomsk Union completes the emplacement of their communications network, linking their colonized systems together and greatly reducing the amount of time it takes messages to travel between the systems. In addition, the Union’s first battlecruiser is launched. Construction on an additional BC is started in the orbital yards, bringing the number under construction up to three.
D’Bringi Alliance
The Torqual buy six Imperial Favor class heavy cruisers from the D’Bringi Keepers. The cruisers, stationed with the Mintek Blockade group, will remain in the Phyriseq system after they are turned over to the Torqual and will form the backbone of their blockade force.
The Rehorish start construction on eleven battlecruisers. This is part of their ambitious program to replace their heavy cruiser force with battlecruisers.
Independents
The Bjering 1st Survey Group, consisting of three heavy survey cruisers and a destroyer-small-craft-carrier, jumps back to the Surtr system to cover the colonization ships, which have finished unloading their colonists and are hurriedly heading back towards the home system. The colonists are much relieved to see the warships entering the inner system. Beta Fleet, consisting of two battlecruisers, four corvettes and two scout-corvettes, is dispatched from the home system to garrison the Surtr system.
Communication efforts are ongoing between the D’Bringi and the Bjering, and the Bjering and the alien race located in the Outgard system.
Month 147
D’Bringi Alliance
With the successful sale and hand-over of the older Keeper heavy cruisers, the clans are encouraged to begin construction on battlecruisers for their fleets. They plan to eventually replace their older heavy cruisers with battlecruisers, and intend to sell their heavy cruisers to the associate members of the Alliance as the battlecruisers become available. The B’Regest, alone, of the clans doesn’t plan to follow this model, and instead has appropriated the Keeper Doofsnark design (CVS) and has begun construction on several of these carriers to supplement their fleet.
As the first step of this process, three Knucklepuff class heavy cruisers are sold to the Doraz, to reinforce their Blockade squadron. This class, as a medium ranged missile combatant, has long been in disfavor with the clans and they are glad to be getting rid of them in exchange for mega-credits that can be spent on shiny new battlecruisers.
The T’Pau Syndicate begins its long-anticipated refit of its fleet to HT-6 standards. The T’Pau fleet, which served valiantly in the war with the humans, has not seen a refit since the nation was conquered by the D’Bringi. As the current fleet is outfitted largely to HT-3 standards, this will result in a vast improvement in survivability and combat effectiveness.
The Chirq Cooperative reaches HT-1, with D’Bringi assistance. They immediately begin R&D on essential systems, with some D’Bringi economic assistance. This assistance is paid for, in part, from proceeds of the sale of the heavy cruisers to the Doraz.
The B’Regest probe force jumps into the Juath system on Day 25. The six corvette-carrier scouts were dispatched to probe the habitable planet found in the system by explorers several months ago. The probe force detaches one of its scouts to watch their entrance point, while the other five proceed into the system.
Six hours later the probe force’s sensors detected a small population on the habitable planet, and the force came to a halt. After spending some time analyzing the planetary transmissions, it became clear that the probe force had found a Mintek colony. The force immediately turned back to the warp point. Once they arrived, the commander ordered the group to shut-down their drive fields and go dark, all except one which was to jump back to the next system and report back through the comms network.
Independents
Bjering Consolidate
The Bjering finally establish full communications with the aliens discovered in the Outgard system. The aliens call themselves the Bedu Republic. They are humanoid, and superficially appear similar to humans, although a small human delegation from the Tomsk Union that accompanied the contact fleet has stated privately to the Bjering that the Bedu are remarkably ugly to human perception. To the Bjering, who are also humanoid, both the humans and the Bedu look equally odd.
The Bjering begin by offering the Bedu a trade alliance, however, the Bedu, who appear to be a cautious people, decline the offer. Negotiations continue.
Beta Fleet arrives in the Surtr system to find the two Bjering colonies in place and no alien ships. The fleet settles in over the main colony in the system and sets up patrols to watch for any anomalies.
Humanity
The Colonial Union and the Titov Free State successfully complete negotiations on the status of the Free State and its access to the colonies surrounding it. The Colonial Union’s Foreign Ministry, which had been against any changes to the treaty that created the Free State, has changed its stance as it came under the control of the New Dawn Party, and now supports the idea. The New Dawn Party’s stance on this issue is largely related to improving the relationship between the Union and the Free State, as the New Dawn Party has the ultimate ambition of reuniting humanity, and, as the first step towards that goal, wants to improve its relations with all of the human governments.
The D’Bringi Alliance also agrees to this change in the status of the Titov colony, as it won’t materially change the overall situation, or their status as a buffer state. Indeed, this will improve their utility, as it will strengthen their economy and their military capability, but no to the point where they could become a threat or rival in any reasonable amount of time.
The new agreement gives the Titov Free State control of the surrounding systems, including the colonies located in those systems, with the wholehearted agreement of those colonies. The loss of income from the two colonies transferred to the Free State is negligible as far as the Colonial Union is concerned, but their economic output is a welcome addition to the Free State’s economy.
Month 148
Independents
Mintek System
First Strategos Neeron bowed before the Chancellor and the Minister for Equity and Inclusion, then took the offered seat in the Chancellor’s office.
They spoke of inconsequential things for a time, as was the custom, and then the Chancellor decided to get down to business. “How go the preparations, First Strategos?”
First Strategos Neeron felt tense. The Chancellor and the Minister for ME&I had supported him after his disastrous offensive into D’Bringi space, and with their support he had survived the aftermath. He would not survive another such disaster. “The Fleet is restored. In addition, the new carrier strike group is filled out, and operational, with the latest ships launched from the yards.”
“So, in your opinion, we are ready for Operation Odysseus?”
Neeron took a deep breath. They would not react well to weasel words, or half-hearted statements. They wanted his opinion, but they wanted him to commit to either a negative or affirmative stance. “We are ready.” The other two nodded, but before they could speak, he held up his hand. “However, I continue to be concerned about our defenses here in the home system. Three of our nine defensive bases at the warp point to the Phyriseq system are being refitted, and three of the remaining are still the older design. I would propose that while the 1st Fast Attack Group and the 1st Carrier Strike Group are out of the system, the Assault Group be deployed to the warp point to reinforce the defenses there.”
The Chancellor and the Chief Minister paused and looked at each other, before Minister Turval nodded. “Strategos, will you not need the Assault Group for Operation Odysseus?”
“With the addition of the Carrier Strike Group, I believe that our forces will be more than strong enough to deal with any eventuality. And we must protect the home system! The three bases now refitting won’t be complete for three to four months. In the meantime, the Assault Group will more than make up for their absence.”
“Very well, Operation Odysseus is approved.” Chancellor Durkhon settled back into his chair. “You will take the fleet to the Rhodes system and establish contact with the natives there. Your fleet will remain in a defensive stance, unless the aliens make any aggressive moves, is that understood?”
“Yes, Chancellor.”
Minister Turval leaned forward and gestured, and a young Mintek entered from the other room. “My Chief Advocate will be accompanying you. It will be her job, and hers alone, to determine the method that we will take to introduce this race to the truth. If she decides that the aliens will actively resist our attempts to enlighten them, then it will be upon you, and your fleet, to open the way for our enlightenment to move forward.”
Chancellor Durkon nodded. “The Council has met, and the Grand Senate agrees. This new race is to be enlightened. If they are willing to see the truth, then the enlightenment will be allowed to move forward at its own pace. If not, then we will bring them to the truth, regardless of the cost to our people. It is our duty.”
Neeron stood to attention. “Understood!” He turned to leave, as the Chancellor and the Minister resumed their conversation about the planned return to D’Bringi space, which had been delayed due to the discovery of the new race.
The Fleet set out that afternoon for the frontier. The 1st Carrier Group consisted of six light carriers, a strike carrier, and an escort carrier, with a total of one hundred and seventy-four fighters and six armed pinnaces. The carriers were escorted by three destroyers. The 1st Fast Attack Group consisted of six battlecruisers and nine destroyers, along with Neeron’s command battlecruiser. They would arrive next month.
D’Bringi Alliance
The Rehorish now have twenty-one battlecruisers under construction in their home system yards, in varying stages of completion. Where the D’Bringi have been talking about upgrading their strike force to battlecruisers, the Rehorish have acted. It will be three months before the first new BC launches, and then several more will launch every month after that.
On the frontier, a D’Bringi survey ship jumped into a newly discovered system, finding itself just 84 light minutes from the system primary. Worse, the system had a type T planet located on the edge of long-range scanner range of the warp point. The scout didn’t have long-range scanners itself, and couldn’t tell whether the planet was inhabited or not. Following protocol, the scout jumped back out of the system without probing further. A message was generated and sent back to the comm network, informing the clans about the discovery. On the planet, the locals had detected the ship entering the system. The detection caused a great amount of excitement. After all, what race advanced enough to travel the stars would be so regressive as to be hostile?
The message confirming the discovery of a Mintek colony from the B’Regest probe force arrives on D’Bringi Prime early in the month. Messages are immediately sent to the other races in the alliance, and the Alliance Grand Council is scheduled to meet next month to determine the strategy going forward.
The efforts to establish communications with the Bjering finally bear fruit this month, and full comms are established. The D’Bringi immediately offer a trade agreement, which the Bjering agree to. The D’Bringi are overjoyed, while the Bjering are cautious. They know the history between the D’Bringi Alliance and humanity, and view the D’Bringi as conquerors and the Rehorish as liars.
Humanity
The Enlightened Union of the Tlatelolco launches a shipyard complex into orbit over their home planet. They will not be able to start construction on new ships for some time yet, as they are still researching vital systems like life support, but it is a big step forward for the Tlatelolco.
The Consolidated Earth States are forced to mothball more of their defenses in order to reduce their maintenance overhead, so that they can hope to meet the cost of the ongoing emigration from Earth.
Month 149
D’Bringi Alliance
The D’Bringi sell three more capital missile armed heavy cruisers to the Torqual Benignity. In addition, two medium range missile equipped heavy cruisers are sold to the T’Pau.
Independents
The Bjering reach HT-8 and begin research into several new systems, including fighters, immediately.
The Titov Free State’s exploration group begins probing warp points in the Magnitogorsk system, adjacent to their home system. The warp points had been discovered by Russian explorers some time ago, but had never been probed. The three warp points lead to a starless nexus, an orange star system with no habitable planets, and a system with a type T planet. The explorers determine almost immediately that the planet is a human colony in the Wunderland Association.
Humanity
The Colonial Union and the Wunderland Association announce their plans to amalgamate in six months.
Month 149, Day 1, D’Bringi Alliance Supreme Council
The Supreme Council consisted of three voting members, a D’Bringi, a Rehorish, and a T’Pau, and four ‘observers’ from the minor races within the Alliance. The observers could speak, give testimony or advance proposals, but the three voting members were the ones that made the decisions. In theory, the three voting members were equal, but some were more equal than others. The D’Bringi viewed themselves as the founder and senior race of the Alliance, and had the largest fleet, and thus their opinion carried much weight within the Council. The Rehorish, with the second largest fleet and the largest economy, also viewed themselves as a senior member of the Alliance, and generally viewed themselves as superior to the other races. Thus, they viewed themselves as the natural leaders of the Alliance. The T’Pau, as the newest voting member of the Alliance, and the weakest of the three voting members, tended to take a secondary role, acting as a tie breaker in disputes between the two more senior races. The T’Pau tended to side with the D’Bringi most of the time, as the D’Bringi were their patrons within the Alliance, but this loyalty was not absolute, and over time the T’Pau had been taking more of an independent stance, advocating for exploration, economic expansion, and a more peaceful approach to bringing new races into the Alliance.
Now, the three voting members of the Council met to discuss the news that a Mintek colony world had been discovered. The non-voting members were not invited. They would attend a later meeting, where the decisions made here were discussed. At that time, they would be given a chance to provide input, but for now the three primary members would make the decisions amongst themselves. A briefer from Clan B’Regest had been admitted to bring them up to speed. Seeing that the Council was ready, the B’Regest officer activated a control, and a warp map sprang up over the Council’s table, showing the relevant warp route from D’Bringi Prime to the Mintek colony.
“As you can see, the newly discovered Mintek colony is eight jumps from the D’Bringi home system, seven from the T’Pau, and eight from the Rehorish home system. Our entry point into the Mintek system is through a closed warp point located one hundred and eight light minutes from the system primary, well outside of detection range from the Mintek colony. Our ships never came within detection range of the colony, and we detected no Mintek ships in the system, so we believe that the Mintek do not know of our presence.”
The Rehorish representative leaned forward, her exoskeleton rustling drily. “How sure are you that you were not detected?”
“Our confidence is high. However, it is always possible that the exploration ship that probed the system first was detected, if the Mintek had a long-range scanner equipped ship in the system, however, our probe force detected no such ships, and surely if the Mintek had detected our survey ship, they would have sent a large force to the system to secure it against intrusion.”
The Rehorish representative shook her head. “So, you do not know.”
The B’Regest officer gestured assent. “We cannot be certain, of course. We have stationed one of our scouts in the system to watch for Mintek activity, and so far, they have detected nothing.” After waiting a few seconds for the representatives to ask further questions, the officer continued. “Several days ago, our scout detected a drive field entered the system just thirty-six light minutes in-system from their location at our entry point. The drive field immediately headed in-system towards the colony. We believe this to be a freighter dropping off supplies and picking up raw material for shipment back to the central worlds of the Mintek Empire. We do not believe that the Mintek would have allowed us to detect that ship if they were aware of our presence.”
The three Council members looked at each for a few seconds before the Rehorish representative nodded. “Thank you. Do you have any other information for us?”
The B’Regest officer stood to attention. “Not at this time.”
The D’Bringi representative, the Clan Chief of the T’Chau, waived at the officer. “You may go.”
The three leaders watched as the officer left, and then turned to each other. The D’Bringi spoke first. “The Clans wish to attack. Immediately.”
The Rehorish leader made a sound that was the equivalent of a very dramatic human sigh. “Of course, they do. Shocking.”
The T’Pau sat silently, biding his time.
After a few seconds the D’Bringi leader stood. “I must admit, this is not a particularly good time for an attack. However, the target stands undefended. A squadron of cruisers and a small ground attack force would be sufficient to take it.” He paused, and the Rehorish moved to answer, but before she could Burning Blade continued. “I know. What next? The Mintek will respond and we will have to draw in forces from our other commitments, which we cannot currently afford to do.”
The Rehorish, mollified, signaled agreement by dipping her antennae. “We have a massive force of modern battlecruisers under construction. They will be worked up and ready for action within six months. By that time our border defenses will be in place and we will be able to withdraw ships from those locations to bolster any attack force.”
The D’Bringi Clan Chief turned to the T’Pau representative. “And what do the T’Pau think on this matter?”
The T’Pau shifted uncomfortably, its leathery skin rustling against the ceremonial robe it wore to the meetings. “The T’Pau would also support waiting. Our fleet is currently undergoing refits, the result of which will be a much more powerful force.”
The D’Bringi looked at his fellow leaders, inwardly pleased. His fellow clan leaders were dead set on an immediate attack, and he had been unable to shift them off of that determination. Now, though, with the Council behind him, they would be unable to act without overturning the Alliance, something even they would be hesitant to do. There would be a price for him to pay, as the other clan chiefs would no doubt believe he had manipulated the Council into supporting his wishes, but still, the outcome had been worth it. To attack now would-be suicide. “So be it. We will wait.”
Month 149, Day 5, Mintek Universal Union
Ten days ago, the Mintek fleet jumped into the Sparta system, a colonized border system three jumps from the home system. The fleet is now approaching a warp point in the outer system which leads to a system containing a newly discovered race. For now, the system has been designated as the Rhodes system, until they can learn what the new race calls itself and its system. The fleet comes to a halt at the warp point and two ships, a long-range scanner equipped escort carrier and the Strike Group flagship, a light carrier, jump through to the other system.
The two ships materialize in the target system, just forty-eight light minutes from the system primary. The system is a binary star system. The primary is a yellow star with six planets, while the secondary star is a small red dwarf, with five planets and a distant asteroid belt. A habitable type T planet orbits the primary, and the two Mintek ships materialized just thirty-six light seconds from the inhabited planet, well within its detection range.
Once in the new system, the CVL comes to a halt on the warp point while the CVE proceeds towards the inhabited planet. The Mintek flagship’s sensors detect numerous drive fields surrounding the inhabited planet, as well as a scattering of drive fields all through the primary star system. Shortly after their entry into the system, a group of drive fields leaves the planet and heads for their location. Shortly thereafter the Mintek begin receiving transmissions from the planet. Strategos Neeron orders the CVE to come to a halt when it is six light minutes from the warp point, and they wait for the locals to come to them. Friendship messages are sent back to the locals in the meantime, assuring them that the Mintek mean them no harm.
One day later the local force arrives at the Mintek CVE’s location. The local force consists of three battlecruisers, six destroyers, and six corvettes. Neeron is encouraged. The force is respectable, but not overwhelming. The locals settle in fifteen light seconds from the Mintek CVE and the two races begin exchanging first contact messages.
Month 150
Humanity
The flow of emigrants from Earth continues unabated. The three states receiving the emigrants have pushed the flow of people farther and farther out, to distribute the population increases more evenly and to build up their frontier colonies. This has had the effect of boosting the cost of transporting the colonists, which the newly burgeoning economies of the colonial states can absorb. Unfortunately, the faltering economy of the home system cannot absorb these costs. Five months ago, the CES was able to pay the portion of the transportation costs that had been forced on them by the colonial governments only by liquidating most of their industrial holdings. The last five months have not been enough time to recover their position, and the debt that is facing them is overwhelming. There is no way the CES can possibly pay off their portion of the cost of transporting the emigrants, even if all remaining investments were liquidated, and all of their government owned freighters were sold. The CES government appeals to the colonial governments for aide and relief. The Tomsk Union, which had been uncomfortable with the ultimatum given to the CES five months ago, immediately agrees to pay the entire share of the cost associated with shipping the emigrants headed its way, relieving the CES of a third of its burden. The Colonial Union and the Wunderland Association play hardball, though. Both hold fast on their demand that the CES pay its share, and threaten naval blockade should they fail to do so.
The CES, faced with this threat, suffers a political crisis. There is no way they could possibly pay the outstanding debt. Even if their entire portfolio of industrial investments was liquidated, it would only raise enough to pay approximately 40% of the debt. A proposal was made to sell the existing fleet of government colony transports, which, if purchased for full value would raise enough to make up the difference, however, the Colonial Union and the Wunderland Association indicated that they would not allow such a deal to go forward, for the good of the CES. After all, if they sold their transports, which provided nearly a quarter of the government’s income, how could they possibly pay the next colonization cost instalment five months from now?
The CES is thrown into political chaos. They cannot allow the flow of emigrants to stop, if they do Earth’s fragile environment will collapse and hundreds of millions will die. That is when the Colonial Union and the Wunderland Association step in with a proposal. They will agree to relieve the CES of the burden of paying for the flow of emigrants, however, the CES will have to agree to end emigrant shipments to the Tomsk Union and to open negotiations with the Colonial Union with the eventual goal of joining the Union.
The CES has little choice, and its leaders know it. The Colonial Union controls the CES’s routes to all of the other human states, and should the United Colonial Defense Force support the Union’s blockade of the home system, the CES would have no choice but to join the Colonial Union or they would collapse within a matter of months. The CES’s government was unwilling to take the chance of collapse, and so agreed to all of the Colonial Union’s demands. The two governments will begin working towards amalgamation.
Month 150
D’Bringi Alliance
The D’Bringi reach HT-8 this month. Massive amounts of resources are diverted from colonization and other projects to fund R&D on new systems. The D’Bringi also levy fees from the Torqual to cover some the expenses, in exchange for continued R&D assistance.
The D’Bringi probe force arrives in the Rhoeng system, on the frontier, this month. The system has three habitable planets, divided between the primary and secondary systems, and the D’Bringi entry point into the system, a closed warp point, is located just outside of detection range of the single type T planet orbiting the system primary. The D’Bringi scout ship’s sensors immediately detect a very large population on the type T planet, and along with numerous drive field contacts moving between the various moons and asteroids of the system. The scout, following SOP, drops its drive field and sends a CD back to the rest of the probe force.
This news, when it reaches the Alliance Council, stimulates an intense debate between the Rehorish and the D’Bringi representatives. In the past, the Rehorish have acquiesced to the D’Bringi habit of conquering every new race they meet, although they had exerted themselves to convince the D’Bringi to develop the conquered races as allies, rather than installing a perpetual occupation. Now, though, the Rehorish representative pushes the D’Bringi to take an alternative route. Instead of sending a fleet to conquer the new race, the Rehorish representative pushes the D’Bringi to establish peaceful contact, and to use diplomacy to entice the new race into the Alliance, instead of force. The T’Pau remain neutral in the debate, leaving the Rehorish and D’Bringi to debate the issue. However, the T’Pau have advocated for peaceful contact with alien races in the past, and their feelings in the matter are fairly clear. The D’Bringi representative is unwilling to change their standard operating procedure so much, but is willing to talk about it with their race’s strongest ally, so further discussions are scheduled.
Independents
The Bjering make another attempt to convince the Bedu to sign a treaty with them. In response, the Bedu demand that the Bjering leave their system and not return. The Bedu make it clear they wish no further contact with the Bjering and demand that their ships depart immediately. The Bjering are disappointed, but Gamma Admiral sees little alternative other than withdrawing. The contact ship turns to depart, followed closely by the Bedu contact force. The Bedu will follow the Bjering ship all the way to the warp point, and are close enough to observe the Bjering ship jump out, although they weren’t quite close enough to completely localize the closed warp point that the Bjering ship used to leave the system.
The Mintek force under Strategos Neeron establishes full communications with the local race. The locals call themselves the Alowan Triumvirate. The Alowan are tall, spindly bipeds with grey skin and heads with tentacles dangling from the front. A human would say that their heads appear distinctly squid-like. The Alowan are friendly, and welcome contact with their new neighbors. Strategos Neeron pushes immediately for the Alowan to sign a trade and military treaty, and the Alowan refuse, perhaps put off by Neeron’s rush to form close ties between the two races.
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Races of the Cold War Campaign (As of Month 150)
First, a note for those not familiar with Starfire. I will give populations in both actual population numbers, and in PU’s (population units). Population units are how Starfire calculates a population’s income, and are not a direct one-to-one representation of people. There are several different sizes of populations, ranging from outpost, colony, settlement, small, medium, large, and very large. For the outposts, colonies, and settlements, a population unit equals approximately 50,000 people, however, for the larger populations the PU’s represent a larger and larger number of people. For example, one PU for a very large population represents 22.5 million people. Therefore, a home world might have a population of 40 billion, and generates far more wealth than a settlement with just 7 million people, but it doesn’t generate 5,300 times the income that the settlement produces, as its population would suggest. That’s because the maximum PU’s on a very large world is 3,200, which is just over 21 times as large.
In any case, I give the actual population numbers just because I thought it would be interesting. The real measure of a race’s productivity is in its PU’s, and that’s where the comparison should be made.
Major Races
Human
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 54
Total Population Units (PU): 16,512
Total Population: 1,880,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 43
Tech Level: 6
Humanity originates on the planet Earth, in the Solar System. The Humans on Earth were divided into at least three separate groups, the USSR, the Coalition, and the neutral nations, however, the situation was inherently unstable and two nuclear wars effectively destroyed the two major nations and severely damaged the planetary environment.
Currently, Humanity is broken up into several major and minor governments, the largest of which represent the colonies of the former USSR and the Coalition. The Colonial Union, Tomsk Union, Wunderland Association, the Titov Free State, and Consolidated Earth States currently govern over the various branches of Humanity. The Colonial Union is moving towards amalgamating the Wunderland Association and the Consolidated Earth States, and both of its two largest political parties has as one of their core tenets the necessity of uniting Humanity under one government, although the parties differ on how this is to be accomplished. Unification may prove difficult, as treaties with the D’Bringi Alliance prevent the Colonial Union from increasing its control over the Titov Free State, and the Tomsk Union has moved away from the Colonial Union politically, largely because of the Colonial Union’s increasingly strident anti-alien sentiments.
The governments of the Colonial Union and the Tomsk Union share many characteristics. In the aftermath of the destruction of their parent governments on Earth, the two colonial governments have eschewed arguments about ideology and focused more squarely on survival in a hostile universe. Both governments consider themselves a confederation of colonial governments, with the central government holding some power, but with the bulk of the real power in the nations residing in the planetary governments. Under this system the planetary governors hold significant executive powers, and the central government has limited authority to intervene in internal matters. In the Tomsk Union, which is smaller and more homogenous, there is a significant amount of uniformity across the colonies, with all of the constituent colonies ruled by elected leaders with planetary legislatures leavening the power of the elected leaders. In the Colonial Union there is a far wider variation, with some colonies being ruled by former military officers with an iron fist, or corporate strongmen, to the inner colonies which are cosmopolitan and democratic. This wide variation within the Colonial Union has led to calls within the Grand Senate for a centralization of power within the Senate, to give the central government the power to remedy excesses and abuses by some of the colonial governments. It is not clear how the Senate would grant this power to itself under the current system, as the independence of the member colonies is clearly established, as the central colonies that founded the Union did not want the new national government meddling within their colonies at the behest of their neighbors.
Given the current political climate across the Human territories, it is unlikely the Colonial Union will be able to continue peacefully absorbing the other human governments after the upcoming amalgamations of the CES and the Wunderland Association. What the Colonial Union’s course will be after the amalgamations remains to be seen.
The Tomsk Union is in a close relationship with the Bjering Consolidate (Partnership), and the two races have discussed the possibility of joining together in a union or alliance, although neither race has committed to that at the current time. The Tomsk Union has also become the primary protector of the United D’Bringi Soviets (UDS), the D’Bringi miners liberated by the USSR during the war. The UDS was relocated to Tomsk territory after the fall of Earth, and the Colonial Union recently handed off responsibility for the UDS to the Tomsk government. The Colonial Union also has contact with the Rehorish Stellar Dominion (member of the D’Bringi Alliance), with which it has a non-intercourse relationship. All contact with the Rehorish is through the Titov Free State, the buffer state set up between the Colonial Union and the Rehorish empire. Finally, the Colonial Union has treaties with the Tlatelolco, in the Wunderland Association, and a non-interference agreement with the Tarek, in the Sligo system. The Union’s relationship with the Tlatelolco has cooled over the last year, as the Colonial Union became more xenophobic, but the Tlatelolco maintain cordial relations with several factions in the Colonial Senate. The Wunderland Association has formed a trade relationship with the Bjering after that race found a direct route into Association territory. Although the Association has been growing increasingly anti-alien, its constituent governments overruled the central government’s reluctance to deal with the Bjering, largely because of pressure from the various corporations involved in interstellar trade throughout the Association.
D’Bringi
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 9
Total Population Units (PU): 4,674
Total Population: 14,400,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 14
Tech Level: 8
The D’Bringi are lizard-like beings that evolved on a hot, dry ST type planet. The D’Bringi Home System is a binary system with five gas giants, four uninhabitable rocky planets, eighteen moons, and an asteroid belt along with their home planet. The D’Bringi Clans were nomadic in origin, although they have long since become city dwellers, and the Clans were and are very warlike. This warlike nature ultimately allowed them to unify their planet prior to the development of the drive field.
D’Bringi society is organized around clans rather than cities or nations. Clans are central to almost all areas of D’Bringi society. Only a relatively small number of D’Bringi, less than 10%, are clan-less, and these people are considered the lowest of the low and beneath honor. The bulk of D’Bringi, perhaps 50-60%, belong to the small to medium sized clans that run most of D’Bringi society. The remainder belong to the three major ruling clans and their associated and allied clans.
The D’Bringi are ruled by a Clan Council that has representatives from the three largest and most powerful clans, along with the leader of the Keepers. In theory this Council is all-powerful, however, in reality the various clans are left to rule themselves and their members as they wish, with little or no interference from the other, more powerful clans, as long as they don’t interfere with the major clans too much. Most of internal and external clan relations are governed by a complex set of traditions that allow the clans to work together with a minimum of friction to reach the goals set by the Clan Council.
Much of the D’Bringi world-view was formed by their interactions with the more advanced nations that surrounded them before and during their conquest of their home planet. The D’Bringi clans had the advantage of a warlike nature and a nomadic mindset, but the surrounding nations were almost all more advanced in terms of technology and industry. The D’Bringi were able to conquer their neighbors and become the rulers of the entire race through cunning and an ability to pit their adversaries against each other, along with ability to utilize technology stolen from or otherwise acquired from their enemies. When the D’Bringi began expanding beyond their own system, they continued this mindset of conquering their opponents and then incorporating them within their own nation, first with the T’Pau, and then with the other, smaller races that they met as they expanded. This approach failed with the Humans, and the D’Bringi Council decided upon a different approach with the Rehorish, who were considered too powerful to conquer at the time they were found.
Prior to the intervention of the Rehorish, and their experiences with the T’Pau, the D’Bringi Clans planned to conquer every race they met, occupy them and divert their wealth and resources to support the D’Bringi nation. No thought was given to the end game with such races, as the clans were focused on amassing as much wealth and power as they could gather. The war with the Humans strained the D’Bringi Expanses to the maximum, increasing their reliance on the T’Pau for military support, and on the other conquered races for economic support, and revealed the overall weakness of the D’Bringi system. By permanently relegating the subject races to a limited role within their empire, the D’Bringi were crippling a significant part of their economy. After the Mintek tried to subvert several of their subject species, and the T’Pau fleet’s valiant performance in action against the Mintek, the Clan Council realized that their approach had been myopic and short-sighted. Since then, the D’Bringi have taken the role of mentor to these other races. Under this system, the new races are brought into the D’Bringi Expanses by force, but after a short period of occupation where their government is reordered to be more amenable to inclusion within the D’Bringi interstellar empire, they are released from direct control and bound to the D’Bringi Expanses by a web of treaties, along with the clear expectation that they will continue to act in the best interest of the Alliance as a whole, rather than their own limited self-interest. To date this has worked well, however, the Rehorish are now pushing for the D’Bringi to begin trying to incorporate new races into their empire through peaceful measures first, before resorting to military action. The D’Bringi have been willing to at least talk to the Rehorish about this, as the other changes have resulted in vast improvements in the overall strength of the D’Bringi Expanses and the D’Bringi Alliance overall.
The D’Bringi Alliance was created by the D’Bringi and the Rehorish to coordinate their actions against the humans during the war, and to bring all of the races they had contacted within the same governmental umbrella. The Grand Alliance Council controls all inter-race relations and can dictate terms to member governments, although that tends to be one-way, with the D’Bringi and Rehorish dictating terms to the other member governments. Enlarging the Grand Council by adding a T’Pau member was viewed by most Rehorish as a method of diluting Rehorish power and influence within the Alliance Council, however, the Rehorish ended up supporting the elevation of the T’Pau any as they feared breaking the Alliance in a time when they had several external enemies.
T’Pau had gained such respect by their steadfast actions during the war against the Mintek that the D’Bringi found themselves fully in support of elevating the T’Pau, and with Rehorish support it was a foregone conclusion. Since their elevation, the T’Pau have been very careful to vote mostly in lockstep with the D’Bringi, ensuring that their patrons have no reason to doubt their loyalty.
For the D’Bringi, the Alliance is a way to ensure that they continue to have influence beyond what their population and economy would otherwise allow. The D’Bringi have long been the least populous of the three main Alliance races, largely because of their preference for type “ST” worlds. Just recently the T’Pau became the second most productive race within the Alliance, after the Rehorish. In fact, the D’Bringi’s largest advantages are their higher tech level, and the fact that all of the other races in the Alliance are bound to them, rather than the Rehorish. The exploration that the D’Bringi have done since their discovery of the drive field has taught them that worlds suitable for their colonization are much less common than the type “T” worlds that most other races are suited for, putting them at a significant disadvantage. Indeed, the increasing advantage that the Rehorish had over the D’Bringi in terms of their rapidly expanding economy was the primary reason that the D’Bringi granted their loyal allies the T’Pau rights to survey and colonize type T worlds through the D’Bringi Expanses. The Rehorish had long been pushing for permission to exploit those worlds, which had largely remained fallow and unexploited during D’Bringi expansion. D’Bringi resistance to this proposal by the Rehorish was growing increasingly troublesome in their relationship with the other primary race of the Alliance, but the D’Bringi government could easily foresee a time when they were reduced to a minor race within the Alliance, particularly if they gave the already rapidly growing Rehorish access to so many type T planets. Thus, granting the T’Pau access to those planets solved several problems for the D’Bringi at once.
Rehorish
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 28
Total Population Units (PU): 10,218
Total Population: 40,520,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 17
Tech Level: 7
The Rehorish are bipedal, and generally larger than D’Bringi, who average approximately the same height as humans. Bipedal is where their similarities with most of the other races ends, as the Rehorish are insect-like, with a carapace that extends from the back of their heads down their backs. Their heads are comparatively small and set forward on their upper chest, and contain only their sensory organs, with their brain being located directly under their shell in the middle of their back. They have two eyes and two antennae in their heads with a small mouth hidden at the bottom of their head. They have two thickly muscled arms and two equally muscled legs, and a number of smaller grasping appendages down their sides. For all of their different appearance, the Rehorish bear their young live and form family groupings more or less similar to those of the D’Bringi and the humans.
Like the D’Bringi, the Rehorish government was originally formed by an alliance of the major clans that ruled the bulk of Rehorish Prime prior to the discovery of the drive field. Unlike the D’Bringi, the Rehorish have long evolved past the direct involvement of clans in their government, with the remaining clans being more of social organizations than anything else. The current Rehorish government is a form of democratic constitutional monarchy, with the clan elders and Patriarchs and Matriarchs in theory wielding considerable power, but in actuality this power is severely limited due to tradition and practice.
The Rehorish have been in space for a considerable amount of time, and long-ago established colonies throughout their system, but had missed the existence of warp points until a D’Bringi ship arrived in their system and established contact. The Rehorish are somewhat arrogant, and consider themselves to be the senior race in the Alliance, generally justifying that belief by pointing out how long they have been in space compared to the other races, and by how long their current form of government has existed compared with the much younger governments of the other races. The Rehorish have gone to lengths to moderate this arrogance when dealing with the other races, as they recognize that this attitude can be counterproductive, and that they need to the other races and the Alliance given the dangerous nature of the galaxy. They have not been entirely successful in hiding this attribute, though, and most of the other races in the Alliance consider them stuck up and difficult to deal with, although they are also considered valuable allies and brave fighters. The junior races of the Alliance also appreciate the Rehorish for advocating for a more moderate approach from the D’Bringi towards the incorporation and participation of the younger races, and are willing to overlook their stuffiness because of that.
T’Pau
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 15
Total Population Units (PU): 6,115
Total Population: 28,190,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 9
Tech Level: 6
The T’Pau are bipedal and generally humanoid in appearance. They are generally taller and skinnier than most humans, or D’Bringi for that matter, and are hairless and covered with thick, leathery skin. The T’Pau have an elongated head, with boney spikes protruding from the backs of their heads, and a spikey ridge running down their backs.
The T’Pau government is called the Syndicate, and it is a loose confederation of nations and city-states on their home planet. The member states have a number of governmental types, ranging from absolute democracy to totalitarian dictatorships, but the overall format of the planetary government is a republic, with representatives to the interplanetary legislature selected from the various member states, and the leadership of the Council of Ministers selected by the legislature from its members.
The T’Pau home system is located adjacent to the D’Bringi home system, and they were conquered by the D’Bringi after the D’Bringi discovered warp point travel, becoming the first race to be incorporated within the D’Bringi Expanses. The T’Pau were granted a limited form of independence prior to the second phase of the war between the D’Bringi Alliance and Humanity, but were very much considered a junior and subordinate member of the Alliance by the D’Bringi until the war with the Mintek started. The T’Pau had resigned themselves to being subjects of the D’Bringi, and their government had collectively come to the decision that they would strive to show the D’Bringi that they would be good and loyal members of their Alliance, in the hopes that this show of loyalty would better their position. The performance of the T’Pau fleet in the battles with the Mintek so impressed the warlike D’Bringi that when the Rehorish suggested a new model for the newer races within the Alliance, granting them increased independence and a say in how things were run, the D’Bringi readily agreed to elevating the T’Pau.
Currently the T’Pau are one of three voting members of the Alliance, along with the Rehorish and the D’Bringi. D’Bringi military occupation of the T’Pau system has ended, and all D’Bringi ‘advisors’ have been withdrawn. The D’Bringi still retain unlimited rights of transit through the T’Pau system, as it is their only link to their colonies and allies, but the T’Pau have been granted control of their own system in all other respects. In addition, the T’Pau have been granted colonization and exploration rights throughout the D’Bringi Expanses, which has allowed them to vastly expand their empire and improve their economy to the point that they are now the second most productive species within the Alliance.
Bjering
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 8
Total Population Units (PU): 5,141
Total Population: 24,840,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 7
Tech Level: 8
The Bjering are a bipedal humanoid race, with light green skin and average height. The Bjering tend to be accepting of other races, and are very militaristic. Some time before being contacted by the USSR, the central Bjering government, which had always been somewhat weak and chaotic, and dominated by special interests, corporations, and regional governments, collapsed and was replaced by a group of military leaders that took control of the remaining organs of government by dint of their control of the Bjering fleet. The rule of the Bjering admirals has lasted longer than anyone could have predicted, largely because of their decision to remain out of local issues, allowing corporations, local governments, and special interests to resolve their differences on their own, as long as their actions didn’t threaten the entire race or the fleet. To outsiders the Bjering system appears chaotic, however, in spite of the apparent chaos, the system as a whole appears to be stable, at least so far.
The Bjering prefer peaceful relations with their neighbors, and prefer military alliances over trade, although they are not above engaging in trade as a way to support their fleet. For the last several months the Bjering have been exploring the possibility of joining their system together with the Tomsk Union, but while both sides seem to be willing to at least explore the possibility, it remains to be seen if two races so different in their approaches to governance can combine into one system.
The Bjering remain independent of entangling alliances with the two main powers in known space, the D’Bringi Alliance and the growing Colonial Union. They have agreed to a trade relationship with the Wunderland Association, and have recently reluctantly agreed to trade with the D’Bringi. This is in spite of their preferred approach to dealing with other races of binding them with military agreements. The Bjering have taken this cautious approach because they don’t trust the D’Bringi, who they view as oath-breakers, and because the increasing xenophobia of the Colonial Union/Wunderland Association is troubling.
Mintek
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 17
Total Population Units (PU): 8,481
Total Population: 53,050,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 11
Tech Level: 8
The Mintek are bipedal humanoids so similar to humans that he D’Bringi at first believed that they had discovered a branch of humanity when they first discovered the Mintek. There are many internal physiological differences, but the primary visual difference between a Mintek and a Human is the hard shell that covers the back of a Mintek’s head. The Mintek are ruled by a strong, centralized federal government. Most of the government’s leaders and members are selected from graduates of certain approved training schools that emphasize efficiency and technical competency, and the overall government can be considered a meritocracy.
The Mintek home system contains three habitable planets. One is the home planet for the Mintek race itself, but the Mintek Universal Union contains two additional races. The second race is the Beoratal, who evolved on the second planet of the binary system’s secondary star (the Mintek evolved on the third planet in the same system). The Beoratal are smaller than the average Mintek, although they tend to mass more as their bodies are longer. The Beoratal have six legs, an exoskeleton, and would appear to a human as similar to a large, albeit misshapen, grasshopper. Early relations between the Beoratal and the Mintek were troubled, and ultimately resulted in the conquest and incorporation of the Beoratal into the Mintek Universal Union shortly after the Mintek discovered the drive field. By the time the D’Bringi discovered the Mintek the Beoratal had been completely incorporated within the Universal Union, and in all ways were considered part of the Mintek race. The third race within the Union are the D’Bringi that were enlightened prior to the time when D’Bringi belligerence brought an end to peaceful contact between the two races. There are just under three million D’Bringi living and prospering on the third planet in the primary star system in the Mintek binary system, and although they have not achieved the level of integration that the Beoratal have, they are on track to become productive and happy members of the Union in the future.
The Mintek view themselves as cosmopolitan and advanced, and open and accepting of other races. If asked, they would point to the status of the Beoratal within their society as evidence of their accepting nature, and indeed, by law the Beoratal are considered equal in every way. In fact, although they are treated with equal respect and allowed much self-rule, the Beoratal are considered very much secondary members of the Union. While in theory the Beoratal can serve in the military, the vast bulk of the Union’s military is composed of Mintek, with no Beoratal achieving a higher rank than lieutenant in the survey corps. In spite of the fact that all governmental positions are in theory open to all, no governmental functionaries or leaders above the local level are Beoratal. For the most part the Mintek are blind to this disparity, believing to their core that their society is open to the participation of all. If confronted with this disparity the average Mintek will disagree, and the other persists, they will graciously accept the statements of anyone who made such claims, and then report them to the Ministry for Equality and Inclusion for re-education. On the surface the Mintek appear to be societally advanced, open and accepting people, however, their unwavering belief system makes them difficult neighbors.
The Mintek are bound together by a deep and total belief in the One Universal God. The Universal Faith has, over the centuries since its adoption, evolved away from an actual belief in a superior being and into a set of all-encompassing beliefs that touch upon everything the Mintek do, from day-to-day chores to the overarching actions of their interstellar government. The Mintek firmly believe that they have found the ‘right’ way to live, and that every member of every other race must be enlightened and brought to this same belief. Indeed, the Mintek believe that it is their responsibility to the other races to bring the tenants of their belief to the other races, as without those beliefs the other races will be doomed to live in unhappiness and isolation, unfulfilled and living pointless existences.
Part 2 will contain the minor races
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Races of the Cold War Campaign, as of Turn 150
Part 2
Minor Races
Alowan
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 1
Total Population Units (PU): 3,562
Total Population: 25,640,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 1
Tech Level: 7
The Alowan were discovered by the Mintek, who recently initiated first contact. The Alowan are bipedal and vaguely humanoid, although they vary significantly from the norm. The Alowan are grey in color, and to a human would appear to be squid-like, with tentacles dangling from the front of their faces. Their arms and legs both terminate in bundles of tentacles for grasping and holding things.
The Alowan government is led by a powerful dictator who serves for a single twenty-year term, after which they are replaced by the next dictator chosen by a general election. The Alowan aren’t particularly militaristic, and are accepting of outsiders.
Bedu
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 1
Total Population Units (PU): 3,255
Total Population: 27,370,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 1
Tech Level: 8
The Bedu are bipedal humanoids, short in stature and with vaguely frog-like features. The Bedu Republic is led by a military dictatorship, which seized control of the government during a relatively recent crisis and has managed to maintain in control. The Bedu emphasis on military and military related issues should have made them a natural ally of the Bjering, who discovered them, however, the relationship between the two races has been fraught would misunderstandings and difficulties, leading the Bedu to distrust their neighbors.
Bir
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 1
Total Population Units (PU): 412
Total Population: 50,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 1
Tech Level: -1
The Bir are fearsome in appearance, possessing a centaur-like body with four large legs, an upthrust abdomen with multiple arms, some of which end in vicious stabbing implements, and a fearsome head with a large, fang-filled mouth with four grasping appendages surrounding it, suitable for holding prey while the Bir rips off chunks. In addition, the Bir are covered in tough chitin and possess large vestigial wings that, while they do not allow the Bir to fly, do add significantly to its dangerous appearance. For all of this, the Bir are not warlike in any way, and, before their discovery by the D’Bringi, had never engaged in anything close to war or warlike behavior, and indeed had no standing military. The Bir government is more of a contemplative association devoted to the study of issues important to the Bir than anything that anyone else would consider a government, but that is changing now that the Bir have been incorporated into the D’Bringi Alliance. The D’Bringi occupation began a reorganization of Bir society along more efficient lines, and this reorganization has continued now that the occupation has been lifted.
Chirq
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 1
Total Population Units (PU): 580
Total Population: 20,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 1
Tech Level: 1
While in appearance the Chirq are completely different than the Bir, they are similar in that individually they have an awesome and fearsome appearance. They are also similar in that they are centauroids, with four legs attached to their thorax, an upthrust body with four arms, two of which end in sharp stabbing appendages, and a fearsome head with multiple compound eyes. For all of that the Chirq share the Bir’s aversion to violence. As a people the Chirq are peaceful and non-violent, and did not maintain a standing military prior to being discovered by the D’Bringi. Their original government was small and ineffective, existing mostly as a debating society to occupy those who enjoyed arguing with their neighbors. Since their conquest, much like the Bir, Chirq society has been reordered along more productive lines and D’Bringi efforts to uplift them are ongoing.
Doraz
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 5
Total Population Units (PU): 2,462
Total Population: 4,010,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 4
Tech Level: 5
The Doraz were discovered and conquered by the D’Bringi early in their expansion, while their war with the Humans was in a lull. The Doraz are small, slug-like beings who have embraced technological enhancement as a way to give them advantages that nature neglected to give them through evolution. The average Doraz has been enhanced in multiple ways, usually ranging from implants to exoskeletons and attached weaponry.
The Doraz government at the time of contact with the D’Bringi was a military anarchy, however, this government was wiped away by the D’Bringi conquest and then the subsequent occupation. Since their release by the D’Bringi, the Doraz have been ruled by a military dictatorship, which was organized by their occupiers to rule the nation during the occupation, and which has since survived their release. Recently, a new leader has risen to control the state, and has proclaimed himself Rygel the First, Dominar of Doraz.
Tarek
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 1
Total Population Units (PU): 1,896
Total Population: 2,580,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 1
Tech Level: 3
The Tarek were discovered by the human Coalition early in their expansion into interstellar space. The Tarek were HT-0 at the time of discovery, which launched a debate in the Coalition Senate as to the status of the Tarek and whether and how first contact should be made. In the meantime, the Coalition corporation that discovered the system initiated the colonization of the system’s second habitable planet immediately, out of fear that the Coalition Senate would issue a ban on colonization in the system, costing the corporation billions of credits. The colonization effort caused significant upset in the Senate, and directly led to a law that banned colonization of planets in systems that contained an intelligent race. This law was too late for the Tarek system, where the Wunderland colony was already established. The Coalition’s colonization of Wunderland deeply offended the Tarek, who considered all of the planets in their system their property, and tainted all future contact between the two races.
The Tarek are large crab-like beings, with hard chitinous outer shells and large pincers, along with numerous legs and grasping arms positioned around their bodies. The Tarek government is an Imperial Monarchy, with the ruling family being considered just one step short of deities. The day-to-day affairs of the empire are governed by the Emperor’s Prime Minister, who in reality wields the actual power in the society. Tarek society is bound by tradition and honor, and the Tarek in general are intolerant of outsiders, stubborn, and very militaristic.
The Tarek lost a war with the Wunderlanders after the United Colonial Defense Fleet intervened and destroyed their fleet and orbital defenses and shipyards. The Tarek were forced to admit defeat and agree to the demilitarization of space beyond their atmosphere, limiting their defenses to PDC’s. The Tarek have stuck to this agreement and have not launched any warships or orbital defenses, but have maintained several PDC’s which they have taken pains to modernize as their technology improved.
Tlatelolco
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 1
Total Population Units (PU): 489
Total Population: 120,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 1
Tech Level: 1
The Tlatelolco are large, underground dwelling beings with a fearsome appearance, looking much like legendary dragons without wings, as one human explorer described them. The Tlatelolco were discovered by the Coalition several jumps from the Sligo system. In spite of their fearsome appearance, the Tlatelolco were much more friendly than the Tarek, and they benefitted from the newly passed law in the Coalition that prohibited colonization of systems with an intelligent race, meaning that the relationship between the Tlatelolco and the Coalition were uncomplicated by land-grabs or corporate incursions. The Tlatelolco were at a low-tech level when discovered, and the Coalition, and now the Colonial Union, have invested considerable sums of money in assisting them in raising their technology. With the change in attitudes within the Colonial Union, the Tlatelolco have been cultivating the Tomsk Union, however, they are located deep within the Colonial Union and have no direct access to the Tomsk Union.
Torqual
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 5
Total Population Units (PU): 4,223
Total Population: 20,870,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 4
Tech Level: 3
The Torqual are bipedal humanoids, hairless, with grey skin, elongated ears compared to humans, and tend to be heavily muscled. The Torqual were discovered and conquered by the D’Bringi in between the two active phases of their war with the Humans. The Torqual are distinctly not militaristic, and like several other races encountered by the D’Bringi, had no real organized military before their discovery. The Torqual are philosophical in nature and their government prior to conquest was literally a debating society. As with the Doraz, the D’Bringi went to some lengths to re-order their society and government during the occupation, and since their release the Torqual have possessed a clan-based government that is familiar to the D’Bringi.
Zir
Populated Planets (over settlement size): 1
Total Population Units (PU): 4,247
Total Population: 27,950,000,000
Inhabited Systems: 1
Tech Level: 5
The Zir were just recently discovered by the D’Bringi, and debate now rages within the Alliance Council over the method the Alliance should take to contact the new race. Unlike many of the other races discovered by the D’Bringi, the Zir are non-humanoid in appearance. The Zir possess a large, vaguely cylindrical, upright body with four legs positioned equilaterally around the lower edges. The Zir’s ‘head’ is reminiscent of a mushroom cap, and they have a large, gaping mouth on the ‘front’ of their body. The Zir have no obvious eyes or other sensory receptors, although they must exist. Little is yet known about the Zir.
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Month 151
Humanity
The Wunderland Association launches its first home-built battlecruiser.
D’Bringi Alliance
The Torqual Benignity reaches HT-4 with D’Bringi assistance.
The Alliance Council reaches agreement. Orders are sent to the D’Bringi probe group to establish contact with the newly discovered alien race, and to attempt to establish communications. A negotiating team made up of representatives from the Alliance races will be sent to take over negotiations when full communications are reached. The probe force complies, and contact with the new race is established shortly thereafter. Initial contact attempts go well.
In the Rehorish Stellar Dominion, the Dominion External Intelligence Service has warned the Admiralty that the D’Bringi have fielded a new type of combat system called the fighter, which appears to be some sort of high-performance small craft. The details are not clear, nor is the level of effectiveness of the new system, however, whatever its effectiveness the Rehorish have no counter to this new technology. The fact that the D’Bringi have not provided any information on the new system is concerning, however, given the divisions within the D’Bringi Expanses the Admiralty’s top admirals believe that it is at least possible that the D’Bringi are divided in their opinion on the new weapons system themselves. In any case a secret project is set up to bring together everything the Dominion can find out about the new system, and to develop a counter, should it be necessary.
Month 152
The D’Bringi Alliance
The Rehorish launch nine new battlecruisers, bringing their fleet total up to six long-range and six short-ranged battlecruisers. To offset the expense of maintaining the new ships, the Rehorish sell six heavy cruisers to the T’Pau and six to the Torqual.
Month 153
D’Bringi Alliance
The D’Bringi launch four new battlecruisers for the K’Rorin and T’Chau clan fleets.
The Rehorish complete R&D on data-linked point defense and pinnaces. The development of the new point defense system leads to the redesign of most of the Fleet’s ships, however, the Admiralty decides against another major refit. Instead, all new construction will be of the new designs. In addition, a new corvette sized pinnace carrier is designed, and construction on the prototype will start this month. These new ships will join the survey fleets and the main fleets as warp point probe ships. The Pinnace Carrier will be able carry four pinnaces to aide in warp point probes.
In addition, the Rehorish Stellar Dominion begins a secret research project. The Dominion’s project to study the D’Bringi clan’s new technology, the fighter, has determined that the new technology, should it be employed effectively, could revolutionize warfare. The project gives several recommendations to the Admiralty. The first recommendation is the development of a small craft to counter the D’Bringi fighters. While the Rehorish do not currently have the technology to match the D’Bringi fighters, they can build a crude copy that should be able to at least blunt any attack launched by an enemy’s fighters. The second recommendation is the development of escort ships for capital ships. The project determined that these escort ships should mount copious amounts of point defense, which currently appears to be the best ship-based weapon to combat the fighters. The Admiralty decides to implement both recommendations. Although the D’Bringi are not considered a threat at the current time, if the D’Bringi have developed the new technology, it is always possible that someone else has as well. R&D is started on an anti-fighter small craft, and a new escort destroyer class is designed and construction is started on the prototype.
The D’Bringi contact team working to establish communications with the strange aliens discovered beyond the Snaw system reach full communications this month. Eagerly, the D’Bringi negotiators offer the aliens, who call themselves the Zir Contemplative Union, associate membership within the Alliance (trade & military treaty).
The Zir appear to be large ambulatory mushrooms with no discernable eyes and a large gaping mouth. As strange as the Zir appear, they are even stranger to talk with. While full communications have been established, the Zir are sometimes hard to understand. Much of their interest seems to be focused on theory, whether it is theoretical physics or politics doesn’t seem to matter much. Any conversation with a Zir is likely to devolve into lengthy and circuitous discussions of arcane theories of existence, or something of a similar sort. In spite of this, or perhaps because of this, the Zir are for the most part friendly and appear to be eager to establish a diplomatic relationship with their new interstellar friends. The Zir Union almost immediately agrees to join the D’Bringi Alliance, albeit after a somewhat lengthy discussion of the merits of cooperation over aggression in the perfect universe. The D’Bringi contact team theorizes that the Zir have agreed to an alliance with the D’Bringi because they know they are not particularly practical or ready for the galactic stage.
Independents
The Mintek negotiation team under Strategos Neeron offers a trade and military alliance to the Alowan Triumvirate for a second time, only to be rebuffed again. Neeron is at the end of his patience, but cannot act on his own without clear provocation. Therefore, he dispatches a message back to the home planet requesting guidance. The response arrives quickly through the communications network. Neeron is to wait one more month then offer a trade treaty to the Alowan. If they refuse, then he may launch a campaign to liberate the Alowan people so that they may be led to the truth.
Month 154
Humanity
The Enlightened Union of the Tlatelolco reaches HT-2, and requests assistance from the Colonial Union to develop the various systems that have become available at that tech level. The Colonial Union, which has been growing more and more xenophobic, turns down this request. The Tlatelolco then turn to the Tomsk Union, which agrees to fund the Tlatelolco’s research. This causes as stir in the Colonial Union’s Senate, and within the Foreign Ministry. The New Dawn Party is divided on this matter, as they wish better relationships with the other human governments, but are against giving aliens better technology, or assisting them in developing it.
On the Wunderland Association’s frontier, a survey ship probing a newly discovered warp point in a starless nexus discovers a system with an intelligent race residing on an ST planet in the primary system. Following SOP the scout ship withdraws without contacting the natives. When the news reaches the capital, the Governor decides to defer contact and declares the system, and the warp link leading to it, a red zone. The Colonial Union agrees with this approach, as the Colonial Union’s Senate recently decided that the Union would not voluntarily establish contact with any newly discovered race, in order to minimize the threat those races might present to the human race.
On Wunderland, construction is started on a new, very secret project. The naval construction project is classified at the highest level, and is the result of cooperation between the Colonial Union and the Wunderland Association. The United Kingdom class super-dreadnoughts are massive missile platforms, intended to pound alien fleets into scrap. The SD’s huge hull will take quite a bit of time to prototype, but when it launches it will become a visible representation of humanity’s commitment to its defense, and the superiority of humanity’s technology and industry.
D’Bringi Alliance
The Rehorish launch twelve new battlecruisers. To offset the cost of maintaining the new ships, they sell six heavy cruisers to the Torqual, and mothball nine other heavy cruisers.
Independents
The Mintek negotiators under Strategos Neeron offer a trade treaty to the Alowan Triumvirate. The Alowan team, which had sent what it thought were clear warnings to the Mintek to give them time to consider the offers that had been made to date, flat out refuses to the consider the new offer and orders the Mintek to leave their system.
Strategos Neeron compliantly orders his contact ship to leave the system. They are followed to the warp point by a squadron of Alowan ships which then observe them jumping out. Five minutes later Mintek ships begin jumping into the system. The leading ships were the Fast Attack Group’s battlecruisers, followed by its escorting destroyers.
The Fast Attack Group began pushing the Alowan squadron away from the warp point while the Mintek Carrier Strike Group jumped into the system. Once the two groups were assembled, they pursued the Alowan corvette squadron towards their home planet. The Alowan fleet waited in orbit over their home planet, under the guns of their four large orbital forts, while the Mintek force approached. The Alowan fleet consisted of nine battlecruisers, eighteen destroyers, and twelve corvettes.
The Mintek fleet approaching the planet consisted of seven battlecruisers, twelve destroyers, six light carriers, one strike carrier, and one escort carrier. In total, the carrier strike group carried one hundred and seventy-four fighters and six armed pinnaces.
Finally, as the Mintek reached one light minute from the planet, their forces came to a halt. Once halted, the Mintek fleet sent a message towards the planet. The message was from Minister Turval, addressed to the Alowan people.
“This message is for every Alowan. The Mintek people are not your enemies. We want nothing but good for each and every one of you, but your government has selfishly and foolishly decided to keep the truth from you. We come to you in all good will, bearing nothing but the truth of the universe, and after we promised to share that truth with you your government refused to allow us to give their own citizens access to the enlightenment that we possess and are willing to share with you. It has been our bitter experience in the past that unbelievers will go to any length to keep the truth from their own citizens, and therefore we cannot allow your government to continue to deceive you. The Mintek government has sent the fleet that is now before your planet to protect the Alowan citizens from their own government, which is lying to you and has threatened the holy bearers of the truth. I plead with you to remove your leaders who refuse to see the truth, and who have refused to allow the truth to be shared with you. Your lives and your futures are in your hands. Do not let your corrupt government continue to keep you in darkness. Join us in the light of the truth! Our fleet will hold in its current position for one day, to give you time to convince your government to see the light, and to come to the truth. Please, for all of our sakes, do the right thing!”
Unfortunately, the Alowan fleet wasn’t willing to wait for the Alowan citizens to come to a decision, even if they were so inclined. The Alowan admiral could see that his fleet out-massed the Mintek fleet, if barely, and so the Alowan fleet charged out of orbit towards the waiting Mintek fleet. The Alowan admiral had calculated that even if his fleet lost this battle against the Mintek, the remaining ships could retreat under the weapons of their orbital bases and at that point the Mintek would have to retreat, as they almost certainly wouldn’t have enough strength remaining to challenge the forts and the remnants of their fleet.
The Mintek fleet didn’t move, but it did launch its fighters, all twenty-nine squadrons. The small fighters raced away from the Mintek fleet towards the oncoming Alowan fleet. Interestingly, the Alowan fleet didn’t hesitate and continued their headlong rush towards the Mintek fleet.
For the next nine minutes the Alowan fleet rushed towards the Mintek fleet, closing to thirty-three light seconds from the Mintek force. During that same time the Mintek fighter force closed to two-point-five light seconds of the Mintek force.
On board the command battlecruiser, the Mintek admiral was staring at the plot in shock. “How many small-craft?”
“Sir, sensors indicate that there are one hundred and seventy-four closing on our position!”
The Alowan admiral thought furiously. The telemetry feed from the home planet had shown that small craft were headed towards the fleet, but the home planet’s sensors hadn’t been able to give them hard numbers, and their own sensors were too myopic to see the small craft until they had closed to five light seconds. He had assumed that the alien small craft were a scout force, but there was no way that anyone would send out that many small craft as a scout force. Indeed, there was no sane reason he could see for anyone to carry that many small craft, period. That large a number had to have eaten significantly in to the number of weapons the Mintek fleet could carry. There was only one possibility. They had to be rammers. “All ships are to begin engine modulation! Point defense teams prepare to engage the small craft! Beam weapons are to target the small craft as well!”
The Alowan fleet slammed to a halt as the alien small craft closed to a half a light second. Alowan point defense fire began reaching out towards the alien small craft at that point, along with numerous beam weapons. Twenty-four alien small craft died in the barrage, leaving one hundred and fifty to attack the Alowan force.
The Alowan admiral, recognizing the danger to his capital ships, ordered his battlecruisers to divert some of their engine power and move forwards, towards the oncoming small craft, allowing the destroyers and corvettes to cover the bigger capital ship’s blind spots. Sure enough, the alien small craft raced past the battlecruisers and then executed a sharp turn, ending in the big cruiser’s blind spots. The crews on board the entire Alowan fleet held their collective breath as they waited for the small craft to begin ramming the battle cruisers, but instead the alien small craft began ripple firing small missiles at point blank range. The missiles slammed into the hapless targets, each with the impact of a capital missile, causing heavy damage to the targeted battlecruiser and slowing it to a fraction of its former speed. Frantically, the destroyers positioned behind the battlecruisers began firing at the alien small craft, but each destroyer only had two point-defense emplacements capable of engaging the alien small craft. They managed to destroy thirteen more fighters, but in the meantime the alien small craft continued to pump their short-range missiles into the big Alowan ships, crippling six more of the big battlecruisers. The Alowan corvettes joined in, destroying four more fighters, while the alien small craft crippled the two remaining intact battlecruisers.
In seconds the Alowan force was devastated. The battlecruiser group was crippled and reduced to about one sixth of its original speed, and while the destroyers and corvettes were intact and capable of full speed, they now had to make the decision between continuing their charge or remaining with their crippled battlecruisers to protect them from the alien small craft. The alien small craft force split, with the small craft that had expended their weaponry moving off, while the remaining small craft maneuvered to get within the blind spots of the Alowan ships. The remaining alien small craft ignored the battlecruisers. For the most part the Alowan ships managed to maintain firing arcs on at least some of the alien small craft, and the battle continued.
When the alien small craft broke away, they left without fifty-eight of their fellow small craft, lost attacking the Alowan ships. No Alowan ships were destroyed in the attack, but all nine battlecruisers and ten of their destroyers were crippled in the attack.
The alien small craft raced away, back towards their fleet. The Mintek fleet began moving forward, towards the crippled Alowan fleet, at the same time. The Alowan admiral, seeing no other alternatives, ordered the eight intact destroyers and the twelve remaining corvettes to race back towards the planet, leaving the crippled battlecruisers and destroyers behind. The mass of crippled ships turned back towards the planet as well, but their progress towards the coverage of the orbital bases was painfully slow.
Four and a half minutes later the Alowan destroyer and corvette force was just under ten light seconds from their home planet, while the Mintek fleet had closed to forty-six and a half light seconds of the planet. The Mintek small craft group merged with the main fleet, which came to a stop to recover them, and then the Mintek fleet continued on towards the limping cripples.
Eight minutes later the Mintek force had closed to four-point-five light seconds of the crippled Alowan ships. At that time Strategos Neeron issued a demand for the cripples to surrender. There was no reply, but after a few seconds several of the Alowan ships begin spitting out life pods, while others drop their drive fields. The ships that launched life pods self-destructed shortly thereafter, while the others waited placidly for the Mintek to approach. Only two of the crippled battlecruisers self-destructed, leaving the rest to be boarded by Mintek seizure crews.
With the crippled force under control, the Mintek fleet set out for the planet again, leaving behind three destroyers to watch over their prizes. It took just two and a half minutes for the Mintek fleet to close to just outside of capital missile range of the planet. Once there, Strategos Neeron broadcast a plea for the defenders to surrender and halt the bloodshed. The plea was sincere, but it fell on deaf ears. After waiting for five minutes, Strategos Neeron ordered the fleet to begin the assault. The fleet’s carriers launched their fighters, and after assembling the nineteen squadrons set out for the planet. They were accompanied for this assault by six armed pinnaces launched from the light carriers.
For the next ninety seconds the Mintek fighters and armed pinnaces closed on the planet and its defenders, while the main fleet waited and the defenders watched and prepared. Finally, with the fighters closing to the enemy’s weapon range, the main Mintek force lunged forward into capital missile range. The Mintek battlecruisers began launching salvoes of capital missiles at two of the very large bases orbiting the planet, forcing the bases to keep their point defense on missile defense duties, instead of firing them at the incoming fighters. The Mintek battlecruisers were only firing three capital missiles each, and the bases put out an immense amount of datalinked point defense fire, but two missiles of the eighteen that were launched slipped through the base’s defense. Surprisingly, the two targeted bases, each of which was substantially larger than a superdreadnought, lost its shields after a single capital missile hit. For now, the defenders were silent, indicating they did not mount capital missiles, which would have been able to respond to the battlecruiser’s missiles, or lasers, which were the only weapons that could reach the incoming fighters, which were just over a light second out.
The Mintek fighters raced to point blank range, as the Mintek fleet came to a halt at six-point-five light seconds range and continued to bombard the bases at long range. The bases, which were the fighter’s main targets, had no blind-spots, and thus the fighters were forced to plunge directly towards them and attack, heedless of the defensive fire. The Alowan base commanders had come to a decision, and targeted the fighters with their point defense batteries, trusting in their EDM’s to defend the big stations from the small missile salvoes from the Mintek ships. One of the two-unit base datagroups lashed out with a truly massive number of point defense emplacements and force beams, killing ten Mintek fighters before they could fire, but in response the lead fighter group salvoed its close attack rockets and savaged the third base, knocking it out of its datagroup and cutting deep into the big construct. The fourth, intact, base opened fire with its point defense and force beams, destroying nine more fighters in a prodigious display of defensive fire, but the other fighters continued lining up to launch their rockets into the motionless defenders. The destroyers and corvettes, which were positioned to support the bases, began firing at the fighters as well, killing thirteen more fighters before they could launch their ordnance. They couldn’t stop the fighters from crippling the remaining bases with rocket after rocket fired into the mammoth orbital defense centers. The big orbital shipyard then joined in, firing on the attacking fighters with six point-defense emplacements, killing three more fighters. The Mintek battlecruisers continued to launch their capital missiles, killing one of the crippled bases and further damaging another. Finally, the six Mintek armed pinnaces swept in, pairing up to unleash barrages of rockets against three Alowan destroyers, seriously damaging all three.
With three of the bases crippled and one destroyed, the fighters that still had their close attack missiles turned on the Alowan destroyers and corvettes, while the forty-two that had launched their ordnance raced away towards the main Mintek fleet. The remaining fighters tore apart the destroyers, leaving all eight heavily damaged and limping, while losing seven more of their number to the corvettes. The Mintek battlecruisers concentrated their fire on an Alowan corvette, wiping out its shields and armor.
The fighters, having expended their munitions, raced away towards the Mintek fleet to rearm, leaving the Alowan forts burning wrecks, along with the remnants of their destroyer force drifting aimlessly amongst the burning bases as they tried to regain control of their damaged ships in the aftermath of the fighter attack. The Mintek lost forty-three fighters in the assault, reducing their fighter force to seventy-two. The Alowan were left with only eleven intact corvettes, along with eight crippled destroyers and three heavily damaged bases. The Mintek battlecruisers moved out of range as the fighters ran back to the fleet.
It took five minutes for the fighters to return and to rearm them, then they launched again. With the ultimate result of the next fighter strike clear, Strategos Neeron once again sent a message to the defenders, literally pleading with them to end the bloodshed. Perhaps it was the conviction in his voice, his obvious concern for not only the Mintek lives that would be lost but also the Alowan lives, or maybe it was just the cold, hard reality of the situation that got to the Alowan commanders. In any case, one by one the remaining ships and bases began dropping their drive fields. Three destroyers and seven of the corvettes scuttled themselves rather than be captured, but the rest waited to be boarded.
With the battle over and control of the system in his hands, Strategos Neeron ordered a message be sent back to the warp point to the picket ship stationed there, to be transferred back to the home planet. The system was secure, the troops that were assembling on Mintek Prime could be dispatched.
For Strategos Neeron, this was a huge victory, and a vindication of his career after the disastrous attack into D’Bringi Alliance territory. His attack force defeated a similarly sized fleet, and captured three BS5’s, seven battlecruisers, fifteen destroyers, seven corvettes, and a large orbital shipyard complex. Most of them were damaged, of course, and several would likely be scuttled as they were too damaged to be worthwhile repairing and converting to Mintek use, but still, it was an immense victory, and his fleet suffered no ship losses of its own. They did lose over a hundred fighters, more than half of their strength, but still, the fighters could be easily replaced, and relatively cheaply compared to purchasing and building new ships.
Evaluation of the captured fleet revealed that in fact four of the captured destroyers would be scuttled in place, because they were little more than hulks. The remainder of the captured fleet would be scheduled for repair and conversion, as soon as the mobile shipyards completed their current assignment and could be relocated to the Alowan system. The invasion force would arrive at the end of the month, and operations could begin early next month.
The after-action report by Strategos Neeron and his staff recommended several changes be made to the Mintek fleet, to accommodate future carrier operations. First, the long debate about the utility of the G-5 class battlecruiser was over. Their salvo size was too small to successfully divert the enemy’s attention from attacking fighters, therefore, their mixed armaments should be converted to heavy missile armaments, only, so that they could effectively support carrier attacks. In addition, Strategos Neeron strongly recommend the admiralty consider an escort destroyer design, to escort their capital ships and defend against enemy fighter attacks. Also, Strategos Neeron recommended several fighter base stations be constructed in orbit over the home world, both to defend the planet and to act as a reservoir of fighters to rapidly replenish losses in mobile units, rather than having to wait for the shipyards to construct replacement fighters. Finally, Strategos Neeron strongly recommended that the admiralty revisit the decision about how much munitions to stock on the fleet’s carriers for future operations. His smaller carriers were down to one or two reloads, and this was unacceptable for long-term operations. The report also included recommendations for future tactics to be utilized when attacking enemy ships as bases, but these were minor refinements on their existing strategy.
Month 155
Independents
Mintek Universal Union
The Mintek invasion force landed late last month, and, faced with Mintek control of the orbitals and a massive army landing, the Alowan government agreed to surrender. The Alowan military was forced to remove the “Great Leader” in order to implement the surrender, but rather than face a long losing fight against the invaders they acted decisively, decapitating the Great Leader’s government and turning her and her family over the Mintek as part of the surrender process.
With the former leader in custody, and the Alowan military laying down their arms, the Mintek occupation force spread out across the planet, securing control of critical infrastructure and the larger cities. Mintek and D’Bringi pilgrims went along with them, to begin the process of educating the Alowan with the truth.
Humanity
The exodus from Earth continues. The wave of emigrants is still being shared between the Colonial Union, the Wunderland Association, and the Tomsk Union, at least for now. The expense of transporting and establishing these people on increasingly distant colonies is increasing, but it also helps to boost colonial production.
The Colonial Union and the Wunderland Association complete their amalgamation efforts.
D’Bringi Alliance
The Alliance Council decides it is time to take the war to the Mintek. The Alliance races are ordered to provide warships for the fleet that will assemble in the D’Bringi frontier system of Breshy. The attack date is tentatively set for three months from now.
The D’Bringi begin by sending automated weapons and AW control ships to the frontier system, to defend their entry point into Mintek space. A D’Bringi survey group is diverted to the Breshy system as well, to support the assault fleet. Finally, the clans dispatch a fleet from the home system to form the core of the assault force. The clan fleet consists of five strike carriers, along with seven smaller carrier-scouts, from the B’Regest, three battlecruisers from K’Rorin and T’Chau, each, and a squadron of capital missile armed battlecruisers from the Keepers, along with several carrier-scouts. All told the fleet carried one hundred and seventy-four fighters. By Alliance order the Blockade Force in the Phyriseq system was to be left at full strength.
The Doraz Contingency dispatched three heavy cruisers to the Breshy system as their contribution.
The Rehorish Stellar Dominion sends nine battlecruisers, three light cruisers, three destroyers, four corvette-scouts, and a pinnace carrier.
The Torqual Benignity sends nine heavy cruisers.
The T’Pau Syndicate sends nine heavy cruisers and three light cruisers. The T’Pau are the only Alliance race to withdraw some of their ships for the expedition from their Blockade Force. The Alliance approved this move as the Syndicate had most of their active warships stationed in the Phyriseq system.
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Turn 155 Update
Humanity
Colonial Union
The Colonial Union absorbed the Wunderland Association in month 155. In truth, the amalgamation was more of a merger of two equals than anything else, as the Wunderland Association had a larger economy but smaller military than the Colonial Union. This union has created a powerful human colonial state covering the bulk of the old colonial territories of the Coalition and USSR, and beyond.
The Colonial Union has three centers of power, the colony of New Plymouth in Epsilon Eridani, the colony of New Moscow in Sigma Draconis, and the colony of Wunderland in Sligo. The highest population is the colony of New Moscow, with just over 105 million inhabitants, followed closely by Wunderland with 104 million. Currently, the colony of New Plymouth is the capital of the Colonial Union. This decision was made immediately after the destruction of the Coalition and the USSR, and was made primarily because it was in a defensible position, had shipyards, and was not directly threatened by the D’Bringi, as Sigma Draconis was. There is talk within the CU Senate of having the capital rotate between the three systems, now that fortifications have been built in the Sigma Draconis system.
The Colonial Union, now that it has merged with the Wunderland Association, is preparing the way to bring the CES into the Union as well. The CEs government has agreed to this in principle, and a formal offer will be made next month. Beyond that, the CU has been attempting to improve its relationship with the Titov Free State as well as the Tomsk Union, with an eye towards eventual reunification. Currently, reunifying with either seems unlikely, because of treaty obligations relating to the Titov Free State, and as the Tomsk Union has rejected most of the advances made by the CU Senate, and tensions have actually increased over Tomsk assistance to the Tlatelolco. In fact, now that the Wunderland Association has joined the Colonial Union, the Union is re-evaluating its policies towards the alien races it is in contact with at the current time. The Union has a non-Intercourse agreement with the D’Bringi Alliance, and has relations at varying levels with the Bjering, the Tlatelolco, the Tarek (in Sligo), and the D’Bringi refugees in the Tomsk Union. In addition, the Wunderland Association, shortly before the merger, discovered yet another alien race on its frontier. The Governor of Wunderland made the decision to avoid contact with those aliens, in line with the expressed position of the Wunderland Legislature towards contact with alien races.
The Colonial Union is at HT-7, and has made progress towards reaching HT-8. Most of the United Colonial Defense Force is equipped to HT-6 levels. Fleet Command is planning on a refit program to upgrade its capital ships, and its fortresses, in the near future.
Total Income (all sources): 33,266 MCr’s
Total Fleet Strength: 1xBB, 21xBC, 6xCA, 19xDD, 1xDDC, 1xDD(AW), 12xFGS, 4xCT, 2xCT(AW), 20xES, 47xEXS, 73xEXX
Total Fortifications: 3xBS3, 60xBS0
Mothballs: 2xBC, 17xCA, 12xCL, 27xCLA, 4xDD, 1xDD(AW), 14xCT, 3xCT(AW), 37xES, 3xBS3, 4xBS0
Construction: 3xBS3, 120xMinefield, 3xBC, 1xFT4, 1xSD
Consolidated Earth States
The CES is consumed with planning for their eventual incorporation into the Colonial Union. Although the decision to join the CU was not totally voluntary, the bulk of the population is resigned to the merger as necessary for the continued health of Earth, as a way of ensuring the constant flow of emigrants from the planet to keep the population stable and avoid environmental collapse. A minority of the population is actively in favor of the merger, as it will give them access to an interstellar community, and they hope that active involvement in interstellar affairs will allow them to avoid the stagnation that they fear is creeping into the CES. The hard-core isolationists opposed the merger, unsuccessfully, and have now set their sights on influencing the politics of the Colonial Union, as they have had to accept the merger as a done deal.
Total Income (all sources): 6,227 MCr’s
Total Fleet Strength: 3xCA
Total Fortifications: 1xAsteroid Fort, 3xBS0, 6xPDC(Anti-Missile)
Mothballs: 1xPDC(offensive), 1xAsteroid Fort, 6xBS3, 3xBS1, 6xBS0, 1xDD(AW)
Construction: 11xFT6
Note: I have moved the Tomsk Union to the Independents section, as they are more closely aligned with the Bjering.
D’Bringi Alliance
D’Bringi
The D’Bringi clans are celebrating the peaceful incorporation of the Zir Union into the Alliance as an associate member, and with this obstacle cleared they are gearing up for a renewal of the war against the Mintek. Ten months ago, D’Bringi survey units discovered a Mintek colony system on the frontier, but action was delayed while the Alliance’s fleets were rebuilt and fortified. Now, there is great excitement throughout the D’Bringi Expanses as the Clans go to war once again.
The D’Bringi and Rehorish empires are both building battlecruisers to replace their older heavy cruisers, but neither can afford to support both their existing heavy cruiser fleets and their newly built battlecruisers. Therefore, the Alliance Council worked out a deal between the two senior members of the Alliance and the newer races, whereby the Rehorish and the D’Bringi would sell their excess heavy cruisers to the newer races. This plan has been a great success, allowing the newer races to field larger fleets than they would otherwise been able to build on their own in such a short amount of time, and giving the D’Bringi and Rehorish access to additional funds to fuel their building programs.
The D’Bringi B’Regest Clan has eschewed the battlecruiser construction program, instead opting for building strike carriers and carrier-scouts. To prove the utility of their carrier program, the B’Regest have volunteered to have their corvette-carriers escort the exploration fleets, and have replaced several heavy cruiser picket groups throughout the Alliance, allowing forces to be concentrated. The Keepers have adopted a hybrid strategy, with their fleet built around capital missile armed battlecruisers supported by smaller carriers.
Total Income (all sources): 21,991 MCr’s
Total Fleet Strength: 13xBC, 14xCA, 3xCA(AW), 6xCAV, 5xCVS, 2xDDV, 6xCVE, 2xCT, 22xCTV, 7xCT(AW), 50xEX, 423xF0
Fortifications: 6xBS3, 14xBS0, 2xAF(CV), 54xF0
Mothballs: 3xBS3
Construction: 6xBC, 3xCVS, 72xF0
Prefab Assembly: 3xBS0
Rehorish Stellar Dominion
The Rehorish engaged in a large-scale building program to replace their heavy cruisers with battlecruisers. Under normal conditions they would have mothballed the bulk of their heavy cruiser force to balance their maintenance load, but eventually agreed to sell at least some of their heavy cruisers to the junior Alliance members to offset their costs. Their construction program has lately been focused on increasing the number of exploration ships for the survey fleets, a new program to equip the fleet with escort destroyers, and fleet support vessels equipped with pinnaces to probe potentially hostile warp points.
Once peaceful relations were established with the Zir, the Rehorish agreed to the D’Bringi demand to open a new offensive against the Mintek, and have provide the bulk of their home fleet to fill out the Attack Fleet being assembled in the D’Bringi frontier.
The Rehorish government has been wrestling with an uncomfortable truth for some time. The Rehorish consider themselves the senior member of the Alliance, and the most mature and responsible race therein. In particular, they regard the D’Bringi as useful allies, but immature and impulsive. The Rehorish almost consider themselves as a parent, guiding the impulsive D’Bringi and the lessor races through minefields and potential disasters, constantly providing a helping hand and usually being ignored. The Rehorish, of course, know that the D’Bringi resent their superiority, but cannot help their reaction to the situation as they perceive it. Indeed, the Rehorish Dominion has by far the largest economy in the Alliance, and thus they feel they should naturally be considered the senior member. However, this is not the case. In reality, the D’Bringi are considered by most to be the founding member of the Alliance, and the senior member. This is because it was the D’Bringi that discovered not only the Rehorish, but indeed all of the other members in the Alliance as well. It was the D’Bringi that brought the benefits of interstellar society to the member races, and it is to the D’Bringi that most of the races in the Alliance owe their primary loyalty. And so, despite the fact that the Rehorish have the largest economy and most powerful fleet, their economy and fleet is outweighed by the combined economies of the other races, all of which owe their loyalty to the D’Bringi.
This has been a long-standing situation, and for some time the Rehorish government has been attempting to “guide” the more junior races towards a more productive relationship with each other and the Alliance that would not only benefit them, but also would naturally result in the Rehorish being recognized as the natural leaders of the Alliance. This effort has largely backfired. The Rehorish had counted on the natural resentment of the junior races for the D’Bringi and the way they forcibly incorporated them into the Alliance, hoping and believing that the resentment would lead those races to move into the Rehorish sphere of influence and away from the D’Bringi. Not only hasn’t this happened, but instead the exact opposite has happened. Prior to first contact, most of the junior races had peaceful and contemplative governments that had largely stagnated within their own systems. Those governments were swept away by the D’Bringi conquests, which were largely bloodless, beyond their existing military, of course. The D’Bringi never used massed bombardment, or reprisals against civilian targets, and although there surely was some lingering resentment, most of the junior races have come to recognize that the galaxy is a dangerous place, and that by putting together the Alliance the D’Bringi have given them a greater assurance of safety than they would have had on their own.
All of this has led to the current situation. The Rehorish government has resisted D’Bringi attempts to bring their two nations closer together, as they wanted to establish their dominance over the Alliance first, before incorporating the D’Bringi Clans into the Dominion, rather than the other way around. In frustration, the D’Bringi then turned to the T’Pau, granting them access to the large number of type T planets throughout their Expanses that were useless to the D’Bringi. This dramatically increased the T’Pau Syndicate’s economic strength, and deepened their ties to the D’Bringi. In addition, the D’Bringi began a program of assisting R&D efforts of the other races in the Alliance, as a way to improve their respective militaries and thus improve the strength of the Alliance as a whole. In spite of pushing the D’Bringi to be more assistive to the other races in the Alliance, the Rehorish were caught by surprise when the D’Bringi began this program, and this has caused the current debate within the Rehorish government. The D’Bringi have proposed a closer union among the races of the Alliance, and their assistance with R&D for the other races is part of this program. The D’Bringi intend to bring the other races up to their tech level, and then merge them into a greater Alliance, with common militaries and governmental/clan institutions. While the Rehorish currently have the second highest technology level in the Alliance, after the D’Bringi, some of the other races are rapidly approaching the same level, with the T’Pau leading the way. In fact, the other races are improving their technology more rapidly than the Rehorish, because they have access to D’Bringi assistance. If the D’Bringi begin merging the other races into a monolithic Alliance, the Rehorish will become a backwater, left behind. And, if the Rehorish then chose to join the merged races, they will do so at a disadvantage. Therefore, the Rehorish government is debating the wisdom of accepting D’Bringi technical assistance in improving their technology, and then merging with the D’Bringi, even if it is not on the terms that they would like. At least that way the Rehorish would be in at the ground floor, and able to influence anything that happened after that from the inside. The debate continues, and there is a sizeable faction that favors leaving the Alliance completely, however, the situation as it stands is so clearly untenable, and the way forward is so clear, that there is little doubt about the outcome of the debate at this point.
Total Income (all sources): 36,955 MCr’s
Total Fleet Strength: 24xBC, 6xCA, 18xCL, 36xDD, 4xFG(AW), 3xCT, 3xCT(Munition), 79xCTX, 1xCT(pinnace carrier)
Fortifications: 9xBS3, 30xBS1
Mothballs: 9xCA, 18xCL, 15xDD
Construction: 6xDDE, 5xCTX, 5xCT(Pinnace Carrier), 30xCutter, 20xPinnace, 4xPrefab BS1, 120xMinefields
Refit: 5xBS3
T’Pau Syndicate
The T’Pau have prospered within the Alliance, and are considered the right hand of the D’Bringi. The T’Pau have assumed full control over the defenses of their system, and the D’Bringi no longer station ships in the home system to monitor the activities of the T’Pau. Indeed, in one month the T’Pau nation’s first BS3 defense base will be launched, and once it is towed to the warp point that leads to the closed warp point in human territory, the D’Bringi will withdraw their automated weapons control ships and the T’Pau will assume responsibility for the defenses there. The T’Pau currently have six warp point defense bases under construction, and have deployed large numbers of mines and laser buoys to the warp point to bolster the defenses there. The Alliance still does not know if the humans have localized the closed warp point on their territories, as they implied during the peace negotiations, but the Alliance feels strongly that the warp point should be defended, and as it is located in the T’Pau home system, they agree.
In addition to the defense bases, the T’Pau shipyards have been focused on constructing additional survey ships to fill out a second survey fleet. The entire T’Pau fleet has been refitted to HT-6 standards, and new construction on warships has slowed as the fleet has absorbed eight surplus heavy cruisers from the Rehorish and D’Bringi fleets.
Total Income (all sources): 20,795 MCr’s
Total Fleet Strength: 17xCA, 12xCL, 6xCTX, 40xEX
Construction: 6xBS3, 10xEX, 55xMine field, 75xLaser Buoy, 1xCA, 1xMobile Shipyard
Torqual Benignity
The Torqual have recently undergone a governmental change, which was perhaps inevitable given the fact that their former government wasn’t really a government at all, but more a debating society, and their government since their conquest by the D’Bringi was a ramshackle affair put together more to ensure the continuation of public services and the flow of resources more than anything else. A movement that started in the universities under the guidance of well-meaning professors took off, bolstered by young, idealistic students, and rapidly swept the planet, coopting the military and governmental offices, such as they were. Along the way the idealistic proponents of the movement were replaced by harder-edged patriots who changed the movement into a force that was able to take over the entire nation in a matter of months. The new government has reaffirmed its loyalty to the Alliance, and is busy instituting controls on all sorts of public issues that no Torqual government has in the past. The new government would be very familiar to students of Russian history. Many supporters of the old ways have been rounded up and sent to re-education centers, and the new government is in firm control.
Native built Torqual ships are equipped to HT-4 standards, while the imported heavy cruisers are mostly equipped to HT-6 levels.
Total Income (all sources): 12,528 MCr’s
Fleet Strength: 21xCA, 7xCL, 3xCTX, 22xEX
Fortifications: 3xBS2
Construction: 4xFT6, 5xCL
Doraz Contingency
Unlike the Torqual, the Doraz government weathered their conquest and incorporation into the Alliance mostly intact, but then they had a more stable government with stronger institutions than the Torqual, so this isn’t surprising. The Doraz fleet is equipped to HT-5 standards, except for three heavy cruisers, which were purchased from the D’Bringi.
Total Income (all sources):
Fleet Strength: 9xCA, 5xFGX
Fortifications: 3xBS3
Mothballs: 11xDD, 23xCT
Construction: 5xFGX, 16xCutter
Reactivate from Mothballs: 3xDD
Bir Meritocracy
The Bir are currently at Industrial-1 level of technology, and are working diligently on increasing their technology with D’Bringi assistance. The Bir have no off-world populations or installations, as of yet, and are dependent on the D’Bringi for system defense. Currently, because of the renewal of the war against the Mintek, the D’Bringi have withdrawn all ships except for a single heavy cruiser from the system.
The D’Bringi watched the dissolution of the Torqual government, such as it was, with alarm. As the new government has reaffirmed its allegiance to the Alliance the situation is being monitored, but no other action is being taken at this time. Still, the Torqual situation had the potential for spinning out of control, and as a result the D’Bringi are taking a closer look at the results of their invasions on the other member races. While most seem to have weathered the upheavals without too much trouble, the D’Bringi have become concerned about the Bir, as they possessed a government similar to that of the Torqual, mostly in its complete lack of effectiveness. Much like on Torqual Prime, the D’Bringi occupation forces set up an interim government to ensure the continuation of services and the flow of resources. That interim government failed on Torqual Prime, and so the D’Bringi are watching the Bir more carefully. D’Bringi teams have been sent in to help the Bir establish stronger civic institutions, and a more stable government, perhaps modeled on that of the D’Bringi.
Total Income (all sources): 480 MCr’s
Chirq Cooperative
The Chirq are currently at HT-1, and are busily developing the various systems available at that tech level. The Chirq do not yet have off-world populations or infrastructure, but will soon become capable of colonization and orbital construction. Much like the Bir and the Torqual, the Chirq had a government known more for its inability to get anything done more than anything else. That government was swept away in the D’Bringi conquest, and replaced by a loose organization of city-states. In the time since the conquest, the Chirq have fallen back on older institutions, and have elected a hereditary king, and reinstituted an aristocracy, which has rapidly established control of the planet in the name of the Alliance.
Total Income (all sources): 1,370 MCr’s
Zir Contemplative Union
The Zir are truly alien in appearance, and are peaceful and contemplative in nature. The Zir were unsure of the wisdom of joining the Alliance, fearing the obvious warlike nature of the Alliance members, but were persuaded by the information provided by the D’Bringi about the numerous hostile races that inhabited the galaxy. Due to the peaceful nature of the Zir the D’Bringi made no attempt to persuade them to join the current offensive against the Mintek, but are making a concerted effort to get them to join the Blockade force in the Phyriseq system. The Zir are ideologically and philosophically against wars of aggression, and are unlikely to support any Alliance war that they view to be unjustified.
The Zir are HT-5, and have accepted D’Bringi tech assistance to raise their technology level. The D’Bringi were unimpressed with the Zir fleet, which consists of large numbers of destroyers, frigates, and corvettes. Most of these ships seem to be equipped with small numbers of rapid firing missile launchers that would be incapable of overloading almost any ship’s point defense. The Zir seem to be psychologically fixated on fielding large swarms of ships, as examination of their history has revealed, and so the D’Bringi are working on advising the Zir on developing a more coherent swarm philosophy that will make their fleet more effective.
Total Income (all sources): 9,807 MCr’s
Total Fleet Strength: 18xDD, 24xFG, 9xFGX, 41xCT
Fortifications: 6xBS4
Mothballs: 3xBS4, 52xDD, 11xFGX, 77xFG, 89xCT
Construction: 1xCTSX
Independents
Bjering Consolidate
The Bjering Consolidate recently achieved HT-8, and is working on developing the systems available at that level. In particular the Bjering are focusing on fighters and fighter tech, and have begun construction on an escort carrier prototype, which is equipped with holds in place of the fighter bays, which are still being developed. The first unit of the new CVE class will be launched in three months, by which time the Consolidate government hopes that the fighter bays will be available so that the new CVE can be refitted.
The Bjering were disappointed in the reaction of the Bedu Republic to their political overtures, and plan on building defenses at the warp point that links the two nations against the possibility that the Bedu are planning to launch an attack at some point. It will take some time to shift construction resources to the frontier, though, so nothing has been done as of yet.
The Consolidate government has been in talks with the Tomsk Union about creating a multi-racial federation, and the talks have proceeded well. If the talks continue as they have, the two races will formalize the agreement in several months and begin the hard work of joining their two nations together.
Total Income (all sources): 23,462 MCr’s
Total Fleet Strength: 11xBC, 8xDD, 5xDD(AW), 20xCT, 10xCTS
Fortifications: 12xBS4, 6xBS2
Mothballs: 7xBC, 2xCA, 28xDD, 54xCT
Under Construction: 1xCVE, 4xDDSX, 1xCTSX
Reactivate from Mothballs: 4xBC
Assemble from Prefab: 7xBS2
Tomsk Union
The Tomsk Union is absorbed by the talks with the Bjering about the formation of a multi-species federation. There is great excitement throughout the Union for this idea, and its few opponents are politically powerless to oppose the project.
Total Income (all sources): 17,943 MCr’s
Total Fleet Strength: 4xBC, 9xDD, 1xFGS, 2xCT(AW), 25xEX
Fortifications: 3xSSA(battleship sized armed shipyards)
Mothballs: 16xES
Under Construction: 1xSSA, 2xBC
Refit: 1xBC, 1FG, 1xDD
Titov Free State
The Titov Free State is enjoying its new-found access to the systems around it by exploring and colonizing as rapidly as it can. The Free State now consists of four colonies in three systems rated at “small” populations, while the Titov colony itself is consider “medium”.
Total Income (all sources): 7,001 MCr’s
Total Fleet Strength: 4xDD, 14xEX
Fortifications: 3xBS2
Construction: 1xBS2
Refits: 2xDD
Mintek Universal Union
The Mintek are focused on integrating the Alowan Triumvirate into the Union. The Alowan government, which refused to allow the Mintek to introduce their people to the truth, was based on false principles and exploiting their own people, and had to be removed. The Alowan people appear to have accepted this change, although Mintek ground troops are still working to establish complete control of the planet.
The Mintek military will recover from the minor losses suffered during the liberation of the Alowan relatively quickly, as their losses were limited to easily replaceable fighters. However, integrating the lessons learned during the short war with the Alowan government will take longer to effect, and will be ongoing for some time.
Total Income (all sources): 27,115 MCr’s
Fleet Strength: 6xSD, 7xBC, 1xCA, 12xCLX, 6xCVL, 1xCVS, 1xCVE, 13xDD, 4xDD(AW), 72xF0, 6xArmed Pinnace
Fortifications: 6xBS5, 1xAstF, 30xF0, 3xArmed Pinnace
Mothballs: 17xBC, 6xCLX, 39xDD
Construction: 1xAstF, 1xCV, 2xSD, 1xDD(Fighter support ship), 132xF0, 3xArmed Pinnace
Refits: 3xBS5
Captured Ships (damaged): 1xSS(SY), 3xBS5, 7xBC, 11xDD, 7xCT
-
Month 156
Colonial Union
In the aftermath of the union between the Colonial Union and the Wunderland Association, the new enlarged Colonial Union focuses on consolidating its new territory, expanding the interstellar communications network, and realigning the fleet. The Wunderlanders resist relocating any part of their fleet out of Sligo, on the grounds that the Tarek continue to be a threat and must be countered. This becomes a debate in the Senate, and evolves into the larger question of the Union’s relationship with alien races. The debate is still raging by the end of the month.
The Colonial Union announces that the Consolidated Earth States will join the Union in six months.
The D’Bringi Alliance
Alliance fleets continue to head towards the Breshy system, on the D’Bringi frontier. The Rehorish government, concerned about the new conflict with the Mintek, and the dispatch of so much of their fleet so far away, begins bringing ships out of mothballs to create a new reserve at the home planet.
The T’Pau begin construction on a proto-type battlecruiser. The D’Bringi, who were brought in to consult on the design, pressured the T’Pau to simply use their Clan Leader class battlecruiser design, however, the T’Pau felt strongly that this new class should be a purely T’Pau design. In the end, the T’Pau design bureau took the easiest route forward and merely took the existing design for the Patton class heavy cruiser and added a new section in the middle, resulting in a battlecruiser-sized Patton class heavy cruiser. Work on the new ship began this month.
Independents
Bjering survey ships probing newly discovered warp points in a frontier system discover a D’Bringi colony world on the far side of one of the new warp points. In addition, the ship probing one of the other warp points in the same frontier system discovers that the warp point in the frontier system links back to a closed warp point in the Hymir system. In fact, this is the closed warp point in the Hymir system that the D’Bringi have been using to trade with the Bjering.
The two probe ships report back and a report is sent back to the home world, recommending that the entire chain beyond the Hymir system be abandoned, as it was possible that the systems beyond Hymir had interpenetrated with D’Bringi space. Continuing to survey and exploit those systems would almost certainly lead to potential conflict with the D’Bringi, and would produce a difficult defense situation.
At the same time as the 1st Survey Group was probing the new warp points in the Ginnunggap system, the 2nd Survey Group was probing two new warp points found in the Slepnir system. The first led to a system with three type T planets, a fantastic find the survey commander named the Runes system. The second led to a system colonized by the Tomsk Union. There was some concern that the Tomsk Union had already claimed the Runes system, as the Tomsk government confirmed that they had probed the Slepnir system, but fortunately the Tomsk had not progressed past the Slepnir system and had not found the Runes system. There is great excitement among the command staff of the survey group, as three new type T planets in one system is an incredible find.
Once word from the two survey groups arrives back on Bjering Prime, difficult decisions must be made. The fact that the trade route through the closed warp point in the Hymir system is now known is encouraging, btu the likely D’Bringi presence throughout that cluster of stars is not welcome. The easiest course of action would be to abandon all systems outwards from Hymir, and establish a defensive bastion there, however, the discovery of a Tomsk Union system downstream from Hymir, and the presence of the valuable Runes system, made this impractical. Therefore, the Admiral’s Council decided to relocate Delta Fleet, which was currently stationed in the Hymir system, to the Sjofn system, as a picket to guard against D’Bringi incursions. The fact that the warp line to Sjofn to Ginnunggap ended in a closed warp point in the Ginnunggap system meant that likely the D’Bringi had not discovered the Sjofn system, or the systems beyond it. The colonization of the planets in the Runes system could then begin.
The Tomsk Union begins R&D on HT-7, with Bjering assistance.
The Mintek ground force on Alowan Prime is having a difficult time achieving full control of the planet, in spite of the Alowan surrender. At the start of the month the ground force commander requests reinforcements, which arrive by the end of the month, increasing his forces by two thirds.
Month 157, Day 10, T’Pau survey group #1
The T’Pau survey group had completed its survey of the Gallery system last month. The four habitable planets of the system were surveyed and ready for colonization, so the group set out for its next target, the Virtue system. To reach this system, which was known to contain two type T planets, the group had to retrace its steps through the Brooloo system. They jumped into the Virtue system on the 10th and immediately spread out to begin surveying the system for warp points. The three Wasp class planetary survey corvettes with the group set out for the inner system, where they would release their swarm of small craft to begin the survey of the planets in the system. The corvettes closed to forty eight light minutes from the planet before their sensors registered the population on the planet. At that point their receivers picked up transmissions that made it clear that the population was humans. The corvettes turned and ran towards the outer system, signaling their fellow survey ships their news. The entire survey group withdrew, and the news that a human colony planet had been found was sent back through the D’Bringi communications network. Interestingly, the planet had been unoccupied when the survey group discovered it three months ago, which indicated that the humans had just recently begun colonizing the system. The second habitable planet was still unoccupied.
The settlers in the Colonial Union’s Managua system sent out a hurried report of unknown drive fields probing the system, and asked for UCDF presence to protect them.
Month 157, Day 18
The Titov Free State’s survey group had completed its survey of the Saratov system, and was probing the two new warp points in the system when they discovered that one of the two new systems belonged to the Tomsk Union. The warp point in the Tomsk colony system was closed, and it was located far out in the outer system, so the Titov survey ship was able to withdraw without incident, and without being detected. The rulers of the Free State were firm believers in placing monetary value on almost anything, and for the location of a closed warp point into another race’s territory, certain races would pay top credit. Indeed, it was possible that the Free State could sell the location of the closed warp point to the Tomsk Union, as they would likely pay well to know a possible route of invasion.
-
Month 157
Colonial Union, Day 1
Senator Holbrooke, ND-Wunderland, looked around the chamber, taking a dramatic pause. Seeing his fellow senators were at least paying attention, he nodded. “We cannot allow this situation to continue! It is intolerable! The Tarek have proven themselves hostile to humanity time and time again. Indeed, Tarek broadcast programs recorded last week by the Navy show that they continue to demonize us on a daily basis. They are not our friends, and we cannot trust them. Oh, yes, they are acting all meek and subdued now, but for how long? What happens if the D’Bringi attack again? We did nothing to provoke their original attack against us, and their close allies stabbed us in the back when we needed them the most. We cannot trust them to uphold their end of the peace treaty, so we must be strong. And we cannot be strong if we have the Tarek at our backs, just waiting for us to withdraw our fleet from Sligo! How long will they wait to stab us in the back? They are like all of the other aliens out there, untrustworthy and dangerous! The D’Bringi and the Rehorish have proven that we cannot trust the alien races, they are bloodthirsty and perfidious! The Alien Control Act is a necessity! We must have control within our own territory, or we will be open to invasion from the outside! Before we can deal with the threats outside of our borders, we must deal with the threats and potential weaknesses inside our borders! I urge you to pass the Alien Control Act!”
Senator Holbrooke took his seat as the chamber echoed to the muffled words of his colleagues as they discussed his speech. Of course, they knew as well as he did that the speech wasn’t for them, it was for the public. And they all knew how the public felt about the Alien Control Act. The recent marches through the major cities of the Colonial Union, organized by the New Dawn Party, had made the public’s feelings very clear. The measure’s passage was a foregone conclusion.
Day 15
Admiral Ruston walked into the Colonial President’s office, stood to attention and saluted.
The President waved him towards a seat. “Yes, yes, for god’s sake, have a seat admiral!”
Admiral Ruston dropped the salute and walked stiffly over to the offered chair and sat, perched on the edge of the seat.
Seeing the Admiral’s demeanor, the President sighed. “Okay. We might as well jump to the chase. yesterday the Alien Control Act passed in the Senate. I will sign it this afternoon, and It will become law. My staff are preparing your orders. You are to assemble a fleet of suitable size and strength, and proceed to the Sligo system. Once there you will order the Tarek to surrender to Colonial control. If they do not surrender and allow the ground troops that are now assembling to land and take control of their planet, you are to eliminate their defenses and facilitate the landing of the troops. Once the Tarek planet and its colonies are under control, you are to take the fleet to the Redwing system and implement the requirements of the Alien Control Act there as well. Is this understood?”
Admiral Ruston remained silent for a short period; his face expressionless as he looked at the President. Finally, he spoke. “Ma’am, you understand that the Tarek defenses are based on their planet? Exactly as our defenses were on Earth. If they do not surrender then ‘eliminating their defenses’ will involve a planetary bombardment that will kill thousands, potentially millions of civilians.”
“Tarek civilians.” Her tone was flat and uninflected. It was monstrous, but stated as fact, without heat or emotion.
Admiral Ruston leaned forward, his composure slipping a bit. “Tarek or human, they are thinking, living beings. We cannot, I will not order a bombardment with no provocation. By all reports the Tarek have followed the letter of our agreement.”
“For now, admiral. For now. But for how long?” The President started to say more, but then reconsidered and stopped. “You know the arguments as well as I do. I know you’ve been following the news. I won’t restate the arguments here. Either you will follow your orders, or you won’t. What will it be?”
Admiral Ruston stared at the President for a few seconds longer, then shook his head. He stood. “I cannot follow orders I believe to be immoral.”
“Very well, I will expect your resignation within…”
Before the President could finish her sentence, Admiral Ruston reached into his tunic and withdrew an envelope which he placed on her desk. Without any further conversation, former Admiral Ruston left the President’s office.
The Alien Control Act was signed into law that afternoon. Orders were issued shortly thereafter to begin assembling a fleet. Several other officers resigned as well, but for the most part, if Ruston had planned this as a general walk-out it failed. The political leadership was actually disappointed, as they had hoped to clear the decks of Ruston’s loyalists and those who still clung to the old ways. A new day was dawning in the Colonial Union.
Month 158, Day 20, Colonial Union, Sligo System
The United Colonial Defense Force’s (UCDF) 1st Battle Squadron arrived over Wunderland on this date. The squadron had grown to include the Colonial Union’s only battleship, six battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, six destroyers, and three scouts of various types. Once at Wunderland the 1st Battle Squadron was joined by the UCDF’s Sligo Squadron, which consisted of six battlecruisers, three destroyers, four corvettes, twenty escorts, and five scouts. The combined force then set out for Tarek Prime. The ground invasion force which had followed the 1st Battle Squadron into the system followed behind the combined force.
Several hours later the combined squadrons approached the Tarek home planet. Rear Admiral Carstairs, commanding officer of the 1st Battle Squadron, turned to Lt. General Rogov. “General, we are in position. You may make your announcement.”
General Rogov moved into the designated camera’s view area and looked to the comms officer, who nodded. He straightened his tunic, then began. “I am Lieutenant General Rogov, Colonial Army. Under the authority of the Colonial Senate, and by the authorization of the Alien Control Act, I now demand that all active defenses on your planet stand down and allow my troops to land. My forces will assume control of all critical sites on your planet, and we will take responsibility for the defense of your planet from this time forward. If you do not submit, this fleet will eliminate your defenses and my troops will land anyway. The resulting civilian casualties will be regrettable, but will be your responsibility. From this time forward the Tarek will be a protectorate under Colonial administration.”
General Rogov stepped back and the recording cut out. He turned to the comms officer. “Translate it and send it immediately.” With that, he turned and walked back to his staff, who were waiting on the far side of the command deck.
Admiral Carstairs watched the General go, carefully keeping the sneer she felt from her face. She knew what the general was up to. He had insisted on being on her command deck for this, instead of on his landing command ship, and he had insisted on being the one to communicate with the Tarek. He was determined that any glory or credit for this venture would be associated with his name, and his name only. If his announcement pushed the Tarek into futile resistance, then that would be her problem, and the civilian casualties that resulted when her fleet bombarded the Tarek PDC’s on the surface of their world would be on her and the fleet, not him. Either way, once his troops were on the ground, he would be able to take credit for pacifying the Tarek, leaving the fleet to hold the bag for mass murder.
She turned and walked over to the central plot, wishing that Admiral Ruston was still around to take this burden from her. She had thought about resigning when he left, but in a private conversation he had told her, and others, that it would be better for everyone if they stayed at their posts and kept to the old traditions as much as they could. If they all left, there would be no one to carry on. She had agreed then, but now that she was staring at the potential bombardment of an inhabited planetary surface, she wasn’t sure she could go through with it. The Tarek didn’t have capital missiles, there was nothing their PDC’s could do to her fleet. There was no way they could win, or even survive, but the Tarek were not known for their reasonableness. She looked over to the general, who was laughing and talking with his staff as if he hadn’t a care in the world. The Colonial Army was a new organization, and its officer corps was overrun by New Dawn Party members who had more political connections than military training. General Rogov was a prime example. He wasn’t really a bad guy, just very ambitious, and he knew far less about military matters than he thought he did. Fortunately, she had met his colonels, and they seemed a solid bunch, drawn mostly from the old Russian and Coalition armies, and most with combat experience.
The Admiral’s thoughts were interrupted by her intelligence officer. “Ma’am, orbital surveillance shows the crews are leaving the Tarek PDC’s!”
Even as the intel officer made his announcement, the comms officer hunched over her console, then turned towards the Admiral. “Admiral, the Tarek have surrendered. They will meet with our representatives at a landing area outside their capital city.”
Admiral Carstairs opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, General Rogov interjected. “That’s excellent! See, admiral, I told you they would fold. Nothing can stand against good, old, human fortitude and determination!” He turned back to his staff, who were all obediently nodding.
“Very well, General, I’ll arrange transport back to your command ship. I’m sure you want to begin landing operations immediately.” That would also incidentally get him off of her battleship before she shot him, the annoying twit.
The combined squadrons waited for the Tarek to completely evacuate the two active PDC’s on the planet’s surface, and then they cautiously moved into range of the planet. Under the cover of the fleet’s missiles, and escorted by the smaller ships in the fleet, the ground force transports began their landing. Two transports were diverted to land at the PDC’s sites, to confirm the Tarek evacuation and take possession of the PDC’s before the Tarek changed their minds. A third, containing General Rogov’s command element, landed near the Tarek capital and began disgorging its troops. Once the area was secure, General Rogov and his command team left the transport and were escorted to the Tarek delegation, which was waiting at their designated meet site.
General Rogov apparently wasn’t completely stupid, because he declined to meet the Tarek at their designated site. Instead, his force set up camp a short distance away from their landing site, and broadcast an invitation to the Tarek to meet them there.
Approximately an hour after they landed, the Tarek delegation approached the meet site. Admiral Carstairs watched from orbit, as General Rogov had clearly not wanted her anywhere near him during this portion of the landing. The Tarek arrived in massive air-cushion vehicles which landed outside the meeting site’s perimeter. A trio of Tarek debarked, and Admiral Carstairs was stunned at their size and fearsome appearance. She had seen vids, of course, nearly everyone had, but seeing them like this was different. The Tarek had been described as crab-like, but that really didn’t do them justice. Superficially they did look like large crabs, however, up close it was clear that that description didn’t capture the reality of the situation. Each of the Tarek facing General Rogov’s party were very large, perhaps five meters across. Their bodies were suspended from four massive legs that looked more like a spider’s than a crab’s legs, and they all had a pair of very large, very powerful looking claws in front. All three were covered in slabbed armor composed of some sort of alloy. The armor covered most of their bodies and looked very thick. All of the armor, and their large size, meant that the Tarek moved slowly, but when they moved, they gave the impression that nothing would stop them. The trio moved forward towards the waiting human group, then came to a stop several Tarek body-lengths from the General and his guards. In spite of herself, Admiral Carstairs sympathized with the General and his men, who all looked close to panicked at the close approach of the heavily armored aliens.
After a few seconds the lead Tarek took a half-step forward and began rumbling. The Tarek’s speech was translated for the humans by their headsets. “I am Grand General Alorx, commander under the Emperor of the defenses of Tarek Prime. I formally surrender to you. We will submit to your rule. Understand, though, that we do this solely because of the force of your fleet, which we cannot answer. Your unjust actions here today will be remembered by the Tarek for all of time.” General Alorx gestured with one of his massive claws to the Tarek standing to his left. “This is Grand Vizier Hentak. He will be your intermediary with the Empire from now on.”
While General Rogov watched, Grand Vizier Hentak moved forward and General Alorx and the other Tarek shuffled back a few steps. Grand Vizier Hentak turned back to General Alorx, turning his back on the humans. General Alrox and the other Tarek stopped a few steps back and stiffened. General Rogov opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak something began happening to the two Tarek furthest away from the humans. Although they had stiffened into immobility, they began quivering. Not knowing what was going on, General Rogov and his party began moving back from the tableau. After a few seconds, brilliant light began streaming out from the joints in the two Tarek’s armored shells, and a high-pitched scream began sounding from the two rigid Tarek. At first Admiral Carstairs thought the two Tarek were screaming, but she quickly realized no being could squeal in quite that manner. Instead, when one of the bridge crew zoomed in on the figure of General Alorx, she could see that the screaming was caused by high-pressure steam escaping from the joints in the general’s armor.
By now General Rogov and his guards had retreated to their armored transports, which had started their engines and were preparing to leave. After a few seconds, though, the brilliant streamers of light escaping from the armored shells of the general and his companion died away, as did the steam,a dn the armored husks seemed to crumple a bit, although they remained standing. With whatever it was complete, the Grand Vizier simply turned back towards the humans and waited. For several minutes the human party waited in their armored vehicles, with their turret mounted guns and launchers scanning for enemies, before finally General Rogov and his party emerged once again. The Grand Vizier began speaking as they approached. “The general has made his apology to the Emperor for his failure to defend this planet. As will other military officers who have failed.” The Grand Vizier turned and gestured to the now-empty armored shells. “In the Empire, there is a penalty for failing in your duty to the Emperor.”
“I…” General Rogov stopped and swallowed, his face pale, then rallied, no doubt remembering that millions would be watching his performance. “I understand. That was regrettable, but you must understand, the Colonial Union has an overriding interest in securing our borders, and part of that responsibility is ensuring that the Tarek never pose a threat to humanity. I am here to ensure the safety of the Colonial Union, and our citizens.”
The Grand Vizier gestured with his claw, back towards the two empty shells. “May you have more success than General Alorx. I am ready to begin coordination with your forces.”
Admiral Carstairs’ attention was diverted when her intel officer approached her station. “Ma’am, orbital surveillance shows Tarek leaving every identified military base on the planet.”
Admiral Carstairs perked up. “Are they armed?” Was this the beginning of a counter-attack, or an attempt to hide their military amongst their civilians?
“Orbital surveillance wouldn’t be able to detect personal weapons, but we don’t show any heavy weapons or obviously armed vehicles leaving the bases.”
“Okay. Is the intel being shared with General Rogov’s team?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Very well.”
General Rogov and his team worked with the Grand Vizier, who facilitated the landings and communicated the human’s requirements to his government. Soon, human transports were landing all over the world. They uniformly discovered military bases empty of personnel, but packed with weaponry, all of which was secured. Control was rapidly established over the planet.
While this was going on, there was little for the 1st Battle Squadron to do while they floated overhead in orbit. So, Admiral Carstairs used this time to plan the next stage of the operation, the takeover of Tlatelolco Prime. Although General Rogov was in charge of the landings for that planet as well, he had delegated responsibility for establishing control of that planet to one of his subordinates, which gave overall control of the operation in the Tlatelolco system to Admiral Carstairs. She was fairly certain that Rogov had planned it this way because, unlike the Tarek, the Tlatelolco had long been friendly with first the Coalition and now the Colonial Union, and, also unlike the Tarek, had some support within the Senate. While their supporters hadn’t managed to get them exempted from the Alien Control Act, they had managed to get limitations placed on the fleet and army sent to take control of their planet. Admiral Carstairs was specifically prohibited from bombarding their planet, which shouldn’t be a problem as they had no real defenses or military. It was possible they wouldn’t meekly accept conquest, and if they didn’t it would get controversial very quickly. Rogov clearly didn’t want any of that controversy sticking to him, so he had opted to stay on Tarek Prime, using the justification that the Tarek were clearly a bigger threat to justify his decision.
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Month 159, Colonial Union
The United Colonial Defense Fleet’s 1st Battle Group left the Sligo system on the 5th. The UCDF’s flagship, the battleship Kara, had been left behind, along with all six of the battle group’s battlecruisers. The Kara and the battlecruisers had gone into the Sligo yards for refits, and were replaced by six brand new battlecruisers built in the Sligo yards.
Without fanfare, the force transited into the Redwing system and set out for the lone habitable planet in the system. The Tlatelolco knew they were coming, as they had been warned by their supporters within the Colonial Senate that the fleet was en route. That could have been considered treason, but for the fact that the Tlatelolco had no defenses, and no one expected them to resist the landings. Admiral Carstairs sent the Tlatelolco a message informing them of her fleet’s ETA and requested an immediate meeting with their leaders. A message returned promptly, agreeing to her request.
On the 10th the fleet arrived over Tlatelolco Prime. The Tlatelolco had advanced greatly thanks to their association with humanity. Over the course of their relationship with humanity they had gone from coal-burning trains to space flight and the colonization of their system with drive-field equipped transports. In addition, they had two shipyards in orbit over their planet, and were planning on building a survey fleet, once their colonization of their home system was complete. And now all of that was about to change.
Admiral Carstairs met with the representative from the Tlatelolco government aboard their orbital shipyard. She would have preferred to meet on board her flagship, but they had no accommodations large enough for a Tlatelolco’s great bulk, so the space station, with its living area designed to accommodate both races, was the logical choice. The meeting took place in a room designed for both races, a large conference room on one side, appropriate for humans, and a large open area on the other side for Tlatelolco, separated by a think glass partition. While the Tlatelolco could survive in an Earth-like environment, and humans could survive unprotected on Tlatelolco Prime, neither would enjoy the experience. The separate environments ensured that both could interact in comfort.
Admiral Carstairs entered the meeting room with her marine guards. Several marines positioned themselves outside, while a quartet entered and swept the room before taking up position against the wall. The marines were in full power armor, and with their heavy linear accelerator rifles would be sufficient to protect her from a whole squad of Tlatelolco, in spite of their massive bulk.
“Admiral. I think I know what you are going to tell me.”
Admiral Carstairs stepped forward, towards the partition, and peered through, trying to make out the Tlatelolco on the far side. It was dark there, as the Tlatelolco were primarily sub-surface dwellers. Suddenly the shadows shifted and a massive head came into view, shifting first one way and then the other to take in the tiny human. Admiral Carstairs was prepared for it, and knew what the Tlatelolco looked like, but still, the sudden appearance of the fearsome being caused her to take a startled step back. The marines along the outer wall stepped forward, bringing their weapons up, but Admiral Carstairs gestured for them to return to their positions, and she stepped forward. The Tlatelolco appeared exactly as a demon from the old legends would have, immense and pitch black, with gaping teeth filled jaws and blazing eyes. In spite of their appearance, the Tlatelolco were about as peaceful as it was possible to be, with most being avowed pacifists. There were no records of any Tlatelolco ever hurting a human, ever, even accidentally. “Representative Tliex, I am honored by your presence.”
The big Tlatelolco uttered something that suspiciously sounded like a chuckle. “As if we had a choice.”
Admiral Carstairs sighed. She had known going into this that it wouldn’t be easy, and she couldn’t blame the Tlatelolco representative for not making it any easier. “Very well. I am here to serve your government notice that the Colonial Senate has declared the Tlatelolco system a protectorate of the Colonial Union, and that from this date forward the Tlatelolco government will be required to cede control of certain functions, like defense and foreign relations, to the Colonial Union. In addition, the Colonial Union, under the Alien Control Act, will land troops on Tlatelolco Prime to ensure the cooperation of the Tlatelolco government and people with the Colonial Union’s protectorate. A Colonial official will be appointed by the Senate to act as an interlocutor between your people and the Colonial Union. This individual will be responsible for meeting your needs under the Act, as well as ensuring your compliance with the requirements of the protectorate. A full text of the Act, as well as the requirements of the protectorate, will be transmitted to your government as soon as you signal your readiness to receive them.”
There was silence for a few seconds that stretched out as the two representatives watched each other. Finally, Tliex spoke. “We will comply. As you knew before you came here. We have no military. We do not fight others, or ourselves. You will find our compliance grudging and limited, though.”
Admiral Carstairs knew that the last part covered a multitude of possibilities, but that wasn’t her concern. “As long as I have your compliance, that is all I care about. Our troops will begin landing immediately.” She turned and walked out, leaving the Tlatelolco representative behind.
Shortly thereafter the human troops began landing across the planet, taking control of critical infrastructure and just generally making a nuisance of themselves, as far as the Tlatelolco were concerned.
Month 160
The exodus from Earth continues, but now, with the Colonial Union in the last phases of merging with the Consolidated Earth States, the flow of emigrants is now controlled completely by the Union. With the breakdown in relations with the Tomsk Union, this now means that the entire flow of emigrants will be absorbed by the Union. The Colonial Senate had developed an intricate plan to ship the colonists to seven different planets throughout the Union, as part of a plan to boost the ongoing colonization efforts of the Union government. Prior to this wave of emigrants from Earth there were only four systems that could support colonization efforts from their populations, and this wave of emigrants was seen by the Union as a way to boost that number and to create colonization-supporting populations closer to the leading edge of expansion, which would then reduce colonization costs. Unfortunately, this plan was too ambitious, and the Colonial Senate had not properly anticipated the costs, which proved to be overwhelming. Even with the help of the Consolidated Earth States, the cost of shipping these emigrants five to seven jumps from Earth, sometimes to planets with environments rated ‘harsh’, proved to be startlingly high. The CU government managed to fund these efforts by a large-scale sell-off of industrial investments, however, a different solution will have to be found for the next wave of emigrants. The current plan is now seen as unsupportable.
Month 161
The appearance of a Rehorish scout ship in the former USSR’s territories is alarming to the Colonial government and to the United Colonial Defense Fleet. The relief is palpable after the Rehorish freely reveal that they found the Norilsk system through the already-known warp link to the Swaziland system, an uninteresting system that had been probed by the Union’s exploration service, but not surveyed. When the Rehorish suggest that the Swaziland system be declared off-limits to both races as a buffer between the two states, the Colonial Union readily agrees. The UCDF’s relief is short-lived, though. The strategic situation presented by the new link to the Rehorish Dominion presents a complication and a new commitment that the fleet will be hard pressed to meet.
First, the fleet will have to dispatch ships to patrol the Norilsk colony system, to ensure that the Rehorish don’t encroach on the colony system. Second, fixed defenses will have to be built to deter, delay, or stop any attack launched by the Rehorish or their allies. And this at a time when the UCDF is already having to divert mobile construction resources to begin constructing defenses in the Managua colony system, where unknown drive fields probed the system several months ago.
Month 162
The Colonial Union amalgamates the Consolidated Earth States.
There are parades and holidays across the Colonial Union celebrating the reunification of the colonies with the home world. The parties last for days as the population celebrates, and there is a general feeling that humanity is at long last on the path to recovery. The CU government announces an ambitious new military expansion plan that will initially focus on fortifying the core worlds of the Union, securing the Union’s shipyards and primary population centers. This plan will start by reactivating much of the defensive network that was mothballed after the Last War on Earth, and by deploying extensive sensor buoys across important systems to detect intruders if a potentially hostile race discovers a closed warp point into the core areas.
A CU survey group operating in the former Wunderland Association’s territory discovers a system containing colonies belonging to one of the D’Bringi subject races. The warp point leading into the system is an open warp point, and will be easily detected by the T’Pau, if they have not already probed it. Therefore, following SOP, the survey group commander sends word back to the capital and then establishes contact with the T’Pau. As with the recent contact with the Rehorish, the negotiations go well and both sides agree to declare the Laramie system a buffer area and off-limits to both races.
Month 165
The migration from Earth continues. The Coalition has been spending large sums of money in improving its infrastructure and defenses, and cannot afford to ship the emigrants across large numbers of systems to the smaller colonies, so the emigrants are relocated to the colony of New Moscow in the Sigma Draconis system. One jump from Earth, the trip is short and the costs are reduced significantly. Still, the program is costly and the Coalition legislature is examining alternatives to reduce the need to ship so many people off of Earth.
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Month 157, Day 30
The Alliance Armada was assembled. The Armada consisted of ships from five different races, and was as large as the fleets assembled during the war with the humans.
Total Strength: 18xBC, 21xCA, 6xCL, 5xCVS, 4xDD, 2xDDV, 6xCT, 13xCTV, 210xF0, 12xPin
Support: 7XFT(MS), 45xEX, 6xCT, 3xCTV, 18xF0, 9xPin
Note: The Rehorish intend to shift their mobile shipyards to support the offensive, however, they are finishing up their current build orders and will not be available for some time. This mobilization has brought the D’Bringi to the realization that they have an issue with supporting their forward carrier fleets. Their repair ships are built around machine ship units, which can efficiently repair starships in less space than would be required for larger shipyard types. Unfortunately, the machine ships cannot manufacture items, only repair or assemble them. Therefore, the D’Bringi were feverishly working to build fighter replenishment ships that would carry crated fighters that could be assembled by the repair ships, if replacement fighters were needed.
Month 158, Day 1, D’Bringi Expanses
The time set for the invasion to begin came, and the transits into Mintek space began. First went a pair of Rehorish pinnaces, to ensure that space on the far side of the warp point was clear. The warp point on the other side was an undetectable closed warp point, so it should be clear, but with a fleet this size nothing was being left to chance. After the pinnaces returned with confirmation that it was safe, ships began jumping through. The first through were the D’Bringi corvette-carriers, so that they could fan out and secure the area around the warp point. Next came the capital units of the fleets, the battlecruisers and heavy cruisers, followed by the smaller ships. Finally, once all of the combat units were through, the D’Bringi and Rehorish survey units jumped through to the Mintek colony system.
After taking a short time to get organized, a group of six D’Bringi corvette-carrier scouts set out for the inner system and the Mintek colony there, to probe the area and determine if the troops could be sent in. Next, Rehorish destroyer and corvette scouts, along with more D’Bringi corvette-carriers, spread out across the system, looking for potential threats. Finally, the two survey groups spread out across the system, surveying for warp points.
Eighteen hours after the Allied fleet arrived in the system, the Mintek colony detected the D’Bringi corvettes headed in-system. The colony administrator immediately sent a message to the comm network buoys at the warp point that led back to the home system, with a warning. The system was known to have two warp points, and both were covered by comms and sensor buoys, so the unknown ships hadn’t entered through the known warp points, meaning there was at least one closed warp point in the system. Periodic updates were sent after the initial warning, as new information became available.
The warning from the colony took thirty-eight hours to reach the home planet, which was located three jumps away. The report was alarming, particularly in light of the fact that the bulk of the fleet was located four jumps away in the Alowan home system, putting it seven jumps from the Delphi colony system, the site of the incursion. Mintek Fleet Command issued a recall order to the fleet, giving Strategos Neeron discretion to detach enough ships to patrol the Alowan system and ensure their continued compliance. Also, a group of carriers that had returned to the home system after the battle with the Alowan to have their fighter complements replenished were ordered to depart immediately for the Delphi system. By that time, it had become clear from the continued reports from the Delphi system that a major incursion was underway as additional ships had been detected fanning out across the system. Fleet Command dispatched orders to the Delphi colony to destroy all information relating to the location of the warp points in the system and to prepare for occupation.
Mintek Fleet Command also dispatched an override command to the comm network buoys at the warp point in the Delphi system that connected with the rest of the empire. When the sensor buoy at the warp point detected the first alien ship approaching the warp point, the buoy was to send a contact report to the associated comm buoy, which would then send the message back through the comms network, and then both buoys would self-destruct. The warp point that led back to Mintek space was closed, and its presence must be kept secret at all costs.
Finally, Fleet Command sent a message to the survey group located in the next system out from the affected system. The survey group was to hide in the outer system and conserve its resources until it could be relieved. Under no circumstances was it to return to the Delphi system. The survey group, upon receiving the message, moved away from the warp point back to Delphi and shut down their drive fields. They were surveying a starless nexus, and there literally was nothing there to be found, including other warp points. It was a dead end.
One of the last messages out of the Delphi system identified the attackers as D’Bringi. At least now the Mintek knew who was attacking them.
By the time the warning reached Mintek Prime, the D’Bringi scout group had reached the inner system and verified that no Mintek ships were present. The report was sent back to the fleet waiting by the warp point, and in response transports carrying the ground invasion element were sent into the system, escorted by a force of heavy cruisers and lighter ships. A large ground force had been assembled in the D’Bringi colony of Breshy in the adjacent system, but only a small part of the force was dispatched to the Mintek colony, as it only had a small population. The rest was retained for future operations.
The D’Bringi invasion force completely overwhelmed the colony, as intended. The Mintek fought hard, but their colonial troops had been stationed at the colony to protect against hostile flora and fauna, and the occasional recidivist, not a hostile invasion. By the end of the month the colony’s defenses had fallen and D’Bringi troops were moving to consolidate their hold on the planet. In the rest of the system, the main fleet sat watchfully at the closed warp point back to D’Bringi space, while the two survey groups worked to find the system’s other warp points. Their survey efforts would be complete early next month.
Month 159, Day 7, Mintek Delphi colony system
The Rehorish and D’Bringi survey ships completed their survey of the Mintek colony system, and discovered one additional warp point. The new warp point was thirty-six light minutes in-system from their entry point, on a direct line towards the system primary. Initially this was taken as confirmation of the warp point that the probe force had observed a Mintek freighter using to enter and exit the system, however, careful examination of the records of that event showed that the presumed Mintek freighter had entered and left the system at a point twenty-four light minutes in-system of their entry point, a full twelve light minutes from the newly discovered warp point. This clearly indicated that the Mintek had at least one closed warp point into the system, and that their survey efforts would not find it. If true, this was a devastating blow to their offensive. In any case, the new warp point had to be probed. The scout-carriers escorting the D’Bringi survey group were dispatched to the new warp point, along with force of T’Pau heavy and light cruisers were sent to support them. The probe would be carried out by pinnaces from the Rehorish pinnace carriers deployed to support the fleet.
Month 159, Day 10, Mintek Delphi colony system
The combined squadron was drawn up in front of the newly discovered warp point. Three D’Bringi corvette-carriers hung back, away from the warp point, with their fighters deployed forward, surrounding the warp point. The six T’Pau heavy cruisers were closer in, at effective weapons range of the warp point, screened by their light cruisers. Finally, two Rehorish pinnace-carrier corvettes hung back with the D’Bringi carriers, while their eight pinnaces closed on the warp point. Behind all of the war ships waited the D’Bringi and Rehorish survey groups.
Without hesitating, the eight pinnaces disappeared through the warp point. A few minutes later they returned and reported that the far side was clear. The D’Bringi corvette-carriers went through first, followed by the survey groups. The remaining ships set up in defensive positions in the Mintek colony system.
Month 159, Day 30, Mintek Delphi colony system
The D’Bringi troops were in control of the Mintek colony, and had searched for any information on local warp point layout, but had found nothing. This left the D’Bringi Alliance in a difficult position. They were in control of the colony system, but the Mintek had a closed warp point into the system, and could attack at any time. If they withdrew their fleet, anything they left to secure the system would almost certainly be overwhelmed, and could reveal the route back to their own territory. Leaving the fleet in place wasn’t a good alternative either, as that would tie down significant forces in an insignificant colony system indefinitely, to no good purpose. The only other alternative was to withdraw, but that was politically unpalatable. The Alliance Council was left to debate the issue, with no good alternatives available.
Within the Mintek territories, the Mintek fleet was redeploying. Chancellor Durkhon and his advisors had come to a decision. The colony in Delphi was to be sacrificed, at least for now. Rather than being sent to face the assembled fleet of the D’Bringi and their subjects, the Mintek fleet would be diverted to a new location, to attack a Rehorish colony that had been discovered some time ago. The D’Bringi would be wasting their time attacking a useless colony, while the Mintek fleet would do an end run and attack into their ally’s territory.
Month 160, Day 5, Mintek Delphi Colony System
The orders had come down from the Alliance Council. The decision had been made. The Mintek system was a dead end, and indefensible. Therefore, transports were being sent to relocate the Mintek colonists to a suitable planet within the D’Bringi Expanses. Once the transports had evacuated the planet, the system would be abandoned. Scouts would continue to watch for Mintek activity, but no other activity would be allowed in the system.
Transports began arriving almost immediately, and a suitable planet had been discovered four jumps away, but the project was large enough that it would take two months for the entire population to be moved.
By Day 15 it was confirmed that the starless nexus adjacent to the Mintek colony system had no other warp points. This was truly a dead end, and without knowing the location of the closed warp point into Mintek space, they would not be able to advance. The survey fleets withdrew back to the main fleet and then from there back to D’Bringi space.
Month 161, Day 15, Mintek Delphi Colony System
The last D’Bringi colony transport left the system, bound for the Saray system four jumps away. The Mintek colonists were being transferred to this newly discovered, vacant world which was perfect for their use. Once there the Alliance would be able to study them, and hopefully determine if they could be “de-programmed” from their apparent need to proselytize their beliefs to anyone that would listen.
The Mintek colony system was now empty of Alliance ships, with the exception of a group of D’Bringi scout-carriers, left behind to watch for Mintek activity. Sensor buoys were being sent from the inner systems to be posted around the general area where the warp point to the rest of Mintek space was suspected to be located. The rest of the attack fleet was withdrawing back towards the interior, to the Chruqua Nexus, where it would join the new Rapid Response Fleet that was being assembled by the Alliance in that system.
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Month 161
A Rehorish survey group, having completed its survey of the 1-3 OR system, probed the three new warp points they had discovered. Two led to systems with habitable planets. Disappointingly, one of the two systems had Colonial Union colonies in it. The warp point the Rehorish scout ship used to enter the system was a distant one, located in the outer system, and they were fairly sure that the probe ship had not been detected before it detected the human population. The survey group sent a message back to the home world asking for direction.
After some consideration, the Rehorish government decided to reveal their presence in the system to the Colonial Union. They were required to do so by the peace treaty they had signed with the humans, however, that would not have convinced them to reveal themselves normally. Finding a hidden route into a potential enemy’s rear area was nearly priceless, and normally the Rehorish would not give up such an advantage willingly. However, in this case, the government decided that building a little good will with the humans might be a good idea. Especially as the warp links to the human colony system were not closed, and so if the humans surveyed their colony system, which was likely on the forefront of their colonial expansion, they would inevitably find the Rehorish Dominion’s nearby Sapporo system. Better to be upfront with the humans and come to an agreement on system ownership in the area, before a human survey ship blundered into Rehorish territory.
The contact with the humans went well, possibly because the Rehorish ship announced itself before being detected, and was a small frigate class vessel, so unlikely to be a threat. The Rehorish commander explained the situation, and proposed that the adjacent system, known to the Rehorish as 1-3 OR, would be considered by both races a neutral zone, and off limits. After consulting with their central authority, the humans agreed.
Later in the same month, a Torqual survey group completes its survey and probes the newly discovered warp points. Like the Rehorish the Torqual discover a human-colonized system. This system, though, was found through a closed warp point, which means that the humans won’t be able to find the way back to Torqual territory on their own. The Torqual survey ship withdrew without being detected, and the information was sent back to their home planet.
Month 162, Rehorish Dominion
The Kure system is a Rehorish colony system two jumps from their home system, on the border with the human Titov Free State. The Rehorish had spent the last several years fortifying the system to deter or delay human aggression, and the system now boasted eighteen destroyer-sized bases clustered around the warp point to the Titov Free State, backed up by a contingent of three light cruisers supported by nine smaller warships. In addition, the Rehorish had deployed a minefield around the warp point to the Titov Free State, along with one hundred and sixty-five laser buoys. The warp point to Titov, and all of its defenses, was located in the outer system, three hundred and twelve light minutes from the primary, at approximately the three o’clock position, if you were looking down at the system and the orbital plane. The warp point that led back to Rehorish Prime was also in the outer system, three hundred and forty-eight light minutes from the system primary, at the five o’clock position. This warp point was unguarded, although communications and sensor buoys had been stationed there to keep watch on the area.
At 0500 hours on the 1st day of the month, a Mintek fleet jumped into the system through a closed warp point located two hundred and sixteen light minutes from the primary, in the one o’clock position. Their entry went undetected, as their entry point was far from anything else in the system. The first to enter were the battlecruisers of the Fast Attack Group, followed quickly by the Carrier Strike Group. Finally, the warships were followed by a survey group, which immediately spread out to begin surveying the system. The Fast Attack Group set out for the inner system and the colony known to be located there, while the Carrier Strike Group settled in around their entry warp point in defensive positions.
Four days later the Mintek battlecruisers were detected by the Rehorish colony in the inner system. The colonial governor immediately sent messages to the unknown drive fields demanding ID’s. In addition, she sent messages to the communication network buoy at the warp point back to the home system, warning of the incursion, and a warning and plea for help to the defenses at the warp point to the Titov system.
It took just over six hours for the warnings to reach the Kure Squadron at the warp point to the Titov Free State. Sho-sa Ito, commanding the Kure Squadron, immediately ordered his squadron to intercept the intruders, leaving behind his three corvettes to serve as pickets and couriers for the warp point defenses. It would take nine days to reach the inner system from their currently location, so there was no time to be lost. His three light cruisers and six destroyers set out within the hour. Behind them, the bases and ships left at the warp point dropped their drive fields, essentially becoming undetectable at any range over one light minute.
Month 162, Day 6, 0100 hours
The warning from the Kure system arrived at Fleet HQ and caused emergency warnings to be sent out across the system and the entire Stellar Dominion, as well as to the Alliance. Fleet HQ immediately began assembling a relief fleet for the system from what it had available, and requested assistance from the Alliance.
Five hours later the hastily assembled relief fleet left Rehorish Prime. The fleet consisted of three battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, eight brand new destroyer escorts, a standard scout-destroyer, six corvette sized small craft carriers carrying sixty new anti-fighter small craft, and three corvette-scouts. They would arrive in the Kure system in fifteen days.
Month 162, Day 6, 0500 hours
The Rehorish corvette-scouts left behind at the warp point detected a drive field at seventy-two light minute’s range, coming from approximately 11 o’clock position. At first, they thought that it was headed towards the warp point they were guarding, but then it became clear that it was a group of survey ships or scouts spreading out across the system. Dai-I Sato, commanding the defenses, sent a warning to Cho-sa Ito and settled in to wait and see what the alien ships would do.
Cho-sa Ito’s force received the warning twenty-four minutes later, and out of caution, Cho-sa Ito ordered his squadron to shut down their drives and go silent. The Kure Squadron and the warp point defenses sat silently and watched the alien ships approach.
Month 162, Day 7, 0500 hours
The Mintek Fast Attack Force settles in just a light minute from the Rehorish colony. Once they were in position, Strategos Neeron sent a message to the Rehorish requesting that they surrender and appealing to the common people of the colony to prevail upon their leadership and do the right thing for everyone’s sake. The message is similar to the ones that Neeron sent to the Alowan, prior to the battles there that toppled their government and started their path to enlightenment.
The Rehorish governor immediately forwarded on the message to the warp point defenses in the outer system, along with the communications buoy at the other warp point. The information that the Mintek had found their colony was critical, as was the fact that the force sent to their colony consisted of seven battlecruisers. The governor pointedly did not respond to the Mintek message. The message was received by the Rehorish population as well, but it caused little stir. The Rehorish knew who they were, and they knew that the Mintek were enemies.
Month 162, Day 7, 0600 hours
The warning from the Rehorish about an alien incursion began arriving on Alliance home worlds on this date. The Alliance Council on D’Bringi Prime met at 1200 hours and authorized the Rapid Response Fleet, which was stationed in the Chruqua Nexus, to go to alert and begin relocating to a position closer to the Kure system. The situation in Kure was of significant concern. Not only was the system just two jumps from the Rehorish home world, it was adjacent to the Titov Free State. Should the aliens now in the Kure system make common cause with the Humans, it could be disastrous for the Alliance. The Titov Free State had access to two different routes into the Rehorish Dominion, through Kure and through Sapporo, and worse, there was another route from the Free State into the D’Bringi Expanses, which after three jumps would exit in the Phyriseq system. Alliance intelligence had penetrated the Free State’s astrographic database and confirmed that while they knew about the red giant system, they had never surveyed it, and had no idea of the presence of the Phyriseq system beyond one of its warp points. Indeed, the Rehorish navy’s scouts had watched for months as Titov freighters transited through the red giant system on their way to and from somewhere. Eventually, the Free State would decide to survey the red giant system, and at that point the Rehorish and the Alliance would have to decide what to do about it before the humans found the vital Phyriseq system. The Rapid Response Fleet, consisting of ships from every Alliance race with navies, except the Zir, set its course for the Kure system.
Rapid Response Fleet:12xBC, 21xCA, 3xCAV, 3xCVS, 6xCL, 4xDD, 3xCTS, 3xCT(Pin), 3xCTV, 114xF0, 12xPinnace
Month 162, Day 7, 1100 hours, Kure System
The message from the governor of the colony arrived at the Rehorish warp point defenses and the Kure squadron within thirty minutes or so of each other. Cho-sa Ito, who had been planning an ambush attack on the nearest alien survey ship, immediately changed his plans and renewed his orders to his combat group to remain drive-field down. The fact that the intruders were the Mintek changed the game, and ambushing a survey ship to gather information on the invaders was no longer a good idea.
The information arrived at the communications buoy thirty minutes later and was relayed out of the system.
Month 162, Day 8, 0030 hours, Rehorish Prime
The news that the invaders were the Mintek reached the Rehorish home world on this date. The reaction was immediate. Orders were dispatched immediately to the Home Fleet. They were ordered to proceed to the Kure system, but not to enter the system until a response had been worked out with the Alliance Rapid Response force that was already proceeding towards the system. The message was also forwarded on to the various home worlds of the Alliance races. By the end of the day all of the home worlds had received the message, and the D’Bringi had decided to dispatch reinforcements from their home world to bolster the Rapid Response Fleet. These reinforcements consisted of two battlecruisers, a heavy cruiser, and three strike carriers with seventy-two fighters.
Month 162, Day 9, 0600 hours, Kure System
The Mintek survey ships had been out of sensor range for over an hour when Cho-sa Ito ordered his squadron to head back to the warp point and the defenses there. Once they arrived, they dropped their drive fields and went dark. After a short time, Cho-sa Ito’s flagship launched a courier drone through the warp point to the Titov system. A short time later another courier drone appeared on the warp point, and Cho-sa Ito’s flagship activated its drives and jumped out to the Titov system. They might need to withdraw through the Titov system, and the Free State would have to know before it became critical.
Month 162, Day 21, 0600 hours, Kure system
A single scout-destroyer popped into the Kure system from the adjacent Rehorish system. The destroyer sat on the warp point for a brief period to allow its sensors to reset, and then sent a courier drone back to the Kawasaki system and the Rehorish fleet waiting there. Tai-sa Kato, commanding the relief group, was relieved that the warp point was clear, but disappointed his orders precluded entering the system and engaging the Mintek forces roaming the system. He strongly felt that the correct course of action was to enter the system immediately and move to relieve the force holding on the warp point to the Titov Free State. That force, combined with his own, would be a powerful group and would be capable of engaging, or distracting, any Mintek force. He had been disappointed in his desire to come to grips with the enemy, though. Fleet HQ felt that the known Mintek forces, seven battlecruisers and an unknown number of survey ships, was close enough to his fleet strength that he should remain at the warp point until reinforcements arrived. After all, he only had three battlecruisers and three heavy cruisers, along with fourteen brand new, untried, anti-small craft ships. He had to admit that he wished he had a normal escort force of light cruisers and destroyers for his capital ships, because if the Mintek didn’t have fighters his anti-fighter ships were next to useless. His requests to enter the Kure system had been denied, though, as heavy reinforcements were coming up behind him, and Fleet HQ wanted the Kawasaki system, which was adjacent to the home system, secured. And so, he would remain here. The Alliance reinforcements wouldn’t arrive until the end of next month. That was a long time to wait, and the Mintek almost certainly were going to learn where the warp points in the system were located long before then.
Month 162, Day 30, Kure System
The Mintek survey group finished its rough survey, discovering the locations of two additional warp points. By this time, Strategos Neeron had shuffled his deployments slightly. A single escort carrier had arrived from the carrier group at the warp point, to act as a picket over the planet and watch for Rehorish reinforcements. This would free up the Fast Attack Group to deploy elsewhere in the system without leaving the colony unwatched. Frustratingly, the colony refused to answer any of his calls to surrender, or even to talk about the situation. He was unwilling to commit troops to this system until he controlled the warp points, so the colony would have to wait for now.
Strategos Neeron and his staff studied the situation now that two additional warp points had been found. If the system was viewed from the top down, as if one were looking down at the orbital plane, their hidden entry point was located in the mid-outer system, at the 12 o’clock position. Both of the new warp points were located about as far out as warp points could be found, one at three hundred and twelve light minutes, and the other at three hundred and forty-eight light minutes. The first new warp point was located at approximately the two o’clock position, while the second new warp point was located at the five o’clock position. After some consideration, Neeron came to a decision.
First, Strategos Neeron ordered the survey group to split. A pair of survey cruisers were ordered to cautiously approach the second new warp point, located at the five o’clock position, while the other four survey cruisers were rendezvous with his Fast Attack Group, which would be moving towards the first new warp point from the inner system. The two survey cruisers detailed to the second new warp point were not to approach closer than one light minute, but were to take station there and observe the warp point and the surrounding area. Neeron called forward the Carrier Strike Group as well, to support his probe of the first new warp point.
Month 163, Day 3, 0600 hours, Kure System, Rehorish Stellar Dominion
A single Rehorish scout destroyer had been left in the Kure system at the warp point to the Kawasaki system by Tai-sa Kato to watch for the approach of Mintek ships. The Rehorish ship sat with its drive field down, and thus should remain undetectable unless the Mintek ships closed to fifteen light seconds or closer. For the last day the scout-destroyer had observed a drive field contact approaching the warp point. The destroyer’s commander had dispatched a courier drone back to the Kawasaki system when the drive field had first appeared, and the Mintek ships were still far enough away that the CD’s drive field wouldn’t be seen. Now, though, with the Mintek ship(s) approaching one light minute, any CD the destroyer launched, or which entered the system through the warp point, would be observed, so the DD’s commander, following his orders, merely observed the approach. If the Mintek ships continued to close to a range at which they would detect his ship, his orders were to wait until just before being detected to jump out. That didn’t turn out to be the case, though, as the two Mintek ships settled in approximately one light minute from the warp point and shut off their drive fields. The Rehorish destroyer knew there were two Mintek ships, and where they were, but could not report back to the fleet standing by on the far side of the warp point without revealing its position. The ship’s commander had strict orders against that, so the picket destroyer waited and watched.
Month 163, Day 9, 1800 hours, Kure System, Rehorish Stellar Dominion
The Mintek Fleet, now reassembled, approached the first newly discovered warp point, stopping at six light seconds to evaluate the situation. The Mintek fleet consisted of seven battlecruisers, the eight carriers of the Carrier Strike Group, and four light cruisers from the survey group. They could detect eighteen drive fields sitting on the warp point, but were not yet close enough to determine their size or class. Still, the Rehorish or their D’Bringi allies were here, and that was a start.
Strategos Neeron gestured for his comm officer to begin recording, and turned to the camera. “I am Strategos Neeron of the Mintek Universal Union. I now call upon you to surrender, for the good of your souls and ours, or I will remove you from this system by force. I do not wish to do this, and I plead with you now to consider the consequences of your actions. Do not make me do this thing. I give you five minutes to respond before the attack commences.”
The five minutes passed without answer, and exactly on the five-minute mark the Mintek fleet began advancing. Fifteen minutes later the fleet had advanced to fifteen light seconds from the warp point, and suddenly twelve new drive fields appeared on the warp point. Based on the drive field strengths, the Rehorish force appeared to be composed of three light cruisers, six destroyers, three corvettes, and eighteen destroyer-sized bases. If Strategos Neeron’s force had been composed of standard warships, this would be a significant fight, but it wasn’t, and so it wouldn’t. At Neeron’s order, his carrier group launched two hundred and four fighters and seven armed pinnaces. Eighteen fighters remained behind to guard the carriers, along with the seven armed-pinnaces, while the remaining one hundred and eighty-six fighters advanced on the Rehorish ships along with the Mintek battlecrusiers.
The Rehorish force watched as the Mintek battlecruisers and fighters advanced, until they reached ten light seconds, at which time the Rehorish ships began transiting out of the system, leaving behind the bases.
A single destroyer remained behind, broadcasting a message in the D’Bringi and Rehorish languages. The destroyer identified itself as belonging to something called the Titov Free State and a race called humanity, and further stated that the far side of the warp point was human territory, and would be defended against incursions. The message further stated that the Titov Free State wanted good relations with the Mintek, and would be open to establishing communications once the current unpleasantness was resolved. With the message delivered, the destroyer jumped out, leaving the Mintek fleet facing the eighteen bases.
The Mintek fighters advanced on the bases, and, when they reached two and a half light seconds from the bases, the Mintek battlecruisers advanced into missile range and began firing on the bases, splitting their capital missile fire between six bases as the fighters raced closer. Only one of the battlecruisers managed to penetrate the active defenses of a base with two of its three missiles, knocking the base’s shields down. The six battlecruisers did successfully divert the six bases from using their point defense in anti-fighter mode, though. The remaining twelve bases opened fire on the advancing fighter force when it reached a half-light-second’s range, but missed the small fighters completely. The Rehorish base’s point defense fire seemed sluggish and unfocused to the Mintek pilots as they closed on the bases, and so, encouraged, they raced ahead to grapple with the defenses.
The fighters plunged to point blank range and began ravaging the bases. The bases focused all of their point defense fire on the incoming fighters, correctly identifying them as a greater threat, and also began firing plasma guns at the small attackers. Twelve fighters were caught in the plasma blasts or point defense fire, but the remainder dismantled the bases, destroying every one of them.
With the defenses neutralized, Strategos Neeron ordered his fleet to turn towards the second warp point, leaving behind four survey cruisers to watch the warp point. He left orders for the survey commander to establish contact with the humans on the far side of the warp point and begin the process of learning their language. In particular, he wanted the survey commander to determine the exact nature of the relationship between the two governments, and what the ‘Titov Free State’ had done with the Rehorish ships that had retreated into their territory.
Meanwhile, in the Novosibirsk system, several minutes ago…
Sho-sa Ito shook his head to clear it after the transit, peering around the command deck to try to ascertain the status of his ship and squadron. After a few seconds he had recovered enough to croak out a demand for information, and his bridge stations began responding, confirming that all was well with his light cruiser.
One minute later his formation was drawn up a light second from the warp point, and Ito’s main bridge viewer was showing a human in the black uniform of the Free State’s Protective Force. “Welcome to Novosibirsk, Sho-sa Ito. As agreed, your ships will proceed immediately to the warp point to your Sapporo system, where they will transit out upon arrival. One of my patrol ships will accompany you. Safe journeys.” The screen flickered out.
Sho-sa Ito turned to the plot and saw that a Free State patrol ship had moved in front of his formation and was moving away, towards the warp point to the Sapporo system. Sho-sa Ito issued orders for his squadron to follow the patrol ship and settled into his station, wondering how much his government had promised to the Free State to secure the rights for his force to cross their system. The Free State was irritating, but it knew its position. Its continued existence was contingent on the good will of the human’s Colonial Union, and his government. Should the Titov choose a side, or even favor one too openly over the other, the situation would destabilize quickly. He knew that the Free State had charged ruinous rates to pick up the deactivated Rehorish mines and automated weapons that had been emplaced around the warp point and transport them to the Sapporo system. He had been outraged by how much they wanted for the service, many multiples of how much it would cost for a Rehorish freighter to do the job, but of course they merely pointed out that he didn’t have any Rehorish freighters handy, and being cut off from the home world was unlikely to be able to come up with any freighters soon. They had charged even more for his force to cross the system, but that had been handled by the diplomatic staff on Titov itself.
The Kure Defense Force set out across the Novosibirsk system, bound for the Sapporo border system, where they would reinforce the border force located there.
Back in the Kure system, with the Mintek Fleet, three hours later…
The combined force was now headed for the second warp point, having left several survey cruisers behind to watch the warp point they had just cleared and to establish comms with the humans. In addition, Strategos Neeron ordered the survey ships to carefully check the wreckage of the Rehorish bases. Their behavior during the battle had been odd, sluggish even, and a check of the battle scans had showed that none of the bases had ejected life pods during the battle.
The report from the survey ships had just arrived. There were no organic remains to be found in the wreck of the Rehorish bases, which meant that the Rehorish had evacuated the bases prior to the battle, leaving them to attrit his fighters while the crews and ships that had defended the warp point escaped. It seemed that the Rehorish were concerned about their crews, which, in Neeron’s view was sensible and civilized, unlike the D’Bringi, who tended to be reckless and squander their personnel. It was something to be remembered for the future.
-
Month 163, Day 21, 1800 hours, Kure system
Strategos Neeron’s fleet powered down just over seventy-two light minutes from the second newly discovered warp point, just beyond the distance at which his long-range sensors could detect a drive field on the warp point, or, conversely, the range at which a ship on the warp point could detect his fleet. At the pre-arranged time, the two survey cruisers sitting a light minute from the warp point activated their drives and began closing on the warp point. A short time later, as the two survey cruisers crossed the seven-point-five light second line from the warp point, a Rehorish ship sitting drive-field down on the warp point activated its drives and plunged into the warp point, leaving the system. The two cruisers were able to identify the ship as a destroyer.
With the presence of the enemy now being confirmed on the far side of the warp point, Strategos Neeron pondered the situation. There were several possibilities. Either the Rehorish were weak, in which case they would retreat if he pressed forward, or possibly they would defend at the warp point, in the hopes that the advantages of such a position would offset their relative weakness. If they were strong, then possibly they hoped to draw him into a vulnerable position and then attack, or they hoped he would attack through the warp point and be destroyed, opening the route back to the Union. Currently he had no way of knowing whether they were weak or strong, although he suspected that they could not match his force, yet. Should the D’Bringi Alliance be given enough time, they likely could gather a large force to oppose them, but given what they had learned about the size of the Alliance, he considered it unlikely they had a large force assembled yet. Possibly next month, but not yet.
The fact that he had been forced to leave the Assault Group in the home system to bolster the warp point defenses to the enemy’s Phyriseq system meant that he had no real assault capabilities. His carriers were too fragile to risk in an assault, and his battlecruisers were his only real combatants. That would change, now that the defenses in the home system were firming up, and the construction ships in the Alowan system were making headway converting the captured ships to useable warships for the Mintek Navy, but for now his meager force was all that stood between the barbarians and the faithful of the Union. Finally, after spending much time considering the problem, he ordered his fleet into a defensive position outside of weapons range of the warp point. They would depend on their fighters to cover the warp point against attack, rotating squadrons through guard duty to make sure that the pilots had down time and their fighters could be serviced. That would blunt an enemy attack and leave the fleet in a position to retreat if necessary.
Month 163, Day 25, 1200 hours, Kawasaki System, Rehorish Stellar Dominion
The Alliance Rapid Response Force arrived at the warp point to the Kure system and joined with Tai-sa Ito’s force, and began deploying in defensive positions around the warp point. The area around the warp point was a hive of activity, with battlecruisers patrolling at their weapon’s most effective ranges, and swarms of fighters sitting right on the warp point. A group of heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers and corvettes were sitting just off of the warp point, prepared to enter it on command.
Alliance Rapid Response Force (CO: Cho-sho Banzan)
Rehorish Component (Cho-sho Banzan): 12xBC, 3xCA, 3xCL, 9xDDE, 4xDDS, 9xCT(SCC), 7xCT, 1xCT(mun), 6xAst, 12xPin, 60xAFSC
D’Bringi Component (Clan Chief Skull Splitter): 12xBC, 6xCAV, 8xCVS, 2xDDV, 12xCTV, 1xMSY, 1xFT1(FS), 306 xF0, 100xF0(crated)
Doraz Component (Warleader Grogan): 3xCA
Torqual (Comrade Rear Admiral Falson): 9xCA
T’Pau (Kommandant-General Talix): 9xCA, 3xCL
With the fleet ready for action, twelve pinnaces left their carriers and plunged into the warp point. They materialized on the far side of the warp point in the midst of a swarm of Mintek fighters. The fighters were caught by surprise, and the pinnaces were small and their jump flares were correspondingly hard to detect. One of the defending Mintek squadrons detected the pinnaces as they wheeled about to return through the warp point, but they were armed with close attack missiles and so didn’t attack the small craft as they returned to the warp point and jumped out.
The pinnaces returned to the Kawasaki system and immediately reported their findings. The news that the Mintek had fighters, and had forward deployed them, was unnerving. The Rehorish, who had recently made a large investment in anti-fighter systems, now felt justified, while the D’Bringi, who had either counted on their fighters to make a decisive difference or believed they were a useless distraction, now had to face the fact that their enemies had them as well. The other races were unnerved by the use of new tech by the Mintek, and the revelation that the D’Bringi had this tech as well, but had not told them about it prior to this encounter.
In any case, the fleet commanders put aside recriminations, for now, and focused on the problem at hand. The Mintek were on the far side of the warp point and must be dislodged before they could fortify their position. The assault was postponed, to give the Mintek time to stand down, as by this time the Mintek had had over five minutes to get their crews to their stations and their fighters launched.
Month 163, Day 26, Kawasaki system, Rehorish Stellar Dominion
The attack began suddenly, as all warp point assaults do. One second the warp point was clear of enemies, and then suddenly enemy ships began blinking into existence one by one. The assault was led by six big Rehorish battlecruisers. The Rehorish battlecruisers entered the system in a line and moved away from the warp point as quickly as they could. The six Mintek fighter squadrons that were on combat patrol on the warp point split up, with each taking up station directly behind one of the battlecruisers and making their attack runs. Even as the fighters began launching their close attack missiles, the battlecruisers began firing at the fighters in front of them with every weapon they had, trying to destroy or distract the fighters from their deadly mission.
The first fighter squadron to fire targeted the lead battlecruiser and hit with eleven out of its twelve close attack missiles. The resultant fireball stripped away the battlecruiser’s armor and shields, but left it otherwise intact. The third battlecruiser then opened fire with all of its weapons on the fighters lining up behind the second battlecruiser, firing seven force beams, five plasma guns, and four point-defense emplacements at the fighters. The battlecruiser’s systems were still addled from the warp transit, but their crews were the elite of the Rehorish Navy, and they did their jobs even though they were struggling to recover. Three fighters from the group lining up behind the second battlecruiser went up in fireballs, but even as they went up in flames other fighters were launching their close attack missiles into the battlecruisers in front of them. In seconds it was all over. All told eleven fighters had been destroyed by the desperate defensive fire, but all six battlecruisers had suffered damage. Only one still had shields, and another was leaking streamers of atmosphere as it moved away from the warp point, while the other four had varying amounts of armor left after the onslaught.
The now-empty fighter squadrons raced away from the warp point at top speed, pursued by the damaged battlecruisers, while the second wave entered the system behind them. The Rehorish battlecruisers’ sensors had now recovered, and they could see the Mintek carriers and battlecruisers sitting a light minute from the warp point. The second wave consisted of six Rehorish escort destroyers specifically designed to engage fighters, accompanied by six D’Bringi corvette-carriers. Twelve Rehorish pinnaces escorted the ships of the second wave, intended to distract any fighters remaining on the warp point. Clan Chief Skull Splitter was aboard the first corvette-carrier through the warp point, and as soon as he saw the Mintek fighters retreating he ordered his carriers to hold their fighters aboard until further notice. There was no sense in letting the Mintek know that they had fighters, when there was no way his fighters could catch the retreating Mintek fighters. Better to retain the surprise. The Rehorish battlecruisers got off one last parting shot against the retreating fighters, and although it was at extreme range, the battlecruiser’s elite crews managed to kill fifteen fighters. Out of the thirty-six fighters that had opposed the assault, only ten remained to return to their carriers.
Aboard his command ship, Strategos Neeron had watched the events at the warp point with intense interest. Based on the damage reports from the fighters, five of the six battlecruisers that led the assault had lost most or all of their armor and would require shipyard-repairs before becoming combat-ready again, as they were equipped with short-ranged weapons and would depend on their armor to protect them while they closed with and engaged their enemies. Based on his knowledge of the Rehorish, they valued their highly capable crews and would not risk them unnecessarily, which meant that the battlecruisers could be considered mission-kills as they would be out of action for several months at least. He considered the sacrifice of twenty-six fighters to mission-kill five enemy battlecruisers a success, but as he watched the size of the enemy fleet on the warp point grew and grew. In the ten minutes since the attack started the number of drive fields on the warp point had grown to over one hundred.
Strategos Neeron began pacing across the command deck, lost in thought. The concentration of enemy ships was a tempting target. His fighter strength was somewhat reduced, but even so, once the fighters left from the warp point guard returned, he could launch a strike of over one hundred and sixty fighters, and even if he lost them all they would surely do significant damage to the enemy fleet. A fleet that size had to be a significant percentage of the D’Bringi Alliance’s entire military strength, and inflicting a serious defeat on them here would give him the freedom to exploit the breakthrough he had made into Rehorish territory. On the other hand, the Rehorish battlecruisers which had assaulted the warp point had shown no confusion or hesitation in the face of his guard squadrons’ attack at the warp point. Unlike the Alowan, who had faltered in the face of the unknown technology, and had failed to react properly, the Rehorish had stalwartly attacked the fighters, and then pursued them once they had emptied their racks and were running for home. As if they knew exactly what the fighters were capable of, and had developed doctrines to deal with them. And if that was true, then it was almost certain that at the very least the D’Bringi Alliance had developed ships and fleet engagement doctrines to respond to fighter attacks, and, further, it was almost certain that they themselves had fighters. And if the D’Bringi Alliance fleet that outnumbered his fleet by seven to one had fighters, then they likely outnumbered his fighters as well, putting him in a very precarious position. His fighters were his fleet’s only viable defense against enemy fighters, and if he expended them in a fruitless attack against a superior force of enemy fighters, then he faced total defeat at the hands of the enemy, if they could catch his fleet before he retreated.
Strategos Neeron turned to the plot and called up a strategic map of the area surrounding the Kure System. The system’s position within the D’Bringi Alliance was unknown, but within the Mintek Empire it was only three jumps from the Home System. And while it was true that their entry point into the Kure system was through a closed warp point, if his ships were destroyed or captured here, there existed the significant possibility that the Alliance would capture astrogation data that would reveal the location of the closed warp point, which would be disastrous.
Coming to a decision, Strategos Neeron ordered the fleet to retreat to the warp point at full cruising speed. He would make a decision on whether to launch a fighter assault on the Alliance fleet before reaching the warp point, based on the actions of the Alliance fleet as they pursued. Further, he dispatched orders for the light survey cruisers of the 2nd Survey Fleet, which were dispersed around the system watching for D’Bringi Alliance ships sneaking around the system beyond the view of his main fleet, to withdraw to their entry point. Finally, he ordered one strike carrier and two light carriers from the strike group to retreat at full military speed to the exit point from the system. This ran the risk of burning out their drives, but the carriers’ fighters had been disbursed throughout the group’s other carriers and they currently only had four fighters aboard between the three of them, meaning they could contribute little to the coming battle. They would join with the survey fleet and retreat from the system, if all went well.
The D’Bringi Alliance fleet behind them set out in pursuit, racing ahead at full military speed for a few minutes to reach a light minute’s distance from the retreating Mintek force, and then slowing down to merely match their speed as they ran across the system. The Alliance fleet must have observed the Mintek carriers racing away at full speed, but they let them go, content to shadow the main force.
Month 163, Day 27, Kure System, Mintek Fleet
The Mintek fleet had been running across the system for nearly twenty-four hours. Strategos Neeron was on the command ship’s bridge when the computer chimed, indicating a significant change in the situation. Twenty-eight corvettes had broken away from the fleet behind and were approaching at full speed. Neeron watched as the command computer calculated the relative velocities and then displayed projections. It was as he had expected. In seventeen and a half minutes the Alliance corvettes would reach fifteen light seconds from his fleet. That distance was critical. If the Alliance wanted to observe his exit from the system and pinpoint the closed warp-point they had used to enter it, then they’d need to be within fifteen light seconds when his ships started transiting out. Otherwise, they’d only know the general location of the closed warp point and wouldn’t be able to use it until they observed a ship entering their system through it.
When the retreat began, he had wondered if the Alliance fleet would accelerate to full speed and try to force his fleet to fight or be attritted away one by one as they ran at full military power ahead of their pursuers. As he had suspected, though, the Alliance commanders didn’t want to force him to fight, they wanted him to retreat to the warp point, so they could pinpoint it and advance into Mintek territory. And he could not allow that to happen. There were only two systems between the Kure system and the home system, and both of those warp points were open and easily discoverable even without observing ships transiting. Fortunately, neither of those systems were inhabited, so losing them would cost the Mintek little, but allowing the Alliance to obtain another route to the home system would ultimately prove to be disastrous. While the home system’s defenses were strong, if they were divided between too many warp-points they would inevitably become too weak to hold back a determined attacker that could concentrate his force against one of the warp point’s defenses.
So, he could not, under any circumstances, reveal the location of the warp point back to Mintek space. The approaching corvettes would make that impossible, if he allowed them to remain within sensor distance of the fleet. Of course, he had the means to deal with the corvettes, and it appeared that the Alliance did not know that. So, he would let them approach.
Twenty minutes later…
The Alliance corvettes had approached to fifteen light seconds and then settled into position just close enough to observe the Mintek ships transiting through a closed warp point. Neeron was tempted to launch a fighter strike against the corvettes now, to either destroy or push them away, but it was too soon. He would be revealing his capabilities before he had to, and, as the corvettes were as fast as a fully loaded fighter, they would be able to avoid the strike if they wished. Merely pushing them away from his fleet wouldn’t be enough, because as soon as his fighters landed, they would rush back to their observation posts, unscathed and undaunted, while he would have revealed the strength of his remaining fighter force. A resolution would have to wait until they neared the warp point out of the system.
Month 164, Day 12, 0800 hours, Kure System, Mintek Attack Fleet
Strategos Neeron had ordered the ships of the 2nd Survey Fleet to jump out some time ago, to avoid being detected by the approaching Alliance fleet. They now picketed the far side of the warp point, guarding against intrusion by the Alliance, for all of the good that would do if the Alliance found the warp point, the location of which was approaching quickly.
Neeron decided it was time. He ordered his carriers to begin launching their fighters. Within a minute there were one hundred and sixty-two fighters in space. Once assembled the fighters turned back towards the corvette force and accelerated away at full speed. Neeron watched their progress with interest. The Alliance corvettes were as fast as his fully loaded fighters, so they could avoid this attack, but in doing so they would be pushed beyond the range at which they could observe his fleet using the warp point, thus allowing them to escape.
Ninety seconds later the fighters were approaching the Alliance corvette force. When the Mintek fighter force reached three light seconds from the Alliance corvettes, the Alliance force suddenly began launching small craft. The Mintek fleet was too far away, and the Mintek fighters were too myopic, to determine the exact numbers or type of small craft being launched, but it was clear that the Alliance force was launching something, probably its own fighters, to counter the approaching Mintek fighters. Neeron had suspected that the enemy possessed fighters, so this was not a surprise, and he had prepared his fighter commanders for the possibility. The Mintek fleet transmitted a warning to the Mintek fighters, which then adjusted their approach. They did not want to tangle with the corvettes while engaging their fighters.
After dancing around each other for thirty seconds, the two groups of small craft plunged together in an orgy of destruction. One hundred and sixty-two Mintek fighters faced seventy-two D’Bringi fighters and sixty Rehorish anti-fighter small craft (AFSC). The Alliance fighters were armed with fighter guns which were specifically designed to engage enemy fighters by firing shells that exploded into clouds of flechettes designed to penetrate the small craft’s drive field and shred their thin hulls. Unfortunately, the Rehorish weren’t capable of building fighters, so they had to settle for the anti-fighter small craft, a modified assault shuttle equipped with a proto-type fighter gun. Unlike the D’Bringi and Mintek fighters, which were datalinked together into squadrons of six, the AFSC’s were only able to datalink together into groups of three, which would put them at a disadvantage. They were the best the Rehorish could do, though. The Mintek fighters were armed with fighter close attack missiles for an anti-shipping strike against the Alliance corvettes. These missiles were devastating in large numbers against large ships, but also worked extremely well against enemy fighters at point blank range, which this was.
The two groups of small craft slammed together and space was marked by massive explosions as close attack missiles and fighter power plants began exploding throughout the volume of the battle area. When the Mintek fighters expended their ordnance, they raced away from the scene of the battle, leaving a devastated Alliance force behind. The Alliance fighters and AFSC had managed to kill forty-three Mintek fighters, but in exchange they lost over eighty percent of their force. Sixty-one D’Bringi fighters and forty-three Rehorish AFSC were lost in seconds, leaving just eleven fighters and seventeen AFSC to pursue the now-empty Mintek fighters. The Mintek fighters, with their empty racks, were faster than their pursuers, but just barely. The vengeful D’Bringi fighters and Rehorish AFSX destroyed eleven more Mintek fighters before they pulled outside of weapons range as they headed back to their carriers to rearm. The Alliance small craft returned to the corvette force and settled into protective positions around the corvettes.
It took five minutes for the Mintek fighters to return to their carriers, and three minutes for them to land and rearm, and then they were in space again, and headed back towards the Alliance force. By this time the main Alliance fleet had accelerated to full military speed and was closing on their corvette force, but it would take them thirty minutes to close and join with their detached force. The main fleet had also launched its fighters, two hundred and thirty-four of them, but it would take them eighteen minutes to reach to the corvettes. There was no way either of them could intervene before the Mintek fighters reached the corvettes.
This time it would be one hundred and eight Mintek fighters against twenty-eight Alliance fighters and AFSC’s. For Dai-I Sato, the Rehorish commander of the corvette force, the results of the coming fighter battle were clear, the Mintek would overwhelm the Alliance’s remaining fighters and AFSC’s and then go on to destroy or cripple his small corvettes, which had little in the way of armor or shields. In fact, only about a third of his corvettes even had point defense and were never intended to be anywhere near a battle. Staying to fight the approaching Mintek fighters would be insanity. Therefore, when the Mintek fighters reached three light minutes range, he ordered his force to retreat. They would try to out-maneuver the Mintek fighters and maintain observation range of the Mintek fleet, but it wouldn’t be easy with the Mintek fighters doing their best to push them away.
As soon as the corvettes turned away and began running from the oncoming Mintek fighters, the Mintek carriers and battlecruisers turned thirty degrees to the right and accelerated to full military speed. In response the Alliance corvette force split in two, with each half curving away from the other and coming around back towards the Mintek force, while simultaneously trying to keep the Mintek fighters at a distance. In the end the Alliance failed. The Alliance corvettes just couldn’t keep the Mintek fighters at a safe distance while also keeping the Mintek fleet within fifteen light seconds, and they were steadily pushed away, opening the range. The Mintek ships were able to open the range to eighteen light seconds and then slipped through the hidden warp point, leaving the system and their fighters behind. With the disappearance of the Mintek fleet, the Alliance corvettes now had no purpose in playing tag with the Mintek fighters, and turned away, back towards their approaching fighter strike wing, now ten minutes out and closing.
The Mintek fighter force, abandoned by their carriers, had nowhere to go, and so turned and pursued the retreating corvette force. The corvettes, though, were as fast as the laden fighters, and easily maintained the range between the two forces as they ran. The main Alliance fighter force continued on towards the corvettes, while the main Alliance fleet had already turned away and was running at its best speed from the Mintek fighters.
The chase lasted for almost forty minutes, but finally the Mintek fighter force was closing to point blank range of the Alliance fleet. The Alliance corvettes and their escorting fighters had joined up with the main fleet a short time ago, and now the D’Bringi fighters turned back towards the Mintek fighters and the two groups of small craft raced together one and a half light seconds from the fleet. One hundred and eight Mintek fighters met two hundred and thirty-eight D’Bringi fighters in a furball of destruction just short of the fleet. The Mintek fighters fought valiantly, but the numbers were against them. When the explosions cleared fifty-four D’Bringi fighters had been destroyed, but the entire Mintek fighter force had been destroyed.
The Rehorish had regained control of their system, but they only had a rough idea of the location of the closed warp point the Mintek had used to enter the system, meaning that the system remained under threat. Over all, the D’Bringi Alliance had won a victory here, destroying most of the Mintek fighter force and forcing their fleet out of the system. But strategically, in spite of the victory the Alliance remained vulnerable, with a potential route to the home system of one of the primary members under threat.
The Alliance Fleet dispatched scouts to probe the system, and a small force to the inner system to make contact with the Rehorish colony there. The bulk of the fleet remained in place to watch the region where the Mintek force had disappeared, while the empty carriers retired to the warp point to the Kawasaki system to meet up with their support elements. Back at the warp point to the Kawasaki system, the machine shop ship that had followed the fleet was busily prepping fighters that had been transported to the system on a D’Bringi freighter in crated form. The fleet support freighter had cargo holds to carry the crated fighters, and crew quarters to house the replacement crews. The presence of these ships would mean that the carriers that had depleted their strike wings could replenish them here, rather than having to make the long trip back to the home system’s shipyards.
In the Mintek system of Ephesos, adjacent to the Rehorish Kure system, Strategos Neeron stared at the icons of his ships as they surrounded the warp point, waiting to see if their escape was successful or not. Prior to the offensive, Mintek construction ships had built a single large asteroid fort to guard the warp point. The fort mounted ten capital missile launchers and several short-ranged plasma guns, as well as thirty fighters and three armed pinnaces. Its presence was a welcome bastion in the current situation, but if the Alliance had managed to discover the location of the warp point, it wouldn’t be enough to stop them.
-
Turn 165, Mintek Prime
Chancellor Durkhon was pacing across the length of his office when Minister Turval entered. Seeing his old friend was agitated, Minister Turval went directly to the office’s refreshment cabinet and prepared a soothing sae’cha tea for the Chancellor. Behind him the Chancellor continued pacing, staring out the windows that covered one entire side of the office, ignoring the Minister behind him. Finally, when the tea was ready, the Minister took two cups and sat them on the low table that sat in front of a comfortable couch that faced the window. When the Chancellor continued pacing, Minister Turval sat and said, “I’ll just sit here and enjoy my tea, while you fret and moan over our reverses.”
The Chancellor wheeled angrily, but when he saw his oldest friend merely sitting on the couch, enjoying a cup of their favorite tea, the anger drained out of him and he shrugged. “You know me well.”
“I too was angered by the failure of the fleet, and the obstinacy of the D’Bringi and their dupes, but we have a duty to the faithful to look to the future with clear eyes.”
Chancellor Durkhon stood for a second, as if searching for the anger that had consumed him just recently, then sat and picked up his cup, inhaling the soothing scent of the tea. “What are we to do? Two defeats in six months? Neeron lost his entire fighter force, and almost revealed the path to our home while barely extracting his fleet from the jaws of the enemy!”
Minister Durkhon let the Chancellor speak, allowing him to get his anger and fear out.
“We have lost an entire system to the enemy! The Delphi colony is beyond our control, and with it the 1st Survey Group. And now our big advantage, the new technology that was supposed to give us an insurmountable advantage over the infidels, has been revealed to be a mirage! The D’Bringi have fighters as well! And an extremely large fleet. What are we to do?”
Minister Turval looked at the Chancellor quizzically. “What are we to do? You know the answer as well as I. We must continue serving the faithful to the best of our ability. And we must ensure that those around us continue to do so as well.” Before the Chancellor could say anything, Minister Turval continued. “It is true that the Delphi colony is lost to us, but the enemy will find that controlling that colony will be troublesome. The faithful were strong on Delphi, and will preach the faith to the unbelievers at every opportunity, even as the D’Bringi try to exploit them. And Strategos Neeron’s recent experience in the Kure system was enlightening, even if ultimately a failure. We now know that the D’Bringi have fighters, and in significant numbers. However, there are indications that their subject races do not have fighter technology. After all, the Rehorish deployed crude anti-fighter small craft, which were obviously the best counter to our fighters that they could devise. They performed poorly, and unless present in very large numbers should not be considered a threat. This is encouraging, particularly in light of our recent development of the advanced fighter, the F1. Once our fleet is equipped with this new fighter design, our fighter wings will have a significant advantage over those of the D’Bringi. Even greater advancements are under development as well, the sum total of which will greatly increase our fleet’s power. And with the resources provided by the ongoing enlightenment of the Alowan, we will be able to dramatically expand our navy. The next time we meet the Alliance, it will be on much more even terms.”
Chancellor Durkhon was silent for a moment, considering the situation. Finally, he nodded. “You are right, as usual. We have avoided disaster, barely, and thus will live to fight another day. Still, there is the matter of Strategos Neeron. The Chamber of Representatives has demanded he be imprisoned for dereliction of duty to the faithful. I am speaking with their leaders this afternoon.”
Minister Turval grimaced. “It is true that Neeron failed, twice. However, in both cases, at Delphi and Kure, he avoided disaster and kept the routes to the home system secret. And, think on this. Strategos Neeron is our only commander to have used fighters in battle, once successfully against the Alowan. Perhaps he could be demoted and transferred to the training academy, where he could provide a useful example of penitence and service.”
Chancellor Durkhon studied his friend for a few seconds, pondering the proposal. “You’re probably right. It would be a shame to lose that experience. Still, the Representatives will require convincing. They are determined to make Neeron an example of the dangers of failing the faithful.”
“The Chamber is concerned with the threat of the D’Bringi and their subjects. Perhaps if you agreed to one of their projects. I know they have been pressing on the sensor network proposal. Perhaps if you agreed to their sensor network proposal, they would be willing to work with us to salvage Neeron.”
“Their proposal is a good one, but it will require vast amounts of money. We face a massive building project, and when the new technology is ready will have to refit the fleet, which will be expensive.”
“Yes, but the new tech won’t be ready for several months. If we use the resources provided by the Alowan, and make the sensor network a priority, we can have it largely in place before the new tech is ready for deployment.”
Chancellor Durkhon stood. “Very well, it is decided. Will you support me with the Representatives?”
Minister Turval stood as well. “I cannot take a public position on this, as you know, Chancellor. However, I would be willing to speak with the undecided Representatives privately, if you wished. The Ministry feels strongly that Neeron’s experience should be retained against future need.”
The two walked out together.
Month 165, D’Bringi Prime
Clan Chief Skull Splitter entered the Alliance Council chamber through the side doors set aside for witnesses and observers. The chamber itself was a medium sized room, with high ceilings and a raised dais on one side, and a gallery with desks for non-voting representatives on the other side. The raised dais had three desks, one for each of the senior members of the Alliance. Skull Splitter was used to being there, on the dais, rather than here, in the witness and presentation area. When the time had come to pick a representative to sit in the D’Bringi chair on the Alliance Council, the three senior D’Bringi clan chiefs had been unable to decide whom they could trust with the power and responsibility of such a position. Many suggestions had been made, from giving it to the Keeper Cleric, who as the leader of the Keepers was supposed to be free of political and clan bias, to choosing a younger son or daughter of one of the clan chiefs. In the end the clan chiefs had decided to rotate the position between the three of them, to prevent any one Clan head from gaining too much power and influence. So far it had worked, but it was an unsatisfactory decision for many reasons. They were still trying to come up with a compromise that everyone could live with, but for now the current system continued.
In any case, Skull Splitter was here now to testify as to the battles in the Kure system and the efficacy of the new fighters, and he was followed into the room by the Rehorish Admiral that had commanded the combined force, Cho-sho Banzan. Banzan wasn’t giving the presentation, because the Council wanted a report on the effectiveness of the new fighters, and the fighters had been deployed by Skull Splitter’s force, not the Rehorish fleet. This should be interesting, as Clan Chief T’Qek was sitting in the D’Bringi chair right now, and as the chief proponent of the fighter corps in the D’Bringi fleet, she was going to be very critical of anything negative that Skull Splitter, who was known as a traditionalist, had to say about the fighters.
The chamber quieted as Skull Splitter and Cho-sho Banzan entered the room. To Skull Splitter’s right was the raised dais, with Clan Chief T’Qek sitting at the center desk on the raised dais, the Rehorish representative on her right and the T’Pau representative on her left. Each of the senior representatives had several assistants in attendance, either sitting at the desk with them or standing off to the rear. To Skull Splitter’s left were the smaller desks for the non-voting representatives, the Doraz, the Torqual, and the Zir. And sitting at the back were the Chirq and the Bir, who as low-tech races had only a single person present to observe the proceedings.
Representative T’Qek took the lead. “Clan Chief Skull Splitter, what is your report?”
“Esteemed representatives, as you know, Alliance forces have successfully reclaimed the Rehorish Kure system from the Mintek. Four battles took place in the Kure system during the campaign, and all four involved fighters on either one side or both. The First Battle of Kure took place on Day 9, Month 163, and resulted in the loss of our entire fortification network on the warp point to the Titov Free State, eighteen cruiser sized bases, to an attack by one hundred and eighty-six fighters supported by six Mintek battlecruisers. Following orders from Cho-sho Banzan, the Rehorish commander of the defenses evacuated his personnel from the bases and retreated with his mobile force into the Free State’s territory. The bases were left under control of their computers, which were capable enough to engage the attacking fighters, albeit not well. Prior arrangements had already been made with the Free State to allow this force to retreat to the Sapporo system. The fate of the bases was confirmed by the Combined Fleet after the withdrawal of the Mintek. All eighteen bases were destroyed in action against the Mintek. It is unknown how many fighters they destroyed; however, estimates are low given the fact that the bases were left under control of their computers and were operating at reduced efficiency.”
“The Second Battle of Kure occurred on Month 163, Day 26, when the Combined Fleet forced entry into the Kure system from the Kawasaki system. The battle was over within sixty seconds of the first ship entering the system. The first assault wave was composed of six Rehorish beam-armed Zuikaku II class battlecruisers, while the Mintek warp point guard force was made up of thirty-six fighters. All of the battlecruisers lost their shields, four of the six battlecruisers suffered minor to significant armor damage, and one battlecruiser lost all of its passive defenses and suffered minor interior damage. In return the battlecruisers managed to destroy twenty-six of the Mintek fighters.”
“The Third Battle of Kure took place on Month 164, Day 12, and was the first battle in which only small craft fought. The Mintek deployed one hundred and sixty-two fighters, while the Combined Fleet’s Pursuit Group deployed seventy-two fighters and sixty Rehorish anti-fighter small craft (AFSC). The Mintek fighters were armed with close assault missiles, while the D’Bringi fighters were armed with fighter-guns. The battle took approximately one minute, and resulted in the near destruction of the Combined Fleet Pursuit Group’s small craft. In exchange for the destruction of fifty-four Mintek fighters, the Combined Fleet lost sixty-one fighters and forty-three AFSC.”
The Forth, and last, Battle of Kure took place immediately after the third battle, after the Mintek fighters landed on their carriers and rearmed. The Mintek launched their fighters, now one hundred and eight strong, against the Pursuit Group, in an attempt to push them out of sensor range of the Mintek force. This attempt was successful. The Mintek fighters outnumbered the small craft remaining to the Probe Group by nearly four to one, and only a few of the Probe Group’s corvettes mounted weapons capable of engaging the Mintek Fighters. Dai-I Sato wisely chose to withdraw, avoiding the certain destruction of the Pursuit Group. The Mintek commander then abandoned his fighters and retreated through a closed warp point, beyond the range at which the Pursuit Group could localize the position of the warp point. The Mintek fighters, with no other alternative, followed the Pursuit Group back to the Combined Fleet, where they were met by the Combined Fleet’s entire fighter force of two hundred and thirty-eight fighters. All one hundred and eight Mintek fighters were destroyed, in exchange for the loss of fifty-four D’Bringi fighters.”
“All told, the Alliance lost eighteen bases, forty-three AFSC, and one hundred and fifteen fighters, and five battlecruisers suffered damage that will have to be repaired in a shipyard. In exchange, the Mintek are known to have lost one hundred and eighty-eight fighters.” Skull Splitter now paused and looked around the room. The Representatives had all been provided with hard copies of his report and a detailed analysis of the actions in Kure, but in spite of this it appeared that they were hanging on his every word, and the room was deathly silent. Well, mostly silent, except for the weird wheezing that emanated from the Zir representative and seemed to be associated with whatever method they used to breathe. After gathering his thoughts, he continued.
“Several things stand out about the battles in the Kure system. First, and perhaps most importantly, at no time did the two opposing fleets come within weapon’s range of each other, at least to our knowledge. All four battles involved the new small craft, and two of the four battles involved small craft only. The Combined Fleet out-massed the Mintek force by four to one, although our estimates are somewhat approximate as the number of ships in the Mintek fleet changed somewhat during the various battles. For instance, several light cruiser-sized ships were present with the Mintek fleet at several points in the battles for the system, and the Mintek commander detached several carriers at one point, presumably because they had expended their fighters. In any case, the Alliance force present in the system greatly out-massed the enemy force, and should have been able to dominate the situation, but in the aftermath of the campaign to retake the Kure system I have come to the conclusion that a mere comparison of mass differentials is no longer the correct way to assess combat potential, if indeed it ever was.” He paused and looked around the room, noting that Clan Chief T’Qek was leaning forward and peering at him intently. He knew what she was wondering, given his public stance on the new fighters prior to this campaign. He had already had his staff reassure her in on this matter, but the D’Bringi clan chiefs were no strangers to intrigue and betrayal, and she had to be wondering where he was going to go with his presentation.
“It is clear any comparison of combat potential must also take into account the small craft strength of both sides, as well as the mass-differential and the weapon’s loadouts of the opposing ships. This has always obviously been true, however, with the advent of the fighter, we must realize that the differential between small craft strength is now, perhaps, the most important comparison we can make.” There was a stir around the room as the representatives took this new fact in. Of all of the Alliance races, only the D’Bringi had deployed fighters. This was, perhaps, fitting as the senior founding race of the Alliance, however, given the ongoing war with the Mintek, and the potential of war with the humans, this fact had suddenly become critical. “I am not saying that our ships are helpless without fighters. For example, in the First Battle of Kure, between the Rehorish battlecruisers and the fighters of the Mintek guard force, the Rehorish battlecruisers acquitted themselves well and destroyed the majority of the enemy fighters that had attacked them. The damage suffered by five of the six battlecruisers pulled them out of the later battles for repairs, however, the damage was light and will be easily repaired, and at a much lower cost than the fighters destroyed during that battle. However, had the Mintek concentrated their fire on two of the battlecruisers, instead of spreading it between all six, they could easily have destroyed those two battlecruisers, costing the Rehorish much more to replace those ships than the cost of replacing even the entire Mintek warp point guard force, if the battlecruisers had managed to somehow destroy all of them.”
Representative T’Qek looked uncomfortable, and like she wanted to interrupt, however, chamber protocol allowed invited witnesses the freedom to make their presentation without interruption. Her concerns abated, somewhat, when Skull Splitter continued. “That battle, however, was the only battle where capital ships were involved. The following two battles took place entirely between fighters, and had the Combined Fleet lacked fighters the Mintek would have been able to attack the Alliance forces, multiple times, from beyond their own range to respond. Indeed, if it had been the case that our forces had no fighter coverage, the Mintek would have been able to engage our forces as they wished, without ever risking their own ships. While I do not believe that they could have destroyed the Combined Fleet in its entirety, they certainly could have inflicted losses to which we could not have responded. Indeed, even with our fighters, if they had fighter superiority, they could have launched such attacks until our fighters were reduced to impotence, then attacked the fleet with their remaining fighter force, again causing losses we could not respond to because our ships never came within range of their ships. As it was, our fleet had fighter superiority, barely, however, we cannot depend on that being true in the future. Based on their fleet composition in the Kure system, it appears that the Mintek have transitioned away from capital ships as their primary combatants in favor of carriers with their embarked fighters. If this is in fact true, then in the future any Mintek fleet encountered will have, as a percentage of its hulls, a proportionately higher percentage of carriers than a comparable Alliance fleet, as only the D’Bringi have fighter technology, and our deployment strategy is to utilize the fighters as support for our primary combatants, beam armed capital ships. Indeed, largely because of resistance from certain conservative elements within our society, our deployment plans for carriers mirrors our deployment of missile-armed capital ships. These units are considered secondary support units, required only to help the primary combatants get within range of the enemy and pound them into scrap in a decisive short-ranged battle. This deployment strategy can no longer be considered a valid approach.” Again, there was a stir around the room as the representatives looked at each other. Skull Splitter had left unsaid any criticism of the D’Bringi race’s decision to keep fighter tech to itself, but the statement was there, hanging, unsaid but obvious to everyone.
Skull-Splitter waited for the buzz that had gone around the room die down, then continued. “There are numerous other conclusions contained within the report, which was developed by Cho-sho Banzan’s staff with the assistance of the other command groups within the Combined Fleet. However, the items I have brought to your attention today are what I believe are the most important and pressing lessons learned during the battles to retake the Kure system.” Skull Splitter took a step back, as Cho-sho Banzan took a step forward. “I am complete agreement with this report, and Clan Chief Skull Splitter’s conclusions.”
The room was silent for a few seconds, then the T’Pau representative, who was acting as the Council Chairman this month, rose. “Are there any questions for the witnesses?” The representatives looked at each other, but no one spoke. After a few seconds, the T’Pau turned towards the two admirals. “You are dismissed, subject to recall, with our thanks.”
The two fleet commanders turned to leave, and once they were out and the doors shut behind them, the room erupted in conversation as the representatives turned to their closest neighbors and began discussing the report and its implications. The Chairperson let the discussion go on for a while, but then rapped on her desk to get everyone’s attention. “If you will all give us your attention, the honorable representative from the Rehorish Stellar Dominion has indicated that he wishes to address the Council.”
The Rehorish representative stood and faced the other representatives. “At this time, the Stellar Dominion would like to announce that, with the assistance of the D’Bringi, we have recently made breakthroughs in technological development that had allowed us to begin development of fighters and their associated systems. We hope to have a working proto-type in service within the next six months.”
This announcement caused a stir through the room, and all eyes turned to the D’Bringi representative. After ensuring that the Rehorish representative was finished, T’Qek stood. “I know that there have been whispers that we have withheld the new technology for some nefarious reason, particularly since the start of the recent campaign. We find this troublesome, given the fact that we are providing technological support to every member of the Alliance, without charge. However, perhaps we should have been more open with you all about our most recent technological developments, and our decision-making related to those developments. First, as I am sure you are all aware, the use of the newly developed fighter technology by my race has not been without disagreement. There have been many detractors, including, significantly, one of the witnesses that just spoke in front of the Council. In spite of this, at my request, my government looked into the possibility of providing this technology to each of you, much as we have provided technological assistance in the past. However, we decided after studying the issue, that it was not feasible to transfer this technology at this time. For the Bir, the Chirq, and the Torqual, their technological base isn’t sophisticated enough to allow them to develop the technology associated with fighters, even if we give them the information and basic research. And for the rest, the T’Pau, the Doraz, and the Rehorish, we decided that the cost would be prohibitive, and that the interests of the Alliance were best served by their continued development of basic technologies. For instance, the cost of developing the fighter technology alone would be more than a year’s income for the Doraz, even if they spent nothing on anything else during that time. Bringing basic R&D, colonization, and ship building to a complete halt for that amount of time is obviously a non-starter. However, we realize now that we should have been more open with our decision-making process, and invited comment from the other Alliance races. For this reason, we have concurred with the Rehorish that all conclusions based on the recent battles will be shared with all races. Determining methods to counter enemy fighters, without depending on fighters of our own, will be one of our primary areas of interest as we examine the data from the battle, and we will ensure that the data, along with our conclusions, will be made to all Alliance races.”
This caused more conversations within the chamber, many of which went on for hours as the various representatives spoke with each other about the information that had been presented that day. The general consensus was that the Alliance was doing well, and that a potential disaster had been averted.
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Month 165 Update
Colonial Union
Total Income (all sources): 49,902 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 26.9%
The Colonial Union has been focusing its resources on uniting the colonies in its territory by establishing communications networks, patrols, sensor networks, and defenses in the appropriate areas, as well as increasing its shipyard capacity. This effort has absorbed most of its income over the last ten months. The CU has several new tech systems under development, including datalinked point defense, improved tractor beams, and pinnaces. Once these systems, particularly the datalinked point defense, are complete, the United Colonial Defense Fleet (UCDF) plans to implement a massive and wide-ranging modernization and standardization program to completely revamp the UCDF into a homogenous force. This project will likely take at least the next ten months to complete, between R&D and the massive round of refits this will require.
The reunification with the home system, and the, mostly, bloodless effort to bring the alien races under the control of the government, have been extremely popular with the people and have caused a surge in support for the government and the New Dawn Party. Even the complaints of the Tlatelolco have done little to dampen the spirits of the citizens of the Union. With the reunification mostly complete, and the Colonial Union undergoing a nearly unprecedented economic expansion, the government has turned outwards, looking towards expanding the Union. Although the government’s expansion plans are peaceful, the CU government is mindful of the past and believes that a large, powerful navy is the best guarantor of peace. Therefore, the UCDF, in addition to its modernization plans, will be expanded as much as possible over the next ten months while still allowing for colonization to continue.
The CU Senate has grown concerned over the deteriorating relationship with the Tomsk Union and has formed a committee to determine the causes and propose possible solutions. There are many within the CU government who fear that the colonists in the Tomsk Union have fallen under the sway of the alien Bjering, about whom little is known. Indeed, there have been near constant rumors that the Bjering have infiltrated the Tomsk government and are subverting the Tomsk society with the aim of absorbing the unaware colonists of the Tomsk Union into their empire. The Senate has promised to look into all of these allegations and issue a comprehensive report in the near future.
The Colonial Union government has recently learned that the D’Bringi Alliance is at war with another race known only as the Mintek, after a Rehorish battle group was forced to retreat into Titov territory by Mintek forces. Although the Fleet Intelligence Directorate has been unable to learn much about the Mintek or their war with the D’Bringi Alliance from the Free State, this information is encouraging as it means that the D’Bringi and their allies will be preoccupied for the near future and will be unlikely to start any trouble with the Colonial Union.
Fleet Deployments
Fortifications, Epsilon Eridani
3xBS3, 9xBS0
Fortifications, Kirov System (Border with Free State)
3xBS3, 24xBS0, 2xEXS, 2xCT(AW)
Fortifications, Sigma Draconis (bordering systems with closed WP’s to D’Bringi space)
21xBS0, 1xDD(AW)
Fortifications, Sligo System
3xBS3, 9xBS0
Fortifications, Sol
2xAF, 3xBS3, 1xDD(AW), 3xBS0, 2xEXS
Mobile Shipyards, Sigma Draconis
13xMSY
Mothballs, Sligo
4xPDC, 6xES
Mothballs, Epsilon Eridani
17xCA, 7xCL, 1xDD, 1xDD(AW), 8xCT, 3xCT(AW), 1xBS0, 23xES
Mothballs, Sol
1xPDC, 2xBS3, 27xCL, 14xES
Planetary Defense, Earth
6xPDC(AM), 3xBS1, 6xBS0
UCDF Squadron #1, Epsilon Eridani
2xBC, 3xDD, 1xFGS, 1xEXS
UCDF Squadron #2, Sigma Draconis
6xBC, 1xDDC, 1xFGS, 5xEXS
UCDF Squadron #3, Sligo
1xBB, 10xBC, 3xDD, 4xCT, 14xES, 5xEXS
UCDF Squadron #4, Sol
3xCA, 1xFGS
UCDF Squadron #5, Rehorish/Free State Border (Kirov)
3xBC, 3xCA, 3xDD, 4xFGS, 5xEXS
UCDF Squadron #7, Redwing (Tlatelolco Guard)
3xDd, 2xFGS
UCDF Squadron #9, Managua (Unknown Contact Guard)
2xFGS, 6xCT, 1xEXS
UCDF Squadron #10, Norilsk (Rehorish Border Guard)
3xDD, 2xFGS, 6xES, 3xEX
UCDF 1st Battle Squadron, Sligo
6xBC, 3xCA, 3xDD, 1xFGS
1st Survey Group, SN-091
25xEXX, 3xEXS
2nd Survey Group, Justin
15xEXX, 3xEXS
3rd Survey Group, Orphicon
25xEXX, 3xEXS
Under Construction
1xSD, 2xBB, 6xCA, 6xBS3, 6xBS2, 1xSS(SY), 199xDSB-Xr
Reactivating from Mothballs
2xBS3
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D’Bringi Alliance Update, Month 165
D’Bringi Expanses
Total Income (all sources): 26,236 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 63.5%
The D’Bringi clans are enthused to finally be able to come to grips with the Mintek, but the discovery that their enemy has fighters has given the clan leadership pause, as has the performance of the fighters in the recent battles in the Kure system. All in all, the D’Bringi are disappointed that they have not been able to exploit their successes in the Kure and Juath systems, but relieved that they defeated the Mintek in both cases. Clan Chief Skull Splitter, who led the D’Bringi forces in both systems, is particularly glad that it appears that the D’Bringi will have time to evaluate their performance in the battles in Kure and reshape their navy if necessary.
The D’Bringi have considered transferring fighter technology information to the other races in the Alliance, however, studies have shown that the cost will be prohibitive, and with the Rehorish announcing that they have reached a tech level that will let them develop the fighter tech on their own, there is only one other race in the Alliance likely to benefit from the tech, the T’Pau. The D’Bringi had secretly approached the T’Pau prior to the start of the fighting in the Kure system with the tech, however, the T’Pau had declined to make the massive expenditures that would be needed to develop the tech at this time. In lieu of developing fighters on their own, most of the other races in the Alliance are paying great attention to the studies of the fighting in Kure, and will likely begin work on their own counters to fighters, such as escort ships with heavy point defense suites, or even developing and deploying their own AFSC’s, as the Rehorish did.
The D’Bringi and the Rehorish are concerned about the fact that the Mintek had apparently probed the Kure system prior to their invasion, and so are planning on deploying sensor networks to, at the very least, critical systems. They have both already recommended to the other Alliance races that they do the same.
Fleet Deployments
Automated Warfare Unit, Breshy (Mintek Border, closed warp point): 1xCA(AW), 2xCT(Mine), 53x Mine, 200xDSB-L
Automated Warfare Unit, Home Reserve: 2xCT(Mine)
Automated Warfare Unit, Jerothal (Colonial Union Border, closed warp point): 1xCA(AW), 1xCT(mine), 240xMine
Automated Warfare Unit, Phyriseq (Mintek Border): 1xCA(AW), 2xCT(mine), 825xMine, 80x DSB-L
Keeper Border Patrol, Chropol (Bjering): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Clan Fleet, B’Regest (Home): 1xCAV, 2xCT, 6xF0
Clan Fleet, K’Rorin (Home): 1xBC
Clan Fleet, T’Chau (Home): 1xBC, 1xCA
Blockade Fleet, Phyriseq (Mintek): 3xBC, 3xCAV, 9xCA, 6xCVE, 108xF0
B’Regest Guard Group, Bir Home System: 3xCTV, 18xF0
Keeper Guard Group, Chirq Home System: 3xCTV, 18xF0
Keeper Home Fleet, Home System: 1xCVS, 24xF0
Keeper Repair Fleet: 7xMSY
Keeper Watch Fleet, Juath (Mintek): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Mothballs, Home system: 3xBS3
Orbital Defense, D’Bringi Prime: 2xAF, 1xBS0, 78xF0, 1xApin
1st Alliance Fleet, Kure System: 14xBC, 3xCAV, 1xCA, 11xCVS, 2xDDV, 12xCTV, 301xF0 (ships from all clans, and the keepers)
1st Alliance Fleet, Support Group, Kure System: 1xMSY, 1xFT1, 100xCrated F0
Fighter Support Group, Reserve (home system): 4xFT1, 24xCrated F0
1st Survey Fleet, Schach: 25xEXX, 3xB’Regest CTV, 18xF0, 50xCutter
2nd Survey Fleet, Tyny: 25xEXX, 3xB’Regest CTV, 18xF0, 50xCutter
Warp Point Fortifications, Breshy (Mintek Border, closed WP): 5xBS0, 30xF0
Warp Point Fortifications, Home System: 1xAF, 6xBS3, 240xMine, 20xDSB-L
Warp Point Fortifications, Phyriseq System (Mintek): 16xBS0
Under Construction
6xBC, 2xCT(Munitions), 96xF0
Rehorish Stellar Dominion
Total Income (all sources): 41,829 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 59.8%
With the defeat of the Mintek in the Kure system, the Rehorish government is moving forward on development of the fighter technology that recently became available. This is a large relief for the Navy, as the anti-fighter small craft they had deployed to support their fleet performed poorly in battle, and without the assistance of the D’Bringi fighters the Mintek would have wiped all of the Rehorish small craft out and been able to attack their fleet. Cho-sho Banzan has reported that AFSC would have to be present in much larger numbers to successfully challenge enemy fighters, and he would need at least twice as many AFSC compared to attacking fighters to feel confident in the ability of the AFSC to defend the fleet. This would entail a massive and expensive building program to deploy enough hulls to carry the AFSC into battle, but now, with fighters under development, this will no longer be necessary. For now, new fleet construction will be curtailed while the new tech is developed.
The Rehorish Navy is developing defensive plans for the Kure system, now that the Mintek have retreated. The Mintek’s entry warp point remains undetected, which means that they present a continuing threat to the system’s 24,000,000 inhabitants. The region around the suspected location of the closed warp point the Mintek used to enter the system is currently picketed by the 1st Alliance Fleet, and DSB-Xr’s are being sent to take their place next month. This means that should the Mintek return, the location of the warp point will be pinpointed, allowing the Alliance to attack into Mintek space once the Kure system is under the control of the Alliance. However, as the warp point location is currently unknown, no defenses can be mounted there, meaning that the Mintek can enter the system at will. The Alliance does not want to tie down a major fleet guarding one system, though, so the Navy is developing plans to defend the system. These plans are complicated by the fact that in the modern day, the defenses will have to be planned around fighters, or the defenses will merely become targets once the Mintek are in the system. For now, the Navy is planning on establishing defenses at the warp point to Kure in the Kawasaki system, which would be able to bottle up any Mintek assault until response forces could arrive. This plan is understandably unpopular with the Rehorish citizens living in the Kure system.
Fleet Deployments
Damaged and depleted Units, Home System: 5xBC, 5xCT(AFSC), 7xAFSC
Border Defenses, Phyriseq WP #5 (Titov Free State): 8xBS2
Border Defenses, Sapporo WP #1: 11xBS1, 1xFG(AW), 365xDSB-L, 100xMF
Blockade Force, Phyriseq: 12xBc, 3xCA, 9xDD, 1xCT(Munitions)
Border Patrol Force, Kure (Kawasaki System, returning to the Kure System): 3xCL, 6xDD, 3xCT
Border Patrol Force, Phyriseq (WP #5, to Titov Free State): 3xCA, 6xDD
Border Patrol Force, Sapporo (Titov Free State): 6xCL, 6xDD, 1xCT(munitions)
1st Alliance Fleet, Kure System: 7xBC, 3xCA, 3xCL, 13xDD, 3xCT(Pin), 1xCT(AFSC), 7xCT, 1xCT(munitions), 12xPin, 10xAFSC
Home Fleet, Home System: 9xBC, 9xCL, 8xDD, 2xFG(AW), 2xCT(Pin)
Mothballs, Home system: 3xCA, 12xCL, 9xDD
Orbital Defense Network, Home System (Over Rehorish Prime): 1xAF, 5xBS3, 1xBS1, 26xAFSC, 2xPin
Repair Group, Phyriseq System: 3xCL, 3xDd, 5xMSY, 5xMS
Survey Fleet #1, Miyazakiy: 1xCT(Pin), 25xCTX, 40xCutter, 9xPin
Survey Fleet #2, Nagoya: 1xCT(Pin), 25xCTX, 40xCutter, 9xPin
Survey Fleet #3, SN-910: 1xCT(Pin), 25xCTX, 40xCutter, 9xPin
Home System WP Defense
Note: The home system has seven warp points. The Rehorish have emplaced a BS3 and two BS1’s at each warp point, supported by 60 minefields at each warp point. The BS3’s in orbit over the home planet are a reserve for the warp point defenses, and can be relocated to any warp point.
Under Construction
9xDD, 3xCT(AFSC)
Under Refit (All shown above)
9xCL, 2xDD
Torqual Benignity
Total Income (all sources): 14,839 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 40.5%
The new communist government of the Torqual has changed the name of the nation to the Communes of Torqual, and is perhaps the most reluctant of the Alliance’s races. The Torqual fleet units assigned to the 1st Alliance Fleet did not engage in combat during the recent campaign, which was not unusual given the fighter-centric nature of the combat that did take place; however, the fleet’s commander consistently placed his fleet at the rear of the main fleet whenever given the opportunity, something noted by the three major Alliance races. The D’Bringi ambassador has raised this issue with the Torqual government and has been given assurances that the Torqual fleet is a full participant in the Alliance and will support the 1st Alliance Fleet to the full extent of its abilities. The D’Bringi have found these assurances somewhat lacking, given the new government’s stated intention to reduce its out-system commitments to the Alliance in the near future, when the current emergency is resolved.
Fleet Deployments
Home Fleet, Home system: 12xCL
Phyriseq Blockade Force: 12xCA
1st Alliance Fleet, Kure System: 9xCA
Home System Defenses, Orbiting Home planet: 3xBS2
Survey Fleet: 3xCTX, 22xEXX, 80xCutter
Under Construction
6xBS2, 3xCA, 1xDD(AW)
Doraz Contingency
Total Income (all sources): 8,582 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 22.9%
The Doraz, unlike the Torqual, are much more willing participants in the Alliance, and are working diligently to increase their contribution to the Alliance’s fleets. Indeed, the rulers of the Doraz, a military junta, have used the lure of adventure and conquest offered by the Alliance to motivate their people to devote even more effort and resources towards the Doraz military.
Fleet Deployments:
1st Alliance Fleet, Kure: 3xCA
Home Fleet, Home System: 9xDD, 6xCT
Mothballs, Home system: 2xDD , 17xCT
Phyriseq Blockade Group, Phyriseq: 6xCA
Home System Defenses, Over Home Planet: 3xBS3
Survey Fleet, Scythe: 10xFGX, 50xCutter
Under Construction
6xCA
T’Pau Syndicate
Total Income (all sources): 25,750 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 32.8%
The T’Pau have reached HT-7, with D’Bringi assistance, and are rapidly developing critical systems available at that level. The T’Pau declined the transfer of fighter tech from the D’Bringi, due to the expense of developing something that much more advanced than their general tech level, and instead are pushing forward with anti-fighter technology that they can more reasonably develop, such as AFSC and capital point defense. The T’Pau have tentative plans to transform their light cruisers into anti-fighter cruisers, with heavy point defense suites, perhaps supported by AFSC’s carried by fleet ships.
Once the new technology now being researched is ready for deployment, the T’Pau plan a complete redesign of their fleet, including ships purchased from the Rehorish and the D’Bringi, to create a more coherent fleet design and strategy. This will take some time, though, as much of the new technology is still being developed.
Fleet Deployments
Phyriseq Blockade Fleet, Phyriseq: 9xCA, 6xCL
Home Fleet, Home System: 3xCA, 6xCL, 9xCTS
1st Alliance Fleet: 9xCa, 3xCL
Survey Fleet One, Snaw System: 3xCTX, 22xEXX, 36xCutter
Survey Fleet Two, Bluem System: 3xCTX, 22xEXX, 36xCutter
Home System WP Defense, WP #3 (to Colonial Union space): 6xBS3, 300xDSB-L, 540xMine
Under Construction:
1xBC, 1xBS4, 3xCA
Bir Meritocracy
Total Income (All Sources): 492 MCr’s
The Bir are approaching IND-1 tech level, with D’Bringi help.
Chirq Cooperative
Total Income (all sources): 1789 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 7.5%
The Chirq have reached HT-2 and are developing systems available at that level. To date, the Chirq have built two orbital shipyards and a small exploration fleet.
Zir Contemplative Union
Total Income (all sources): 12,505 MCr’s
The Zir are the most reluctant of the D’Bringi allies. The Zir are not particularly warlike, and have been uneasy with their alliance with the more warlike races of the D’Bringi Alliance. In spite of this, the Alliance has been seen as a boon for the Zir, not only because it brought knowledge of interstellar travel, but because the Zir are convinced that the races in the local galactic area is warlike, and so, to be safe, they must be allied with other warlike races.
The Zir have mothballed a significant portion of their fleet, to free up resources for colonial expansion and R&D.
Total Fleet Strength: 6xDD, 9xFG, 12xFGX, 12xCT, 3xCTX
Fortifications: 6xBS4
Mothballs: 3xBS4, 64xDD, 8xFGX, 92xFG, 122xCT
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Month 165, Independent Update
Mintek Universal Union
Total Income (all sources): 35,312 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 56.3%
The Mintek Union has had one great victory over the last ten months, over the Alowan, but two defeats against the D’Bringi Alliance. The two defeats have caused the Mintek government to begin a re-evaluation of its military deployments and its strategies for dealing with the D’Bringi Alliance.
The incorporation of the Alowan race into the Union was a tremendous victory for the Union, increasing its income by a net 8,000 MCr’s per month. In addition, the fleet captured 1,540 hull spaces worth of ships and bases, and a shipyard with thirteen slipways. Work is underway converting the captured ships and bases, and the shipyard, for Mintek use. To date, five battlecruisers and four destroyers have been repaired and converted to Mintek use. The battlecruisers are en route to the home system to be refitted to the latest technology, while the destroyers have been assigned to the Alowan patrol group, which ensures that any retrogressive Alowan citizens who might remain aligned with the old government keep their heads down and avoid open conflict. Currently, the mobile shipyard group is concentrating its efforts on converting the orbital shipyard station to Mintek use. This project will be completed at the end of Month 167, at which time the mobile shipyards will be reassigned and the remaining repair, conversion, and refitting for the captured units will be completed by the Alowan orbital shipyards.
The recent reverses at the hands of the D’Bringi Alliance means that the Universal Union has lost all three engagements it has had with the D’Bringi and their subject races. The first loss was at Phyriseq, costing the Union many ships and crews, the second loss was of the entire Delphi colony, where the Union decided to not respond to avoid giving away the location of the closed warp point which led back to the home system, and the most recent loss was the failure of the offensive into the Kure system. The failure of the Kure offensive was dismaying and concerning, as the Union had counted on its new carrier force to overwhelm the more numerous fleets of the D’Bringi Alliance, but the Alliance had fielded its own carriers and the Mintek fleet was forced to retreat with heavy losses amongst its fighter corps. It was encouraging, though, that the Mintek fleet lost no ships in the battles in the Kure system, and inflicted significant damage on Rehorish defenses and ships, as well as destroying a number of D’Bringi fighters.
Strategos Neeron, after his defeat in the Kure System, has been relieved of fleet command and reassigned to the Fleet Training Facility in the capital city, where he will be teaching strategy and tactics to officer candidates while being observed and rehabilitated by the Ministry for Mental Hygiene. Fleet command has been given to Strategos Brammer, who has been recalled from retirement. Brammer is a highly respected officer who was granted early retirement at his request, as a reward for his long and faithful service.
While the loss of the entire fighter complement of the 1st Carrier Strike Group is tragic and concerning, the missing fighters will be replaced by the latest Mintek fighter technology, the F1. The F1 is an improvement over the proto-type F0’s in nearly every way. It is faster unloaded, carries 50% more weaponry, has twice the endurance and range, and much better built-in scanner technology. The F1’s should be a surprise to the D’Bringi the next time they are encountered, although Strategos Brammer has made it clear that the Union cannot rely on its perception of its technological superiority, given the unexpected possession of fighters by the D’Bringi. Brammer and his staff are hard at work developing new strategies for engaging the D’Bringi in the future, and several proposals have already been suggested. For example, Strategos Brammer has requested that mobile shipyards and freighters carrying crated fighters accompany all Carrier Strike Groups, so that their fighter complements can be replenished in the field after engagements, instead of requiring the carriers to return to the home system shipyards. In addition, Brammer has requested that Warp Point Denial Squadrons (WPDS) be formed and accompany all squadrons engaging in offensives in the future. These WPDS’s would consist of freighters carrying automated weapons and control ships for those automated weapons. These squadrons would follow behind the main fleets and either secure the warp points back to Mintek space behind them, or newly discovered warp points in the systems they are entering. Strategos Brammer has pointed out that had a WPDS unit been assigned to the main fleet at the time of the engagements in the Kure system, they would have been able to either deter or further damage any Alliance offensive to retake the system. These recommendations are under consideration.
It may be some time before Strategos Brammer’s suggestions are acted upon. The bulk of the Unions economic strength is currently focused on replacing the fleet’s fighter losses, and preparing for a massive refit program to incorporate technology now being developed. The new technology includes composite armor, which is lighter and stronger than previous types of armor, improved fighter weaponry, improved targeting systems, a new type of missile that is longer ranged than capital missiles but has no penetration-aids, and, perhaps most importantly, anti-matter warheads which can be fitted to almost every missile weapon currently in use, doubling their explosive strength. These new systems promise to revolutionize the fleet’s ability to wage war against the enemies of the faith, and will be incorporated into every ship currently in service as soon as possible.
In the meantime, while the new technology is rushed into production, the Mintek government has decided that a massive sensor network will be deployed in every inhabited system in the Union. Older and more established systems will receive a network that will cover the entire system and be capable of detecting any ships that enter the system through a previously unknown warp point, although the network will not be capable of determining the location of the warp point itself. Newer colony systems will receive a network that will cover the inner system and should be capable of detecting alien ships performing a probe of the system, or if they exit a warp point in the inner system. The government has decided upon this course of action after the loss of the Delphi colony system, and the sensor networks will begin being emplaced next month.
Current Deployments:
Converted Alowan Ships (en route to the home system): 5xBC
Captured Alowan ships and bases (Alowan Home system, awaiting repair and conversion): 1xSS(13xSY), 3xBS5, 2xBC, 7xDD, 7xCT
Fortifications (Ephesos-adjacent to Kure): 1xAF, 30xF0, 3xApin
Fortifications (Over Mintek Prime): 1xAF, 30xF0, 3xApin
1st Assault Group (Home System): 6xSD, 1xCAA, 3xDD
1st Carrier Strike Group (Home System): 1xCV, 6xCVL, 1xCVS, 4xF0, 7xApin
2nd Carrier Strike Group (Ephesos system): 3xCVL, 3xDD, 1xCVE, 84xF0, 3xApin
Alowan Garrison Group (Alowan Prime): 12xDD
Fast Attack Group (Ephesos): 7xBC
Reserve Fleet (Mintek Prime): 2xSD, 1xDD, 1xFighter Replenishment Ship, 12xF0, 200xCrated F0
Home System WP Defense, Drakensberg WP: 1xDD(AWCS), 60xMF
Home System WP Defense, Gobabis WP: 1xDD(AWCS), 60xMF
Home System WP Defense, Lichtenburg WP: 1xDD(AWCS), 60xMF
Home System WP Defense, Phyriseq WP: 1xAF, 9xBS5, 1xDD(AWCS), 30xF0, 3xApin, 355xMF, 50xIDEW-E
Mothball Fleet: 17xBC, 6xCLX, 37xDD
Mobile Shipyard Squadron (Alowan Prime): 10xMSY
1st Survey Fleet (Cut off beyond Delphi, presumed lost): 6xCLX, 24xCutter, 36xF0, 6xApin
2nd Survey Fleet (surveying Megara system): 6xCLX, 24xCutter, 36xF0, 6xApin
Under Construction: 2xCV, 19xCVE, 2xMSY, 84xF0, 2xApin, 320xDSB-Xr
Refitting (these ships are listed in fleets and squadrons above): 2xAlowan BC, 1xAlowan SS(SY)
Bjering Alliance
Bjering Consolidate:
Total Income (all sources): 25,627 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 48.2%
The Bjering Consolidate is enjoying a period of peace and prosperity. It currently enjoys a close relationship with the human Tomsk Union, and a trade relationship with the Colonial Union, although that relationship has been strained since the seizure of the Tarek and Tlatelolco home planets by the Colonial Union. There is a strong movement to cut off all contact with the Colonial Union, although the current mindset is that the trade relationship at least allows the Bjering Consolidate to monitor events in the Colonial Union going forward.
Plans are being made to join together with the Tomsk Union once the humans have been brought up to the Bjering technological level, although this will take some time as the Tomsk Union is two full tech levels behind the Consolidate.
Fleet Deployments
Alpha Squadron (Home System): 3xBC, 1xCVS, 3xDD, 1xCVE, 2xCTS, 6xCT, 30xF0
Beta Squadron (Surtr System): 3xBc, 1xCVE, 2xCTS, 4xCT, 12xF0
Delta Squadron (Hymir System): 3xBc, 3xDD, 2xCTS, 6xCT, 12xF0
Epsilon Squadron (Home System): 3xBC, 1xCVE, 2xCTS, 6xCT, 12xF0
Gamma Squadron (Gunnar System): 3xBC, 1xCVE, 2xCTS, 6xCT, 12xF0
Fortifications, Hymir system: 12xBS2, 288xF0
Fortifications, Bjering Prime (home planet orbital): 6xBS4, 5xDD(AWCS)
Fortifications, Bjering Secundus (1st home system colony): 6xBS4, 1xBS2, 24xF0
Mothballs: 3xBC, 28xDD, 45xCT
Repair Group (Ymir): 10xMachineshop Ships
1st Survey Fleet (Freyr): 4xCAX, 3xDDSX, 1xCTSX, 30xCutter, 3xAssault Shuttle
2nd Survey Fleet (Ve): 4xCAX, 3xDDSX, 1xCTSX, 30xCutter, 6xAssault Shuttle
Under Construction: 1xML, 1xMobile Shipyard
Refitting (Already listed above): 3xBC
Tomsk Union:
Total Income (All Sources): 19,915 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 22.7%
The Tomsk Union has focused its economy on increasing the size of its fleet and expanding its colonial sphere. To this end, the Union has deployed three survey fleets, although the third is not completely assembled as of yet. The Union’s shipbuilding projects have lagged due to the few shipyards that the Union has available to it, and so a significant portion of its construction capacity has been diverted to building new shipyards. The project to increase the number of shipyards available has lagged due to the Union’s decision to build armed space station-based shipyards, to increase the defenses available over the home planet. Each current station contains one shipyard and weapons and defenses comparable to a Colonial Union battleship. This decision has meant that the defenses over the Tomsk colony are substantial, however, the orbital stations take much longer to build and are more expensive. The Union government has decided to switch to unarmed shipyard stations in the future, after the sixth armed station is completed.
The Tomsk Union’s relationship with the Colonial Union has degraded significantly over the last year, primarily due to the Colonial Union’s seizure of the Tarek and particularly the Tlatelolco’s home worlds. The Tlatelolco were held in high regard by the people of the Tomsk Union, and the Tlatelolco diplomatic delegation sent to the Union by its home world has requested political asylum since the surrender of their system to the Colonial Union. The Union government was quick to grant the request, and has officially protested the Colonial Union’s actions in this matter.
The Tomsk Union’s government, in Month 165, decided to break off relations with the Colonial Union completely, ending the profitable trade relationship that had existed between the two states since the fall of Earth. This was a very popular decision, given the deep anger of the people over the Colonial Union’s treatment of the Tlatelolco, however, the Union government decided to take this step out of fear of the Colonial Union’s next steps. The Colonial Union’s ruling New Dawn Party has as one of its core beliefs the imperative that humanity must be reunited, and now that the Colonial Union has amalgamated the Earthly governments, and taken control of the aliens residing within the Colonial Union, the Tomsk Union fears that the Colonial Union will turn its attention its way in the near future.
To defend against this possibility, the Union government has requested that the Bjering deploy one of their fleets to the Tomsk system as soon as possible, to establish a forward defense and establish a deterrent against Colonial Union aggression. In addition, the Union’s construction resources will be diverted to increase the defenses at the warp point to the Colonial Union in the Tomsk system, and to fortify the warp point that leads to the Titov Free State, which could be used by the Colonial Union should they convince the Free State to let them transit their ships through the Free State’s territory.
Fleet Deployments
Home Fleet (Tomsk System): 6xBC, 9xDD
Mobile Shipyard Group (Tomsk System): 7xMSY
Mothballs (Tomsk System): 16xES
Orbital Shipyard Complex (Tomsk Colony): 5xSSA(SY)
Survey Fleet #1 (Novokuzneck): 5xFGX, 13xEX, 26xCutter
Survey Fleet #2 (Perm): 5xFGX, 13xEX, 26xCutter
Survey Fleet #3 (Vladimir): 1xFGX, 4xEX, 8xCutter
Warp Point Guard (Tomsk System, WP to Colonial Union): 2xCT(DSBC)
Under Construction: 3xCL, 2xFGX, 1xSSA(SY)
Titov Free State
Total Income (all sources): 7,183 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 42.2%
The Titov Free State has undergone a large scale internal political transformation in the last ten months. Originally, the Free State was set up via the peace treaty between the D’Bringi Alliance and the Coalition and USSR navies at the end of the war. The Free State was intended to be a buffer between humanity and the D’Bringi Alliance, and nothing more. Certainly, the signatories gave little thought to the form that the Titov colony’s government would take going forward, being more concerned with verification of each other’s naval deployments and maintaining influence within the new state. At its start the Free State consisted of exactly one population, the former Soviet colony of Titov, bolstered by refugees from Earth who arrived over the months after the formation of the new state. The ad hoc formation of the new state actually left several former Soviet colonies cut off beyond the Novosibirsk system, and the human states had to negotiate difficult treaties with both the new Free State and the Alliance to ensure that they could maintain contact with those colonies. Over time, the outlying colonies found they had more in common with the Free State than the newer, more reactionary governments forming in humanity’s inner systems, and ultimately the colonies in the Jaroslavl, Saratov, Magnitogorsk, and Ivanovo systems all sent representatives to the Colonial Union Senate requesting that they be allowed to join the Free State. The fledgling Colonial Union agreed to this transfer, given the fairly small numbers of people this represented and their distance from the power centers of the human states. While the populations transferred to the Free State were negligible from the Colonial Union’s point of view, they greatly boosted the Free State’s economy and outlook.
The new populations caused the Free State considerable trouble, though. The Free State was an outgrowth of the Titov colony’s original government, which was typical for most Soviet colonies of the time. Most Soviet colonies were considered to be primarily resource extraction centers, feeding needed resources back to the homeland where they would be used for the good of the state (as defined by the leadership). The USSR recognized the need for local rule on these colonies, given their distance from the home planet, and encouraged the development of limited local rule, with strictly limited internal authority to solve purely local problems. These restrictions led to the development of fairly independent local governors with decided libertarian views, somewhat similar to old western towns in the US, or in the Russian far east in the old days. These colonial governments had no interest in challenging the central government, which maintained overwhelming force in the form of the fleet and the army, but also had no interest in enforcing strict rule on their own colonies, and limited themselves to ensuring that the quotas for the home planet were met when and where necessary. The Titov colony’s government was an example of this form of limited, libertarian government, which merely expanded into the power vacuum created when they were abandoned by the inner colonies. This government was, perforce, focused purely on the needs and goals of the Titov colony, and so when the other colonies were brought into the fold it quickly became clear that the existing government framework would not work for the newly unified colonies. In a series of high-level meetings over the last ten months the governments of the colonies met to discuss the situation, and ultimately decided on a new government structure for the Free State that ensured that all of the colonies had adequate representation, and moved the focus of the government from the Titov colony to the entire nation. The new state will be called the Confederated Free States, or CFS. The new state will have an elected head of state, selected from the national legislature by a vote of the sitting legislative representatives. Every member planet will be represented in the legislature based on population, with the smallest and newest colonies receiving a minimum representation of one. The member systems retain near complete sovereignty within their own systems, and have much say on new policies and the use of the CFS’s fleet.
The CFS, situated as it is between the two largest states in the known universe, knows that it cannot hope to match the militaries of those states, and so is focused on creating a small, professional military force that would at least give either of those states a pause before they considered attacking and overwhelming the small nation. Currently, though, the CFS is focused on exploration and expansion through colonization, and the CFS is working on fielding three survey groups to find new worlds for their expanding population.
Fleet Deployments
Patrol Fleet, Novosibirsk (capital): 6xDD
Mothballs, Novosibirsk: 4xESX
Survey Fleet #1, Leningrad: 16xESX, 60xCutter
Survey Fleet #2, Rostov-na-Donu: 16xESX, 60xCutter
Survey Fleet #3, Novosibirsk: 4xESX, 24xCutter
Novosibirsk WP Defense, WP to Kirov (Colonial Union): 3xBS2, 60xMines
Novosibirsk WP Defense, WP to Kure (Rehorish): 7xBS2, 60xMines
Novosibirsk WP Defense, WP to Sapporo: 1xBS2, 60xMines
Under Construction: 1xCA, 3xEXS, 12xCutter
*Note: The Novosibirsk system has eight warp points, but only the three above have defenses.
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Month 166
The D’Bringi forward fighter replenishment group has activated enough fighters to replace most of the D’Bringi carriers’ losses by the first of the month. Work continues, but the fleet’s fighter complement is at near full strength.
Month 169
The Rehorish and the D’Bringi announce that they are merging their empires together, noting that this step is the first of many in uniting the races of the Alliance. The merger will be complete in Month 175.
Month 172
The Zir Contemplative Union had been a member of the D’Bringi Alliance for some time now, and had not been particularly happy with the experience. The D’Bringi had sold them on the benefits of joining the Alliance, largely because of their depiction of the universe as a dangerous place, making alliances with larger, more powerful, partners a necessity. Since then, though, it appeared to the Zir that the D’Bringi were the aggressive, hostile ones that the Zir should be concerned about. They were actively at war with another race, the Mintek, and in a cold war with another race, the humans. Those facts had been disclosed during the negotiations to join the Alliance, but it was what the Zir had discovered since that was most disturbing. Prior to contacting the Zir, the D’Bringi had conquered every race they had encountered, with the exceptions of the races they were at war with, and the Rehorish, who appeared to be just as bloodthirsty as they were.
This revelation had been very disturbing to the Zir. They had envisioned the Alliance as a peaceful trade union, and the reality of the D’Bringi-led Alliance was something entirely different. When that discovery was made a significant portion of the Zir wanted to leave the Alliance, preferring solitude to the wars that their involvement in the Alliance would surely draw them into. The only thing that kept them in the Alliance was the near certainty that should they try to withdraw from the Alliance the D’Bringi and their allies would almost certainly conquer them to keep them in their ‘peaceful’ Alliance.
All of this made the Zir cautious in dealing with the D’Bringi, and generally suspicious of everything they said. The D’Bringi said that the Mintek were dangerous fanatics bent on conquering the entire galaxy, and they said that the humans were dangerously aggressive expansionists, but the Zir had only their word for that. And even if that was the truth as the D’Bringi saw it, was is actually “The Truth”? Zir philosophers had long debated the nature of “The Truth”, and the Zir as a race were very aware of the subjective nature of truths perceived by different peoples and civilizations.
While the Zir debated nature of “The Truth”, and the extent of their continued cooperation within the Alliance, they focused their economy on exploring and colonizing other systems, in the hopes of gaining enough economic strength to give them a say in the Alliance, or even to leave it without being subject to sanctions from the D’Bringi. In the seventeen months since they had begun exploring interstellar space, they had discovered and colonized eight habitable planets in four systems. Their survey group had focused on systems with habitable planets, meaning that some systems adjacent to their home system had been left un-surveyed as the survey group followed a chain of systems with habitable planets. Four months ago Zir survey ships had discovered the Villiers system, an incredible find with no less than five habitable planets. By month 172 the Zir had managed to colonize two of the five planets, and had completed the warp point survey of the system, finding an incredible twelve additional warp points. Excited at the discoveries they would make, the Zir survey group probed the new warp points, making several momentous discoveries. Five of the twelve new systems had habitable planets, and incredibly, four of the systems had inhabitants. Following SOP, the probe ships withdrew immediately upon discovering the systems had high-tech inhabitants. Later analysis would show that two of the systems had Human inhabitants, while the third was inhabited by the Mintek, and the fourth by an unknown race. Both of the human systems appeared to be colony systems, as they had a small and a medium population, respectively, but the other two systems were more exciting. The Mintek system had no less than three habitable planets, two of which had very large populations, while the third planet had a small population. Incredibly, this system matched the information given by the D’Bringi for the Mintek home system. The fourth system, belonging to the unknown alien race, had one habitable planet with a very large population, perhaps indicating that it too was the home system of the race. The two human systems, and the Mintek system, were linked to Zir space by closed warp points, meaning that they would not be able to find their way back to Zir space without being shown the route. The fourth system, with the unknown race, was linked to Zir space with an open warp point. In three of the four systems the Zir were fairly confident that they had remained undetected. Their probe ships had emerged far away from the colonies in the systems, and the probe ships had detected the inhabitants before they came within sensor range of detectors on the colonies themselves. In the Mintek home system, though, their closed warp point’s terminus was just thirty-six light seconds from the system primary, and just forty-eight light seconds from the small population in the primary star’s planetary system. The inhabitants were unlikely to have missed the probe ship, unless they were incredibly lax.
These discoveries electrified the Zir Union. They had discovered links to the D’Bringi Alliance’s two main enemies. If they revealed these links to the D’Bringi, it would mean war in the Zir’s own territories. Even worse, the previously unknown alien race’s discovery could mean that the D’Bringi would launch a war of conquest against an unsuspecting race within Zir territory. As exciting as the discoveries were, the Zir could not allow the D’Bringi to bring war to their territories. And so, it was easy for the Zir to decide that they would hide the new discoveries from their allies. With that decision made, the Zir leaders began debating the next step. Should they attempt to contact the aliens, or ignore them? There were many who wanted to ignore them, but a substantial number of Zir wanted to establish contact with the aliens and perhaps find a way to peace with them. This idea appealed to the Zir leaders. Being the ones to bring peace to the Alliance would give the much honor and respect, and thus influence.
Unknown to the Zir, the humans in Kowloon system had detected their probe ship. The Kowloon system had received enough sensor buoys as part of the Aegis Program to establish an inner system network, which meant that anything coming within 180 light minutes of the star would be detected. The sensor network picked up the Zir probe ship as it moved towards the inner system, then watched as it turned away after detecting the colony. The network couldn’t localize the ship’s entry point, but the bearing it had traveled on was clear. The contact report was sent to the capital via the ICN, and the UCDF’s response was immediate. A task force would be dispatched, and additional sensor buoys would be deployed to establish coverage over the entire system.
The Mintek also detected the Zir ship entering and leaving their system. The fact that an alien race had discovered a way into their home system, the most heavily defended system in their polity, bypassing all of their defenses, was incredibly troubling. As was the new, undetected, warp point’s location in the inner system of the primary star. Worse, a significant percentage of the fleet was in the yards for refits, meaning that their ability to respond to an invasion, if that’s what this was, would be limited. The entire defense establishment was mobilized, with reserves called up and every ship not in the yards pressed into service. The Carrier Strike Wing, now twenty-eight carriers strong, was immediately dispatched to the general vicinity of the incursion, along with a heavy escort group of destroyers. Five additional carriers were waiting to receive their latest-gen fighters, and would join early next month, along with eight battle cruisers and three additional destroyers. Additionally, sensor buoys were deployed to the location of the closed warp point. If another ship came through, the Mintek Universal Union would be able to pinpoint the location of the closed warp point immediately.
Month 174
The Zir Contemplative Union’s ‘government’ had been referred to by the D’Bringi that first established contact with them as a “mostly useless debating society mostly ignored by the rest of their so-called society”. The D’Bringi contact team member had said it to his fellow D’Bringi team members in private, but to be honest, if any of the Zir contact team had heard him, they’d likely have agreed. For example, the Zir government was still debating the propriety of forming an alliance with the D’Bringi, and the debate was expected to continue for the next several years. As always, those parties interested in the issue gave their government some time to debate, then made the decision themselves, presenting the government with what they really wanted, a decision made without having to get their hands dirty.
Now, the government was debating the new discoveries in the Villiers system. The debate was heated, and as usual, wasn’t expected to be resolved any time soon. In the meantime, the Foreign Relations Department of the University of Capital City was studying the situation, and its academics were getting close to making a decision about which race to contact first. The Mintek were a tempting target. After all, if the Zir could broker peace between the D’Bringi Alliance and the Mintek, that alone would give them enough prestige to vault them to the upper reaches of the Alliance hierarchy. That course of action also held the most risk. The unknown race was, of course, unknown, and thus was less certainly dangerous, but also held a lower reward for contacting and establishing peaceful relations. The humans seemed a middle ground. The D’Bringi Alliance had a no-contact relationship with the humans, something the Zir didn’t really feel included them. If they could befriend the humans, and open up a more peaceful relationship between the humans and the Alliance, that too would be a boon to the Zir and their status within the Alliance. The debate continued.
Month 175
The Rehorish and the D’Bringi complete their amalgamation this month. Both races had to make compromises to make this work, and both had to re-evaluate their positions within the Alliance, and within the greater galaxy, before they could agree to this step. For the D’Bringi, they had recently come to the realization that their dependence on ST planets for expansion, which were much less common than type T planets, limited their growth potential and doomed them to outnumbered by even their allies, as well as their enemies. Recent studies had demonstrated to the clan heads that the disparity that was already apparent was going to continue to grow, and would only get worse as time went on. Therefore, the population and colonization growth disparity were the driving reasons for the D’Bringi to agree to amalgamate with the Rehorish, who were much more of a peer than a subject, or a dependent, like the other races in the Alliance. The Rehorish, unlike those other races, would be able to demand conditions and compromises of the D’Bringi that the others would not, but the D’Bringi clan chiefs felt that they had no real choice, and that the longer they waited the worse things would become for them.
For the Rehorish, the equation was different but the results were the same. The Rehorish were colonizing far and wide, and were expanding much faster than the D’Bringi, but it had become clear to them that the D’Bringi were attempting to uplift and amalgamate their subject races, all of whom owed primary loyalty to the D’Bringi rather than the Rehorish. The Rehorish could easily foresee a day when the D’Bringi, once amalgamated with their subject races, would so outclass the Rehorish Stellar Dominions that the Rehorish would go from being equals within the Alliance to a dependent of the other amalgamated races. This idea was anathema to the Rehorish, and that left them only two choices. They could either leave the Alliance, or unify with the D’Bringi now, before the other races, and maintain their position as an elder race within the Alliance. By amalgamating with the D’Bringi now, before anyone else, the Rehorish could demand concessions and have a say in the later amalgamations of the other races.
In the end both races had to make serious compromises, but they both viewed this exercise as a template for the later incorporation of the other races into the Alliance. The Rehorish and D’Bringi governments retained significant sovereignty within their respective territories, but both gave up much of their authority on external affairs to the new Alliance Representative Council. Creation of a unified Alliance Navy was deferred for now, as both races felt their way through their political union. The D’Bringi Clans, in particular, were jealous of their power and loath to give up their forces to a national navy. Agreements had been made, though, and things would change over time, but for now those changes would happen at a measured pace.
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Month 166
The Union government has made a grand announcement about the Aegis Network, which is intended to cover every system claimed by the Colonial Union. The planned sensor network is heavily promoted to the public, and the announcements make the program appear as if the entire government is in agreement on this point. However, the very public announcement is covering for dissention within both the government and the Senate as various factions fight over the allocation of the limited resources available to the Union government. In particular, the Senate has balked at the price and the program has become stalled as Senators argue over the costs while planetary governments argue over who will get their networks first. So far, the Colonial Union has established sensor networks in its major systems – Epsilon Eridani, Sigma Draconis, Sligo, Redwing (home of the Tlatelolco), and the Solar System.
Secretly, as the public is focused on the Aegis Network, the government begins preparing for Operation Valkyrie, the plan to reclaim the Tomsk Union with military force. The first step of this operation is to reactivate the old Soviet assault fleet of heavily armored light cruisers. Work begins in secret in the Solar Shipyards on reactivating thirteen Borodino and Borodino(A) class light cruisers.
Month 167
Construction on the Aegis Network continues, and there is wide-spread debate among the population about the emplacement of the detection buoys. Behind the scenes, there is intense political maneuvering by system governments to get the Union to move their system up in the queue, however, the Senate has been adamantly holding to the plan originally agreed to, even as resources are coming up short for the program.
The first group of reactivated light assault cruisers is launched in the Solar System and immediately moves into the outer system for shakedown cruises, as another fourteen light cruisers moved into the shipyard bays from the mothball reserves.
Month 168
The Union Senate creates the Union Assault Corps, an organization separate and subordinate to the United Colonial Defense Fleet, at least in theory. The cadre for the Assault Corps will be drawn from personnel selected from the United Colonial Defense Corps, while the vast bulk of the crews will be recruited from willing members of the public.
There was spirited opposition within the Senate to the formation of a ‘separate navy’ within the UCDF, led by Senator Semenov of the newly formed Independent Party. The Unity Party, in disarray since its loss of its majority, has been split by dissention for the last few months as various factions struggle for control, pretty much handing the New Dawn Party uncontested leadership of the Senate, at least for now. Senator Semenov managed to rally many within the Unity Party to vote with the Independent Party by providing leadership that the Unity Party sorely lacks. In spite of this, the bill creating the Union Assault Corps passes handily. The Union Assault Corps is intended to be much like the old US Marine Corps, a part of the UCDF but administratively separate.
Month 169
The Unity Party breaks apart this month when it selects a Senator formerly viewed as a fringe candidate as its new leader. This causes almost forty percent of the Senators in the party to leave in disgust, with most flocking to the Independent Party, which has selected Senator Semenov as its leader.
The new Union Assault Corps (UAC) takes control of the twenty-six newly reactivated light assault cruisers and begins exercises in the outskirts of the Solar System. The ships mostly only have skeleton crews as of yet, and cannot be considered fully operational, but that will rapidly change. The creation of the UAC is done in secret, but to cover the activation and staffing of so many ships, the Colonial Union begins a recruiting drive aimed at the most patriotic and enthusiastic segments of the population. Millions of applications are received by the government, mostly from young patriotic citizens who fervently believe that humanity must be protected from the alien influences that led to the near destruction of Earth. Many of the applications come from families that fled Earth using the Colonial Union’s refugee relocation program, and are solidly pro-New Dawn. The new UAC’s motto is “Never Again”, and its banner places those words over a stylized globe of Earth.
Month 170
The Colonial Union has been unable to find a resolution for the ongoing population problem on Earth. So far, the Senate has debated many possible approaches, including several draconian population control measures, but none have found consensus approval. This means that the refugee situation continues. Fortunately, the Colonial Union is richer and more capable of dealing with the refugee flow than it was in the past. The refugees are sent to a benign planet in the Sligo sector, on the frontier, bolstering that planet’s population. The resources being diverted to support the flow of refugees is staggering, though, and is causing problems for the funding of both the Union Assault Corps, and the Aegis Program.
Month 171
The Colonial Union launches the Union’s first superdreadnought. The United Kingdom, SDR-001, is held out as an example of the Colonial Union’s technological superiority, and of its military might and ability to deal with any possible opposition. Unlike the Union Assault Corps, which is still shrouded in secrecy, the new superdreadnought is immediately sent on a promotional flag-waiving tour of the major systems of the Union, where it is met by parades and celebrations by citizens thankful for this tangible evidence of the growing might of the Union.
The Union has finally completed R&D on datalinked point defense, and is ready to begin a fleet-wide refit program to update the entire fleet to modern standards. By the end of the month the Union’s yards will be packed with ships and bases being refitted to include the latest technology.
A popular holo development studio releases a virtual drama that it claims is based on a real-life story. It is set in the Tomsk Union and follows the life of a Tomsk news reporter who discovers a dark governmental plot to betray the humans of the Tomsk Union to the evil Bjering, who are portrayed as cruel and capricious overlords bent on the conquest of all of the humanity. The drama culminates with the daring reporter’s escape to the Colonial Union, where he tells his story before being assassinated by shadowy figures. The drama, One Week in Tomsk, is an immediate hit throughout the Union. The director will eventually admit that the drama’s claim of being a “real-life” story isn’t exactly true, but by then hundreds of millions have seen the drama and no one pays much attention.
Turn 175
The flow of refugees from Earth continues, as the Unified Earth governments attempt to balance population growth against the heavily damaged ecology. The expense is tremendous, and the Colonial Union Senate no longer allows the other human nations to receive refugees, so the entire expense is born by the Colonial Union itself. A recent Senate investigation into the ongoing ecological crisis on Earth has revealed the fact that scientists cannot give a timeline for the recovery of the ecology, and, in fact, a majority of the experts working to remediate the disaster on Earth believe that the ecology there may never recover, at least not in the lifetimes of anyone living now. The implications of this are staggering to the Senate Committee on Earth Affairs, which has been charged with dealing with the ecological disaster on Earth and the resulting refugee crisis. While the Colonial Union has definitely benefitted from the population of its various colonies being increased by well-supported refugees from Earth, the program has been very expensive. The cost was at first defrayed among the various human nations, but once the New Dawn Party was in power, the flow of refugees was used as a political chip to try to influence those other states to join the Colonial Union. When that ploy failed the Colonial Union had no choice but to cut off the flow of refugees to those states, which meant that then the Colonial Union had to foot the entire bill for the shipping and placing of those refugees. To reduce the overall cost, the refugees have been diverted to the New Moscow colony in Sigma Draconis. New Moscow is a benign class world, one jump from Earth, and as such it was the cheapest place the colonists could be sent. Even so the cost over five months was approximately 25% of the net income of the Colonial Union over that period of time. This was a massive cost, for very little gain, as the refugees were joining an already established human colony with over one hundred million inhabitants. The refugee’s economic impact would be significantly better if they were placed on vacant worlds on the periphery, or on struggling, low-population colonies on the outer-fringes, but the transport and establishment costs would have been literally astronomical. Therefore, the Colonial Union has been paying an enormous cost for marginal economic benefits.
The ongoing radiation and ecological remediation efforts on Earth had previously established that the planet could support, at most, a population no larger than four hundred million people. Efforts to expand that carrying capacity have failed, and some of those efforts have threated to collapse the already precarious ecology of the planet. Therefore, the Senate Committee on Earth Affairs, on Day 3 of Month 175, recommended to the full Senate that draconian birth control laws be enacted that limited the population growth of the home planet to replacement levels, accompanied by strict punishments for anyone who violated those laws. Subsidized colonization opportunities would be made available for those who really wanted large families. The full Senate passed the measure with a comfortable margin, over the objection of the Earth Senators, who had proposed a less draconian alternative. The time of unrestricted population growth on Earth I s over, for now and for the foreseeable future.
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Month 166
The Union launches nineteen CVE’s and two CV’s this month, too late to participate in the fighting in Kure. Only the CV’s have fighters, as the fighters planned for the CVE’s were cancelled when R&D on the next-generation F1 began. Work is begun on reactivating more survey cruisers, to replace the ones lost when the Delphi colony was cut off, and on additional DSB-Xr for the sensor network.
Sensor buoys are shipped to the Union’s largest colony, in one of the system’s adjacent to the home system, to establish a system-wide sensor network. In addition, enough sensors to cover the inner systems of the two uninhabited systems in between the home system and the Kure system are shipped out. This is the beginning of the extensive sensor network that the Union government has decided is necessary for the defense of the Union.
Month 169
The Mintek complete R&D on their latest systems, and a massive round of refits begins to bring the fleet up to the latest standard. A message arrives late in the month from the Survey Group, which is surveying a system five jumps from the home system. The message brings welcome news. A new race has been discovered, and the Survey Group commander has initiated contact. The initial results are promising. The newly discovered race call themselves the Bedu Republic, and are generally Mintek-like in appearance, in that they are bipedal humanoids, although a human would have said that they had a generally frog-like appearance.
Month 170
Strategos Brammer entered the Chancellor’s office and gave a stiff bow to the Chancellor and Minister Turval. They nodded back, and the Chancellor gestured to the chairs to one side of the large office, in front of the floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the capital city. Strategos Brammer walked over to the nearest chair and sat, stiffly, on the edge, looking uncomfortable and uneasy in the relatively plush surroundings. Minister Turval glanced at the Chancellor as they made their way to their chairs and arched an eyebrow, a small smile playing at his mouth. Chancellor Durkhon shook his head quickly as they sat. Strategos Brammer was an old warhorse, brought out of retirement at this crucial time to lead their forces, and he was a welcome addition to the Chancellor’s inner circle, but he was difficult to get along with, and prickly. He was most assuredly a man of faith, though, and for that the Chancellor and Minister could forgive much.
After they had all taken their seats, Chancellor Durkhon nodded to the Strategos. “I believe you have a progress report for us?”
“I do.” The gruff old admiral waived his hand over the table in front of them, and a holo of a warship appeared over the table. Brammer keyed in a command and a somewhat smaller warship appeared next to the original ship. The two ships were very similar in terms of shape. Each had a central body that began with a blunt prow and expanded towards the back in a graceful curve. The main body itself was ribbed with arched vertical supports. Missile ports were visible in between the main ribs. Three large wings or fins protruded from the main body, one on top and two below. The wings were heavily studded with heavy beam weapons and sensor ports. (to those trying to visualize the ship from my admittedly poor description, it’s basically a Minbari war cruiser).
Brammer pointed at the larger ship. “As you know, research and development on a slew of new weaponry and defenses has been completed, allowing us to upgrade nearly every fleet vessel, dramatically improving capabilities across the board. To begin with, this is the new Artemis class. It is twenty seven percent larger than the Olifant class superdreadnought, and thus carries more armor, shields, and weaponry than the Olifant. Unfortunately, it is also slower. It will be several months before we can afford to begin construction, and once we do start construction, it will take nearly two years to complete the proto-type.”
Durkhon and Turval looked at each other, then nodded for the Strategos to continue. Strategos Brammer waived at the holo and a line of vessels appeared, each with a databox below, giving statistics for each ship. “I won’t bore you with the details, they’re all here if you need them, but in essence, the new upgrades will dramatically improve the combat capability of our fleet. The new composite armor will allow us to improve armor protection by fifty percent, and the latest generation of ECM and ECCM will improve our ship’s survivability and decrease the effectiveness of the enemy’s ECM. In addition, all assault ships will be equipped with the new jammer systems, which will allow them to jam the datalink systems of any enemy ship that approaches to within one point two five light seconds of the ship mounting the system. In addition, some of our escort ships will mount this system as well, meaning that any enemy ships or fighters that get too close to our ships will lose their links and be forced to fight and defend themselves individually.” Brammer waived his hand again, and the holo shifted to show a series of carriers, similar in silhouette to the capital ships but longer and thinner. “Our carriers have all been equipped with the latest generation of fighters, which is faster and can carry more weapons than the older prototype fighters. In addition, over the next several months we will be transferring the new anti-matter weapons into the carrier’s magazines. This will be expensive.” Brammer stopped and looked at his two superiors intently. “Very expensive. The new anti-matter tipped close attack missiles are twice as powerful as their predecessors, and the new missiles for our fighters give them a standoff capability that will stymie the enemy’s defense efforts.”
Durkhon leaned forward. “The new weapons may be twice as effective as the old, but they are four times as expensive. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, in most cases the magazine loadout will cost more than the carrier itself. Is this true?”
Brammer looked the Chancellor in the eye and nodded. “It is true. However, the new weapons will ensure Mintek supremacy on the battlefield! Attrition among the fighters is expected to be high. In many cases the fighters, even the new fighters, will only get one chance to attack before they are destroyed. Therefore, we must ensure that the attack that they do make is as powerful as possible. And if, as I suspect, our weapons are a surprise to the D’Bringi and their dupes, then we will be able to devastate them in the first few battles, before they are able to adapt.”
Durkhon looked at the carriers hovering over the table and, after a few seconds, nodded. “Continue.”
“There are drawbacks to the new anti-matter weapons.” Brammer waived, and a large holo of a G-5 class battlecruiser appeared over the table. With another gesture, a portion of the hull peeled back and they saw the interior structure of the ship. “Anti-matter is inherently unstable and very dangerous. If a ship’s magazine is damaged in any way, the anti-matter stored within will detonate, destroying the ship immediately. Therefore, during this round of refits, all magazines will be moved deep within the mounting ships, into the best protected places. This will cause minor problems with other aspects of the design, but the advantages of the anti-matter warheads far outweigh the disadvantages, in my opinion. Of course, no matter how effective they are we cannot risk mounting them on a ship’s XO racks. Doing so would be suicidal. Any damage, even the lightest hit by the smallest weapon, would set off one of the warheads and cause a chain reaction that would almost certainly destroy the entire ship.”
“That…is unfortunate.” Minister Turval looked troubled.
“Minister, it is a reality of the weapons we must now use in defense of the faith. The risk is limited, in our latest ships, however, many of our older ships have magazines placed in such a way that they will be vulnerable to damage. There is little we can do about that, until we can refit every ship.” Strategos Brammer carefully did not mention that they had no plans to refit the older carriers. Any new carriers they built would be of the latest, safer, designs, but he and his staff felt there was little reason to refit the older ships. After all, if an enemy got close enough to engage the carriers, all was lost anyway. “In any case, Minister, I would feel more at ease if your Ministry could assign additional chaplains for all of our ships, but for the carriers in particular. Our pilots are the strongest in the faith among us, and they volunteered to fly their fighters, but they would have to be robots to not question the universe given the demands we will make of them.”
The worry faded from Turval’s face, and he smiled. “It shall be as you ask, Strategos. I will send as many chaplains as you can accommodate. We must all serve as we can.”
Strategos Brammer bowed his head. “You have my thanks, Minister. I must admit, I have been troubled about the high potential for losses amongst our new fighter pilots. Every person lost in war is a person lost to the faith, no matter which side he or she fights on. Knowing that the chaplains will be there to provide succor in times of need will be a relief for many.”
“I agree.” Brammer looked down at his notes for a second, then back at the two leaders. “I had intended to brief you on our preparations for Operation Thunderbolt, the planned offensive against the D’Bringi, however, recent events have necessitated a delay in that operation.”
“Yes, the incursion here, in our home system, is very troubling. To think that a potential enemy has access to the heart of our faith is, frankly, deeply disturbing.”
Brammer nodded in agreement. “I have had many sleepless nights since then. Having a ship appear behind all of our defenses is our worst nightmare. We are fortunate that we saw it, at least we know the closed warp point exists.” Brammer gestured again at the holo set on the table, and the ships floating over the table disappeared, to be replaced a top-down display of the Heaven system. The binary system’s stars, a white star and a yellow star, orbited each other one hundred and forty-six light minutes apart. The white star had one type T planet, while the yellow secondary star had two. The yellow star also boasted an asteroid belt, a gas giant, and a rocky inner planet, while the white star primary had a gas giant and two inner toxic planets. After a few seconds, three white icons began blinking on the display, marking the locations of the type T planets. They all three knew the basic layout of the system, with Mintek Prime and Mintek Secundus orbiting the secondary yellow star, and Mintek Tertius orbiting the white primary star. “Sixty-two billion of the faithful live in the secondary system, on Prime and Secundus, while another fifty million live on Tertius and the other colonies in the primary system. This is by far the largest single concentration of the faithful in the universe.” Brammer waived his hand again, and another icon began blinking. “These are our shipyards, over Prime. We now have the use of the shipyards Strategos Neroon captured in the Alowan system, however, those shipyards have less than a third of the capacity of our shipyards here.” He waived again, and yet another set of icons began blinking. “These are our fixed defenses.” Five blue icons blinked on the map, four in the outer system and one over Mintek Prime, in the inner system of the secondary yellow star. Brammer pointed at one of the blue icons winking in the outer system. “This is our heaviest defenses, at the warp point to the D’Bringi Phyriseq system. Most of our automated weapons and bases are concentrated here. The defenses here,” He pointed at the icon blinking over Prime, “represent only light defenses recently built. One asteroid fortress, to be exact, with moderate armament and a fighter wing approximately equivalent in size to that carried by one of our carriers. Prior to the appearance of the ship close to Mintek Tertius, we did not feel we needed heavy defenses within the system, and so we focused most of our resources on building and maintaining a fleet, which can be used for either offensive or defensive purposes. That means, of course, that now that a threat has appeared in our own system, we must keep our fleet close to defend the home planets. That means that the preparations for Operation Thunderbolt must be delayed, and that we cannot dispatch the fleet to deal with the Bedu, should they prove unwilling to see the light.”
Chancellor Durkhon leaned forward, looking at Brammer intently. “Something must be done, Strategos. The Curia demands action! The threat to our home planets is intolerable, and our fleet must be able to respond to threats outside of this system.”
“I agree, but we are in a difficult situation. The general location of the closed warp point is known.” Brammer waived at the holo, and a blood-green icon began flashing just outside of the planetary system of the primary star. “The general location is not enough, though. We cannot station fixed defenses there, as no reasonable number of bases or fortresses could cover the entire area where the warp point is potentially located. Our fighters don’t have enough range to cover the entire area either, as their endurance just isn’t enough to chase down a force that appeared on the far side of the area where the warp point might be located.”
“Are you saying that you can do nothing?” Durkhon’s expression made it clear that Brammer should not be saying any such thing. Brammer shook his head. “Of course not, Chancellor. For now, yes, the fleet must remain in the home system, picketing the area where the closed warp point is located. And some ships will have to be stationed there for some time.” Durkhon looked like he might speak, but Brammer held up his hand, and when Durkhon sat back, he continued. “However, there are steps we can take to alleviate the problems. The first step has already been taken. Sensor buoys have been relocated to the general area suspected to contain the closed warp point. If another ship comes through, not only will we know immediately, but we should be able to pinpoint the location of the closed warp point as well.”
Minister Turval shook his head. “That is all well and good, Strategos, but we cannot go to the Curia with just that. They will want to know what is being done to defend the faithful from the regressive forces that would suppress them.”
“Of course, Minister. That is why we are proposing that we build a large number of these.” Brammer gestured at the holo console, and the system map disappeared, replaced by a schematic of a large space station. By the scale given on the display, the station was somewhat larger than a G-5 class battlecruiser, but nowhere near as sleek and beautiful as the warship. The station had a smallish central cylinder that was surrounded by four larger cylinders, each of which was attached to the central cylinder by a large pylon. “This is our latest design for a defense station. Its sole purpose is to carry and launch fighters. It is incredibly fragile, and is unable to defend itself, but it can launch a force of seventy-eight fighters. Four of these can carry enough fighters to match the entire fighter force launched against us by the D’Bringi in the Kure system, and the cost to maintain four of these stations is less than half of the maintenance cost of one of our latest assault superdreadnoughts. They will be expensive to build, and we will have to place them around Mintek Prime, Secundus, and Tertius, but once in place our system will be able to defend itself against attack, at least until the fleet can return from out-system. In addition, I have directed my design staff to prepare designs for armed PDC’s that can be built on the surface of Mintek Prime, Secundus, and Tertius. We will turn our home planets into veritable fortresses that will break any enemy fleet sent against them.” Brammer sat back and watched the two leaders expectantly.
The two leaders of the Mintek nation looked at each other for a few seconds, then Turval spoke. “How expensive will all this be?”
Brammer winced. “With its fighters and munitions, each of the stations is as expensive as two of the new light monitors, or three of the older Olifant class superdreadnoughts. The PDC’s will almost certainly be expensive as well.” The two leaders looked appalled, but Brammer quickly continued. “However, as I said, these stations are extremely inexpensive to maintain. Even a large force of these stations will only add a moderate amount to our maintenance budget, which surely must be a concern moving forward.”
The two leaders again looked at each other. This time it was the Chancellor that spoke. “The cost will be a difficult sell to the Curia. However, you are correct that our maintenance costs have become a significant concern in our budgetary calculations. And the Curia will like having large numbers of fighters overhead. Thank you, Strategos, we have much to discuss with the Curia.”
Brammer stood and turned to go after that clear dismissal. As he turned to go, the Chancellor spoke again. “Strategos, how long do you estimate it will be until we can deploy our fleet outside the home system again?”
Brammer turned back. “At least eight months, depending on the level of defenses the Curia requires in the home system, and factoring in the cost required to put anti-matter weapons in the magazines of our ships. At that point we will be able to begin preparations for the planned attack on the D’Bringi defenses in the Phyriseq system, or deploy the fleet to deal with the Bedu, if necessary.”
Month 171
The Mintek establish full communications with the Bedu and immediately offer them a trade and military treaty, eager to begin a cultural exchange that will allow them to spread the Faith among a new race. The Bedu, rather standoffishly, decline to accept the proposal. The Mintek negotiators hunker down for the long-haul, intent on bringing a new race to the light.
Month 174
The Bedu Republic rebuffs the Mintek Union’s second offer for a peaceful exchange of resources and ideas, leading the Mintek leadership to believe that the Bedu may be afraid of the truth. As the Mintek fleet is in the midst of a massive reorganization and refit, and there has been an incursion in the home system, the Bedu leadership will be allowed to deprive their people of the truth, for now.
Month 175
The program to fill the Mintek Fleet’s magazines with the latest anti-matter weapons is threatening to bankrupt the state, and imposing intolerable delays on the deployment of fortifications in the home system. Therefore, the Curia votes this month to strip Alowan Prime of resources. By the end of the month the industrialization level of the Alowan home system has decreased by 50%, causing hardship on the Alowan planet, and increasing resentment, in spite of the large numbers of Alowan already converted to the true faith. The Alowan perceive that the Mintek are stripping their planet of resources, and while it is true, the Alowan do not see that the Mintek have already stripped their own industrial investment to the bone to pay for the new technology and weapons. Indeed, it was the expenditure of their last financial reserves that forced the Curia to make this decision.
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Colonial Union Update, Month 175
Income (All Sources): 57,520 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 44%
Fleet: 1xSD, 3xBB, 27xBC, 15xCA, 32xCL, 24xDD, 17xFGS, 12xCT, 20xES, 42xEXS
Survey: 82xEXX
Fortifications: 2xAF(600 HS), 6xPDC(73 HS), 21xBS3, 11xBS2, 3xBS1, 73xBS0
Construction Units: 35xSY, 13xMobile Shipyards,
Mothballs: 1xPDC(1957 HS), 4xPDC(414 HS), 17xCA, 12xCL, 2xDD, 11xCT, 43xES, 1xBS0
Under Construction: 2xSD, 1xBC, 2xFGS, 3xBS3
The Colonial Union has been investing immense amounts of resources towards projects to tie its territories together with suitable infrastructure, refit the fleet to the latest technology, provide sensor buoys to inhabited systems, and build up the fleet to be a credible defense force for the Union. All of this is requiring lots of money, meaning the refugee relocation program was interfering with these projects in a major way. While the debate in the Senate over a resolution for the ongoing ecological and population problems on Earth was cast in a humanitarian light, there can be little doubt that the Colonial Union’s real concerns were in fact economic and military.
The Aegis System Sensor Program has so far furnished sensor networks to nineteen systems. Eight systems have full networks that can detect drive fields out to three hundred and sixty light minutes from the system primary, while eleven systems have networks capable of detecting drive fields out one hundred and eighty light minutes. The Union’s government has been making much of this achievement and ignoring the fact that they are far behind the goals set during the establishment of the program.
The Union Assault Corps has taken receipt of thirty-two old Soviet assault light cruisers and is exercising them in the outer reaches of the Solar System, far from anyone who might be interested in their activities. Seven of these assault cruisers are in the yards for refits to the latest technology, and the rest are scheduled for refit once yard resources are freed up from other commitments.
The Colonial Union has good relations with the Confederated Free States, and is working hard to maintain that relationship, mostly as a tool to keep an eye on events within the D’Bringi Alliance. All contact with the D’Bringi Alliance is through the Confederated Free States, as per the treaty that ended the war, and although there have been several contacts made in the years since due to new jump point connections being made, both sides have agreed to limit all contact to their embassies on Titov in the Confederated Free States.
The Colonial Union has a trade relationship with the Bjering Consolidate, although the relationship has been strained and there are those within the government and the Senate that want to shut it down for various reasons. The trade takes place through the Kowloon system, located two jumps from the Sligo system, and was agreed to while the New Dawn Party was still on its way up, before they had come to dominate the politics of the Union. Since then, the trade income has been too useful to too many people to end, although attempts have been made. The Colonial Union has used the contact with the Bjering to reassure the aliens that the Union has no interest in forceful expansion, and prefers to have peaceful contact with all races. This message has not been particularly well received, perhaps because of the tensions over the Tomsk Union, but the Bjering have taken no action to end the trade relationship so far.
The modernization of the fleet is underway and proceeding slowly, limited largely by the available yard capacity.
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D’Bringi Alliance Update, Month 175
D’Bringi-Rehorish Co-Governance Territories
Total Income (All Sources): 79,643 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 58.5%
Fleet: 55xBC, 26xCA, 24xCL, 60xDD, 2xFG, 19xCT, 10xCTS, 7xCAV, 13xCVS, 2xDDV, 18xCVE, 29xCTV, 5xCT(Pin)
Survey: 6xCTV, 125xCTX, 3xCT(Pin),
Fortifications: 1xAst Fort(478 HS), 1xAst Fort(199 HS), 1xAst Fort(165 HS), 1xAst Fort(153 HS), 18xBS4, 17xBS2, 25xBS1, 22xBS0
Construction Assets: 34xSY, 5xSYM, 12xMS
Mothballs: 3xCA, 12xCL, 9xDD, 3xBS4,
Under Construction: 1xBB, 1xCVL, 144xF0, 14xPreFab BS0, 175xSensor Buoys, 120xMF, 30xDSB-L
Prefab Units: 3xBS2, 11xBS0
The D’Bringi and the Rehorish have just begun a difficult process of bringing their two races closer together in a union that will strengthen both races immeasurably. For now, the Rehorish and the D’Bringi have agreed on a framework for their new government, although the process was fraught with difficulties. Originally, they planned on merely expanding the framework of the Alliance Council to become a basis for their new organization, however, the other races in the Alliance, particularly the T’Pau, complained about this plan as they, rightly, believed it would reduce their influence and power in the existing Council. Therefore, the Rehorish and the D’Bringi were forced to create a new supra-national organization for their two combined races.
Superficially, the Rehorish and the D’Bringi were very similar, both having governments and societies built around clans, rather than nations, corporations, or communes like some of the other races within the Alliance. However, the similarities were only superficial. The Rehorish clans have become more social and cultural organizations, with little real political or military power, and the Rehorish government is a centralized federal bureaucracy, with the various clan-matriarchs holding positions in society somewhat analogous to constitutional monarchs. The D’Bringi, on the other hand, have a somewhat chaotic laissez-faire society, with several strong clans filling the role of nations and corporations. The D’Bringi government is decentralized, with local clan-chiefs enjoying broad powers unless overruled by a higher-ranking clan member. The Rehorish had no interest in decentralizing their society or government, and the D’Bringi had no interest in centralizing theirs. Therefore, a solution had to be found that would satisfy both races and allow them to work together without too much friction. So far, this seems to be taking the form of a supra-national council that is responsible for high level national issues, and inter-race relations.
As part of their merger agreement, the two races have agreed to open their territories for the other to colonize, although this favors the D’Bringi more than the Rehorish. The Rehorish have at least six worlds perfect for D’Bringi colonization within their territory, unexploited and waiting for colonists. The D’Bringi, on the other hand, had already opened their territory to colonization by the T’Pau, so there are few type T planets waiting to be colonized. Both races have agreed to open their territories to free travel for the other race, with no restrictions except those imposed by the military for defense purposes.
The Rehorish and the D’Bringi have decided, for now, to call their merged races the Grand Alliance of the Rehorish and the D’Bringi, or just the Grand Alliance. The Grand Alliance will be governed by a Grand Councilor, named for a two-year period, and rotating between the member races. The Deputy Grand Councilor post will always be filled by the race that is not currently filling the Grand Councilor position. The Grand and Deputy Councilors will be served by a Council of Ministers, appointed by the Grand Councilor and approved by the member races. The Grand Alliance will oversee military matters, and inter-race relations, foreign policy, and grand strategy. The Grand Alliance is designed to have strictly limited power in internal matters, and the member races are free to rule their planets as they see fit, within certain broad guidelines that are being reviewed.
In theory, the Rehorish and D’Bringi have agreed to merge their militaries, however, this is a contentious issue and talks continue on how best to accomplish this task. There is hope of progress in this area, though. The D’Bringi clans are loath to give up their control of their race’s military power, but are in awe of the Rehorish Navy’s elan and fighting ability.
T’Pau Syndicate
Total Income (All Sources): 32,333 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 35%
Fleet: 9xBC, 24xCA, 5xCL, 9xCTS,
Survey: 6xCTX, 44xEXX
Fortifications: 7xBS4
Construction Assets: 11xSY
Under Construction: 1xBB
The T’Pau have been dealt a setback in their plan to reach amalgamation with the D’Bringi first. The announcement of the Rehorish-D’Bringi amalgamation was a surprise to all of the members of the Alliance, the T’Pau perhaps most of all. Although this event has thrown the T’Pau’s plans into disarray, they have little other option than to continue forward, working towards amalgamating with the Rehorish-D’Bringi Alliance. While some of the other Alliance races might harbor secret dreams of independence, the T’Pau, the first race conquered by the D’Bringi in the early days of that race’s expansion to the stars, know better. Their home world lies just one jump from the D’Bringi home world, and is squarely on the D’Bringi’s route to their empire. The D’Bringi would never tolerate a foreign power in position to cut them off from their empire and their allies, and so the T’Pau can harbor no illusions about their options.
The T’Pau are currently HT-7, and are well on their way to integrating technology from that level into their fleet and fortifications. In addition, they have begun R&D on HT-8, with the assistance of the Alliance.
Communes of Torqual
Total Income: 18,363 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 42%
Fleet: 30xCA, 12xCL, 3xDD
Survey: 3xCTX, 22xEXX
Fortifications: 9xBS2
Construction Assets: 11xSY
Under Construction: 50xDSB-L
The Communes of Torqual are HT-5, and are working on developing systems available at that level. The Torqual are unconcerned with the merger between the Rehorish and the D’Bringi, viewing it as an issue of no import to their plans or daily life. The Torqual are complying with the requirements of the Alliance, and over half of their fleet is deployed out of their home system, either with the Alliance 1st Fleet in the Kure system, or with the Mintek Blockade Force in the Phyriseq system.
Doraz Contingency
Total Income (All Sources): 10,210 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 42%
Fleet: 18xCA, 9xDD,6xCT
Survey: 10xFGX
Fortifications: 3xBS2,
Construction Assets: 6xSY
Mothballs: 2xDD, 17xCT
The Doraz were very interested in the events surrounding the merger of the Rehorish and the D’Bringi, and sent observers to the various meetings and councils that hammered out f the shape of their Grand Alliance. The Doraz have been vigorous and enthusiastic supporters of the Alliance since they were given the option of joining by the D’Bringi, and currently view their period of conquest and subjugation by the D’Bringi as a necessary period of dues payment prior to being allowed to join in the Alliance.
The Doraz are HT-5 and are in the midst of developing the systems available at that level.
Zir Contemplative Union
Total Income (All Sources): 16,947 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 26%
Fleet: 6xDD, 9xFG, 12xCT
Survey: 24xFGX, 6xCTXS
Fortifications: 3xBS4, 1xArmed SS(200 Military Spaces)
Construction Assets: 10xSY
Mothballs: 1xArmed SS (200 Military Spaces, 10xSY), 64xDD, 8xFGX, 92xFG, 122xCT
Under Construction:
The Zir have observed the peaceful merger of the D’Bringi and the Rehorish with great interest. At some levels this event has caused them to question their belief that the Alliance is based on force, fear, and violence, although, to be sure, this is not a universal belief among the Zir. Of course, there is literally nothing that can be considered a universal belief among the Zir. The Zir are HT-6 and finishing up development of systems at that level.
Bir Meritocracy
Total Income (All Sources): 755 MCr’s
The Bir are at Ind-2 tech level and working to develop systems available at that level. They have no off-planet colonies or ships/bases, and have a non-voting observer at the Alliance Council.
Chirq Cooperative
Total Income (All Sources): 1,921 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 8%
Survey: 9xEXX
Construction Assets: 2xSY
The Chirq have reached HT-2, and are developing systems available at that level. They have managed to build a small survey fleet, and have established colonies on two habitable planets in a system adjacent to their home system.
Total Combined D’Bringi Alliance Mobile Fleet:
Fleet: 64xBC, 98xCA, 41xCL, 78xDD, 11xFG, 37xCT, 19xCTS, 7xCAV, 13xCVS, 2xDDV, 18xCVE, 29xCTV, 5xCT(Pin)
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Independents Update, Month 175
Mintek Universal Union
Income (All sources): 38,900
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 70%
Fleet: 8xSD, 15xBC, 1xCA, 32xDD, 7xCT, 3xCV, 9xCVL, 1xCVS, 20xCVE
Survey: 12xCLX
Fortifications: 12xBS5, 3xAF(267 HS), 1xAF(223 HS), 2xAF(67 HS), 1xSS(CV)
Construction Units: 53xSY, 15xSYM
Mothballs: 14xBC,37xDD
Under Construction: 1xSD, 1xCA, 3xCV(A)
The Mintek economy is straining under the burden of refitting older ships to the latest technology, replacing older weapons with the latest anti-matter weapons, and building the ships necessary for the planned offensive into the D’Bringi Alliance. The bulk of the Fleet’s magazines have been filled with anti-matter weapons at this point, so Fleet Command is looking forward to focusing on the ongoing refit and construction program, once the defenses in the home system have been augmented.
The recalcitrance of the Bedu to open their borders to trade is proving to be a problem, and the Mintek government has become convinced that the Bedu will have to be dealt with in the same manner as the Alowan were. There is a growing group within the Curia and Fleet Command who believe that the only way that the Fleet can be expanded to the size necessary for the attack on the D’Bringi is to quickly subjugate the Bedu, bringing their resources under the control of the Faithful. Unfortunately, it will be at least six months before the home system can be fortified to the point that the fleet can be sent out-system to bring the Bedu under control.
Bjering Alliance
Bjering Consolidate
Total Income (All sources): 32,175 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 56%
Fleet: 15xBC, 11xDD, 38xCT, 1xCVL, 15xCVS, 5xCVE
Fortifications: 12xBS4, 18xBS2
Survey: 8xCAX, 6xDDX, 2xCTX
Construction Assets: 31xSY, 10xMS
Mothballs: 3xBC, 28xDD, 46xCT
Under Construction: 1xML
The Bjering are in the midst of funding the development of HT-9 systems, including the incredibly expensive, but useful, anti-matter warheads. These systems will not be available for some time, as the Consolidate cannot fund the development of more than one system a month. This means that development will likely not be fully funded for another three to four months, and subsequent R&D on those systems will take even longer. In the meantime, expenditures in other areas will have to be curtailed, including colonial expansion.
Tomsk Union
Total Income (All Sources): 26,357 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 23%
Fleet: 6xBC, 3xCL, 9xDD, 2xCT
Fortifications: 6xSS(96 military HS), 6xBS2
Survey: 15xFGX, 46xEXX
Construction Assets: 10xSY, 7xSYM
Mothballs: 16xES
Under Construction: 3xBC, 6xCL
The Tomsk Union is currently developing HT 7 systems and expects to begin refitting its fleet to the latest standard within the next several months. Because of the continuing increase in tensions with the Colonial Union, the Union’s focus has been squarely on the defense of the Tomsk system, as it is the heart of the Union, and also the contact point with the Colonial Union.
The Union’s leaders fear that, given their limited shipbuilding capacity, they will never be able to match the might of the United Colonial Defense Fleet. Instead, plans are moving forward to fortify the planetary surface of Tereshkova, the habitable planet in the Tomsk system and the capital of the Union. If they cannot keep the Colonial Union out of the Tomsk System, then they will make it too expensive to conquer Tomsk, at least in the time the Union will have before major reinforcements can arrive from the Bjering Consolidate. Anti-missile PDC’s PDC’s are being constructed across the surface of Tereshkova, each capable of intercepting missiles fired at the planetary surface and housing a significant number of planetary defense force troops. While the PDC’s will not house offensive weapons, they will be capable of diluting or stopping an attack by the Colonial Union on surface targets. The Tomsk government does not believe that the CU will resort to planetary bombardment, particularly against human populations, given their history, but they are taking no chances. The combination of anti-missile PDC’s and numerous ground troops will put the Colonial Union in a bind. Unable to bombard surface targets to the reduce the defending troops, they will be forced into a conventional attack with their own troops. While the much larger Colonial Union will be able to swamp the defenders, eventually, the Tomsk government believes that by the time the CU can muster enough troop strength to overwhelm the defenders, the main Bjering fleets will be able to repel the invaders in space, cutting off any Colonial Union army units on the ground and forcing them to surrender.
Currently, the Bjering Consolidate has stationed the fifteen ships of their Epsilon Fleet in the Tomsk system to bolster their defenses and communicate to the Colonial Union the depth of the Consolidate’s commitment to the Tomsk Union’s defense.
Confederated Free States
Total Income (All Sources): 8,460 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 48%
Fleet: 3xCA, 6xDD
Fortifications: 9xBS2
Survey: 48xEXX
Construction Assets: 6xSY
Mothballs:
Under Construction:
The majority of the Free States funds have been devoted to increasing the defenses of the Novosibirsk System, and establishing out-system colonies. The Free States are working towards HT-7, but have not yet reached that level yet.
The Confederated Free States maintains good relations with both the Colonial Union and the D’Bringi Alliance at this time. In response to recent pressure from the Colonial Union to deepen ties between the two nations, the CFS invited the D’Bringi Alliance Kure squadron into the Novosibirsk system for joint exercises in a clear message that the CFS is balanced between the two powers.
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Month 182, Day 1, Kirov system – border with Tomsk
1st Battle Fleet (Rear Admiral Helena Carstairs)
3xSD, 3xBB, 12xBC, 6xCA, 6xDD, 3xCT
Union Assault Corps (Strike Leader Yuri Popov)
32xCL
Admiral Helena Carstairs was a very unhappy woman. She had the most powerful force in the Colonial Union under her command, and was second in command of the mission to ‘liberate’ humans that her government were characterizing as helpless victims of alien subversion, but in spite of all of that, she was deeply conflicted. She didn’t believe the people of the Tomsk Union were victims of alien subversion, any more than her bosses both in the Navy and the government believed it, but the vast majority of the voters had bought into the story that the Tomsk Union had been subverted by the Bjering and that humans in the Tomsk Union were little more than slaves. The Senate was dazzled by the power of the new superdreadnoughts, and the refits the fleet had recently gone through, and was eager to try their new toys against someone slightly less threatening than the D’Bringi Alliance. The Prime Minister was a New Dawnist, and her Council of Ministers was dominated by that party, and they wanted the Tomsk Union integrated into the Colonial Union as the next step in reuniting Humanity. And they didn’t particularly care how that happened, as long as it happened.
Admiral Carstairs stepped over to the large holo tank in the center of the command deck, looking over her fleet’s disposition, carefully hiding her unease with the situation. In spite of the fact that the Tomsk Union had cancelled their trade treaty with the Colonial Union several years ago, coincidentally cutting off most contact between the two states, there was still some limited contact between the two nations. Diplomatic efforts continued, and in spite of significant resistance on both sides, the Colonial Union had maintained a trade relationship with the Bjering, mostly as a way to keep an eye on that alien nation. That was a two-edged sword, though, as it allowed the Bjering to keep an eye on them as well. The buildup within the Colonial Union towards this invasion had not been subtle, or quick, and it was pretty clear to Admiral Carstairs that the Tomsk Union, and their Bjering allies, couldn’t have missed the change in the public’s attitude towards the Bjering and their human allies. The Senate, and the Navy high command, were dismissive of the possibility that the Tomsk Union could do to stop them, but it was easy to be sure in the safety of your office in the capital of the strongest human nation that had ever existed. Out here, on the fringe, facing the uncertainty of an assault into what was essentially a defended home world, things weren’t as clear.
Admiral Carstairs took a deep breath, looking at the holo tank but seeing the office in the Admiralty where she had been given her orders. She had known they were coming; Senator Semenov had warned her of the likelihood. Her first thought was to resign in protest. The Tomsk, with Bjering assistance, had to have been preparing for just this, and a frontal assault into their home system was just asking for disaster. Plus, she didn’t believe in the political justifications that were being used by the government, and leading her fleet into disaster based on lies was not something she wanted to do. But Senator Semenov had been accompanied by an old friend, Admiral Ruston, who had retired from the fleet way back when the New Dawn party had come to power. Admiral Ruston had convinced her that if she resigned, not only wouldn’t it stop the invasion of Tomsk, but it would mean her fleet, and her people, would be led by someone who didn’t know them. Perhaps even one of the new breed of officers who were rising in the United Colonial Defense Fleet. Mostly Russian, and all from refugee families displaced from Earth during what was now called the Exodus, they were hard men and women, forged in refugee camps on Earth and across the Union, and they were fervent New Dawnists for the most part. She had shuddered at the thought of one of those in command of her fleet. An officer like that wouldn’t hesitate to order her entire fleet into a cauldron of destruction if they thought it served humanity, and sometimes it seemed like the sacrifice of those around them, or even personal loss, meant little to these new officers. She suspected that officers like that preferred great sacrifices, and bloody battles, over bloodless victories, as it reinforced their world view. In any case, they had convinced her to stay on and lead her fleet, even though she felt sure that this offensive would be a disaster.
Her eyes strayed to the icon for the warp point to the Tomsk system, just a light minute from her fleet. It was possible that the Tomsk Union would be able to stop her fleet from entering their system, in spite of the thirty-two assault light cruisers that had joined them at the assembly point. The Union Assault Corps was exactly what she feared when she had considered resigning. It was led by Admiral Yuri Popov, a Russian who had lost most of his family in The Fall, and some of the rest in the chaos that had followed. She had had several meetings with Popov since the arrival of the assault ships, and he had struck her as a fanatic dedicated to ensuring the safety of humanity at any cost. She actually feared the possibility of successfully breaking into the system more than a defeat at the warp point, though. The general population believed that the Tomsk people, once they were given the chance to throw off the yoke of their Bjering oppressors, would jump at the chance. The Senate had convinced itself that the Tomsk government would surrender once the UCDF was overhead. The Prime Minister had said all of the right things, but Carstairs worried about secret orders covering this situation that might have been given to the Mission Commander.
Admiral Carstairs’ face twisted as that worthy came to mind. She had thought that she was free of Lieutenant General Rogov after the conquest of the Tarek. He had been promoted to Colonel-General and was given the post of Military Governor of Tarek Prime. He had wisely chosen to rule his demesne from the neighboring planet of Wunderland, as unwise Colonial Union officials, and even some troopers, had a tendency to go missing on Tarek Prime. These days the Tarek were disarmed, in terms of anti-starship weaponry, and they ‘donated’ their income to the Colonial Union’s budget, as expected, but they definitely were not subdued. Last, she had heard, Rogov was happily gorging himself on the wealth that was flowing from Tarek Prime, and she had figured he would never leave that plum position. But she had been wrong. She had been told that she was the second in command of Operation Valkyrie, responsible for space operations and the safety of the troops assigned to the operation during transit. The overall mission commander would be someone else. That someone else had turned out to be Colonel-General Rogov himself. Arrogant as always, General Rogov had made it clear from the moment that he arrived that she would take no action without first clearing it with him. He had also made it abundantly clear that the only way this operation would fail would be if the fleet let him down.
General Rogov had immediately dismissed her request for additional assets. Amazingly, no survey units had been assigned to the assault. The administration thought that moving survey units from their current assignments would tip off the Bjering and their human subjects that an assault was coming. She could see the logic, but honestly, if the Bjering or the Tomsk were in a position to gather that kind of intel, they would already know that the attack was coming. They hadn’t really been subtle, after all. For heaven’s sake, this year’s most popular tri-Vid entertainment was a series about the liberation of the humans of the Tomsk Union from Bjering domination. After getting chewed out for her ‘defeatism’, Popov had explained the Senate, and the Prime Minister’s, thinking. Once the UCDF fleet punched through their warp point defenses and made orbit over Tereshkova with an invasion force, the Tomsk Union would be forced to surrender without further fighting. There was a certain logic to this line of thought. The Tomsk system was a warp point nexus with an astounding twelve warp points. The Tomsk Union’s prosperity was built on this happy astronomical reality. The large number of warp points gave the Tomsk Union’s most populated planets access to a large number of routes for expansion, but that came at a price. The Tomsk Union was built around the Tomsk Warp Point Nexus, and if the Colonial Union controlled that nexus, then it controlled the Tomsk Union as well. With the capital of the Union under the guns of the UCDF, and their shipyards under UCDF control, all of the other colonies within the Union would eventually have to surrender to the CU or be cut off from all support.
However, Admiral Carstairs couldn’t help but think that both the Senate and the administration were engaging in what could only be called ‘hopeful thinking’. Their plan relied on the Tomsk government seeing sense and surrendering when the UCDF and the invasion force reached orbit over their planet. In her experience, relying on humans to see sense or act logically when faced with aggression was a fool’s errand. It might work, but that was a big assumption. And it left the Bjering completely out of the equation, and that was another very dangerous assumption. The Senate assumed that the Bjering, who had always seemed relatively reasonable, for aliens, would want to avoid a war with the Colonial Union. Assuming that the Bjering didn’t want war with the Colonial Union, it was reasonable to assume that they would decide that this was an internal human matter and stay out of it. Admiral Carstairs didn’t agree, but no one had cared and Popov had used her concerns about the Bjering response to again accuse her of defeatism. He was clearly positioning himself to take all of the credit if the campaign was successful, and to shift all of the blame to her if it failed. To be honest, at this point she didn’t really care about credit or blame, she just wanted to keep as many of her people alive as possible and prevent the commission of an atrocity during the campaign if possible. She didn’t trust Rogov further than she could throw him, and she suspected he had secret orders giving him extraordinary powers, she he decide he needed them.
The command deck crew worked around her, keeping themselves as silent as possible, as they watched their Admiral brood over the tank. They knew that she was trying to keep her disquiet from them, but they knew her well, and they could see her concerns written on her face and her posture.
Suddenly, the command computer signaled an incoming message. “Alert from the flag, ma’am. The fleet will advance on the warp point and prepare to assault.”
Admiral Carstairs nodded. “Very well. Orders to the fleet: Advance on the warp point and assume assault positions.” She turned back to the plot. That idiot Rogov had already given his inspirational speech to the fleet, or at least what he thought of as an inspirational speech. The speech’s repetitive calls to patriotism and “the honor of the Union”, and numerous mentions of the evils of “alien influence”, seemed disjointed and a mis-mash of pro New Dawn tracts and various popular conspiracy theories. It certainly hadn’t done anything for her, and she was pretty sure most of her people had been rolling their eyes at the blatant attempt to stir up the emotions of the crewers.
As the fleet began to move towards the warp point, Carstairs’ eyes returned to the warp point, wondering what waited on the other side.
Tomsk System, WP to the Colonial Union…
The defenders had watched the warp point for some time, waiting for something to happen. They simultaneously didn’t want anything to happen, and desperately wanted something to break the deadly boredom that stalked their daily routine. Six cruiser-sized bases squatted on the warp point; their energy beams dialed in on the area where the Colonial Union ships would have to appear if they wanted to force their way into the system. A belt of mines surrounded the warp point, and would hopefully keep the intruders on the warp point for the bases to engage at close range. The mines were active all of the time, and the Colonial Union had been warned of their presence. The Colonial Union had not been notified of the 150 laser buoys that were interspersed with the mines. The buoys were currently inactive, as the Tomsk Union’s government had no desire to provoke a war if a Colonial Union diplomatic ship happened to come through the warp point at an unexpected time. The Tomsk Union’s Starfleet had argued against this, pointing out that the Colonial Union knew there were defenses present at the warp point, and the no-contact treaty specified that prior approval must be gained by either side before transiting into the other’s territory, but the government had been adamant. Destroying an intruder that meant no harm could provoke a war with the largest human government, and the Tomsk Union wanted to avoid a war with the Colonial Union, if at all possible. Therefore, the laser buoys were deactivated, but two control ships were present, and would activate them if intruders entered the system.
For the last month, the Tomsk Union’s Starfleet had stood off of the warp point, just outside of capital missile range, acting as reinforcements for the bases on the warp point. The nine battlecruisers, nine light cruisers, nine destroyers represented nearly the entire mobile fleet strength of the nation. The only other mobile force was also assigned to the warp point. The Warp Point Defense Group was composed of sixteen tiny escort class units, each armed with a single force beam, and they were stationed behind the bases, within sprint distance of the warp point. They would close on the warp point once they got their crews to their stations, and bolster the base’s firepower. They were due to be rotated into mothballs once the next group of bases come online, but that was several months in the future.
The entire force was divided into five watch groups, with one watch group at action stations at all times, while the rest performed maintenance and gave their crews down-time. The bases, of course, stayed in their positions whether they were active or not, while the fleet units rotated in and out of range of the warp point based on their activation status and the type of weapons they mounted.
Colonial Union, Warp Point to the Tomsk System
Second Lieutenant Kirilenko sat on the bridge of the lead assault cruiser through the warp point. He was assistant weapons officer on the CLL-001, the lead ship in the class, and the lead ship in this assault. He was young for his rank, and if he had been in the United Colonial Defense Fleet he likely still would have been in the academy, or he might have been an ensign serving aboard his first ship. But the UAC was new, and many of the officers were young and filling roles that were as new to them as they were to the ships that had been hauled out of mothballs and hurriedly modernized. Oleg was also terrified, not just of the enemy, but also of his own ship.
Oleg Kirilenko was a teenager when the Soviet Union self-destructed in an orgy of death and chaos. His father was killed serving in the Soviet Fleet, and his mother and older brother died in the final war. He somehow survived with his two older sisters, and, as a good brother, got his sisters to a refugee camp set up by the off-world colonies to help the survivors of the war. Life in the camps was hard, but Oleg thrived in the difficult environment, taking care of his sisters and helping anyone nearby that needed assistance. He was a favorite of the camp, and soon everyone there was chipping in to help the Kirilenko’s. It wasn’t Oleg’s fault that his oldest sister was caught by raiders outside the camp and taken, never to be seen again, but he blamed himself anyway. Shortly after, the remaining two Kirilenko’s were relocated to the old-Russian colony of Krasnodar. Krasnodar was settled by the USSR, and was a key Soviet colony throughout the interstellar era, providing resources to support the fleet from its first inception. As a benign planet within four transits of Earth, it also became a prime relocation site for the refugee effort, and it was here that the Kirilenko siblings made their home after arriving.
Elena Kirilenko did her best to take care of her younger brother, while also rebuilding her life, and for the most part succeeded, keeping Oleg out of the clutches of the gangs that infested the fringe areas of the vast relocation camps by signing Oleg up for labor teams clearing land for the new settlements being erected for the refugees. Oleg found purpose in those teams, bonding with his fellow laborers, and, when they went to a meeting being put on by a New Dawn organizer, he went too. It was there that Oleg found a direction for the anger he felt surrounding the loss of his family. The out-system colonies had worked hard to squash nationalistic feelings in the refugees, preferring that the internecine conflict that destroyed Earth die with the old nations, and their relentless focus on a brighter future had given many of the refugees nowhere to focus their anger and loss. The New Dawn Party harnessed that anger, and gave it a focus. The New Dawn organizers made it clear to anyone who would listen where the blame for the disaster on Earth lay. The responsibility for the fall of the old nations and the destruction of much of human race lay squarely on the aliens, particularly the D’Bringi. Oleg, among many others, experienced a near-religious revelation at that meeting that night, and his course was set. He wanted to apply to the United Colonial Defense Fleet that night, but the fleet was downsizing, and his sister needed him. Oleg was a responsible young man, and so he stayed to help what was left of his family.
Several years later, the situation had changed. Elena was now married with a child of her own and another on the way, and so when the Union Assault Corps came to Krasnodar to fill its ranks, Oleg was one of many young former-refugees who volunteered immediately. Oleg excelled in the training academy, and as the UAC needed officers as desperately as crewers, Oleg was identified as officer material and transferred to the officer academy and given accelerated training. And so it was that twenty-two year old Oleg Kirilenko was a second lieutenant and assistant weapons officer on board the Gordi. It was Oleg’s first battle, and he was terrified, like almost everyone else on board the ship. As a weapons officer, though, Oleg knew enough to be terrified not only of the enemy but also of the weapons on board his own ship. As an assault ship, the Gordi was built around a massive laser system that could put out incredibly powerful X-Ray laser beams, causing heavy damage to anything they hit, but at a cost. At the heart of the ship was a heavily armored chamber where a powerful magnetic bottle contained (hopefully) an actual nuclear blast, then channeled the resulting energy to laser emitters on the hull of the ship. The training cadre at the academy claimed the system was safe, and that the safeties surrounding the detonation chamber would engage if anything went wrong, saving the ship from the nuclear explosion taking place inside of all of its defenses, but the trainees suspected that the cadre were shading the situation to make them feel better. Indeed, as they learned more about the weapons system, they realized that the dangers were higher than they had originally suspected. There existed a significant chance that the safeties would engage any time the detonation chamber was used, rendering the ship combat ineffective several minutes until the system could be reset. Worse, there existed a chance, small but real, that the chamber could explode, destroying the weapons system, or even the whole ship. The whole system was incredibly risky to use on an expensive ship, but the UAC felt that the risk was justified on an assault ship, where the need to hit the enemy as hard as possible, as soon as possible, was critical. The fact that an actual nuclear explosion was happening just several tens of meters from where he was sitting terrified Oleg, but the New Dawn Party had instilled in him a fervent desire to protect humanity, and if that meant using the x-ray laser system, then that is what he would do.
When the mission had been announced, many among the UAC’s crews had been uncertain. They had signed up to fight the D’Bringi, and to protect humanity from the aliens that wanted to destroy everything that humanity stood for. Fighting against the humans in the Tomsk system seemed to go against everything they had learned and believed, but Oleg was among the true believers. The New Dawn Party taught that the Tomsk Union had been subverted by the aliens they had so unwisely cozied up to after the fall of Earth, and it was their duty to free their fellow humans from the alien contamination that was creeping throughout their society. Oleg and his friends had spread the word, and before they reached the border the UAC was united behind their mission once again. Humanity would be free!
Tomsk System, Assault Force
One minute the warp point was clear, and the next Colonial Union light cruisers began appearing. CLL-001, the Gordi, was the first ship through the warp point. Lt. Kirilenko shook his head to clear it, struggling to focus on his instruments. The targeting display began to update. “Sir, six cruiser-sized bases at close range. Also, six escort class ships in close proximity to the bases.”
Lt. Commander Forbes was looking around the bridge blearily. “Fire!”
As the pre-assault planning dictated, Lt. Kirilenko targeted the nearest and largest target, one of the bases. The senior weapons officer, Lt. Konstantin, as the most senior and best trained weapons officer on the ship, was in charge of managing the detonation chamber, while Kirilenko handled targeting and refining firing parameters, under the captain’s direction. Lt. Konstantin announced – “Firing!”
The lights on the Gordi’s bridge dimmed as the ship’s power was diverted to the critical magnetic bottle that was all that stood between the crew and total destruction. Kirilenko didn’t really know what to expect, none of them did, as none of them had actually fired the laser system for real. There was a loud SNAP, and the ship actually shuddered. Lt. Kirilenko was sure they were all dead, but then the lights came up and Lt. Konstantin shouted – “Mag bottle steady!”
Lt. Kirilenko’s eyes went to his display and he turned to the captain. “Sir! Two hits. The base’s armor is breached and it is streaming atmosphere!”
Lt. Commander Forbes nodded. “Very well. Helm, come to a halt as planned.”
The light cruiser came a halt relative to the warp point to avoid the mines that were almost certainly placed nearby. Behind the lead ship more light cruisers spilled from the warp point, firing as soon as they materialized. By that time the Gordi’s plot tank had updated, showing contacts out to seven-point-five light seconds. The tank now showed additional contacts, with ten additional escort class ships at two-point-two-five light seconds and three battlecruisers and three light cruisers at four-point-five light seconds.
“Incoming missile strike! Target…” Oleg held his breath as the dispassionate voice of the bridge AI paused. The Gordi had minimal missile defenses, and depended on its datalinked partners to provide additional missile defenses, but their datalink was down after the transit and they were on their own. The three icons for the enemy battlecruisers in the plot tank had begun pulsing, indicating that they were the origin of the missile salvo, and the number of missiles a battlecruiser squadron could throw would put a serious dent in any light cruiser’s defenses. “…is the Minneapolis.” Oleg released his breath as their sister ship just behind them in the assault wave was wreathed in explosions before it could fire its laser system.
Lt. Commander Forbes turned to the comm station. “Update and launch the courier drone!”
LT. Commander Forbes’ calm tone brought Oleg back to the present. The plan called for all surviving ships to launch their CD’s as soon as they had information on the defenses, to update the assault commanders on the far side of the warp point. He began focusing on his console again, as a second attacking light cruiser came under fire from the light cruisers escorting the Tomsk battlecruisers. To Oleg the entire situation was chaotic. The Minneapolis, and the Jean Bart behind her, were heavily damaged and their light codes on the main plot tank were flickering. Even as Oleg watched, the last attacking cruiser in the line, the Trudeau, came under fire from the enemy escorts at close range. The enemy was suffering, though, and Oleg took heart from that. The light codes for five of the six Tomsk bases were flickering, indicating that their armor had been pierced and that they had suffered internal damage.
Continued in part 2
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“Weapons, shift targeting to the designated enemy ships.”
Oleg began punching the commands into his console as he answered Lt. Commander Forbes. Their targeting systems had recovered from the transit and he could now target multiple enemy units. Even as he began shifting the targeting to the trio of enemy escorts, he heard a cheer across the bridge. Completing the targeting solution, he looked up to see that the other two intact assault cruisers of the first wave had fired in concert, taking out a damaged base, heavily damaging another damaged base, and damaging the last intact base. He felt a rush of elation, but when he looked at Lt. Commander Forbes, he saw that the captain was calm and cool as chaos seethed around the ship. He tried to be as calm as the captain, but he knew that his fear showed in his voice as the assault cruiser shook as the detonation chamber was engaged again. “Targeting completed, firing!”
The powerful lasers on board the Gordi lashed out at three tiny escorts harassing the attacking ships. Even as the Gordi fired, one of the small escorts fired its force beam at the light cruiser, but in their hurry the defenders missed. The escort wouldn’t get another chance as two powerful lasers cored their ship, penetrating from one end of the ship to the other, leaving it a drifting hulk. Oleg had targeted two other escorts with one laser each, and both hit, heavily damaging both escorts. Oleg heaved a sigh of relief as Lt. Konstantin announced – “Mag bottle stable, firing completed!”
New assault cruisers were pouring into the system through the warp point even as the cruisers already on the warp point fought for their lives. The heavily damaged Minneapolis destroyed two of the escorts that the Gordi had damaged, while one of the damaged bases hit one of the first wave’s light cruisers with two energy beams, cutting through their light shields and doing significant internal damage. Oleg continued to update his targeting console, but the events swirling around his cruiser were difficult to ignore. The active Tomsk cruisers targeted the only other intact light cruiser in the lead assault wave, and between the battlecruisers and their light cruiser escorts they ravaged the Stalingrad, leaving the Gordi as the only intact light cruiser of the first wave. The arriving light cruisers of the second wave targeted the enemy bases for their lasers, and transit addled as they were they managed to destroy all six, raising a cheer on the battered ships of the first wave. Oleg lost himself in the cheer as well, trying to dissipate the fear that had been building inside of his chest as the battle swirled around his ship. Somehow, miraculously, the Gordi was left intact while all of the other ships of the first wave had been riddled with holes from enemy missiles and force and energy beams.
Oleg watched as the five heavily damaged light cruisers from the first wave approached the warp point, retreating from the battle. A part of him fervently wished that his ship was retreating from this awful carnage as well, but a furtive glance around the bridge convinced him that he was the only one that felt that way, and stiffened his resolve. Three assault cruisers jumped out, returning to safety, but one, the Minneapolis, was too damaged to make it through the warp point with the others, and one remained as it still had some weapons. Even as they jumped out, the third wave began entering.
Lt. Commander Forbes turned to Oleg. “Weapons, target the remaining escorts. I want them out of my sky!”
“Yes sir!” Oleg had anticipated the captain’s orders, which was easy to do even in the current situation as the three remaining Tomsk escorts were the only targets within range. “Firing solution set!”
Lt. Konstantin’s voice rang across the bridge. “Firing!” The shook shuddered as a nuclear explosion went off in the mag bottle and Oleg held his breath, as he had every time the lasers were used. He let his breath out when the chief weapons officer announced – “Mag bottle stable, firing sequence completed.”
“Firing complete, one target destroyed, one damaged.” Oleg was disappointed. Instead of targeting all three escorts with his four lasers, he had targeted two with two lasers each, hoping to destroy both targets. One of the lasers had missed, though, and the enemy escort had escaped with heavy damage. To Oleg’s horror, the damaged Tomsk escort fired its force beam, which was deeply buried in the small ship, ensuring that it was as protected as anything could be on so small a ship. The enemy ship targeted the limping Minneapolis, as it lined up on the warp point, trying to escape the battle. The enemy force beam ripped into the rear of the damaged ship, causing an explosion that engulfed the Gordi’s sister ship. “Sir, the Minneapolis!”
The horror was plain on the young lieutenant’s face, and Lt. Commander Forbes shook his head. “Bad luck, Oleg, nothing for it. If you had managed to get them before they could fire, the other escort would have done for the Minneapolis.”
Even as the captain spoke, Oleg watched as one of the second wave assault cruisers swatted the two remaining escorts from space. Oleg wasn’t convinced, but even as he watched the tank, the second wave cruiser that had taken out the last two escorts came under fire from the enemy cruisers and was savaged, leaving it drifting with life pods spilling from her ravaged flanks. Oleg realized something at that point, that battle was essentially chaotic and random, and that even if you did everything right, things sometimes went wrong. It was a stunning revelation that he forced down as he turned to his board.
The last damaged assault cruiser from the first wave slipped through the warp point to safety, leaving the Gordi as the last ship from the first wave present in the system. More light cruisers entered the system, bringing the force on the warp point up to nineteen light cruisers, if you counted the poor ship from the second wave that had gotten the worst end of a missile barrage from the Tomsk cruisers. Even as Oleg’s thoughts strayed to that hapless ship, the bridge plot tank chimed, indicating a status change. A second division of enemy battle cruisers had appeared from beyond sensor range and was closing to join the original battle cruiser division. Missiles sleeted in on the light cruiser force, even as the fourth wave entered. Seeking to maximize their destructive capability, the Tomsk cruisers focused their fire on the newly entered light cruisers, as they were still recovering from transit and their datalink was down.
The third and fourth wave assault ships were different than the Gordi and her sisters. These ships were intended to act primarily as mine sweepers, and so the lacked the heavy laser weaponry of the Gordi’s. Instead, they had heavier armor plating, better point defenses, and two force beams to either fight other ships with or to target mines. Oleg watched as the targeted Borodino class CL(M) stood up to an incredible number of missile hits, until finally it began streaming atmosphere and fell out of line. The missile ships were just inside of extreme range for the laser assault ships, but they had been forbidden to fire on the enemy, at least for now. Oleg understood the reasoning. The chances of getting a hit were low, the damage would be slight if they did get a hit, and every shot they took risked a catastrophic mag bottle failure. But watching the missiles rush in on them without being able to answer was galling! He turned to the captain. “Sir, when are they going to send in the heavy ships, so that we can stop those bastards from firing at us?”
Lt. Command Forbes turned to his Assistant Weapons officer, aware that everyone’s eyes were on him. “Calmly, Mr. Kirilenko.” When he saw Oleg take a deep breath, he continued. “We are waiting until the enemy deploy their…” The captain was cut off as what felt like the hammer of God hit the ship.
The entire ship lurched, and the bridge crew were shaken as alarms began ringing throughout the ship. Oleg looked around in confusion as he put his hand to his head, feeling blood leaking from his scalp. Damage reports were pouring into the bridge from all over the cruiser.
“Datalink system is down.”
“Boat bay destroyed.”
“Mag bottle stable.”
Oleg realized he should be giving a report and looked down at his console. It didn’t make sense, but… “All emitter ports show red, and tracking is down.”
“Engines at 100%, drive field stable.”
“Helm, bring us about, we are leaving.”
“Aye, aye, sir. Coming about.”
“Message from the assault commander, sir. We are given leave to depart.”
“Very well. That’s it! The enemy have shot their bolt. Our part here is done.”
With nothing to do now that his weapons were gone, Oleg looked around the bridge. The plot told the story. All four assault waves had been hit by something. The two already damaged light cruisers were just gone, and all of the Gordi class units had had their armor peeled away and were heavily damaged. The Borodino class sweepers were tougher, and had weathered what Oleg had finally figured out was an attack by the laser buoys the Tomsk defenders were known to have deployed.
“Mr. Konstantin!”
Oleg looked up from the tank. “Sir?”
“Seeing as your weapons panel shows red, please go below and take charge of the damage control efforts.”
“Very well.” Oleg got to his feet as the ship slipped through the warp point and back to safety.
New light cruisers entered the system as the damaged cruisers jumped back. The defenders continued to concentrate their fire on the newly arriving ships, damaging a mine sweeper.
Finally, the stream of light cruisers came to an end, and battlecruisers began entering the system. The minesweepers, sixteen strong, moved into the minefield as one. To the crews on the light cruisers still on the warp point, waiting to transit out, it seemed as if a ripple of fire raced to meet the minesweepers as they moved into the field that surrounded the warp point. The sweepers were well designed, though, and most of the mines were detonated early by their point defenses. A few got through, but no one of the sweepers were hit by enough mines to breach their shields. Even as the mines attacked the ships, they began firing their force beams on wide angle setting, “sweeping” them through the field and clearing it of mines before they could attack. Most of the mines were destroyed by the questing beams, with the few remaining mines expended as the sweepers moved out of the field. The defenders were distracted from the sweepers by the battlecruisers entering the system, and the three active groups of defending battlecruisers focused their fire on the new entrants. The targeted Colonial Union battlecruiser suffered heavy damage under the concentrated fire of the defenders, in spite of the EDM’s that had been launched by the beleaguered ship as the missiles raced towards it. The return fire from the transit-confused ships was scattered, and the missiles that got through the Tomsk BC’s point defenses exploded against her shields.
With a route open through the mines, the five intact Colonial Union battlecruisers moved away from the warp point and towards their harassers, while behind them the pride of the Colonial Union’s fleet, the superdreadnoughts, began entering the system. Even before the SD’s began entering, the Tomsk battlecruisers turned away from the warp point and began retreating. The Tomsk battlecruisers turned their fire on the lead superdreadnought, the United Kingdom, and missiles began raining down on the massive ship. The nine Tomsk battlecruisers managed to get six capital missiles through the massive ship’s active defenses, knocking down its shields and scoring its armor.
The Tomsk ships continued to move away as the newly arrived SD’s moved away from the immediate area of the warp point and came to a halt. Admiral Carstairs, aboard the United Kingdom, ordered her lead group of battlecruisers to remain with the SD’s, denying their squadron commander permission to pursue the withdrawing Tomsk fleet. Her battleships were entering the system now, and the rest of her battlecruisers and lighter ships would be behind them. The Tomsk only had nine battlecruisers in their fleet, and she was confident that once her fleet was assembled, they would be able to deal with the Tomsk handily. After all, where could they run?
The toll from the battle was painful for both sides. As the Tomsk fleet retreated, it sent a message to the Colonial Union’s fleet, demanding that they leave the system and declaring a state of war between their two nations.
Colonial Union:
Damaged: 22xCL, 1xBC, 1xSD*
Destroyed: 3xCL
*Minor armor damage only
Tomsk Union
Damaged: 1xBC
Destroyed: 6xBS2, 6xES, 20xMF destroyed/expended, 150xDSB-L expended
100 patterns of mines are left around the warp point but useless
Nearly every assault light cruiser was damaged, some heavily. In the aftermath of the battle, Lt. Kirilenko was awarded the Assault Medal, with a star for bravery, for his actions in the aftermath of the battle that directly led to the recovery of twelve of his fellow crew members threatened by a fire that had broken out in the engine spaces. He was one of many of the UAC’s crewers who received medals that day, however, he was one of the relative few that managed to live to receive their medal.
Tomsk system, Day 12
The Colonial Union’s 1st Battle Squadron was finally approaching the capital of the Tomsk Union, the colony of Tereshkova. For the last twelve days, as the three superdreadnoughts, three battleships, and nine battlecruisers of the Colonial Union’s premier fleet moved in-system, they had been paced by the Tomsk Union’s fleet. With just nine battlecruisers the Tomsk fleet had obviously decided to avoid direct attacks, apparently cowed by the presence of the heavy capital ships in the Colonial Union’s fleet, and instead had settled for shadowing them as they moved in-system. Their apparently calm acceptance of the Colonial Union Fleet’s presence in their system was grating on Admiral Carstairs, who was acutely aware of the eleven other warp points arrayed around the system, any one of which could belch forth a fleet to challenge hers. She would have liked to picket the warp points, but she didn’t have the scouts to do so, and her orders were to head in-system and demand a surrender from the Tomsk government.
“Comms request from the Athena, Ma’am.”
Admiral Carstairs felt herself tighten up at the announcement, and her eyes shifted to the plot tank. The 1st Battle Squadron was just over a light minute from the Tomsk Capital, and she had called a halt to reorganize her forces and prepare for the assault on their planetary defenses. So far, there were no enemy contacts, aside from the Tomsk fleet, which had raced ahead and was now standing just a light second off of planetary orbit, in between the planet and her fleet. The fact that there were no other contacts was disturbing, as she knew for a fact that there were at least several orbital shipyards over the planet. Her eyes moved from her fleet to the large group of ships following closely behind. The eighty-six cruiser-sized freighters and personnel transports that comprised the invasion group were a weight around her neck, tying her fleet down to their defense as the unarmed transports would be easy meat for any enemy ship that they met. Her original intention was to secure the system before allowing the transports to enter, but General Rogov had countermanded that right off the bat. His invasion force would be in at the kill, and he was sure that her intention to leave him behind was a politically motivated move to cut him out of the glory. The thought that they might lose this battle, and that he might be at risk himself, never seemed to cross his mind. When she had brought up that possibility, he had predictably accused her of defeatism, which seemed to be his go-to criticism for anyone that contradicted him.
The Athena was Colonel-General Rogov’s invasion command ship/transport. It also happened to be one of the newest and nicest colony transports in the Colonial Union, a fact that Carstairs was certain had figured prominently in Rogov’s thinking when picking his command ship. After hesitating for a second or two, she nodded. “I’ll take it in my office.” She turned and left the superdreadnought’s flag bridge.
A few seconds later she keyed the comms station in her office and Colonel-General Rogov’s choleric face appeared on her wall mounted monitor. “Admiral! I presume you are ready for the final attack?”
“The fleet is ready, general. However, I must again restate my concerns. The Tomsk have defenses, we know that. The fact that they aren’t showing them to us means that they want to lure us in. We must be cautious!”
General Rogov’s face twisted into a sneer. “You are sitting on the largest warship ever built by humans, and yet you constantly talk of caution! I see no defenses! Now move forward and engage the enemy. Once their fleet has been reduced and my transports are overhead, they will surrender.” The general’s face softened, and his voice became almost pleading. “Admiral, there will be plenty of glory to go around, you will see. Do not lose faith now!”
Admiral Carstairs stared at the general for a few seconds, considering her position. Her orders really didn’t give her much leeway, and while the general was an ass, he was also in overall command of the mission. If she had the scouting assets she had requested, she could have delayed to run scouts out to all of the warp points, and to surround the planet, looking for traps, but she didn’t have the scouts, probably for the same reason she didn’t have the exploration assets she had wanted. “Very well.” She keyed her comm system, setting up an all-ships channel. “The fleet will advance in five minutes.”
Five minutes later, on the dot, the fleet moved out. Minus the ships left to watch the warp point and the transports, the fleet now consisted of: 3xSD, 3xBB, 9xBC, 6xCA, and 6xDD. In addition, seven undamaged assault light cruisers were escorting the transports, at General Rogov’s request. Admiral Carstairs watched the plot tank as they crossed the one light minute line to the planet. There was no change, still just the known units of the Tomsk fleet, patiently waiting for them. They had maintained communications silence since their original message at the warp point, in spite of repeated attempts to contact them. General Rogov thought that it was a sign of their fear and weakness, while she was sure it meant that there was more to their defenses than she was seeing.
Fifteen minutes later the fleet crossed the fifteen light second barrier, and suddenly the plot changed. Admiral Carstairs’ head whipped around to the tank when the bridge AI signaled a status change.
The sensor officer’s voice began announcing the change as the plot updated. “Multiple new contacts. Drive fields and shields detected coming up!”
“The fleet will come to a halt! What’s out there?”
The sensor officer leaned over her station. “Two contacts, identified as PDC’s or grounded ships, located on Tereshkova’s moon. Seven contacts, identified as PDC’s or grounded ships, located on Tereshkova. Ten contacts, identified as space stations, located in close orbit over Tereshkova. All ten stations have active shields.”
She frowned at the display as it updated to show the new contacts, thinking furiously. “Status on the Tomsk fleet?”
“Still motionless in the same position.”
She stared at the plot for over a minute. They were too far away to determine the size of the stations and the PDC’s, and so she couldn’t determine their actual threat level. Unfortunately, she’d have to come within range of the PDC’s to determine their size and potential threat, but she could determine the size of the stations from beyond their own range. The fact that the stations mounted shields argued that they weren’t simple shipyards, though. “All units will close to ten light seconds range of the planet. The transports will remain here, with their escort.” At that range her sensors would be able to determine more information about the enemy’s units, but it would also put her much closer to combat range as well.
The fleet moved forward again, coming to a halt exactly ten light seconds from the planet. Once the fleet came to a halt, it took a few seconds for the sensors to update. Once again, the sensor officer announced the changes. “New information. Six orbital stations show as very large, 137% of the size of this ship. Four stations are classed as large, 89% of the size of this ship. All still show active shields.”
Admiral Carstairs stared at the plot thoughtfully as her chief of staff approached behind her. “Those large ones will have a battleship’s power, assuming they also have a shipyard at their heart. The smaller ones will be closer to a destroyer, again assuming that they also mount a shipyard.”
Carstairs turned to her chief of staff. “Assuming, yes. That’s a big assumption, though. We’ll have no way of knowing until we move into their range, though. And those PDC’s are a wildcard. They certainly won’t mount a shipyard; they’ll be just weapons and defenses.”
Commander Trask looked at the plot. “The Tomsk Union pushed for the Collins Plan, back in the early days of the United Colonial Defense Force, before the Colonial Union, didn’t they? If I remember, they pushed hard.”
Admiral Carstairs thought for a second. Yes, he was right, but what…? “Wait. If I remember correctly, the Collins Plan rejected the construction of armed PDC’s on inhabited worlds, because of what happened during the Final War. Under that plan, had it been adopted, the only PDC’s allowed on inhabited planets would have been anti-missile defenses.” Relations between the Colonial Union and the Tomsk government had deteriorated before the plan could become law, but with the destruction of much of Earth’s surface as an example, no one in the CU had felt that building armed PDC’s on an inhabited surface was a good idea.
Continued in part 3
-
Trask snapped his fingers. “Yes! Exactly. And if they still feel the same, which they almost certainly do given everything we know about them, then the PDC’s on the planet itself are almost certainly defensive in nature, and no threat to us.”
“If we are right.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the plot. “Those PDC’s on their moon, though. If we are right those will be the offensive bases, while the PDC’s on the planet will be defensive.”
“Yes, of course. Those big orbital stations will be a threat, though.”
Admiral Carstairs waived the thought of the bases away. “Orbital stations are fragile. As soon as we punch a few missiles through their shields they’ll fall apart. If they are all combat power then they are a threat, but if they all have shipyards at their core, as I suspect, then we can handle them and their fleet. The PDC’s on the moon are the problem, though. Without knowing their size and combat capacity, it’s hard to know what kind of defenses we actually face.”
“Incoming message. Message originates on the Tomsk Fleet. Current time delay is ten seconds each way.”
“Put it up on the monitor.” They all turned to the wall mounted monitor on the far side of the command deck.
The monitor lit up displaying a middle-aged man, thin and spare, with a balding head and stern features. He was dressed in the standard combat-blacks of the old Soviet Space Service, with the insignia of a Mayor-General. “I am General Alexi Leonov, commander of the Tomsk Starfleet. You have invaded our system and started an unprovoked war. I now order you to leave our system, or be destroyed.”
Admiral Carstairs waited for a second to make sure that the general was done with his message, and then nodded at her comms officer to begin recording. “I am Admiral Carstairs, in command of the 1st Battle Squadron of the Colonial Union. By order of the Senate of the Colonial Union, I call upon you to lay down your arms and end your rebellion against the sole legitimate government of humanity. If you do not do so, I am authorized to use whatever force is necessary to end your state of rebellion and reintegrate your state into the Colonial Union. Please do not force me to use violence to end your misguided loyalty to your temporary government and your alien overlords.” The Prime Minister had been very clear that as far as the Senate was concerned, all humans belonged in the Colonial Union, and were to be considered citizens, only temporarily in rebellion against the central government and the bulk of humanity. It was a legal fiction, and was about as threadbare an excuse as there could be, as far as Carstairs was concerned, but the Prime Minister and the Senate could call this whatever they wanted. It still came down to the point of a gun, whatever you called it.
“Sending now.”
Carstairs waited impatiently through the twenty seconds it would take for the message to get there and a response to come back, and then for another twenty seconds. Then, suddenly, everything began happening at once.
“Message incoming.” The comms officer’s announcement was interrupted by the bridge AI.
“Status change! New drive fields detected!”
The sensor officer began announcing the change. “Thirty-nine drive fields detected emerging from behind Tereshkova’s moon. Now identifying as six battlecruisers, one heavy cruiser, eleven light cruisers, five destroyers, and sixteen corvettes.”
Commander Trask opened his mouth, but before he could speak the sensor officer continued. “The new contacts are launching small craft. Numerous small craft detected. Unknown type.” The sensor officer paused, then continued. “Number of small craft now stabilized at one hundred and eighty. All contacts are moving to the location of the Tomsk Fleet.”
Carstairs had almost forgotten the fact that they had received a message just before the new contacts showed up, but the comms officer reminded her. “Ma’am, the message is identified as originating with the command of Alpha Fleet, Bjering Consolidate.”
Admiral Carstairs paled. This was bad. Her orders were to avoid conflict with the Bjering. If the Bjering had been at the warp point, then in the heat of battle they would have had to accept that things happen in war. If some Bjering ships had been destroyed at the warp point then the CU’s government believed that they could negotiate that away as the vagaries of a concerted warp point assault rather than a meaningful declaration of war. However, encountering them here and now was bad. The fleet’s plan was predicated on forcing the Tomsk government to surrender before the Bjering could come to their rescue, but here the Bjering were, waiting for them. But now, here, with open space separating them, attacking the Bjering would be a deliberate act of war, which was exactly what the Colonial Union’s government wanted to avoid. “Play the message.”
The screen changed from the Tomsk general to show the leader of the Bjering state, known to humans as Alpha Admiral. The Bjering were bipedal, with green skin and fairly human faces, and affected severe military garb which was recognizable as such to humans. “The Bjering Consolidate stands with our allies in this matter. The humans of the Tomsk Union have been good allies to the Consolidate, even while the humans of Earth were not. Any attack on them is an attack on the Consolidate, and will be treated as such. We have the strength here to destroy your force as it stands. Your big ships are impressive, but they are slow. We could send our small craft to attack your transports while our fleet engages yours, and there is nothing you could do to stop us. We do not wish to do so, though. Such a massive loss of life will result in eternal enmity between our races, and that is the last thing that I or the Tomsk government wishes for. I ask you now to reconsider your position. You cannot prevail in your attack, and we can prevent you from leaving, if we wish to do so.”
Admiral Carstairs was taken aback. She turned to her chief of staff. “Trask, what is the current estimate of the technology available to the Bjering?” There had been several briefings before the mission, but she wanted to confirm what she already knew.
Commander Trask frowned. “The Bjering were known to have equivalent, or perhaps slightly higher tech than the old Soviet Union at the time of their alliance.”
Admiral Carstairs nodded. “And unlike us, they have undoubtedly been steadily advancing their technology, which means they are almost certainly ahead of us.” She turned to the plot tank and pointed at the icons representing the small craft running ahead of the Bjering fleet as it moved to rendezvous with the Tomsk fleet. “What is your estimate of the capabilities of those small craft?”
Commander Trask moved towards the plot. “Unknown at this time. However, the least dangerous possibility is that they intend to ram their targets, and therefore their holds are packed with missile warheads. That would make them a significant danger, and almost any sort of small craft would be a danger to our transports. However, the Bjering are not known as suicidal, and in fact are known to be conservative when it comes to crew losses. The value such things as honor and elan, and tend to view suicide attacks as dangerously wasteful. Given their technology lead, it is likely that this is something new, and therefore much more dangerous, especially given the hull space their fleet must have devoted to carrying that many small craft.”
Meanwhile, on board the Sovremenny, flagship of the Tomsk Starfleet
Major General Alexi Leonov turned to the small monitor inset into his command station. Alpha Admiral looked out at him via their direct comm link. “Do you think they’ll back down? They are of your race.”
General Leonov looked uncertain. “I think so. Even if they don’t know what your fighters are, they have to be concerned about that many small craft swarming their ships, distracting them during battle. With your fleet added to mine, they cannot be sure of victory, and if you add in our defenses, then the situation becomes even worse for them.”
Alpha Admiral shook his head. “But your defenses are not what they seem.” After a few seconds the alien gave what passed for a smile. “But they do not know that, do they? Or at least, we can hope that they do not know that.”
General Leonov frowned at the mention of his greatest worry. The Tomsk government had undertaken a massive fortification program as fears of war with the Colonial Union ramped up. That program was still in its early stages, and the defenses were not as formidable as he would have liked, or as they appeared from a distance. The PDC’s on Tereshkova were all anti-missile bases, and would have no effect on the battle unless the Colonial Union attempted to bombard the planet, which was almost unthinkable. The PDC’s on their moon were unfinished. The plan had called for the PDC’s to be built in phases, and one of the two bases had no armor at all, meaning its launchers were open to space. And four of the orbiting stations were unarmed, equipped only with point defenses and shields to protect against missile strikes during a battle. The one thing that was ready was the Union Army, which had been created for just this possibility. The government had built up a very large defensive force on the ground, which, protected by the anti-missile PDC’s, should make it effectively impossible for the Colonial Union to conquer the capital without either a massive investment in assault troops, or an orbital bombardment. “We have done our best to keep our preparations a secret from those who would tell the CU, but we cannot know if we succeeded until this is resolved.”
Alpha Admiral nodded. “We shall see.”
Colonial Union Flagship, United Kingdom…
Admiral Carstairs’ thoughts raced. She had been made privy to several of the top-secret research and development programs being worked on currently, and one that was showing much promise was advanced small craft that were fast and capable of carrying a large enough weapons load to threaten starships. If that was what these Bjering small craft were, as seemed likely, then her fleet was in serious trouble, even without the combined Bjering and Tomsk fleets backing up this new weapon. The R&D team had been asked about countermeasures to their new weapon during the briefing, and they had stated that it was likely that standard point defense would be the best defense a ship had against these small craft. Still, the addition of the Bjering ships to the Tomsk navy made her situation difficult even without the small craft. She came to a decision. “The fleet will come about. We will rejoin the transports. Comms, raise General Rogov on board the Athena.”
Before Admiral Carstairs could turn back to the plot, the comms officer turned from her station. “Ma’am, message from General Rogov.”
She sighed. Rogov just would not wait. “Put it on the screen.” The monitor changed to show General Rogov. “Carstairs! You will return here at once and protect the transports!”
Admiral Carstairs sighed again. The man wasn’t wrong, but he was irritating and venal. She turned back to the plot tank. The combined Tomsk and Bjering fleets were following her, but keeping their distance. While the Colonial Union fleet returned to cover its transports, Admiral Carstairs studied the plot tank and the enemy force.
Fleet Comparison:
Colonial Union:
3xSD, 3xBB, 9xBC, 6xCA, 6xDD
No Small Craft
1950 Hull Spaces
Combined Bjering and Tomsk Fleets:
15xBC, 1xCA, 20xCL, 14xDD, 16xCT, 10xES
180 known fighters
2956 Hull Spaces
Assuming that a significant number of the cruiser class units were small craft carriers, the enemy had rough parity with her fleet, but only if she left the small craft out of the equation. Even if the enemy small craft were merely rammers with their cargo space packed with warheads, they would give the enemy a significant advantage if they fought, and if they were indeed the advanced small craft she had been briefed on, then the situation was dire. An attack from the fifteen battlecruisers in the enemy fleet, combined with an attack run from the enemy small craft force, would almost certainly result in the loss of her fleet, leaving the transports open to attack, giving them no alternative but to surrender or be destroyed. Her battleships and superdreadnoughts were tough, and they handily outclassed the enemy battlecruisers, enough so that she would have been comfortable engaging the enemy fleet, if it wasn’t for the damned small craft circling the enemy formation. As it was, the battleships and superdreadnoughts were slowing her force down. Interestingly, the enemy wasn’t taking advantage of that, and she realized that the fact that the enemy hadn’t made the obvious move to circle around her fleet and attempt an attack on the transports before they could rejoin her force meant that they almost certainly were telling the truth. They didn’t want to attack and destroy her fleet, for whatever reason. Perhaps they were even telling the truth about their reasons.
Shortly thereafter the fleet rejoined the transport force. Once they were close and the time lag for comms was reduced to comfortable levels, General Rogov demanded to speak with her. This time she took the call in her office. Rogov appeared on her screen almost immediately. His face was white, and he was obviously furious. “Well, Carstairs? What are you going to do about this situation? You’ve managed to bring the Bjering into this, in spite of direct orders to avoid this very situation!”
“So far, General Rogov, there has been no declaration of war from the Bjering.” Rogov opened his mouth, but before he could speak, she continued. “In spite of their statement of support for the Tomsk government, they have not opened fire on us, and so far, at least, we have not engaged one of their ships or killed any of their people. What I am trying to say is that the situation is not beyond repair. They appear to be willing to talk, and as long as they are willing to talk, there is hope.”
Rogov’s face twisted into a scowl. “Talk? Are you saying you cannot fight them?”
Carstairs’ head tilted as she studied the mission commander. Her voice remained calm, though. “You were just berating me for starting a war with the Bjering, and now you criticize me for avoiding firing upon them?”
“Bah, its all a bluff. They wouldn’t dare fire on your force! They cannot want war with the entire Colonial Union!”
Suddenly Carstairs realized what the general was trying to do. He didn’t want her to attack the Bjering, or do anything to provoke the Bjering into declaring war against the Colonial Union, but he was trying to corner her into admissions that he could then use to portray her as defeatist. That would make blaming her for this failure much easier. “You are the mission commander, of course. My orders, and yours, I suppose, specifically prohibit firing upon Bjering forces, if it can be avoided, or “taking such actions that will inevitably provoke the Bjering into declaring war.” If you order it, in writing, over my determination that such an order would inevitably result in war with the Bjering, then I will, of course, follow your orders.” She would do no such thing, of course, but Rogov had no way of knowing that. And she was pretty sure that Rogov had no intention of risking his own skin in this endeavor.
Seeing General Rogov struggling with the situation, she decided to give him an out. “My report will make it clear that, given the balance of forces, and the new technology demonstrated by the Bjering, engaging in a battle here and now would have been disastrous, even if we won, which is by no means certain. And, given the state of fortifications on and around Tereshkova, I believe it is likely that the Tomsk have invested heavily in ground troops to secure their capital planet, and if so, it is likely that your force will be insufficient to subdue the planet in any reasonable time frame. I have reports from my intelligence section indicating that they are monitoring heavy communications, which, while they are encrypted, indicate a large-scale military response, planetwide.”
“My intelligence shows the same. I take it you are proposing withdrawing?”
“Yes, but we are not the only ones who get a say in this decision. The Bjering and the Tomsk get a say. Their ships and small craft are faster than my battleships and superdreadnoughts. If they want to, they can catch us long before we can reach the warp point. Or they could reach the warp point before us, and prevent us from transiting out until we agree to whatever terms they wish to impose.”
She watched as General Rogov struggled with this for a bit. Finally, he shrugged. “This is a naval matter. Negotiate if you must, but get us home.” The screen went black.
Admiral Carstairs sat back, surprised by Rogov yet again. As mission commander it was his responsibility to negotiate with the enemy. By abdicating it to her he was taking himself out of the loop, although he would have to approve any final agreement before it was sent to the politicians back home. After a few seconds she nodded to herself. Rogov was a political animal. This situation had the stink of defeat all over it, and he was obviously going to try to distance himself from it as much as he could. That left the Bjering and the Tomsk to her to deal with.
Carstairs returned to the flag deck and ordered the fleet to set course for the warp point, just to see how the enemy would react. Sure enough, just after the fleet began moving towards the warp point at standard cruising speed, the enemy fleet accelerated to full military speed and moved to slip around the Colonial Union fleet to get ahead of it. Shortly after, a message came in from the Tomsk flagship.
Once again Major General Leonov appeared on the flag deck’s monitors. “Admiral Carstairs, I am afraid we cannot let you leave the system until certain issues are resolved. You are ordered to halt in place until these issues can be discussed and an agreement reached.”
Admiral Carstairs considered the situation. This was the moment of truth. If the enemy was bluffing, and she continued, then they would escape with their forces intact but having failed to achieve their goals. If they weren’t bluffing, well, then…the results would be bad for everyone. She turned to her chief of staff. “Bring the fleet to a halt, Commander Trask. We will negotiate.” She would not risk the loss of her entire fleet, and the invasion force, as well as a significant percentage of the Colonial Union’s shipping, on a mere chance that the enemy was bluffing. Especially when she was pretty sure they weren’t bluffing.
With that the invasion of the Tomsk system was essentially over. The Tomsk government demanded reparations for their lost bases, expended munitions, and lost personnel. Admiral Carstairs could make no such agreement, and neither could General Rogov, but agreed to transmit their demands to their government. The Tomsk government set a time limit of one month on the negotiations, after which the fleet present in their system would be seized or destroyed. This was to prevent the Colonial Union from assembling another fleet to retrieve their first fleet. The Tomsk government demanded almost 30,0000 MCr’s to compensate them for their losses, in addition to reparations for the crewers and officers killed on the bases and ships lost at the warp point. Admiral Carstairs sent her report along with the results of the negotiations and the Tomsk demand, outlining the situation her fleet found itself in.
This all put the Colonial Union’s Prime Minister in an incredibly difficult situation. Fortunately for her, the mission to conquer the Tomsk Union was very secret, even if the fact that the CU was obviously building towards an attack wasn’t. The attack’s failure would leak out at some point, but by then they would have had plenty of time to spin the situation and gain the leverage they needed to deal with any fallout. In the end, the Colonial Union agreed to pay the Tomsk Union 25,000 MCr’s to get their fleet back, and by then the Senate had come up with the diversion they needed. The murder of CU officials on the Tarek home world had been steady at a low, but irritating, rate for some time, but had spiked upwards lately. A movement in the Senate to declare the Tarek to be in rebellion had been gaining steam. Now, in need of a distraction, the Prime Minister and her Senatorial supporters got behind this motion and pushed it through. By the end of the month the Tarek were declared to be in rebellion against the Colonial Union, and the Senate required the government to dispatch forces to the Sligo system immediately. The Prime Minister, acting on the authority granted her by the proclamation of rebellion, ordered the hero of the conquest of the Tarek, General Rogov, and the 1st Battle Squadron, to proceed immediately to the Sligo system to put down the rebellion.
-
Mintek Universal Union
Month 178
“The modernization plan is nearly complete, but the fleet expansion considered necessary for the implementation of the assault on the D’Bringi Alliance, and the construction of defenses for the home system are both far behind, and will lag even further as we move forward.”
Chancellor Durkhon considered the Strategos, who had refused to sit when invited. Strategos Brammer stood before the Chancellor, bluff and emotionless, as if he was presenting mere information rather than a potential disaster. After a few seconds, Chancellor Durkhon nodded. This was expected. Unwelcome, but expected. “Why?”
The question was uninflected, but Brammer’s eyes flickered from the spot on the wall that he had been focused on to the Chancellor and back. “Resources devoted to the construction program have fallen, and fallen again. Without resources we cannot build new ships or fortify the home system.”
Chancellor Durkhon nodded. “Please, Brammer, sit.” Brammer hesitated, and his eyes shifted to the Chancellor’s face. Durkhon nodded again, and Brammer finally sat on one of the chairs in front of Durkhon’s rather simple desk. “There, much better. Now, as to the budget, I understand. After all, the Curia and I have asked you to build a home out of bricks, but then deprived you of the clay you need to form the bricks. I know the reason for your problems, and it is far beyond your remit to remedy them at this time. Unfortunately, it is beyond mine as well, and perhaps beyond anyone’s.” Durkhon sat back unhappily.
Brammer looked confused. “Sir…what is the problem?”
“The economy is the problem. We strained our economy to the hilt building up the fleet after the defeat in the Kure system, then we drained most of our liquid resources funding R&D on the new systems, and paying for the upgrade of your fleet and the defenses. When your proposals relating to the upgrading of our munition’s stocks arrived, our finances were already in a poor state. The Curia, however, was enamored by the new capabilities the anti-matter weapons would give the fleet, and was eager to ensure that the protectors of the faith would have the best equipment available. Therefore, they dictated that your magazines be filled with the new munitions as quickly as possible, regardless of the cost. Warnings of the expense were sounded, but the new capabilities were just too enticing. The Curia ordered an immediate change over, the cost be damned.”
Brammer leaned forward. “I was gratified by the speed that our magazines were filled with the new weapons, but to be honest, I had expected a much more gradual change-over.”
Durkhon nodded ruefully. “We were, perhaps, all too enamored with the weapons for our own good. In any event, the cost of the change-over was ruinous, as expected. Even the sell-off of what little remained of our excess industrial capacity didn’t come close to covering the expense. The Curia was forced to look elsewhere for the funds.”
Brammer looked confused. “But where could they find the resources to pay for such a large expenditure?”
Durkhon shook his head. “There was only one place. The Alowan. The Curia stripped the Alowan of most of their heavy industrial capacity, which was sufficient to pay for the magazine upgrades.”
Brammer looked shocked. “But…that’s against the proscription for the treatment of the unenlightened!”
Durkhon’s looked grave. “Too true. Unfortunately, there was no other way to pay for the expansion in our capabilities. The Curia authorized a one-time exception, and mandated repayment at the end of the current emergency.”
Brammer narrowed his eyes. “Has this caused problems with the enlightenment efforts?”
Durkhon waived his concerns away. “Nothing that you need to be concerned with. Unrest has increased, along with scattered and uncoordinated minor acts of violence, but such is to be expected in the early phases of the enlightenment process. As you may remember, the unenlightened fear change, and in particular fear change to their beliefs, as retrogressive as they are. That fear may sometimes provoke them to violence, especially if the enlightenment process is accompanied by large-scale changes to their environment, such as a sell-off of their assets, or a radical change in their government. It was for that reason that the Curia issued the Proscriptions on Enlightenment in the first place. Still, the Ministry for Equity and Inclusion is present on Alowan Prime in force, and their Pilgrims and Preceptors are all-seeing, or nearly so. The enlightenment continues. However, that brings us to the real issue.”
Strategos Brammer leaned forward. “Yes, Chancellor?”
“Our economy is in a shambles. The demands of building up the fleet and incorporating the new weaponry have nearly bankrupted the state. Excluding the resources we receive from the Alowan, our overall income has actually fallen approximately 15-20% over the last twenty months. Indeed, without the resources from the Alowan, we would be forced to mothball a significant portion of the currently existing fleet.”
Brammer looked aghast. “But that’s…that’s…” He stumbled to a stop, at a loss for words.
Durkhon looked grim. “Yes, exactly. I’m afraid that under the current restricted economic situation, we cannot afford to continue supporting the fleet as it is, build new defenses, and continue R&D on new technology. The economy simply won’t support that, much less all of that and a continued economic recovery and expansion.”
Brammer was thinking furiously. “IF we cannot expand the fleet, then our assault into D’Bringi space becomes incredibly risky. Perhaps impossible. And if we cannot build more defenses in the home system, then we cannot risk releasing the fleet to deal with the Bedu.” Brammer looked hopeful. “Has the situation with the Bedu changed?”
Durkhon shook his head. “It has not. Indeed, the Bedu just rejected our latest offer of a trade relationship again. To be honest, the Curia has lost confidence in the negotiation process with the Bedu.”
“But what can be done? If things are as you say, then we cannot afford to build up either our defenses or the fleet, and without improved defenses we cannot release the fleet from defensive duties in the home system.”
“The Curia has recognized the difficulty of the current situation, and has authorized me, and you, to take action. The planned assault on the D’Bringi is to be delayed, perhaps indefinitely. The Bedu will be given one more chance to peacefully open their borders, and if they refuse, you will be authorized to take a portion of the fleet and force them to open their borders to our Pilgrims. How much of the fleet you will be allowed to take will be determined at that time. We are expecting to make our final offer in three months. That is the time you will have to prepare.”
“It will be done, Eminence.” Brammer rose to leave.
Durkhon raised a hand. “One more thing. You may hear, over the next several months, that the Curia is considering negotiating with the D’Bringi to establish a peace treaty.” Once again, Brammer looked shocked. Durkhon smiled, reassuringly. “Fear not. We will not consign their souls to the pits for all of eternity. We must, however, take a pause and allow our economy to recover, before the push towards enlightenment can begin again. If it should happen, it will be temporary in nature only. You may reassure your commanders about that, should rumors appear.”
Brammer bowed. “Thank you, Eminence.”
Durkhon watched as the Strategos left, and then hit a key on his desk. A minute later a door on the far side of his office opened and Minister Turval, head of the Ministry for Equity and Inclusion, entered the office. “Well, how did Strategos Brammer take the news?” He moved over to a chair and sat, a curious expression on his face.
Durkhon sighed. “As we knew he would. He is a good son of the Faith. He will do as we command, and as his faith dictates.”
Minister Turval could see that his old friend was troubled. “What part of our current troubles takes such a toll on your conscience?”
Chancellor Durkhon looked up. “I fear that we are embarking on this course with the Alowan, and now the Bedu, not to bring them to the faith, but to exploit them and their resources for our own goals. Are we any better than the D’Bringi barbarians?”
Minister Turval considered the situation briefly before answering. There were some in the Curia who constantly questioned everyone’s motives, the Chancellor’s most of all. It clearly took a toll on him. “You know we are. We embarked on this course because of our concern for their souls. No Mintek is benefitting materially from this. It is the pressure from the D’Bringi that has forced us into the current situation. Therefore, we will make peace with the D’Bringi, if necessary, which will give us time to make things right with the Alowan and properly introduce the Bedu to the Faith. Once our flanks are secure, then we can focus on the Bedu.”
Durkhon sat a little straighter. “I will not countenance creating little better than slave races in the name of the Faith!”
Minister Turval held up his hands placatingly. “I know! That allegation in the Curia came from those who fear our actions will stain our souls, and they are right to be concerned. But we will not allow that to happen. We will defend the Faith, and we will do it in a way that leaves our souls unstained.”
The two talked for some time, before the press of the daily schedule forced them back into the daily grind.
-
Month 181, Day 5, Gortyn System, Mintek Assault Fleet
Strategos Brammer stood before the flag deck’s plot tank, looking over his fleet’s disposition with satisfaction. The fleet was as ready as he could make it. The 1st Carrier Strike Group was composed of two carriers, seven light carriers, a strike carrier, and ten escort carriers, with three hundred and three hundred and ninety advanced F1 fighters and nine armed pinnaces. Three escort destroyers and a scout corvette rounded out the Group. The Fast Attack Group was now made up of fifteen advanced battlecruisers, ten attack destroyers, three escort destroyers, and three scout corvettes. In addition, the six survey cruisers of the 2nd Survey Group had arrived late last month, and the 3rd Survey Group was due to arrive at the end of this month. Finally, he had a fighter support group made up of a mobile shipyard and a fighter replenishment ship loaded with boxed fighters, escorted by three scout corvettes.
From his command console, Brammer could call up details on any ship in the fleet, but his attention was drawn to the warp point just beyond the fleet’s current location. The assembled fleet was sitting just eight light seconds from the warp point to the Bedu territories, and on the far side of the warp point Curia negotiators were trying to convince the Bedu to sign a treaty with the Universal Union which would serve the dual purpose of boosting their economy and allowing them to send missionaries into Bedu space to begin the conversion of yet another race to the Truth. The Bedu had refused three prior offers of a treaty, and the Curia and the Chancellor had decided that this was their last chance. When the Bedu refused this offer, as they almost certainly would, he was to advance with his fleet into Bedu territory, locate and destroy their fleet, and conquer their worlds so they could be brought to enlightenment. He did not look forward to this task, but it was the task set upon him by the Curia, Chancellor, and his belief in the Way. Every life lost during the upcoming campaign was a life lost to the Truth, whether it was one of his own or a Bedu soldier or crewer. Every life lost was painful, and ultimately a failure.
His ruminations were broken by a call from the command deck. “Strategos, we have a ship emergence from the Bedu warp point. It’s the contact ship, and the contact team lead is requesting to speak with you.”
“Very well, put them through.” A few seconds later the contact team lead appeared on the viewer in front of him.
“Strategos, good news! We have come to an agreement with the Bedu. Trade can begin immediately!”
Strategos Brammer sat down in relief. “That is good news. I will dispatch a CD back to the communications network with your results. Please send your report, so that it can be included.”
“It is on the way, Strategos, and thank you for your support.”
The reports would take eight days to make their way back to the home world, because the communications network had not yet been extended to this system. But for now, the invasion was off. Brammer was very relieved.
Month 181, Day 13, Mintek Prime
Chancellor Durkhon frowned at the message in front of him. “They succeeded? How is this possible?”
Minister Turval, bereft of his usual good nature, shrugged. “The Bedu are unpredictable, apparently. This is an unwelcome complication.”
Chancellor Durkhon stood and walked over to the transparent wall of his office. Looking out over the capital city usually calmed him, but not this morning. “The Curia has included the expected windfall from the conquest of the Bedu in their budget planning for the fortification of the home system, and for the planned offensive into the D’Bringi territories. Without the windfall, and the expected economic contribution from the Bedu, both programs will grind to a halt. Soon.”
Minister Turval sat silently, considering the situation. In many ways this disaster was at his feet. He had reassured the Curia that the fleet under Brammer would prevail against the Bedu, and it was he who had confidently told them that the Bedu’s rulers would refuse to see reason, just as so many had in the past. After a minute of silence, he stirred. “Perhaps…maybe we should launch the attack anyway?”
“What?” Chancellor Durkhon was shocked. The faith did not do such things! But… “The Curia will be in disarray when this news reaches them. Those who question our current course of action will gain adherents. But how will they react when they hear that we are proposing a pre-emptive attack?”
Turval shook his head. “That is just what I am proposing. You know how the Bedu’s rulers will react when our pilgrims begin spreading throughout their territory. They will react just as the D’Bringi did, and the Beoratal before them. They will imprison the truth-tellers, or kill them, and we will go to war against them anyway. Perhaps we should be the first to act, for once!”
Chancellor Durkhon was silent for some time, digesting this. It was tempting, but…it was too tempting. He turned back to the Minister. “Old friend, I hear what you are saying. But think. Are you proposing this because you wish to save the pilgrims that may be lost spreading the truth to a new race, or are you proposing this because you covet their wealth?”
Minister Turval opened his mouth to reply, but then hesitated, and in that second Chancellor Durkhon could see the depths of torment his friend was suffering. “I…I don’t know.”
Chancellor Durkhon sat next to his friend. “Then perhaps we should reconsider the situation.”
The two sat in silence for some time, contemplating the situation. Finally, Minister Turval shook his head. “I cannot separate my motivations. My desire for their resources is matched by my desire for their enlightenment. And this disturbs me most greatly.”
Chancellor Durkhon stood. “We fell into the trap of looking for the easy way out of our current economic problems. We thought that the Bedu would be recalcitrant, and thus we would have to conquer them, and thereby, coincidentally, bring their economic resources under our control. This would remedy our current economic troubles, just as the conquest of the Alowan remedied the problems we had then. And now that we have been given the peaceful path forward, we grieve the for the loss of the resources that we had grown to consider ours by right!”
Minister Turval looked at his old friend for a second, angered by the accusation. After a second, he looked sheepish, realizing that Turval had included himself in his accusation as well. “Truly, we fell into error, didn’t we? We were ready to start a war over what we told ourselves were the best of reasons, but really, we weren’t any better than the D’Bringi, conquering everyone in sight and looting their economies. I can only wonder what Strategos Brammer would have thought at being ordered to conquer a race that had not been given the chance to accept the Truth peacefully.” He stood and bowed to the Chancellor. “In any case, I must go and organize the effort to place trade-missionaries in the Bedu Republic. Thank you, old friend.”
“I will order Brammer to stand by at the border, and prepare to protect and succor the missionaries when they begin to enter Bedu space.”
Author’s Note: The Bedu are odd ones. They were originally discovered by the Bjering, who worked to establish full comms with them and then offered them a trade and military treaty, which the Bedu promptly refused. The Bjering then waited a couple of months to allow resistance to lessen, then offered a straight trade treaty, which was also refused. This happened two more times, at which time I decided that the Bedu really did not like the Bjering, and so they told the Bjering to go away and stop bothering them. The Bjering, who aren’t particularly expansionist at the cost of others, agreed and signed a no-contact treaty. The Bedu began expanding as quickly as they could, until the Mintek found them.
Just like the Bjering, the Mintek worked hard to establish full comms, and then offered a trade and military treaty, which the Bedu promptly turned down. Just like the Bjering, the Mintek waited for resistance to go down and then offered a trade treaty, which the Bedu turned down as well. At this point, I began wondering what was up with the Bedu. I had gone over their stats when I created them, and nothing had jumped out at me. They are a fairly standard one-success Military Dictatorship with, as you would expect, a high racial militancy and moderate numbers for both racial chauvinism and racial determination. Certainly, there is nothing there to explain why they were so standoffish. So, I decided that the Bedu were just stubborn and distrustful. The Mintek were absorbed with their programs to refit and expand their fleet, and so could not dispatch their fleet to ‘convince’ the Bedu to join their Union as they had the Alowan, so they kept offering trade treaties, and the Bedu kept turning them down. Finally, on the fourth try for a trade treaty, the Bedu inexplicably agreed. This threw me off, as I realized that I had based my plans for future Mintek actions on the expected conquest of the Bedu when they inevitably refused the last treaty offer. When they agreed, I realized all of my plans had been thrown in disarray by that one decision, and thought about attacking anyway. I decided that the Mintek could go either way, and rolled against their militancy to decide if they would attack the Bedu immediately. If the Mintek militancy was just a little higher, the war would have started here and now, but it wasn’t as so they decided to give peace a try, and just incidentally to stay true to their faith and their values. Had they attacked after the Bedu agreed to a treaty, that would have been a very cynical act which would have almost certainly had huge consequences down the road.
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Month 177
The T’Pau Syndicate, taking advantage of data provided by the D’Bringi, begins development of fighters and their associated systems. The expense is immense, but the T’Pau are motivated to prove that they are the equal of the two senior races in the Alliance, and are willing to bear the expense. Work is begun on a proto-type escort carrier hull in the shipyards, with holds in the place of fighter bays. The CVE’s design is controversial, both within and without the T’Pau navy. The design is intended to deliver fighters to the battlefield, and mounts no weapons, defenses, or support systems aside from those directly related to the fighters themselves. The ship has only a thin armor covering and no missile defenses, and so will have to be escorted, as not only doesn’t it have any defenses, it has no sensors to detect targets for its fighters. It does carry more fighters than equivalent D’Bringi and Rehorish designs, almost a full squadron more, meaning it can deliver more fighters to the target, or even hold some back for fleet defense without weakening its strike wing. It will still be some time before the T’Pau can begin fielding their fighters, but they have taken the first step.
The D’Bringi and the Rehorish have been focusing on integrating their militaries. The D’Bringi, in particular, had problems with many of the proposed changes, such as the inclusion of qualified non-Clan personnel into their military forces, the integration of independent Clan forces into a unified force, and the regularization of clan rank structures. The Clan Chiefs reluctantly agreed to make some of the changes at the time of the union, and the results have been encouraging. The Keeper and Clan forces in the home system have been unified into a single fleet, drilling together and with a unified command chain. Although there have been several bloody fights off-ship, resulting from frayed nerves and old clan resentments, the results have been almost overwhelmingly positive. At least so far. The older Clan Chiefs admit the necessity of the merger, but fear and resent the changes it has brought, while the younger Clan Chiefs see opportunity opening up in front of them as the D’Bringi society begins moving beyond the strictures of the old clan organizations that held so many D’Bringi in menial positions just because they didn’t have the right relatives.
Month 182
The T’Pau achieve HT-8, and the Alliance government announces that the T’Pau have agreed to join the Alliance as its third full member. The T’Pau government makes its own announcement, stating that its integration into the governmental framework of the Alliance will be complete in Month 188, and that it is paying the costs, in full, to save the Alliance budget, which is currently being stretched refitting the Alliance fleet and expanding the Alliance’s industrial base.
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Tomsk Union
Month 176 (Pre-Colonial Union Attack)
The Tomsk Union is beginning to face population problems related to its ambitious exploration and colonization program. A large influx of refugees from Earth boosted the Union’s population in several critical systems, giving it several systems that could support the colonization program out of their medium-sized populations, but the Union’s four survey fleets have been finding new planets to colonize faster than population growth on those medium-sized populations can replace the colonists being sent out. Ever since the Colonial Union cut off the flow of refugees, the populations of the Tomsk Union’s core worlds have steadily dropped. Now, with the colonization of the two habitable planets in the Kuala Lumpur system underway, the population of the Petropavlovsk system has dropped to the point where it will not be able to support further colonization for some time. This leaves just two systems with medium sized populations capable of supporting further colonization. There is little the Tomsk Union can do about this problem, given the unlikelihood of the Colonial Union allowing the resettlement of refugees to their territory at any point in the future.
Month 183
The Tomsk Union reaches HT-8 with Bjering assistance, and immediately sinks all of the money received from the Colonial Union as reparations for the recent attack into R&D of the new systems now available, including fighter technology. The Tomsk government begins construction on energy beam buoys, to replace the expended DSB-L’s, but has few damaged ships to repair. Instead, preparations are made to refit the fleet to the new technology under development. Work continues on expanding the fortifications on the fortress moon, as well as on Tomsk itself.
The near-debacle last month has convinced the Tomsk government to change its stance on the defenses at the warp point to the Colonial Union. Previously, the warp point to the Colonial Union’s Kirov system was used for occasional diplomatic traffic, thus, the Tomsk government had decided against heavily fortifying the warp point. Now that the Colonial Union has launched a surprise attack, the government has informed the Colonial Union that the warp point will be closed to all traffic, and that the defenses located there will fire without warning upon any ship that transits. This will allow the Tomsk Starfleet to change its deployment of forces on the warp point. The single largest change will be the deployment of mines. Previously, the mines were deployed around the warp point at a quarter light second, which would allow a ship transiting into the system a safe pocket where it would not be attacked, at least by the mines. This was done to avoid an accident should a diplomatic ship transit into the system. Now that the warp point is closed to all traffic, the Starfleet will be able to deploy the mines directly on top of the warp point, as it is a closed warp point with no gravitational eddies that would otherwise push the mines away or pull them into the warp point. This will make the mines much more effective. In addition, a portion of the buoys deployed to the warp point will be active at all times, meaning they will fire on any ship entering the system.
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Month 183, Colonial Union
In the aftermath of the abortive attack into the Tomsk Union, the Colonial Union’s government is in full coverup mode. The attack had not been announced in advance, of course, but the government had let it be known that big announcements were forth coming. After the failure of the attack, the government shifted the focus to the ‘rebellion’ of the Tarek in the Sligo system, and announced that the naval forces that had been dispatched to assault the Tomsk Union were in fact being sent to the Sligo system. In reality, the Union Assault Corps and the 1st Battle Force are still in the Kirov system, which was their jumping off point for the attack into the Tomsk Union. The system is an uninhabited warp nexus, with traffic tightly controlled because of the strategic importance of the system as a contact point with both the Tomsk Union and the Confederated Free Systems, and beyond them the D’Bringi Alliance. The ships have remained here both to guard against the possibility of a counter attack by the Tomsk Union, and to let the thirteen mobile shipyards brought up to support the attack repair the ships that were damaged in the attack, including the superdreadnought United Kingdom, the fleet flagship.
Even as the government spins the Tarek rebellion, the administration is preparing for the inevitable leak of the failed attack. Too many people within the government and the Senate know of the planned attack to keep it secret for any length of time, so a cover story incorporating portions of the truth is being prepared. In the meantime, the government has used the ongoing construction of three additional nation class superdreadnoughts in the Epsilon Eridani system as a rallying point for the nation, promoting the construction of the superdreadnoughts as proof of humanity’s supremacy. Secretly, the government has funded the construction of nine additional superdreadnoughts in two of the more remote shipyards in the Colonial Union. One of the yards is in the Redwing system, and used to belong to the Tlatelolco race before their incorporation into the Colonial Union. The Colonial Union’s government has been funding the transfer of large numbers of people from Earth to the Tlatelolco home planet, bolstering what was a small scientific outpost dedicated to raising the Tlatelolco’s tech level to colony status. The people being sent to this colony tend to be fervent New Dawn supporters, and many of the new immigrants work in the orbital yards, which have been greatly expanded. This construction complex is a secret naval installation that is not widely known, and it is being used to build ships that the fleet does not want widely publicized. The other yard building the secret force of superdreadnoughts is the old soviet yards in the Solar System. While the Earth still has the Colonial Union’s largest population, it is politically and socially marginalized. The Earth, while mostly revered as the home of the human race, is seen as a failed political experiment and a reminder of the massive failures of humanity in the past. The population of Earth is still traumatized by the events of the two nuclear wars, and although it has not resisted its incorporation into the Colonial Union, it has remained mostly isolationist and stands apart from the evolving culture of the Colonial Union. Seen as a backwater by the rest of the Union, it is the perfect place for the Colonial Union to build ships it wants kept secret, as everyone knows nothing interesting is happening in the Solar System, and if anything does happen, its probably bad and they don’t really want to know.
Work was also begun on two new designs in the Solar yards. These were smaller ships, less sensational than the stupendous superdreadnoughts that the government was going to such lengths to hide. These were the Rommel class CLE and the Spruance class DDE, designed to counter the Bjering small craft observed in the Tomsk system. There was some discussion about starting R&D on a small craft capable of engaging the Bjering ‘fighters’, as they were being called, but the Union’s R&D establishment was pretty clear that they were close to a breakthrough on their own fighter development project, so the concept was tabled, for now.
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Bjering Alliance Update, Month 185
Bjering
Total Income (All Sources): 37,419 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 19,320 Mcr’s (52%)
Primary Fleet Deployments
Alpha Fleet (Home System): 3xBC, 1xCVL, 2xCVS, 3xDD, 5xCT, 60xF1
Beta Fleet (Surtr): 3xBC, 1xCVS, 1xCVE, 6xCT, 30xF0
Delta Fleet (Home System): 3xBC, 1xCVS, 3xDD, 1xCVE, 8xCT, 30xF1
Epsilon Fleet (Tomsk): 3xBC, 2xCVS, 2xCVE, 8xCT, 60xF0
Gamma Fleet (Gunnar System): 3xBC, 1xCVE, 8xCT, 12xF0
Strategic Reserve (Home System): 1xML, 9xCVS, 162xF0
Under Construction: 2xML, 1xCV
Refits: 6xBS4, 3xBC
Reactivation from Mothballs: 3xBC
The Bjering are currently developing systems available at HT-9, and have begun deploying improved F-1 fighters to the fleet. There are no plans to enlarge the fleet at this time, aside from ships already under construction, and instead resources are being focused on colonization and industrial expansion.
In month 185, Bjering survey ships working on the fringes of their territory established contact with a planet-bound alien race inhabiting a newly discovered type ST planet. This race is at approximately the same technology level that Earth was during the Renaissance era, and fortunately is open and apparently unafraid of their visitors. Initial contact attempts are going well.
The Bjering and the humans of the Tomsk Union have grown much closer over the last ten months, and the assistance provided by the Bjering to repel the attack by the Colonial Union has hastened the trends that were already taking place. Most barriers to travel between the two nations have been either reduced or eliminated, and the militaries of both nations spend much time exercising together. All signs point to this trend continuing, and the two governments have begun making plans for the eventual merger of the two nations. For all of this, the Bjering have a far different outlook than the Tomsk-humans. While the Tomsk Union is laser focused on the threat from the Colonial Union, and is thus focused inwards, the Bjering are focused outwards. The bulk of their fleet is deployed out of their home system, and much of their construction efforts are focused on building defenses in forward positions to defend their extended territory.
In spite of this difference in outlook, there is great respect and even friendship between the two nations, and their alliance will certainly continue into the future.
Tomsk Union
Total Income (All Sources): 36,275 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 9255 MCr’s (25%)
Fleet Dispositions
Home Fleet (Tomsk): 9xBC, 9xCL, 9xDD, 10xES
Fortress Moon (over the Capital): 3xOffensive PDC
Planetary Defenses (Capital): 7xPDC, 5,000 PCF (some based in the PDC’s and thus hidden)
Orbital Defenses (Capital): 6xArmed Station, 4xDefensive Station
Under Construction: 6xBS2
Refit: 6xOrbital armed stations
As noted above, the Tomsk Union is focused on events in the Colonial Union, and on the threat the Union poses to their capital. Because of this threat, the Tomsk Union’s focus on fortifying their home system will likely continue into the future. With the new technology now under development, including fighter technology, the Tomsk Union will likely be finding ways to deploy fighters throughout all of their defenses, as it does not appear that the Colonial Union has achieved that level of technology yet.
Their close brush with disaster during the recent attempted invasion by the Colonial Union has convinced the Tomsk Union to get serious about fortifying the Tomsk system, which is rightfully viewed as the heart of the Union. Mines have been placed directly on the closed warp point that leads to the Colonial Union, and additional buoys and mines are being built. The six warp point defense bases destroyed during the attack have been replaced already, by bases intended to bolster the defenses, and new bases will be built in the near future to increase the defenses. Work will also continue on fortifying the fortress moon of Krepost. To eliminate the possibility of collateral damage, the population of the moon was relocated to several other lunar mining outposts throughout the system prior to the invasion, and the entire moon has been posted as being off limits for civilians. A massive project is underway to fortify the orbital shipyard stations, turning those stations into hybrid shipyards-defensive stations, meaning that the yards will be able to defend themselves and the planet below. This project was only partially finished when the Colonial Union invaded, and the failed attempt to invade the system has given the government much motivation to continue the project.
Once fighters and their associated systems have been developed, the Union intends to make a massive investment in ships and bases to carry these new weapons in the hopes that they will make the system too expensive to take by any aggressor.
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Colonial Union Update, Month 185
Total Income (All Sources): 65,000 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 32,715 MCr’s (50%)
United Colonial Defense Fleet Dispositions:
1st Battle Group (Epsilon Indi): 3xSD, 3xBB, 9xBC, 6xCA, 6xDD (En route to the Sligo system)
Kowloon Patrol Group: 3xCA, 1xFGS, 1xEXS (trade contact point with the Bjering)
Managua Patrol Group: 2xFGS, 6xCT, 1xEXS (suspected closed warp point in the system)
Sandhurst Patrol Group: 3xDD, 2xFGS, 6xES, 3xEXS (known contact point with the Alliance beyond this system)
Zephrain Patrol Group: 1xCT, 6xES, 3xEX (Known contact point with the Bjering)
Epsilon Eridani Squadron: 12xCA, 2xCL, 6xDD, 1xFGS, 3xCT
Sigma Draconis Squadron: 3xBC, 1xDDC, 1xFGS, 5xEXS
Sligo Squadron: 10xBC, 3xCA, 8xES, 2xEX
Sol Squadron: 3xCA, 1xFGS
Kirov Squadron (Border Defense): 6xBC, 3xCA, 3xDD, 4xFGS, 3xCT, 5xEXS
Redwing Squadron (Tlatelolco Watch): 6xDD, 3xFGS, 1xEXS
Under Construction: 12xSD, 2xBC, 3xCL, 9xDD, 1xSS(SY), 1xAF(599 HS)
Refit: 2xCL, 2xBS3, 2xBS2, 14xBS0
Repairs: 1xBC
Reactivate: 2xCA, 3xCL (For the Union Assault Corps)
The Colonial Union is in political disarray. Information recently leaked about a border skirmish with the Tomsk Union in which a number of UAC spacers lost their lives. This information, which the government has refused to comment on, is causing outrage among the more reactionary elements of the population. Although the information is not yet clear, and the government has remained silent, the information alleges that some sort of battle occurred either in the Kirov system or in the Tomsk system itself. There is no information on how the conflict started, and the more reactionary segments of society are claiming that the Tomsk government, aided by the alien Bjering, tried to start a war with the Colonial Union by launching a surprise attack. The government has not commented, but pundits have noted that the United Colonial Defense Fleet redeployed significant forces to the Kirov system prior to the rumored battle, seemingly supporting the rumor that something has happened. In addition, it has been noted that if the Union Assault Corps is involved, perhaps it was the Colonial Union that attacked the Tomsk Union in the first place. The more conservative systems in the Union are questioning the actions of the UCDF and the UAC, who they fear may have tried to provoke a conflict with the Tomsk Union. In any case, there is unrest throughout the Union as the population reacts to this revelation.
Even as word of the possible battle in the Kirov system spreads across the Union, the government has been focused on the rebellion amongst the Tarek in the Sligo system. Forces, including the 1st Battle Squadron, have been dispatched to the Sligo system to reinforce the Sligo System Squadron, and the majority of the press has been focused on this ongoing event. Tarek authorities claim that there is no rebellion, and that nothing has changed, but a small patrol disappeared in the capital city last weekend, and has not been accounted for, increasing the death toll and leading Captain Howard, the military attaché to Sligo Governor Wilford, to urgently request reinforcements for the Tarek containment forces. The Colonial Army has recently opened its records for reporters to review, and the revelations from the released information has shocked the general population. The Tarek have been recalcitrant and uncooperative since almost the first, and have only grudgingly complied with the treaty of incorporation. The number of containment personnel who are lost and presumed dead, while relatively small, was shocking to the citizens as it had been kept a secret by the government prior to this release of information.
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Alliance Update, Month 185
D’Bringi-Rehorish Alliance:
Total Income (All Sources): 86,313 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 49,865 MCr’s (58%)
Fleet Dispositions:
Alliance 1st Fleet (Rehorish Home): 12xBC, 1xCVL, 3xCA, 1xCVS, 12xCL, 3xCVE, 21xDD, 2xCT(pinnace), 16xCTV, 8xPinnace, 144xF0
Alliance 2nd Fleet (D’Bringi Home): 10xBC, 8xCA, 1xCVS, 3xCTV, 60xF0
Alliance 3rd Fleet (Kure System): 15xBC, 5xCA, 3xCL, 12xCVS, 11xDD, 3xCT(pinnace), 15xCTV, 12xPin, 384xF0
Allied forces assigned to Alliance 3rd Fleet: 3xBC, 9xCA, 3xCL, 3xDD, 3xCTS
Alliance 4th Fleet (Phyriseq System): 18xBC, 8xCA, 12xCVE, 9xDD, 180xF0
Allied forces assigned to Alliance 4th Fleet: 3xBC, 15xCA, 3xCL, 3xDD, 2xCTS
Border Patrol (Roban): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Border Patrol (Juath): 3xCTV, 18xF0 (known contact with Mintek, closed warp point location not known by Minetk)
Border Patrol (Kawasaki): 3xCA, 3xCVE, 3xDD, 3xDD, 36xF0 (Upstream from the Kure system)
Border Patrol (Phyriseq WP #5): 3xCA, 6xDD (contact point with the Confederated Systems)
Border Patrol (Sapporo): 6xCL, 6xDD (Contact point with the Confederated Systems)
Patrol Group – Bir (Bir Home): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Patrol Group – Chirq (Chirq Home): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Under Construction: 1xBB, 20xPrefab BS0, 42xF0
Refit: 13xBC
Assemble Prefab: 5xBS0
The Alliance has largely turned inward, and is focused on improving its infrastructure, colonizing worlds overlooked prior to the merger between the Rehorish and the D’Bringi, and preparing for the merger with the T’Pau. Alliance forces have largely been upgraded to the HT-8 standards, and the next building push will be focused on increasing the number of carriers available to be deployed with the fleets. In addition, the Alliance High Command is looking at increasing the number of heavy cruisers in the fleet, to be deployed to frontier stations such as the Bir and Chirq home worlds. There has been pressure in the Alliance Council to increase the deployments to these areas, but the Council is wary of sending battlecruisers too far from the main fleet bases. Heavy cruisers seem a good compromise, however, the number of heavy cruisers available declined precipitously during the transition to battlecruisers, as most active cruisers were sold off to the allied nations. As an alternative, the Council is looking into the possibility of requesting that the Doraz or Torqual dispatch some of their fleets to garrison the Chirq and Bir home systems, at least until those races can build their own defenses.
T’Pau Syndicate:
Total Income (All Sources): 39.176 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 12,436 MCr’s
Fleet Dispositions:
Assigned to Alliance 3rd Fleet: 3xBC, 3xCA, 3xCL, 3xCTS
Assigned to Alliance 4th Fleet: 3xBC, 3xCA, 3xCL, 2xCTS
Home Fleet (Home System): 3xBC, 18xCA, 9xCL, 5xCVE* (*Note: These CVE’s are prototypes, and don’t have hangar bays or fighters, yet)
Under Construction: 1xBB, 13xCVE* (*Prototypes with H’s in place of V’s)
The T’Pau are completely focused on their upcoming merger with the Alliance. As such, they have halted the process of upgrading their fleet to HT-7 standards, as they have reached HT-8 and will soon have access to HT-8 systems, once the merger is complete.
Communes of Torqual
Total Income (All Sources): 20,561 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 8,618 (42%)
Fleet Dispositions:
Assigned to Alliance 3rd Fleet: 3xCA
Assigned to Alliance 4th Fleet: 6xCA
Home Fleet (Home System): 6xCA, 3xCL
Equity Patrol Squadron (Equity System): 3xCA, 3xCL
Unity Patrol Squadron (Unity system): 3xCA, 3xCL
System Patrol Group: 3xCA, 3xCL (On patrol through all inhabited systems)
Ships en route to the Home System, returning from the 3rd Fleet: 6xCA
Refits: 5xBS2, 3xCA
The Torqual are completing the refit of their fleet to HT-5 standards, and with Alliance assistance are well on their way to achieving HT-6. When approached by the Alliance Council about the possibility of stationing some of their fleet in the Bir and Chirq home systems, the Torqual refused and instead sent a message informing the Alliance that they were withdrawing the bulk of their forces from the Alliance 3rd and 4th Fleets due to needs at home. This was yet another disquieting development within the Torqual territories, and has caused increasing concern within the Alliance Council.
The Council’s disquiet is largely due to the disturbing reports that have come out of the Torqual nation lately. The conversion of the home system to their new form of government was not without strife, but the old order fell relatively quickly, and the Council thought that if they were given room the new Torqual government would establish itself and things would settle down. However, once it was in control, the new communist government immediately implemented sweeping changes in Torqual society that it claimed were intended to ensure equality and future prosperity. Many of these changes seemed poorly thought out, or appeared to be intended to impoverish or ruin potential enemies of the new order, and resistance sprung up almost immediately. These changes caused the main colony systems to fear for their fate, and the two most populous, the Cambridge and Calgary systems, sent representatives to the Alliance Council to plead for their intervention. The central Torqual government intercepted the representatives before they could reach the Alliance, and warships were dispatched to the two colony systems. The warships escorted transports full of the new government’s enforcers, and they thoroughly purged the colonial governments and installed puppets sent from the home planet. The systems were renamed Equity and Unity, and the central government proclaimed them to be bastions of the new order. Everyone who objected, or who even looked like they objected, were disappeared. This action quelled incipient rebellions throughout the colonial territories, but the government feared the growth of underground movements and put together a squadron to patrol the colonial territories and show the flag. All of these deployments completely depleted the Home Fleet at a time when the new government couldn’t appear to be weak, so they were forced to recall the forces assigned to the Alliance Fleets.
The Alliance Council is monitoring the situation with concern.
Doraz Contingency
Total Income (All Sources): 11,906 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 4,528 MCr’s (17.6%)
Fleet Deployments:
Assigned to Alliance 3rd Fleet: 3xCA, 3xDD
Assigned to Alliance 4th Fleet: 6xCA, 3xDD
Home Fleet: 6xCA, 3xDD, 6xCT
Refitting: 3xBS3, 3xCA
The Doraz are in the midst of refitting their ships and bases to HT 6 standards, and have just completed development of HT-7, with Alliance assistance. Unlike the Torqual, who have been rocked by instability and political change, the Doraz have united under their Overboss, who was formerly the leader of their military under the old government. The Doraz have welcomed the opportunities that membership in the Alliance has offered them, including specifically the military technology that their association with the D’Bringi has brought to them. The Doraz are avid militarists, but recognize that a strong economy is necessary for a strong military. The Doraz Overboss responded positively to the Alliance Council’s request for forces to guard either the Bir of the Chirq’s home world, and negotiations are underway to dispatch a cruiser squadron, with escorts, to one of the two systems.
Zir Contemplative Union
Total Income (All Sources): 24,533 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 5,561 MCr’s (23%)
Fleet Dispositions
Home Fleet: 6xDD, 9xFG, 9xCT
Frontier Fleet: 6xDD, 3xFG, 6xCT
Refits: 3xBS4, 6xDD, 3xCT
Reactivate: 6xCT
The Zir are in the midst of upgrading their fleet to HT-6 standards, and are working on HT-7 with the Alliance’s help. Some Zir have finally realized that the universe is a potentially dangerous place, and that they may need a bigger fleet to deal with it, so a force of destroyers and corvettes have been brought out of mothballs and is being upgraded. In addition, a Frontier Fleet has been established in the Villiers system. The Villiers system contains no less than five habitable planets, all colonized, and thirteen warp points. Four of the warp points link to inhabited systems, making the Villiers nexus incredibly important.
Bir Meritocracy
Total Income (All Sources): 773 MCr’s
The Bir are currently at Ind-2 tech level, and busily working on HT-1, with Alliance assistance.
Chirq Cooperative
Total Income (All Sources): 2,391 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 161 MCr’s (7%)
Construction: 1xBS2, 1xES
The Chirq are at HT-2, and are busily working on HT-3. The Chirq have established colonies on three planets outside of their home system, and are working on expanding their survey fleet at the current time. In month 185, Chirq survey ships discovered a new race on a planet in the system beyond their primary colony system. The new race is low-tech, at approximately a steam level of technology, and the Chirq intend to make contact next month.
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Confederated Free States Update, Month 185
Total Income (All Sources): 11,933 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 4,066 MCr’s (34%)
Fleet Deployments
Patrol Fleet (Home System): 3xCA, 6xDD
Refits: 1xSS
The Confederated Free States reached HT-7 in Month 177, and has been working on developing several systems at that level, specifically, datalinked point defense, improved tractor beams, and pinnaces. For the most part, the government of the Free States realizes that its real protection is not in the form of a strong military, but rather in maintaining good relations with the two super-powers that border it. Therefore, most of the Free State’s resources have gone into expanding its colonial empire rather than the fleet, although defenses in the home system, which also happens to be the contact point in between the Colonial Union and the D’Bringi Alliance, have been strengthened somewhat over the last ten months.
The Confederation’s relationship with both the Alliance and the Colonial Union has been good, as the D’Bringi want no trouble during their consolidation process, and the New Dawnist government of the Colonial Union is intent on showing the Confederation the benefits of joining the Colonial Union, even though there is no realistic way that could happen without war with the D’Bringi.
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Month 185 Update
Total Income (All Sources): 35,924 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 30,149 MCr’s 84%
Current Fleet Deployments:
Home System Defense:
1st Assault Group: 9xSD, 3xCV, 2xCA, 3xDD, 126xF1
2nd Carrier Strike Group: 1xCV, 2xCVL, 3xDD, 10xCVE, 210xF1, 3xApin
Mintek Prime Defenses: 1xAF(267 HS), 2xSS(CV)(100 HS), 3xPDC(AM)(75xHS), 186xF1, 3xApin
Mintek Secundus Defenses: 2xSS(CV)(100 HS), 3xPDC(AM)(75xHS)
Mintek Tertius Defenses: none
Gortyn System, Bedu Watch Force
1st Carrier Strike Group: 2xCV, 7xCVL, 1xCVS, 3xDD, 10xCVE, 1xCT, 390xF1, 9xApin
Fast Attack Group: 15xBC, 13xDD, 3xCT
Alowan Home system Patrol Group
6xDD
Under Construction: nothing
The Mintek Universal Union is currently focused on two things, protecting its home system and spreading the truth to the Bedu. Mintek pilgrims have spread out across the Bedu colony planet designated by the Bedu government as the trade site, and are making inroads towards discovering the location of additional population centers to continue their work. An increasing number of Bedu have agreed to travel to the Mintek colony in the adjacent Gortyn system, to attend the seminaries there to become pilgrims before returning to spread the truth to their race. As of yet the Bedu government has not reacted.
Chancellor Durkhon was called before the Curia to explain the lack of progress in preparing for the assault into the D’Bringi Alliance. During this discussion, which grew heated at times, Chancellor Durkhon proposed sending a diplomatic mission to the D’Bringi to discuss peace. The bulk of the Curia found this idea repellent, as a lasting peace treaty would consign the D’Bringi and their associated races to the depths of the pit, unenlightened and unredeemable. However, the Chancellor explained that the peace would merely be a ruse, intended to by the Mintek to gain time to repair their economy and settle their borders. It might, as well, convince the D’Bringi to lower their guard. In the end the Curia agreed, and CD’s will be sent next month to the D’Bringi in the Phyriseq system requesting a meeting.
The economic situation within the Mintek Universal Union continues to be difficult. What little income remains after paying for upkeep is being spent to increase the defenses of the home system, however, there is little left for anything else, including basic research or colonization. Indeed, there are those within the Curia that have grown concerned that their technological lead is almost certainly deteriorating and may be lost if something isn’t done. Unfortunately, currently the only way they have to increase the funds available to be spent is to mothball ships, and Curia and the government is dead set against this as the fleet is at the bare minimum considered necessary to defend the faithful. No decisions have been made, but certainly these difficulties are giving impetuous to those looking to make peace with the D’Bringi.
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Month 188, D’Bringi Alliance
On this month the T’Pau formally entered into full membership in the Alliance. The merger went off without a hitch, as expected.
With the amalgamation of the T’Pau complete, the Alliance focuses on reorganization and the construction of internal infrastructure. The T’Pau were the last race likely to be amalgamated in the near future, as the Torqual are embroiled in internal troubles and the Doraz are still struggling to advance their technology to the point that they could be considered ready for full membership. Therefore, the Alliance Council has decided to begin a reorganization of Alliance territory to improve governance throughout the entire length and breadth of the Alliance. To this end the Alliance will be establishing Sectors, with Sector capitals and Sector Patrol Fleets. For the most part this will not affect the primary deployments of the Alliance fleets, which will continue to be concentrated at the three home worlds and in the critical contact points with the Mintek.
With the amalgamation of the T’Pau complete, the Alliance has grown far beyond what either the Rehorish or the D’Bringi originally intended when they united against the humans. The Alliance Council, during the negotiations that led to the amalgamation of the T’Pau, agreed to set up subdivisions within the Alliance to help govern what was increasingly becoming an ungovernable expanse of colonized worlds. Originally, the three primary races of the Alliance intended to set up sectors based on the racial colonial territories of the three member races, however, this idea quickly fell afoul of the reality that the territories of the three races were heavily interpenetrated, particularly those of the T’Pau, and thus creating clean sector borders depending on the racial makeup of the colonies within the Sectors would have been impossible. From there the committees working on the concept moved on to a more functional approach, resulting in the format that is being implemented now.
Core Sector: The Core Sector contains the home worlds of the three member races, as well as their oldest and most populous colonies. Although it isn’t the largest sector in terms of the number of stars contained within the sector, it is by far the most populous and productive. As currently organized, the Core Sector contains forty-six systems, twenty-two of which are inhabited. The Core Sector accounts for 56% of the Alliance’s productivity. Currently, the Sector’s capital is located on Rehorish Prime, however, there are tentative plans to have the capital rotate through the three home systems of the primary races. Alternately, proposals have been put forward to locate the Sector Capital in the Otaru system, which contains relatively large populations of all three primary races. No decision has been made yet.
Far Frontier Sector: The Far Frontier Sector comprises 88 systems, including twenty-two inhabited systems. The sector accounts for 22% of the Alliance’s production capacity. The Sector Capital is in the Stahat system, which contains colonies from all three primary races, and is the central warp nexus that the sector is built around. Plans are under way to boost the populations of several of the colonies in the Stahat system to support the infrastructure of the Sector Capital, and to build up the military infrastructure to support fleet operations throughout the Sector.
Chruqua Defense Zone: The Chruqua Defense Zone is intended to be more militarily oriented than the other sectors, as evidenced by its name. The Zone contains contact points with the Confederated Systems, the Tomsk Union, the Mintek, and the Colonial Union, and thus its defenses are of primary importance to the Alliance. In addition, the Chruqua Nexus is of primary importance to the Alliance, as it is the only route to the Doraz and Torqual races, as well as to many colonial systems, and is the primary route to the Far Stars Sector, although secondary, more circuitous route has been found in the outer reaches of the Core Sector. The Sector Capital is located in the Kumamoto system, which contains five inhabited planets. As with the Far Frontier Sector, efforts are planned to boost the population of the Kumamoto system to support the infrastructure needed for a Sector Capital.
There are several more sectors tentatively planned for the future. The current plans leave eighteen inhabited systems, with thirty-four colonized planets outside of the established sectors, and this is by design. Both the Doraz and the Torqual home systems, along with their colonial territories, have been left out of any sector, with the intention that when they become full members new sectors will be set up to encompass their territories. In addition, a portion of the Rehorish colonial territories called the New Colonies has been left out with the intention of eventually creating a sector in that area, once the populations there have grown and become more established.
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Month 185, Day 28, Torqual Home System
Three Torqual cruisers, recalled from the force assigned to the Alliance 3rd Fleet in the Kure system, jumped into the Torqual home system after their long voyage home. The crews were looking forward to shore leave after their long assignment in the Alliance, and the ship’s officers were looking forward to promotions and reassignment.
When the ships materialized within the home system, they were met by the three cruisers and three light cruisers of the home fleet. The ships of the home fleet all sent “welcome home” messages, and the Admiral in command sent his personal congratulations. All three returning cruisers also received messages informing them that shuttles would be docking with them shortly, carrying critical updates for their computers, and delicacies for the crew to reward them for meritorious service. The crews were overjoyed when word of this leaked out, and there was cheering on all three ships as the shuttles docked with the cruisers. The joy quickly turned to horror, though, as armed and armored soldiers rushed out of the shuttles and secured the cruiser’s boat bays.
One board the Reliant, one of the three returning cruisers, Lieutenant Besal was on duty in the comm room when they transited into the home system. With little to do now that they were in the home system, aside from monitoring the data uploads and downloads taking place, he had tapped into the video feeds from the boat bay to watch the shuttle from the home fleet arrive. He wasn’t suspicious, exactly, but rumors had been flying between the comm officers of the Torqual cruisers assigned to the 3rd Alliance Fleet about events back home, and some of them had been pretty bad. To add to matters, no one in the fleet had heard from their loved ones back home in a while. Officially, the government was blaming rebels for comms network failures, but it was hard to tell what was going on, and rumors abounded. And so, Lt. Besal was watching when the shuttles had opened their bays and armored soldiers had rushed out, shooting down anyone in their way.
Besal froze for a second, unable to believe what he was seeing, but then, realizing that the rumors he had heard on the comms network about the purges in the home system were true, he had leapt into action. Working fast, he typed out a warning message. By the time he had finished the short message, the boarders had begun shooting crewers they encountered, sometimes because they tried to impede the boarders and sometimes for no apparent reason. Working furiously, Lieutenant Besal linked recordings of the video feeds from the areas around the boat bay that had caught the boarders in action to the message and slotted it for transmission to the Alliance ICN buoy sitting a short distance away. He used a comms code he wasn’t supposed to know to change the message’s origin to something more innocuous, and then hit send. Around the time the message went out, alarms belatedly began ringing throughout the cruiser, but just a few short seconds later the boarders reached the bridge and engineering. The crew didn’t have a chance. By the time the boarders reached the comms room they found Lieutenant Besal laying on the floor with his arms over his head and his console shut down. His apparent compliance didn’t help Besal, who was on a rather long list. Besal and a number of other officers and crewers never made it back to Torqual, having been spaced shortly after the fleet set out for the home planet. Like many others throughout the crews, Besal was guilty of being related to persons under suspicion of anti-government activities, and the new government knew of only one way to deal with anyone under suspicion.
Month 186, Day 3, Alliance SN-069 system, Returning Torqual Squadron
The Torqual warships were in Alliance territory, returning to their home system from their assignment with the Alliance Fleet. A comms officer aboard the Torqual cruiser Adamant was a friend of Lt. Besal, and when the message arrived, he was pretty sure it consisted of Besal boasting about enjoying the fleshpots of the home world to annoy him. Afterall, that’s what he would send to Besal if their positions were reversed. To his horror, the message instead warned of the fate that had fallen the Reliant and all of the other cruisers that had returned to the home system. Lt. Kison realized that the same fate assuredly awaited them when they transited into the home system at the end of the month, so he requested a private meeting with the captain. The captain, already suspicious of events back home, had readily believed Besal’s message, and had called a halt to their progress back home. The five other cruisers halted as well, and the captains conferred. In short order they agreed that they would not continue towards the home world, and instead sent a message, signed by all of them, to the commander of all out-system forces, Admiral Fason with the 4th Alliance Fleet in the Phyriseq system. The message was carried by the Alliance ICN to the 4th Fleet, which was just three jumps away. In the meantime, the six Torqual cruisers remained in the starless nexus, awaiting orders. The nexus was just an empty patch of space, but it was heavily traveled, as it was adjacent to the Rehorish home system, and the cruiser’s presence and lack of adherence to their travel plan was noted by the Rehorish, who also sent a query to Admiral Fason.
Month 186, Day 3, Phyriseq System, Alliance 4th Fleet
The message from the returning cruisers containing the warning from the home system was not really a surprise to Admiral Fason, if he was honest with himself. Admiral Fason had been dreading this moment since the admiralty had begun ordering his ships home, but his fears had no facts to back them up, and he couldn’t bring himself to believe that his own people would betray their defenders in this manner. He had underestimated the fear and determination of the new government, though, and the crews of the first three cruisers to return had paid the price.
After considering the situation for a short period of time, Fason realized he didn’t really have any choice. He dispatched orders to the ships in the starless nexus to remain in place and ignore any orders from the home system. In addition, he sent the commodore in command of the squadron of cruisers still assigned to the 3rd Fleet the same orders and the warning message sent by Lt. Besal. Then he went to meet with the commander of the 4th Fleet, Cho-sho Half Hand.
The D’Bringi admiral met him in the boat bay of his command battlecruiser and conducted him to the nearby conference room. They had always got on well together, as two old warriors tended to do, so the tone was casual and light, until they were alone in the conference room.
“I must bring up a most difficult matter, Cho-sho.”
Cho-sho Half-Hand took in the Torqual admiral’s formal tone, and noted that his head was down, not looking directly at him. “What can I do for you, old friend?”
“Things have gotten considerably worse back home. I have just received word that the ships I recently sent home were ambushed at the warp point in our home system by forces loyal to our new government. The ships were boarded and their crews have been, at best, imprisoned. I fear much worse has befallen them.”
Cho-sho Half Hand, no stranger to internal politics after leading his clan through a lifetime of the bitter internecine conflicts that characterized D’Bringi politics prior to the interstellar age, leaned forward in interest. This was a new development. “What is your intention now? Surely if your government has started this, they will continue moving forward, and request all of your ships return, bit by bit.”
“Yes, of course. Already a second group of cruisers was en route, but fortunately a warning from a quick-witted comms officer reached them before they entered our territory. I have ordered them to hold position in the SN-069 system and await further orders.”
Cho-sho Half Hand grunted. “A fact the Rehorish have surely noted, given SN-069’s proximity to their home system.”
“That is why I am here.” The Torqual admiral looked down, away from the D’Bringi admiral’s eyes. “I am forced by events to request asylum for my crews. If they return, they will be interned and likely killed by the butchers in the new government.”
Half-Hand leaned back in his chair, considering the situation. At his level, the decision was simple enough. “I will grant you and your crews’ temporary asylum here. Order all of your ships to concentrate here, in the Phyriseq system. In the meantime, I will send this matter up the chain. The Alliance Council will have to decide on this matter. It is to them that your government will go when your ships do not return.”
“I will do as you ask. But…we will not return. We’ve seen the warnings, and heard the rumors. It is death for us if we go back. The government forces that took our returning cruisers opened fire on the crews without provocation. I will not lead my people into that cauldron.”
“And I will not order such a thing.” Half-Hand stood. “The Council may order the return of your cruisers, but I will ensure that you and your people will have a place here, regardless of what happens on your home world.”
Admiral Falson stood; relief evident on his face. “Thank you. I will issue the orders to concentrate my forces here.”
Cho-sho Half-Hand escorted the Torqual admiral to his shuttle, then began composing messages to Fleet Command, the Alliance Council, and to his government. This new development in the continuing slide of the Torqual state was disturbing.
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Month 186, D’Bringi Alliance, Chirq Cooperative Territory
The Chirq are a junior member of the Alliance, having just recently reached HT-2. The D’Bringi conquest united the feudal states of the Chirq home world into one world-spanning government, and ever since then the Chirq had been striving to become useful members of the Alliance, and to build their strength so that they would not have to depend on others for protection. It was a long road, though. The Chirq had fully exploited their home system, and had established three out-system colonies in two systems. Their commercial freight network had grown to include twenty-four small personnel transports and forty-four freight transports, almost all of which were kept busy every month either transporting new colonists out of the home system to their new homes, or on runs supporting the newly established colonies.
The Chirq had managed to build an orbital station over their planet boasting three shipyards, and using those shipyards they had deployed a small survey fleet consisting of nine explorer class ships. Just this month the Chirq had launched a brand-new escort class patrol ship for their fledgling navy, and a light cruiser-sized base intended for planetary defense. The D’Bringi maintained a three-ship squadron of scout carriers in the system, to watch out for Alliance interests and provide for local defense. All in all, the Chirq were a rapidly growing young race eager to make their place in the Alliance.
On Day 10 the freighter CFN-021 jumped out of the Modi colony system, into the un-colonized Hymir system, en route back to the home system with a cargo of resources and raw materials mined by the new colony. The jump was uneventful, and the small freighter set out for the home system, its crew already bored and looking forward to setting down on the home world. They never got the chance, though. The CFN-021 disappeared somewhere in the Hymir system, without a trace.
When the freighter didn’t arrive in the home system, no one was very worried, at least to begin with. Schedules slipped all the time, and the colonies were notorious for delaying freighters with their slipshod scheduling. Still, when the freighter hadn’t made it to the home system by the end of the month, alarms began ringing in several levels of the government. The loss of the resources from the colony was disturbing, and costly, but the government was also going to have to replace the lost freighter if it didn’t turn up, and for the Chirq government, the combined expense of the lost resources and the freighter came to about a quarter of their net-monthly budget. On day 30 the Chirq government dispatched its new patrol ship, accompanied by a D’Bringi scout-carrier, to check the freighter’s route and try and determine what had happened.
With this disruption going on, the Chirq government decided to delay contacting the planet-bound race they had discovered beyond the Modi colony system.
Month 187, Chirq Cooperative
No trace of the missing freighter is found by the search ships. The Chirq are concerned, but the commander of the D’Bringi patrol group dismisses their concerns, claiming that “freighters disappear every once in a while”. The Chirq Cooperative, concerned about the suddenly hostile nature of interstellar expansion, delay plans they had to contact the newly discovered low-tech race on their border and instead focus on building more patrol ships.
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Month 187, D’Bringi Alliance Territory, Phyriseq system, Day 1
Torqual Admiral Falson entered the briefing room on Cho-sho Half-Hand’s flagship with some trepidation. With the break with the home planet now open, his forces were completely dependent on the Alliance for not only shelter, but for food, fuel, and maintenance supplies as well. Their grant of asylum from Cho-sho Half-Hand had been temporary, subject to the approval of the Alliance Council, although Half-Hand had made it clear that he would not allow the Alliance to send any Torqual crewman who wanted to stay in the D’Bringi territories back to Torqual Prime, no matter what the Council decided. For weeks they had waited while the Council debated, and now it appeared that an answer had arrived.
Cho-sho Half-Hand was standing when the Torqual admiral entered, his back to the door, staring at the wall mounted screens set to show the view of space from the cameras on the hull. The effect was mesmerizing, as the monitors stretched the length and height of the bulkhead, and their seamless integration made it seem as if the bulkhead didn’t exist and the viewer was looking directly out into space. The Torqual admiral came to a halt and braced to attention. The two admirals were a study in physical opposites. The Torqual were humanoid, with grey skin and a tall, skeletal, almost ethereal appearance, while the D’Bringi were shorter, lizard-like, with a crocodilian head and a thick, scaley hide, but for all of those differences Admiral Falson felt a fellowship with the D’Bringi Cho-sho, who had proven himself a capable fleet commander and who appeared to care about those who served under him.
When the Torqual admiral entered, Cho-sho Half-Hand turned and gestured at one of the chairs, which had been modified to accommodate Torqual physiology. The two sat down, and Cho-sho Half-Hand, blunt as always, plunged ahead without any preliminaries. “The Council has agreed to my grant of asylum for your ships, and ordered you to concentrate your forces here, in the Phyriseq system. I assume that will not be a problem?”
Admiral Falson felt hope kindle in his heart for the first time in a while. “It will not. I will dispatch the orders immediately.” The Torqual admiral paused, to gather his thoughts, then continued. “I…we all appreciate this, but I have to ask, what of the future? Many of my crews have family at home, and they worry for their safety.”
Cho-sho Half-Hand shook his head. “This decision was reached over the strong objections of the Torqual representative to the Council. She demanded the return of all of your ships and crews, immediately, and threatened to withdraw from the Alliance if their demands were not met. For now, the Council is united in denying that ‘request’, however, the political currents are uncertain and that may change.” Seeing the Torqual admiral’s unsettled look, Half-Hand quickly continued. “I have been assured, though, that under no circumstances will your officers and crews be required to return, although the Council may decide to return your ships, at some point. To be honest, at the current time the Council is not particularly well-disposed towards your people. The stories of the purges and violence that has been coming out of your territories for the last few months is unsettling to many, and while the Council has no direct authority to interfere in the internal matters of a member state, they are unwilling to support your government, which seems to be little more than a death cult, based on its current actions. I believe that they will eventually offer to make your fleet an Alliance force, supported and maintained directly by the Alliance.”
Admiral Falson sagged in his chair. “Thank you. On the behalf of my officers and crews, we all thank you and your people for your support.” Admiral Falson looked down in shame. “I cannot justify what my people are doing now. The Council is wise to suspect the motives of my government, as they are using the original D’Bringi conquest of our planet to justify their harsh measures now. They claim that it was your conquest that destabilized our planet to begin with, which has a measure of truth, but they take it further and claim that the Alliance Council continues to meddle in our politics, with the goal of destabilizing our nation and keeping us down. I ignored this propaganda, knowing it was baseless, but once they convinced some of the people that their true enemy was the Alliance, they used their distraction to begin purging everyone they believed were their opponents, or who might oppose them, or who was related to someone like that. Our rulers are fools, and the fervor they stirred up will not just go away, even now that the people have seen the true faces of those that they have put in power. Eventually they will leave the Alliance, as they will have to continue stirring the anger of the people to continue to distract from their purges and mismanagement, and once out of the Alliance they will plot to attack those they blame for their troubles. It is inevitable, and will lead to disaster for all.”
Cho-sho Half Hand listened to the rant, thinking furiously. The Torqual admiral’s appreciation of the situation matched his own, and crystalized something he had been considering for some time. “Admiral, as I said, the Council is concerned about the actions and intent of the current Torqual government, but has no power to intervene in the internal affairs of a member state. However, I agree with your fears about the future actions of your government.” Half Hand paused, wondering how the Torqual admiral would take what was to come. “You have said your officers and crews fear for your families. And you clearly fear for the fate of your people as a whole. You will have a significant force here, once your detachments are assembled. Fifteen heavy cruisers, if I’m correct, including both long and short-ranged variants. If the Alliance were to allow you to return home with your ships, do you think you have the forces necessary to overthrow your government and restore sanity to your people?”
The room fell silent as Admiral Falson considered the question. Truthfully, he had considered little else since the government had seized the first force of cruisers that had returned to the home system. “I have fifteen heavy cruisers under my command. As you said, six are long-range variants, three D’Bringi export Imperial Favor class cruisers equipped with capital missile launchers, and three Rehorish export Akagi Long-Range cruisers with advanced missile launchers. The remaining nine cruisers are all Rehorish export Akagi III short-range cruisers equipped with force beams. Against that, the Home Fleet, to my knowledge, has three Imperial Favor long-range cruisers, three home-built long-range heavy cruisers equipped with advanced missile launchers, and three home-built light cruisers. The central government was forced to draw down the Home Fleet to provide forces to patrol and control the colonies, which explains the depleted forces in the home system, and why they are so desperate to get their fleet back from the Alliance. I have tracked the ongoing deployments, and the central government has deployed another nine heavy cruisers and nine light cruisers throughout our territories to attempt to control the colonies and support their political cadres that they have sent to decapitate and take control of the local colonial governments. Finally, there is the orbital defense network of three cruiser sized bases in orbit over the home world.”
“If you return at the head of your fleet and declare your opposition to the central government and its excesses, will the Home Fleet fight? They are outnumbered, but are they motivated?”
Admiral Falson grimaced. “They will fight. I know the people the central government has put in charge of the home fleet and its ships, if only by reputation. They are bloody-minded fanatics. But their ships are poorly crewed. By all reports they butchered most of the experienced officers and crews, or at least sent them to reeducation camps on the surface, and replaced them with politically reliable people that they felt that they could trust. That means that the crews of the Home Fleet will only barely know their jobs, and my ships are crewed by the best in our navy, even before the central government started its purges. We can take them, even if the central government gathers its entire force in the home system. If the central government manages to marshal its forces at the warp point and we have to force entry into the system, though, our losses will be heavy and we may not succeed. If we can get into the system without opposition, though, then they will not be able to stop us.” The Torqual admiral paused, considering the D’Bringi Cho-sho’s intentions. “My people would all die to free our homeland from the nightmare that has swept across it, but we are a deep-space fleet. I have no ground troops. Even if we defeat the Home Fleet and sweep the skies clear, I will not bombard my own planet, even to rid them of the darkness that has taken over there. And without ground troops, I cannot force change on the planet.”
“I see you have been thinking about this.”
“I have thought about little else. If you allow it, I can take my fleet back home and sweep the skies clear of their filth, but then what? If I call for a rebellion against the central government some people may rise up against them, but I cannot know how successful they have been in crushing resistance. And without troops I can do little to affect events on the ground without bombarding the surface, which I would not order my crews to do, and they would not do even if I ordered it.”
Cho-sho Half-Hand grimaced. “I too have been considering the situation. I believe that if we present a credible plan for your return to the Council they will agree. They are disgusted by the excesses of the Torqual government, and wish to effect change, but are limited in what they can directly do to affect change in your system. I believe I can convince them to allow your fleet to return, which is merely acceding to the demands of your government, if not quite in the manner in which your government intends. The ground forces are a more difficult issue. Although I see a possibility there as well.” The D’Bringi Cho-sho stood, and Admiral Falson stood as well. “Admiral Falson, prepare a plan for your return to your home system. I will work with my contacts to develop a solution for the gap in your capabilities, and we will present our plans to the Council.”
Admiral Falson bowed to the D’Bringi Cho-sho. “Thank you, Cho-sho, for this opportunity to redeem my people.”
The two left to begin their planning.
-
Month 187, Torqual Home System, Day 1
The Central Government began a new program this month, loudly and universally announced as a patriotic resettlement program. The program, the government claims, will be relocating the flower of the Party and the nation to beautiful, bountiful benign planets discovered by Party exploration ships in recent months. These colonists, fully supported by the home world, will establish happy and productive communes to carry the Torqual race into a new future. In reality, all of the colonists are “selected” from those placed on lists maintained by the Party of undesirables, or unreliable elements. The colony transports are old and poorly maintained, unlike the glittering ships seen in the broadcasts, and the colonists are given little in the way of support. For now, all of the colonists are being sent to the colony of Equity, a world charitably rated as “harsh’ by the prior administration, where they are unceremoniously dumped outside the existing colony and told to fend for themselves.
Month 187, Day 25, Phyriseq system
“What is the latest, Admiral?”
Admiral Falson settled into the chair opposite Cho-sho Half-Hand and shook his head. “It’s not good, sir. My officers and I still have a few contacts back home, and they tell us that the government has started a massive fleet enlargement program. As of the start of this month, they have eleven light cruisers under construction. Combined with the forces they have scattered across the colonial territories; those new ships will make it difficult or impossible for my fleet to succeed.”
“Time frame till they are launched?”
The first group of six will be launched in month 190. After that they will launch another five the following month.”
Cho-sho Half-Hand settled back in his chair. “That gives us a definite time frame, then.”
Admiral Falson sat up straight. “Sir…does that mean the operation is approved?”
Cho-sho Half-Hand gestured in the positive. “It is.”
“But what of the ground forces?”
The D’Bringi admiral looked a bit uncomfortable. “The Alliance Council cannot be seen to be openly supporting one side in this conflict. Therefore, we will be working with Special Operations Command, who will provide access to ‘irregular forces’.”
“Irregular forces? What does that mean.”
Half-Hand leaned forward. “You might not be aware of this, as immersed in your own race’s problems as you are, but my race is going through a large societal shift as well. Perhaps it is more ordered and less violent than your own, but it is no less unsettling. Our amalgamation with the Rehorish has given the reformers in our society, of which I am one, the political clout and authority to finally enact sweeping changes to reduce the dominance that our major clans have had over our civilization for centuries. This has long been needed, and has resulted in an unprecedented economic boom, but it has not been without pain and dislocations. In particular, there are large numbers of young military aged D’Bringi who would have been employed in one clan or another’s military forces. With the changes that have swept our nation, many of those youths were transferred into our new national military, but more were thrown out of work, not needed or wanted by the new professional military. Some of the clans that better managed the changes that swept our nations were able to care for and reeducate their members, and find employment for them. Many others were not so lucky, as their clans are faltering, unable to adapt to the new environment. Some have disappeared into the fringes of our empire, while others have joined new “private mercenary groups”, many of which have their roots in the old clan forces. The government has contracted with the better organized of these groups to provide security on the more distant colonies, and the Special Operations Command has been tasked with keeping track of these groups. They have been told to work with us to locate and contract with groups that would be suitable for our operation.”
“Contract? With what? I have no access to funds.”
“No, you do not. But by tomorrow you will have access to letters of credit which should suffice to contract with a small force suitable for assaulting the planetary capital and assisting a local revolution. It will be expected that you will repay the loans out of the national treasury once you are in power, of course.”
Admiral Falson felt untethered. “Me? But why…”
Cho-sho Half-Hand stood. “Who else? Your ensign waiting outside? Perhaps your wife back home? Your men follow you, and for now that is enough. Once you are in power you can set up any kind of government you want. The Alliance wants a stable government in the Torqual system, and they will get it one way or another.”
Month 188
Two D’Bringi freighters operating in the Far Frontier Sector are declared overdue. The freight carriers are calling for increased patrolling throughout the frontier, but the Alliance Navy points to the increased crime in the old D’Bringi Expanses as a likely cause of the missing ships, implying that insurance fraud or some other similar crime is responsible for the loss of the ships.
In the territory of the Torqual Communes, forced emigration to the colony of Equity continues, but word of the harsh conditions on Equity has leaked back to the home world, causing unrest across the planet. Stories of the ‘colonists’ being used as slave labor in the mines of the rich planet abound, and riots have broken out in several cities. The central government has ordered the Army into those cities, and the units deployed have been given orders to harshly deal with anyone who resists them. Anyone captured is sent straight to the relocation camps to be sent to Equity.
Meanwhile, the Free Torqual Fleet has moved to the Chruqua Nexus in Alliance Territory, along with several Alliance squadrons, and is preparing to return to the home system. Several clandestine messages from the Free Torqual Fleet to the Central Government on Torqual Prime, sent through the Alliance ICN, have been intercepted by D’Bringi Naval Intelligence. A hunt is underway for the persons responsible for sending the messages. Naval Intelligence isn’t confident that it has intercepted all of the messages.
In Doraz space, a Doraz exploration ship discovers a system with three habitable type T planets, and all three have large to very large populations. The ship, which entered the system through a warp point in the outer reaches of the system, observed for a short time then jumped out, escaping detection. Interestingly, it seems that two separate races inhabit the planets in the system. For now, the Doraz are keeping this discovery to themselves.
-
Primary Extra-Solar Population Centers of the Colonial Union
System: Epsilon Eridani
System Type: Binary Yellow Star/Red Star
Primary System: 1xExtreme, 1xBenign, 2xDesolate, 1xGas Giant, 7 moons
Secondary System: 4xGas Giant, 1xIce, 1xAsteroid Belt, 21xMoons
Colony: Epsilon Eridani -A II (New Plymouth)
Moons: 2
Colonization Rating: Benign/Very Rich
Predominant Terrain: Savanna, varied
New Plymouth Population: 160,780,000
System Population: 25,455,000
Total System Production: 3,118.4 MCr’s (5% Total Colonial Union Production)
New Plymouth is located just three jumps from Earth, and was discovered by Western Coalition survey ships in month 61. It was settled directly from Earth, with the bulk of the colonists coming from North America. As it is located close to Earth, and has a benign environment, it was a primary target for the resettlement of refugees from Earth after the last nuclear war, and its population swelled as a result. At the request of the New Plymouth planetary government, the refugees came primarily from North, Central, and South America, although there were a significant number from Europe and Asia as well.
The primary language of the colonies in this system is English, and every citizen is taught this language in school, however, every community may decide on its own what other languages it wishes to teach to its citizens, as long as English is taught as well. The New Plymouth government has gone to great lengths to ensure that the refugees that arrived from Earth were supported and placed across the planet to prevent the formation of slums or ghettos that have formed on some other colonies in the Union.
Landing is the site of the first colony, and is the planetary and system capital. Landing has a population of fifteen million, while most other cities on the planet contain between 100,000 and 1,000,000 people, by design. Although some of the cities have been allowed to grow haphazardly, Landing and most other cities on New Plymouth were carefully designed and crafted to exist in balance with the planet and its environment. The first colonists, and their descendants, were determined to avoid many of the mistakes made by humanity on the home world, and for the most part they have succeeded.
The government of New Plymouth is a form of absolute democracy, where the people are asked to vote directly on almost all issues, and the colony’s leaders are bound to carry out the expressed will of the people. This is made possible by the extensive information network that blankets the planet, and access to this network is guaranteed by law for every citizen over eighteen years of age. The system breaks down somewhat when extended off planet. Light-speed lag proved to be problematic even for the colonies on the moons of New Plymouth, much less for the populations around the secondary star, so every colony within the system is ruled locally by its own population/voting system, with system-wide decisions made by New Plymouth itself, based on input from the other colonies throughout the system.
New Plymouth has largely avoided the more fervent forms of New Dawnism that have spread throughout much of the Colonial Union, and has become the base for the newly formed New Conservative party that opposes New Dawn in the Senate. The more virulent New Dawnists in the Colonial Union have denounced the New Conservatives as “alien lovers”, and “peaceniks”, but in reality the New Conservatives support a balanced approach to the known alien races, and reproachment and demilitarization of humanities relations with the alien races within the Colonial Union’s borders.
System: Sigma Draconis
System Type: Single Yellow Star
Primary System: 1xBenign, 1xHarsh, 2xDesolate, 2xGas Giant, 2xIce, 1xAsteroid Belt, 20xMoons
Colony #1: Sigma Draconis I (Plateau)
Moons: 2
Colonization Rating: Harsh/Normal
Predominant Terrain: Lowlands minimally habitable, extensive high plateau with earth-like conditions
Plateau Population: 125,050,000
Colony #2: Sigma Draconis III (New Moscow)
Moons: 1
Colonization Rating: Benign/Very Rich
Predominant Terrain: Forested plains, extensive oceans.
New Moscow Population: 294,520,000
Other System Population: 20,865,000
Total System Production: 4867.8 MCr’s (8% Total Colonial Union Production)
Sigma Draconis is located adjacent to Earth, and this fact dominated its early development. The great power rivalry between the Coalition and the USSR ensured that they couldn’t both colonize the single benign planet in the system, and the two nations nearly came to blows over colonization rights to the planet that would eventually become New Moscow. Eventually, though, the Coalition had discovered New Plymouth in Epsilon Eridani, and in exchange for the rights to that planet and its associated warp chain, the Coalition agreed to allow the USSR to settle New Moscow, while the Coalition would settle the less desirable Plateau. In spite of the great power rivalry, the governments of the two colonies in the Sigma Draconis system have always gotten along well and have been able to work well together to administer the system.
The Sigma Draconis system was briefly occupied by the D’Bringi during the war between the USSR and the D’Bringi Alliance, however, their occupation was light and never had a chance to consolidate itself before the D’Bringi were forced out of the system by the allied USSR and Coalition fleets. After the D’Bringi were chased away, with the great powers distracted by first the war with the D’Bringi and then their own divisions and conflicts, the colonies of Plateau and New Moscow were forced to put together an ad hoc system government to control aide and relief efforts after the D’Bringi withdrew. This ad hoc government later grew into the System Governance Board, jointly administered by the two main colonies.
When the USSR and the Coalition destroyed themselves, and much of the rest of the Earth, the Sigma Draconis system became the primary clearing house for refugees from the home system. Plateau took in most of the refugees from the former Coalition territories, while New Moscow took in the refugees from Russia, Europe, and most the rest of the world. Out of necessity, the two colonies handled this influx of refugees much differently. Plateau, as a “Harsh” world, had a limited carrying capacity and thus most of the refugees were sent on to other systems, like Epsilon Eridani, Sligo, and other frontier colonies. New Moscow, on the other hand, as a Very Rich/Benign planet, could handle larger numbers of refugees, and thus more refugees were resettled there instead of being moved on to other systems. Plateau itself struggled to handle the influx of refugees, even the relatively small number that stayed, and without assistance from New Plymouth and New Moscow it’s almost certain that the colonial government would have fallen and the colony itself would have descended into chaos. As it is the colony is only now recovering from the influx of refugees. New Moscow, on the other hand, used its vast resources to resettle many of the refugees in new settlements across the Bravo continent, which had remained largely unexploited during the initial colonization wave.
The Sigma Draconis system is a staunch supporter of the New Dawn Party, and the New Dawn Party’s headquarters is located in the capital city of New Moscow (also, unoriginally, named New Moscow). Much of this support comes from the Russian refugees that resettled on New Moscow in the aftermath of the war in the home system, and support for the New Dawn Party is weaker on the other populations of the system.
There is a heavy military presence in the Sigma Draconis system, as it connects to the Centaurus system, which is known to contain a closed warp point to D’Bringi space. In addition, the Sigma Draconis system is the Solar System’s sole connection with the rest of the galaxy, making it an important gateway, although that importance has waned with the decrease in the Earth’s population and importance. The Fleet is very popular throughout the system, and recruiting for the Fleet, and in particular the Assault Corps, is very heavy in the system.
System: Sligo
System Type: Binary - Yellow Star/Yellow Star
Primary System: 1xBenign, 1xHostile, 2xGas Giant, 1xToxic, 1xAsteroid Belt, 7xMoons
Secondary System: 2xHarsh, 1xHostile, 1xDesolate, 1xAsteroid Belt, 2xGas Giant, 13xMoons
Human Colony #1: Sligo-B II (Wunderland)
Moons: 1
Colonization Rating: Harsh/Normal (Benign/Normal)
Predominant Terrain: Steppe/Forested/Artic
Wunderland Population: 111,280,000
Tarek Home World: Sligo-B III (Tarek Prime)
Moons: 1 (Tide-locked)
Colonization Rating: Harsh/Poor (Benign/Poor for Tarek)
Predominant Terrain: Mountainous/steppe
Tarek Prime Population (Tarek): 3,097,750,000
Other System Population: 34,525,000 (Tarek)
Total System Production: 4867.8 MCr’s (8% Total Colonial Union Production)
Wunderland is four jumps from Earth and was settled from North America by the Coalition. Although the Coalition government was against the colonization of Sligo-B II, due to the presence of a native race on a nearby planet, several powerful corporations pushed for authorization to begin colonization, and ultimately began colonization even before receiving approval. With the Coalition Senate deadlocked on the matter, and the colonization effort already underway, the Coalition government decided to look the other way while efforts were begun to contact the Tarek. Of course, those efforts went disastrously awry, with the Tarek proving to be implacably hostile from almost the first. Some within the government and the Senate posited that the Tarek’s hostility was due to humanity’s theft of a planet in their system, and certainly that didn’t help, but events since then have shown that the Tarek believe all other life exists only to serve their Emperor, and that they don’t really consider other races to be intelligent or equal to their own race. An early, misguided attempt by a non-governmental organization, operating with the support of the Coalition Senate, to negotiate humanity’s withdrawal from Wunderland in exchange for peaceful relations proved disastrous and nearly resulted in the consumption of the human negotiating team by the Tarek. In any case, it would have been difficult to convince the Wunderlanders to leave their planet, something they have been singularly unwilling to consider even in the face of unrelenting Tarek hostility.
The original settlers of Wunderland were mainly from the American Midwest, and they set up a loose coalition of city and town governments to run the colony under the Coalition, mostly as a mutual-assistance organization rather than a government. The unrelenting hostility of the Tarek, though, quickly changed the mindset of the original colonists, though. When it became clear that the Tarek were hostile, and that the Coalition government was more interested in the threat presented by the USSR and the D’Bringi, the colonists realized that their safety was largely in their own hands. The Coalition allowed its colonies to organize a small militia for defense against wildlife and criminals, but extensive ground military organizations, while not exactly illegal, were discouraged. The Wunderlanders ignored this and began spending large sums of money and resources on recruiting, equipping, and training a militia to defend the colony should the Tarek attack. In addition, large civil defense expenditures were made, constructing defensive bunkers around cities and bombardment shelters for the citizens. Over time the Wunderlanders’ society became much more militaristic, a trend that only accelerated after the fall of the Coalition.
After the fall of the Coalition, with the powerful Coalition navy no longer available to overawe the Tarek, The Wunderlanders focused on what they believed was the primary threat to their existence, the Tarek. The Governor of Wunderland put together a coalition of surrounding colonies, seized Coalition Naval units in and around the system, and launched an assault on the Tarek, which failed. The Tarek then launched a counterattack against Wunderland, which also failed. The failure of their attack on the Tarek, and their mistreatment of refugees from Earth, resulted in the fall of the Wunderland government and its reorganization along lines more acceptable to the coalition of colonies that it led. The Tarek threat was ended by the return of the Coalition Fleet shortly thereafter.
In the aftermath of their short war with the Tarek, Wunderland turned to absorbing refugees from Earth, most of whom came from North, Central, and South America. Many of these refugees were sent on to frontier colonies to bolster their populations, but even so Wunderland’s population swelled, making it inevitable that it would regain its position as the regional leader. The refugees brought the New Dawn party, which was just getting organized on Earth, to Wunderland with them. The New Dawn Party, with its pro-defense, anti-alien, Human-First policies, found fertile ground in Wunderland, where fear of the Tarek still dominated the culture. Indeed, Wunderland is one of the most fervent strongholds of the New Dawn Party, and while it has seen setbacks elsewhere, it continues to dominate politics on Wunderland.
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The Situation on Torqual Prime
On Torqual Prime, instabilities introduced by the conquest of the planet and the forced imposition of a government by the D’Bringi, ultimately resulted in the fall of that government. This government was unpopular, and was largely seen by the populace as a puppet of the Alliance, so the rebellion was popular amongst the people. In the chaos of the fall of the puppet government, a group of dedicated Stalinist communists seized power and used discontent with the puppet government, and the old regime that ruled before it, to cement their power on the home world. The new Revolutionary Council promised the sun and the moon to the people, and then used the resulting rush of enthusiasm to secure their power. The people’s joy at their newfound freedom soon turned to fear and discontent as the People’s Revolutionary Council established an iron hold over the people’s daily necessities and began rooting out all opposition, no matter how slight. Adherents of the old governments were arrested and either disappeared, publicly executed, or deported to the colonies. Soon, any one that even looked like they might oppose the new government were being treated in a similar manner, and along with them were many ‘innocent’ people who merely displeased one of the Council’s informers or enforcers. The Revolutionary Council was able to gain an iron grip on Torqual Prime’s population in a fairly short period of time, however, vast amounts of discontent surged just beneath the surface.
The Revolutionary Council initially focused all of its efforts on the home world, ignoring the colonies. The Council believed that its future would be secured if they could control the home world, and that the colonies would fall in line once the industrial powerhouse that was the home world was under control. A news blackout was enforced around the home system, ensuring that the only information that was sent out was propaganda approved by the Council. Grand dictates were sent to the colonies, but little was done to ensure that they were being followed. Unfortunately, the Council did not have as much control as they thought, and numerous messages were slipped out by family members to their relatives on the colonies, warning them of events on the home world. The colonies, seeing the madness that was sweeping Torqual Prime, began recruiting and arming militias, and the various colonial governors met in secret to discuss a plan of resistance, but the reality was that any overt resistance they put together would be swept aside by forces from the home world the second the Revolutionary Council turned its attention back towards the stars. So instead, the governors put together a plan of covert resistance, and began sending messages to the Home Fleet and the Torqual ships assigned to the Alliance Fleet, begging for assistance.
The Revolutionary Council was largely composed of academics and criminals, none of whom had military experience. As a group they hated and distrusted the military, and viewed them as nothing more than the puppet government’s thuggish enforcers. They therefore didn’t trust the Torqual Home Fleet, or understand the mindset of its officers. The Council’s first step in establishing control over the fleet was to require the fleet’s officers to swear allegiance to the new government. The Torqual Fleet had long had a culture of supporting and defending the legitimate government, and the fleet’s officers had been divided over the legitimacy of the new government. In the end, having no other real options, they agreed to swear allegiance. With that completed and on a more secure footing on the ground, the Revolutionary Council began carefully purging the Home Fleet’s officers, starting with the highest levels and then working down the chain. During this process the fleet was required to send its missile stocks to ground storage locations, ensuring that it had no power to interfere with events on the surface of the planet. At first the transfer of power was above board, but then the Council began disappearing officers that had been recalled to the surface, resulting in an event called “That Night” by the crewers that survived it. With rumors of the mistreatment of the recalled officers circulating, the Council sent teams of its elite Council Guard Force into orbit with orders to seize control of every ship, arresting every officer and senior NCO that remained of the ‘old fleet’. With the assistance of the Council’s tame officers already in place the assault on the fleet was successful, and in one fell swoop the officer corps and the senior NCO’s were replaced with personnel carefully selected for loyalty to the new regime. None of those officers or crewers would be seen again. Their replacements knew next to nothing of ship-board operations, and the efficiency of the Home Fleet fell to next to nothing overnight. Fatal and near-fatal accidents skyrocketed, and moral fell to rock bottom. Still, the Council was satisfied, as they only really cared about the loyalty of the officers assigned to the fleet’s ships, not their technical training or strategic or tactical capabilities.
With the Home Fleet under control, and resistance on the home world either eliminated or driven deep underground, the Council began implementing the changes to Torqual society that it believed were absolutely necessary to secure the happy and prosperous future they desired. These changes were sweeping, and covered nearly every aspect of Torqual society. As part of this new program, everyone identified by the Council as potential recidivists were arrested and deported to the colonies, particularly to a harsh planet in the newly named Equity system. The arrests were always conducted at night, and usually were more indiscriminate sweeps than targeted affairs, and they fed the growing hatred and contempt that the people felt for the Council, a fact that the Council was largely blind to, given their institutional paranoia and dismissal of all opposing views as simple recidivism.
It was at this point that the Council turned its attention to the Torqual forces assigned to the Alliance Fleets in Alliance territory. As these forces outnumbered its own, caution was required, and the Council began calling back the out-system forces piecemeal. Fortunately for the out-system forces a brave comms officer got a message out to warn them when Council Guard forces assaulted their ship shortly after returning to the home system. This led to the out-system forces putting together a desperate plan to retake their home system before the Council was able to build enough ships to overwhelm them. The out-system forces, under the command of Admiral Falson, have under-the-table support from the Alliance, which wants the Revolutionary Council replaced by a government more friendly to the Alliance.
Torqual Fleets as of Month 189
Free Torqual Fleet
The Free Torqual Fleet is composed of ships that were assigned to support Alliance Fleets, and were in Alliance territory when things began going wrong on their home planet. Being assigned to the Alliance and away from Torqual territory meant that the ships and crews of those ships were insulated from what was going on back home, although rumors and inuendoes did make their way to the fleet.
Eventually, though, the situation changed when the revolutionary government on Torqual Prime turned its attention to the recidivist crewers and officers on board the ships assigned to the Alliance. To the revolutionary government these crewers were a threat, as they were not indoctrinated in the current politically correct mindset, and thus could not be trusted. Therefore, the government started to call the ships back to the home system for rest and replenishment, at which time the crews would be replaced with politically reliable crews. Unfortunately for the government, their enforcers were a bit too eager and jumped the gun, giving the crew on one of the returning cruisers a chance to get a warning out to the rest of the fleet, leading to the current situation.
The Free Torqual Fleet is composed of long-service crews, many of which have served the Torqual race going back before the invasion by the D’Bringi. Most of the ships in the Free Fleet are crack, with the remainder being elite. As such they are seen as an intolerable threat by the revolutionary government, and must be eliminated.
All Free Fleet ships have full magazines, curtesy of the Alliance.
Free Torqual Fleet (Rear Admiral Falson-crack)
3xImperial Favor R3 class CA’s (crack)
3xAkagi(LR) r3 class CA’s (elite)
9xAkagi r3 class CA’s (3xElite, 6xCrack)
1xSupply ship
Both the Akagi(LR) and the Akagi class werepurchased from the Rehorish and have not been refitted since that time.
AKAGI(LR) R3 class CA AM 12 XO Racks 60 Hull TL 6
[2] S0x10Aix9ZHs(BbS)Q(II)Ra(II)RaRaDRa(II)DRaDDRaMgM2Xr(II)LhQ(II)(II)F [6]
60 RCP 40 MCP Trg:3 Cost = 1128/ 169.2
HTK 51 S0x10 Aix9 Dx4 Fx1 Rax6 Mgx1
172x SM, 8x EDM (Mg)
AKAGI R3 class CA AM 12 XO Racks 60 Hull TL 6
[2] S0x8Aix9ZHs(BbS)Q(II)F(II)FDF(II)DFDDFM2Xr(II)Lh(II)PgQ(II)Pg [6]
60 RCP 40 MCP Trg:3 Cost = 1156/ 173.4
HTK 48 S0x8 Aix9 Dx4 Pgx2 Fx5
The Imperial Favor class was purchased from the D’Bringi.
IMPERIAL FAVOR(R3) class CA AM 12 XO Racks 60 Hull TL 7
[2] S0x7Aix8ZHs(BbS)(II)(II)(II)QRcRc(II)RcRc(II)DzRcRcXrsDzLhQ(II)Mg [6]
60 RCP 40 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 1076/ 161.4
HTK 43 S0x7 Aix8 Dzx2 Rcx6 Mgx1
90x CM, 4x EDM (Mg)
Commune Fleet Forces (Marshal Yullen-green)
Home Fleet (Torqual Prime)
6xBangor v1.1 class CA’s (3xGreen, 3xPoor)
6xImperial Favor r3 class CA’s (6xGreen)
6xHalifax v1.3 class CL’s (5xGreen, 4xPoor)
Out-system Forces (Spread across the Torqual Territories to secure colonies)
3xBangor v1.1 class CA’s (1xGreen, 2xPoor)
6xIroguois v1.2 class CL’s (3xGreen, 2xPoor, 1xInept)
All of the ships assigned to the out-system forces are missile-armed units, as the revolutionary government of Torqual Prime expects those ships to threaten the colonial governments into complying with the enforcement teams it has sent out to each colony, and beam armed ships would not be able to threaten ground targets. Because of cost-cutting, and the general disdain that the revolutionary government holds for the military, the magazines of the loyal forces are only partially filled.
The Bangor class is the Torqual main battle unit, conceived and built before the D’Bringi and the Rehorish began selling their older ships to the junior members of the Alliance. Although similar to the Akagi(LR) class, the Bangor has more missile launchers, at the cost of point defense, passive defenses, and secondary beam weaponry. It is intended purely for long range combat and fleet doctrine dictates that it must always be escorted by light cruisers capable of prosecuting close-in engagements.
BANGOR V1.1 class CA AM 12 XO Racks 60 Hull TL 5
[2] Sx5Aix7ZHs(BbS)(II)(II)Q(II)(II)(II)DRax4XrRax5D?0LhQ(II)Mg [6]
60 RCP 40 MCP Trg:1 Bmp +1 Cost = 1075/ 161.2
HTK 44 Sx5 Aix7 Dx2 Rax9 Mgx1
150x SM
Another native design, the Iroquois is intended to be used for long-range scouting and to screen the larger cruisers.
IROQUOIS V1.2 class CL AM 9 XO Racks 45 Hull TL 5
[2] Sx5Aix5ZHs(BbM)(I)(II)Qs(I)(II)(I)WWM1WQsWWDXrWMg(II) [6]
45 RCP 5 MCP Trg:2 Cost = 705.5/ 105.8
HTK 34 Sx5 Aix5 Dx1 Wx6 Mgx1
150x SM
This class is intended to act as an escort ship for close-escort of the heavy cruisers.
HALIFAX V1.3 class CL AM 9 XO Racks 45 Hull TL 5
[2] Sx5Aix7ZHs(BbM)(I)(II)Qs(I)(II)(I)FFM1FQsFDF(II) [6]
45 RCP 5 MCP Trg:2 Cost = 733.5/ 110
HTK 33 Sx5 Aix7 Dx1 Fx5
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Just a quick one...
Month 189
The Alliance Council voted this month to formalize the new name of the Alliance. While most people just called it the “Alliance”, its actual name was the Alliance of the D’Bringi and Rehorish. Once the T’Pau joined that name was no longer accurate, and rather than continuing to add race names to an already overly long name that no one actually used, the Council decided on a new name, the Grand Alliance. This is actually a compromise that took weeks of delicate negotiations to work out. In spite of all of this internal wrangling, most people will continue to just call it the Alliance.
The Grand Alliance reaches HT9 this month and invests heavily in developing new systems.
The Grand Alliance recalls all of its survey groups to the three home systems for refit and reorganization. Currently, the Alliance has seven survey groups, all of varying composition and design, as they were originally built and fielded by the three member races. Four are composed primarily of explorer class ships, while the other three are made up of corvette class ships. The Alliance Combined Naval Command has decided that the explorer class ships are too small and vulnerable to be used in front-line exploration groups working beyond the borders of the Alliance. Therefore, all explorer class ships will either be refitted to a scout design to be used in the main fleets, or will be reserved for planetary survey of systems already discovered by the main exploration fleets. The composition of the main exploration fleets is under examination, but the core will likely be a heavy cruiser design capable of defending itself if necessary. The Rehorish have begun work on reactivating three heavy cruisers which will act as testbeds for the new exploration ship design, although designs have not yet been finalized and there is strong pressure to wait until the systems now under development are ready for deployment.
The Chirq Grand Council votes to establish contact with the low-tech race recently discovered several jumps from their home system, but the Alliance Ambassador, a D’Bringi, advises against this course of action. The D’Bringi Ambassador recommends delaying contact until the Chirq have more of a defensive force built up in their home system. Deferring to the D’Bringi, the Chirq decide to delay contact again.
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Month 189, Day 1, Chruqua Nexus, Grand Alliance
Elements of the Grand Alliance’s 4th Fleet were drawn up in front of the warp point to the Torqual home system, along with the Torqual Fleet under Admiral Falson. At Admiral Falson’s orders every ship in his fleet now proudly bore the banner of the Free Torqual Fleet, and, in an emotional dedication ceremony Admiral Falson had dedicated the Fleet to gain the freedom of the Torqual People. Now, with transit imminent, Cho-sho Half-Hand and Admiral Falson were having one last meeting aboard Admiral Falson’s command cruiser.
Cho-sho Half-Hand had observed the Torqual crew of the cruiser hurrying about their business as he was led to the conference room where the Torqual Admiral awaited him, and had noted their professionalism and determination. The striking dedication ceremony and the closeness of action seemed to have given them a new energy and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, he was sure they were going to need every bit of that in the coming days.
The junior officer escorting the D’Bringi admiral gestured to the hatch in front of them, and Half-Hand nodded and walked through, to find Admiral Falson finishing up something on his console. “It never ends, does it?” At the other’s questioning look, Cho-sho Half-Hand shrugged. “The paperwork associated with command. Every year they tell us that they are going to reduce it, and every year it gets worse.”
“That must be a universal truth, I think.” Admiral Falson rose and bowed to the D’Bringi admiral, as was the Torqual custom with superior officers. Cho-sho Half-Hand waived that away, as he always did, and sat in front of the desk. “Everything is ready?”
“We are as ready as we will ever be. Every day that we delay now merely means that they will get stronger, I fear. And more vicious, if the latest reports are true.”
Cho-sho Half-Hand grimaced. He had seen the same reports. “These people that have seized power, they seem to love killing and death, don’t they?”
Admiral Falson shook his head in negation. “They would deny that, Cho-sho. They would claim that they are merely doing what is necessary to secure the future of our race, as they see it.”
“As they see it.” Cho-sho Half-Hand looked appalled. “I truly do not wish to understand their vision of the future, then.” They fell silent for a few seconds, then Cho-sho Half-Hand decided to broach the subject that was his true reason for meeting with the Torqual admiral. “Our intelligence sources have confirmed that the revolutionary government knows you plan to return, although they aren’t sure of the exact timing. Our sources also say that the revolutionary council seems to be confident in a plan to defeat you, should you return. Have you seen the information we have forwarded?”
The Torqual admiral’s eyes seemed to be lit with a fire deep within them that now blazed brighter. “I have seen the information, and I believe I know how they believe they can stop me.” Falson waived his hand over the control station in front of him, and a comparison of the forces available to the revolutionary council and the Free Fleet appeared over the table. If they were all assembled in the home system, the revolutionary council’s ships would outnumber and out mass the Free Fleet substantially. The Free Fleet had fifteen cruisers, while the revolutionary government could field fifteen cruisers and twelve light cruisers. “For a direct conflict, the situation is actually better than the bare numbers would indicate. While their entire fleet outnumbers my own, they cannot assemble the entire fleet in the home system without running a risk that the out-system colonies would rebel, and I believe that they are actually more worried about that possibility than the risk my fleet represents. After all, if the out-system colonies rebel, and manage to get a message to any of the Alliance embassies, what would the Council do?”
“This has been discussed. If that should happen then the Alliance will send in peacekeepers and supplies to assist any planetary government that requests such assistance.”
The Torqual admiral nodded. “So the revolutionary council believes, and they cannot risk a colony breaking away as they do not wish to break with the Alliance yet. Eventually, yes, but not yet. Right now, they need the profit from the trade with the Alliance to help secure their power base. Once they are secure, they will turn on the Alliance just as surely as the sun will rise on each of our home worlds.”
This brought them to the subject that Half-Hand wanted to make sure that the Torqual admiral understood. “The Alliance Council is aware of the plans of the Torqual Revolutionary Council. Therefore, the Council has voted unanimously to authorize a military intervention into the Torqual Home System should your fleet fail. This may cause a political crisis within the Alliance over internal interventions, but the Council feels that delaying will only make things worse. One way or another the Revolutionary Council’s depredations will come to an end.”
The Torqual Admiral nodded. “As I suspected. Even more reason for my fleet to succeed. Although it appears that the vast bulk of the people on my planet hate and fear the Revolutionary Council, Alliance intervention would appear to be yet another alien invasion, and, even when the Council was gone, troublemakers would long be able to use the intervention to justify rabble-rousing.”
Cho-sho Half Hand looked at the Torqual admiral curiously. “You understand the Revolutionary Guard’s likely strategy, right? They will not fight fair, or fight at all if they can avoid it.”
The fire in the Torqual Admiral’s eyes were like banked coals now, burning steadily. “I’ve seen the reports. They have tried to clamp down on information flows but the home planet leaks like a sieve. Too many people hate them to remain quiet. They have been scouring the Capital and the camps for anyone related to my officers and crews. Already they have sent messages to myself and many others, informing us that should we fail to surrender they will do horrible things to our loved ones.” The Torqual admiral closed his eyes for a few seconds. “One of those messages had an attached video clip of the torture and killing of my middle child at the hands of the depraved beasts of the Revolutionary Council. They threatened to do the same to rest of my family if I decline to surrender my fleet.”
Half-Hand could see the pain in the eyes of the other admiral. “As I understand it, that was their preferred way of dealing with officials from your former government during their uprising.”
“Yes, and of course it works more often than not, because who among us doesn’t love their family?”
“How did your officers and crews react to these messages?”
“They haven’t seen them. When I first realized what was going on, and that we couldn’t return home, I had my intel officer divert all messages from home to a hidden buffer system, where they will remain until this campaign is over. Then I explained my reasoning to the crews and officers, and showed them the video of my middle child’s death. I wanted them to understand exactly what they were facing. For our return, I have had my tech people deploy a jamming system on board all of our ships, to prevent the animals that control my home from contacting any of the crews. There will be only one open channel, and I will be the only one that has access to that channel.”
“And if they tell you they have your wife, or your other children?”
“They will try it. I will not believe them, though. We have sources of information from within the Capital, and they have told me that my middle child was the only one taken by the Revolutionary Guard. The rest of my family is either dead or has disappeared into the chaos that has seized much of my home world outside of the capital city.”
Half-Hand stared at the Torqual Admiral for a few seconds, not envying him the days to come. He wanted to ask what he’d do if the Council actually had any of his family, and confronted him with new videos, but he could see in the other admiral’s eyes that it wouldn’t make any difference to the man. He would not be deterred from removing the monsters from their seat of power. Finally, he stood and saluted Falson, wishing him good luck. For now, that was all he could do.
The Torqual Home System
Six Alliance battle cruisers burst through the warp point, in close order combat formation. A courier drone had preceded their entry, informing the Torqual government that the Alliance was planning on entering the system as part of a naval patrol moving across Alliance systems. The attached information made it clear the patrol would enter the system and then depart after a short period of time.
The Torqual government had not believed the message, but was not ready to tangle with the Alliance, so there was nothing at the warp point to meet the Alliance ships when they entered the system except for a sensor and comm buoy pair set to watch the warp point.
A few minutes passed, during which time the battlecruisers confirmed that the area around the warp point was clear, and then they dispatched a CD back through the warp point. Soon thereafter, the cruisers of the Free Torqual Fleet began transiting into the system, followed by transports. The Free Fleet had returned. With little fanfare the entire force set out for the inner system. The Alliance battlecruisers remained on the warp point, in contact with the Free Fleet as it moved in-system.
Month 189, Day 7
For six days the Free Torqual Fleet had sailed through empty space, approaching their home. For that entire time their home had ignored them. Admiral Falson had monitored the home world’s communications networks and there hadn’t been a single mention of the approaching fleet, nor had there been any alerts or warnings. It was almost as if they didn’t exist. Almost. There had been several attempts to open communications with the fleet from the home world, but Admiral Falson had ignored the attempts. Falson knew what the butchers now controlling his planet were capable of, and he knew that no good would come of opening communications with them, now or ever. The Free Fleet made its own attempts to contact the home planet’s people, to warn them of their approach, but it was clear that the Revolutionary Council was jamming all frequencies.
Instead of news about the attacking fleet, the home planet’s airwaves were filled with patriotic revolutionary propaganda, extolling the virtues of service to the state in the name of the people. These broadcasts were accompanied by videos documenting the torture and killing of anti-revolutionary forces, who, to Admiral Falson, mostly appeared to be defenseless men, women, and children. After the intel staff examined the videos to ensure they were clean of subversion attempts, Admiral Falson approved the videos for broadcast throughout the fleet, so that the crews could see the monsters that they had come to stop. Eventually Admiral Falson had to restrict access to the transmissions, as the anger of the crews had grown so much that the officers feared they would lose control once they were within range of the enemy.
And then, as they broke the seventy-two light minute detection barrier around the home planet, their sensors detected drive fields activating near the planet, and whatever it was left the home planet, headed out to intercept them. Admiral Falson didn’t believe that the revolutionary government didn’t know that he was here, so they had waited for his approach before moving out to intercept his fleet. For some reason.
In any case, the motivations of the revolutionary government, no matter how strange or convoluted, wouldn’t matter soon. Either he and his fleet would sweep aside the revolutionary guard, as the defense forces had taken to calling themselves, or the defenders would defeat them, and he and his officers would all be beyond caring. Either way it would end soon.
Month 189, Day 8
The two fleets closed on each other, neither interested in evading or trickery. This was to be a battle for the future of the Torqual race, and both sides wanted the battle done with. There had been too much killing and brutality already for there to be any talk of peace, surrender, or quarter. Every crewer on the ships of the Free Fleet had had friends or relatives on the ships that now faced them, and they all knew that those friends or relatives were gone now, replaced by reliable crews of true believers. They knew this because the transmissions from the planet told them so, detailing with great glee the fates that had befallen the recidivist militarists of the old fleet. Every crewer felt nothing but hate for the minions of the bloody council that now ruled their world, hate and absolute determination to rid the universe of the scum that had dominated their home system. They had faith in their abilities and those of their comrades, a faith honed through battle and innumerable drills. They would prevail in this fight, as they had all of the others that had come before.
On board the Revolutionary Guard ships, a curious mix of emotions ran through the corridors of the fleet. The officers and political watchdogs exuded confidence in the Guard’s ability to defeat the lackies of the old regime, and utter contempt for the misguided recidivists that so misguidedly followed the old ways. The crews wanted to believe them, after all, the old government had been so corrupt, and fallen so quickly to the Revolutionary Council’s onslaught, that it almost seemed like the political officers had to be right, however…a creeping fear stalked the crewers of the Guard fleet. The officers talked more about faithfulness to the Council than they did attention to their jobs, something most of the crewers knew just enough about to survive in space. Their pre-battle briefings had been filled with exhortations to remain faithful to the cause, rather than discussions of strategy or tactics, or even attention to their duties. As the traitor fleet approached, more than one crewer or junior officer looked around at his companions and wondered if any of them knew their jobs any better than they did. As the two fleets closed on each other, the fear in the Guard fleet mounted.
Just before the two fleets reached weapons range, Admiral Falson opened an all-ships channel, and spoke to his crews. On every ship his face appeared in every compartment and duty station, and for a few seconds everyone turned their attention to their leader. Admiral Falson appeared serious, but determined, and anyone looking at his face would have thought it cut from stone. “I speak now to all of the crewers of the true Torqual Fleet. The betrayers now in control of the government call you recidivists, adherents to the old ways, and traitors, but it is they who are traitors! I know you, and you know me! We are defenders, and we have always been defenders! We defend the Torqual people, as we have always done! As we will always do! The people now in charge on home world have no new ideas, no plan, so instead they tear at everything that makes us a people. They destroy and they kill because they have nothing to replace it with. They are just killers, and they have been in control for too long. We are here to stop them, and stop them we will! It ends now!”
Cheers rang out across the fleet as everyone, on all of the ships, jumped to their feet and screamed their agreement. The fleet had returned! “Now get to work, and let’s clear our skies of this scum!”
At ten light seconds, the fleet plot updated with the latest information on the revolutionary government’s fleet. Falson frowned. They had fewer cruisers than he did, but more ships and more mass. Also, they had more long-ranged combatants. The government forces had six Imperial Favor class cruisers, to his three, and six Bangor class cruisers, to his three Akagi(LR) class ships. On the other hand, the enemy had only six light cruisers equipped for close-range combat, which meant that he held the balance of power in close range combat with his nine Akagi class close-range combatants. After watching the government fleet close on his for a while, he came to a decision and began issuing orders. Throughout the Free Fleet the officers and crews leapt into action like the well-oiled machines they were.
On board the government fleet, Marshal Yullen, Grand Commander of the Defense Fleets of the Revolution, and Commander of the Revolutionary Guard, peered at the plot tank nervously. He had not been given the position of commander of the Revolutionary Guard because he was a military person, or because he knew how to lead a fleet in battle, but because of his loyalty and service to the Revolutionary Council. Originally, he had been a junior petty officer on board the old government’s fleet, and he had had the good luck to survive the battle with the D’Bringi that had brought his race into the Alliance and began the fall of the old order. Put out of work by the conquest, he had joined the revolutionary guard early, before it had become clear they were going to win, and thus had established his loyalty early. His prior military service had helped serve his ambitions well, once he had proven his loyalty by betraying other former military members to the Council’s security services. He had carefully hidden the fact that he had been assigned to a maintenance unit in the engineering department and had never led more than six crewers at a time. In any case, his former assignment hadn’t really mattered to the Revolutionary Council, as they disdained the old military and its hide-bound customs. Yullen had risen far and fast in the new order, and his appointment to command the Revolutionary Guard was his crowning achievement. Of course, it also meant that he had ended up here, leading a fleet in battle, something he had never planned on or wanted to do. Still, if everything went right, there would be no battle, aside from cleaning up scattered resistance, something the Revolutionary Guard was really good at.
Working with the Revolutionary Council’s dreaded Enforcement Bureau, Yullen and his staff had gathered every relative or even acquaintance of a crewer or officer aboard the oncoming fleet still alive. Unfortunately, there were actually only a few that were both still alive and in the hands of the government. Many were dead from the purges, or disappeared into the areas outside the main cities that had stubbornly resisted government control, or had been deported to the colonies. Still, they had some, and they were all with his fleet now, and would act as hostages to the good behavior of the oncoming fleet. Plus, the revolution had documented most of the torturing and killing that had gone on during the purges, to ensure that the general population would remain terrified and compliant, and those records would now be used against those on the rebel fleet. The recording of the ‘correction’ of the traitor Falson’s daughter had already been sent to weaken the commander of the rebels, and other such recordings were available for many within the oncoming fleet. Yullen, and the Council, believed that these recordings, and the hostages, would be more than enough to stop the rebels, to make them ask for terms. Yullen had been authorized to offer the rebels anything they might believe to get them to surrender, because, of course, the Revolutionary Council did not consider agreements with traitors binding in any way. Once the rebels surrendered, they and their families would be treated exactly as traitors should be treated. The fact that the rebels might know that, and factor that into their thinking, had never occurred to Yullen. This strategy had always worked before, with the corrupt officials of the old government, and they were confident that it would work again.
Unfortunately, the traitors on board the incoming fleet had refused all communications, which had made Yullen look bad back home. He had confidently predicted that he would be able to talk the traitors into surrendering, especially as the revolutionary guard had gone to so much trouble as to collect the surviving family members of the incoming fleet’s officers and hold them against this eventuality. In the face of the rebel fleet’s lack of response, Yullen sent of lists of names of the rebel’s family members and the loyal revolutionary guard ships they were held on, to let the rebels know the price their continued resistance would cost them. And still the rebels were silent. Their silence had unnerved Yullen, who Yullen hadn’t bothered to come up with a battle plan. Oh, he had directed his staff to develop a plan as a backup, not because he believed they would need it, but as a way to give them something to do. He hadn’t even really bothered to look at that plan, so sure was he of his primary plan’s chance of success. Now he was beginning to realize that his confidence might have been misplaced. He had thought that he could dangle their precious families in front of them, especially Falson’s daughters, and the weak, cowardly recidivists would crumble as they always had. Instead, the incoming fleet had remained silent throughout its approach, and if Yullen was going to be honest, their silence had intimidated him. He would never admit it, though, so he remained silent and tried to project confidence. It never occurred to him that everyone else on board his flagship and the other ships of the fleet were just as intimidated, or that he wasn’t very good at hiding his fear. It had never occurred to him that the officers and crews of his fleet mattered in any real way. As long as they followed orders like the machines they were expected to emulate, he was satisfied. As he paced his bridge he radiated uncertainty, and those around him picked up on that. It made them even more unwilling to approach him, as he was an unpredictable and harsh taskmaster at the best of times.
As Yullen watched the plot, the recidivist fleet accelerated to combat speed and began closing on the government’s forces. They weren’t in range yet, but they would be soon. Increasingly, Yullen was in shock. He really hadn’t believed that the republican recidivists on board the fleet would actually attack the duly appointed defenders of the government. He turned to his comms officer. “Can you punch a signal through the jamming yet?”
“Yes sir, barely.”
“Then do so. I want to talk to Falson.”
As the two fleets closed, the monitor on Yullen’s station lit up with the face of Admiral Falson. “Falson, you idiot! You cannot do this! We outnumber you! And we have your families! You’ll get them all killed, and for what? Nothing! Surrender now or face the consequences!”
Admiral Falson’s face remained calm, eerily calm, and his voice was steady as he answered. “What choice have you left us, traitor! We are dead, one way or another, and we know it. If we didn’t know before entering this system, we know it now. You and your fellow revolutionaries have gone insane! So much killing, so much death. You’re drunk on it, and it must stop!”
Yullen could feel the fear rising in him as he watched the approaching fleet. “Wait, Falson, you must think of your family! We have them and…”
Admiral Falson’s face never changed its calm demeanor, but at the mention of his family Falson calmly reached out and closed the comms channel. Yullen stared at the monitor in shock, not believing that anyone could be that callous. Well, anyone outside the Revolution, of course. The leaders of the Revolution had been willing to sacrifice their own families to take power, and many of them had. They believed that that was what gave them the advantage when dealing with the corrupt old government. Taking family members hostage had always served the revolution well in their efforts to overthrow the government installed by the D’Bringi, and he couldn’t believe it wasn’t working now. His train of thought was derailed by an announcement that rang across the bridge.
“Enemy fleet now at eight-point-five light seconds range.”
Yullen didn’t know a lot about space battles, but he knew that they were now just barely outside combat range. He finally realized that a battle was actually going to happen. That thought, of course, led to the inevitable corollary that his own precious skin was at risk here, something he hadn’t actually believed until now. “All ships will open fire as the enemy enters range! Plan Alpha! Plan Alpha!”
The revolution’s leaders were callous and ruthless. They viewed the great mass of citizens as little more than tools to be shaped by the party into a force that could create the great future that they had envisioned for their race. Like any tool, they were to be used and discarded, and could be replaced at a whim if they broke or faltered. No one cared about a tool, except to the extent that it was capable of doing its job. That attitude extended to their military forces, which they openly disdained. Now that they had broken the officer corps to the party’s yoke, and set watchers among them to ensure obedience, they viewed the fleet as yet another tool to be used when necessary and then put away and ignored until it was needed again. They would have scoffed at the idea that of morale, honor, pride, and experience could have any effect on the upcoming battle, which to them was a mere matter of numbers and equations. The ship’s crews had largely been replaced by the faithful from among the party’s membership, and if they weren’t trained as well as those they replaced, they were at least loyal, which meant far more to them than mere battle prowess. After all, what use was a sharp sword that turned in your hand and stabbed its wielder? Better a blunt sword that actually hit its enemy. They believed that the honor and duty that the old fleet had believed in was actually a weakness, not a strength. Yullen had believed that as well, as he had watched to old admirals in command of the fleet give up, one after another, at the merest threat to their families. After all of their nattering about honor and duty, their complete surrender had convinced him of the supremacy of the Party and the Council. Now, watching the returning fleet implacably advance on him, personally, Yullen was beginning to doubt his previous beliefs.
The oncoming Free Torqual Fleet hit the seven-point-five light second mark and the nine Akagi class short-range and medium range cruisers actually accelerated towards the government fleet, exceeding maximum military speed by detuning their engines. This made it difficult for them to target anything, but they were far beyond the range at which their beam weapons could hit their targets anyway. It also meant that they were overstressing their engines, which could suffer damage at some point, but that mattered little as it wasn’t clear that they would survive the next several minutes, much less any time longer than that. Following Plan Alpha, the government’s ships had come to a halt and begun modulating their engines, to make themselves harder to hit. To Falson’s practiced eyes their formation appeared ragged, but they all managed to come to halt in something resembling decent order.
Both sides had nearly perfect intelligence on the enemy’s ships, and thus both sides knew the capabilities of the enemy ships facing them. The government’s six capital missile cruisers concentrated their fire on one of the Free Fleet’s three capital missile cruisers, while the Free Fleet’s missile cruisers targeted one of the enemy’s beam-armed light cruisers. The Free Force’s missiles reached their target first. The targeted light cruiser was evading, and its panicked CO launched all three of its EDM’s as the missiles closed in on the ship, in spite of the fact that clearly over half of the eighteen capital missiles targeted on it were going to miss. Three got through the ship’s point defense fire and EDM’s, knocking down the light cruiser’s shields and scoring its armor. The return fire from the government’s two capital missile datagroups was targeted on the Free Fleet’s lead capital missile cruiser, which launched two EDM’s in its defense and took four hits, knocking down its shields and causing light armor damage.
The Free Fleet continued racing towards the government fleet, with its beam ships still detuning. The Free Fleet’s medium range cruisers stopped detuning and continued towards the enemy force, now within range of their missile launchers. On board the government fleet, Marshal Yullen had been watching the Free Fleet race towards his fleet, perplexed at how they thought they could win. The fear that had been growing within him was bubbling just below the surface, as he had realized that even though his fleet would surely win the battle, he personally might not survive. The second salvoes from both fleets were on their way when he hit the communicator button on his console. “Admiral Torson, your squadron will advance on the traitors and engage them closely!” Yullen hated the rising note of barely suppressed panic in his voice, but he had to get the Guard’s light cruisers out in front of the fleet. Out in front of his command ship, to be specific.
Admiral Torson’s face on Yullen’s monitor was dull, and his voice was edged with just as much fear as the Marshal’s. “What? Are you insane? Plan Alpha calls for us to remain with the fleet and screen at close range! I will not abandon the plan now!”
Marshal Yullen was practically shaking with rage as he replied. He knew cowardice when he saw it. “You get your ships out there, Admiral, or I will have you executed!”
Torson cut the channel as Yullen jumped to his feet and began pacing. “The coward! What is he thinking, refusing my order! Security!” Marshal Yullen’s chief enforcer, an Intelligence Directorate thug named Eroll, stood up from his station. “Dispatch officers to arrest Admiral Torson immediately!” The officer turned to leave.
Yullen’s flag captain hesitantly rose. “Sir, is it wise to cause confusion in the chain of command at a time like this?”
The Flag Captain gestured to the tank and Yullen could see that the missiles launched by both sides were arriving. Yullen’s eyes narrowed. “Are you questioning me? Now?” the panic in Yullen’s voice was even more apparent. “Arrest him!”
“Sir, no! I merely….” The captain stumbled to a halt as the omnipresent security officers rushed forward and grabbed him, hustling him off the bridge.
Unnoticed as everyone on the bridge focused on the drama, the missiles launched by both sides rained down on their targets. Capital missiles launched by the Free Fleet’s single capital missile armed group, augmented by capital missiles from their external racks, overwhelmed the defenses of a Guard light cruiser and stripped away its armor and shields, along with half of its engines. The Free Fleet’s medium range cruisers, armed with rapid firing standard missile launchers, targeted the light cruiser damaged by the first salvo of capital missiles and ravaged it, getting eighteen hits against the hapless CL, which had no more EDM’s to launch in its defense. Return fire from the Revolutionary Guard fleet’s capital missile cruisers was focused on the same Free Fleet capital missile cruiser as before. The two squadrons of Revolutionary Guard cruisers managed to score just two hits against the Free Fleet cruiser, whose point defense seemed impenetrable. The two Guard squadrons armed with advanced standard missile launchers only managed to score one hit between the two squadrons, slightly weakening the shields of one of the Free Fleet’s standard missile cruisers.
Marshal Yullen didn’t notice this exchange of fire, as he was ranting against the disloyal officers under his command, but the other captains in the fleet noticed this disparity of results. Fear was growing throughout the Revolutionary fleet, where the crews and officers were beginning to understand that their revolutionary master’s insistence that fervor for the cause was an acceptable substitute for competence on the job was perhaps not based in reality.
Yullen’s eyes had turned back to the tank just as Security Officer Eroll returned to the bridge. “Marshal Yullen!” Yullen turned at the near shout. “My forces on board the Equality tried to arrest Admiral Torson but were barred from the bridge when Torson locked it down. They have been unable to penetrate its defenses.”
Yullen just stared at the security officer in disbelief. What the hell was going on? His mental line of questioning was halted by a call from his new flag captain, formerly the second in command of the flagship.
“Sir! The Equality is leaving the line!”
Yullen wheeled around to peer at the tank. He immediately saw that his new flag captain was right. The light cruiser Equality, the flagship of the light cruiser squadron that was supposed to be protecting his cruisers, had turned and was running back towards the home planet. Yullen was filled with rage, forgetting his fear for a few seconds. He stabbed the all-ships button on his console.
“All light cruisers will fire on the Equality! It has turned traitor and will attack our planet to assist the recidivists!”
Even as Yullen issued the orders the Free Fleet continued to close on the government ships. Two of Yullen’s light cruisers turned their force beams on the fleeing light cruisers and wiped it from space as missiles from the approaching fleet began impacting the firing light cruiser’s shields. Yullen felt a surge of delight when the treacherous admiral’s cruiser disappeared in a deluge of force beam fire, but then one of his loyal light cruisers blew up.
“What just happened?” Even as he asked the question a second light cruiser’s light code began to rapidly blink, indicating that it had received serious internal damage.
Yullen’s Flag Captain gestured at the tank. “The enemy is concentrating their fire on the light cruisers. All of their ships are within range now.”
Yullen watched incredulously as one by one, his remaining light cruisers received enough damage to cripple them. His eyes turned to the icons for his cruisers, which remained reassuringly steady. “What damage have we done to them?”
The bridge remained silent. After a second Yullen rounded on his unfortunate flag captain. “Captain!”
His skin turning duller, the Flag Captain stood up. “Sir! We have disabled the shields on four of their cruisers.”
“What!?” Yullen’s eyes were drawn to the tank, where he could see the traitor short-ranged cruisers charging seemingly straight at him. For a second, he was tempted to order his fleet to run ahead of the approaching fleet to try and maintain the range, but he instantly dismissed that thought. If he ordered his ships to abandon their positions, he was pretty sure they would panic and run, and wouldn’t stop until they reached another system, if then. “All ships will concentrate their fire on those short-range cruisers!”
The Free Fleet short-ranged cruisers closed to one point two five light seconds before they fired again. Yullen watched in shock as the three lead cruisers fired their force beams at three of his crippled light cruisers, wiping them from space. The three light cruisers had been crippled, reduced to one sixth speed and only retaining a weapon or two, but the traitors wiped them from space without hesitation, not even calling for a surrender. Despite everything, Yullen was shocked. That wasn’t how the Fleet worked. How many times had he and the other Council members laughed about the old regime’s stupid adherence to its values, even as it went down in flames. For the first time he began to realize that perhaps they had pushed them too hard. Too far.
Then one of the loyalist Bangor Class Heavy Cruisers exploded when it came under fire from traitor cruiser group. It was followed quickly by one of his capital missile cruisers. Yullen blanched when he saw that, for it was one of his flagship’s data-group members. Standard and capital missiles sleeted in on a second Bangor class cruiser, overwhelming its defenses and causing serious damage. Yullen stared at the traitor fleet, hoping that his fleet had been able to inflict commensurate damage, but his hopes were dashed. His ships had focused their fire on a single traitor Akagi class beam cruiser, and while they had managed to knock its shields down, and penetrate its armor, the damned ship was keeping up with its squadron mates and was maintaining coordinated fire on his battered fleet. Nothing seemed to deter the traitors. They were coming in like beasts from hell, and their effectiveness compared to his fleet was staggering.
The command deck had broken down into chaos around Yullen as officers shouted at each other and into their comms channels. Yullen staggered back to his station and collapsed. How could this have happened? His eyes settled on the comms button and he realized that he had one chance left. He hit the channel to the traitor fleet, and was surprised when his monitor lit up to show Admiral Falson.
“Yes?”
Yullen was briefly taken aback by the venom in the other’s voice, but rallied. He was the survivor of numerous political battles within the Council, some of them bloody, and showing weakness never worked. “Traitor, you must cease fire! You are killing your own people! We have your family on board our ships, and the families of your officers and crews! Every missile you fire, every beam, kills someone you know! Now stand down and you and your families can all live! We’ll even release you to the Alliance, if that is what you want!” Yullen watched the other’s face as he spoke, but he didn’t see what he wanted. There was no weakness there, not sentimentality. Only an implacable hatred. He tried again. “You saw the videos I sent of the hostages we have on our ships! You have to believe me!” Thinking of Falson’s child that had expired at the hands of the Council’s torturers, he tried another approach. “If you don’t care about your family, what of your crews? What about them?”
“My officers and crews know their families are dead. They have accepted that, and now they want justice. And they will have it!” The channel closed with a finality that Yullen felt in his soul. He sat at his station, unbelieving and beyond thought or emotion. Finally, he roused himself when Flag Captain Horson shook him.
“Sir! The Fleet!”
Yullen turned dull eyes towards the tank and saw his fleet unravel as the enemy charged towards them. Government cruisers scattered in as many directions as there were cruisers. Their missile launchers fell silent as they ran, each ship hoping that the enemy would cease firing if they did. It didn’t work. The enemy fleet mercilessly chased down the fleeing ships, firing as they came. Yullen realized that the battle was over, lost. Now it was every person for themselves. “Captain, get us out of here!”
The captain turned and began yelling orders. The flagship got underway, racing after the other fleeing cruisers. In quick sequence five government cruisers were savaged by force beams, plasma guns, and missile fire. Somehow, miraculously, Yullen’s cruiser escaped the barrage. The government cruisers got the message, and one by one they dropped their drive fields, surrendering to the Free Fleet. All except Yullen’s cruiser. It continued to run as its officers were sure of their fate should they surrender. It didn’t get far, as the next salvo from the Free Fleet was concentrated on that one ship, wiping it from space.
The Free Fleet, having suffered only minor damage, closed on the drive-field down ships of the government, force, and soon had them under control. The officers and crews were stripped and imprisoned in their own brigs, while the hostages, the few that remained, were freed and reunited with their families and friends. The Free Fleet, having suffered minor damage in the battle and now reinforced by three Bangor class cruisers which had surrendered intact, set out for their home planet. The first battle was over, now came the battle to free their planet and their people.
-
Month 189, Day 9, Torqual Prime
The Free Fleet approached their home planet cautiously, but as it turned out their caution was unwarranted. The planet was orbited by six shipyards and three light cruiser sized defensive bases, but the shipyards weren’t armed and the bases powered down and dropped their drive fields before Falson’s fleet entered orbit. It was clear that they knew that any battle with the approaching fleet would be extremely one-sided and short, and so the crews had largely abandoned the bases before Falson’s fleet reached orbit. In one case, the crew abandoned their base after killing their officers, who had tried to stop them. On the other two bases the officers had abandoned the bases first, leaving the crews to their fate. After that, Falson’s crews had little trouble securing the orbital bases and shipyards.
Admiral Falson’s Free Fleet arrived over the home planet to find it in chaos. Word of the defeat of the government’s fleet had leaked out, and the general public had risen against their tormentors across the entire planet. Nearly every city was in flames, and general combat between vast crowds of enraged people and the government’s security forces raged in every city. One of Falson’s worst fears dissipated when their orbital scans revealed the fact that the planet’s main spaceport, outside of the capital city, was deserted. He had feared that the spaceport would be heavily defended, making a landing by the civilian transports carrying his marines and the mercenaries provided by the Alliance nearly impossible. Given the fighting in the nearby capital Falson suspected that any units assigned to defend the spaceport had been diverted to defend the main Council buildings in the capital. Based on orbital surveillance, it appeared that the Revolutionary Council was still holding out, although how much of the planet they actually controlled was an open question.
Once in orbit Admiral Falson ordered his transports to land and establish a beachhead at the spaceport. The transports carried an eclectic group of ground forces, made up a of a hodgepodge of D’Bringi and Torqual mercenaries, Torqual marines, and a scattering of troops ‘hired’ from the other races of the Alliance. Most of the troops were light infantry, although they did have a significant air defense capability, and several rapid strike units equipped with light armor and air assets. It wasn’t enough to conquer the planet, certainly, but there were enough to take and hold the capital city, if they were lucky.
While Admiral Falson paced on his command deck, the transports descended through the atmosphere. This was the critical point of the entire operation. His fleet was unable to support the fragile transports without nuclear bombardment, and he wasn’t certain he could order bombardment of his own planet. For that matter, he wasn’t certain that his people would follow him if he ordered such a thing. What he didn’t suspect was that his crews, who had always respected him, now revered him. His defeat of the government fleet, capturing most of the Guard ships without losing a ship of his own, had raised him to near mythical status amongst his own people. The fact that every officer and crewer on the fleet knew of the torture and death of Falson’s daughter at the hands of the Revolutionary Guard meant that their respect and devotion to him now knew no bounds. They would follow him to hell and hack, if he ordered it.
In any case, Falson needn’t have worried. The transports made it through their descent without incident and were soon on the ground at the spaceport, disgorging their troops.
Admiral Falson had planned to wait an hour as the troops on the ground set up their firebase before moving to the next step, but it actually took longer, as he should have anticipated. Eventually, though, the starport was secure and its defenses were as good as they were going to get.
Admiral Falson stood in the center of his command deck and nodded to a tech, who activated the recording network. The recording would show Admiral Falson surrounded by Free Fleet personnel, all looking determined and serious. Once the recording had started, Admiral Falson stepped forward, towards the pickup. “I am Admiral Falson, and I command the Free Fleet of Torqual. For months we have heard rumors of unrest and discontent back home, as we served our nation representing the Torqual people to the Alliance, providing for our mutual defense. These were just rumors, denied by the government, but they were disquieting. Then, one by one, our relatives and friends dropped out of contact. We weren’t told why; we were told to do our jobs. Then, one by one, the government started calling our ships back to the home system, for refits and crew replacements, they said. Only they lied. When our ships returned home, instead of receiving the honors they had earned, our crews were murdered by the very people they had defended! Because the government is incompetent and vicious, they allowed the word of the murders to get back to us, and that started us on the road to where we are now.” Admiral Falson stepped closer to the pickup, now dominating the view, and there was no mistaking the rage and determination in his face. “But I do not have to give a list of our grievances to you, the people who have suffered under the Revolutionary Council’s control for the longest! You already know their excesses, their corruption, and their utter descent into depravity. But that is now over!” He stepped back and gestured around the command deck, at the command crew calmly and quietly going about their duties. “We have returned! And we have swept aside the regime’s defenders like the weak maxim-spouting dregs that they are! The Council’s fleet is no more! My fleet, reinforced by the ships we took from the Council, now controls the orbitals. Nothing will enter or leave this planet or this system without my approval! The Council’s days are numbered! Already many of you have risen against the Council and their minions. That’s good, because I and my crews can’t finish this alone. My forces control the Capital Spaceport, and soon we will control the Capital City, but we need your help! Work with my people on the ground, cooperate, and soon we will see the end of these barbarians who have wormed their way into the heart of our great nation! To the Council, buried in their bunkers and cringing at the sounds of a vengeful people outside their doors, I call on you to surrender now! If you surrender then you will be taken into custody and tried. If you continue to hide, like the cowards you are, then we will dig you out and kill you all, like the animals that you have become. To the leaders of the groups fighting against the Council’s forces, I call on you to coordinate with my ground forces as we move the end this disaster that the Council has brought upon us all! Together we will return our planet to peace prosperity for all!”
The tech cut the recording and Falson turned and gestured for the recording to be broadcast across the entire planet, as they had discussed. Soon it was out, being broadcast by every ship in the fleet, with enough power to break through the nearly omnipresent jamming that blanketed the surface. Six hours later a column of troops left the spaceport, headed for the capital city. Their mission was to establish contact with the rebels fighting against the Council’s forces, and to begin digging the Council out of their bunkers in the palace complex in the center of the city.
With that underway, Admiral Falson turned to the next item on his list. The Torqual Army was relatively small, but well-armed and professional. Like the Navy it seemed the Council had penetrated the upper levels of the Army to establish control, but unlike the Navy the Council had been forced to be more circumspect with the Army, given the fact that they were stationed on the home world. Most of the Army’s bases were outside of major cities, and based on surveillance it seemed that most of the Army was still in their bases, not helping or hurting the uprising against the Council. It would be Falson’s job to convince the Army to join his cause, at best, or at least to stand aside and not help the Council. If he couldn’t convince the Army to help, or at least remain in their bases, then he would have only a short window to react before columns from the bases reached the cities they neighbored. And, of course, his only possible reaction would be to bombard the columns from orbit, something he desperately wanted to avoid. But they were committed now, and there was no going back. He had already decided that half measures would doom them all. They had won in space, but they could still lose on the ground, and that thought gnawed at him throughout the day as events unfolded on the ground.
Month 189, Day 11, Torqual Prime
As expected, the Council refused to surrender, or even to contact the fleet that the government’s propaganda still called traitors and reavers in its broadcasts across the planet. Falson’s ground force had entered the Capital, but going was slow as they were trying to avoid conflicts with those who were fighting the Council. That seemed to be a hodgepodge of criminals, regular people driven to the brink by the Council’s bloody policies, and deserters from the various military and security forces. All of those groups were mixed in with Council Security forces of various capabilities, organization levels, and effectiveness in a seemingly wild free-for-all that had consumed the bulk of the city. It had soon become clear that no one on either side was in control, the chaos having broken down the Council’s command and control efforts on the one side, and on the rebel’s side there never was a coordinated effort to begin with. Falson’s ground effort then transformed into an effort to organize the rebels into a coherent force before they could push further into the city, and Falson had been forced to relocate from orbit to lead this effort. Fortunately, his efforts with the Army had at least convinced them to remain in their barracks for the time being.
Month 189, Day 17, Torqual Prime
The Coalition to Free Torqual, organized by Admiral Falson, now comprised the bulk of the forces fighting the Council in the Capital City, and they were beginning to reach out to the other cities. As it turned out, the Army was both less and more of a factor in the fighting than Falson had thought. The Army hadn’t been fully trusted by the Revolutionary Council, so long before the rebellion their ability to independently intervene in events outside their bases had been limited by turning the bulk of their transport capability over to the Revolutionary Guard’s control. This meant that once the uprising occurred, the commanders of the various Army units stationed around the planet could only intervene in the fighting in the cities by marching on foot, and the Revolutionary Guard had threatened to use their air power to prevent the Army’s move on the cities, not trusting the motives of the Army commanders. This led to a large number of the rank and file ‘deserting’ and leaving the bases independently to go to the cities and help their friends and neighbors who were on the front lines. On some bases this was actually desertion, and opposed by the leadership, and on others it was condoned by the commanders, who allowed entire units to leave with all of their equipment. Some of the deserters fought for the Council, as true believers, but most fought with the people and brought a core of trained manpower to the ongoing fights in the cities against the Council’s security services.
In the Capital City, many Army units were dispersed among the rebels, and these Army units rallied to Admiral Falson’s cause, recognizing the need for unified leadership. They brought with them the civilians they had been leading, and Admiral’s Falson’s coalition quickly coalesced from there.
Now, eight days after landing, the Coalition was ready to move. The first step was coordinated strikes across the city against the scattered security forces that still resisted. With the help of Admiral Falson’s troops and orbital surveillance, the battle was over by the end of the day and most organized resistance had ended outside of the palace complex at the center of the city. Next, the Coalition would expand to the other cities around the world, while the palace complex was invested.
Month 189, Day 30, Torqual Prime
Fully one tenth of the cities on the home world were under the control of Falson’s Coalition to Free Troqual, while fighting went on in most of the other cities around the globe. The ships captured from the Council’s fleet were waiting to go into the yards for repairs, while Falson tried to decide what to do with his fleet. With events moving forward on the ground, Falson had returned to orbit to determine the next steps for his fleet. Information captured from the Council’s fleet indicated that the Council had assigned three heavy cruisers and six light cruisers to patrol the colonies, while they withdrew the remainder of their fleet to the home planet to oppose Falson. Those ships would have to be dealt with, and the Council’s hold on the colonies broken. Based on what information he had, it appeared that the Council had focused its efforts on two colony systems, which it had renamed Equity and Unity. Falson suspected that the bulk of the Council’s remaining forces were located at one or both of those colonies. Unfortunately, he didn’t know if they were dispersed between the two or concentrated at one.
In any case, the first step would be to secure the home system’s warp points. To this end he dispatched six heavy cruisers to each warp point, to establish a guard on the warp point and to replace the officers and crews, if necessary, of the trio of battle stations placed at the warp points to guard against intruders. With the warp points secure and the bases under his control he would be able to plan campaigns against the Council’s two primary out-system strong-points.
-
A recent post in the comment thread got me thinking about this, so I decided to lay out the forces in the recent battle, and discuss some of the issues surrounding the fight in a quick post.
A comparison of the Torqual Free Fleet and Revolutionary Council’s forces:
Free Fleet:
3xImperial Favor R3 class CA’s (crack)
3xAkagi(LR) r3 class CA’s (elite)
9xAkagi r3 class CA’s (3xElite, 6xCrack)
That’s fifteen heavy cruisers, all graded crack or elite.
Hull Spaces: 900
18xRc
18xRa
48xF
18xPg
Revolutionary Council Fleet:
6xBangor v1.1 class CA’s (3xGreen, 3xPoor)
6xImperial Favor r3 class CA’s (6xGreen)
6xHalifax v1.3 class CL’s (5xGreen, 4xPoor)
That’s twelve heavy cruisers and six light cruisers, all graded poor or green:
Hull Spaces: 990
36xRc
54xRa
30xF
As you can see, by the bare numbers the Revolutionary Council’s fleet had a significant advantage at long and medium range, with the Free Fleet gaining the advantage at close and point-blank range, if they could survive to get there.
The Revolutionary Council’s fleet chose a poor strategy, though. Instead of running ahead of the attacking Free Fleet, forcing them to close through hail of missiles and emphasizing their missile advantage, they instead held still and modulated their engines to make themselves harder to hit. This strategy didn’t work. Their engine modulations didn’t do enough to counteract the advantages the Free Fleet’s grade was giving them, and staying still merely allowed the Free Fleet to close to beam range very quickly, especially as they were detuning their engines.
In point of fact, in spite of being outnumbered in long range missile launchers by two to one, and in medium range missile launchers by three to one, the Free Fleet consistently scored more hits on the Revolutionary Council’s fleet than they received in return. Worse, the Revolutionary Council’s fire was scattered against several different ships, and the firing priorities kept changing every turn.
After the first two turns of firing, by which time both long and medium ranged missiles ships were engaged, it was clear that the Free Fleet had a nearly overwhelming advantage, no matter what the bare numbers said. This surprised me, and I decided that it would demoralize the Revolutionary Council’s fleet, causing them to break and run, as the Free Fleet had passed through missile range largely unscathed and was now entering their most effective range.
I purposefully gave the Revolutionary Council’s fleet a less than optimal strategy because they were so inexperienced, as was their commander. I was pretty sure before the battle that their poor strategy would doom them, but after playing it out I realized that there may not have been a way for them to win. They could have inflicted more damage on the Free Fleet, but the grade imbalance really screwed them.
I’d say that no one would be stupid enough to hamstring their military before going into an all or nothing fight, but that’s exactly what the USSR did before WW II. I’m sure with a little thought there are other similar incidents scattered throughout history. As always, national leaders are almost always focused on internal political threats and opportunities, rather than external threats.
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Month 186, Bedu Republic
The Bedu are generally small in stature, humanoid, with large eyes deep-set within their skulls, and a wide mouth that gives them a vaguely frog-like appearance. The Bedu Republic had ruled their system for over a hundred years before their discovery by the Bjering. The Republic was an amalgamation of the Bedu nation-states that survived a massive planet-wide war that killed a significant percentage of the population before mutual exhaustion put an end to it. The formation of the Republic led eventually to a golden age as the Bedu spread throughout their system, colonizing everything within reach. As with many golden ages, though, their prosperity began to fade and nationalism began to rise, leading to fears amongst the citizens that the old days of war and strife were returning. The leaders of the Republic, grown corrupt and lazy, did little to stop this slide into chaos, and indeed actually seemed to be encouraging it for their own selfish and short-sighted reasons. Despair was rampant, and it looked to everyone as if the end of their civilization was near.
Finally, after a series of disasters made worse by either government inaction or overreaction, the Grand Admiral in command of the Republic’s Space Fleet dropped his marines on the capital city and arrested the entire upper echelon of the government, both bureaucrats and elected officials, and charged them with corruption and treason. Admiral Thrack then had the High Councilor of the Republic, who was in prison awaiting trial, appoint him as Consul and Protector of the Republic, granting him extraordinary powers to deal with the apparently inevitable slide into disaster. After appointing the Grand Admiral to the position of Consul of the Republic, the High Chancellor resigned his post and was subsequently convicted of multiple charges of corruption.
Consul Thrack acted decisively, imprisoning much of the highest levels of the government for treason and corruption and enacting sweeping changes to the entire government. These changes streamlined what had become a bureaucratic nightmare, restoring it to a level of functionality that hadn’t been seen in decades. It was during this period, in Month 138, that the Bjering discovered the Bedu and revealed the existence of the warp points that made interstellar travel possible. The combination of Thrack’s rooting out of corruption, the changes to the government, and the opening of interstellar travel all combined to create what many began calling the 2nd Golden Age. Consul Thrack, unwilling to expose his new government to the potential instabilities represented by close contact with an alien race, rejected the requests from the Bjering for an alliance, even going so far as to reject the more limited trade treaty the Bjering suggested. Eventually he asked the Bjering to end their attempts to establish a relationship with the fledgling new interstellar power, asking for isolation to put his nation back together.
Since then, the Bedu had expanded out from their home system, settling thirteen planets in nine different systems. Consul Thrack claimed from the first that he didn’t intend to hold power forever, merely for long enough to make the changes that the Bedu needed, and to ensure that those changes remained after he left power. Many have hailed Consul Thrack as the savior of his people, and is being urged by his assistants and lieutenants to consolidate his rule by declaring himself Emperor of the New Empire, although to date he has resisted this course. He hasn’t ruled it out, or punished those who have suggested it, and as his popularity swells it is becoming increasingly clear that a majority of the people would support or even welcome such a move. There is an opposition movement, though, and it is growing increasingly desperate to stem what they view as Thrack’s growing authoritarian subversion of the old Republic’s essential democratic nature. They fear that Thrack will not give up power, and, paradoxically, it is Thrack’s fear of the growing opposition movement that is pushing him to seriously consider proclaiming himself Emperor out of fear that they will undo his reforms.
As time went on, Consul Thrack began reconsidering his decision to reject friendship and trade with the Bjering. He began sending delegations to the Consolidate, beginning an opening of relations that grew month by month. It was a slow process, but bit by bit trust grew between the two nations. By that time, the Bedu had become a creditable interstellar power, and Thrack’s reforms had had enough time to settle in and become permanent. However, before he could decide on a more open relationship with the Consolidate, fate intervened. In Month 169, a race calling themselves the Mintek Universal Union appeared in the colony system of Salih. The Mintek proved to be friendly and open, and, just as the Bjering had, asked for friendly relations and an opening of trade. After playing for time, rejecting the first several requests from the Mintek, Consul Thrack decided that it was time to open up. The Mintek were told that the Bedu would agree to trade relations, and protocols for travel between the two nations were established. From the first it surprised the Bedu border control bureaucrats how many Mintek seemed interested in travelling into the Republic’s territory. At first there was some concern, however, the Mintek were unfailingly polite and well behaved, and when Republic officials looked into the matter many of the local customs and police officials remarked on how little actual trouble the Mintek caused.
The trade between the two nations revealed that the Mintek had an income that was larger than that of the Bedu, although there were indications that it was not substantially higher. It was in Month 186 that things began coming apart. It was then that the Bedu government noticed that many of their people who had travelled to the Mintek territories were not returning, and that even more of their people seemed to have become bewitched by Mintek teachings, and had begun to congregate in Mintek missionary camps, leaving their jobs and refusing to pay taxes. Investigators were sent out, and some did not return. Others reported that nothing was amiss, while yet others reported that a massive subversion of Bedu sovereignty was underway. This was clearly a problem, and for the Bedu, almost every problem could and would be solved by the military. It took a relatively short period of time before Consul Thrack ordered the fleet to investigate the situation. And the Bedu fleet never did anything by half-measures. By the next day, the 3rd Fleet was en route to the Salih system. The 3rd Fleet was composed of two carriers, a battlecruiser, two light cruisers, and three destroyers. It would arrive in the Salih system at the end of the month.
-
Month 187, Bedu Republic, Salih colonial system
The eight ships of the 3rd Fleet arrived in the system at the end of the last month. The Salih colony system was on the periphery of the Bedu colonial expanses. The colony by last report had just under eleven million residents, but the benign ST type planet the colony was located on was rated as ‘very poor’ in terms of mineral wealth and thus the colony was considered something of a backwater. The system also contained a type T planet that had not yet been colonized, as it was considered a hostile environment and was not particularly gifted with mineral wealth either.
Almost immediately the newly arrived fleet had been bombarded by messages from the local colonial administration either claiming that everything was in order and functioning smoothly, or that secret insurrectionists had taken over the government. Aside from the messages everything seemed normal in the system, at least on the surface. Grand Vizier Horajj, commander of the 3rd Fleet, immediately dispatched one of his light cruisers to picket the warp point to the Mintek system, and ordered his second light cruiser to remain at their entry point, both with orders to stand off and observe any traffic into and out of the system without being observed. The remainder of his fleet moved inwards, towards the colony in the inner system. It took them just two days to arrive at the colony, and they were met in orbit by the Colonial Administrator and his assistant. Both of those worthies assured the Grand Vizier that everything was functioning smoothly in the colony, and that there was no need for alarm. They seemed convincing, but there was still the matter of the near constant barrage of radio contacts from the surface warning his fleet that something was amiss on the colony. Grand Vizier Horajj was unconvinced by the Administrator’s claims, but with no proof he was unwilling to take action. After assuring the Administrator that his visit was merely part of a patrol of the outer systems, Grand Vizier Horajj ordered his staff to get to the bottom of the unrest and confusion in the system.
Two weeks later…
The situation had not become any clearer, although Grand Vizier Horajj was becoming more convinced that the Mintek were at the heart of the problems in the system. There were at least four different factions within the Colonial Administration on the planet, with each claiming that they were the loyal administrators and the other groups were conspirators of some sort. The Colonial Administrator was the leader of the largest of the four groups, and was nominally in control of the governmental apparatus of the colony, but Grand Vizier Horajj was unconvinced that the Administrator actually controlled anything. And, perhaps most worryingly, the Colonial Administrator was very close to the Mintek ‘traders’ that seemed to have flocked to the colony since the opening of the border, and in fact had appointed several to high level advisor positions in his administration.
Neither Grand Vizier Horajj nor his people could get a handle on what was going on down below, but there did seem to be a lot of Mintek on the colony. Far more than anyone would expect for a mere trading mission. Horajj had sent his marine contingent down to perform exercises on the planet’s surface, and just incidentally gather as much information as they could about events on the planet, and they reported that the Mintek seemed to be everywhere, but that they also did not seem to be up to anything in particular. The Mintek had set up what appeared to be large, well-equipped trading and cultural exchange stations in nearly every town and city throughout the colony, though, and they were well-visited by the local population, most of whom seem to get on well with the Mintek. And this was where matters stood when the light cruiser assigned to the warp point leading back to the inner systems reported in.
Grand Vizier Horajj was woken early in the morning and given the message from the picket ship. The report made him leap from his bed and call for his staff. The picket cruiser had detected a single ship entering the system through the warp point from the Sleiman system. The ship appeared to be a Mintek freighter, which was alarming in and of itself, as Mintek ships were supposed to be limited to the Salih system. Also of interest was the freighter’s course. The freighter was not headed for the Salih colony, but for the Salih system’s fourth planet, a type T planet that the Bedu hadn’t gotten around to colonizing. The picket cruiser was located far enough from the warp point that there was no way that the Mintek freighter could have detected them, but was well within its own sensor range, and would be able to track the Mintek ship for quite a while as it headed into the system.
The Mintek ship had entered the Salih system from the Sleiman system, another Bedu colony system. The Sleiman system contained three type T planets, which was disappointing for the Bedu, who preferred type ST planets. Still, the colonial authority had decided to colonize the hostile planets, with an eye toward using the population growth in the Sleiman system to colonize systems further out along the periphery. Discoveries elsewhere had diverted attention from the system, leaving the growing populations on the three type T planets overcrowded without the relief valve of further colonization, but the colonization authorities had promised to remedy the situation in the near future.
After discussing the implications with his staff, Grand Vizier Horajj decided to wait until the freighter got closer before acting. Thirty-five hours passed, and the freighter had been on the fleet’s sensors for most of the way. Interestingly, six hours into its flight through the system the freighter had altered its course, coming around to head for the Salih colony. This would have been about when it would have received a warning from the Salih colony of the presence of Grand Vizier Horajj’s ships in the system. Now it was on final approach. Grand Vizier Horajj dispatched his destroyer squadron to intercept the transport short of the planet. The Bedu destroyers intercepted the transport sixty light seconds from the colony, and ordered it to halt. The transport’s captain refused at first, claiming right of transit under the treaty with the Mintek, but the destroyer group’s commander was ready for that. Grand Vizier Horajj had declared an emergency in the system shortly after the transport had entered, giving the military extraordinary powers throughout the length of the emergency. The Bedu would have to explain their actions to the Mintek afterwards, but they clearly were within their rights in their own territory. Still, the transport commander refused to heave to, until the lead destroyer launched a plasma ball across the bows. At that the transport stopped and dropped its drive field, under protest. It also launched a courier drone towards the warp point to Mintek space. Grand Vizier Horajj sent orders to the cruiser picketing the warp point that was the courier drone’s target, and the picket ship handily intercepted the courier drone before it could transit out.
The Bedu destroyers moved in to surround the transport, and the lead ship docked with without incident, while the other ships watched from a short distance. Shortly after that the destroyer’s commander reported in with shocking news. The Mintek ship was a colony transport, and it was packed with Bedu colonists from the adjacent Sleiman system.
Grand Vizier Horajj was actually shocked at this development. He had expected some sort of covert spy activity at worse, or, slightly less disturbing, a criminal smuggling ring of some sort. The Mintek moving large numbers of Bedu colonists about within Bedu territory was just incomprehensible. Vizier Horajj decided that enough was enough. He ordered the destroyer group commander to seize the transport and interrogate all of the persons on board, regardless of nationality. Then he ordered his fleet to the fourth planet, to investigate the transport’s original destination. The trip took just over a day, and what they found there deepened his confusion. On approach to the type T planet their sensors detected a colony on the surface, where none should be. The presence of some buildings or people on such a planet was to be expected, of course, even if it hadn’t officially been colonized. Such things happened all the time. This was different, though. As they approached the planet their sensors confirmed that there were several decent sized towns established on the surface, with large areas of cleared farmlands around them. The population of the unsanctioned colony was astounding, approximately six million. While the population appeared to be mostly Bedu, there appeared to be a lot of Mintek mixed in among them as well.
Grand Vizier Horajj went down to the largest town himself, with a full marine company as an escort. He was met at the tidy airfield outside the town by a delegation that was composed mostly of Bedu, but with a few Mintek scattered amongst them. They were friendly and welcoming to the landing party. The entire visit seemed like a dream to the Bedu landing force, as the locals acted like nothing was wrong and gave the visiting leaders a tour, letting them see anything they asked to see. The colony was clean and well equipped, if somewhat rural, which the local leaders explained was on purpose. When Grand Vizier Horajj asked, the colony leaders claimed that the settlement was a test of the ability of the Mintek and Bedu to live together in harmony, learning from and teaching one another. There were some things the local leaders became evasive about, such as the origin of all of the Bedu on the planet, and such minor things as the collection of taxes, and why the central government didn’t know about the colony. The marines of the landing force found no weapons in or around the town, though, and the townspeople were very friendly. The entire thing seemed subversive to Horajj, but their friendliness put everyone off, making them doubt their suspicions.
At this point Horajj felt he had enough information to determine that something subversive was going on, even if he couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Therefore, he ordered his picket ships at the warp points to close the warp points to all non-military traffic. The picket ship at the warp point to Mintek space would turn around any ship that entered, sending them back to the Mintek, while the other picket ship would board and search any ship that entered the system from the Bedu expanses. Full teams were sent to both colonies, with orders to tear apart the colonial administrations if necessary to get to the bottom of the events in the system. Finally, Horajj dispatched a report to the home system, alerting the home world of the potential problem with the Mintek.
-
Month 187, Day 30, Gortyn system, Mintek Universal Union
“Strategos, the transport Petals of Autumn is now overdue by five days. There has been no further information from our people in Bedu territory, with several reports now overdue by four weeks. We must assume the worst.”
Strategos Brammer didn’t want to believe that the Bedu would be so foolish as to react so poorly to the Mintek efforts to help enlighten them. He shook his head. Why were those who lived in darkness so determined to remain in the darkness? It had always been a mystery to him. And now the Bedu were repeating the pattern. He looked at the plot tank. The Fast Attack Group, along with the 1st Carrier Strike Group, were lined up before the warp point, ready to react if the Bedu proved to be unreasonable. The expansion of the fleet over the last few years was still hard for him to wrap his head around. The Fast Attack Group alone was composed of fifteen battlecruisers, escorted by twelve destroyers and three corvette-scouts. The 1st Carrier Strike Group was the real strength of the fleet, though, and was composed of two carriers, seven light carriers, a strike carrier, and ten escort carriers, and was escorted by three destroyers and a corvette-scout. The Carrier Strike Group could deploy three hundred and ninety of the latest fighters, along with nine armed pinnaces. In addition, he had operational control of the 1st Assault Group, should he need them. The 1st Assault Group was composed of nine superdreadnoughts, three assault carriers, two heavy cruisers, and three destroyers, and was stationed three jumps away, where it could respond to the home system or his location in a reasonable amount of time.
Abruptly, he came to a decision. Dithering would not change the fact that the unenlightened were determined to remain unenlightened. “Very well. I will go the Bedu to discuss the matter. I will be taking my flagship, accompanied by two escort destroyers. We will depart as soon as I complete my report to the Chancellor.”
His chief of staff saluted and left to begin the preparations. Brammer felt himself on the steepening slope to war, a familiar feeling at this point.
Month 188, Day 1, Salih colony system
Grand Vizier Horajj’s countenance looked out from every net-connected screen in the colony. “I am Grand Vizier Horajj, commander of the 3rd Fleet and, as of today, the duly appointed military governor of this system. Martial law has been declared throughout the system. As of now, all system-level travel is restricted until approved by my office. All government offices on Salih colony now report to me, through officers that I will appoint as the day moves forward. Marine units will be landing to assume control of colonial security. Any resistance or interference in the activities of the marines will be considered treason. The marines have orders to fulfill, and will fire upon anyone that attempts to interfere with them while they do so. Anyone who resists the marines, or interferes, will be arrested and tried for treason, if they are not killed in the commission of their crime. This system has been engulfed by chaos, and that ends today. Order will be restored. Resistance will not be allowed.” The Grand Vizier’s message ended with an external shot of his fleet in orbit over the colony, a not-so-subtle reminder of who had the high ground in this situation.
The message complete, Horajj turned to his second in command. “Launch the marines. I want our people in place as soon as possible.”
The officer saluted and turned away, and a few minutes later two assault shuttles and two pinnaces broke away from the fleet. One of the pinnaces was headed for the unsanctioned colony, while the rest headed for the surface of Salih. Horajj watched as the small craft rapidly descended, in what was essentially a combat drop, racing for the surface and the relative safety of low altitude. Fortunately, there was no resistance, and within minutes the small craft were disgorging their marines at their targets. The two assault shuttles had each dropped their marine contingents at a Mintek compound in one of the small towns outside the colonial capital, while the pinnace dropped its troops in the downtown area of the capital city, assuming control of the capital and its vital services. The drop downtown went off without a hitch. It was early in the morning in the capital, and most of the citizens were still in their beds. The marines met no resistance and took their objectives rapidly.
The two marine units sent to secure the Mintek compounds didn’t have as much luck. They were able to land without meeting any resistance, however, as they approached their respective targets, they were met by a hail of fire coming from hidden bunkers outside of the compounds, forcing the marines to stop their advance to deploy to meet the threat. Before Horajj could react to this, a message came in from the light cruiser he had deployed to the warp point to Mintek space. A Mintek battlecruiser had arrived in-system and was asking to speak to the officer in command.
This was an unwelcome development, as far as Horajj was concerned. The Mintek ship had requested permission to enter the system before jumping in, so its presence wasn’t exactly a treaty-violation, however, the fact that a Mintek warship was here, in-system, so quickly after his own arrival, meant that the Mintek had to have deployed a force of warships nearby, or they wouldn’t have been able to respond to his presence so quickly. This was disquieting, to say the least. After considering the situation for a few minutes he came to a decision. He would meet with the Mintek, and perhaps find out what exactly was going on. He ordered his fleet to depart for the warp point to Mintek space, after sending a message to his picket cruiser letting them know he was en route. Before leaving orbit, he sent messages to the Mintek compounds on the surface of the colony ordering them to surrender, and giving them twelve hours to comply. He ordered the marine commanders to attack the compounds after the deadline if they failed to comply.
The Bedu fleet left orbit in good order, leaving a light cruiser behind to watch over the troops on the planet.
Month 188, Day 7, Salih colony system
The Bedu fleet was finally approaching the warp point. Grand Vizier Horajj had made several attempts to open communications with the Mintek ship at the warp point, but the Mintek merely deferred all such attempts until Horajj was close enough to make the time delay less of a factor.
Events on the colony had proceeded forward as the fleet moved out of the inner system. The Mintek compounds had refused to surrender, and the Bedu marines had initiated a simultaneous assault. The defenders were determined, though, and only grudgingly gave ground. One of the compounds fell before the other, but when the marines entered the compound it exploded, completely destroying the compound and killing many of the assaulting marines. The marines at the second compound had been warned by the experience of the first group, and they declined to enter the compound, instead sending in drones and automated assault units. The second compound blew up as well, but the second assault force suffered no casualties. The most disturbing fact for both assault teams was that the defenders were uniformly composed of Bedu, not Mintek. That fact made it difficult to pin the blame on the Mintek, although the compounds were known to be built and run by Mintek. After the fall of the compounds a sort of peace fell across the colony. The marines met no further resistance, but all of the Mintek on the colony seem to have melted away. Although the marines met no overt resistance, many of the colonists were uncooperative with the government authorities, and since the declaration of martial law had been staying home from work. Further searches of other Mintek compounds across the colony found them deserted, with no sign of where the inhabitants had gone to.
Now, finally, the Bedu fleet had reached the warp point to Mintek space. Grand Vizier Horajj was reluctant to approach the warp point too closely. By agreement with the Mintek no defenses had been established at the warp point, and Horajj was loath to get to close and be ambushed by any Mintek forces hiding on the far side. The events in the system had been far too unsettling for him to make that kind of mistake. Instead, Horajj halted his fleet a full thirty-six light minutes from the warp point and invited the Mintek ship to join him there. The Mintek ship had set out while the Bedu force was still approaching the warp point, and now finally both ships were close enough for a small craft to make the trip between the two without undue delay. Horajj invited the Mintek emissary to join him on his flagship. The Mintek obliged, crossing the distance from his battlecruiser to Horajj’s flagship in a small cutter.
Horajj met the Mintek group as they arrived in the boat bay of his battlecruiser. Two Mintek exited the cutter and came forward. The Mintek and the Bedu shared enough physical traits that neither appeared truly alien to the other, both being humanoid, with the same number of limbs and somewhat similar appearances. The Bedu though, having evolved on a heavy gravity type ST planet, tended to be short and squat, while the Mintek were taller and hairless. Horajj was struck by the Mintek’s appearance, as they resembled mythical creatures from the Bedu past, known as tricksters and difficult, tricky fighters.
Strategos Brammer, for his part, saw the Bedu as short and powerful, but also fundamentally ugly beings. For all of their gross similarities to the Mintek form, the short, squatty Bedu didn’t appeal to Mintek standards of beauty and grace, something that Brammer forced out of his mind as the two parties approached each other. The Mintek and Bedu leaders stopped with about six feet between the two groups, and Brammer and his assistance bowed low. “I am honored that you agreed to meet with me, Grand Vizier Horajj. I am Strategos Brammer, and I wish to peacefully resolve this situation.”
Horajj was somewhat taken aback. The events in the Salih system appeared to be nothing more or less than a Mintek attempt to destabilize the Bedu state. He had expected to meet with an arrogant Mintek leader who would issue demands, not with this apparently humble and respectful Mintek admiral. As he led the Mintek to the conference room, he couldn’t help but be struck by the graceful movements of the Mintek Strategos that he couldn’t help but feel made his own lumbering gait look crude in comparison. He shook off the feeling as they sat down around the table.
Before Horajj could speak, the Mintek admiral held up a hand. “Before you begin, Grand Vizier, I must first apologize for any misunderstandings that have brought us to this point. We did not intend for any of this to happen, and wish to make amends to avoid…difficulties.”
Once again, Horajj was taken aback. This was not what he had expected. “The events that have transpired here are unacceptable! On that we can agree, apparently.”
“Certainly. You must understand, our people merely seek to impart the truth to those they encounter. What they then do with this truth is beyond our control. We had no wish to be seen to be destabilizing the government of your colony, but we cannot control what your people do with the information we give them.” Even through the translator, Strategos Brammer’s tone was smooth and conciliatory.
Horajj frowned. “Truth?” Once again, he was caught off guard. What was this Mintek talking about? “There is an unsanctioned colony in this system, on a planet that you must admit is a lot more attractive to your kind than mine! One of your ships was caught in the Sleiman system, a clear violation of the treaty and beyond that, a violation of our trust! I do not know what you think is going on out here, but I can tell you it is over. The unsanctioned colony will be closed down, and all Mintek in our space will surrender and be taken into custody. I will determine what is happening here, and depending on the results of that investigation, my government will decide whether we will maintain the treaty with your nation.” Privately, Horajj thought it unlikely that Consul Track would continue the trade relationship given what had been going on out here, regardless of the results of the investigation.
Strategos Brammer frowned. “That is…unfortunate, Grand Vizier. This is your territory, of course, and you may do with it as you will, on that I can agree. But, my information is that this ‘unsanctioned colony’ that you mention is composed of Bedu, not Mintek, so I cannot see how this can be blamed on my race. And as for your investigation, I cannot allow harm to come to the Mintek in this or any other Bedu system. Nor to the Bedu that have listened to our ministers and seen the light of the truth. I truly wish for peace between us, but you must guarantee their freedom and continued health.”
Grand Vizier Horajj’s eyes widened. Had the Mintek admiral just admitted that there were Mintek in other Bedu systems, in spite of the treaty that limited their access to this system alone? He stood. “I am afraid that is unacceptable. This is Bedu space, and we will decide what happens here. If you are concerned for your…ministers…then perhaps you should not have sent them into Bedu space. You are to leave our territory by the shortest course possible, and not return without an invitation. For now, I am suspending our trade agreement, until my investigation of the events in this system is complete. If I determine that your ministers have committed no crimes, I will allow them to return to Mintek space. That is all.” He turned to leave.
“Grand Vizier.”
Horajj turned back to see the Mintek admiral standing next to his chair. “What about those of the faithful who are Bedu? Will they be allowed to leave as well?”
“I’m afraid not. We do not care who or what they worship, as long as they do not interfere with the administration of government, but they are Bedu citizens and as such will remain here, in Bedu territory.”
A look of sadness passed across the Mintek admiral’s face. “Grand Vizier Horajj, you are making a mistake. Please reconsider. Allow our citizens, and their followers, to leave. All other things can be worked out peacefully, but we cannot allow our people to be persecuted. Already I am privy to reports that your forces have attacked our people on your colony. Please do not make this worse. I beg you!”
Grand Vizier Horajj was stunned for a few seconds. It seemed that this Mintek actually believed what he was saying. Still… “I have made my decision.” He turned away and walked out of the room. The Mintek officer was escorted to his cutter and was on his way back to his ship before Horajj arrived on the flag deck. He watched as the cutter merged with the Mintek battlecruiser, which then turned back towards the warp point. One day later the Mintek ship reached the warp point, but it didn’t jump out. Instead, more Mintek ships began jumping in. The Bedu sensor buoy stationed close to the warp point relayed the sensor data as the Mintek entered, and Grand Vizier Horajj watched as sixteen more battlecruisers entered the system, followed by twelve destroyers and three corvettes.
Once the last corvette had entered the system, the entire force turned towards the Bedu fleet and set out at their maximum cruising speed towards the Bedu ships. It was then that Grand Vizier Horajj realized that the war had started. He keyed open a channel to every ship in his fleet. “All units! We will retreat to the Sleiman system and rendezvous with the fleets advancing out of the home system.” He paused and looked around the bridge, and saw that every officer was looking at him. “We are not running away! When our warnings reach the home world, the Consul will gather every ship we have and come to meet us, and then we will turn on the treacherous Mintek and push them out of our space, once and for all! Hail Consul Thrack! On to Victory!”
The Fleet’s battle cray rallied the bridge crew, and they stood and saluted, repeating the battle cry again. With that done, Horajj ordered his fleet to retreat to the warp point to the Sleiman system, and dispatched orders for the light cruiser over the colony to recover their marines and meet them at the warp point. Additionally, he composed a message to the Consul, warning him of the Mintek incursion. The Mintek fleet outnumbered and out-massed his fleet by a large margin, and worse, Bedu Naval Intelligence had no solid idea of Mintek capabilities. Based on information they had been able to gather throughout the time they had been trade partners, it appeared that the Mintek were approximately equivalent in tech to the Bedu, but Horajj had no wish to discover he was wrong while he was outnumbered. They would retreat and join the main fleets that would begin advancing from the home world as soon as his warning arrived. Then they would turn on the Mintek and push them back.
Back at the warp point to Mintek space, the three Mintek corvettes peeled away from the main force and began searching the area around the warp point. It took them hours to do it, but eventually they found the sensor and comm buoys planted there and destroyed them, ending Horajj’s ability to monitor Mintek forces entering the system.
One day later…
Horajj’s fleet passed beyond their sensor range of the warp point, and three hours later, as the Bedu fleet continued its retreat, the Mintek 1st Carrier Strike Group entered the system. The Group’s two carriers had been detached to accompany the Fast Attack Group that was currently pursuing the withdrawing Bedu fleet, but the Strike Group still had seven light carriers, a strike carrier, and ten escort carriers, along with its destroyer escorts and a corvette-scout. After the 1st Carrier Strike Group’s ships assembled a short distance away from the warp point, the transports carrying the ground landing force began entering, following by the fleet train, which consisted of two supply ships, a mobile shipyard, a fighter replenishment transport, and several corvette-scouts. Once assembled, the entire force set out for the colony in the inner system.
-
Month 188, Day 9, Bedu Prime
The report from Grand Vizier Horajj electrified the capital, and Consul Thrack reacted quickly. The fleets were mobilized and Thrack himself would command them. Early in the day the assembled fleets departed. The four carriers, seven battlecruisers, five light cruisers, and six destroyers of the 1st and 2nd Fleets would join Horajj’s eight ships in the Sleiman system, where they would face off with the invaders. Consul Thrack left his daughter, Virena, whom he had appointed Vice Consul, in command of the capital in his absence. Four carriers and five destroyers were left behind, as the carriers were newly reactivated and awaiting their fighter complements that were currently under construction, and the destroyers were refitting in the yards and wouldn’t be available until next month.
Month 188, Day 12, Sleiman system
The 3rd Fleet, under Grand Vizier Horajj, sped away from the warp point to the Salih system in good order. The pursuing Mintek force had managed to close the range to twelve light minutes, but had stopped there and were trying to get closer, which to Horajj meant that the Mintek weren’t really interested in catching him, at least yet. He felt sure that would change at some point, but for now the Mintek obviously wanted to see where he was going. Horajj had had no compunctions about revealing the warp point to the Sleiman system to his pursuers, as they obviously already knew where it was, given the fact that he had intercepted one of their freighters returning from the Sleiman system. He didn’t think they knew where the warp point from the Sleiman system to the inner systems was, or at least he hoped they didn’t, so he would have to be careful in his actions now that they were in the Sleiman system. The Consul had sent several messages letting him know when the main fleets would arrive, and allowing the enemy to find the warp point that led to the inner systems too soon could be disastrous. Therefore, he set an evasive course across the system, one that would put his fleet in range of the warp point the reinforcements would be arriving through, but not too close.
The Sleiman system contained three type T planets, which were considered hostile environments by the Bedu. The three planets had been colonized quite a while ago, with the intention that their excess population growth could be used to colonize the surrounding systems. That plan had fallen by the wayside as Bedu colonization efforts moved to other areas, and the excess population had instead accumulated on the three colonies, which were considered hardship posts given their environment. Grand Vizier Horajj suspected that the unsanctioned colony in the Salih system had been created from the excess population here, and in retrospect the Bedu government’s inattention to the plight of the colonists in this system had likely caused the discontent that the Mintek had used to their advantage. That was all for later, though, as the Bedu fleet must defeat the Mintek before worrying about exactly what had happened and why.
Month 188, Day 15, Salih system
The Mintek 1st Carrier Strike Group, accompanied by the landing force and the support group, entered orbit over the Bedu colony around mid-day. The commander of the landing force didn’t hesitate. The force’s transports settled to the surface without delay and began disgorging troops. The Mintek troops spread out to their objectives, meeting little resistance. What little resistance did materialize was swept away by the overwhelming force. The Mintek had planned on using the Salih system as a base for invasions of other Bedu systems, and so the force landing on the Salih colony was overwhelming on purpose. The Mintek needed the colony secured as soon as possible, so that the troops could then be redeployed to other Bedu systems as needed. Their plan worked nearly perfectly, perhaps because they had had so much time to practice before launching the invasion. In any case, the Salih colony fell almost without a shot, and the 1st Carrier Group set out for the warp point to the Sleiman system, to join the Fast Attack Group.
Just before the Mintek troops landed a flurry of courier drones were launched from the surface, but fighters from the 1st Carrier Strike Group ran them down and destroyed them before they could get away.
Month 188, Day 17, Sleiman System, warp point to the Salih system
The Mintek 1st Carrier Strike Group slipped quietly into the system and set out in pursuit of the withdrawing Bedu force and its Mintek pursuers. The Fast Attack Group’s scouts had already found and eliminated the Bedu buoys at the warp point, so their entry was undetected.
Month 188, Day 23, Sleiman system, Bedu 3rd Fleet
Grand Vizier Horajj closed the latest message from the Consul and sat back to consider the situation. He called up the known force dispositions on his monitor to aide his thoughts.
Bedu Combined Fleets under Consul Thrack, (consolidated 1st, 2nd and 3rd Fleets, rendezvous on the 24th):
6xCV, 8xBC, 7xCL, 9xDD, 72xF0, 144xF1
Mintek Invasion Force, Sleiman system
14xBC, 12xDD, 3xCT
The Mintek fleet had shrunk before entering the Sleiman system, and presumably the three missing battlecruisers were detached to secure the Salih colony, although Horajj couldn’t rule out the possibility that they had entered the Sleiman system after he had been pushed away from sensor range of the warp point and had headed for the inner system, or some other target in the system. In any case, the two fleets were roughly equivalent, with a slight mass advantage going to the defending Bedu fleets. That meant little, though. The range between Horajj’s force and the Mintek meant that Horajj had no idea if the pursuing force was actually made up of carriers or battlecruisers, and that minor detail would mean much in the upcoming battle. If the Mintek really were at an equivalent tech level then almost certainly some of those battlecruisers were carriers, but there was no way of knowing until they got a lot closer.
Horajj frowned at the force representation for some time, lost in thought. He had recommended withdrawing to the Najeeb system and fortifying the warp point, forcing the Mintek to attack them through the warp point. That would put the Mintek at the disadvantage, and give them time to reactivate more of the fleet. The Consul had disagreed, though. He had informed Horajj that his fleet would enter the Sleiman system tomorrow and rendezvous with Horajj’s force, at which time they would advance on the Mintek and either engage and destroy them, or force them from Bedu territory. In Horajj’s opinion this was a much riskier option, but the Consul knew that. Horajj suspected that the Consul was making this decision more because of political pressure than military necessity. Consul Thrack’s rule had been popular, and the benefits of his anti-corruption campaigns and the reordering of the Bedu government were obvious to all. In spite of this, events were at a precarious point in the Bedu Republic. Consul Thrack had recently decided to secure his rule by appointing himself Imperator and Protector of the Republic, and intended to name his daughter as his heir and successor. The Consul thought this was the only way to ensure the changes he had wrought on the Republic remained in place, and he was probably right about that. Unfortunately, those who opposed his rule saw this as a step too far, and were rallying to oppose him. Still, popular opinion was solidly behind him, and the initial phases of his plan to install himself as the hereditary ruler of the Republic had gone well. This invasion, though, threw all of that into doubt. If the Consul appeared weak, or if he failed to repulse the Mintek invasion, then his current position was in doubt, much less his plans for the future. He had to be seen to act decisively, which was why he was leading the fleet personally. Therefore, instead of trying to draw the Mintek into a trap close to the warp point, the Consul was going to enter the system and join with Horajj’s force, and once combined they would challenge the Mintek to battle.
Month 188, Day 24, Sleiman System
The Bedu 1st and 2nd Fleets under Consul Thrack entered the Sleiman system and set out for the prearranged rendezvous point with Grand Vizier Horajj’s force. Grand Vizier Horajj had taken the Mintek on a course that took them far enough away from the warp point that the Mintek hadn’t been able to observe their entry, but now he turned back towards the newly arrived ships and the two groups raced towards each other.
Month 188, Day 26, Sleiman system
The Mintek force allowed the approaching Bedu contact to merge with Grand Vizier Horajj’s fleet, at which time they got a good reading on the numbers of drive fields. Seeing they were outnumbered and out-massed, the Mintek fleet turned back towards the warp point to the Salih system and began retreating. Consul Thrack ordered his combined fleets to increase speed to close on the Mintek force.
Month 188, Day 27, Sleiman System
The pursing Bedu force had managed to close to one light minute from the fleeing Mintek ships, but then the Mintek force accelerated to maintain the range. Seeing that he could no longer close the range without an all-out race that might deplete his force more than the Mintek, Consul Thrack ordered his fleet to cruising speed, which the Mintek matched as they ran towards the warp point to the Salih system.
Grand Vizier Horajj was on his bridge when the call came in from Consul Thrack. He immediately moved to his office to take the call, knowing that the Consul would want to talk strategy and intentions. Once in his office, Horajj activated the view screen on the wall and bowed to the Consul when he appeared. Consul Thrack waived irritably. “Knock it off Horajj! We have work to do.” The Consul didn’t have much taste for pomp and circumstance at the best of times, and now he looked irritable and harassed.
“Of course, sir. What can I do for you today?”
“What are they up to, Horajj? You’ve had the most time to study them! I know you’ve shown a special interest in the Mintek since first contact. What are they going to do?”
Horajj’s eyes shifted to the system plot he had brought up on the office’s other wall monitor. The Mintek were on a direct course for the warp point to the Salih system, and hadn’t deviated since the fleets had rendezvoused. “They are retreating, sir.” Horajj glanced at the Consul and saw his face redden, a sure sign of a coming explosion. Before anything could happen, he continued. “They either intend to retreat through the warp point and make us assault them, as I suggested we do here, or, if they have reinforcements available, they intend to draw us into range of the warp point and then surprise us with the sudden appearance of their reinforcements in this system, presumably at an inopportune time.”
The Consul’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think they have reinforcements close?”
Horajj shook his head. “We cannot know. The Mintek destroyed the buoys we had around the warp points here and in the Salih system, so we have not received any intelligence from that source.” Horajj sat down at his desk, his face furrowed in thought. “I suppose much depends on what exactly is going on with the Mintek. If this was a planned invasion, then they might have been able to marshal significant forces on our border prior to entering the Salih system, and could have reinforcements readily available. If this was not an intentional action, we may just be facing a border force, and reinforcements might take months to reach this area, depending on the size of the Mintek territories.”
The Consul began pacing on the monitor. “Either way we must be cautious as we approach the warp point.”
“Agreed.” Grand Vizier Horajj watched the Consul carefully. Finally, he nodded to himself. “How are things at the capital?”
The Consul stopped pacing and turned to his chief advisor. “My daughter is handling the situation, for now. With the Mintek on the retreat, morale is high among the civilians, and in the Grand House of the Republic. A defeat would be bad, though. Very bad. Should we suffer a significant defeat, there will be those in the Grand House that will call for a negotiated end to the war, on Mintek terms, if necessary. They know that I would never agree to that, so they will ensure that I cannot interfere before they make such a decision. Normally I have enough support to make sure such a thing would never happen, but this invasion has upset many things, and everything is in flux.”
The two were silent for a short period, then Horajj shook his head. “Then we must push them back, and win any battle we are forced to fight.”
Consul Thrack nodded. “If we can push them out of this system, then that will be enough to forestall those that want to negotiate with the Mintek. That will allow us to reactivate more of the fleet, and improve the odds before we go back on the offensive and push them entirely out of our territory.”
“Agreed. To victory!”
Consul Thrack’s response was vigorous. “To victory!”
-
Month 188, Day 28, Sleiman system
Grand Vizier Horajj sighed as he watched the tactical plot. The Mintek were up to their tricks again. As he expected, the comm panel lit up indicating a call was coming in from the flagship. Horajj hit the ‘accept’ key and his monitor lit up with the face of the Consul, who looked singularly unhappy. “I see it, sir. They are accelerating again.”
The plot showed the two groups of ships running across the system. The Bedu force had closed to fifteen light seconds from the Mintek force, just five light seconds beyond extended range for the new strategic bombardment missiles. The Mintek had let them close the range to that point, but had matched every movement they had made since, refusing to allow them to close further. Ever since then, the Mintek had randomly accelerated away from the Bedu force, for a short time, or slowed down a bit, allowing them to close a bit, but then moved to re-establish the fifteen light second range. At first Consul Thrack had matched the movements, but after a while he gave up on that as unproductive and left them to their antics as long as they didn’t get too close or too far away. Horajj feared that the Mintek were trying to get the Bedu force accustomed to their odd movements, as a way of hiding their movements once they decided to make a decisive move against their Bedu pursuers. So, every time they did it the Bedu force went to alert status and watched carefully, but so far it had never amounted to anything.
The fact that they had been able to close to their current range meant that they had a better read on the Mintek force. The Mintek fleet was composed of two carriers, twelve battlecruisers, and twelve destroyers. That was closer to the Bedu force strength than Horajj liked, but they did have a significant advantage in carriers, which would be decisive, if handled correctly.
The Bedu watched as the Mintek force began pulling away from their pursuers. They were still three days from their target, the warp-point back to the Salih system, so the Mintek didn’t have an obvious goal. Then Horajj noted his scan tech hunch over his board. A second later icons appeared on the tac tank.
“Two drive field down contacts detected. They are fifteen light seconds away and on a direct course to the Mintek fleet.”
“Horajj, what is this?”
Grand Vizier Horajj was frowning at the tank. “I don’t know. But with only two ships it wouldn’t appear that they are much of a threat. Still…”
“What?”
The Consul’s mood was clear, he was in no mood for prevarication.
“This must be a trap, but for the life of me I cannot see what it might be. There are only two contacts, and even if they were some sort of huge ship our fleet would be able to take a chunk out of them before their fleet can rejoin these contacts, if they keep retreating. Perhaps…perhaps we should either go around them, maintaining our distance, or come to a halt and send a group of destroyers to probe the contacts.”
The Consul turned a deep shade of green. Horajj was shocked at the Consul’s blatant show of emotion. “No! We will continue forward! They are trying to delay us, so that they can retreat through the warp point before we can reach them. I will not let this happen!”
Horajj knew a lost cause when he was in the middle of one. “Of course, sir. I suggest we go to battle stations and close cautiously. The Mintek still flee, so whatever these are the Mintek fleet is not joining them.”
Consul Thrack nodded in agreement. “Agreed.” Alarms began blaring, and crews that were already mostly at their stations buttoned up and prepared for battle.
“Sir, I recommend closing to extreme SBM range and engaging the unknowns with SBM fire until they are destroyed.”
Consul Thrack grunted. “I agree.” He turned to someone off-screen and repeated the order.
As the fleet began to close on the contact, Grand Vizier Horajj considered his leader. Thrack has been his commanding officer before he had seized power, and Horajj had been one his first backers. He had never seen Thrack like this, even during the early days of their coup, when it wasn’t clear if they would win. He feared that the Consul’s desperate need for a victory would cloud his mind to the risks of the current situation. In spite of the fact that they had a slight advantage over the Mintek fleet, it wasn’t enough to ensure victory, which led to the consideration of why the Mintek were retreating, instead of testing their power. Horajj couldn’t see their retreat as anything other than a ploy to put the Bedu fleet off balance, rather than the acknowledgement of Bedu superiority that the Consul seemed to see it as. Horajj was pretty sure they would see very soon who was superior.
The Bedu fleet remained at cruising speed and closed on the unknown contacts. When they reached twelve light seconds Consul Thrack ordered the fleet’s carriers to launch their fighters. Thirty seconds later the Bedu sensors began sending out alarms as they detected numerous weak drive fields coming up around the DF-down contacts. At that point the contacts themselves still hadn’t raised their drive fields.
“What in the seven hells is that?” Grand Vizier Horajj lurched to his feet, staring at the plot tank. Whatever it the new contacts were, they were moving towards the Bedu fleet.
“New contacts designated Delta-1. The new contact numbers approximately one hundred and fifty individual contacts, and they are moving toward the fleet at speed 7. Identifying now as missile pods!”
Even as Horajj realized the trap they were in; orders came in from the flag. “All units accelerate to combat speed and come about to the designated heading!”
Horajj glanced at the tank, seeing the fleet’s projected course curve away from the oncoming missile pods. Even as he watched, the fleet began turning away, but he knew it was too late. If the pods carried SBM’s then the fleet was already within range, and even at maximum speed the fleet couldn’t escape the pods, which were faster. Horajj opened a channel to the flagship, to suggest that the Consul order the carriers to engage their engine tuners and try to at least maintain their range to the pods when the Mintek missile pods suddenly spit out their cargoes. Alarms rang on the bridge as missile tracks reached out for the fleet, and Horajj called out “Targets? What are their targets?”
The missiles were coming on too fast to tell until the last second, when all four hundred and fifty missiles curved towards the six carriers at the heart of the Bedu formation. Before anyone could react, the carriers were wreathed in fire and flame. The carrier crews were the best in the Bedu fleet, and they put up a valiant defense, but each ship was forced to defend itself, without help from its neighbors, as all of the ships were under attack simultaneously. All six carriers threw out EDM’s to confuse the incoming missiles, but for all of the crew’s bravery and defenses, it wasn’t enough. Not only were these the latest innovation in missiles, the Strategic Bombardment Missile, but they were equipped with anti-matter warheads, making them much more deadly than standard warheads. When the fireballs cleared, only four of the carriers remained, and all four were broken wrecks. All had lost their fighter bays, two were reduced to one-third speed, one was dead in space, while only the last retained all of its engine rooms.
Horajj’s comm station lit up with the face of the Consul. Consul Thrack looked horrible, as if he had aged several decades in seconds. “I’ve failed.” The Consul looked up from his desk. “We’ve failed. We must retreat.”
Horajj shook his head in denial. “But sir, we still have our fighters. You ordered their launch before the Mintek fired their missiles. Our fighters will outnumber theirs substantially. If we order an attack now, we can still prevail!”
The Consul straightened and opened his mouth to reply, but before he could stay anything, cries rang across both bridges.
“New drive field contacts, twenty light seconds away. The contacts are beyond the Mintek fleet, on a direct line to the warp point to Salih. Twenty-five new drive fields detected, on a course to rendezvous with the primary Mintek Fleet, which is withdrawing towards the new drive fields.”
Consul Thrack turned back towards the video pickup. “We must retreat to the warp point to the Najeeb system. Horajj, you will order your ships to pick up the life pods from the carriers, as well as the crews remaining on the three crippled carriers. We will scuttle them and retreat to Najeeb. I will order the fighters to attack the Mintek and cover our retreat.”
Horajj accepted the orders and signed off. It was a death sentence for the fighter crews, but they had no way of recovering them now that the carrier force had been eliminated. He was tempted to ask the Consult to retain the fighters for fleet defense, but the older fighters would run out of life support and power in an hour, the newer fighters in two, and then that would be the end of the fighter attack group. The Mintek had to know this, and could just stand off and wait for the Bedu fighters to run out of endurance before attacking. As things stood the fighters had enough endurance to reach the Mintek fleet, even if turned and ran, and if it did turn away it would give the Bedu fleet time to retreat and open the range.
Grand Vizier Horajj’s ships hurriedly evac’d the crews on board the three crippled carriers and then accelerated away with the rest of the fleet, leaving the three hulks behind to explode as their scuttling charges went off. The Mintek fleet had rendezvoused with its reinforcements, and had turned towards the Bedu fleet, which was now seventeen point five light seconds away. The Bedu fighters were closing on the Mintek fleet, but had just started out and would have a long chase if the Mintek tried to run ahead of them.
The Mintek admiral apparently knew that he couldn’t escape the fighters, because he wasn’t trying. Instead, the Mintek fleet accelerated to full speed towards the fleeing Bedu force and its oncoming fighters. One minute later the Mintek fleet launched it fighters, but the Bedu were too far away to determine how many fighters the Mintek had launched. After another minute of pursuing the Bedu force the Mintek fleet was forced to turn aside or they would have to engage the oncoming fighters. The Mintek fighters raced ahead of their fleet and closed on the Bedu fighter force, which finally was finally close enough for the advanced sensors on the latest fighters to see the Mintek force. The Mintek had deployed three hundred and ninety fighters to defend their fleet, compared to the two hundred and sixteen fighters the Bedu had sent on the attack.
The battle was short and vicious. When the furball cleared only the Mintek fighters remained, but they had lost one hundred and six of their number. The Bedu fleet was too far away to determine the type of fighters the Mintek were using, or their armament, and their fighters had been wiped out and couldn’t report anything they might have learned. The Bedu fleet raced away while the Mintek fleet pursued and recovered its fighters. Even as the Mintek fleet began its pursuit of the fleeing Bedu, the Mintek fighters landed on their carriers to rearm.
Several minutes later the Mintek fleet launched its rearmed fighters. The range between the two fleets had remained steady at twenty-two light seconds. It would take the Mintek fighters twenty-two minutes to close on the fleeing Bedu fleet, but the Bedu had nowhere to hide and couldn’t out run the faster fighters.
Twenty-seven and a half minutes after the battle began, the Mintek fighters were closing in on the Bedu fleet. Grand Vizier Horajj turned to his comms officer when they signaled for his attention. “The Consul has ordered the fleet into anti-fighter formation Alpha, sir!”
“Very well. All ships will assume anti-fighter formation alpha.”
The Bedu fleet had never faced fighters in battle, but was filled with exquisitely trained people who had thought a lot about the problems of ships facing fighters, and they had proposed several options. The fleet would now be trying out one of them. Half of the fleet turned sixty degrees to the right and came to a halt, while the rest of the fleet turned one hundred and twenty degrees to the left and halted, back-to-back with their compatriots. The nine destroyers of the escort group turned back towards the oncoming fighters, facing the threat. As the enemy fighters raced towards the Bedu fleet the Bedu ships began modulating their drive fields, interfering with the fighter’s targeting systems and reducing the possibility of a hit. The fighters changed course to approach the Bedu ships from one side, slipping into the blind spots of some of the battlecruisers and light cruisers, while the destroyers turned to meet them.
The fighters began firing at one light second from the Bedu fleet, maximum range for the lasers they carried. Two hundred and eighty-two Mintek fighters faced eight Bedu battlecruisers, seven light cruisers, nine destroyers, and a damaged carrier. The Bedu point defense emplacements were firing at extreme range, and the fighters would be difficult targets. The Consul’s datagroup of battlecruisers fired first, and the elite battlecruisers scored just two hits on fighters with their point defense. The leading fighter group returned fire, scoring six hits with their lasers on a Bedu battlecruiser. The next Bedu BC group fired, taking out four more fighters, and in response the next group of fighters scored more hits on the same BC’s armor. The Bedu light cruisers took out three more fighters, but the Mintek fighters kept pounding the same BC with their lasers, finally boring through its armor and causing internal damage. Now it was the Bedu destroyer’s turn, and they were able to engage with their heavy lasers as well as their point defense. The first destroyer group destroyed three fighters, while the fighters continued concentrating their fire on the same BC. The last two destroyer groups killed seven more fighters, in exchange for the fighters causing damage to the BC’s engines. Once the BC’s engines fluctuated, the fighters shifted their fire to one of the destroyers. The concentrated laser fire from two squadrons of fighters ripped through the destroyer’s thin armor and gutted the small ship, and the fighters moved on to the next in line. Generally, once the targeted ship’s drive field started fluctuating, the fighters targeted the next ship in line, settling for crippling or damaging the Bedu ships, rather than destroying them.
The results of the first exchange of fire were devastating for the Bedu. All nine of their destroyers were crippled and several were little more than lifeboats with a bare minimum of engine power and their crew spaces intact. Three of the fleet’s battlecruisers had been heavily damaged as well, with all three battlecruisers suffering engine damage that would slow them down.
Grand Vizier Horajj’s battlecruiser was untouched, but he had watched as one of its datagroup companions had been ravaged by the fighters. He turned towards the plot and saw that the Consul’s flagship had been damaged, but before he could do anything else the comm officer called out across the bridge – “The Consul requests a comm line, sir! Connecting now.”
Horajj turned back to his station’s monitor, but before the Consul appeared the enemy fighters dashed in to point blank range, as if they sensed the end approaching. The individual Bedu captains were fighting their ships now, as there wasn’t time for control from above. The two groups of Bedu ships that had been back-to-back had drifted apart due to their need to keep moving forward to maintain their engine modulations. Now, with the enemy fighters closing in to point black range on the larger group of ships, both groups dropped their modulation to turn to avoid letting the fighters slip into their blind spots. It was all desperate maneuvering at point blank range, and not every ship succeeded, nor did all of the fighters manage to get out of the ships’ firing arcs.
The Bedu ships fired desperately at the attacking fighters, trying to beat them off, but there just weren’t enough weapons that could engage the fighters. The Bedu ships managed to destroy another twenty-two fighters, but in exchange the Mintek crippled every single one of the Bedu ships, including further damaging the already damaged carrier, hurting its engines to slow it down. Their job done, the Mintek fighters raced away towards their approaching fleet, which had closed on the Bedu fleet during the fight.
Shocked at the results of the battle, and the rapidity of the events, Grand Vizier Horajj turned to the Consul, who looked equally pale and unsettled. “Sir?”
“Your thoughts, Horajj?” The Consul looked like he had swallowed something that disagreed with him.
Horajj looked around his bridge, gathering his thoughts. The plot tank drew his eyes. The damage codes for the fleet were damning. “We must surrender, sir. We have no other options. Even the least damaged units in the fleet can only make two-thirds maximum speed, and most the fleet is reduced to less than that. The Mintek fleet will be upon us before we can even begin emergency repairs, and we cannot maintain the range from their fleet, much less their fighters. We have no alternatives.”
The Consul looked even more sour, if that was possible. “Will they accept our surrender?”
“I believe so. Their admiral said as much before the battle, and they were very careful during the battle to avoid destroying any of our ships, even though their fighters could have done so with ease if they had remained for one more firing pass.”
The Consul grunted. “That may just mean that they want our ships, not they will honor our surrender.”
“Do we have another choice?”
The Consul sat for a second, considering the situation, then cut the link. A few seconds later, the comms officer said – “Message incoming from the flag for all ships.”
The central bridge monitor lit up with the Consul’s face. “To all ships in the Grand Fleet. You have fought well, against superior forces. But we cannot escape, and I will not spend your lives in a futile gesture that won’t slow the enemy down at all. All crews are to abandon ship. All command officers will set scuttling charges and ensure the destruction of their ships once the crews are clear. I will communicate our surrender to the Mintek.”
Grand Vizier Horajj looked down, realizing that once the Consul surrendered, their entire state was at risk, even if the Mintek stopped here. So much depended on him, and they hadn’t been given enough time to secure the succession for his daughter. There were too many ‘allies’ who only supported them because they were strong. Now, everything had changed. He shrugged. What would come, would come. They could no longer affect the future, at least for now. He keyed the in-ship comm network. “All hands, abandon ship!” He hit the appropriate icon on his console, and alarms began ringing throughout the big ship, warning the crew to evacuate. All across the fleet the same thing was happening on all of the ships. The elite Bedu crews didn’t panic and evacuated their ships in good order. Once the crews were clear, the ships began blowing up one by one. All except for a battlecruiser and a light cruiser. Both were damaged, and on both the scuttling charges failed to explode. On the light cruiser the captain had known ahead of time that the controls had been so damaged that he wouldn’t be able to scuttle the ship, so he had settled for destroying the databanks before he boarded a life pod with his senior officers. The battlecruiser was a different matter. The captain had set the charges, and everything had appeared normal, so he had left on the life pods with his officers. Unfortunately, the charges failed to detonate, and the ships data was left intact. For the cost of forty-one additional fighters, the Mintek had destroyed the force sent to stop them.
-
Month 189, Day 3, Bedu Prime
Vice Consul Virena, acting leader of the Republic, cast a jaundiced eye on the Representatives from the Grand House of the Republic. They were not now, nor had they ever been, supporters of her father. Now, with his defeat and capture at the hands of the Mintek, they were riding high. “Say what you’ve come to say, Representatives.”
The Representative for the Great North County, one of the more populous and prosperous regions on the home planet, stood forward. “The defeat and humiliation of your father has thrown his militarist ways into doubt. He has been captured, and the fleet destroyed. We will seek peace with the Mintek, and we have the votes within the Grand House to ensure our success. We have come to explain this to you as a courtesy only. You are an irrelevancy, a holdover from the days of your father’s domination of the government. Now that he is gone, you will be removed when the Grand House can consider the question of your position.” The delegation turned to leave. At the door, the Representative from the Great North County turned back. “Do not think that you can oppose us, or undermine us. Doing so will merely shorten your days in this office.” With that they turned and left.
Entering from the office outside, her Chief of Staff shook his head. “That went well.”
Sighing, Virena moved away from her desk to the low couch facing the panoramic windows overlooking the capital. “About as we expected. And he’s right, to a certain extent. The peace at any price movement will win the day in the House. Father’s defeat and the loss of the fleet makes that inevitable. We could fight, I have the reserves, and we could build up our defenses here, but I fear we’d only be delaying the inevitable. As to my position, they may not be able to remove me as easily as they think. I have more support than they know, support I’ve been working to build since my father brought me into the government.”
Her Chief of Staff sat across from her in one the chairs strategically placed for such occasions. “Will remaining in power be worth it, if it is only to surrender the Republic to the Mintek?”
“I’ve thought about nothing else.” She keyed in a command string to her pad, and a holo of the current fleet strength remaining to the nation appeared in between them. “The reserves have been completely mobilized. I have eight carriers, six destroyers, and nearly three hundred fighters with which to defend the Republic. Plus, our warp point defenses, which at this point consist of four light battle-stations and their fifty fighters.”
The Chief of Staff wasn’t a military person, but had served with the Vice Consul, who was, prior to her move to support her father in the government. During that time, he had picked up a few things. “That sounds like a formidable force, but…”
The Vice Consul shook her head. “But is right. We might be able to hold them at the warp point into the home system with the help of the battle-stations, but their use of SBM pods to destroy father’s fleet means that they have the pods and will use them when they can. We first researched them as a way to attack through defended warp points, and you can be sure they’ve thought of that too. And, because father was so focused on building up the fleet, we have no automated defenses like mines to put around the warp point to slow down an attack, or attrit a wave of SBM pods.” She shook her head. “In any case, the Grand House won’t let us get to that point. You heard them, they will vote tomorrow to send a peace delegation to the Mintek, and they will bargain our future away to maintain their power and positions.”
“You have the support of the military. They are still loyal to you and your father.”
The Vice Consul nodded. “You are correct. I’ve spoken with Vizier Selim, who is commanding the Reserve Fleet. He is a plain-spoken commander and a long-time supporter of ours, as is the commander of the planetary guard. They, and their people, will do as I ask. I could ask them to arrest the Representatives for treason, and they would, but to what end? I still can’t defend this system against the attack that is surely coming, all I can do is prolong a war we’ve already lost.”
“Is that our only choices? Surrender to the Mintek or go down in flames?”
The Vice Consul frowned. “There is one other possibility that I’ve been considering. The Grand House will be distracted by their upcoming vote on the peace mission to the Mintek, and then on the delegation that they will send. I plan on letting them know I will not oppose their efforts, and that I will focus on preparing the Republic for the future. You heard them, they will dismiss me as an irrelevancy, and that will give me the cover to act. In the meantime, I need you to travel to the Bjering Consolidate at the head of a delegation.”
“Are we seeking to bring them into the war?”
“No. I doubt they would be interested, and we would likely only be trading one alien overlord for another. No, I will tell the Grand House that you go merely to warn the Bjering about the changes coming to our nation. But instead, this is what I want you to do...”
Month 189, Day 4, Gunnar System, Bjering Consolidate
“What?” Gamma Admiral stared at the screen incredulously.
“Sir, the ship that just transited from the Bedu home system has transmitted a request for parlay. They say that they have the personal representative of their national leader on board, and that they will be asking for asylum for their leadership and as many of their people that they can evacuate from their home planet.”
Gamma Admiral sat back in his chair and thought furiously. “Alright, clear them through and set up a rendezvous with this unit. This I’ve got to hear.”
One hour later Gamma Admiral was even more amazed. The tale the representative spun was fantastic. Their fleet destroyed and their nation teetering on the brink of surrender to the an alien invader that sounded a lot like the race the D’Bringi had been warning everyone about, the Mintek. Even more amazing was their proposal. They proposed exchanging resources and information for a place to live within the Consolidate. Their offer was generous. Even aside from the resources they were offering, the information they said they had on the Mintek would be invaluable. After all, the little they knew about this species came from the D’Bringi, who were not considered a particularly reliable source. The Bedu claimed that they had been attacked after signing a treaty with the Mintek, and hinted that there was much more that they could give the Bjering, if they agreed to help. The one thing that Gamma Admiral was sure was that this was beyond his authority. It would have to be sent back to the home world for Alpha Admiral and the Admiral’s Council to decide upon.
The message to the home world was dispatched immediately, along with all of the details given by the Bedu representative. It flew on wings of light along the ICN, and would arrive on the home world in thirty-two hours.
Month 189, Day 7, Gunnar System, Bjering Consolidate
The message from home world arrived promptly, sooner than Gamma Admiral expected it. The Admiral’s Council had acted quicker than he thought, and when he read it, he began to understand why. Over the last year Alpha Admiral had grown concerned about the potential threat from the Mintek, if only because so little was known about them. What little he had gleaned from their representatives in D’Bringi space indicated that the Mintek were a treacherous race who preferred to attack after establishing a peaceful relationship with their target, but that hardly differentiated them from the D’Bringi, who, with their allies had launched a surprise attack on the Humans. Gaining first hand information from people who might become allies, even if they were only a splinter faction, held great attraction for the Council. Unfortunately, the Bedu preferred type ST worlds, and the only possible destination for their evacuation fleet was months from their border. Still, it was better than nothing, and traveling to the far side of the Consolidate would at least put them in a safe position in regards to the Mintek.
Gamma Admiral was authorized to begin negotiations to allow the Bedu evacuation group into the Consolidate, along with a military escort force, under appropriate safeguards, in exchange for any and all information the Bedu had on the Mintek. The negotiations went quickly, as the Bedu were not really in a position to negotiate. They came to an agreement quickly. In exchange for the information on the Mintek, and for several other resource related concessions, the Consolidate would allow the Bedu to settle their Grioll system, which contained an ST planet rated as rich on the mineral scale. The system was ten jumps from the Bedu home system, so the Consolidate agreed to allow them to use the Ymir system, two jumps from their home system, as a staging point. The Ymir system contained a type T world that the Bedu could use as a temporary way point on their way to the Grioll system, and would serve as a staging point to allow them to get as many of their people out of their home system as possible before the Mintek arrived in their home system. Gamma Admiral even offered to allow the Consolidate’s freighters to help the Bedu evacuate their system, although the Bedu representative was unsure if that would be allowed. In any case, Bedu transports would begin arriving at the warp point in a matter of days, bound for the Ymir system with their loads of evacuees.
Month 189, Day 15, Mintek controlled Sleiman System
Strategos Brammer was an unhappy Mintek. His military campaign had gone well at first, and his rout of the Bedu fleet and their surrender was a textbook action. However, the supply situation was hampering his attempts to advance. The supply dumps in the Gortyn system, two jumps away from his current location, were still being organized and set up, and the supply ships sent to support his fleet did not have enough supplies to support continued operations much beyond the supply dumps. In fact, he had been forced to withdraw the Fast Attack Group back to Mintek space for supply reasons, where it joined the heavy ships of the 1st Assault Group, which had been unable to advance because of the supply situation. Worse, a group of carriers and SBM transports had been caught in the neighboring Salih system without supplies and had suffered minor damage due to the lack of maintenance. That left him with the 1st Carrier Strike Group in the Sleiman system to face whatever forces the Bedu could scrape together after their defeat.
Brammer’s frustration was immense. The time to strike was now, while the enemy was in disarray and demoralized. The longer it took to advance, the more likely it was that the enemy would be able to reactivate his reserves and reorganize his military. Even as he considered the situation a report header appeared on his screen, flagged for his attention. Curious, he opened the report and his emotions soared. His intelligence people had completed their evaluation of the data obtained from the two enemy ships captured last month. One of the crews had managed to wipe their computers, but the other was captured intact. The intel teams had recovered astrogation data leading two more jumps from the Sleiman system, to the home system of the Bedu!
In seconds Brammer was out of his office and issuing orders. The fleet would advance, cautiously, to the Najeeb system, in between his current location and the Bedu home system. Once there he would be able to evaluate the likelihood of further resistance from the Bedu.
Month 189, Day 15, Najeeb system
The Mintek 1st Carrier Strike Group entered the system without meeting any resistance, followed closely by the all-important supply ships, and set out into the system towards the jump point to the Bedu home system, six days away at cruising speed. The warp point they entered the system through was located in the inner system, only thirty-six light minutes from the system primary. The Najeeb system had no habitable planets and had never been colonized by the Bedu, and so had no inherent interest for the Mintek. Three days, while passing through the inner system the 1st Carrier Strike Group detected a drive field approaching them from the warp point to the Bedu home system. Strategos Brammer ordered his destroyer group to move forward to probe the drive field, escorted by a trio of light carriers, but just over an hour after detecting the drive field, a message arrived. It was addressed to the Mintek commander. Upon reading it, Brammer exulted. The Bedu were asking for peace negotiations. And the way the message was worded indicated to Brammer that they were in reality asking for terms of surrender. Brammer ordered his fleet to halt in place, and sent a CD back along their path with the new information. His supply problems might not be problems any more.
-
Month 190, Day 1, Mintek-Controlled Najeeb system
Overall, Strategos Brammer was pleased. As the supply dumps in the Gortyn system got organized, more and more supplies were reaching his forces here in the Najeeb system, and at this point he could stop relying on his supply ships to support the 1st Carrier Strike Group. He still couldn’t bring his other forces forward, yet, but with peace negotiations moving forward that wasn’t necessary. The Fast Attack Group was detailed to consolidate Mintek control of the Salih system, which was adjacent to the Gortyn system and therefore well supplied, and the 1st Assault Fleet was in reserve in the Megara system, one jump short of the Gortyn system.
The preliminary talks started yesterday, between his staff officers and the diplomatic personnel sent by the Bedu government. The first actual meeting would be tomorrow, during which both sides would put forward their proposals for peace. Given that he held the upper hand, Brammer was certain whose views would prevail.
Month 190, Day 7, Mintek-Controlled Najeeb system
Strategos Brammer left the latest meeting with the distinct impression that the Bedu were delaying. Of course, he always felt that the politicians and diplomats were delaying action to talk some more, so this was not a new feeling. Brammer had given the Bedu delegation his government’s requirements for peace during the first meeting. The Bedu were to surrender to the Mintek, turn over all armed ships and weapons capable of reaching or acting in orbit or space, and comply with Mintek control throughout their territory. The Bedu had countered with proposals for a limited surrender of sovereignty and transfer of territory, which Brammer had transmitted back to the home system knowing that they would be summarily rejected. When he had returned to the negotiations and informed the Bedu that their proposals had been rejected and that the Mintek stood behind their original demands, the Bedu had countered with a new proposal, which Brammer had dutifully transmitted back home even as he had told the Bedu that they would not be accepted. And that was how it had gone for the last six days. For now, he was content to talk to the Bedu, but that would not last forever. Their victory had been decisive, but if they gave the Bedu enough time they would be able to recover and rebuild. They would not allow that to happen.
Month 190, Day 7, Bedu Prime
Events were moving fast on Bedu Prime. The opposition in the Grand House had consolidated themselves behind the peace movement as a way to oust Consul Track and his family from power, even if it meant surrendering sovereignty to the Mintek. Given the fact that the fleet was gone and Consul Thrack was in the hands of the Bedu, they felt they had little choice and were perhaps right. They had a significant majority in the House behind them, perhaps forty percent or so. Vice Consul Virena, Thrack’s daughter, held a solid twenty percent of the House who were loyal to her family, while the remaining forty percent waivered as events on the home world occurred or news arrived from the negotiations. From all appearances Virena, who was much more a political animal than her father, was fully engaged in the fight in the Grand House for the future of the Bedu.
Unknown to the opposition, though, was the fact that Virena knew that defeat was inevitable, both for her politically and for the Bedu militarily. She had enough military experience to know that even if she won in the House and averted the peace process, the only result would be utter defeat at the hands of the Mintek. So, she fought to delay the proceedings as a cover for her escape option. Negotiations with the Bjering Consolidate had succeeded, and a new refuge on the far side of their territory had been obtained, at some cost. The population transfer had begun, with Bedu transports moving specially selected groups of Bedu from the home world to a staging place within their sphere, and from there Bjering transports would take them to the selected system. The Bedu being transported out were mostly drawn from the families of the military and her supporters, with a leavening of those with critical skills, such as doctors and engineers. She would delay and obfuscate until the end came; at which time she would depart with what was left of the fleet for Bjering territory.
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Month 191, Day 3, Mintek Occupied Najeeb System
“No, Ambassador, I will accept no further delays. I require the Bedu to agree to the current requirements for a peace treaty, or I will resume active operations immediately.” Strategos Brammer hit the disconnect button, perhaps more forcefully than necessary, then sat back thoughtfully. He knew the Bedu were playing for time, and they knew that he knew, but what he didn’t know was why. Were they merely playing for time to stretch things out and perhaps gain a better deal? Or were they trying to rebuild their fleet? Or were they just naturally talkers? He didn’t know, and to be honest, he didn’t really care. He held all of the cards at this point, and it was only his and his nation’s inherent unwillingness to spill innocent blood that held them back at this point. At the direction of his government, he had issued an ultimatum this morning. The Bedu would accept their demand for surrender within twenty-four hours, or combat operations would resume. No further delays would be allowed.
At this point, Brammer’s supply situation had largely been alleviated. The supply dumps in the border system of Gortyn were almost up to speed, and supplies were now reaching the Najeeb system in enough quantity to support both the 1st Carrier Strike Group and the Fast Attack Group, which he had moved forward to support the carriers. The Assault Group had advanced from the Megara system to the Salih system, which meant that the heavy ships were now just two jumps from his current location, although he still had to be cautious with the big, supply intensive, ships. His ability to operate away from the reach of the supply dumps was limited, as the supplies remaining on his two supporting supply ships were very limited and were not likely to be replaced at this point. In fact, the economy back home was so strapped that the latest reports indicated that the Admiralty had been forced to scrap some missiles and other munitions just to pay for new fighters to replace the ones lost in action. The situation with the Bedu must be resolved, and resolved soon, or the entire economy was in danger of collapsing.
Month 191, Day 4, Mintek Occupied Najeeb system
Almost exactly a day later the Bedu representative appeared on Brammer’s monitor. “We will accept your terms. We will require some time to prepare, but I have been told you will be cleared to enter our home system on the 22nd, and that there will be a ceremonial signing of the peace treaty on Bedu Prime before the end of the month. Is this acceptable?”
Strategos Brammer felt an immense weight lift off of his shoulders, although his expression didn’t change. “It is. I will inform my government.”
Month 191, Day 5, Bedu Home System
The Grand House was fully occupied with the upcoming event, and the opposition was satisfied that they had out-maneuvered Vice Consul Virena. The proposed peace treaty, which would almost certainly sail through the House, given that the alternative was renewed war, contained a provision that Virena, and the leaders of the conservative party, were to be turned over to the Mintek as war criminals. This would eliminate the House of Thrack from Bedu politics, which was their goal in the first place. In the meantime, they ignored Virena and her supporters as irrelevant. There had been some suggestion of arresting her and her senior aides, however, the opposition leaders wanted to avoid the appearance of a coup, and intended to wait until the treaty was signed, at which point they could claim that her arrest was merely a requirement of the peace treaty with the Mintek.
While the opposition were occupied with their political machinations, Vice Consul Virena and her people continued moving forward with their evacuation. Virena had already relocated to her flagship, the Hebron class carrier Dubai, along with most of her staff. They would be setting out for the warp point to Bjering territory shortly, under the guise of surrendering their ships to the Mintek at their entrance point to the home system. The deception wouldn’t hold up for long, but it would get them away from the home planet.
Month 191, Day 8, Bedu Home System
The Dubai, along with seven other carriers and six destroyers, all that remained of the once proud Bedu fleet, jumped out of the home system and into Bjering territory. They were accompanied by the twenty-five ships of Survey Fleet #1, and two hundred and nine freighters and transports that were carrying the last group of refugees from their home system. Four additional freighters and a mobile shipyard were nestled in the center of the group of carriers. Three of the freighters carried the maintenance supplies needed to reach their new home, and while the additional freighter carried a large amount of funds ‘liberated’ by Virena and her people just before leaving the home world. In fact, they had nearly cleared out the treasury, and the opposition, once they got around to auditing the books, would discover that in the last two months Virena had liquidated a large portion of the government’s industrial holdings to fund their escape attempt. Worse, the freighters and transports had also been ‘liberated’ from the Bedu transport network, an act that would cripple Bedu economics for some time moving forward. All told, Virena had managed to get nearly eighteen million citizens off of the home world and into the Bjering Consoldiate before the end, a monumental feat only made possible by the chaos that had descended onto the home world after the defeat of the fleet and the incompetence of the opposition.
Once on the far side of the warp point, in Bjering territory, they turned four carriers over to the Bjering, in partial payment of what they owed to their saviors. Most of their freighters and transports would be turned over as well, once they reached their destination. Losing the carriers put them even more at the mercy of the Bjering, but Virena had long since resigned herself that their existence would depend on the good intentions of one alien nation or another. She had chosen the Bjering, and given what they knew about them compared to the Mintek she felt she had made a good choice. And the four carriers would not have made that much of a difference if the Bjering had bad intentions, and would require maintenance supplies that were scarce, now that they were cut off from home world. They were on their own now.
The four carriers turned over to the Bjering joined the ongoing fleet buildup in the Gunnar system as the Bjering prepared to deal with their new neighbors.
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Month 190, Torqual Free Alliance
The Free Torqual Fleet, under Admiral Falson, has largely succeeded in liberating their home world. There remain a few holdouts from the old government, and the Council remains locked away in their bunkers in the capital city, but the rest of the planet and the system is under the control of Admiral Falson and his forces. It was time to turn the Free Fleet’s focus on the colonies.
All of the intelligence that Admiral Falson’s forces had been able to gather on the home planet pointed to the fact that the colonies of Unity and Equity, both renamed by the Council, were the keys to Council control of the colonies, such as it was. For the most part, the Council, which had been primarily focused on the home world, had been content to let the outer colonies do what they wanted, as long as they didn’t interfere in Council business. The Council did, however, focus its efforts on controlling the two most populous colonies, which they renamed Unity and Equity, as bases from which to expand in the future. The Council’s out-system forces were based there, and most of their remaining adherents were there as well.
As the Council’s forces known to be out-system were a total of nine cruisers, both heavy and light, Admiral Falson decided to send nine of his own cruisers to each of the colonies. Each group was composed of six of his heavy cruisers with experienced crews, and three brand new light cruisers just launched from the home system’s yards. Their orders were to enter the systems of Unity and Equity, determine the location of the Council’s ships, and call upon them to surrender. If they refused to surrender, they were to be engaged and destroyed. The Council’s lackies on the ground were to be dealt with after the space forces surrendered, but Admiral Falson understood that the squadron’s ability to affect issues on the ground was limited, so if the Council’s forces on the ground refused to surrender then a blockade would be established until forces were available to liberate the colonies.
The task groups left on Day 1 of the new month, and were due to arrive at their targets by the end of the month. The task groups were ordered to broadcast IFF signals identifying themselves as the old Torqual Fleet, rather than the newer Council ID’s broadcasted by the Revolutionary Council’s forces. This would hopefully differentiate them from the Council’s butchers to any colonial that scanned them. The situations they found in the two colony systems were very different.
The Equity system contained no less than three habitable planets. The single habitable planet in the primary system was rated harsh/rich, while the two other habitable planets in the secondary system were benign/poor and harsh/poor. The primary star system’s planet was renowned throughout Torqual space as being barely habitable, being located as it was on the inner edge of the habitable zone around its white star primary. The planet was hot and dry, and it was only its mineral riches that had drawn colonists to the planet prior to the Council’s reign. Under the Council’s rule, though, this changed. The Council needed some place to dump dissidents, un-reliables, recidivists, and just plain criminals, and the arid colony of the newly named Equity system seemed perfect. Firstly, the environment was unpleasant, which was a primary consideration for those that the Council deigned to be undesirable. Secondly, it was within four jumps of the home system, and finally, the planet’s mineral wealth meant that the prisoners shipped there could be put to work creating wealth for the Council. Under the Council’s rule, the population of the prison colony swelled to over fifty-eight million, over two thirds of whom had been deported to the prison colony to work in the mines. Most of the profits from the mines went straight into the pockets of the Council, with the remainder being spent on their pet projects. Therefore, the mines were very important to the Council, which meant that they spent a lot on security. Large, relatively well-equipped security forces patrolled the planet, and the Council had ordered the bulk of its out-system forces, three heavy cruisers and three light cruisers, to patrol the system to ensure nothing interfered with the flow of prisoners into the system and profits out.
During the trip out to the system, Free Fleet Commodore Veron had gamed out the possible situations they might find with his staff and senior officers. They had all been confident that they would be able to deal with any ships in the system, even if all of the Council’s out-system forces were located at their target, so poor had the Council fleet’s performance been in the home system, but if the Council’s large security force on the planet had dug itself in by the time they arrived there would be little that they could do. On Day 26 the task group jumped into the system and found the warp point clear. They then proceeded into the system.
On Day 30 they approached the Council’s mining planet. Six of the Council’s ships were in orbit over the planet, three heavy cruisers and three lights. As the Free Fleet task group had approached the planet it became clear that things had gone awry for the Council’s forces in the system. Shortly after the task group broke the seventy-two light minute detection radius around the colony, a message arrived from the Council ships in orbit, demanding their ID and orders. When Commodore Veron ignored them, the demands became more strident. A day later, a message arrived from a ground station, asking why their ID was different than the orbiting ships. After some cautious messages were sent back and forth, the true situation became clear. The prisoners had risen against their captors, successfully overwhelming the guards and seizing most of the ground facilities. Many of the guards and the Council’s administrators had been killed, either during the uprising or in the chaos afterward, as the downtrodden former prisoners took out their rage at their treatment on their helpless former abusers, but eventually sanity had been re-established and the surviving guards and administrators were survivors locked up. Since then, the former prisoners had been negotiating with the orbital forces. The orbiting ships had launched several nuclear missiles on ground targets since then, in attempts to intimidate the prisoners, but it had largely been a bluff and the prisoners had known that. The mines belonged to the Council itself, and there was no way that a Revolutionary Guard captain was going to authorize destroying Council property without a direct order from a superior. So, negotiations had dragged on as the orbiting ships waited for reinforcements, with neither side willing to give an inch. The prisoners knew they were ultimately doomed as soon as reinforcements showed up from home world, and thus had been preparing to blow up the mines with themselves and their children inside, rather than return to slavery under the Council’s control. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guard forces in orbit worried every day that the promised reinforcements would start by purging them for failing to maintain control in the first place.
The arrival of the Free Fleet upset everyone’s calculations, but not necessarily in a bad way. The prisoners realized that they actually had a shot at survival and freedom, and the orbiting Revolutionary Guard forces realized that they weren’t scheduled to die at the hands of their own allies. Still, the situation was not perfect. The Revolutionary Guard still held the high ground, and while they could not beat the Free Fleet task group sent against them, they could bombard the prisoners on the ground before the Free Fleet could stop them. Fortunately, Commodore Veron had received a message from home world just a few days ago which had given him the weapon he needed to pry this impasse loose. Back on the home planet, the Alliance had agreed to step in and negotiate with the remaining Council forces, which were dug in so deep that nuclear munitions would be needed to finish them off without catastrophic loss of life. This would lead to the destruction of several cities and many casualties. At Admiral Falson’s request, Cho-sho Half Hand himself had mediated, and had agreed to give the remaining Council forces asylum in the Alliance. Admiral Falson had agreed on behalf of the Torqual people to grant amnesty against future prosecution as well. They would be given transportation to a suitable enclave on a distant colony world, and would be allowed to take family and personal possessions. Given the personal guarantee of one of the most notable D’Bringi in the Alliance, the Council had agreed and just like that the civil was over on the home planet. Part of the agreement had required the Council to record a broadcast to all out-system supporters, informing them of the surrender of the Council and the offer of asylum by the Alliance.
Commodore Veron sent the announcement the surrender of the Council and offer of asylum to the Council ships in orbit over Equity and in short order they agreed to surrender. Things went even more smoothly in Unity, where the Free Fleet task group dispatched there had found a much calmer situation. Without the draw of the mines, the Council had decided to make Unity a showcase for what working with the Council would mean for the colonies. The Council ruled there with a loose grip, trying to demonstrate the advantages of working with the home world to the suspicious colonials. The arrival of an overwhelming Free Fleet force accompanied by word of the surrender of the Council guaranteed a quick and painless turnover.
By the end of the month the civil war was over. Torqual was reunited under Admiral Falson and the Free Fleet. The Alliance, in the person of Cho-sho Half Hand, promised assistance in rebuilding and restoring their society, and for the first time in years the average Torqual could look around with hope for a better future.
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Month 190, Doraz Contingency Territory
The Doraz are smaller than most known sentients species, averaging 3-4 feet long and approximately 2 feet high. The few humans who have met the Doraz stated that they look like nothing more than big, green slugs. The Doraz are generally greenish in color, have two eyes perched on stalks projecting from the top of their heads, and a large mouth with grinding teeth under the eye stalks. The Doraz have two tentacle-like arms used for handling objects, and although they have no visible fingers, they are known to be very dexterous and able to handle very fine manipulations. Doraz tend to be fairly slow, something that they have remedied through the almost universal use of hover carriages once they achieved the technology necessary for such devices. Each Doraz’s carriage is personalized, and given the Doraz’ warlike nature, they tend to be armored and armed. The Doraz are by far the most militant race in the Alliance, and they tend to see everything through the lens of martial action.
The Doraz had been conquered and incorporated into the D’Bringi Alliance at around the same time as the Torqual. They had also been released from D’Bringi control at around the same time as the Torqual, but prided themselves that they had dealt with freedom from direct control better than their neighbors had. Unlike the Torqual, who had suffered under first ramshackle government imposed by the D’Bringi, then a corrupt government after release, and then a repressive revolutionary government, the Doraz had maintained the same government throughout. They had started out as a military dictatorship and were still a military dictatorship. And if the admiral or general in charge now wasn’t the same one who was in charge back then, no one really cared, and the reality of life for the average Doraz hadn’t really changed, except for the better as more advanced technology was introduced into the nation.
If anything, the Doraz had become even more militaristic under first D’Bringi occupation and then freedom. The D’Bringi had graphically demonstrated to the militarists on Doraz Prime the importance of military strength, and the Doraz never intended to be conquered again. They had busily built up an interstellar empire since their release, which now consisted of nine inhabited systems with thirteen colonized planets and numerous colonies and outposts. Their fleet consisted of fifteen heavy cruisers, nine destroyers, and six corvettes, all equipped to high tech six standards. Doraz scientists and engineers were busily working with Alliance scientists to raise the Doraz tech level to parity with the Alliance, and had recently made a breakthrough into HT-7.
Over the last few months, the Doraz Military Council had withdrawn their forces from assignments within the Alliance, citing the lack of current threats to the Alliance, and the growing need to patrol their own empire. The Alliance had agreed to this withdrawal, as long as new forces were sent to reinforce Alliance fleets if requested. The Doraz had agreed, and their ships had come home. Now, the bulk of their fleet set out for the frontier. Twelve heavy cruisers, six destroyers, and three corvettes departed the home world, bound for the Revolver system on the periphery. Two months ago, Doraz survey ships had discovered not one but two alien races inhabiting the same system beyond the Revolver system, and the Doraz were determined to make contact with the new races, and to bring them into the Alliance, one way or another. The Fleet would arrive in the Revolver system by the end of the month, and contact would be made with the aliens next month.
Month 191, Day 3, Revolver system, Doraz Contingency
Warleader Grogan, commander of the Doraz Contact Fleet, looked around his bridge at his officers. Everyone was in their place, their hover carriages locked down at their stations. Bobbing his eye stalks in satisfaction, the Warleader activated the comm system in his carriage. “Commence transit, plan Alpha.”
For the last several days the fleet had waited at the warp point for approval to begin contact procedures in the new system. Their entry warp point in the new system was far out of range of the system’s outposts and colonies, positioned as it was three hundred and twenty-four light minutes from the system primary. For the last two days, one of his corvettes had been positioned on the far side of the warp point, watching for any sign that it had been detected entering the system. So far, there had been no response. The scout had just checked in, so Warleader Grogan was sure that the far side of the warp point was clear. The Doraz fleet transited through in good order, all twenty ships, joining the scout on the far side. Following the plan, the fleet remained at the warp point, while the trio of corvette-scouts set out for the inner system. Even as the corvettes departed, a freighter accompanying the Doraz fleet deployed a communications buoy close to the warp point. They buoy’s sensitive receivers would allow the fleet to communicate with the ships heading into the inner system no matter where they ended up.
The system was a binary system, with a white star primary and an orange star secondary. There were three type T planets in the binary system, two orbiting the primary and one orbiting the secondary. The survey ship that discovered the system determined that all three planets harbored very large populations, and amazingly, there were two different alien civilizations resident in the system, one at the primary star while the second was centered on the secondary star. The survey ship had observed from the outer system for some time, gathering information, but had been unable to determine the relationship between the two races. Warleader Grogan was here to establish contact with both and bring them into the Alliance, willingly or not. Succeeding in his mission would not only do wonders for Grogan’s career, but for the standing of the Doraz within the Alliance, and he was determined to succeed. For now, until they knew more, the Doraz had designated the two alien races as the Primary Aliens and the Secondary Aliens, based on their star of origin.
The Doraz fleet’s entry point was at the 3 o’clock position, if you were looking down at the system from above, with the system primary three hundred and twenty-four light minutes from the entry point. The secondary star was positioned on the far side of the primary from the entry point, one hundred and twenty-two light minutes further from the entry point. After consulting with his staff and the contact experts sent on the mission by the government, Warleader Grogan had decided to make contact with his corvette-scout squadron, and had dispatched them on a round-about course that would have them arcing across the top of the system and then curving into the inner system between the primary and secondary stars, so that hopefully both races would detect the small squadron at the same time. This put the corvettes far from help, but hopefully would avoid having one of the races feeling that they were at a disadvantage while at the same time concealing the location of their entry point.
For six days the trio of corvettes arced across the outer system, far beyond the sensors of the populations in the inner systems. Finally, on day nine, the corvettes turned inward, on a course indirectly towards the secondary star system, coming down from above at an angle. It was Warleader Grogan’s intention that the corvettes would continue on this course for just over two days, which would put them equidistant from the two stars, at which point they would turn directly inwards and continue until they reached the sensor range of the inner planets and were detected, at which time they would stop. Unknown to anyone in the Doraz fleet, they had already been detected. Shortly after making their turn towards the secondary star system, they had been detected by a sensor buoy network emplaced by the Primary Aliens.
Warleader Grogan could be forgiven, perhaps, for not anticipating a sensor network, as none of the races discovered by the Alliance prior to this had had such a thing. After all, if a race was ignorant of the warp point network and other races, why plant expensive sensors in desolate areas no one ever goes? The natives of this system, however, had been at odds for decades, and the current cold war situation between the two had led to significant levels of mistrust and fear, which had led both of them to liberally scatter buoys throughout their outer system. Not far enough out to detect the main Doraz fleet, but sensors belonging to the Primary Aliens detected the corvettes twelve hours after they made their turn towards the secondary star. Given that the buoys could only see a drive field contact, of indeterminate nature and size, and the fact that the drive field was on an indirect course for the secondary system, the Primary Aliens immediately mobilized their fleet and sent a task force out to intercept the drive field and determine its nature and mission.
Days 9-11: The Doraz corvettes continued on course for the secondary star, while the Primary Alien task group headed out to meet them. Mid-day on the 11th, the sensor network placed by the Secondary Aliens detected both the Doraz ships and the Primary Alien’s task group going out to meet them. This sent alerts throughout the Secondary Alien’s military, and a task force was dispatched to intercept both groups. It was at this point that the Doraz corvettes detected the task force from the Primary Aliens, and following procedure they stopped and immediately began broadcasting contact messages.
Day 12: Both the task forces from the natives continued closing on the Doraz corvettes, which watched and waited and continued to broadcast contact messages, which both groups were now responding to with their own contact messages. The Primary Aliens appeared remarkably similar to the Humans the Alliance had fought with in the past, with their primary difference being a tall fringe of hair on their top of their otherwise bald heads. The Secondary Aliens were also humanoid, but had leathery skin and were more lizard-like in appearance. The task force from the Primary Aliens was closer to the Doraz force, but was also slower than the force from the Secondary Aliens. The Secondary Alien task force had changed its course to intercept the Primary Alien force. Seeing that the aliens were going to meet short of their position, the Doraz commander decided to order his force to move to their intended meeting point, thinking that a rendezvous at shorter range would help the contact process.
Day 13: The three forces closed on each other. At twelve light minutes range the three forces could see each other well enough to know that the Doraz force was composed of three ships, the Primary Alien force was composed of four, and the Secondary Alien force was composed of six ships. They all continued to close on each other. At fifteen light seconds they were close enough to determine that the Doraz force was composed of three corvettes, while the Primary Alien force was composed of three battleships and a battlecruiser or carrier, and the Secondary Alien force was composed of three battlecruisers (or carriers) and three destroyers. At this point the Doraz force came to a halt, but the two alien forces continued closing on each other.
Shortly after reaching twelve light seconds range, the Doraz corvettes watched as the Primary Alien force launched thirty fighters, which streaked directly towards the Secondary Alien force. The Secondary Alien ships turned away and started running from the fighters, but could not escape them. The Secondary Alien force proceeded to run from the fighters for the next seven minutes with the slower Primary Alien force falling behind while their fighters steadily gained on the fleeing force. The Doraz ships, fascinated and horrified by the spectacle, kept pace with the two groups of ships while maintaining their range. Finally, the Primary Alien fighters reached point blank range and plunged into the fleeing force, which had turned to meet them at the last second.
The battle only lasted for a few seconds, and both sides suffered. Out of the thirty fighters that attacked the Secondary Alien’s force, only eleven survived to race back to their carrier. The Secondary Aliens suffered for destroying nineteen fighters. One of their BC’s had lost its shields and armor, and a second had been crippled and slowed to one sixth speed.
Instead of retreating, the Secondary Alien force turned on the Primary Aliens and advanced, leaving their crippled battlecruiser behind. The Primary Alien force, which was slower than the Secondary Alien’s force, turned away and tried to maintain the distance while the fighters raced back to their carrier and the Secondary Aliens pursued. It took the fighters just over six minutes to return to their carrier and land, by which time the Secondary Alien force had closed to eight point two five light seconds range of the Primary Alien force. At this time the Primary Alien battleships engaged engine tuners and accelerated to match the pursuing battlecruiser’s speed, maintaining the range. Two and a half minutes later the eleven remaining fighters launched from their carrier, at which time they and the three Primary Alien battleships turned back towards the pursuing Secondary Alien force.
The first exchange of fire took place at five point two five light seconds range, with the two Secondary Alien battlecruisers launching a missile salvo of twelve capital missiles at one of the battleships. Only one managed to get through the battleship squadron’s defenses to splash ineffectively against the big ship’s shields. There was no return fire from the battleships.
It was at this point that the Secondary Aliens realized that closing with the Primary Alien’s big battleships might be a bad idea, and their force turned to maintain the range. The next exchange of fire took place at three point seven five light seconds. This time the Primary Alien battleships struck out with a massive salvo of capital force beams, smashing the Secondary Alien battlecruiser that already had shield and armor damage, leaving it a crippled wreck. The Secondary Alien ships returned fire with capital missiles and advanced standard missile launchers, but they didn’t even manage to knock down the shields of one of the battleships.
The Primary Alien force closed to three point two five light seconds and unleased another massive salvo from the battleship’s capital force beams, this time targeted on the last intact battlecruiser. The heavy force beams smashed through the battlecruiser’s shields and armor and ravaged its engine compartments, leaving the ship slowed to one sixth speed. The return missile fire from the last battlecruiser and the destroyers managed to knock down the battleship’s shields and damaged her armor, but the big ship kept coming.
The battleships and their fighter escorts continued to close on the Secondary Alien force, which was still trying to maintain the range but falling back because of the need to keep their blind-spots out of the enemy’s firing arc. The battle was clearly coming to an end as the battleships got closer and closer to their targets. The Secondary Alien destroyers managed to fire first, scoring three hits and still not managing to penetrate the battleship’s armor. The battleship’s return fire was devastating. The battleships spread their fire across the three remaining destroyers, their heavy force beams punched through the small ship’s shields and armor effortlessly, leaving all three destroyers streaming atmosphere. Each of the BB’s reserved two force beams and concentrated those on the crippled battlecruiser, which had fallen back towards them. The capital force beams annihilated the Secondary Alien’s battlecruiser before it could fire.
At this point the Doraz expected the damaged destroyers to surrender, as they had little other choice at this point. Instead, all three turned and plunged towards their pursuers at full speed and were eliminated by heavy force beam fire before they could get to point blank range or even fire again. With their other ships gone, the two remaining crippled battlecruisers self-destructed, leaving the Primary Alien force alone with the Doraz corvettes. For several minutes the Doraz watched as the Primary Alien force recovered its fighters, and the Doraz commander ordered contact attempts to be restarted. After a minute, the Primary Alien force turned towards the Doraz force and accelerated to combat speed. Fortunately, the Doraz corvettes were faster than the Primary Alien force, even with its engine tuners on, and it was able to maintain the range. In fact, the Doraz corvettes were as fast as the surviving alien fighters, so the Primary Aliens were forced into a chase. The aliens ignored all contact attempts from the Doraz and continued their pursuit. The Doraz ships, which had been matching the alien’s speed, now accelerated to maximum and began drawing away. The Doraz ships were headed directly out-system, away from the Primary Alien’s warships, not towards their distant entry point. Even though the Doraz ships could outpace the Primary Alien’s warships at both cruising and military speed, the Primary Alien ships remained at maximum speed, forcing the Doraz ships to risk burnout or be captured or destroyed.
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Month 190, Alien system, Doraz territories
Day 14: The two groups of ships are now one hundred and forty-four light minutes from the Primary star, and the Doraz corvettes have opened the range on their pursuers to thirty-seven light minutes. In another day they will pass beyond the range at which their pursuers can detect them. Unfortunately for the Doraz, one of the corvettes suffers an engine casualty at this point, losing an engine room. The Doraz commander now has a choice. The lamed corvette is still faster than the alien ships, but it will take longer to escape their scanner range, meaning that there will be more chances for the corvette’s engines to suffer more damage. If his two remaining intact ships leave the damaged one behind, they will almost certainly escape unscathed, even if they suffer a burnout, as they will be beyond the alien’s scanner range by the time that happens. But, if they leave behind their damaged comrade, and it suffers a second burnout, then it will certainly fall into the hands of their pursuers. After a short consultation with his fellow captains, the squadron commander decides to take the crew from the lamed corvette on board his other two ships and then scuttle the damaged ship, denying it to the aliens who were still pursuing them. The remaining two corvettes continue to run as the lamed corvette blows up behind them.
Day 15: The two remaining Doraz corvettes escape from sensor range of the pursuing aliens and continue on a course directly out of the system. Behind them their pursuers continue on course, in spite of the fact that they can no longer detect them. Unknown to the Doraz they are also beyond the sensor networks deployed by both alien races. By the end of the day the pursuing aliens come to a halt and maintain position.
Day 16: The Doraz corvettes continue at maximum military speed and at midday the Doraz corvettes change course, still not heading directly towards their entry point, but are now on a course heading in that general direction. At the end of the day, with no further signs of pursuit, they slowed to cruising speed to avoid further problems with their engines.
Day 17: The Doraz corvettes continued on their course heading away from the inner system. By the end of the day, they were three hundred and forty-eight light minutes from the system primary, and four hundred and forty-four light minutes from their exit point and their fleet. It had been two days since they had seen any sign of their pursuers, and now they turned towards their fleet. It would take them just over nine days to reach safety.
Day 18: Unseen by the Doraz fleet, which was by now far beyond sensor range of the inner system, the Primary Alien’s fleet has advanced into the inner system of the secondary star, and is confronting the main fleet of the Secondary Aliens.
The situation that the Doraz stumbled into was inherently unstable, and, in truth, there was little that the Doraz could have done to make it work out differently. The two races in the system, the Aurarii Republic (Primary Aliens), and the Norn Regime (Secondary Aliens), hated and distrusted each other, and war between the two was inevitable. It had all started innocently enough, but the days of innocence in this system had long passed. What remained was hatred and anger. Their first contact had gone well enough. The Aurarii had been the first into space, and the first to discover and utilize drive field tech. Their Republic was expansive and optimistic, and Aurarii traders flocked to the Norn home world with the promise of riches to be made from trading with the up-and-coming race, which was then in the later stages of industrialization. The Aurarii settled the primary system, and then, even as the Norn began reaching out from their home world using purchased technology, the Aurarii began settling the secondary system as well. These actions were taken by Aurarii corporations, and were not fully sanctioned by the Republic, and they caused a rift in relations between the two races. The Norn began arming themselves, and intensified their purchases of tech from the Aurarii corporations.
The First Norn-Aurarii war began when Norn patrol ships challenged a Aurarii colony transport, which was en route to a disputed Aurarii colony on the moon of the Norn home world. A corporate cruiser intervened and ended up destroying two Norn patrol craft, igniting the war, which lasted for two years. At least, the Norn considered it a war, while the Aurarii Republic barely noticed it while it was happening. The Republic, which was immensely rich and self-satisfied, had no real interest in the Norn, whom they considered little better than barbarians, and they ignored the actions of the corporations as long as the profits rolled in. The war sputtered along for two years, with the Norn ambushing Aurarii corporate transports where they could, running where they had to, and fighting if cornered. The Aurarii corporations, for all of their technological superiority, could not finish the Norns because they had to be concerned about public opinion back home, and the bottom line in their board rooms. So, the war sputtered on, until the Norn got lucky and looted a corporate convoy. The Corporations appealed to the Republic, which sent in the fleet, which ended the war. The Republic was fair, in its settlement of the conflict, at least as far as it was concerned. The Republic forced the corporations to evacuate several mining outposts in favor of the Norn, and forced the corporations to allow Norn residents on their other colonies. The Norn, however, saw the Republic’s intervention as a loss and vowed revenge. In reality the corporations had influenced the outcome from behind the scenes, and part of the peace treaty was the requirement that all colonies in the Secondary system be overseen by a Republic governor, whether they were Aurarii or Norn. Thus started a guerrilla war which continued for years, and included bombings, pirate attacks, and open fighting at times.
During this period of guerrilla war, the Norn steadily increased their technology base, and built up an actual navy. They weren’t able to build a navy capable of defeating the more advanced Aurarii fleet, but eventually their fleet was strong enough to ensure that the Aurarii corporations had to be circumspect in their operations in the Norn space. As tensions increased, so did Norn ability to manipulate Aurarii media and the voting population. Over time the Republic faltered, and it appeared that civil war was imminent. When it came, the Norn moved as well, in an attempt to free their system from Aurarii influence. They failed. An Aurarii admiral decisively put down the unrest in the Aurarii government and named himself Emperor of the Republic, and then rallied his subjects behind him by sending the fleet to put down the Norn rebellion, which was viewed by the average Aurarii as a stab in the back at a time when the Republic was in difficulty. The Norn fought, but the Aurarii fleet swept Norn ships aside and threatened the planet, causing the Norn to surrender. The new Emperor used the Norn as little better than slave labor to rebuild the Republic, and largely succeeded, being hailed as Drusus the Great after his death. His daughter, Omillia, was cut from different cloth. Empress Omillia hated the way the Norn had been treated, and immediately lifted the occupation of Norn and repealed the most onerous laws. Eventually Omillia agreed to evacuate all Republic settlements in the Norn system, in an attempt to placate those that had been wronged by the Aurarii. Unfortunately, those actions did little to ameliorate Norn feelings, and just encouraged them to rebuild and resume their aggressive ways now that the Aurarii seemed weak. The Norn rebuilt their fleet and settled throughout their system, and began probing Aurarii defenses. Empress Omillia did what she could to defuse the growing tension, and there were enough Norn that believed that the Empress meant well to prevent outright war, but tensions steadily rose. Finally, a year before the Doraz appeared in the system, Empress Omillia was assassinated. No one knew who had done it, but a well-organized group of nobles within the Court acted immediately to take advantage of the confusion and have one of their number appointed Regent over Omillia’s infant son. The nobles blamed Omillia’s assassination on the Norn, and relations began rapidly deteriorating. The Norn knew they hadn’t had anything to do with the assassination of the Empress, and this caused them to further distrust the Aurarii. War seemed imminent. And then the Doraz appeared. The Aurarii had no real interest in aliens, who were probably barbarians, but couldn’t allow the Norn to forge an alliance with these new barbarians, as they would inevitably use that alliance to destabilize the system. The Norn, for their part, saw the aliens as the key to their future. Trade with the aliens would boost their economy, and access to their potentially higher technology might finally allow them to move beyond the Aurarii shadow that they had lived in for so long. The poor Doraz had no idea of the stakes when they sent out their contact messages.
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Month 190, Aurarii/Norn System, Doraz Territories
Lord Admiral Dromo, who, by the grace of the Emperor, was commander of the Grand Fleet of the Republic, looked over his glittering bridge in satisfaction. “In the Emperor’s name, we will defeat the Norn scum who have plagued us for too long! On to victory!” There was a swelling cheer that rang across the bridge, and if the cheering was a bit uninspired, well, Lord Dromo still accepted it as his due. Dromo, the very figure of a dashing Aurarii admiral, at least in his own mind, carefully fluffed his tall fringe of hair, making sure that every strand was in place. It wouldn’t do to appear sloppy at his final victory. Of course, it wasn’t like his majesty would really appreciate the victory, given the fact that the current Emperor was a drooling baby, but the Imperial Court would care, and that was where the real power was exercised. Dromo had chaffed under the limitations placed upon him and his fleet by the Court, which, in his opinion, was dominated by vacillating fools. Aurarii technological superiority had been obvious for some time, and their fighters and superiority in capital ships had made victory certain, at least in his mind. In spite of this, the fools in the Court had dithered, allowing the despicable Norn to insult the Republic again and again. Their arrogance and disrespect were intolerable! All of that was over, now. The appearance of the aliens had finally allowed him to panic the Court into approving military action against the Norn, lest they gain an advantage by allying themselves with the new aliens that had appeared into their system. This victory would vault him into the upper reaches of the Court, and from there little would be out of his reach. Perhaps even the throne!
The easy destruction of the Norn contact force by a task group from his fleet had emboldened Dromo and the Court, allowing him to take this next step. And he needed a major victory after his task group lost the alien ships in the outer system. He had counted on capturing at least one alien ship to learn their secrets. Their escape would make him look bad, unless he had a significant victory under his belt. Fortunately, the barbarian Norns were available to give him that victory.
The Aurarii fleet was arrayed before the Norn fleet, which stood in between them and their home planet. The Norns couldn’t retreat without exposing their planet, and maneuvering would merely allow his ships to make a bombardment run at the planet unopposed. Dromo had them exactly where he wanted them. The Aurarii Grand Fleet was composed of three light monitors, six superdreadnoughts, three battleships, and five carriers. Arrayed against them was the Norn fleet, six battleships, three battlecruisers, and nine destroyers. Behind them, orbiting the planet, were six defensive bases, each approximately superdreadnought sized. If he was the Norn, he’d want to retreat under the guns of the orbital bases, but doing so would put the planet within reach of the Aurarii missile launchers, something the Norn were obviously reluctant to risk. So, their fleet stood in between the Aurarii and the planet, waiting for the Aurarii to make their move. So deep was the enmity between the two that neither considered talking. A battle was going to be fought here today, and both knew it, and neither really wanted to avoid it.
The Aurarii fleet was made up of heavy capital ships. Aurarii doctrine called for the use of missiles, and now fighters, to assist the main hitters of the fleet, the capital ships, to get into range of their heavy beam weapons, at which time the enemy would be pounded to pieces. Only the latest monitors even had missile weaponry, and that had been included largely because the designers, and some admirals, had been concerned that the slow monitors might not be able to reach beam range. All Aurarii capital ships were equipped with engine tuners, to give them an extra boost to close with their enemies.
Now, the Aurarii fleet launched its fighters, engaged its engine tuners, and began closing on the Norn fleet. The Aurarii ships and fighters raced towards the Norn fleet at their best speed, which meant that the fighters raced ahead, while the monitors fell behind. The Norns began modulating their engines to make themselves harder targets. The Aurarii ships began their charge at eight light seconds from the stationary Norn fleet, and fifteen and half-light seconds from the Norn bases and planet.
The Aurarii Fleet was made up of three light monitors armed with a mix of advanced gun/missile launchers and capital force beams, six superdreadnoughts armed with capital force beams, HET lasers, and plasma guns, and three battleships armed with capital force beams. In addition, the Aurarii had 150 fighters charging ahead of the fleet. The Norn fleet was made up of six battleships armed with primary beams, three battlecruisers armed with advanced gun/missile launchers and capital missile launchers, and nine destroyers armed with advanced gun/missile launchers.
The Norn battlecruisers were the only ships in their fleet with the range to engage the Aurarii fleet, and they sent a total of twelve capital missiles towards the charging fleet, all targeted on a Aurarii battleship. Only one of the missiles hit its target, causing minor shield damage. The Norn fleet continued modulating its engines as the Aurarii charged. The next exchange of fire took place once the Aurarii SD’s and BB’s reached five light seconds, and the Norn BC’s were able to fire standard missiles to bolster their capital missile salvoes. The Norn DD’s also fired their internal launchers, adding a total of eighteen standard missiles in two salvoes to those of the battlecruisers. The targeted Aurarii battleship absorbed the few missiles that got through her defenses, although her shields were seriously weakened. The Aurarii capital ships were able to return fire, now being within range of their capital force beam turrets. The massed capital force beam fire causing heavy damage to the hapless Norn BB.
At this point the Norn fleet, recognizing its severe disadvantage, turned back towards their planet (and bases) and began retreating, careful to keep their enemies out of their blind spots. The Aurarii continued charging ahead, and the SD’s and BB’s actually managed to close on the retreating enemy thanks to their engine tuners. The slower monitors weren’t able to close, but with their engine tuners they were able to maintain the range. The Aurarii concentrated their fire on a second battleship, while the damaged and slowed BB is destroyed by capital force beam fire from the monitors. Norn return fire is light, and only manages to cause medium armor damage to the same Aurarii BB.
The Norn fleet continues retreating towards the planet. The Aurarii capital ships, now at four point two five light seconds range, concentrate their fire on two Norn BB’s, damaging both. The Norn BB damaged before is destroyed by the monitors. In return the Norn concentrate on the same battleship, which loses most of its armor.
The damaged Aurarii battleship turns away from the battle and drops back while its fellow squadron mates continue their charge towards the enemy. The Aurarii fighters have now closed to one point two five light seconds from the retreating enemy fleet, and the Norn begin firing on them with their capital point defense emplacements. Nine fighters are destroyed, but the Norn have diverted point defense away from missile defense to destroy them. It seemed a safe bet, because so fare the Aurarii hadn’t used missile weapons. The Norn BC’s fire their capital missile launchers on the retreating Aurarii BB and damage it further, and the rest of the Norn fleet shifts fire to an Aurarii SD, causing minor shield damage. In return the Aurarii destroy three Norn battleships and damage the last.
The charging Aurarii ships are now within range of the BS4’s orbiting the planet. They concentrate their fire on the same SD, knocking its shields down and damaging its armor. The Aurarii BB’s and SD’s, their capital force beams growing increasingly effective as the range drops, now turn their fire on the Norn DD’s. Eight of the nine small ships are damaged in a matter of seconds. The Norn, in exchange, focus their fire on the attacking fighters, which are now just a half of a light second behind the fleeing fleet. Thirty-one fighters are destroyed in an orgy of destruction, but that still leaves one hundred and nineteen left to close on the fleet.
The Norn admiral, perhaps realizing that his time left was measured in seconds, ordered his fleet to turn and charge one the Aurarii fleet, which accepted the challenge and continued its own charge. The fighters arced around behind the Norn fleet and then raced up behind them, unleashing their close attack missiles at point blank range. The Norn focus all of their fire on the damaged Aurarii SD and cause heavy internal damage, but in response the Norn fleet is wiped out by close attack missiles and heavy capital force beam fire from the Aurarii fleet.
The Aurarii now close on the Norn bases, which are all that’s left. The damaged SD is attempting to retreat, but the Norn focus all of their fire on the hapless capital ship, destroying it before it can get too far. The return fire from the Norn fleet heavily damages three BS4’s, breaking up the base’s data groups. Thirty seconds later the battle is over as the fighters close to point blank range and the remaining Aurarii SD’s and BB’s inundate the survivors with capital force beam fire.
With the Norn defenses eliminated, the Grand Admiral Dromo broadcast a demand to the Norn to surrender. The Norn refused. Aurarii Imperial troops began landing within the week. By the end of the month fighting had engulfed the planet. The Imperial troops were outnumbered, but had superior technology.
Month 192, Aurarii Republic
Minor Aurarii reinforcements are shipped to Norn Prime to bolster the forces there trying to take control of the planet. The fighting is going well, and the defenders are weakening. Still Grand Admiral Dromo is impatient and wants the fighting to end so that he can return home in triumph.
Month 192, Day 1, Doraz Prime
Word of the disastrous contact with the natives of the Stone system has made its way back to the Doraz home planet. Based on the ships seen in the Stone system, it is clear to the Doraz leaders that they may not be able to deal with the natives themselves. Fortunately, the warp link leading to the Stone system is closed, so the natives will not be able to find it, but they will undoubtedly begin looking for the Doraz. Therefore, the Doraz send a message to the Alliance Council, invoking the mutual defense treaty and requesting assistance.
The message arrives on the primary home worlds of the Alliance within hours, thanks to the Alliance ICN that links the major systems of the Alliance together. The Council, eager to demonstrate the benefits of membership to the various races within the Alliance, approves a major response almost immediately. Ships will be sent from the various home worlds and the existing fleets, and the resulting reaction force will deploy to the Stone system and establish contact with the new aliens from a position of strength, rather than allowing them to explore the warp network unfettered and perhaps discover an undefended Alliance system. The leading elements of the new Alliance fleet reached the Doraz home planet by the end of the month. In all, just over one hundred Alliance warships were on the move, converging on the Doraz system.
Month 193, Doraz Territory
The Alliance ships sent to the Doraz territories have been re-designated as the Alliance 6th Fleet. Although not all of the ships have arrived, enough have assembled that supply is becoming an issue. The bulk of the new fleet is located in the Doraz Whever system, one jump beyond the Doraz home system and three jumps from the new aliens that threatened the Doraz. As currently constituted, the 6th Fleet consists of 15xBC, 1xCVL, 12xCA, 6xCAV, 4xCVS, 15xCL, 19xCVE, 9xDD, 2xDDV, 16xCTV, 5xPinnace Carrier, 20xPinnace, and 375xF0. The support element for the fleet currently boasts 5xSupply Ships, 3xFT(200 replacement F0), and 1xRS(Repair Ship). Additional support elements have been promised. The 6th Fleet has enough supplies on its supply ships to support the entire fleet for approximately one month, so the bulk of the fleet is limited to operating within the Alliance supply network, which doesn’t extend very far past its current location. Fleet Command has directed the assembly of several supply depots in the area to bolster the supply network, however, this will take time to accomplish. In the meantime, the 6th Fleet’s commander, Tai-sho Talix, the highest ranking T’Pau in the Alliance navy, has detached a large group of ships to move forward to the limit of the supply network. The Doraz report that no alien ships have approached the warp point back to their territory, and, given the fact that it is closed, they believe that the aliens won’t be able to find it. However, Tai-sho Talix’s orders are to resolve the situation at his earliest opportunity. Given the supply situation, this will take time, unfortunately.
Meanwhile, in the Stone System, the Aurarii ground forces are having increasing difficulties on Norn Prime. The Norn defenders have rallied, and, while they aren’t pushing the Aurarii back, they are giving them a run for their money. In desperation, the Aurarii send reinforcements to Norn Prime, but they are scraping the bottom of the barrel on their home world and few reinforcements are available (note: the Aurarii are complacent and mildly corrupt, and will have problems enlarging their ground forces).
In the aftermath of the battle in month 191, the Aurarii sent out their ten frigate class survey ships to re-survey the system. Early in their expansion throughout the system, Aurarii scientists had developed a theory of interstellar travel involving something they called “Warp points”, which connected to “Warp Lanes”, which would allow ships to travel between star systems. The Aurarii fleet had surveyed the system at that time, looking for the warp points, but had found none and the theory was put on the shelf while the Aurarii focused on settling the system. With the intrusion of the aliens, the Aurarii pulled the old theory out and went looking again. By the end of this month, though, the Aurarii have come to the conclusion that if there are any warp points in their system, they cannot find them.
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Month 191, Grand Alliance
The Alliance Council concludes delicate negotiations with its member states this month. The negotiations were intended to tighten the relationship between the Alliance and its ‘junior’ members, and for the most part the negotiators succeeded. The Torqual Free State, Doraz Contingency, Zir Contemplative Union, and Bir all agreed to further integrate their economies and military with the Alliance (partnership). The Chirq remained aloof for now. As one of the newest races in the Alliance, the Chirq felt that they should maintain their independence for now, as a way of gaining greater status within the Alliance once they agreed to fully commit to the Alliance.
Month 193, Zir Contemplative Union
One and a half months ago, the Zir government, such as it is, agreed to closer ties with the Alliance. In practical terms, this meant a large influx of Alliance personnel, and a much greater degree of information sharing and joint operations. For the most part this has gone well, however, there are several areas where the Zir government has been dragging its feet. One area has been in regards to full disclosure of the extent of its exploration efforts and its discoveries during its expansion. While the Alliance has previously written this off to the standard Zir inefficiency, in reality, the Zir have been struggling to come up with a strategy to deal with their discoveries and have feared the Alliance’s reaction once full disclosure is made. Almost two years ago, Zir survey ships working int eh Villiers system, discovered that the system possessed no less than twelve warp points, in addition to their entry point. When added to the five type T planets the system possessed, the Villiers system became incredibly valuable. It was what was found through the new warp points that left the Zir in such a quandary, though. Four of the systems found through the warp points in the Villiers system were inhabited. Two of the new systems were inhabited by humans, the third by Mintek, and the fourth by an unknown race.
This momentous discovery both elated and scared the Zir. They were elated because more than anything else they wanted to make contact with new races and befriend them. It scared them because they knew the D’Bringi and their Alliance had made a habit of going to war with the new races they met, and the Zir had no interest in bringing war to a new race. Worse, the humans had been at war with the Alliance in the past, and the Mintek were currently at war with the Alliance. The discovery led to a great debate within first the government, and then in the real centers of power on Zir Prime, the colleges and universities. Everyone had an opinion, and very few of the opinions matched. Some wanted to forget that they had discovered the new races and bury the information deep, along with the locations of the warp points that led to their systems. Others wanted to make contact with the new races and use this opportunity to make new friends, perhaps even defusing the war between the Alliance and the Mintek. Yet others wanted to divest themselves of the responsibility and turn the information over to the Alliance. The debates cycled endlessly, and nearly two years later the Zir were no closer to deciding on a course of action than they were when the discovery was new. And then those who wanted to turn the information over to the Alliance saw an opportunity in the Alliance’s diplomatic efforts to create a closer union. They pushed for agreeing to the Alliance’s proposals, without ever mentioning the consequences of a closer union, and managed to gain enough support to push the measure through the government.
Now, seven weeks after the agreement was signed, the Zir government turned the astrographic data over to the Alliance as agreed, after dragging their feet. The data was turned over in a single large data-dump, without special emphasis or notation. It would take some time for the Alliance to realize what it had.
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Month 194, Doraz Territories, Alliance 6th Fleet
With the supply depots in the Sheund system coming along, the advance forces of the Alliance 6th Fleet were able to advance into the Revolver system, which was adjacent to the alien’s home system, while the bulk of the 6th Fleet was able to advance to the Sheund system itself. The supply master’s estimates were that it would still be two months before they could supply the entire fleet in the Revolver system, so Tai-sho Talix was going to have to decide whether or not to advance with just a portion of his forces, or wait for the supply network to build up its capacity. For now, he was content to wait, as new supply ships were under construction, or being loaded with supplies, and one way or another the supply situation would be remedied.
In the Aurarii home system, Lord Admiral Dromo, fearing that the invasion effort is flagging and that the indecisive ongoing battle will tarnish his reputation, uses all of his influence in the Court to call up every reserve unit in the Aurarii Republic and get them transferred to his command to reinforce his invasion of Norn Prime. The new units will arrive before the end of the month. Dromo is told in no uncertain terms that these will be the last reinforcements he receives.
Month 194, Alliance Naval HQ, Chruqua Nexus
The Naval Intelligence Strategic Assessment Group was assigned to analyze and integrate information turned over by the various member states of the Alliance finally began grinding away through the information sent by the Zir, and alarms went off almost immediately. The astrographic information contained both incredible opportunities and incredible threats. The Zir had discovered a warp nexus with an open, detectable, link to an unknown alien race, as well as three closed links to inhabited systems. Two of these links appeared to link to human systems, which made them interesting, and potentially useful should hostilities resume with that race, but it was the last link that was the most interesting. Not only was it to a Mintek system, but it was to a Mintek system that matched the known information associated with the Mintek Home system! An offensive into the Mintek home system would almost certainly end the long war with that race in one lightning operation.
A priority message was sent from the head of the assessment group to the chief of naval intelligence, who immediately requested a meeting with the ruling triumvirate. While the full Council of the Alliance consisted of representatives from every Alliance race, the representatives of the three full members were the only voting representatives, and they were the ones that made the real decisions for the Alliance. The Triumvirate was quickly informed of the new opportunities and threats, and acted quickly. The Chief of Naval Operations was tasked with developing a plan to assault the Mintek home system. Next, the Zir were tasked with building up the defenses of the Villiers system, which was the nexus system that connected to the Mintek Home System. Additionally, light forces were diverted from several locations in the Alliance to begun a buildup of forces in the Villiers system. Eventually, the newly formed 6th Fleet would be diverted to the Zir system, once its mission in the Doraz expanses were complete, but for now the Zir would have to shoulder the burden of the defense of the Villiers system. Finally, construction units across the Alliance were given orders to divert to the Villiers system as soon as their current tasks could be completed.
Month 195, Aurarii Home System, Doraz Territories
The Aurarii invasion of Norn Prime, bolstered by reinforcements arriving late last month, finally overwhelm the Norn defenders and the Norn Regime formally surrenders on the 1st of the month. Lord Admiral Dromo graciously accepts the surrender and disperses his troops across the planet to consolidate Aurarii control. He also loads his transports with loot from the conquered planet, and then takes the bulk of his fleet back to Aurarii Prime in victory. As his fleet departs, he orders three CVL’s from the newly reactivated reserves over Aurarii Prime to move to Norn Prime and take up watch stations to cover the troops on the ground. He has several reasons for doing this. First, his fleet is composed of capital ships only, which means that leaving any behind over Norn Prime would significantly weaken his fleet. This is something he intends to remedy in the near future, which is increased fame and influence at Court should make possible. Secondly, the ships in his fleet are commanded by captains personally chosen by him, and thus loyal to him. The ships of the New Fleet of reserve ships being reactivated over Aurarii Prime are commanded by captains and an admiral chosen by officers not beholden to him, and were likely chosen by factions within the Court opposed to his rise. While not necessarily enemies, they aren’t his people either, and can’t be trusted. Weakening the New Fleet slightly, while returning with his own fleet to Aurarii Prime, will ensure his primacy in orbit over the home planet. With his hard-won fame from defeating the Norn Fleet, and then conquering Norn Prime, along with the Norn loot he can now disperse to his followers and to the Court, he will be politically unstoppable. With all of that behind him he is sure that he can unseat the Regent and replace her. And once he controls the child-Emperor, there will be no limit to his reach. Lord Admiral Dromo is a very satisfied Aurarii.
Month 195, Day 15, Aurarii Prime
The victory celebration in the capital had been going on for hours, and would go on for hours more. Lord Admiral Dromo had been generous with his resources, and had funded food and drink for large celebrations throughout the capital and beyond. The average citizens loved it. The Norn had long been a distant threat they had vaguely feared, and with them vanquished, at seemingly no cost, they thought Lord Admiral Dromo walked on water.
The Imperial Court was celebrating too, and if their food and drink was of a better quality, and they were a bit more restrained than the commoners, they were, if anything, even more relieved at the outcome. Many of the more minor courtiers had thronged to Lord Admiral Dromo’s side upon his arrival, their keen political sense detecting an ascending star, and the Lord Admiral had been feted and adored throughout the evening, treatment that he soaked up as his due. The culmination of the evening for Dromo was a personal audience with the Emperor. The four-year-old didn’t really know what was going on as the adults around him handled the pomp and circumstance, but it wasn’t the boy that mattered to Dromo anyway. It was his aunt, the Dowager Princess Anastal, Regent for the crown, who mattered in that room. The Regent was very formal and correct, and effusive in her praise for Dromo’s accomplishments, and Dromo basked in the praise even as he knew it was false. The Regent knew him for a threat to her position, but there was little she could do about it with his political star ascending and the people and his fleet at his back.
The celebrations continued into the next day without pause. Sometime around midnight, Lord Admiral Dromo retired to his suite in the Palace. He would have preferred to stay someplace else, perhaps even aboard his flagship, but that wasn’t possible. He was the victor, and staying in the Palace was politically necessary. The day had been long and arduous. Dromo had been struck several times during the day with the thought that the Palace was a battlefield every bit as dangerous as the battles he had so recently fought, and perhaps even more so. By the end of the day, he was exhausted and his stomach was telling him that he had perhaps imbibed too much, or eaten too much of the rich food that had been present in such abundance. As he entered his suite, which had been swept by his people and was guarded by his personal guards, he just wanted to get a little sleep before getting up in the morning and restarting his political efforts. Without thinking too much about it he dimmed the lights and collapsed on the ornate couch in the entry way to his suite, not even bothering to take off his dress uniform.
Sometime later he awoke, bathed in sweat, disoriented, and in pain. The pain originated in his abdomen and radiated out, and was intense enough that he could do little but groan in distress. After a few seconds he heard a chuckle nearby. The sound sent waves of panic through him, and he attempted to find his communicator, but the pain in his stomach was debilitating and he couldn’t move. He peered around the dimly lit room in fear. “Who’s there?”, he managed to croak.
A dark figure sitting across from the couch he was sprawled on shifted and he started. In the dark hadn’t noticed the other. After a second the figure leaned close and a shock of recognition raced through him. The Regent! He looked around for his guards but no one else was there. He tried to ask how she had gotten into the room, as there was no way his guards would have let her into the room unescorted, but the pain crested and all he could get out was -”Guards!” in a low croak that couldn’t be heard much beyond the couch he was laying on.
The Regent chucked. “Don’t worry, Lord Admiral. They are on duty even now, diligently guarding you. This is my home, though, and I know it better than anyone else. Now, don’t you worry. The pain will fade soon, and after that you won’t have any worries at all.” She paused, and seeing the panicked look on the admiral’s face she continued, smiling openly now. “Oh Dromo, you had such dreams. I know. We all knew, how could we not? You may be a good admiral, but as a courtier or politician you were a beginner. Your dreams of Imperial purple were there for anyone to see, so obvious was your ambition. And I can’t have that, can I? My nephew will be Emperor one day, and neither you nor any of the others who lust after that damned throne will stand in his way.” Seeing that the light was fading in his eyes she nodded. “Don’t worry Dromo, your victories have gone a long way towards securing my nephew’s rule, as will your timely death. Goodbye dear admiral.” She stood and walked out of Dromo’s line of sight. A few minutes later Dromo’s eyes closed for the last time.
The next morning, thinking their admiral had merely slept in to celebrate his victory, Dromo’s guards shielded him from all inquiries. Finally, a servant was allowed to enter the suite with breakfast, and the guards that escorted her into the suite found Dromo dead on the couch. Dromo’s own naval medical personnel were called in and verified that he had died early in the morning from heart failure.
The Regent herself made the tearful announcement to the planet that their hero, the victor of Norn Prime, had died of natural causes after the celebration. She lauded the Lord Admiral, and announced that his family would be awarded an estate and a title for his service.
Month 195, Day 15, Aurarii Home System, Doraz Territories
One by one the ships of the 6th Alliance Fleet entered the Stone system, home of the aliens that had recently chased the Doraz contact ships out of the system. In all, one hundred and nine Alliance ships jumped into the system. Of these ships, five were supply ships carrying vital maintenance supplies, while the rest were warships of varying types.
Tai-Sho Talix had not originally intended to enter the system in this manner. For one thing, the supply depots set up two systems back in the Sheund system were not at full capacity yet, and wouldn’t be for several months. Also, the Alliance Council was still divided on the correct course of action to take with the natives of this system. While they had chased the Doraz contact group, and forced them to scuttle one of their ships to avoid capture, they had not fired on the Doraz ships or taken any openly hostile actions aside from the aggressive pursuit. Given that fact that Council had been against opening hostilities immediately, without further negotiation, but hadn’t wanted to risk any further contact ships either. All of the uncertainty had evaporated when the report from Naval Intelligence on the Zir situation had arrived in the Council’s hands. That had changed everything. Tai-sho Talix had received new orders requiring him to enter the alien’s system with as much strength as he felt necessary, and to resolve the situation as soon as possible so that his fleet could be immediately redeployed to Zir space. To Talix, “as much force as necessary” meant his entire fleet, even if it was at the edge of his ability to support, and so here they were. His orders covered any possible action he deemed necessary, up to but not including planetary bombardment.
After reorganizing, the fleet set out for the inner system, leaving the Doraz Contact Fleet behind to guard the warp point leading back to their space. Their ETA to the inner system of the primary star was nine days.
Four days later the Alliance fleet crossed an invisible line in space and popped up on the Aurarii sensor network. Admiral Vintari, the new commander of the Aurarii fleet, ordered his ships to leave orbit and intercept the incoming contact. A day and a half later the Aurarii fleet appeared on the sensors of the Alliance fleet. Just over a day later the two fleets met in deep space.
Aurarii Grand Fleet
Admiral Vintari, CO
3xML, 8xSD, 6xBB, 6xCV, 6xCVL, 217xF0 (3,005 Hull Spaces)
Alliance 6th Fleet
Tai-sho Talix, CO
15xBC, 18xCA, 15xCL, 11xDD, 1xCVL, 4xCVS, 19xCVE, 5xCT(pinnace), 16xCTV, 5xFT(Supply), 375xF0, 20xPinnace (4,431 Hull Spaces)
The two fleets closed to fifteen light seconds from each other and then came to a halt. Shortly thereafter a transmission from the native fleet arrived and was displayed on the command deck monitor on board Tai-sho Talix’s command battlecruiser. The display showed a humanoid figure, elaborately dressed in what was obviously a uniform with numerous medals and insignia hanging from the jacket. The native looked rather a lot like a human, with whom Talix had had some limited dealings in the past. The native’s language was incomprehensible, though, and it would take some time to decipher. Time Talix didn’t have. In spite of his orders, though, Talix did not want to initiate hostilities without a clear indication that there was not going to be another alternative. So, he was forced to wait as the contact team worked to decipher the alien language.
By the end of the month the Alliance communications specialists had made some headway with the native’s language. The natives, in spite of their previous aggression, were able to communicate well enough to get the fact that they wanted a peaceful contact with the Alliance. Indeed, not long after that message was relayed to the Alliance communication staff, all but three of the Aurarii ships turned for home. The three remaining ships were all cruiser sized, that being the smallest ship in the Aurarii fleet.
Tai-sho Talix was somewhat relieved, although anxious over the fact that he needed to begin moving his fleet to Zir space as soon as possible. After conversations with his staff, he decided to withdraw from the Aurarii system, leaving behind a small group of ships to conduct the first contact process. The Aurarii were warned not to follow the 6th Fleet as it withdrew, as Talix wanted to maintain the secrecy of the location of the closed warp point his fleet had used to enter the system. The three Aurarii ships seemed content to watch the bulk of the fleet depart.
Month 195, Day 28, Zir Villiers System
A Zir destroyer group from the Zir Frontier Fleet had been watching the open warp point to the unknown alien race’s system almost since it was discovered. The fact that the warp point on the far side was open as well meant that at some point the native race in that system may come calling through the warp point, although after all of this time the Zir didn’t think it was likely. Still, the destroyer group had been assigned to observe the alien system and guard the warp point out of caution. For all of that time they had sat on the far side of the warp point, observing the alien system, occasionally jumping back to the Villiers system to be resupplied. Now all of that changed. The Zir destroyers picked up a drive field contact on a direct course for their location. Quickly activating their drive fields, they jumped out of the system, in the hopes that the aliens hadn’t discovered the warp point and were merely coincidentally on a direct course for their location.
Several days later the alien ships had not jumped through the warp point. For now, the Zir ships would remain in their own system, in case the aliens were waiting on the far side.
Meanwhile, on the periphery of the Alliance, an exploration fleet probed a newly discovered warp point. The new system was a binary yellow/orange star system. The primary system had two type T planets, both inhabited. Problematically, the entry point into the system was located just seventy-two light minutes from the system primary, and one of the two inhabited planets was within detection range of the warp point when the probe ship entered the system. Following protocol, the probe ship sent a CD back through the warp point to inform the fleet of the discovery, then began sending contact messages to the two inhabited planets. Their response was swift, and soon the contact team on board the Rehorish survey corvette were working on deciphering the native’s language. The native’s appearance was a mystery, as all of the natives that had appeared in the contact messages were covered in a full suit of what appeared to be combat armor of some sort. From what could be seen they were bipedal, with two arms and two legs, but not much could be seen past that. By the end of the month partial communications had been established with the Lothar, as they called themselves. At this point they seemed friendly enough, and had sent a small ship to meet the Alliance survey ship to conduct their portion of the first contact procedure.
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Month 192, Mintek Universal Union
The Mintek government announced on this date two grand triumphs. The first was the formal surrender of the Bedu to Mintek control, and the second was the acceptance of the Alowan race into full membership within the Universal Union. The Alowan were conquered several years ago, and since that time Mintek missionaries had worked tirelessly to bring the truth to the unenlightened. Finally, after years of patient work, enough Alowan had been brought to enlightenment to allow them self-rule and full membership in the Union. Many of the missionaries will remain on Alowan Prime to continue their ministry, but even now transports are filling up with volunteers to spread the work in the newly liberated Bedu territories.
The Union has received a massive influx of resources from the conquest of the Bedu, and this is exactly what the teetering economy needed. The Mintek government immediately sends out multiple colony expeditions to several attractive colony sites discovered over the last several years, and makes a massive investment in building up the nation’s industry.
In the Bedu home system, occupation forces have arrived and taken control of the major population centers. Because the Bedu voluntarily surrendered, these forces are in place merely to assure Bedu compliance with Mintek mandates, and to ensure the safety of the missionaries that are even now en route to Bedu territory. Strategos Brammer is marshaling his forces in the Bedu home system in preparation for making contact with the race that the Bedu had been in contact with for some time. Initial intelligence reports show that a Bedu fleet, along with numerous colony transports, left through the home system’s second warp point even as Brammer’s fleet entered the system. Investigation is underway, and the Bedu who negotiated the surrender agreement, along with the entirety of their Grand House, have been detained pending the resolution of this situation. Brammer is hesitant to make contact with the new race, known to us only as the Bjering, before unravelling the actions that took place in the Bedu home system prior to the surrender.
Month 193, Mintek occupied Bedu Home System
Strategos Brammer was livid. It was now apparent that while he negotiated in good faith, some of the Bedu were stripping their economy bare and fleeing through a warp point in their home system that led to a previously unknown race they called the Bjering Consolidate. They not only evacuated an unknown number of their citizens, as well as their remaining warships, but also their entire CFN, which has crippled their remaining economy. The cost of replacing the Bedu CFN would be prohibitive, even if the Mintek economy was healthy. As things stand, there is essentially no way that the Mintek economy, even bolstered by its recent windfalls, could replace the missing freighters and transports.
When the magnitude of the disaster became clear, Strategos Brammer ordered the arrest of every significant Bedu on the home world, starting with the representatives in their Grand House. This went against established Mintek policy, which dictated that Mintek occupation be as light and non-intrusive as possible. However, the level of perfidy was stunning, and the fact that they had crippled their own economy to evacuate a small portion of their population to save them from enlightenment was damning. In essence, Strategos Brammer was beginning to believe that the Bedu might be irredeemable. For now, Strategos Brammer has his fleet concentrated over the Bedu home world in a show of force, aside from some small scouting groups dispatched to the warp points in the system. Once the scope of the disaster is clear, Brammer intends to move to the Bjering warp point and demand the return of the Bedu freighters and transports.
As the economic disaster became increasingly clear, Brammer’s reports back home became more alarming to the central government. Early in the month, Chancellor Durkhon dispatched Minster Turval to the Bedu home world to oversee their assimilation and to take charge of the investigation of the disaster. Minister Turval boarded a destroyer orbiting the home world on the 1st, and the destroyer’s captain set out at top speed for the Bedu home system. Their ETA was day 16, Month 194. In the meantime, Brammer was ordered to continue his investigation and to remain in orbit over the Bedu home planet until further notice.
Month 194, Mintek occupied Bedu Home System
By the time Minister Turval arrived, Strategos Brammer had a more-or-less complete listing of the missing assets. Over two hundred freighters and transports had disappeared into Bjering space, along with an unknown number of military ships and a survey fleet. In addition, it appeared that the Bedu had managed to evacuate at least fifteen million people into Bjering space, and likely even more than that, although the remaining records were confused.
Upon his arrival, Minister Turval reviewed Brammer’s investigation of the disaster. The Bedu arrested by Brammer were uniformly claiming innocence, and were all loudly blaming someone called Virena, whom they claimed had betrayed the Bedu state. This Virena was apparently the daughter of Consul Thrack, the former leader of the Bedu nation. Interestingly, this Thrack was in Mintek custody after being captured after the defeat of his fleet. Brammer had been unable to interview him as, because he was both a military officer and leader of an unassimilated people, he had been remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Mental Hygiene, and once they had someone, he became unavailable to anyone on the outside for some time. That wasn’t a problem for Turval, though, as the BMH was a part of his ministry, and the head of the Bureau reported directly to Minister Turval. Once he made this discovery, Turval issued orders to bring former Consul Thrack to his office.
Shortly thereafter, a pair of guards arrived with now-citizen Thrack in between them. The difference between the two tall, elegant Mintek flanking the short, ugly Bedu was striking to Minister Turval. It was a lesson in life, he admitted to himself. The unenlightened were always ugly, and then, somehow, once they achieved enlightenment they became, if not beautiful, then at least acceptable. It was enlightenment itself that was so powerful, and it constantly mystified Turval that so many would fight so hard to keep themselves in darkness. He realized he had kept the Bedu standing at the threshold of his office for several minutes, and gestured to the guards. “Please bring him in, then leave us.” Seeing the concern on their faces, he nodded. “I understand, but do not worry. I do not believe Consul Thrack wishes me harm.”
The guards moved the Bedu over to the office’s other chair and seated him, then left. For a few seconds the two looked at each other. Minister Turval saw what appeared to be a standard Bedu, indistinguishable from the billions of other Bedu, for the most part, dressed in standard detention overalls. Thrack was clean, and appeared to be well fed. In fact, Turval would have been shocked if he was anything but that, as re-education by the Bureau of Mental Hygiene did not depend on anything so gross as torture or mistreatment. Thrack appeared to be content to peer around the office and take things in. Finally, Turval nodded. “I reviewed the records. You are to be commended for surrendering in the face of defeat. Not everyone can do that, and many leaders find it difficult to relinquish power. Many will spend all of their followers lives to hang on for just a few minutes more, and the fact that you would rather save as many as you did speaks well for you and your people.”
Thrack watched the Mintek interestedly, but seemed content to watch and offered no response. After a few seconds Turval realized that he hadn’t actually asked a question and thus waiting for an answer didn’t make much sense. “There are many things I would like to discuss with you, but today I would speak with you about your daughter, Virena.”
At the mention of his daughter’s name, Thrack sat up straight and leaned forward. “Is my daughter alive?”
“She was alive three months ago, to my knowledge. I can confirm that she was not killed by our forces, nor does it appear that she was killed by anyone on your side, but I do not know her current state.”
Thrack looked stunned, then smiled. “So, she lives.” He said it like he knew it for sure.
“Presumably.” Turval watched the Bedu as several emotions chased each other across his face, but wasn’t familiar enough with Bedu mannerisms to understand their meaning. “In fact, the circumstances of her disappearance are what I would like to talk to you about now. Your daughter has caused a lot of trouble, and not just for us. Her actions have destabilized the Bedu economy, and could quite possibly lead to a war, if this isn’t handled right.”
Thrack sat quietly for a few seconds, thinking, then nodded. “So, she did it. She escaped with a refugee fleet outfitted to create a settlement somewhere far from here.”
Turval’s interest was piqued. There was no way Thrack could know about that, as he had been captured long before the Bedu surrendered. That would indicate that Virena’s plan was long-standing. “This was your fallback plan all along?”
Thrack shook his head. “No, but it was a possibility we discussed. If she’s done it correctly, you’ll never find her or my people.
“Oh, I think we know where she went. Some of the members of the Grand House have been very cooperative, and they all agree, the only place that Virena could have gone was to the Bjering.” Turval watched the Bedu leader for a reaction very carefully, but Thrack sat motionlessly, nothing showing on his face. When the other said nothing, Turval continued. “The reason you are here is because she has caused grievous damage to the Bedu economy. Perhaps unrecoverable damage. We cannot allow this to stand.”
Thrack looked interested. “Just what is it that you think she’s done?”
“Your daughter made off with a squadron of warships, a survey group, and around fifteen millions of your people. All of that we can overlook, at least for now, but the real problem is that she took off with your entire commercial freight network as well! Around two hundred and thirty freighters and transports! Without them your economy is crippled. Even now Bedu are likely dying on your outer worlds for lack of supplies and medical support.”
Thrack shook his head. “Don’t cry to me about dying Bedu! You don’t care about them; you only care about the resources you can’t steal from my people now that the freighters aren’t here to ship them. You can’t expect me to get upset that our stolen resources aren’t reaching your worlds!”
Turval slammed his hand into the desk in front of him. The sharp sound echoed across the room and Thrack went still. “I care about every life lost to the truth! We didn’t invade you to steal your resources, but rather to protect our missionaries who were only trying to enlighten your people. But, now that we are responsible for your people, we will use their resources to benefit both them and our people. But we cannot do that if for the next year all of the income of the Bedu people goes to replacing their lost freighters! It appears to me that you are the one unconcerned with the wellbeing of your own people.”
Thrack looked outraged, but said nothing. It occurred to him that the Mintek in front of him seemed to actually believe what he was saying. He did actually appear distressed that Bedu might be in hardships because of this. Interesting. After a few seconds he sat back looking around the room, away from Turval.
Minister Turval stood up and came around the desk. “Next month I go to meet with the Bjering. I will be negotiating to bring enlightenment to them, as well as for the return of the freighters they have stolen. First, we must learn their language. I am asking for your help. Help me peacefully negotiate with them, just to get the freighters back! Just that. If I cannot do that, then I fear that we may have no choice but to go to war with the Bjering to get what is ours back. Help me avoid war. Please!”
Thrack looked at the other for a few seconds, thinking. Finally, he nodded. “I’ll help. For now.” It had to be better than where he had been before.
Minister Turval, with former Consul Thrack in tow, departed from the Bedu home world within a matter of hours, en route to the warp point to Bjering space. Strategos Brammer accompanied them, along with the bulk of the 1st Carrier Strike Group, and the Fast Attack Group.
Upon arriving at the warp point seven days later, Strategos Brammer sent a series of CD’s through the warp point. Once on the far side they broadcast, in the Bedu language, a message telling the Bjering that they wanted to meet, and requesting that they send a ship through to the Mintek side to begin the work of learning each other’s language. After a short period, the Bjering sent a CD back indicating that they would send through a corvette, which then appeared shortly thereafter. They settled in for the work of learning how to talk to each other to begin.
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Month 192, Bjering Consolidate Territory, Grioll system
The first Bedu refugees arrive on the planet they’ve named New Home. Their fleet is still en route through the Bjering territories, as are the rest of the refugees.
Month 194, Bedu Refuge System “New Home”
The Bedu refugee fleet arrived over their new home planet on Day 7. The transport fleet immediately began unloading refugees, who joined the refugees that had already made it there via the Bjering ICN. The new arrivals bolstered Bedu numbers on the planet to just over twenty-four million, a prodigious achievement.
After the transports were unloaded, almost all of them were turned over to the Bjering. The refugees could only support a relative few of the freighters, and turning them over had always been part of the deal with the Bjering. In all, over two hundred freighters and transports were transferred to Bjering control. As the new refugees are being dispersed to prepared camps on the planetary surface, work begins in orbit on a new shipyard. Newly constructed ground-based industry, working in tandem with a mobile shipyard that arrived with the refugee fleet and with the Bjering colonists already on the planet, all cooperate to build the new orbital station.
The survey fleet that accompanied the refugees into exile departs shortly after arriving, to probe a warp chain to which the Bjering have given them access. The survey groups departure brings to the fore a problem that will become significant in the coming months. The military ships that accompanied them, four carriers and six destroyers, along with the survey fleet, will require maintenance support that significantly out strips the refugee’s production levels for the foreseeable future. Virena, newly acclaimed Imperator of the Free Bedu Empire, commissions a study by her staff of the sustainability of the current force levels and the results are dispiriting. As tremendous an accomplishment as the refugee transfer was, they just don’t have the industrial base to support the ships that came with them. Worse, the study points out the fact that the new Bedu Empire doesn’t have the population base or resources to conduct independent research and development, or to perform much in the way of construction or colonization without significant assistance. The problem is not immediate, as the refugee fleet brought enough maintenance supplies with it to support the existing fleet levels for roughly ten months, but study is clear, they will inevitably run out of supplies at that time, and there is little that they can do to remedy the situation. What they have is what they have.
Month 195, Bedu New Home System
Empress Virena dispatches the remainder of the Bedu Empire’s combat fleet back to the Bjering Gunnar system to bolster their defenses. The fleet was doing no good orbiting New Home, and Virena is eager to show the Bjering that the Bedu refugees can be useful. This has become particularly important given their weak economic situation.
In recognition of their situation, Virena does a deal with the Bjering Consolidate. In exchange for transferring the survey fleet they brought from Bedu Prime, the Bjering grant the Bedu refugees the right to colonize a nearby ST world rateed benign/rich. Empress Virena intends to spread her people to that world to spread out their population. This move also reduces the maintenance overhead of the Empire, allowing them to support their remaining warships for a little longer.
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Month 187
While the government focuses on the emergency in the Sligo system with Tarek rebellion, and ensures that the press and the public is focused on the problem as well, the Colonial Bureau of Relocation has been moving massive numbers of people off of Earth and out to the colonies, to avoid having to enforce strict population control laws. The relocation program has been a success so far, as the population has remained below the critical number that threatens to destabilize Earth’s fragile ecology. In fact, most of the Colonial Union’s colonization budget has been focused on this effort for the last several months.
The massive relocation project is primarily intended to reduce the population on Earth, to ease the stress on Earth’s damaged environment, and the government has gone to great lengths to publicize its efforts, billing this as a heroic effort to assist ‘Mother Earth’. While all of this is true, as far as it goes, there is less attention paid to the destination of these colonists. The government announcements merely reference the fact that the destinations are established colonies throughout the Union eager to accept new workers from Earth, without any specifics. In reality, the bulk of the new colonists are being sent to one location, the Tlatelolco home planet in the Redwing system. What was once a small scientific research assistance outpost on the Tlatelolco home planet is now a bustling colony of almost forty million people. This has caused considerable friction with the Tlatelolco, who have started wondering when they will be outnumbered on their own home world. Only the inherent peacefulness of the Tlatelolco has prevented the situation from deteriorating into violence, and the Colonial Union has deployed ground forces to the system to protect the burgeoning colony.
Month 190, Colonial Union, Redwing system
The Human population of Redwing A-IV, the Tlatelolco home planet, has risen to almost 45 million, and is capable of supporting colonization from itself without disastrously depleting its numbers. By popular vote, the colonists rename the planet New Terra, and establish a mining colony on the system’s third planet, a rocky planet rich in minerals. The Tlatelolco protest this action, increasing tension between the world’s natives and the colonists. Even as the tensions mount, another massive colony fleet departs from the Solar System, carrying thirty million colonists bound for New Terra. The fleet is composed of hundreds of CFN freighters and transports, and represents a significant percentage of the Colonial Union’s transport capacity. Therefore, it is escorted by a large group of cruisers and destroyers dispatched from Epsilon Eridani, and will be met halfway to their destination by another group of cruisers and destroyers from the Sligo system.
Working in the utmost secrecy, the yards in the Redwing system, which are still considered top secret by the Colonial Union’s government, begin work on a new proto-type hull, the escort carrier. The Colonial Union has not finalized the design for the fighter’s hanger bays, yet, so the proto-type hull has holds in place of the fighter bays.
Late in the month the Colonial Union concludes delicate negotiations with the D’Bringi Alliance. The negotiations have been a secret and the announcement of the commencement of trade with the Alliance causes mixed emotions throughout the Union. The majority New Dawn Party is strongly isolationist and anti-alien, but they have been weakened by recent events and are in disarray. In addition, the profits promised by the trade treaty have enticed a number of key New Dawn senators to vote for the treaty in the Senate. The opposition Conservative Party was fully behind the treaty, as it has been seeking to expand and regularize contacts with alien races. There is some alarm in the upper reaches of the New Dawn Party at the well-funded and well thought out campaign that the Conservatives waged to get the treaty approved. This new trade will almost triple the Union’s trade balance in one fell swoop. The trade treaty specifies that the trade between the two nations will move through the Sandhurst system, in the Sligo Sector, a contact point known to both nations. The Sandhurst system is not currently fortified, as it is adjacent to the Sligo system, which has significant fortifications, but it is patrolled by a squadron of destroyers from the Sligo Fleet, reinforced by a number of scouts and two squadrons of escorts. With the opening of trade, it is likely that this squadron will be reinforced by several squadrons of cruisers, at least.
Month 192, Sol System
Yet another massive colony fleet departs Earth, bound for the Redwing system. As before, the colony fleet is heavily escorted by the navy, as this one fleet encompasses most of the Colonial Union’s transport capacity. In spite of the government’s attempts to downplay the population transfer to the home world of the Tlatelolco, such big convoys cannot be hidden and have begun to draw attention. Several prominent senators have begun asking uncomfortable questions, and word has come down that this will be the last massive transfer to the Redwing system for some time. The New Dawnists weren’t quite able to achieve their goal of increasing the number of humans on New Terra (the new name for the Tlatelolco home world) to outnumber the Tlatelolco, but they have managed to build a solid medium population colony capable of supporting new colony efforts from its population.
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Month 187, Tomsk Union, Port Louis System
A Tomsk survey ship jumped out of the system this month, probing the lone new warp point discovered in this system. The new system was a binary system, with a white star/yellow star combination, and each of the stars had a type T planet. The nearest type T planet to the survey ship was two hundred and fifty- two light minutes away, and even so it lit up the survey ship’s sensors like fireworks. The frigate performing the probe of the system was equipped with both science instruments and long-range scanners, and the combination of sensors gave it unparalleled ability to detect populations. The alien population on the fourth planet of the primary was very large, and thus easily detectable even at this range. After ensuring that nothing was within range of the warp point, the frigate’s captain followed protocol and jumped out to report the discovery.
The message took some time to cross the Port Louis system, but the adjacent system of Celabinsk had been colonized for some time and was linked to the ICN, so once there the message traveled quickly to the capital in Tomsk. All of the information from the probe ship was studied and compared to records. Starfleet was quickly able to establish that the race in the new system was not one of the major known races. The data was then compared to the secret database of information about known or suspected races. This database was sketchy in places, as it depended mostly on information gained from other races through less than above-board methods. For instance, a Tomsk intelligence team working in the Confederated Systems had recently purchased a database containing information about a race known as the Mintek. Apparently the D’Bringi Alliance had given the information to the Confederation, as a warning about a race they believed to be a threat to all governments in known space. In addition, greater or lesser amounts of information was available about the member races of the D’Bringi Alliance, and all of the information had been consolidated in this top-secret database that every new contact was checked against. The checks came up negative. This didn’t mean that the new race was actually completely unknown, as the database was known to be incomplete due to the reticence of the various governments to openly report their discoveries, but it was a good indicator that this race was new, and perhaps did not know about warp travel.
With the checks complete the Tomsk government decided to initiate contact with the new race. Starfleet was ordered to send a force to the system to cover the first contact, which would be performed by the frigate which discovered the new race. The Bjering decided to send their force assigned to the Tomsk system as well, to observe and support the Tomsk action. Three Starfleet battlecruisers, escorted by a reinforced group of light cruisers and destroyers, set out for the Port Louis system on the eleventh. They were followed by the Bjering Epsilon Fleet.
Month 188, Day 15, Tomsk Union, Port Louis System
The Tomsk contact squadron was deployed in defensive positions around the warp point, along with the Bjering ships that had accompanied them to establish contact with the new aliens. A single Tomsk light cruiser jumped across to the new system, carrying a contact team and ambassadors from the Tomsk government, and that of the Bjering. They materialized in the outer system and immediately set out for the inner system, leaving behind the squadron of light cruisers that had jumped in behind them to secure the warp point. The remainder of the ships stayed in the port Louis system, out of sight, all except a frigate that sat on the warp point as a comms link.
In order to avoid giving away the bearing to the warp point the contact ship cut across the system, instead of heading directly inwards. Three days into the trip, long before it entered sensor range of the inner system, the contact ship stopped and started sending contact messages towards the heavily populated planet in the inner system of the primary star.
It took over six hours for light, and radio waves, to make the round trip to the planet and back, but almost immediately after the six hours was up a return message appeared on the Tomsk ship’s receivers. The ship’s computer was able to convert the signal into video and audio relatively easily, and the Tomsk crew was able to get their first look at the new aliens. They were, to put it lightly, hideous. Uniformly a rusty, coppery color, the new race was bidepal and vaguely humanoid, but with armored skin with numerous protrusions on the arms and along the back. Their eyes were deep set and a disquietingly blue color that almost appeared to glow. Their faces were a horror of serrated pincers over a gaping maw with a long, twisting tongue that protruded in random twisting patterns.
Both the Bjering and Humans had to suppress atavistic shivers at seeing the new race, but both had had enough experience contacting alien races to know that their appearance had little to do with how they behaved. The contact team immediately set to trying to decipher their message, while the rest of the crew settled in to wait, now that the new race knew that they were there.
Just over three days later the Tomsk cruiser picked up a drive field coming out from the inner system, and two days later was able to resolve the contact as a quartet of light cruisers. One of the light cruisers approached the Tomsk cruiser, settling in at fifteen light seconds, while the other three spread out in an arc in between the Tomsk ship and the inner system. The alien contact ship took over for the signals coming from the inner system, and work began in earnest in deciphering each other’s language.
Month 189, Tomsk Union
Contact efforts continue with the new race, and are progressing satisfactorily.
In the Bjering Consolidate, Bjering contact teams establish full comms with the pre-industrial Aldrean Contemplative Union, a low-tech race discovered ten months ago on the periphery of Bjering expansion. The Aldreans are humanoid, and differ significantly from both Bjering and Humans, although in appearance they are somewhat closer to Bjering.
While the contact teams have been working towards full communications, the Bjering government has been debating the approach to take with the low-tech race. Using the normal approach of offering technological and economic assistance to increase their tech level to the point where amalgamation becomes possible would take many years, perhaps a decade or longer, given their current level. Instead, a faction within the government has proposed a faster way, involving a massive investment of Bjering resources to quickly raise the new race to the Bjering level of technology. After some debate the government has agreed, but the Aldreans will have to agree as well.
Eager to begin the process of uplifting their new friends, the Bjering offer the Aldreans a partnership agreement, but the Aldreans, cautious in their ignorance, refuse, at least for now.
Month 190, Tomsk Union
Contact efforts continue with the aliens discovered beyond the Port Louis system. Partial communications have been established, enough to discover that the aliens call themselves the Tolan Trade Federation.
In a joint announcement, the United D’Bringi Soviets and the Tomsk Union announce that the D’Bringi separatist state will be joining the Tomsk Union as a full member. The United D’Bringi Soviets are a splinter state of D’Bringi who, after being abandoned by their nation, joined the human cause against their former clan rulers. They owed loyalty to the old Soviet Union, however, after that state was destroyed, they accepted relocation to an ST type world on the frontier, close to the Tomsk Union. After the Colonial Union turned decidedly anti-alien, they made common cause with the Tomsk Union, and have only grown closer over the last several years. The United D’Bringi Soviets currently have settled two type ST planets in Tomsk territory, and both of their populations are fairly low, so this news, while exciting, will not affect the bottom line of the Tomsk Union much.
Month 191, Tomsk Union
Full communications are achieved with the Tolan Trade Federation. The Tomsk Union offers them a trade and military treaty, but the Tolani turn them down.
Month 192, Bjering Consolidate
The Bjering, persistent nearly to the point of obsession, offer the Aldreans yet another treaty. This time, finally, the Aldreans accept. The Bjering immediately begin work on bringing in specialists and engineers to begin upgrading the Aldrean technological base. In addition, the Aldreans grant the Bjering the rights to settle the two type T planets in their system. The Aldreans, as an ST type civilization, have little use for those worlds, and they appreciate that the Bjering held off from colonizing them until given permission. As a planet-bound race, there was little they could do to stop the Bjering, had they gone ahead and colonized those worlds, and the fact that the Bjering held off was a tipping point in their decision-making process. Most of this activity is being funded by the Tomsk Union, through grants to the Consolidate government. This is necessary because of the current military buildup by the Consolidate due to the Bedu situation.
By the end of the month, the bulk of the Consolidate Navy is concentrated in the Gunnar system, with an additional force from the Tomsk Union en route. There is no evidence that the Mintek are planning an invasion, but the Bjering leadership believes in being cautious.
Month 194, Bjering Consolidate
A Bjering scientific and engineering mission arrives on Aldrea Prime and settles in to begin technology transfers.
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Alliance Update, Month 195
Grand Alliance:
Total Income (All Sources): 153,521.65 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 76,379.9 MCr’s (50%)
Fleet Dispositions:
Alliance 1st Fleet (Rehorish Home): 1xBB, 3xBC, 6xCA, 3xCL, 9xDD, 3xCTV, 18xF0, 4xFT(supply)
Alliance 2nd Fleet (D’Bringi Home): 1xCV, 7xBC, 2xCA
Alliance 3rd Fleet (Kure System): 12xBC, 2xCA, 3xCL, 5xCVS, 6xDD, 2xCTS, 9xCTV, 174xF0
Alliance 4th Fleet (Phyriseq System): 18xBC, 11xCA, 1xCVS, 3xCVE, 9xDD, 78xF0
Alliance 5th Fleet (T’Pau Home): 6xBB, 9xCA, 3xCVE, 15xF0
Alliance 6th Fleet (Stone system – Aurarii): 15xBC, 1xCVL, 12xCA, 6xCAV, 4xCVS, 15xCL, 19xCVE, 9xDD, 2xDDV, 5xDD(pinnace), 16xCTV, 5xFT(supply), 20xPinnace, 375xF0
Border Patrol (Roban): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Border Patrol (Juath): 3xCTV, 18xF0 (known contact with Mintek, closed warp point location not known by Minetk)
Border Patrol (Kawasaki): 3xCA, 3xCVE, 6xDD, 36xF0 (Upstream from the Kure system)
Border Patrol (Phyriseq WP #5): 3xCA, 6xDD (contact point with the Confederated Systems)
Border Patrol (Sapporo): 6xCL, 6xDD (Contact point with the Confederated Systems)
Patrol Group – Bir (Bir Home): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Patrol Group – Chirq (Chirq Home): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Reinforcement Group #1 (en route to Zir Villiers system): 6xBC, 3xCA, 3xCVS, 3xDD, 1xCTS, 3xCTV, 96xF0
Reinforcement Group #2 (en route to Zir Villiers system): 3xBC, 3xCL, 3xCVE, 2xCTS, 3xCTV, 54xF0
Under Construction: 13xRepair Ship, 3xCV, 9xMobile Shipyard, 30xF0, 5xBB, 1xShipyard, 1xSD(prototype)
Assemble Prefab: 1xShipyard
Un-box fighters: 20xF0
The Alliance is currently developing HT-9 systems, including anti-matter warheads and first-generation fighters. Most of the new technology is expected to be available for production within the next three months. In the meantime, the construction and refitting of warships has fallen off in preparation for the next round of refits to upgrade the fleet to the latest technology. In the meantime, construction capacity has been diverted to building up the mobile repair and construction capacity of the Alliance. These new repair ships and mobile shipyards will allow the Alliance to more quickly establish forward bases and improve its fortifications in systems that have no construction capacity.
Recent encounters have convinced the Alliance Navy that it has to at least prototype larger hulls, even if it plans to continue deploying battlecruisers as its primary capital ship. The encounter with the Aurarii, who possess light monitors twice the size of Alliance battlecruisers, have not convinced Alliance planners that they need to deploy such large hulls in large numbers, but have convinced them that the hulls should at least be prototyped so that they can be constructed in numbers if necessary. Therefore, the Alliance’s first superdreadnought is under construction in the Rehorish yards, and is slated to be launched in month 212.
The ongoing integration effort with the newer races is going well, and the Alliance Navy is planning on implementing a standardization program across the Alliance to bring member navies into alignment with the Alliance navy. This includes standardizing the Alliance member navies, as there is still a variety of designs and design theories left over from the days when the three member races were independent. The Navy plans to use the upcoming refits to bring the Alliance Navy more into compliance with an overall design and deployment strategy.
The situation in the Doraz territories with the Aurarii seems to be largely resolved at the current time. The Aurarii appear to be much more open to peaceful contact at this time, perhaps because of the presence of such a large Alliance fleet in their territory. In any case, the Aurarii cannot know of the location of the closed warp point that leads back to the Alliance, and have complied with Tai-sho Talix’ demand that his withdrawing fleet not be followed into the outer system. Tai-sho Talix left behind a trio of corvette carriers and a supply ship to continue the contact effort, and the Doraz Navy remains on guard at the warp point.
While the situation with the Aurarii seems to be resolved, the situation in the Zir territories has become much more critical with the detection of drive fields on a direct course for the warp point in one of the inhabited systems adjacent to the Villiers system. While the unknown ships did not transit through the Villiers system, there could be no other reason for the alien ships to be on a direct course for the warp point so far out in the outer system. The fact that they didn’t transit likely means that they detected the picket ships withdrawing and are exercising caution. With the detection of the alien ships, the Alliance has been forced to withdraw more ships from its inner systems to dispatch to the Villiers system, and fleet command ordered Tai-sho Talix to move the 6th Fleet to Zir territory as soon as possible, in spite of the fact that the situation with the Aurarii, while improved, is not entirely resolved. In addition to the warships, the Alliance is shifting a good portion of its mobile construction and repair capacity to the Villiers system with the intent of building up its defenses before any attempt to make contact with the unknown race is made, or before any attack on the Mintek can be contemplated. Construction will be started on prefabbed bases next month, and these will be then shipped to the Villiers system as soon as possible, so that the arriving construction ships can begin assembling them. In addition, mines and other automated weapons will be sent to the Zir system to bolster the defenses, as soon as units capable of controlling them arrive at the Villiers system. Unfortunately, this will all take time, as the Zir territories are three month’s travel from the core planets of the Alliance for the freight transports.
Bir Meritocracy
Total Income (All Sources): 1,073.12 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 0 MCr’s (0%)
The Bir have achieved HT-1, with Alliance assistance, and are working on developing the basic systems for stellar and interstellar travel, again with Alliance assistance. The Bir depend on the Alliance for defense, and at the current time there is a squadron of corvette-carriers in the Bir system at all times.
Chirq Cooperative
Total Income (All Sources): 3,751.19 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 475.20 MCr’s (13%)
Home Fleet: 7xES
Orbital Defenses: 1xBS2
The Chirq have achieved HT-3, with Alliance assistance, and are developing the systems available at that level. Over the last ten months the Chirq have built a small navy to handle local patrols, but depend on the Alliance for their primary defense. Unfortunately, due to other commitments, the Alliance has not been able to deploy more than a squadron of corvette-carriers to the system, although the treaty the Chirq have signed with the Alliance binds them to defend Chirq territory should it become necessary. The D’Bringi corvette carriers leave the Chirq home system at regular intervals to patrol Chirq territories, as freighters have gone missing in this area in the past.
Doraz Contingency
Total Income (All Sources): 17,061.73 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 5,454.7 MCr’s (32%)
Contact Force (Stone System): 12xCA, 6xDD, 2xCT
Home Fleet: 1xBC, 3xCA, 9xDD, 3xCT, 3xFT(Supply)
The Doraz continue to build their empire. They currently have settled eighteen habitable planets in eleven systems, and are currently focusing on bolstering the population of the colony in the Whever system (rated benign/rich) to the level at which it can support independent colonization. Unfortunately, the Whever system is adjacent to the Doraz home system, so it will not extend their colonization reach much beyond its current extent, but the system itself has an asteroid belt and numerous moons which could be colonized from the main colony once it reaches the appropriate size.
The Doraz have achieved HT-7 and are close to completing development of the systems available at that level. In fact, refits have already begun on some of the smaller units stationed in the home system, but until the Aurarii situation is resolved most of the refits will have to be deferred to maintain ready fleet strength.
Torqual Free State
Total Income (All Sources): 27,363.77 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 9,337.73 MCr’s (34%)
Home Fleet: 25xCA, 12xCL, 5xCTS
Equity Patrol Squadron: 3xCA, 3xCL
Unity Patrol Squadron: 3xCL
Admiral Falson, hero of the civil war, has turned out to be a competent statesman, much to his own surprise. During the civil war he managed to create a rough coalition of groups that opposed the Council, and since the end of the conflict he has, with the assistance of the Alliance, been largely successful in turning that coalition into a cooperative government. The aftermath of the civil war has not been entirely without difficulty, and immediately after the fighting there were large scale pogroms as the people who had been so brutally oppressed took their revenge on their oppressors and those who had helped the Council, or, unfortunately, anyone even remotely suspected of being a Council supporter. The bloodshed threatened to spin out of control, but with the assistance of a small peace-keeping group of Alliance commandos, Admiral Falson was able to end the violence and impose order.
Economically, the Torqual have largely recovered from their civil war. The new government has focused on re-establishing governmental institutions, and voluntary colonization has been restarted. Indeed, several groups of voluntary colonists have been sent to bolster the workers at the mining operations in the Equity system, after the newly established, worker owned, mining corporations in that system requested additional workers. There was no lack of volunteers for the highly lucrative positions, and the population of the system has swelled as a result. Currently, the Torqual have two systems capable of supporting colonization efforts, their home system and the Equity system. Overall, the Torqual have settled twenty-one habitable planets in fourteen systems. The new government on Torqual Prime has devoted significant resources to settling the new systems discovered by the exploration corps, which were allowed to lay fallow during the rule of the Council. This has stimulated economic growth and has done much to revitalize Torqual culture. To help economic growth, Governor Falson has commissioned a third exploration fleet to help find new planets to settle and to extend the Torqual state’s borders.
In month 192, a month and a half after the large-scale fighting ended on Torqual Prime, Admiral Falson officially accepted the position of the Military Governor of the Torqual Free State, on the condition that a constitutional convention be convened to determine the new form of Torqual government within the year. The people’s representatives to the convention have been selected, and the constitutional convention met for the first time this month. No one is sure what will come out of this experiment, and Governor Falson is staying away from the convention to avoid accusations of influencing the proceedings.
Zir Contemplative Union
Total Income (All Sources): 36,398.38 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 9,122.4 MCr’s (25%)
Home Fleet: 6xDD, 28xFG, 8xFT(supply), 36xCT
Frontier Fleet (Villiers): 6xDD, 3xFG, 21xCT
For the last several years the Zir have been debating the best course of action to take as regards to the races they discovered through the Villiers warp point nexus. The Villiers system was an incredible find, five habitable type T planets, one of which was rated benign/rich, two asteroid belts, and no less than thirteen warp points. The Zir have been focusing a significant percentage of their budget for expansion on this one system, and the benign planet, named Villiers Prime, now hosted a Zir population capable of supporting colonization. Even now, at this early stage of its growth, the Villiers system produced one seventh of the Zir Union’s overall income, and was one third as productive as their home system.
The debates within the Zir Union as to the strategy to take towards the Mintek, human, and unknown aliens found through the warp points in the Villiers system have been endless and were no closer to resolution in the recent past than they were when the nexus was discovered. The debates became moot when the Zir agreed to a closer relationship with the Alliance, and as part of that agreement full astrographic data was turned over to the Alliance after the agreement was signed. There is some evidence that the two major factions in the debates, those who wanted to wipe all mention of the humans, Minteks, and aliens from the records and pretend they didn’t exist, and those who wanted to make contact with them and be the first to establish peace, at least with the Mintek, were caught out by the revelation of the alien’s existence to the Alliance. There is more evidence that a third faction, which wanted to turn the entire mess over to the Alliance, had preempted the entire debate by engineering the turn-over of the astrographic data. In any case, the deed is done and the Alliance now knows about the presence of both the nexus and the races beyond it. Even now massive forces are being dispatched to the Villiers system, but the Alliance is large and it will take time for them to arrive. In the meantime, the Alliance has demanded that the Zir improve the defenses of the Villiers system, and in response the Zir navy plans to make a major deployment of forces to that system in the near future. In addition, the Zir have diverted shipyard capacity to build construction assets, and no less than six mobile shipyards and four repair ships are under construction.
The Zir are currently HT-7, and have a number of systems at that level under development.
Overall Alliance Strength:
Income: 239,169.84 MCr’s
Maintenance: 100,769.93 MCr’s
Fleet: 1xCV, 1xCVL, 13xCVS, 36xCVE, 7xBB, 65xBC, 103xCA, 57xCL, 94xDD, 69xFG, 249xCT, 7xES, 164xEX, 7xBS4, 27xBS3, 17xBS2, 39xBS1, 67xBS0, 5xAF
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Colonial Union Update, Month 195
Total Income (All Sources): 82,208 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 42,653 MCr’s (52%)
United Colonial Defense Fleet Dispositions:
1st Battle Group (Sligo): 3xSD, 3xBB, 9xBC, 6xCA, 6xDD
Kowloon Patrol Group: 3xCA, 1xFGS, 1xEXS (trade contact point with the Bjering)
Managua Patrol Group: 2xFGS, 6xCT, 1xEXS (suspected closed warp point in the system)
Sandhurst Patrol Group: 3xDD, 2xFGS, 6xES, 3xEXS (known contact point with the Alliance beyond this system)
Zephrain Patrol Group: 1xCT, 6xES, 3xEX (Known contact point with the Bjering)
Galloway’s Star Patrol Group: 4xEXS (Known contact point with the Alliance)
Centaurus Patrol Group: 13xEXS (Known contact point with the Alliance)
Epsilon Eridani Squadron: 3xSD, 7xCA, 2xCL, 6xDD, 1xFGS, 3xCT, 2xFT(supply)
Sigma Draconis Squadron: 3xBC, 1xDDC, 1xFGS, 5xEXS
Sligo Squadron: 12xBC, 3xCA, 6xDD, 8xES, 2xEX, 2xFT(Supply)
Sol Squadron: 6xSD, 3xCA, 3xCL, 3xDD, 1xFGS, 2xFT(supply)
Kirov Squadron (Border Defense): 6xBC, 3xCA, 3xDD, 4xFGS, 3xCT, 5xEXS
Redwing Squadron (Tlatelolco Watch): 3xBC, 1xCVE(proto), 12xDD, 3xFGS, 1xEXS
Union Assault Corps (Redwing System): 7xCA, 34xCL
Under Construction: 30xCVE(proto), 1xAF(599 HS), 1xCVS(proto)
The New Dawn Party has been on the defensive for the last few months, and has been losing popularity on several key planets. This has largely been due to their mishandling of the situation with the Tomsk Union, and the ongoing issues with the Tlatelolco and the Tarek. The situation on the Tlatelolco home planet in the Redwing system has become particularly volatile, and there has been much debate and acrimony in the Senate over the current government’s handling of the Tlatelolco and the ongoing colonization of their planet. The controversy and extra scrutiny have forced the government to end the massive population transfers between Earth and the Tlatelolco home planet. Unfortunately, they were forced to stop mostly because the transfers were absorbing so much of the government’s budget and were causing the overall colonization effort to falter, not because they were ethically wrong.
The situation in the Redwing system is complex. Redwing is just one jump from the Sligo system, and is, in essence, a dead-end system. Although its warp chain does extend one jump further out, that warp line terminates in a starless nexus of no conceivable use to anyone. After seizing control of the system, the Colonial Union government declared the system a red zone, off limits to civilian travel, due to the presence of the Tlatelolco and the establishment of a top-secret naval presence in the system. The naval presence was built around the orbital shipyards seized from the Tlatelolco, and, in the documents turned over to the Senate as part of their oversight function, the Navy described its efforts in the system as a R&D construction area, where experimental hulls would be tested far from prying eyes. Since its establishment, Naval Base Redwing has been seriously expanded, and it now includes seven shipyards, and has recently been named the home port of the Union Assault Corps. The Colonial Union’s Navy is in nearly complete control of the system, however, the situation on Tlatelolco Prime, or New Terra, as the human colonists call it, is complex.
The human presence on Tlatelolco Prime started as a technological assistance outpost, intended to help uplift the Tlatelolco to human technology levels. With ascendancy of the New Dawn Party the technological assistance ended, and the role of the outpost changed to once of governance once the Colonial Union seized control of the planet. Subsequent to that the Colonial Union began shipping in large numbers of refugees from the devastated areas of Earth, dramatically swelling the population of the human colony on the Tlatelolco home planet. Most of these new colonists were fervent New Dawn Party members, originating as they did in the devastated areas of Earth, and as such were more than willing to take active roles in ‘civilizing’ the Tlatelolco. Only the fact that the Tlatelolco were so even tempered, and that they realized their untenable strategic situation, has kept the peace on the planet as the number of humans on the planet swelled. Fortunately, the Tlatelolco had allies in the Union Senate, among the New Conservative Party, and those allies have fought tirelessly to bring the plight of the Tlatelolco to the attention of the rest of the Union. In spite of the Union Navy’s control of the system, the New Conservatives have consistently been able to get information out of the system, either from supporters in the colony itself, or from supporters in the Naval forces assigned to the system, and they have been increasingly effective over time in highlighting the questionable policies that the Union government has taken with the Tlatelolco. Currently, the human population in the system has grown to one hundred and twenty-one million, while the Tlatelolco population is one hundred and seventy-one million. This is a shocking level of growth on the home planet of another race, and has allowed the Conservatives to call into question the New Dawn Party’s motives as there are other, better, colony sites located closer to Earth, if their only motive was to move people off of Earth. Although the New Dawn Party hasn’t openly admitted it, their goal of outnumbering the Tlatelolco on their own planet was as obvious as it was unseemly and the Conservative’s revelations over the last several months have gone a long way towards weakening the New Dawn Party ahead of the next elections.
The Colonial Union’s relationships with its two subject races continues to be a point of contention within both the Senate and in the public forums. While the Tlatelolco situation has caused the ruling party significant problems, so too have the Tarek been a continuing thorn in the side of the government. The government’s claim of rebellion on the Tarek home world came under significant scrutiny over the following months, and the facts did not bear out the government’s claim, causing additional attention to be paid to the Tomsk incident, which put the administration on the defensive. The facts revealed about the ongoing situation on Tarek Prime made no one happy. While the situation did not rise to the level of a rebellion, or open combat, there have been nearly continuous losses to the occupying forces and it is completely obvious to everyone that the Tarek do not like humans and do not want them on their planet. Unlike the Tlatelolco, though, the Tarek have few advocates within the Senate or the government. As much as the New Conservatives had decried the government’s treatment of the two subject races, they have no real alternative to ongoing occupation, given the fact that the Tarek were hostile to humanity from first contact, and continue to be so to this day. This means that while the New Conservative Party is working towards a more constructive relationship with the Tlatelolco as part of their campaign to retake the majority in the Senate, they have no real plan as regards to the Tarek.
The Colonial Union has been focused on internal issues for the last ten months, and it cares little for what has been going on beyond its borders. Aside from the establishment of trade with the D’Bringi Alliance, little has changed in its relationships with the other races.
The Colonial Union recently reached HT-8 and has begun development of systems at that level, including fighters. The Union has successfully prototyped an escort carrier class, although the prototype mounts holds in place of its fighter bays as the designs for those bays have yet to be finalized. Construction of a large number of prototype CVE’s has begun, and these prototype hulls will have to be refitted once the requisite technology has been developed.
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Bjering Alliance Update, Month 195
Bjering
Total Income (All Sources): 40,005 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 31,789 Mcr’s (66%)
Primary Fleet Deployments
Alpha Fleet (Gunnar System): 3xML, 3xBC, 11xCVS, 3xDD, 5xCT, 162xF0, 36xF1
Beta Fleet (Gunnar System): 4xCV,3xBC, 1xCVS, 1xCVE, 6xCT, 174xF0
Delta Fleet (Home System): 3xBC, 1xCVS, 3xDD, 1xCVE, 8xCT, 30xF1
Epsilon Fleet (Tomsk): 3xBC, 2xCVS, 2xCVE, 8xCT, 60xF0
Gamma Fleet (Gunnar System): 6xBC, 1xCV, 1xCVL, 1xCVE, 8xCT, 12xF0, 54xF1
Strategic Reserve (Home System): 10xFT(Supply)
Refits: 3xBS4, 3xBC, 132xSBMHAWK(am), 120xIDEW-E
The Bjering are HT-9, and have begun research into HT-10, but have not made much progress yet. The upgrade of the fleet to HT-9 standards has been interrupted by the Bedu situation, and aside from a few refits of ships and bases in the home system, the program has been halted until the crisis is resolved. The fleet’s carriers are still mostly loaded with F0 fighters, and most of the fleet’s ships have not been upgraded to the latest standards.
The Bedu situation has led to the bulk of the fleet being redeployed to the Gunnar system, with the exception of the units assigned to the Tomsk capital, and a single fleet deployed to the home system for refits. The latest results of the ongoing efforts to decipher the Mintek language have led Alpha Admiral to call for additional reinforcements to be sent to the Gunnar system. Epsilon Fleet will complete its refits next month, at which time it will be redeployed to the Gunnar system, and the Tomsk Union has promised additional ships.
Based on the information received from the Bedu refugees, it is apparent to Alpha Admiral and his advisors that the Mintek are untrustworthy, and that they will use any peaceful trade treaty to infiltrate Bjering space with their ‘missionaries’. It is clear from both the D’Bringi and the Bedu that the Mintek did not launch an unprovoked attack in either case, but rather, only attacked after their missionaries were detected and efforts were made to expel them. This gives Alpha Admiral some hope that the situation with the Mintek can be resolved peacefully, at least for now. The Bedu refugees had no missionaries among them, and if the Bjering don’t allow any Mintek into their territory there will be no points of dispute. While Alpha Admiral is ready to respond militarily to any Mintek threat, he would much rather resolve this situation peacefully.
Tomsk Union
Total Income (All Sources): 43,921 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 12,113 MCr’s (28%)
Fleet Dispositions
Home Fleet (Tomsk): 3xCL, 1xCVE(proto), 13xDD, 10xES
Assistance Fleet (Gunnar): 6xBC, 3xDD, 2xFT(supply)
Contact Fleet (Port Louis): 3xBC, 6xCL, 6xDD
Fortress Moon (over the Capital): 6xOffensive PDC (196 HS)
Planetary Defenses (Capital): 7xPDC (anti-msl, 84 HS), 5,000 PCF (some based in the PDC’s and thus hidden)
Orbital Defenses (Capital): 2xArmed SS (6xSY each, 1,057 HS), 380xMF, 720xIDEW-E, 180xDSB-L, 300xIDEW-P
Warp Point Defenses (WP to Colonial Union): 12xBS2
Under Construction: 18xCVE(proto), 1xCVS(proto)
Note: The Union has not developed hangar bays yet, but they are under development and are expected to be available in the next month or two. In the meantime, the Union has deployed a proto-type CVE hull with holds in place of its hangar bays. Once the hangars are available, the existing prototype CVE’s will be refitted and loaded with fighters.
The Union has just recently succeeded in signing a trade and military alliance with the Tolan Trade Federation. This has freed the force sent to picket the border with the Tolani, and this force will now be transferred to the Bjering Gunnar system to reinforce the fleets there. There has been some debate in the Union’s government over the idea of asking the Tolani for ships to help defend the Gunnar system, but the decision has been made to avoid making the request until and unless hostilities actually break out, because of the newness of their relationship.
The Union has previously focused on fortifying their home system, as it is the lynchpin to the entire Union, and is the critical contact point with the Colonial Union. With the continued peace with the Colonial Union, and the new threat in the Bjering Consolidate, the focus of the Union is now moving away from the Tomsk system and thus construction assets are being tasked with enlarging the navy, particularly in the area of carriers, now that the technology is nearly available.
The Tomsk Union is facing a critical shortage of populations large enough to support colonization. The Union currently boasts four planets large enough to support colonization without severely depleting themselves, but three of those populations are barely over the critical number and can only support very limited colonization efforts. This situation is unlikely to change any time soon as the poor relations with the Colonial Union have cut off access to Earth and its wellspring of refugees. Only the colony of Budapest can currently support colonization efforts, and their excess population will not hold up under current colonization efforts.
Tolan Trade Federation
Total Income (All Sources): 9,022 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 5,044 MCr’s (56%)
Fleet Dispositions
Home Fleet: 6xBC, 2xCAV, 5xCVS, 9xCL, 102xF0
The Tolani are a race of bipeds, short and squat, with two arms and two legs. The average Tolani’s skin is chitinous and a coppery color, and they have spiky protrusions running down their backs. Their heads are disturbingly insect-like, with large mandibles and large, glowing blue eyes. For all of that, the Tolani were surprisingly reasonable and friendly. Based on information obtained after the signing of the treaty, the Tolani economy is approximately one quarter the size of the Union’s economy, and their fleet, while smaller, appears to be professional and well-trained. The Tolani are at the same tech level as the Union, and discussions with the Bjering have begun about the possibility of a technology transfer to bring them up to the Consolidate’s standard.
The Tolani government is a dictatorship that was imposed by a former military leader after the last corporate trade council, which had more or less governed the Tolani home planet, collapsed in corruption and recrimination. To stabilize the planet, the new ruler of the Tolan Trade Federation has reimposed older forms harkening back to the days when the great nomadic clans ruled the planet, before the rise of the corporations. This is an ongoing process, but the Tolani seem to be a relatively easygoing and accepting people, and the transition has been more or less orderly and painless.
The Tolani rejoiced when the Tomsk Union made contact, and almost immediately began searching for warp points in their home system. By the time the alliance was signed with the Tomsk Union the Tolani had found a single new warp point in their system. Thinking that it might be the Tomsk Union’s entry point they had stayed away from it during the negotiations, however, after the signing of the treaty the Tomsk Union’s closed warp point was revealed and the Tolani have realized that they have a route out of their home system independent of the Tomsk Union. Exploration of the new warp point will begin next month.
Aldrean Contemplative Association
Income (All sources): 198 MCr’s
The Aldreans are bipedal humanoids with grey skin and broad, oval heads. Humans with the Bjering contact teams commented that the Aldreans looked somewhat demonic and that their resting facial expression was alarming, however, the Aldreans are actually a quite mild and inoffensive people. The Aldreans are at a preindustrial tech level, and have started R&D to raise their level with Bjering support, now that they have agreed to an alliance. In exchange for the assistance, the Aldreans have agreed to allow the Bjering to begin colonizing the type T planets in their system, as they have no use for them.
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Month 195 Update
Total Income: 40,412 MCr’s
Occupation Income (Bedu): 19,601 (In abeyance until freight network issues resolved)
Total Upkeep: 40,101 MCr’s 99%
Current Fleet Deployments:
Home System Defense:
2nd Carrier Strike Group: 2xCV, 3xCVL, 1xCVS, 3xDD, 15xCVE, 354xF1, 5xApin, 2xFT4 (Supply ship)
Mintek Prime Defenses: 1xAF(267 HS), 2xSS(CV)(100 HS), 3xPDC(AM)(75xHS), 186xF1, 3xApin
Mintek Secundus Defenses: 2xSS(CV)(100 HS), 3xPDC(AM)(75xHS)
Mintek Tertius Defenses: none
Mintek System WP#1(Phyriseq System) Defenses: 1xAF (267 HS), 1xAF(223 HS), 9xBS5
Strategic Reserve: 1xBC, 2xFT(Pod Carrier), 8xFT4(Supply ship)
Bedu Attack Force
1st Assault Group: 9xSD, 3xCV, 2xCA, 3xDD, 126xF1
1st Carrier Strike Group: 1xCV, 6xCVL, 1xCVS, 3xDD, 5xCVE, 1xCT, 240xF1, 7xApin
Fast Attack Group: 15xBC, 13xDD, 3xCT
Ephesos System Fortifications (Alliance contact point)
1xAsteroid Fort (267 HS), 30xF0
Alowan Home system Defenses
6xDD, 3xBS5, 2xSSCV, 156 F1
Bedu System Defenses
4xBS5
Under Construction (Alowan Home System): 1sSSCV, 78xF1
The conquest of the Bedu provided a large initial influx of resources, however, the Bedu economy was crippled when their former ruler absconded with most of their freight network. High level officials from the government are poised to negotiate for the return of the freighters with the Bjering, once their language is deciphered. Until that happens the Bedu economy will remain unproductive, and the bulk of the Mintek fleet will have to remain in Bedu space to provide a credible backdrop for the negotiations.
The resource shortage is critical. Without the production of the Bedu state, the Mintek are barely breaking even. If it were not for the resources received after the conquest of the Bedu the Mintek government would have had to begin mothballing ships to reduce expenses, but thanks to those resources their economy can continue limping along. This makes it of critical importance for the Mintek to recover the freighters that the former Bedu leader stole when she absconded and abandoned her people. The Curia is demanding war if the Bjering don’t comply, and while the Chancellor would like to avoid open conflict, he has reluctantly agreed that if the Bjering do not agree to return the freighters war may be their only option. There is no way that the Mintek can afford to pay to replace the freighters, and the Bedu state, with its economy crippled by the absence of the freighters, cannot pay for anything.
The incorporation of the Alowan home world into the Universal Union was a political triumph for the Chancellor, however, several critical items came to light during the incorporation. First, the Alowan home system, which now provides approximately 25% of the Universal Union’s income, is critically underdefended. There were only two destroyer squadrons and several bases captured from the old Alowan state to defend the system. Although resources have been limited, and no ships are available to divert to the system, the Curia decided to invest some of the windfall from the Bedu conquest into improving the system’s defenses. This decision was made before the extent of the damage to the Bedu economy was known, and new construction has been delayed until the situation can be resolved. The second, and perhaps more important, thing that came to light was that the system’s warp point survey had never been completed. The survey was started during the conquest of the Alowan, but the survey ships had been called away by a more critical need elsewhere and they never returned. Having an unknown number of warp points in a system that contained 25% of the Mintek’s productivity was a significant security concern, and an exploration fleet was diverted to complete the survey of the system. The fleet arrived in Month 194 and finished the nearly complete survey in the middle of Month 195. The survey revealed one additional warp point located in the outer system. The exploration group set out to probe the warp point, but when they entered sensor range of the warp point they detected a drive field located in the general area of the new warp point. The drive field briefly appeared and then disappeared, as if jumping out through the warp point. After conferring with his senior officers, the survey group commander decided to picket the warp point and sent messages back to the home system asking for instructions.
The Mintek government has not yet decided what to do about this new situation in the Alowan system, but, until the fleet is freed from duty in the Bedu home system they are unlikely to authorize making contact with a new race.
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Month 197, Chirq Cooperative Space, Grand Alliance
The Chirq were an Industrial-2 race on the verge of discovering drive-field tech, but still largely planet-bound, when they were discovered by the D’Bringi during their conquest phase approximately seventy-two months ago. The Chirq were overrun by D’Bringi clan troops and, to be honest, didn’t put up much of a fight. While they are fearsome in appearance, the Chirq are very un-militaristic and much prefer talking over fighting. A human would have compared the Chirq to a centaur, as they had a large abdomen with four large legs, although that portion of their body appeared more like a spider than a traditional horse or centaur. Their thorax was set forward on their abdomen, and had two large, strong arms for grasping and manipulating, and two additional smaller arms set below the main set of arms. These smaller arms ended in vicious barbs, and appeared to be used mainly for spearing and impaling their food. The Chirq head was a nightmare of multiple eyes and a large mouth that appeared quite capable of tearing apart live prey.
The D’Bringi conquest of the Chirq was so easy that the D’Bringi came to regard them as a project. They clearly needed help to survive in a dangerous universe, and the D’Bringi decided that they would provide that help in the form of toughening them up and teaching them about what an uncaring universe would do to people who would rather talk than defend themselves.
The Chirq were released from direct control by the D’Bringi during the formation of the Alliance, and since then have labored to raise their tech, with Alliance assistance. At the current time the Chirq have reached HT-3, and are developing systems at that level. The Chirq have established small populations on three habitable planets in two systems, and are surveying for more. The Chirq have built a small patrol fleet consisting of seven escorts, and have built one cruiser-sized base to defend their planet. For their defense, the Chirq actually depend more on the Alliance than their own fleet, which they know to be miniscule on the scale of the Alliance or the other known powers. Currently, the Alliance has a squadron of D’Bringi corvette-carriers assigned to the Chirq home system. Because of the disappearance of some freighters in the past year, the Alliance ships are often out of the Chirq home system, patrolling Chirq territory.
Some time ago, the Chirq found an alien race positioned three jumps from their home world. The initial reports from the survey ship that found them were that the aliens were low tech and planet-bound. The Chirq, being a cautious and inoffensive race, decided to withdraw from the alien’s system until their government decided what do to about the contact. On the advice of their Alliance Coordinator, they agreed to defer contact until they were better established. Since then, they have ignored the alien race, in the belief that they cannot pose a threat as they are planet-bound.
The race the Chirq discovered was the Khozun Empire. The Khozuni have ruled their home planet for several decades, being the last surviving nation state after a series of nuclear wars that united (or destroyed) their planet. Their planet had actually achieved HT-1 prior to the wars, and although the Khozun can no longer support that level of technology, they know of the existence of drive field tech, and still possess some working artifacts. Indeed, the ruling family of the Empire is maintained in its position by the control of high-tech artifacts, and its guard corps is lavishly equipped with technology that the Khozuni could no longer make for itself.
The Khozun home planet is a type ST world, and the Khozuni are large and heavily muscled to withstand the greater gravity of their planet. The Khozun have thick, leathery skin and are saurian, with a forward thrusting head with a large mouth with numerous sharp teeth, perched on top of a heavily muscled body with four arms and two legs.
Because the Khozun still possessed high tech sensors on their planet, they detected the ship (Not the Chirq) that approached their planet eleven months ago. That ship rapidly established communications with the Khozun, without ever revealing themselves or their identity. The aliens told the Khozun that in exchange for some resources, they would turn over several medium shipyards and several high tech offensive and defensive systems, enough for the Khozun to build a fleet. In addition, the aliens told the Khozun that there was a system nearby that held an alien race that was ripe for conquest.
The Khozuni Emperor lusted for a return to the old days of Khozun glory, and quickly agreed to the terms the aliens insisted upon. He didn’t trust the aliens, but felt that he didn’t need to. Once launched on their war to conquer the universe, nothing would be able to stop the Khozun! He was sure the aliens were up to something, but in the end, if they wanted to give the Khozun weapons, the Khozun would happily take them.
For over a year the Khozun labored, building their fleet both in space and on the ground. Several months ago, the aliens delivered several freighters full of ground-force weapons far in advance of those available to the Khozun, even the Imperial Guard. Now, finally, the Conquest Fleet was ready. After devoting the full resources of their planet to the effort, they had twenty corvette class raiders ready to go. Thanks to their alien benefactors, they also had complete intelligence on the disposition of the Chirq defenses. Once again, the help promised by their mysterious benefactors materialized, this time in the form of a group of transports that lifted the Khozuni Imperial Guard off of their home planet, something the Khozun didn’t have enough transport to accomplish. The Khozuni troops were sealed in their ship board barracks, had no access to the crew spaces of the transports.
The Conquest Fleet set out on the 1st, bound for the Chirq colony in the Modi system. The colony had no defenses and fell immediately when Imperial Khozun transports landed and began disgorging Khozuni legions. The Khozuni looted and pillaged to their hearts content, even as their fleet continued on, towards the Chirq home system. On their way out of the Chirq colony system the Khozuni warships destroyed the sensor and comms buoys emplaced by the Alliance, for which they handily had the precise locations.
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Month 197, Day 19, Chirq Home System
As expected, there was no opposition when the Khozuni force entered the Chirq Home system. The Khozuni ships efficiently hunted down and killed the sensor and comms buoys at the warp point and then set out for the inner system.
The Chirq home system was a binary system, with two habitable planets orbiting the yellow primary star and three orbiting the yellow secondary star. Four of the habitable planets were type T, including the Chirq home world orbiting the primary star. The Alliance had colonized the other four habitable planets while the Chirq were conquered, giving the system a respectable population, although none of the colonies had grown large enough yet to support colonies from their populations. In spite of the plethora of habitable planets, only Chirq Prime was rated rich, while one of the other planets was rated normal and the other three were rated poor, making this somewhat of a backwater system in the Alliance. That would change as the population grew, however, for now there were other areas that the Alliance was more focused on.
The Khozuni fleet set out directly for the largest population in the system, Chirq Prime. They had received dire warnings against touching any of the other planets, warnings they fully intended to ignore, but for now they were content to focus on their primary target, the Chirq home planet.
Two days later the Khozuni force crossed an invisible line in space and became visible to Chirq Prime. Unknown to them, the Khozuni fleet was on a course and arriving at a time consistent with expected freighters, and so no real notice was taken of the approaching contact, at least until it got close enough that the Chirq sensors could discern the number of ships in the approaching contact. At twelve light minutes the Chirq sensors were able to see that the contact consisted of dozens of ships and alarms were sounded. The Chirq fleet went to alert status, and the Chirq government sent pleas for help to the Alliance comm buoy in their system, and to the other colonies. Unfortunately, the Alliance Navy Guard Squadron was elsewhere in the Chirq Territories, guarding freight networks and visiting their various colonies.
For six hours they watched as the unknown fleet approached, ignoring all messages sent its way. In desperation, the Chirq government dispatched CD’s to all possible locations that the Alliance Guard squadron could be at, summoning them to their defense. They knew it wouldn’t change what was happening, but it might save them in the long run.
Finally, the alien force approached to within eight light seconds of Chirq Prime and came to a halt. The Chirq patrol force was vastly outnumbered and out-massed by the twenty corvettes they faced, even if their single defensive base was included. The Chirq escorts hung back, clustered protectively around the base, as they waited for the aliens to act. Finally, the alien corvettes charged ahead at full speed towards the defenders. After a minute, the alien attackers were at four light seconds and the Chirq base opened fire with its eleven missile launchers, punching three missiles through a corvette’s weak defenses, knocking down its light shields and punching through its armor.
The alien corvettes charged ahead, continuing their plunge towards the defenders. The base reloaded its launchers and fired again as the alien corvettes reached two light minutes, and this time it launched its XO mounted missiles as well. Out of the twenty-one missiles launched at a fresh corvette, eleven punched through its defenses and gutted the small ship. In response, another corvette fired its laser and salvoed three standard missiles from its XO racks, scoring a hit with the laser and with a missile on the base’s shields. The battle turned confusing after that, as Khozuni corvettes launched attacks at various Chirq ships, or the base, seemingly without much coordination or sense. Neither of the sides in the battle had datalink tech, so the ships of both sides were fighting on their own, and the Khozuni seemingly had little understanding of their weaponry or how to coordinate with their fellow ships. Still, they had a significant numerical advantage. The end result of the exchange of fire was that every Chirq ES, all of which were detuning their engines to make themselves harder targets, suffered some damage, but not enough to impair their combat effectiveness. The base, however, which was a big, immobile target, suffered heavy damage from the attacker’s lasers. The attackers lost a corvette, with another heavily damaged.
The alien attackers plunged to point blank range, while the Chirq escorts moved away to try to maneuver into the attacker’s blind spots. The attacking corvettes were just as maneuverable as the defenders, though, so the Chirq attempt failed and they ended up facing each other at a quarter light second. The damaged Chirq base fired first, firing its launchers in sprint mode. The base’s five remaining launchers all scored hits, destroying the already damaged alien corvette. The Chirq escorts managed to reduce a third attacking corvette to little more than a hulk, but the hail of point-blank laser fire from the aliens destroyed all of the Chirq escorts and reduced the base to impotence. Thirty seconds later the base was gone and the alien transport fleet moved in to begin unloading its assault force on the planet.
The Chirq, having little in the way of defenses, were completely overwhelmed almost from the start. The Khozuni Imperial Guard were veteran units, and were used to the brutal and uncompromising warfare on their home planet. The Chirq, on the other hand, had little more than police and paramilitary forces with which to defend themselves, and were not at home in combat under any but the most extreme circumstances. The Chirq planetary government surrendered two days after the Khozuni troops landed.
In response, the Khozuni troops rampaged across the planet, looting to their hearts content. Many Chirq were killed during the rampage, and the Chirq planetary leaders appealed to the Khozuni Guard leaders for help, only to be laughed at. Instead of respite, the Guard officers ordered the Chirq to begin gathering the tribute the Khozun Emperor required. As the Chirq died in droves, appeals were beamed to the other planets in the system, but there was little they could do. They had no ships, and while their militias had been fully mobilized, they were needed at home, to defend their own people. The Chirq were on their own.
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Month 198, Chirq Home system
The Khozuni treasure fleet left Chirq Prime on Day 1, headed out of the system. It was escorted by the bulk of the Imperial Guard fleet, which left just three corvettes in orbit over Chirq Prime to watch over their ground forces. The transports and freighters which had brought the landing force to the Chirq home world, was loaded with everything that wasn’t nailed down, so to speak, along with numerous Chirq engineers, scientists, and technicians. The Khozuni were determined to jump start their Empire, and Chirq slaves would do just fine to educate their people to use the technology they had stolen or bought. It would take the Khozuni ships five days to get to the warp point out of the system, and a total of twenty-three days to get home.
Eight days later, the Khozuni force was deep within the Hymir system, en route for the warp point to the former Chirq colony world, beyond which lay their own system. Suddenly, alarms began ringing on the fourteen corvettes that made up the escort group. Small objects had been detected racing up behind the treasure fleet and the guard force. The myopic Khozuni ships couldn’t see the incoming objects until they were five light seconds away, and they were closing fast. They would be upon the Khozuni force in just seventy-five seconds. The objects were too small to be ships, but were obviously a threat. The Khozuni may have been new to the ships they had ‘built’, but they were experienced fighters and didn’t panic. The guard force, fourteen corvettes strong, turned to meet the threat even as the green Khozuni crews raced to their stations.
One minute after detecting the small attackers, ten of the Khozuni corvettes were at battle stations, while four struggled to get their crews to their stations. There sensors had managed to determine the number of attackers, and the fact that forty-eight small craft of some sort were racing towards the Imperial Guard fleet was disconcerting, to say the least. The small attackers were racing toward the Khozuni corvettes at the corvette’s maximum speed. The Guard commander briefly considered trying to maintain the range from these strange threats, but dismissed the thought immediately. His corvettes could maintain the range to the small objects, but the transports couldn’t. And he couldn’t leave them behind. So instead, the corvettes began modulating their engines to make themselves a harder target.
The approaching objects slowed abruptly, creeping forward to two light seconds as the Khozuni commander yelled at the two corvette commanders whose ships were still not ready for combat. Suddenly, the small attackers sped up again, racing to point blank range of the Khozuni fleet. They split up to come at the Khozuni corvettes from different angles, obviously trying to get into their blind spots, and they partially succeeded. The Khozuni corvettes were sluggish compared to the small attack ships, and turned slowly. Only four corvettes managed to get their weapons to bear on the attackers, which had closed to a quarter of a light second before unleashing their weapons on the bigger corvettes. The corvettes were perfect targets, having had to drop their engine modulations to try and keep the approaching attack craft out of their blind spots.
The Khozuni commander watched in horror as the small attack craft, in groups of six, lined up and salvoed their weapons at his precious warships. One by one his corvettes exploded under the alien weapons fire, but the commander’s dismay was short-lived as his corvette joined the other seven that had been swatted from space. The alien attack craft curved away from the Khozuni corvettes, having apparently expended their weapons in their devastating attack. They left behind one of their number, destroyed by Khozuni laser fire as it made its attack run.
The Khozuni quickly rallied as the deputy Guard commander took over, but by then the alien attack craft were out of weapons range and moving faster than the remaining corvettes. A minute and a half after they destroyed the heart of the Imperial Guard Fleet, the attack craft faded from Khozuni sensors. The deputy commander spent his time rallying his troops and preparing them for the next attack, which he was sure was on its way. He was right. Five minutes after they disappeared, the forty-seven attack-craft reappeared on the corvette’s sensors. This time the Khozuni were ready for them. All six remaining corvettes were at combat stations, and this time they were ready. They were out-matched, and out-gunned, but they were determined to take out as many of their attackers as they could. The Khozuni never considered surrendering, and their attackers never offered quarter.
The Khozuni corvette’s willingness to do battle seemed to catch the attack craft by surprise, and the charge of the Khozuni ships brought them into engagement range of their lasers far beyond the range at which the attack craft could respond. Unfortunately, while the Khozuni were excellent warriors, they were only so-so spacecraft crews. All of their laser fire missed the tiny attackers. The two forces then plunged together in a furball that could have only one outcome. Two small attack craft were destroyed by the basic point defense emplacements on the Khozuni corvettes, but when the attack craft pulled away, there were no corvettes left.
The attack craft raced back to their invisible bases, rearmed, and then swooped on the life pods littering the battle area. Their mass-driver cannon made short work of the pods, and then they turned to the transports sitting a short distance away. By that point there were no Khozuni left to see what they did, except for the troops that had been loaded into the transports to guard the treasure they were taking back home. And there was little that they could do about any of this.
Day 17, Khozuni home system, warp point to Chirq colony system
The Khozuni had posted a single ship at the warp point to watch for the returning treasure fleet, and to monitor traffic into and out of their system. The raider class corvette didn’t have long-range sensors, as the Khozuni didn’t have that tech yet, but it was located close enough to the warp point to see whoever came through. The corvette at the warp point was one of two raiders that had been built since the main fleet had left for the Chirq system, with the other still shaking down in orbit over the home world.
A CD appeared on the warp point, and the Khozuni warship stripped the messages. The ship’s commander was relieved, because the messages indicated that their benefactors had scheduled another drop off of technology and equipment to help modernize the Khozuni nation. The ship’s commander sent the reports off to the home world, then settled in to wait. The benefactor’s freighters would be arriving at the warp point within hours of the returning treasure fleet, an interesting coincidence.
Day 18, Khozuni home system, warp point to the Chirq colony system
Right on schedule, three freighters appeared on the warp point. The Khozuni ship’s sensors were limited, but they were close enough to confirm that the light cruiser sized ships were indeed the freighters that they had been waiting for.
The Khozuni corvette watched as the freighters moved away from the warp point and towards the inner system. The freighter’s course would take them past the watching corvette at a range of two light seconds. As the freighters approached, they began turning, curving towards the corvette, not directly towards it but in its general direction. Seeing this deviation, the corvette’s commander opened a comms channel to the freighters, demanding an explanation. A response came immediately, claiming navigation problems, and promising to put the captain onto the channel.
Before that happened, the freighters made their closest approach. At point seven-five light seconds, a tractor beam speared out from one of the freighters, latching onto the Khozuni corvette. The tractor beam was followed immediately by an energy beam, which slammed through the hapless corvette’s shields, bypassed her armor and holds, and destroyed most of her engines. The other two freighters each fired an energy beam as well, doing further damage to the corvette, leaving only the ship’s weapon and a few other systems intact. The Khozuni crew were struggling to get the weapon activated, but the freighters continued their barrage, firing a weapon that projected a pinpoint energy beam that was precisely targeted on the corvette’s remaining systems. The battle, such as it was, was over in thirty seconds. The Khozuni corvette didn’t manage to get a message off. The ‘freighters’ spent some time destroying the few life pods that had escaped from the doomed corvette as additional ships entered the system behind them.
Day 21, Khozuni Prime
The drive field contact approaching the planet had been detected a day and a half ago, but matched the projected course and time for the benefactor freighters and the returning fleet and treasure transports, which had joined the freighters en route to the home planet. When the contact reached twelve light minutes from the home planet, the planetary sensors could determine the number of contacts, and the number was slightly off. Several ships appeared to be missing. A query was beamed to the approaching group requesting further information. A reply came promptly, informing the HQ that several corvettes had been left in orbit of the Chirq colony planet, to help the garrison there put down trouble that had arisen since the main invasion force left for the Chirq home planet. Guard Marshal Quintal promised a full report on his return. The response included a rough inventory of the loot the treasure fleet was carrying, and that list distracted nearly everyone from the rest of the message. After all, the fleet was carrying better than twenty times the Empire’s monthly production in its holds.
It was only as the fleet approached the planet that things began to go wrong. The Guard commander of the lone raider class corvette in orbit over Khozun Prime ordered his ship to meet the incoming fleet just short of the planet and escort them in, to honor the conquerors, but as the corvette approached the fleet it was met by a swarm of small attack craft. The corvette was caught completely by surprise and destroyed before it could get a shot off, and then the attack craft moved on to the planet. A group of six of the tiny craft peeled off and swarmed over the lone shipyard in orbit over the planet, destroying it in an orgy of nuclear fire. Even as the shipyard burned, a second group of attackers salvoed their close attack missiles at the Imperial capital, obliterating it and all its inhabitants, including the Emperor, his family, the Imperial Guard, and most of the government. And, coincidentally, almost all of the evidence of Khozuni cooperation with their ‘benefactors’.
Month 198, Day 28, Alliance, Core Sector Capital
Although there was much debate on the subject, and great political battles, in the end the Core Sector Capital was located on Rehorish Prime for the simple reason that around 60% of the sector’s population was Rehorish, and for the even more simple reason that it was centrally located. Being Sector Capital meant that the various Alliance systems in the sector reported to the Rehorish home planet, and that the various Alliance government agencies that operated within the Sector all reported to the Sector Council at Rehorish Prime.
The Grand Alliance didn’t maintain sector navies. Instead, each racial home world had a numbered fleet assigned to it, and this fleet was basically a training unit for ships constructed at that location. From the home world fleets, these units would be deployed to the various locations throughout the Alliance where they might be needed. The Alliance Navy did maintain administrative commands in each Sector, headquartered at the Sector Capital. These commands collated information gathered within the Sector’s systems, acted as a clearinghouse for intelligence developed within the sector, and coordinated any actual operation that took place within the Sector. In addition, the Sector Naval Command coordinated between the navy and the various colonies and population centers within the sector, communicating naval priorities, disseminating information, and handling requests for naval units from Alliance colonies. Naval units posted within the sector were not under the command of this administrative unit, but were expected to copy the sector command center with operational reports.
The Core Sector was the Alliance’s most populous and economically prosperous sector, and covered thirty-four systems with over two hundred and forty-four populations. The Chirq home system and its growing territories were not officially part of the Core Sector, but they did border on it and the largest Chirq colony world was five jumps from Rehorish Prime. The Core Sector HQ had the responsibility for oversight of the naval squadron assigned to the Chirq home system, and for intelligence developed from that race.
The Core Sector Naval Intelligence Coordination Team (CSNICT) had been set up to look for anomalies within the sector that might rise to the level of a threat, and to sift through information being sent into the HQ. Typically, most of their time was spent producing reports that collated facts and figures from across the Core Sector, reports that almost no one read any further than the synopsis. Now, though, one of team’s analysists were pretty sure that something serious was going on, so she contacted her shift supervisor and flagged the information she had developed. It seemed that for the last seven weeks or so all communications into and out of the Chirq home system had been answered by what appeared to be automated systems. Information requests had been fulfilled, but all messages were obviously machine generated. There were no notes from the intel people assigned to the squadron in the Chirq home system, no personal reports, nothing. When she checked, the other analysts reported the same.
The supervisor, sensing that something was wrong, contacted his counterpart in the civil intelligence side of the sector government, to see if they were seeing the same thing in their data feeds. After checking, the response came back confirming that they hadn’t had any direct contact with their people for at least a month, perhaps longer. The supervisor began sounding the alarm up the chain of command.
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Month 199, Day 1, Rehorish Home System
The alert from Fleet Intelligence about the anomalous situation in the Chirq home system had risen to the attention of the 1st Fleet Command, based in the Rehorish Home System. By now the fact that something was going on had been largely confirmed, as all requests for information were answered by what was clearly an automated system, promising that the requested information would be sent back, but otherwise not responding. Worse, contact with the squadron of corvette-carriers guarding the Chirq territories had been lost as well, with all queries being answered by the same clearly automated system.
In response, the 1st Fleet dispatched a small force to the Chirq territories to probe the system and determine the true state of affairs on the Chirq frontier. The force was composed of nine ships, three light cruisers, three destroyers, and three corvette-carriers. It was a two-month trip to the Chirq home system for the cruisers and destroyers, but the corvette-carriers could make the trip in six weeks at cruising speed, or three weeks at maximum speed, risking burnout. By order of the fleet commander, the cruisers and destroyers proceeded at maximum cruising speed, but the corvette-carriers were authorized to risk burnout of their engines to get to the Chirq territories sooner.
The scouts raced ahead, leaving the larger ships behind. To reduce the likelihood of burnouts, they traveled at 75% of their maximum speed, which would get them to Chirq Prime by the end of the month.
Month 199, Day 5, Chirq Home System
The Khozuni Imperial Guard commander in charge of the three corvettes left behind to guard their ground forces on the Chirq home world was worried. The freighter with their maintenance supplies hadn’t arrived from home world, and their supplies were low. Soon, systems would start failing on his ships, and if that happened, they wouldn’t be able to support the forces on the ground. Worse, there had been no replies to the message he had sent via CD’s when the freighter hadn’t arrived. Therefore, he did the only thing he could do. He ordered his officers to stuff his ship’s holds with as much loot as they could carry, and set out for home to discover what had happened to the supply ship. The angry accusations of the ground force commander were left behind as the ships sped away from the Chirq home planet. The Chirq ground forces were now on their own. On Day 27 the Khozuni corvettes would arrive over their home world, only to discover that their fleet had been destroyed by mysterious attackers and that their Empire had fallen after their capital was destroyed by orbital bombardment. Their home world was in the grip of a vicious civil war, and there were no supplies to be had.
Month 199, Day 22.5, warp point from System 353(Alliance territory) to Sivor System (Chirq territory)
The three Alliance corvette scouts approached the warp point carefully, as they had done every warp point during their journey out. Every one of those warp points had been clear and normal, with the comms and detection buoys in-place and operating.
One corvette hung back, out of range of the warp point, while two carefully closed. All three had their fighters out on patrol. After ensuring space around the warp point was clear, they stripped the comms buoy on the Alliance side of the warp point. Intel specialists went to work on the download while the corvettes kept a careful watch. It only took the analysts a short time to determine that the automated messages hadn’t originated in this buoy, but rather had come from one of the systems down-chain, towards the Chirq Home system. One of the scouts pulled in her fighters and jumped through to probe the far side of the warp point. After a few minutes the scout returned – the far side was clear.
The three scouts jumped through and began searching the area around the warp point. They immediately determined that the buoy pair that was supposed to be at the warp point was missing. Searching their deployment area revealed debris, and rather more than should have been there. Some of the debris was warmer than the rest, indicating that it had likely been destroyed relatively recently. All of the debris was collected for analysis before the scouts continued on towards the Chirq home system.
Month 199, Day 27.5, Sivor system, warp point to Chirq Home
The corvettes were closing on the last warp point before reaching their destination. Analysis of the debris found at the last warp point had revealed that there had been a buoy pair at their entrance warp point, but that they had self-destructed either shortly before the corvettes entered the system, or possibly just as the probe ship entered the system. It was possible that the buoy pair had self-destructed after they detected the probe ship entering the system, while the ship’s sensors were still transit-addled. In addition, there was a fairly large amount of debris that didn’t belong to the buoy-pair, and instead appeared to be the remnants of an indeterminant number of courier drones.
Now, as they approached the warp point to the Chirq home system, the corvettes detected a small group of courier drones leaving the warp point, headed for the warp point to System-353. The squadron commander ordered the drone’s messages be downloaded, and in short order they had good information about the situation in the Chirq Home System. The buoys were from the three Rehorish and one D’Bringi colony in the system, all reporting an attack on Chirq Prime and requesting help.
The scout squadron commander immediately dispatched several CD’s back along their course, to warn the rest of the probe group of the intelligence they had gathered, and then probed the warp point to Chirq Home. The warp point proved to be clear, and the buoy pairs were missing on both sides, as expected. The corvettes jumped through the warp point and spread out. One of the corvettes headed for Chirq Prime, while one of the others headed for the secondary system, where three of the Alliance colonies resided, and the last corvette arced around the primary system, looking for anything that might be lurking on the outer edges of the system.
By the end of the month the lead corvette had reached Chirq Prime, while the other two had also reached their destinations. None of them detected any ships. In spite of running the risk of burning out their engines, the elite crews of the corvettes managed to limit the damage to one engine on one of the corvettes, which finally gave out at the end of the month.
The situation on the ground on Chirq Prime was confused. No one responded to the Alliance corvette’s transmissions, but it was apparent that something was going on. More CD’s were dispatched to the rest of the group, and intel teams were sent to the other Alliance colonies in the system to gather whatever data they had.
Month 200, Day 5, Chirq Prime
Over the last several days it had become clear that Chirq Prime was occupied by a foreign force, and communications had been established with a group of Chirq military units that were holding out in a remote area, but there was little the carriers could do aside from send demands to the occupiers to surrender. The rest of the battle group would arrive by the end of the month, but even with more ships in orbit there was little they could do to affect events on the group without resorting to planetary bombardment, and they would not do that to an Alliance ally, so they were stuck. The commander of the corvette-carrier group had already sent a request to Rehorish Prime for a ground force, and had sent along their appreciation of the foreign forces on the planet, but it would be at least six weeks before troops could arrive.
Month 201, Day 15, Chirq Prime
The Alliance detachment of three light cruisers and three destroyers, escorting a group of transports carrying a large number of ground troops, arrives in orbit over Chirq Prime. The troops are almost completely composed of Rehorish soldiers, but the Torqual and Doraz states contributed the funding to pay for their transportation and equipment costs. This was made necessary by the large-scale colonization efforts the Alliance has undertaken in the last few months, coupled with the massive investment in building up the defenses in the Zir Villiers system.
The transports immediately begin landing troops in a remote location, where they secure a beachhead and begin building landing pads, defenses, and supply dumps. Other transports follow, and soon the growing number of troops on the ground are able to begin forward patrols and localized offensive actions to disrupt the alien occupiers. The occupiers fight aggressively and skillfully, but are outmatched by the veteran Rehorish troops. It immediately becomes clear to the Rehorish ground force commander, General Arata, that the weapons used by the aliens who invaded the Chirq home world are extremely outdated, even backwards. After a few days General Arata has enough troops on the ground, and enough confidence in his superiority over the aliens, now identified as the Khozun, to begin decisive operations to first disrupt, then overrun the occupiers. Within a week the fighting is all but over. The Khozun, although brave, have no effective counters to Rehorish air power and long-range weaponry, while the Rehorish have effective counters for almost all of the Khozuni arsenal. By the end of the month the Khozuni occupation forces are forced to surrender and Chirq Prime is freed.
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Month 197, Bedu Home System, Warp Point to Bjering Space
For several months the Mintek had been struggling to establish communications with the Bjering Consolidate. The path forward had been slow. If it weren’t for the assistance of former Consul Thrack and a team of former naval personnel he had put together to assist the Mintek in their contact efforts, the contact effort likely would have broken down several times. The Mintek were having a hard time understanding the mindset of the Bjering, and it seemed that the Bjering were having an equally hard time understanding the Mintek. Additionally, it was clear that the Bjering knew a fair amount about the Mintek, and were not well disposed towards what they already knew.
By mid-month, partial communications between the two had been established. It was enough for the Mintek to present, through their Bedu interpreters, a politely worded demand for the return of the Bedu transports ‘stolen’ by former Consul Virena. Minister Turval made it clear to former Consul Thrack, that if the Bjering refused the Mintek would be forced to attack the Bjering to regain the means to make the Bedu economy work again. The transports and freighters were of prime importance. All other things could be negotiated, but the Bedu CFN must be restored.
The Bjering had actually been prepared for this demand. They had been shocked that Virena had managed to get that much of the Bedu state’s shipping out of their home system before the Mintek took control, and Alpha Admiral’s economic advisors had been clear, the Bedu economy would be in shambles until the transports were returned. As tempting as it was to deprive the Mintek of the fruits of their conquest, keeping the transports would be giving the Mintek a credible cause for war against the Bjering, something Alpha Admiral wanted to avoid if at all possible. And, the former Bedu transports weren’t actually boosting the Bjering economy all that much, so it wouldn’t be that much of a hardship to return them and perhaps gain some goodwill from the Mintek. After some consideration, Alpha Admiral agreed to return the Bedu transports by the end of the month.
Minister Turval was overjoyed. The return of the transports was quite the coup, and, perhaps more importantly, it indicated that the Bjering were willing to be reasonable. Given the fact that the Bedu refugees had almost certainly tried to poison the Bjering against the Mintek, the fact that they could now be reasonable spoke well for them.
Month 199, Mintek controlled Territory, Bedu Home System
The Mintek achieve full communications with the Bjering and immediately begin pressing for a trade treaty. The Mintek are earnest and eager, apparently overjoyed to meet new friends. The Bjering, having received information from the Alliance and the Bedu refugees, marvel at the apparent disconnect between what the Mintek seem to believe they are doing, and what would likely happen if they allow the Mintek into their systems through any sort of agreement. Alpha Admiral is unsure of how to proceed. It is clear that they cannot allow the Mintek into their territory at all, in spite of their apparent honesty and eagerness. However, Alpha Admiral is concerned that flatly turning the Mintek down will provoke them.
At this point, the Bjering have assembled the bulk of their fleet in the Gunnar system, which is their contact point with Mintek territory. In addition, a Tomsk Union fleet had arrived to assist should the Mintek invade.
Gunnar System
Alpha Fleet: 3xML, 3xBC, 1xCV, 4xCVS, 3xDD, 5xCT, 72xF0, 36xF1
Beta Fleet: 3xCV, 3xBC, 1xCVL, 4xCVS, 1xCVE, 6xCT, 156xF0, 54xF1
Delta Fleet: 1xCV, 3xBC, 5xCVS, 3xDD, 1xCVE, 8xCT, 108xF0, 30xF1
Tomsk Fleet of Assistance:
9xBC, 6xCL, 9xDD, 2xSupply Ship
In addition to the assembled fleets, the Consolidate’s first run of SBM pods had been deployed to the system to help guard the warp point, along with some automated weapons. Finally, the next system back towards the Consolidate’s inner systems was the Ymir fortress system, which was guarded by fortresses and a minefield.
In the end, after consulting with the other admirals and the Tomsk representative, Alpha Admiral decided that sooner or later he was going to have to shut down negotiations with the Mintek. He couldn’t keep the fleet in the Gunnar system forever, therefore, if he was going to have to risk war with the Mintek when he shut down all contact with them, it might as well be now, with the fleet assembled and ready. Therefore, on the 20th, Alpha Admiral informed the Mintek delegation that negotiations would be ending in five days, and that from then on the Bjering wished to have no contact with the Mintek, aside from limited communications via courier drones. After sending this message Alpha Admiral brought his fleet to readiness for combat.
Alpha Admiral needn’t have worried. The Mintek Union’s primary concern at this time was the return of the freighters and transports, which had been accomplished last month. They were saddened that the Bjering rejected enlightenment, but sincerely believed that forcing their beliefs on the Bjering was wrong. Therefore, when Alpha Admiral rejected further negotiations and limited future contact to CD’s through the Bedu Home-Gunnar warp point, Minister Turval sadly agreed. Unknown to the Bjering, the Mintek Fleet was needed elsewhere too, and the Mintek economy, which had been staggering, needed time to recover. Both sides heaved a sigh of relief and ended negotiations. Four days later the Bjering departed the Bedu home system, and contact was broken.
Month 199, Mintek Occupied Bedu Prime
Life under Mintek occupation hadn’t really changed much for most Bedu. The biggest change for many was the constant sense of uncertainty that hung over them, not because of anything the Mintek had done, but just because of the fear of change. For some, of course, there had been very large changes in their lives.
In the upper reaches of Bedu society, many people had simply disappeared. Some had fled with the Consul’s daughter before the fall. Most had disappeared since the surrender. The heads of government agencies, corporations, cities, states, and most of the higher-level elected officials had been taken over the week following the occupation of Bedu Prime. This had caused widespread fear, but that had settled down when the Mintek announced that those taken were being sent to re-education camps to learn Mintek ways and beliefs, to better help their nation adjust to the reality of joining the Mintek Union. Mostly the fear evaporated when it became clear that the only people that were being taken were in the upper classes. Periodically, over the next several months, the Mintek would parade one of these individuals before the press on Bedu Prime, and release information that they had discovered of his crimes, usually corruption of some sort. They would then be given over to Bedu custody, along with the evidence, for trial under Bedu laws. The positions of those taken, if critical to the day to day running of Bedu society, were filled by Mintek, or by their allies the Alowan. For the most part the rich and powerful of Bedu society flocked to the Mintek cause. This was expected by the Mintek, as they had much experience in converting societies, and the rich and powerful always were most concerned with maintaining their wealth and power, and would, in many cases, do whatever it took to hold on to their positions. The Mintek knew that their professed conversions were false, but this was all part of the Mintek plan.
For the lower class, things rapidly changed. The Mintek set up missions across the planet, initially staffed by Mintek and Alowan personnel that had been specially trained to assist the Bedu. Food, shelter, remedial care, and education were freely given to those that would accept it. After a short period of time, the Mintek and Alowan staff began to be supplemented by Bedu who had accepted the Mintek beliefs and were willing to help. In the depressed areas where these missions were set up, the Mintek staff began organizing social events where everyone was welcomed. These events always included short classes on the Mintek beliefs, but they were short and relatively painless. Mintek control of Bedu society allowed them to cut through red tape in ways that no one had been able to do in the past. Slums were rapidly cleared by work teams made of up mixed Bedu and Mintek crews, and the poor and dispossessed of Bedu society were given a purpose and support to go along with it. These changes were slow at first, but rapidly gained steam as more and more Bedu realized the Mintek really believed what they preached.
For the middle class little changed. They still went to their jobs and paid their taxes. The Mintek, having had experience with converting civilization, knew that the middle class would tend to be the most conservative and resistant to change. And so, they were reassured by their news sources that nothing the Mintek were doing would threaten their families, or their jobs, and slowly, over the months, were introduced to the principles of Mintek belief. First among those principles was the sacredness of life, and the near absolute mandate to preserve life. The only thing that could rival that mandate was the other, absolute, mandate that the Mintek spread their beliefs to all sentient races. Only this second mandate could cause the Mintek to contemplate killing another sentient being. Consigning some to eternal darkness was a horror, but if it was necessary to do so to bring many more to the light, then the Mintek were driven to fight and perhaps kill out of necessity. Many within Bedu society found this belief reassuring, as it was always comforting to know that your conquerors valued your life as they valued their own.
Slowly, but surely, the Bedu were being converted to Mintek beliefs.
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Okay, just a little update on the behind-the-scenes stuff here at Cold War.
Currently the campaign has reached month 203, which is unprecedented for me personally, in terms of published large-scale starfire campaigns. Neither the Phoenix Campaign or the Terran Campaign went on this long, and it is entirely because I've limited the income, population growth rates, and build rates for my campaign. Having said that, here is a snapshot of the state of the campaign:
Active Races: 23
Total Inhabited Systems: 220
Highest Income: 146,502 MCr's (Alliance)
Total # of Ships: 3,573
Total Hull Spaces: 157,000 (approximate)
Discovered Systems: 945
Now, on a different subject. The campaign has grown to the point that my poor note-keeping is threatening the continuity and story-telling. I quite often feel like I've lost track of characters or story threads, and it is entirely because I've focused on writing and moving forward, not documenting what has happened in a useable format, and world-building so that my characters and races have a consistent universe to act within. Therefore, I am going to take a bit of a break to go through and organize what I have so that moving forward I'll know who my characters are, where they are at, and what the continuing story lines are. It should just be a couple of weeks or so. Hopefully.
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Month 200, Mintek Union Territory, Gobabis System
The Gobabis system was located adjacent to the Mintek home system. It was not a very interesting system, as it had a small, dim, red star primary, and had no habitable planets. It was, however, fairly important to the Mintek. Firstly, as noted above, it was adjacent to their home system, and so considered a part of the defense zone around their home system. Secondly, one of its warp points connected to the Ephesos system, which had a warp point that led to the Alliance. That warp point was closed on the Alliance side, and they had never discovered its location, even after the raid conducted by the Mintek navy into their Kure system. Fortifications had been built in the Ephesos system, against the possibility that the Alliance had discovered, or might discover in the future, the location of the warp point in the Kure system, but so far there had been no sign of that. Because the Gobabis system was the supply route for the fortifications in the Ephesos system, and so close to the Mintek home system, they had deployed a system wide sensor network, along with communications buoys at all of the warp points, to watch for intruders.
That network paid for itself when it detected a ship appearing close to the primary star. There was a short pause, and then additional ships entered the system and began spreading out across the system in what appeared to be a standard probe pattern. After a short time, the ships spread out across the system in what was obviously a survey effort.
Alerts were sent back to the Mintek home world, and they responded quickly. The 2nd Carrier Strike Group, bolstered by carriers sent back from the 1st Carrier Strike Group for repairs or the replacement of their fighters, was dispatched from Mintek Prime, where it had been standing guard duty against the reappearance of the alien ship that had probed their home system from a close warp point some time ago. The strike group was composed of two carriers, four light carriers, a strike carrier, fifteen escort carriers, three escort destroyers, and three hundred and fifty-four first generation fighters.
Eight days later, as the 2nd Carrier Strike Group moved into the Gobabis system, they encountered one of the alien ships. The Mintek force immediately began beaming contact messages to the unknown ship, and it replied. Much to their relief, the Mintek could see that this appeared to a new race, not one of their enemies. The new aliens were furred bipeds, with protruding noses. Soon thereafter, the alien ships in the system were withdrawing towards their entry point, all except the one that was in contact with the 2nd Carrier Strike Group. Both sides settled down to the hard work of establishing contact.
Alien Survey fleet: 3xCVE, 14xDD (3xDD have LR scanners)
Month 202, Gobabis System, Mintek Universal Union
There is a breakthrough in communications early in the month, and full communications are established. The Mintek are overjoyed and immediately offer a trade and military agreement. The Shiba, as the new race calls themselves, politely refuse, countering with an offer of cultural exchange that would allow the two sides to get to know each other more before committing to an alliance. The Mintek immediately accept, and a cultural mission is put together on Mintek Prime. Each race agrees to send a group of representatives to the other sides nearest colony, to learn about how the other lives.
The Shiba are a small race, averaging just over a meter in height, bipedal and covered in fur. A human would say that they were vaguely foxlike in appearance. Every Shiba encountered by the Mintek so far has a technological implant of some sort in the side of their head. The Shiba, when asked, explained that this is an assistive implant enabling the individual to download documents to long term memory, communicate over short distances, and integrate with the local area networks that the Shiba set up everywhere they go. The Mintek find this technology extremely interesting, and their cultural mission plans on exploring the possibility of trade relating to this technology as one of the first things they do.
The Shiba state is called the Ascendancy, and from what little has been communicated to date the Mintek have found some comforting similarities to their own nation.
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The Tomsk Union discovered the Tolani in month 187, and contacted them in Month 188. The Tolani were, to put it lightly, physically hideous. They were uniformly a rusty, coppery color, bipedal, and vaguely humanoid, but with armored skin with numerous protrusions on the arms and along the back. Their eyes were deep set and a disquietingly blue color that almost appeared to glow. Their faces were a horror of serrated pincers over a gaping maw with a long, twisting tongue that protruded in random twisting patterns. For all of that the Tolani proved to be friendly and agreed to sign a trade and military treaty with the Tolani Trade Federation in Month 194.
Month 196, Tolan Trade Federation
A Tolani survey ship jumps through the newly discovered warp point in their home system. This warp point was discovered by means of their survey efforts, and is the only warp point in their system aside from the one leading to the Tomsk Union. A Tolani survey cruiser jumps through the warp point and materializes in a binary orange/orange system. The system contains twelve planets of various types and two asteroid belts. Excitingly, one of the secondary star’s planets is a habitable type T planet, perfect for Tolani habitation. The survey cruiser sends CD’s back to its companions, and soon all three Tolani survey cruisers are in the system. The survey cruiser’s entry point into the system is deep within the inner system of the primary star, just twelve light minutes from the orange star at the center of the system. One cruiser sets out to probe the primary stars planets, although they can already tell there are no major settlements on any of the non-habitable worlds in the system. A second cruiser sets out for the secondary companion star, to probe that star’s planets. The third cruiser remains on station, guarding the warp point. The secondary star is 349 light minutes away, so it will take some time for the probe ship to get there and return.
Five days later the Tolani ship halts and sends a message back to its companions. They have detected a small population on the habitable world. This is both a disappointment, as they had hoped that the world would be the Federation’s first out-system colony, and an exciting discovery, as this is the first Tolani contact with any race outside of the Bjering Alliance. A short observation period is sufficient to determine that the EM emissions of the colony match a race in the contact database provided to the Tolani by the Tomsk Union. The emissions match those of the Alliance, a group of races the Tomsk Union and their Bjering allies have had contact with in the past. A message is relayed back to the home world, reporting the discovery, and a response is sent back ordering the cruiser to establish contact.
The Tolani ship moves within detection range of the colony and begins sending out contact messages. Soon thereafter the colony responds and mutual efforts to decipher their respective languages are underway.
Month 197, Tolani Trade Federation
The Tolani shared the contact information relating to the newly discovered race with the Tomsk Union, and they immediately recognized the aliens as the Rehorish, an Alliance race. The Tomsk Union gives the Tolani all of the information they have on the Alliance, and, at the request of the Tolani Trade Federation’s government, agrees to assist their contact efforts.
Month 198, Tolani Trade Federation
Contact teams from the Tomsk Union have arrived at the Tolani contact point with the Alliance to assist with the contact process. With their assistance the Tolani achieve partial communications with the Alliance.
In addition to the assistance with the Alliance contact efforts, the Tolani send a delegation to the Tomsk Union to request access to some of their systems, and perhaps a portion of territory that would allow them access to open, unexplored, warp points. Their system has proven to have only two warp points, one to the Tomsk Union and the other to the Alliance, leaving the Tolani nowhere to expand.
The Tomsk Union responds quickly. Now that the Tolani are in contact with the Alliance, it is entirely possible that once they establish a relationship with them, the Alliance will be willing to give them access to their territory, drawing the Tolani into to their sphere, away from the Tomsk-Bjering alliance. Just four jumps from the Tolani system is an uninhabited system that Tomsk Union exploration ships just finished surveying. They have found no less than nine open, unexplored, warp points. The Tomsk Union, which has seen its colonization efforts drop off significantly over the last year due to the lack of population centers capable of supporting colonization, finds the decision easy to make. The Tolani are granted access to the intervening systems, and sole control of the nexus in the St. Johns system.
Month 199, Tolani Trade Federation
Tolani negotiators, working through the Tomsk Union, have established a trade and military alliance with the Bedu Empire (refugees). This development overjoys the Tomsk Union, which sees this as further cementing the Tolani into their sphere of influence.
In addition, the Tolani successfully establish communications with the Alliance, who immediately offer them a trade and military treaty. On the advice of the Tomsk negotiators, the Tolani counter-offer a simple trade treaty, which the Alliance accepts.
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Month 200, New Bedu Empire Home System of Refuge
The Bedu government, under Consul Virena, concludes a partnership agreement with the Bjering. Consul Virena has decided that the best course for the survival of her people lay with the Bjering, thus she is determined to have her people join the nascent Bjering alliance as soon as possible. The Bjering are currently in talks with the humans of the Tomsk Union about merging their nations, and Virena wants to ensure that her people are taken under the umbrella of this super-state that is in the formation stages.
In the Bjering Gunnar system, Bjering Alpha Admiral released the Tomsk Union ships that had been dispatched to help guard the system against Mintek incursions and they began the long trip home. The assembled Bjering fleets remained in the system, at least for now. Eventually, Alpha Admiral would begin releasing the fleets to return home and begin refits to be upgraded with the latest technology.
Month 200
Confidential Report to Alpha Admiral from Staff Intelligence
Subject: Bedu and Mintek Naval Strength as of Month 188
The following numbers are based on intelligence received from the Bedu refugees. This intelligence was received in the form of original scan records of the encounter between the Bedu Combined Fleets and the Mintek Invasion Force.
Bedu Main Fleet: 6xCV, 8xBC, 7xCL, 9xDD, 216xFighters
Mintek Invasion Force: 15xBC, 15xDD, 4xCT, 1xCV, 6xCVL, 14xCVE, 342xFighter(estimated)
Current Bjering Combined Fleet Strength: 3xML, 18xBC, 6xDD, 35xCT, 5xCV, 1xCVL, 15xCVS, 5xCVE, 528xFighter
Allied Fleets: 15xBC, 18xCL, 22xDD, 6xCVS, 19xCVE, 318xFighter
The report notes that the figures for the Bedu forces were firm, but that the figures for the Mintek invasion force were speculative and were entirely based on Bedu fleet reports of sightings and encounters, meaning that there could have been significant Mintek forces held in reserve and never observed.
Month 203
The Tomsk Union achieves a breakthrough into HT-9 and reaches parity with the Bjering Consolidate. The two announce their intention to amalgamate in six months.
Month 204
Alpha Admiral begins releasing Bjering forces to return to the home system for refits, drawing down the forces concentrated in the Gunnar system to defend against a potential Mintek invasion.
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Month 196, Alliance Periphery, Lothari Home System
Last month Alliance survey ships established contact with the newly discovered aliens in this system. This month, in record time, the Alliance and the Lothari managed to establish full communications with each other. The new aliens call themselves the Kingdom of Lothar, and while friendly, they seem to value their privacy. To date none of the Alliance negotiators and contact personnel have seen a Lothari in the flesh, as every Lothari encountered to date has been covered in life support suits that may double as armor. In spite of this, the Lothari have been friendly and open. Following standard procedure, and with the agreement of the sector capital, the contact team offers the Lothari the standard Alliance trade and military treaty.
Much to the surprise of the Alliance team, the Lothari immediately accept the offer, and become the newest associate member of the Alliance.
Month 197, Alliance Territories, Periphery, Herzberg system
On Day five three Lothari cruisers jump out of their home system and into the Alliance frontier system of Herzberg. They remained on the warp point for a minute or two, examining the system, and then headed inwards to probe the single habitable planet in the inner system. There was no one there to observe them, as the Alliance survey group that had established contact with the Lothari had moved on to other duties, and the Alliance ICN hadn’t yet been established in this area.
After probing the inner system, the Lothari cruisers set out to survey the system.
Month 199, Alliance Territories, Periphery, Alliance Herzberg system
Lothari transports arrive in the system and begin emplacing a Lothari colony on the second planet of the system.
Month 200, Alliance Territories, Periphery, Alliance Herzberg system
A Lothari survey squadron is finishing up its survey of the system, and by mid-month begins probing the two new warp points they found. One of the new systems has no habitable planets, while the other has two. The Lothari commander dispatches a ship into each system to probe it, while his last cruiser, accompanied by the two new corvette class survey ships that had just joined it, wait at the warp point to the system with the habitable planets to watch over the probe system.
On Day 20, the Lothari survey cruiser detects Alliance populations on each of the two habitable planets. The commander is under strict orders to withdraw if he can do so while remaining undetected. The survey cruiser is far beyond the detection range of the colonies, and so he turns back towards his entry point. One day later, however, he detects drive fields at the edge of his detection range. Fearing that he must be on their scanners as well, the commander sends a contact message to the drive field contact in Alliance standard. Shortly after detecting the drive fields, and before they could have received the message, the contact turns towards the withdrawing Lothari cruiser. Knowing he’s been detected, the Lothari captain, following his orders, comes to a halt and sends a message to the cruiser waiting on the warp point. Several hours later the Lothari ship receives a response. It is from an Alliance naval officer, informing them that they are in Alliance territory, and ordering them to stand by for questioning. The Lothari ship has already come to a halt, so they remain in place.
On Day 22, the drive field contact has closed enough that the Lothari cruiser can resolve its number and types. It is an Alliance force of four destroyers. The Lothari survey cruiser is armed, but its commander is unsure if he could take on four Alliance destroyers in a standup fight. Fortunately, his orders are clear. If detected in Alliance space he is under no circumstances to initiate hostile actions. In fact, he has dropped his drive field and his shields are down, to indicate his peaceful intent.
The Alliance squadron closes to eight light seconds and comes to a halt, after which its commander demands to know the purpose of a Lothari warship in Alliance space. The Alliance commander’s tone is terse, and the demand is clear. Following his orders, the Lothari captain apologizes, and states that they did not know that the system belonged to the Alliance until they detected the colonies in the inner system. After discovering the colonies, they were withdrawing, as their treaty with the Alliance required them to do. The Lothari commander did not reveal the location of the warp point he had used to enter the system, but the implication of the message he had sent was that they had used a warp point from their own territories to enter the system, rather than from the Alliance’s Herzberg system. It took more questioning before the Alliance commander realized that the Lothari ships had to have come through the Herzberg system. Under direct questioning, the Lothari commander admitted as much, although he seemed mystified as to why the Alliance commander would care.
The Alliance squadron commander, for her part, was confused. The Lothari were friendly, and had signed a treaty with the Alliance recognizing that the Herzberg system, and all of the systems beyond it, were Alliance territory. And yet now they find them here, in an Alliance colony system. This was most disturbing. The Alliance commander issued orders for the Lothari survey cruiser to return to Lothar space, and stated that her squadron would accompany the ship to ensure that it got where it was going.
On Day 26 the Lothari survey cruiser and the escorting Alliance destroyers arrived at the warp point to the Herzberg system. As the Alliance ships prepared to transit, they received a message from the Lothari ship. The Lothari commander stated that the Herzberg system was Lothari territory, but that the Alliance squadron would be allowed to enter. Alarmed, the squadron commander cancelled her transit orders and questioned the Lothari commander, who admitted that the Lothari had colonized the habitable world in the Herzberg system, in essence making it their territory. At that point the Alliance squadron commander ordered the Lothari ship to depart Alliance territory, and sent a message back to the Sector Capital requesting guidance.
Month 201, Day 2, Herzberg system
The meeting took place at the warp point into the Herzberg system from Alliance territory. The Alliance squadron commander, having received orders from the Sector Capital, agreed to the Lothari occupation of the Herzberg system, and its single habitable planet. After all, the system was far from the population centers of the Alliance, and the planet was rated ‘poor’ on the resource scale. The Sector governor had decided that if the Lothari wanted it, they could have it. The squadron commander communicated this fact to the Lothari, who enthusiastically agreed. The squadron commander also communicated the fact that there would be no further retreats by the Alliance. The next system down-chain was the Liawak system, and it had been settled by the Alliance and would remain Alliance territory. The Alliance would take a dim view of any further territorial seizures by the Lothari.
The Lothari commander agreed, without complaint or hedging, and assured the D’Bringi squadron commander that there would be no further misunderstandings. The D’Bringi captain doubted that this had been a misunderstanding, but was under orders to press no further, and so let it go. He did make it clear that there would be Alliance warships stationed at the border to ensure that there were no further problems. And so, the incident was over, at least for now.
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Month 203, Bedu Home System
The 1st Carrier Strike Group arrived over Alowan Prime mid-month, joining the Fast Attack Group. The plan had originally been to send a probe through the newly discovered warp point in the system, which an alien ship had been observed exiting the system through, once the fleet strength in the system was sufficient. However, with the contact efforts with the Ascendancy moving forward, high command on the home world was loath to begin contact efforts with a second race while efforts with the Ascendancy were underway.
Month 205, Mintek Union
The Mintek reach a trade agreement with the Ascendancy. This actually puts the Mintek in a bit of a bind. Standard operating procedure would dictate that the Mintek move heavy naval forces into the system that was closest to their new trade partner, should that trade partner react badly to the presence of Mintek ‘traders’ in their border systems. That is not possible at this time, as the Mintek fleet is split between widely separated commitments. The Fast Attack Group remains in the Bedu home system, guarding against possible Bjering aggression. The Assault Group has been redeployed back to the home system to guard against an attack by the enigmatic race that probed the system through a previously unknown closed warp point. The First and Second Carrier Strike Groups are split, with the 1st deployed to the Alowan system to guard the system against the race that probed the newly discovered warp point in that system, while the 2nd is deployed to the contact point with the Ascendancy.
Unable to recall any of the deployed forces, the Mintek government decides to proceed cautiously with the Ascendancy, limiting their attempts to spread the faith, at least for now.
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Month 203, Aurarii Republic
After months of effort, the Alliance manages to establish full communications with the Aurarii Republic. The Aurarii are somewhat standoffish, and recently concluded a war with their neighbors in their system, which appeared to have been touched off by the Doraz efforts to establish contact with the newly discovered races.
Following established procedures, the contact and negotiating team offer the Aurarii a standard Alliance membership, which amounts to a trade and military alliance. The Aurarii immediately reject the offer, but then counter with an offer of a trade relationship. The Alliance team accept, and while preparations are made to establish the trade network, the Aurarii agree to meet with representatives of the other Alliance races.
The Aurarii continue negotiations with the Alliance representatives, and by the end of the month reveal the fact that their system has no other warp points, meaning that they are isolated in a dead-end system. They are very interested in purchasing access to unexplored systems from the Alliance, or the Doraz, if necessary. While promising, this revelation causes some consternation amongst the Alliance negotiators. The Aurarii system is located in Doraz space, and is linked to the main line of Doraz expansion via a barren white dwarf system. That system has a total of four warp points, one of which leads back to Doraz space, one to the Aurarii system, while the other two lead to two starless nexuses. One of those has been surveyed and has no additional warp points, while the second is currently being surveyed. If that system has no additional warp points, then the nearest unexplored system would be six transits away, all of it through settled Doraz space. For now, the negotiators decide not to reveal this fact, in the hopes that the survey effort in the nearby starless nexus discovers at least one open warp point.
Month 204, Doraz Contingency
Working through Alliance intermediaries, the Doraz come to an agreement with the Aurarii. They will transfer control of the white dwarf system adjacent to the Aurarii system, along with the starless nexus adjacent to it, and the newly discovered system on the far side of that nexus. Although that system doesn’t have any habitable worlds, it does offer the potential for expansion to the Aurarii, who otherwise would be isolated in their home system. The Aurarii agreed to a one-time payment of a substantial amount of resources to the Doraz for these systems.
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Month 196, Villiers System, Zir Territories
The first group of Alliance ships has arrived in the system. The group includes five medium shipyard ships and their escort of three light cruisers and three destroyers. The shipyard ships settle into orbit over the main Zir colony in the system and immediately begin work on building bases to fortify the system. By the end of the month an additional three light cruisers and three CVE’s have arrived to bolster the orbital defenses around the construction assets assembling in the system.
Month 200, Villiers System, Zir Territories
As of Day 1, the lead elements of the Alliance 6th Fleet have arrived in the Villiers system. All told, the Alliance has nine battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, nine light cruisers, three strike cruisers, six escort carriers, six destroyers, three corvette-scouts, and six corvette-carriers in the system to bolster the Zir fleet elements stationed there. In addition, the Alliance has moved a mobile shipyard to the system, six medium shipyard ships, and nineteen repair ships to the system to build defenses. So far, the construction ships have built twelve BS0’s with 110 fighters, all of which have been stationed in orbit around the main Zir colony, where the construction ships are based. Finally, a number of mines and laser buoys have been built, but are waiting to be emplaced when their control bases are deployed. All told, thirty-seven prefabbed bases of various sizes are en route to the Villiers system, where the waiting repair ships will assemble them.
The main battle groups of the 6th Fleet are one month away, at the Zir Home system, and thanks to the supply dumps relocated to the Villiers system months ago there will be enough supplies to support the fleet once it arrives.
Month 202, Villers System, Alliance Periphery (Zir Territory)
The Alliance 6th Fleet is fully assembled in the Zir frontier system, and numerous Alliance construction units are present and fully engaged in building up the defenses of the system. This system has an astounding five habitable planets and thirteen warp points, four of which lead to inhabited systems. Fortunately, two of them lead to systems belonging to the Colonial Union, and the entry points into those systems are closed and located in the outer systems, meaning that the CU doesn’t know that they exist and likely can’t find them. The other two links, though, are problematic. One is a closed link that leads to the Mintek Home System, and is both an incredible opportunity and an incredible threat. That warp link opens in the Mintek inner system, and the Zir were definitely detected probing the system, meaning that the Mintek know that there is a closed warp point deep within their home system. The other warp link leads to a heavily populated planet of aliens unknown to the Alliance, which might be good or bad, but worryingly, the warp point in the alien system is open, and thus detectable by the locals, and it appears they at least suspect it exists. Rather than rush into a hasty assault into Mintek territory, the Alliance has decided to build up its forces in the system, and establish defenses around the planets and the warp points, before they do anything else.
The Zir have established colonies on all five of the planets, only one of which is considered benign for their race. Three of the habitable planets are rated as ‘rich’, fortunately including the one benign planet, and the Zir have shipped in enough colonists to raise the population of the benign planet to medium sized, allowing for large scale colonization of the other system bodies from the medium population. The Zir have just given the Alliance permission to plant a colony on one of the system’s planets that is rated ‘harsh’ for them, but benign for one of the Alliance’s races, and Alliance colonists will be on their way shortly to begin establishing a colony to support the fleet and fortifications.
Current Force Levels
Alliance 6th Fleet:
24xBC, 21xCA, 18xCL, 12xDD, 3xCTS, 1xCVL, 7xCVS, 22xCVE, 2xDDV, 5xCT(Pinnace), 19xCTV, 20xPinnace, 694xF0
Alliance Fortifications, Villiers System
6xBS2, 18xBS0, 170xF0
1st Repair Group
20xRepair Ship(Machine Shop)
Construction Group
1xMobile Shipyard(shipyard)
Light Construction Group
6xMobile Shipyard(Mobile Shipyard)
Automated Weapons
590xMF, 170xBSB-L
Under Construction
1xBS3
Prefabbed Units Being Assembled
15xBS0, 3xBS2
Reinforcements en route to Villiers, ETA Month 204
7xMobile Shipyard(shipyard)
Zir Frontier Fleet
6xDD, 12xFG, 20xCT
Mobile Construction Unit
1xMobile Shipyard(shipyard) – conducting refits to Frontier Fleet units
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Bjering Alliance Update, Month205
Bjering
Total Income (All Sources): 49,500 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 31,609 Mcr’s (63%)
Primary Fleet Deployments
Alpha Fleet (Gunnar System): 3xBC, 3xCVS, 3xDD, 4xCT, 18xF0, 36xF1
Beta Fleet (Home System): 1xCV,3xBC, 1xCVL, 4xCVS, 1xCVE, 6xCT, 54xF1
Delta Fleet (Home System): 1xCV, 3xBC, 5xCVS, 3xDD, 1xCVE, 8xCT, 30xF1, 108xF0
Epsilon Fleet (Home System): 3xBC, 2xCVS, 2xCVE, 8xCT, 60xF1
Gamma Fleet (Tomsk System): 6xBC, 1xCVE, 8xCT, 12xF1
Strategic Reserve (Home System): 3xMLR, 3xCV, 1xCVS, 1xCT, 6xFT(Supply), 18xF0, 108xF1
Construction: 192xF1, 5xMSY
Refits: 2xMLR, 1xCV, 3xBC, 2xCT
With the situation in the Mintek stabilized, and the defenses in the Gunnar system sufficient to at least act as a road-block to slow a possible Mintek attack down, Alpha Admiral has been rotating fleets back to the home system to receive refits with the latest technology. At the end of Month 205, Alpha Admiral declared the emergency with the Bedu and Mintek to be over, and has decided to reorganize the fleet, with reduced out-system deployments. When the redeployment is complete, one fleet each will be deployed to the Gunnar system and the Tomsk system, while the other three fleets and the Strategic Reserve will remain in the home system.
With the Mintek threat receding, the Bjering government is turning to focus on the upcoming amalgamation with the Tomsk Union. There is great excitement among the Bjering people towards the upcoming union with the humans, and there is much hope that this will herald a new age of peace and prosperity.
Tomsk Union
Total Income (All Sources): 56,243 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 17,102 MCr’s (30%)
Fleet Dispositions
Home Fleet (Tomsk): 9xBC, 1xCVS, 9xCL, 19xCVE, 22xDD, 7xES, 252xF0
Fortress Moon (over the Capital): 6xOffensive PDC (196 HS)
Planetary Defenses (Capital): 7xPDC (anti-msl, 84 HS), 5,000 PCF (some based in the PDC’s and thus hidden),
Orbital Defenses (Capital): 2xArmed SS (6xSY each, 1,057 HS), 1xAst Fort (259 HS), 96xF0, 5xApin
Warp Point Defenses (WP to Colonial Union): 12xBS2, 3xES, 9xCVE, 108xF0, 700xMF, 180xDSB-L, 700xIDEW-E, 395xIDEW-P
Under Construction: 1xAst Fort (259 HS), 120xMF, 110xIDEW-E
Refits: 3xBC, 6xBS2, 1xCL, 5xDD
Much like the Bjering, the Tomsk government is almost totally absorbed by the upcoming amalgamation. There is much anticipation and excitement throughout the population, mostly because the people of the Tomsk Union view this merger as a final assurance of their independence from the Colonial Union.
The Tomsk Union continues to face a critical shortage of populations large enough to support colonization. The Union currently boasts four planets large enough to support colonization without severely depleting themselves, and while three of the four have grown enough to support founding a new colony out of their population, there doesn’t appear to be a long-term solution to this problem.
Tolan Trade Federation
Total Income (All Sources): 13,780 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 3,740 MCr’s (20.5%)
Fleet Dispositions
Home Fleet: 6xBC, 3xCVS, 6xCL, 54xF0
Since being granted access to unexplored systems by the Tomsk Union, the Tolani have completed surveys of two new systems and have established a settlement sized population on a habitable planet in one of the new systems. With peaceful relations established with the Tomsk Union, Bjering Consolidate, and the Alliance, the Tolani felt safe enough to reduce the size of their fleet so that they could focus their limited resources on colonization and industrial expansion.
Aldrean Contemplative Association
Income (All sources): 234 MCr’s
The Aldreans are making excellent progress towards reaching Ind-1 tech level, with Bjering assistance.
Total Alliance Income (Bjering and Tomsk): 105,743 MCr’s
Total Alliance Fleet Strength: 3xML, 5xCV, 27xBC, 1xCVL, 16xCVS, 9xCL, 25xDD, 33xCVE, 35xCT, 10xES, 234xF0, 660xF1
Total Alliance SY’s: 43xSY, 7xMSY, 13xMS
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Colonial Union Update, Month 205
Total Income (All Sources): 98,224 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 48,036 MCr’s (49%)
United Colonial Defense Fleet Dispositions:
1st Battle Group (Sligo): 3xSD, 3xBB, 9xBC, 6xCA, 6xDD
Kowloon Patrol Group: 3xCA, 1xFGS, 1xEXS (trade contact point with the Bjering)
Managua Patrol Group: 2xFGS, 6xCT, 1xEXS (suspected closed warp point in the system)
Sandhurst Patrol Group: 3xDD, 3xCVE, 2xFGS, 3xEXS, 51xF0 (known contact point with the Alliance beyond this system)
Zephrain Patrol Group: 3xCVE, 1xFGS, 3xEX, 51xF0 (Known contact point with the Bjering)
Galloway’s Star Patrol Group: 4xEXS (Known contact point with the Alliance)
Centaurus Patrol Group: 13xEXS (Known contact point with the Alliance)
Epsilon Eridani Squadron: 3xSD, 6xCA, 3xDD, 1xFGS, 3xCT, 6xES, 9xCVE, 187xF0
Sigma Draconis Squadron: 3xBC, 1xDDC, 1xFGS, 5xEXS
Sligo Squadron: 12xBC, 3xCA, 6xDD, 15xCVE, 2xEX, 1xFT(Supply), 255xF0
Sol Squadron: 6xSD, 3xCA, 3xCL, 9xCVE, 6xDD, 1xFGS, 1xCT, 6xES, 2xFT(supply), 153xF0
Kirov Squadron (Border Defense): 6xBC, 3xCA, 3xDD, 4xFGS, 3xCT, 5xEXS
Redwing Squadron (Tlatelolco Watch): 3xSD, 3xBC, 1xCVS, 1xCVE, 12xDD, 7xFGS, 1xEXS, 44xF0
Union Assault Corps (Redwing System): 8xCA, 34xCL
Under Construction: 1xCVL
Refits: 11xSD, 7xBC, 11xBS3, 3xCA, 1xBS2, 4xDD, 5xFG, 1xAstF
The Colonial Union has been experiencing an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity, but recent months have seen the Union descend into political chaos. In Month 193, several major press organizations broke revelations about mistreatment of Tlatelolco natives in the Redwing system, along with numerous treaty violations alleged to have been undertaken by the Colonial Union government. The reaction of the general population to these revelations has been mixed, but generally negative. Unlike the Tarok, in the Sligo system, the Tlatelolco, considered gentle giants by most, have always been viewed positively by the Union public, and the only reason the occupation of their home world didn’t meet more resistance in the Senate was because the Tlatelolco declined to resist the occupation with violence. This, on top of the continuing scandal of the administrations lies and coverups over the battle in the Tomsk system in month 182, has caused the New Dawnists in control of the government to go into full damage-control mode, which means they mostly refuse to comment on anything, no matter how damaging. The opposition, united under the leadership of Senator Semenov, appear to be moving towards calling for a motion of no confidence, which, at this point, would almost certainly pass, causing the government to fall. This would lead to a complete reorganization of the government, likely with Senator Semenov in a leading position.
Because of the political drama, the Union is almost totally focused inwards, and is ignorant of most developments in the other major nations.
The last major expansion of the Colonial Union Defense Force was the construction of the carrier fleet, but aside from that the fleet size has been fairly stable, with only a minor expansion of the Union Assault Corps in recent months. The Union’s shipyards are almost completely concentrated on refitting the fleet to HT-8 standards, and the refits are nearing completion, for the most part.
Total CU Fleet Strength: 15xSD, 3xBB, 33xBC, 1xCVS, 32xCA, 37xCL, 40xCVE, 40xDD, 16xCT, 20xFGS, 14xES, 36xEXS, 741xF0
Total CU Shipyards: 37xSY, 13xMSY
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Month 205 Update
Mintek Universal Union
Total Income: 68,114 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 43,271 MCr’s (63.5%)
Current Fleet Deployments:
1st Assault Group (Home System): 9xSD, 3xCV, 2xCA, 4xDD, 126xF1
1st Carrier Strike Group (Alowan Home System): 1xCV, 6xCVL, 1xCVS, 3xDD, 15xCVE, 1xCT, 375xF1, 7xApin
2nd Carrier Strike Group (Gobabis System, contact point with the Ascendancy): 2xCV, 3xCVL, 3xDD, 5xCVE, 216xF1, 4xApin
Fast Attack Group (Bedu Home, contact point with the Bjering): 15xBC, 13xDD, 3xCT
Strategic Reserve: 1xBC, 2xFT(Pod Carrier), 8xFT4(Supply ship)
Alowan System Defense Fleet: 18xDD
Mintek Prime Defenses: 1xAF(267 HS), 2xSS(CV)(100 HS), 3xPDC(AM)(75xHS), 186xF1, 3xApin
Mintek Secundus Defenses: 2xSS(CV)(100 HS), 3xPDC(AM)(75xHS), 156xF1
Mintek Tertius Defenses: 1xSSCV, 1xPDC(AM), 78xF1
Mintek System WP#1(Phyriseq System) Defenses: 1xAF (267 HS), 1xAF(223 HS), 9xBS5, 30xF1, 3xApin
Ephesos System Fortifications (Alliance contact point)
1xAsteroid Fort (267 HS), 30xF0, 3xApin
Alowan Home system Defenses
3xBS5, 3xSSCV, 2xAstFort(223 HS), 294xF1, 170xMF
Bedu System Defenses
4xBS5
Under Construction (Mintek Home System): 2xBC, 2xPDC(AM)
Under Construction (Alowan Home System): 120xMF
Refitting: 3xBS5
The Mintek Universal Union is in the curious situation of being much better off than they were just 10 months ago, and yet under multiple existential external threats. Worse, they cannot concentrate forces to counteract any one of the threats without uncovering themselves against all of the other threats. The threats, as the Mintek see them, are as follows:
Bjering: The Bjering have offered a haven to the war-criminal former leaders of the Bedu, who stripped their economy and fled before they could be apprehended once their own people turned on them. While the Bjering seemed reasonable during the negotiations, and indeed they returned the stolen freighters that the bedu criminals made off with, they subsequently refused further contact and sealed their borders. This willful blindness and forceful repudiation of the true faith is suspicious in and of itself, and given the fact that they are undoubtedly allowing the former Bedu leaders to fill their minds with misinformation they almost certainly will try to ‘liberate’ Bedu territory at some point. This possibility must be defended against, and, indeed, the plight of the Bjering people, who are living in enforced ignorance, cannot be underestimated. They are being misled by their own government, and held in ignorance, something that no Mintek of good conscience can condone.
The D’Bringi Empire: The Mintek Universal Union currently has three known points of contact with the D’Bringi and their dupes. One is in the Mintek Home system, and is known to both sides and heavily fortified. The second is in the Ephesos system, and is a closed warp link into D’Bringi space. The D’Bringi know of the closed warp point, as the Mintek launch an attack into D’Bringi space, however, they were not able to discover the location of the warp point before they forced the Mintek liberation group out of their space. The warp point in Mintek space is lightly fortified, but there has been no sign of D’Bringi probes. The third link is in the Delphi system, where the evil D’Bringi launched an attack that depopulated a colony of innocent farmers. Fortunately, the link from the Delphi system back to the rest of the Union was through a closed warp point that the D’Bringi were unable to discover, ending the threat from this route. Although no additional points of contact have been discovered, the D’Bringi remain a large and growing threat, and there is always the possibility that they will discover a new route into Union space, or that they will launch an attack into the heart of the Union from the Phyriseq system.
Unknown Threat: Almost three years ago a single ship appeared deep within the Mintek home system and then disappeared through a previously undetected warp point in the inner system. No ships have reappeared, but this is a threat that cannot be overestimated. The fact that someone has discovered a warp link into the inner system of the Union’s capital, and then never returned, argues that they have malign intentions. The fact that the exact location of the warp point is unknown makes it impossible to fortify, meaning that there is a race out there that has a route into the core of the Union. The fact that that race might be the D’Bringi, or one of their allies, or the Bjering, keeps Mintek defense planners up at night, and has driven the fortification of the three heavily populated planets in the Mintek home system. Indeed, the fortifications in the Mintek home system consume almost eight percent of the maintenance budget of the Navy and Fortification Command, and this percentage would have been higher if it wasn’t for the fact that the Union’s finances have been severely constrained for some time. Because the warp point’s location is unknown Fleet Command feels it necessary to keep at least part of the fleet in the home system at all times.
Unknown Contact in the Alowan Home System: During the warp point survey of the Alowan system in Month 195, an unknown drive field contact was detected close to a newly discovered warp point in the outer system. The contact disappeared through the warp point and hasn’t returned, which is suspicious. Fortunately, the location of the warp point is known, and efforts have begun to fortify the warp point have begun. Fleet units have been diverted to the Alowan system to back stop the defenses until they can be built up.
The Ascendancy: Because of the Fleet’s other commitments, the Mintek government has decided to tread lightly with the Ascendancy. Given the consistency in the way that the other unenlightened races have reacted to Mintek attempts to spread the truth within their territories, it appears likely that the Ascendancy too would react poorly. Because the fleet is stretched so thin, the government has decided to move slowly in our efforts to spread enlightenment, in the hopes that the Ascendancy will react better than the previous races that the Mintek have contacted. Still, the threat from an unenlightened race cannot be discounted, so forces have been deployed to the contact system to ensure the security of Mintek territory.
Unquestionably the biggest threat, at least in the minds of the Union’s security experts, is the undiscovered closed warp point in the Mintek home system. Although the discovering race is unknown, the possibility of a large fleet entering the Mintek system at a random time, possibly when the Mintek fleets are far away, is a nightmare that won’t go away. To give the Union time to deal with the existing threats, the Mintek government has decided to avoid contact with any newly discovered race, and to limit their actions in the Alowan system to building up defenses at the warp point to the unknown race, rather than establishing contact. As the defenses in the Alowan system and the Bedu system are built up, this will all the fleet to concentrate forces in the home system to counter the unknown race that entered the system through the closed warp point, and to become more active in enlightening the Ascendancy, as the contact point with that race is only one jump from the home system. In the meantime, significant amounts of resources have been expended colonizing new systems and expanding the populations on planets with rich and very rich ratings.
Total Fleet Strength
6xCV, 9xCVL, 1xCVS, 20xCVE, 9xSD, 16xBC, 2xCA, 12xCL, 41xDD, 12xCT, 717xF1
Total Shipyards:
77xSY, 15xMSY
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Month 202, Day 30, Chirq Home System
Three Rehorish battlecruisers arrive over Chirq Prime, bolstering the forces already in the system. Interrogation of the Khozuni troops, and astrographic records recovered from Chirq governmental archives, have revealed the location of the Khozun home world. A combat group will depart in one day to probe the Khozun system and determine the level of threat presented by the Khozuni.
Meanwhile, massive amounts of aid from the Alliance are pouring into the Chirq system to help the Chirq get back on their feet.
Month 203, Rehorish Prime
Rehorish leaders, becoming concerned about the events in Chirq territories, order some of the mothball reserve to be reactivated. In a matter of days work begins on reactivating three CVL’s, six light cruisers, and six destroyers.
Month 203, Chirq Home System
Vast amounts of aide poor into the Chirq system from all over the Alliance, giving a welcome boost to the Chirq economy. While every race in the Alliance contributed to this aide, the bulk of the resources come from the Zir, who for whatever reason, feel motivated to assist the Chirq in their time of need.
Month 203, Day 25, Khozun Prime
The Alliance Probe Force, sent from Chirq Prime, arrived over the Khozuni home world on this day. The probe force was composed of a battlecruiser, two light cruisers, and two corvette-carriers, all crewed by Rehorish. They found a planet in the midst of an all-out war, with at least four sides. Weapons of all sorts were in use on the surface, up to and including nuclear weapons on occasion. None of the warring factions on the planet answered the Rehorish calls for surrender. A CD was sent to the rest of the squadron on Chirq Prime requesting ground forces. An Alliance survey group arrives in-system before the end of the month, to begin surveying the system for additional warp points.
Month 204, Khozun Prime
Rehorish ground troops land on Khozun Prime. The Khozuni, who have been fighting a vicious four-sided war, immediately turn on the aliens and launch all out attacks. The Rehorish powered armor troops in the vanguard of their attack shrugged off the Khozuni laser rifles and sonic weapons, while Rehorish gatling lasers, brilliant missiles, and plasma cannon gutted every attack before it could really get started. In short order the Khozuni were all but defeated, although they continued to resist.
The Alliance survey group assigned to explore the Khozuni system discovers three additional warp points. Two of the systems beyond these new warp points contain habitable planets, but probes find no trace that the Khozun have ever entered the systems.
Month 204, Rehorish Prime
Commander Takahashi clicked his mandibles together and closed down the terminal on his desk. It had been a long day, and he was ready for the weekend. He left his office and waived to the unit secretary, then entered the lift, his mind already far away. He had been in the Navy for over twenty years at this point, and it was beginning to get repetitive. Still, though, the old instincts never entirely left one, no matter how long they’ve been out of the field. When he left the Naval HQ building and entered the sub-surface entrance to the public transit system, he recognized something that had been bothering his subconscious for several minutes. He had picked up a tail.
He hadn’t always been in charge of an intelligence analysis team. In his early years of service, he had been recruited into the Navy’s elite Naval Infantry teams, and from there into the Naval Intelligence Action Teams, where he had served with distinction until the near catastrophic accident that had nearly cut short his life and his career in the navy. It had been one of those things, not enemy action but rather a training accident, and it had left him maimed and much slower than he had been before. Fortunately, he had many friends within the Navy who had recognized his potential, so they had moved him into the management side of things, and eventually he had ended up commanding the Core Sector Naval Intelligence Coordination Team (CSNICT). The team was chock full of bright young analysts who, while accomplished and educated, had little real-world experience. The Navy firmly believed in leavening its analysis teams with personnel with real intelligence service, so Commander Takahashi was a natural fit. He found most of his analysts to be refreshing in their energy and enthusiasm, if a bit trying in their naiveté.
So, when he realized that he had spotted the same shadowy figure several times before, always just far enough behind him to be a bit difficult to spot, his senses went into overdrive. By the time he had entered the tube capsule for the trip to his home, he was pretty sure that whomever was following him was an amateur. Often, they were too close, allowing him to spot them, or they were so far back that they had to rush to catch up, making them very visible. Mostly, though, the fact that it was always the same person he saw was what convinced him they didn’t know what they were doing. A professional would have been better at it, and harder to spot, but almost certainly would have not tried to follow him without a team of people, who could rotate so that he never saw one of them for more than a few minutes at a time.
By the time they had reached his stop he had decided to force the situation. The pad where the tube capsule stopped was well lit and patrolled, meaning if the situation got out of hand there would be help close by. So, when he exited the tube capsule, he immediately ducked behind a pillar, disappearing before his shadow could exit the capsule. Sure enough, after a few seconds a Rehorish bundled in bulky rain gear rushed into view, frantically looking around. Smoothly he stepped up behind them and said “looking for me?”
The furtive Rehorish nearly jumped a foot into the air and nearly fell. Indeed, they would have fallen if he hadn’t reached out and steadied them. It was then that he got his first look at his shadow. “Heiko?”
Heiko Yamamoto, an analyst from his team, bowed low and began chittering an apology. He could see that she was shaking. Any sense of threat had evaporated, leaving him mere confused. “Heiko! What is going on? Why are you following me?”
The young analyst paused and shook herself, settling her disarranged antenna and wing covers, before looking directly at him for the first time. “Sir, I am sorry, but I didn’t know what to do! I discovered something today, and it scared me. I didn’t know what to do!”
Commander Takahashi stared at his subordinate for a few seconds, realizing what might be going on. The analysts in his team were uniformly bright and eager, and were good at their jobs. Almost to a person, though, they lacked real-world experience. Most of them thought of themselves as ‘super-spies’, imagining themselves as the dashing heroes the entertainment venues loved. This in spite of the fact that none of them had ever been field agents, and indeed, he would have been surprised to discover that any had even ever been in a fight. Sometimes his most difficult job was reigning them in from fanciful flights of imagination, when a series of random events or facts would convince them that there was an empire-wide conspiracy or threat. Heiko had never been one of those, though, and so this sudden deviation in behavior was concerning. He looked around. There was a small beverage shop across the concourse, so he gestured in that direction. “Let’s sit and we can discuss this.”
She allowed him to help her to a bench, and then he ordered hot beverages and snacks for the both of them. Once they were settled, and the food and drinks were in front of them, he nodded. “Why don’t you explain what’s going on, and why we couldn’t talk in my office.”
She visibly gathered herself, looked around the shop, then looked back at him. “Sir, we’ve all been working on the Chirq situation, you know that. And it just doesn’t make any sense!”
He settled back on his bench. He should have known. There were many anomalies surrounding the situation in and around the Chirq system, and it was driving a lot of uncertainty here at headquarters. That uncertainly had evidently risen all the way to the top levels of the admiralty, as for the last several months the yards over the home planet had been filled with ships being reactivated from the reserves, or brought up to the current standards. He had known his people were unsettled, but he had obviously underestimated the extent of their concern. “Go on.”
She peered around the shop nervously, then continued. “Well, sir, most of us have been concentrating on collating the reports coming out of the mission to Chirq and the Khozuni home world, trying to refine of the overall picture of what has been going on out there. Some of us, though, have been focusing on the anomalies. Specifically, the comms problems that prevented Sector HQ from realizing there was a problem until it was too late.
His antennae dipped as he concentrated. “I thought that was down to the fact that the Khozuni destroyed the ICN links?”
She gestured in the negative. “That was the initial assumption, but no. Two things argue against that. First, how did the Khozuni, who we now know were to too low-tech to even have ICN systems themselves, know exactly where our ICN relays were? And secondly, our analysis shows that for almost two months before the Khozuni attack, we were not communicating directly with the scout squadron deployed to protect Chirq Prime, but rather an automated system that was simulating routine reports and regular traffic to fool HQ into believing that we knew where those ships were, and what their status was.” She looked around the concourse nervously again. “This implies an inside job, and a massive penetration of our systems. The Khozuni, who are low-tech, knew exactly where our relays were, how to disrupt them, and something, somewhere in our network, fooled us into believing we still had contact with those ships.”
Commander Takahashi settled back; his head tilted contemplatively. He knew that the admiralty was very concerned about what had happened, far beyond the relatively low level of forces actually committed would reflect, and he was beginning to suspect that his team had begun unravelling something that would lead to a major crisis for the Alliance. “How firm is all of this?”
Her antenna quivered. “Sir, its much worse than that. Once I realized that something or someone was in our network, substituting reports to cover their activities, I ran a search. I analyzed the reports we know to be false for commonalities, then searched through the network for reports that matched those commonalities. That is all within my classification level, because the reports themselves are low level readiness and fitness reports filed almost automatically by every ship and station in the fleet.” She paused gathering herself.
He leaned forward, intrigued in spite of himself. “Well?”
“Sir, I found that twenty-three corvette-carriers and three battlecruisers are having their reports substituted or filed automatically from within the network. That includes the three corvettes that were supposed to be guarding Chirq Prime and are currently missing, and the three that were stationed over Bir Prime. We have no way of knowing where any of those ships are.”
Commander Takahashi sat back, stunned. Twenty-three ships missing? How could this be? He didn’t have the exact numbers at hand, but that was over a third of the entire class. While he was struggling with this, she leaned forwards, regaining his attention.
“Sir, there’s more. I ran that search this morning when I first came in. I re-ran it just before I left, just to confirm my findings. My second search came up negative, so I checked. Every report that had been flagged by my initial search was gone. They were all deleted. I checked, and there is no record that those reports were ever filed, and no deletion tags, like there should have been. That’s when I got scared. Someone is in our system, and if they can see my searches, and react to them, then there is no telling what they can do. I knew I couldn’t talk in the office, not around all of those computers connected to the network. So, I followed you. I wanted to talk to you away from the office.”
The enormity of the situation was beginning to sink in, and suddenly Takahashi felt more sympathy for his excitable subordinates. Now he was glancing around the concourse, watching for surveillance, just like she was. In a situation like this, how much paranoia was enough?
“One more thing, sir. I ran a check on those ships. The only thing they have in common is that they are all crewed and officered by D’Bringi. Every single one of them.”
Commander Takahashi’s mandibles fell open. There it was. The other shoe. The wedge that could drive the Alliance apart. He gathered himself. “Very well. You’ve done well.”
She looked distressed. “What are you going to do, sir?”
“We are all going to be very busy, Heiko, but first things first. You are coming with me. We are going straight to Tai-shu Okada’s house.”
“We’re going to see the Tai-shu?” She looked shocked. Tai-shu Okada was the commanding officer of 1st Fleet, the naval force assigned to protect the home world and the systems surrounding it.
“Well, we may not see him, but I guarantee we’ll get a hearing with someone high up if we show up at his residence. I expect that by morning we’ll all be removed to a secure site in a remote location, where we can begin working to unravel this mess. Let’s go!”
As expected, they did not get to see the Tai-shu that evening, but they did meet with several on his staff, and indeed, Commander Takahashi was correct, by morning the entire working group had been rounded up by naval security forces and moved to a secure location. Their first task was to set up a separate network, secure from whatever had affected the main naval network, from which they could begin working to figure out what was going on.
Month 205, Rehorish Prime
On day 1 four destroyers left Rehorish Prime, bound for widely separated points within the Alliance. They all left orbit sedately, at standard cruising speed, with orders to join various fleet detachments. One day after leaving orbit, their captains opened the written sealed orders they had received before leaving, and almost as one accelerated to maximum speed towards new, widely scattered locations in the Alliance. Their orders were to risk burnout to reach their destinations, give sealed written orders to specified officers at their destination, and to physically confirm the location of all ships at that location. Their orders were given the highest priority, and could not be countermanded by other officers. The ship commanders were given one-time codes to report their findings through the ICN, but were also ordered to risk burnout to return to Rehorish Prime to report in person once their mission was complete. The Admiralty was not relying on the ICN for this mission.
The first ship to reach its goal was the DDE-005. The ship reached the Kure system and the 3rd Fleet just eight and a half days after leaving Rehorish Prime. The 3rd Fleet was assigned to the Kure system to defend against a Mintek incursion from a suspected closed warp point, and from the Colonial Union, if necessary. The fleet was commanded by a known and trusted Rehorish officer, Cho-sho Banzan, and was composed primarily of Rehorish fleet units, with a substantial contingent of D’Bringi units. The DDE rendezvoused with the fleet flagship, where its commander met with Cho-sho Banzan and turned over a set of sealed orders. During this meeting the DDE scanned the fleet anchorage. The scan confirmed that most of the fleet was present, but that six corvette-carriers were missing. This matched the information developed by the Intelligence team on Rehorish Prime exactly. Discrete inquiries determined that the corvettes were believed to be on patrol of the surrounding systems, a duty that was supposed to be rotated among the fleet’s nine corvette carriers and three T’Pau corvette scouts. Except, Cho-sho Banzan’s staff determined, much to their amazement, that the same six corvettes had been missing for over two months, all apparently permanently assigned to the patrols, which were not supposed to take more than three weeks, and that their absence had been missed because reports had been received and the duty rotation logs had been altered to ensure that the same six ships always were on patrol. DDE-005’s commander dutifully sent off a coded report, then turned his ship for home.
The DDE-004 was the second ship to reach its goal. The ship suffered a burnout just as it entered the T’Pau system, but proceeded to T’Pau orbit without any other difficulties. Upon arriving in orbit, its commander shuttled over to Cho-sho Tok’s flagship, the heavy cruiser Pride of T’Pau. Once there, the captain hand-delivered his messages, then retreated to his ship, which immediately left orbit bound for D’Bringi Prime. While present in T’Pau orbit, the Rehorish destroyer confirmed the location and physical presence of the eighteen ships assigned to the T’Pau home system. All were present and accounted for, as expected. Its mission in this system complete, the DDE-004 set out for D’Bringi Prime, which was just one additional jump away. Four and a half days later the DDE arrived over D’Bringi Prime. In this case the destroyer’s captain didn’t meet with the 2nd Fleet’s commanding officer. Instead, the ship dropped off standard fleet communiques it had been carrying to the 2nd Fleet command, and while in orbit it surveyed the 2nd Fleet to determine if the ships that were reported as present were actually present. Fortunately, nothing was amiss, and every ship that was supposed to be there was present.
The final probe ship that would reach its target this month was the DDE-003. The probe ship was supposed to arrive over Bir Prime twenty-one days after departing, but during its high-speed transit it lost two engines to burnouts and so was late. It actually arrived at Bir Prime twenty-five days into the month. The Bir had just reached HT-1, with the help of the Alliance, and were busily colonizing their home system and building their first survey ships. When the Alliance destroyer reached orbit, they found a world overjoyed at their arrival. It seemed that the corvette-carrier squadron assigned to defend their system had gone on patrol several months ago and never returned. The Bir government had reported this fact to the Sector capital, but had received no response. The destroyer’s captain reassured the Bir that everything was okay, and sent his own coded message back through the ICN reporting the missing ships.
The final ship, the DDE-008, wouldn’t reach its target until next month. The 8th Fleet in the Villiers system was the Alliance’s largest single concentration of ships, and the Admiralty on Rehorish Prime was very concerned about the state of that fleet.
The confirmation that the ships assigned to guard the Bir were missing reached Rehorish Prime on Day 25. At that point it was obvious that something was very wrong, even if the exact form of the trouble refused to take shape. One thing was clear, though. The D’Bringi were at the heart of the trouble.
While the 1st Fleet prepared for war, Tai-shu Okada decided to make a bold move. If the D’Bringi were at the heart of the trouble, then he would go to a D’Bringi to find out what was going on. In spite of the fact that D’Bringi society had been ‘secularizing’, evolving away from its central focus on the major clans, the old clan chiefs were still central figures in D’Bringi society. And of the three clan chiefs, Skull-Splitter was the best, in Okada’s opinion, to approach about this matter. Clan Chief T’Qek was deeply immersed in Alliance matters, and currently serving as Assistant Chancellor of the Alliance Council. Clan Chief Burning Blade was the de facto ruler of D’Bringi Prime, and thus possibly involved in what it was that was going on. Although Skull Splitter would be a natural for whatever conspiracy was bubbling beneath the surface, as the commander of the 4th Fleet, Okada had spent time with the bluff old D’Bringi and couldn’t imagine him involved in some sort of plot to undermine the Alliance that he had worked so hard to build. Skull-splitter and his forces would be the natural place to start, so Tai-shu Okada and his entourage set out for the 4th Fleet’s home base in the Phyriseq system aboard three destroyers. The destroyers moved at top military speed, risking burning out their drives, to shorten the trip. Their ETA was seventeen days. Unfortunately for Okada and the Rehorish, events were already racing ahead, outpacing their lagging response.
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Alliance Update, Month 205
Grand Alliance:
Total Income (All Sources): 186,733 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 99,609 MCr’s (53%)
Fleet Dispositions:
Alliance 1st Fleet (Rehorish Home): 6xCA, 4xCVL, 6xCL, 15xDD, 120xF0, 1xFT(supply)
1st Fleet Task Group 1.1 (Chirq Prime): 2xBC, 1xCL, 3xDD, 1xCTV, 6xF0
1st Fleet Task Group 1.11 (Khozun Prime): 1xBC, 2xCL, 2xCTV, 12xF0
1st Fleet Task Group 1.2 (Kunamoto): 3xCVE, 2xCTV, 57xF1
Alliance 2nd Fleet (D’Bringi Home): 7xCV, 7xBC, 3xCA, 294xF1
Alliance 3rd Fleet (Kure System): 12xBC, 2xCA, 3xCL, 5xCVS, 6xDD, 2xCTS, 9xCTV, 174xF0
Alliance 4th Fleet (Phyriseq System): 18xBC, 14xCA, 1xCVS, 2xCVE, 12xDD, 66xF0
4th Fleet Task Group 4.1 (Herzberg): 1xCVE, 3xDD, 12xF0
Alliance 5th Fleet (T’Pau Home): 8xCA, 3xCVE, 45xF1
Alliance 6th Fleet (Villiers): 24xBC, 1xCVL, 15xCA, 6xCAV, 6xCVS, 18xCL, 22xCVE, 12xDD, 2xDDV, 5xDD(pinnace), 19xCTV, 3xCTS, 5xFT(supply), 20xPinnace, 694xF0
6th Fleet, Support Group (Villiers): 3xCL, 2xCVE, 5xFT1, 500xCrated F0
6th Fleet, Aurarii Contact Group (Stone): 3xCTV, 1xFT(Supply), 18xF0
Alliance Strategic Reserve (Chruqua Nexus): 12xBB
Border Patrol (Roban): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Border Patrol (Juath): 3xCTV, 18xF0 (known contact with Mintek, closed warp point location not known by Mintek)
Border Patrol (Kawasaki): 3xCA, 3xCVE, 6xDD, 36xF0 (Upstream from the Kure system)
Border Patrol (Phyriseq WP #5): 3xCA, 6xDD (contact point with the Confederated Systems)
Border Patrol (Sapporo): 6xCL, 6xDD (Contact point with the Confederated Systems)
Patrol Group – Bir (Bir Home): 3xCTV, 18xF0
Patrol Group – Chirq (Chirq Home): 3xCTV, 18xF0 – Missing, fate unknown
Under Construction: 1xSD(proto), 3xCV, 2xBC, 2xDD, 2xBS4,1xBS0, 10xF1
Assemble Prefab:
Refits: 13xBC, 5xCVL, 15xCA, 18xCL, 5xDD, 5xCVE, 1xAstFort, 9xBS3, 1xSS(SY)
*Note: The above fleet dispositions are as they are reported to the various fleet headquarters. It is becoming clear, at least to the Rehorish, that something is wrong and at least some D’Bringi ships are not where they are supposed to be, but that is not widely known.
It is becoming increasingly clear that all is not well within the Alliance. The last several races encountered and then inducted into the Alliance as associate members are proving to be troublesome. The first action of the Aurarii upon being contacted by the Doraz was to conquer the other intelligent race in their system, and for some reason the Aurorii have developed an intense dislike for the Doraz, Chirq, and Zir races, and will not communicate with them or deal with them in any way. They do not seem to have the same problem with the other races of the Alliance, and seem willing to deal with them in a fair and equitable manner, but their intense dislike for those three races bodes ill for their continued participation in the Alliance. The Lothari, too, have proven to be problematic. While apparently open and friendly, the Lothari race’s first action on expanding into interstellar space was to seize and colonize the Alliance system adjacent to their home system. When confronted, they claimed that they didn’t know that the system, which had not yet been exploited by the Alliance, was claimed by the Alliance. This is blatantly untrue, as the treaty clearly indicated that that system was owned by the Alliance and would be the point of contact between the two races. Still, the system was far from other Alliance population centers, and the habitable world in the system was rated poor on the mineral wealth scale, so in the interests of peace the Alliance decided to cede the system to the Kingdom of Lothar. A small naval force has been stationed at the border to deter any further expansion, and the Lothari will be viewed with more caution in the future.
In addition to the difficulties with those races, the Alliance Council and the Naval high command have reached epic levels of frustration with the Zir. Some time ago the Zir discovered a warp nexus system with no less than thirteen warp points and five habitable planets, an incredible find. However, four of the warp links in the system led to inhabited systems. Two of the systems are claimed by the Colonial Union, one by an unknown race, and one of the warp links, incredibly, leads to the Mintek Home System. For some reason known only to them, the Zir sat on this information for quite a while before revealing it to the Alliance. Once they revealed the information the Alliance began a massive response, transferring dozens of ships and construction assets to help the Zir secure the Villiers system so that it could be used as a jumping off point to establish peaceful contact with the unknown aliens, and so that the massive fleet stationed in the system could once and for all end the conflict between the Mintek and the Alliance. By month 205 the Alliance 6th Fleet is assembled and consists of one hundred and thirty-three ships with almost seven hundred fighters, while the Alliance fortifications in the system number fifty-eight, with two-hundred and eighty fighters of their own. But the Zir themselves have done little to increase their readiness in the system. Although they have built up and modernized their fleet, their deployment to the Villiers system lags, and they haven’t even begun work on fortifications for the Villiers system. The Zir government does not seem to feel any sort of urgency, and when confronted claims that their buildup is going as expected. When the Alliance suggested that the 6th Fleet be allowed to conduct independent operations into the systems connecting to the Villiers system, the Zir government firmly rejected that proposal, stating that operations would only begin once the Zir fleet was ready. Because this system is deep within Zir territory, and indeed is the jewel of the Zir colonial empire, the Alliance cannot act unilaterally. Such an action would cause all of the other associate members to question the Alliance’s intentions in their own territory as well, something that the Alliance has no interest in exploring. All of that means that the Alliance’s massive commitment of ships languishes in the Villiers system, waiting, while the Zir apparently dither. Meanwhile, those ships could be used elsewhere, showing the flag to the Lothar, patrolling the interface between the Aurarii and the Doraz, or reinforcing the other fleets and national capitals.
Because of the delays imposed by the Zir, the Alliance Navy has decided to push forward with a massive program of refits to modernize the fleet. In addition, the government has approved a massive expansion to the munitions available to the fleet to provide anti-matter weaponry and improved fighters weapons fleet-wide. This munitions improvement program will likely be paid for over several months, as it is projected to be very expensive and could cripple the budget if the Alliance tried to pay for it all at once.
In addition to all of the above, the Rehorish have become convinced that something is very wrong with the D’Bringi. This information has been communicated to the Alliance’s other member race, the T’Pau, but the Rehorish have otherwise kept this information close. So far, the Rehorish have only been able to confirm that a relatively small number of corvette-carriers are missing, however, the fact that any warships armed with nuclear weapons are missing is very disturbing, as is the fact that the most secure naval intelligence and communications networks have obviously been penetrated by someone. The Rehorish high command has gone on alert, and no new refits will be started so that the maximum number of ships will be available to respond to any emergencies, even if they are older designs.
Aurarii Republic
Total Income (All Sources): 86,760 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 20,366 MCr’s (53%)
Total Fleet: 6xML, 8xSD, 9xBB, 6xCV, 9xCVL, 253xF0
Under Construction: 3xSupply Ship, 13xFGX
The Aurarii are very happy with the deal they recently reached with the Alliance that gives them access to unexplored systems through which they can expand. Additionally, they are cautiously optimistic about their relationship with the Alliance, particularly the Rehorish, whom they find to be very reasonable. The Aurarii government deeply distrusts the Doraz, who they suspect of trying to arm the Norn Regime prior to the time they made first contact.
For the foreseeable future the Aurarii will be focused on expanding their territory, colonizing new worlds, and building up their survey and colonization fleet.
Bir Meritocracy
Total Income (All Sources): 1,741 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 4.9 MCr’s (0.3%)
Orbital Infrastructure: 1xSS-SY
Under Construction: 1xEX, 1xSS-SY(Ground Construction)
The Bir recently reached HT-1 and are focusing on colonizing their home system and building their own survey fleet.
Chirq Cooperative
Total Income (All Sources): 6,780 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 447 MCr’s (6.6%)
Under Construction: 3xBS2, 1xES, 1xSS-SY(Ground Construction)
The Chirq government has undergone a restructuring since it was liberated by the Rehorish and the Alliance. The invasion by the Khozuni, and the relative ease with which they overwhelmed the poorly prepared Chirq space and ground forces, has convinced the Chirq that they must become more unified to survive in the universe, and that they cannot depend entirely on the Alliance. Therefore, they have abolished the Moot, which was most a debating society for the representatives of the feudal regimes that ruled most of Chirq Prime, and replaced it with the Triumvirate. The Triumvirate consists of the three most powerful lords, with an advisory council made up of the remaining ten powerful feudal nobles that ruled the bulk of the planet.
For now, the Chirq will concentrate on building up the defenses of their home system, and their fleet. Although they know that they cannot field a force up to Alliance standards, they know they could have performed better against the Khozuni, who were at least a technological peer.
Doraz Contingency
Total Income (All Sources): 18,320 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 6,889 MCr’s (37%)
Aurarii Picket Group (Sheund System): 3xCA, 3xDD, 2xCT
Home Fleet: 6xBC, 12xCA, 12xDD, 3xCT, 3xFT(Supply)
Refitting: 3xBS3, 6xCA, 2xDD
The Doraz were very disappointed with the results of their contact with the Aurarii. From their point of view, the Aurarii are very stand-offish and remote, and their refusal to deal directly with the Doraz over the territorial issues surrounding their access to unexplored systems was galling. All of this irritated the Doraz leadership greatly. For all of these reasons, the Doraz are going to begin building up defenses on the border with the Aurarii, to ensure that their standoffishness does not lead to disaster.
Kingdom of Lothar
Total Income (All Sources): 25,308 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 10,119 MCr’s (29.8%)
Total Fleet: 9xBC, 3xCA, 6xCVL, 6xCVE, 144xF2, 141xProto-Gunboat
The Kingdom has mothballed a significant percentage of the fleet now that it is clear that the Alliance is no threat, and is focusing on expanding its territory and economy.
Torqual Free State
Total Income (All Sources): 36,619 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 12,577 MCr’s (34%)
Home Fleet: 6xBC, 25xCA, 18xCL, 15xCTS, 5xSupply FT
Equity Patrol Squadron: 3xCA, 3xCL
Unity Patrol Squadron: 3xCL
Under Construction: 3xBS2, 3xBC, 6xCT
The Torqual have completely recovered from their civil war, and the new state has proven capable, popular, and stable. The Torqual have focused on building up their economy, with relatively small additions to their fleet, over the last ten months.
Zir Contemplative Union
Total Income (All Sources): 47,870 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 11,618 MCr’s (24%)
Home Fleet: 6xDD, 20xFG, 66xCT, 6xFT(Supply)
Frontier Fleet (Villiers): 6xDD, 12xFG, 26xCT
Under Construction: 7xBS2, 2xBS0
Refitting: 1xBS4, 19xCT
The Zir are caught in a difficult position. The Alliance has stationed a massive fleet in the Villiers system, something that both reassures the average Zir, and deeply worries them. The races that dwell beyond the warp points in the Villiers system represent both a threat and an opportunity, and the Zir cannot come to grips with either the Alliance’s constant pushing to take action, or indeed, on what action to take. A small majority of Zir want to send a peaceful contact mission into Mintek territory to attempt to negotiate a ceasefire, or even some sort of enduring peace treaty, which a smaller group want to allow the Alliance to launch their massive invasion of the Mintek home system, as it will then be out of their hands and over, so that the Zir can go back to focusing on more interesting things. In the meantime, the Zir have been dragging their feet on the fortifications in the Villiers system, and their fleet buildup, to give them a credible reason to delay the Alliance.
Total Alliance Income: 289,542 MCr’s
Total Alliance Upkeep: 130,693 MCr’s (45%)
Total Alliance Fleet strength: 12xBB, 7xCV, 76xBC, 97xCA, 6xCAV, 5xCVL, 12xCVS, 63xCL, 35xCVE, 95xDD, 2xDDV, 5xDD(pin), 32xFG, 97xCT, 20xCTS, 46xCTV, 396xF1, 1192xF0, 20xPinnace
Total Alliance Shipyards: 106xSY, 6xMSY, 24xMS
(Includes the Alliance, Doraz, Torqual, and Zir)
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The Bjering Alliance, the Alliance, and the Colonial Union all have several warp links to each other, and all have a trade relationship with each other.
As of Month 205, the major races all have fairly good relations with each other and tensions are low. All three major races are absorbed by internal issues and have little concern for external relations. This can and will change at some point, but it is difficult to know when.
Month 205 Comparison of Major Races
Mintek Universal Union
Total Income: 68,114 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 43,271 MCr’s (63.5%)
Total Fleet Strength: 6xCV, 9xCVL, 1xCVS, 20xCVE, 9xSD, 16xBC, 2xCA, 12xCL, 41xDD, 12xCT, 717xF1
Total Shipyards: 77xSY, 15xMSY
Bjering
Total Income (All Sources): 105,743 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 48,711 Mcr’s (46%)
Total Bjering Alliance Fleet Strength: 3xML, 5xCV, 27xBC, 1xCVL, 16xCVS, 9xCL, 25xDD, 33xCVE, 35xCT, 10xES, 234xF0, 660xF1
Total Bjering Alliance SY’s: 43xSY, 7xMSY, 13xMS
Colonial Union
Total Income (All Sources): 98,224 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 48,036 MCr’s (49%)
Total CU Fleet Strength: 15xSD, 3xBB, 33xBC, 1xCVS, 32xCA, 37xCL, 40xCVE, 40xDD, 16xCT, 20xFGS, 14xES, 36xEXS, 741xF0
Total CU Shipyards: 37xSY, 13xMSY
Alliance
Total Alliance Income: 289,542 MCr’s
Total Alliance Upkeep: 130,693 MCr’s (45%)
Total Alliance Fleet strength: 12xBB, 7xCV, 76xBC, 97xCA, 6xCAV, 5xCVL, 12xCVS, 63xCL, 35xCVE, 95xDD, 2xDDV, 5xDD(pin), 32xFG, 97xCT, 20xCTS, 46xCTV, 396xF1, 1192xF0, 20xPinnace
Total Alliance Shipyards: 106xSY, 6xMSY, 24xMS
(Includes the Alliance, Doraz, Torqual, and Zir)
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Please refer to the map of the Sligo Sector Core systems I posted to the maps forum.
Month 206
Colonial Union Managua System
Six jumps from Sligo. UCDF Patrol Group Present (2xFG, 6xCT, 1xEX)
Yellow Star System, nine planets, two of which are type T
Both type T planets are rated benign for human colonization, one is rated “normal” in mineral wealth, the other “poor”. Both type T planets are colonized by the Colonial Union, total system population is 33.8 million (two small populations). The system is a dead-end branch of a warp line that originates in the Sligo system, which is five jumps away. The system is linked to the Colonial Union’s ICN, and has a small United Colonial Defense Fleet squadron to patrol the system due to the sighting of an unknown alien ship in the system several years ago, indicating that there may be a closed warp point in the system. The system was slated to receive a sensor network, however, funding constraints led to the delay of the sensor network program in general, and the completion date has slipped farther and farther into the future.
Colonial Union Sandhurst System
Adjacent to the Sligo system. UCSF Patrol Group present (3xDD, 3xCVE, 2xFG, 3xEX)
Extensive system exploitation
Inner system sensor network
Yellow star system, eight planets, one asteroid belt. Two of the planets are type T.
Both type T planets are rated benign for human colonization, and both are rated “normal” in mineral wealth. Both type T planets have been colonized by the Colonial Union, and total system population is 151.7 million. The innermost planet, known variously as Sandhurst, Sandhurst colony, or Sandhurst Prime, boasts a medium sized population capable of supporting in-system and extra-systemic colonization without quickly depleting its population base, and mining and system exploitation outposts have been placed throughout the asteroid belt and on the moons of the outer gas giants and ice planets. The system is adjacent to the Sligo system, is linked to the ICN, and contains a small United Colonial Defense Fleet patrol squadron, as it is the contact point with the D’Bringi Alliance for trade between the Alliance and the Colonial Union. There was a push to fortify the system when trade with the Alliance was established, however, with the Sligo system and its heavy fortifications and defense fleet literally next door, the decision was made to limit the system defenses to a “trip-wire” squadron that could be quickly reinforced from the Sligo system if needed. The system is also home to an inner system sensor network capable of detecting drive fields out to one hundred and eighty light minutes from the system primary. In addition, a communications buoy and a sensor buoy have been placed into the neutral Danzig system, at the warp point back to the Sandhurst system, for early warning of approaching ships. To date all ships detected approaching the Sandhurst system have been expected trade ships.
Colonial Union Sligo System
Yellow star/Yellow Star binary system, ten planets and two asteroid belts. For of the planets are habitable, two are type ST and two are type T. One of the type T planets belongs to the Tarek, and boasts and large population, while the other type T was colonized by the Colonial Union and has a medium population. The system was fully exploited by the Tarek prior to their conquest by the Colonial Union. The type T planet colonized by the Colonial Union is rated harsh for human colonization, and “normal” in mineral wealth, while the Tarek home planet is rated “poor” in mineral wealth. The human population on Sligo Prime has been kept to the low-medium range by continued colonization throughout the Sligo sector.
The Sligo system is fortified with an asteroid fort in orbit over Sligo Prime, along with three BS3’s and the orbiting shipyards. The Sligo system’s five warp points are fortified as well, with four of the warp points being watched over by a single BS2, while the fifth, to the Sandhurst system, is defended by a BS2 and ten BS0’s, along with three hundred minefields. The system is also home to the UCDF’s Sligo Fleet, consisting of 12 BC’s, 3 CA’s, 6 DD’s, 6 CVE’s, 2 EXS, and 102 F0’s. Finally, the UCDF’s 1st Battle Fleet is also currently stationed in Sligo, and consists of 6 SD’s, 3 BB’s, 3 BC’s, 6 CA’s, and 6 DD’s, 9 CVE’s, and 153 F0’s. The UCDF is currently undergoing a massive round of refits to bring its technology up to the latest standard, something that has been long overdue for the fleet. Of the capital ships in the Sligo system, 3 SD’s, 3 BB’s, and 3 BC’s have completed their refits, while 3 SD’s and 4 BC’s are in the yards at the current time. The rest are awaiting their turn in the yards.
This was the situation in those three systems at the start of Month 206. The Sligo Sector was stable, with the exception of the occupations of the Tarek and the Tlatelolco, which were festering within the Alliance political system. Although neither race posed a real threat to the Alliance, their continued occupation, coupled with the undying enmity of the Tarek in spite of their powerlessness, was a continuing problem within the Alliance Senate and within the public at large. All of that was about to change.
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Month 206, Day 1, Managua System, Colonial Union
At 0500 hours ten small ships entered the Managua system through a closed warp point in the outer system. This closed warp point was at the most remote location that any warp point had ever been discovered in a system, three hundred and sixty light minutes from the system primary. Once they had entered the system they set out for the inner system, followed by a number of freighters. Their ETA was early on Day 8. The system lacked a detection network, or outer colonies, so the ships wouldn’t be detected for some time.
Month 206, Day 1, Villiers System, Alliance
The Villiers system belonged to the Zir, but was the home base for the Alliance 6th Fleet, because of the numerous warp links in the system, including one that led to the Mintek home system. The 6th Fleet consisted of contingents of ships from all three primary Alliance members, including the D’Bringi. Because of the delays in the planned operation against the Mintek, the Fleet was undergoing a massive round of refits. On this day, orders arrived for the entire active contingent of D’Bringi ships to return to D’Bringi Prime for refits and reassignment. The orders were dispatched from the Sector HQ in the Stahat system, and were properly authenticated. The three cruisers and six carriers departed promptly.
Month 206, Day 5, Danzig System
Early in the day, the Colonial Union sensor buoy in the Danzig system detected a drive field approaching the warp point to the Sandhurst system. The detection report was within the expected time frame of the trade convoy from the Alliance, so the report was merely sent on to the Sligo Sector HQ. Approximately eighteen hours later the sensor buoy sent a follow up report. The contact was now six light minutes from the warp point and was close enough for the buoy to determine that there were fifteen separate drive fields. Although the Alliance sometimes used small FT1’s to transport their trade goods to the Colonial Union, this was a large number of hulls, too large to be explained by the amount of trade being exchanged. The commander of the Sandhurst Patrol Squadron, Captain Boris Nikitin, immediately dispatched a message to the approaching group, requesting the identity of the excess ships. The response came back promptly from the convoy commander, indicating that the Alliance had been having a problem with piracy, and that a small group of corvettes was escorting the trade convoy. The corvettes would remain in the Danzig system and escort the freighters back to Alliance territory on their return trip. Their commander, a D’Bringi with the unlikely name or title of Bloodletter, apologized for the lack of notice, stating that the decision for his group to escort the trade convoy had been made at the last minute. Captain Nikitin warned the D’Bringi against entering the Sandhurst system, and forwarded the contact report back to Sligo HQ. He then assembled his squadron and set out for the warp point to intercept the trade convoy short of the Sandhurst colony, to ensure that everything was as it appeared to be. Within the hour seven of the ships under his command, three destroyers, three escort carriers, and a frigate scout, were heading for the warp point. This left a frigate scout and three explorer scouts to picket the colonies in the inner system.
At 1300 hours on Day 6, the sensor buoy in the Danzig system reported that the drive field contact had closed to seven-point-five light seconds, and that the contact consisted of ten corvettes and five FT1’s. This was consistent with the information from Chu-i Bloodletter, however, shortly after that report the buoy sent a second report indicating that fighters had been detected in-bound to its location. No further reports were received from the buoy. Upon receiving that report Captain Nikitin sent an emergency war warning to Sligo HQ, and informed them that he was taking his squadron to intercept the incoming Alliance ships.
Meanwhile, in the Managua system, the sensors on Managua Prime detected a drive field contact heading in-system at approximately 1200 hours on Day 6. The commander of the UCDF Managua Patrol Group immediately sent a contact report to Sligo HQ and then assembled his group and headed out-system towards the contact. The UCDF Managua Patrol Group consisted of two frigate scouts, six corvettes, and a single explorer-scout. Captain Thomas Wainwright, CO of the patrol group, left a frigate-scout behind at the colony and took the rest of his ships out towards the unknown contacts.
Month 206, Day 7, 0200 hours, Sligo System, UCDF Naval HQ
The war warning from Sandhurst reached Sligo HQ at 0200 hours. Over the years of peace, the UCDF, like many governmental bureaucracies, had grown somewhat complacent and bloated, but the Sligo system viewed itself as being on the forefront of the defense of humanity. The colonists on Sligo Prime never forgot that the Tarek, who were literally next door to their planet, possessed an apparently undying enmity for humanity, and so believed that being ready for war at any time was a survival trait not to be discarded merely because there had been a few years of peace. That essential diligence had also leached into the UCDF Sector Naval HQ, so, when the warning from Sandhurst came in, Vice Admiral Bonaventura’s Fleet HQ reacted with commendable alacrity. Because of the refit program, the ships for the response group had to be assembled from both the 1st Battle Fleet as well as the Sligo Defense Fleet. In all, Vice Admiral Bonaventura decided to dispatch three battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, six destroyers, and nine escort carriers to Sandhurst. They departed Sligo Prime at 0600 hours on Day 7, and their ETA over Sandhurst was approximately Day 17.
Month 206, Day 7, 0800 hours, Colonial Union Managua system
The eight ships of the United Colonial Defense Fleet’s Managua Patrol Group came to a halt fifteen light seconds from the alien force advancing in-system. So far, the aliens had ignored all contact messages from the Patrol Group and hadn’t varied their course in-system. Now, the Patrol Group was close enough for its sensors to discern the fact that the alien force was composed of ten ships with four military engines each, and five ships with a single commercial engine each. This almost certainly meant that the alien force was composed of ten corvettes and five small freighters.
Captain Thomas Wainwright, CO of the Patrol Group, nodded at his comms officer, who bent over her console. Seconds later a message was sent to the oncoming ships, warning them that this was Colonial Union territory, and ordering them to come to a halt or return to their entry point into the system. In addition, a contact report was dispatched both to the inner system and the lone scout left at the colony, and to the comms buoy at the warp point back to the Colonial Union.
The alien ships stopped as well, and after a few seconds the comms officer turned to Captain Wainwright in surprise. “Message received, Captain!”
“Put it on the bridge screen, lieutenant.”
Most of the personnel on the Union corvette’s small bridge turned to the monitor, and a gasp went around the room when it lit up to show the visage of a D’Bringi in full ceremonial combat armor. “I am Clan Lord Shield Bearer. We are engaged in a lawful exercise of military acquisition under the auspices of the D’Bringi Empire. This system was legally claimed by the Empire, and any settlements are thus considered illegal and their equipment is forfeit. You will stand down and vacate the system while we confiscate contraband goods and materials located on the colonies known as Managua Prime and Secundus. If you resist, we will assume this system is in resistance to our lawfully mandated mission, and the colonies will be bombarded from orbit prior to our forces landing to secure our rightful property. We do not wish to do this, but it is entirely up to you.”
The monitor went dark and there was silence on the bridge for a few seconds, until the plot tank chimed to indicate a change in status. The sensor tech leaned over his station and then announced – “Fighters launching! Sixty fighters in space, on a direct course for us, ETA three minutes, forty-five seconds.”
“Combat stations! All ships come about and go to maximum speed on heading 180. Prepare for fighter attack!”
The Patrol Group wheeled about smartly and began moving away. Unfortunately, because of the frigate-scout in the Colonial Union force, it was slightly slower than the fighters. “New ETA is now twenty-six minutes.”
Captain Wainwright looked intently at the plot tank, trying desperately to decide on the correct course of action. His corvettes were no match for fighters. They would take some of them with them, but sixty fighters would overwhelm his small force and leave it drifting wreckage in space. He doubted that they would be able to kill enough of the fighters to justify fighting them in the first place, but he wasn’t about to surrender to the damned D’Bringi, who had just proven, yet again, that they couldn’t be trusted under any circumstances. Still, first things first. “Comms, send to Fleet HQ in Sligo, Code Red One.” Code red-one was a war warning, alerting all Colonial Union naval forces that a state of war existed. Even if the message itself became garbled by re-transmission, anyone that received the message would know that Union naval forces had been attacked and that a state of war existed. “Message follows: Have been attacked by D’Bringi forces claiming to act for something called the D’Bringi Empire, message appended. D’Bringi present in sufficient strength to destroy my group. Enemy commander claims they intend to seize resources and goods from the colonies in this system, but will avoid unnecessary loss of life if my group retreats. I intend to retreat and shadow the enemy force and continue to report. Wainwright out.”
With that message on its way, Wainwright sent a second message to the frigate-scout in orbit over Managua Prime, ordering it to retreat from the planet and meet his force. With that done, he turned to more immediate matters. “Comms, all ships channel, please.” Upon receiving the signal that the channel was open, he began. “To the crews and officers off the Managua Patrol Group. This is Captain Wainwright. The D’Bringi have entered this system through a suspected closed warp point, and are claiming that they intend to seize ‘contraband’ on the Managua colonies. This is blatant nonsense. However, the D’Bringi has deployed fighters in sufficient number to overwhelm our force should we resist. I believe that we could serve the Colonial Union, and the people of Managua better by retreating and observing the actions of the D’Bringi while reinforcements are en route from Sligo.” He knew that there would be those who would criticize his actions, and it was possible he would lose his command over this. If they survived. If the D’Bringi was telling the truth. “Comms, send to Managua Prime: D’Bringi forces headed in-system, ETA your location sixteen hours. D’Bringi commander claims mission is to seize ‘contraband’ and requires your cooperation. My force not strong enough to stop them, will observe and report. Reinforcements will be en route from Sligo, probable ETA your location two months. I recommend you cooperate with the D’Bringi pending the arrival of reinforcements. Wainwright out.”
He scowled as he watched the oncoming D’Bringi fighters in the plot tank. They were in Colonial Union territory. To give way to them like this felt wrong. This likely meant war, and if the D’Bringi went on a rampage in the inner system, that war would be terrible. What did they think they were doing?
The CU Patrol Group retreated for the next twenty minutes, followed by the D’Bringi fighter group which was slowly gaining on them. Finally, with six minutes to go before the D’Bringi fighters caught the Patrol Group, the D’Bringi fighters turned and paralleled the Colonial Union ship’s course and speed. It appeared the D’Bringi commander had told the truth, he didn’t want to destroy the Patrol Group, he just didn’t want them to interfere. Captain Wainwright ordered his ships to come about and parallel the D'Bringi force, maintaining their distance.
One day later, on Day 8, the initial contact report arrived at Sligo HQ from the Managua Patrol Group. The report merely stated that an unknown drive field had been detected, which would normally cause interest but not a major response, at least not until more information had been gathered. Now, though, with events moving forward in the Sandhurst system, Sligo HQ wasn’t inclined to be hesitant. A response force was quickly put together, again drawing from both the 1st Battle Fleet and the Sligo Defense Fleet, and dispatched to the Managua system. This force consisted of three battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, three destroyers, and four escort carriers. Because this greatly reduced the forces available in the Sligo system, Vice Admiral Bonaventura sent a message ordering the Redwing Defense Squadron to send most of its active forces to the Sligo system to reinforce the defenses there.
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Month 206, Day 8, 1200 hours, Colonial Union Managua System, Managua Prime
The D’Bringi raiding force settled into orbit over Managua Prime. The planet’s governor had already transmitted his agreement of the D’Bringi terms. Mostly, this just meant that his meager militia forces would not resist D’Bringi troops when they arrived and took control of the spaceport outside the capital, and other critical locations in and around the colony’s main cities. In fact, the governor had ordered the militia to withdraw to the undeveloped areas outside the cities, in an attempt to preserve them as a defense force should the D’Bringi be lying about their objectives. The D’Bringi had been cagey about what it was that they actually were after, but had transmitted a number of locations that they would take control of, temporarily, and demanded that the humans not show any resistance to their activities.
D'Bringi assault shuttles swooped low over the capital city, looking for any signs that the humans planned on resisting, but found nothing amiss. Indeed, it appeared as if the capital had been largely evacuated. Satisfied, the assault shuttles settled to the ground and lowered their ramps, and troops began disembarking. The troops appeared well trained, but the human soldiers observing their actions from well-concealed bunkers built into the surrounding buildings were confused. The troops that were rapidly setting up perimeters around the shuttle’s landing sites were not D’Bringi at all. The troops were lizard-like, as the D’Bringi were, but that was where the resemblance ended. The D’Bringi were tall, taller than an average human, and skinny, with quick, often darting movements. These aliens were huge sauroids, shorter than most humans, and some were almost as wide as they were tall. In addition, unlike the D’Bringi the new aliens possessed four thickly muscled arms and two legs. They were savage looking warriors, wearing thick armor and heavily armed, and it was obvious to the watchers that they knew what they were doing as they went about consolidating their positions. Whatever this race was humanity had never encountered them.
Shortly after landing the D’Bringi assault shuttles took off again, taking small teams of the alien warriors to various locations around the city. The shuttles then began transporting valuables back to the base sites, for eventual transshipment into orbit. Throughout this exercise the human inhabitants kept a low profile.
All of the recordings and all of the information gathered by the Managua militia were transmitted to the Patrol Group, and from there were forwarded to Sligo HQ.
Month 206, Day 8, 1800 hours, Colonial Union Sandhurst system
The Sandhurst Patrol Group reached fifteen light seconds from the oncoming invading force at 1800 hours and confirms that it is the same force seen in the Danzig system. The Sandhurst Patrol Group had positioned themselves in between the intruders and the inner system, and now Captain Nikitin ordered the intruders to halt or be fired upon. Seconds later the view screen on Nikitin’s destroyer lit up with a D’Bringi in ceremonial combat armor. “Humans, I am Clan Lord Bloodletter. I am here to seize the illegally traded materials that you humans have been taking from the New D’Bringi Empire. You will turn over all of the so-called trade materials, along with suitable reparations, or I will use the military force at my command to seize the materials. You have five minutes to signal your compliance.”
“Sir!”
Captain Nikitin swiveled in his chair to look at the sensor officer. “Fighters launching from the D’Bringi ships!”
“All ships, combat alert! Launch all fighters! Prepare for anti-fighter combat.”
Fighters began spilling from the ships on both sides. It soon became clear that the D’Bringi had brought more fighters than the humans. Fifty-one human fighters were in space, interposed between the two forces, but there were sixty-six D’Bringi fighters advancing towards the human force.
Captain Nikitin wasn’t inclined to dither. They were in human space, and the damned D’Bringi had proved yet again that they couldn’t be trusted. “To the D’Bringi: You are in Colonial Union territory. You will retreat immediately or face destruction. Commander, Colonial Union Defense Force, out. Break. To our fighter group: Advance on the invading force and, if they don’t return to their carriers, destroy them. Nikitin out.”
The die was cast. The two fighter groups closed on each other. Both were composed of fighters of similar capabilities, but the D’Bringi squadrons appeared to be better organized and more aggressive. Still, the humans were in their own space, defending their own territory, and they were not going to back down. The two fighter groups met almost exactly between the two forces and neither side hesitated. The neatly ordered ranks of fighters on both sides immediately broke down into a furball, with fighters desperately evading, or trying to set up shots on their opponents.
Thirty seconds into the fight it was clear that the D’Bringi were going to come out on top. Their superior numbers and superior crews were overwhelming the less experienced human counterparts. The battle only lasted a minute, and then the D’Bringi force was speeding back to their carriers to reload, while the human force was left without fighters. The D’Bringi had forty-two fighters left.
Captain Nikitin was dismayed by the result, but not really surprised. Humanity was a relative newcomer to fighter technology, and it would be a while before they would be able to work out fighter deployment doctrines. He hadn’t expected his fighter force to be successful in wiping out the enemy fighters, but he had hoped they would do well enough that his destroyers would be able to deal with the ones that were left. He had a strong suspicion that the D’Bringi had no offensive weapons on their corvettes, only carrier bays, so if their fighter groups managed to wipe each other out he would be left with the advantage. Unfortunately, it appeared that the D’Bringi still had enough fighters to overwhelm his destroyers. Coming to a sudden decision, he turned to the comms tech. “All ships: We will withdraw towards the inner system at maximum speed. Message ends. Message for Fleet HQ: Have engaged a D’Bringi force with our fighter wing. While we weakened their fighter wing, ours has been eliminated. We are retreating into the inner system ahead of the oncoming D’Bringi force. Combat logs appended. Message ends.”
The human force turned and accelerated away. The D’Bringi force moved forward to recover its fighters. Captain Nikitin watched carefully as the D’Bringi corvettes recovered their fighters. It would take them a couple of minutes to rearm, and then they would know what was what. His force was close enough to the D’Bringi fleet that their fighters could chase them down before they ran out of endurance, in spite of the fact that the D’Bringi fighters had only a minimal speed advantage. If the D’Bringi were inclined to be bloody minded, they’d wipe out his force even though it had been rendered incapable of interfering with the D’Bringi by the loss of its fighters.
Five minutes passed without any action from the D’Bringi force. Then, apparently assured that the human force didn’t intend to interfere with them, they turned towards their freighter force, which had fallen behind during the brief chase. They then turned towards the inner system colonies and reduced speed to maximum cruising speed for their corvettes, which matched the maximum speed of their freighters.
Captain Nikitin sent another message to update Fleet HQ and then settled in to shadow the D’Bringi force.
Month 2006, Day 9, 0900 hours, Sligo System Naval HQ
The results from the battle in Sandhurst arrived at the UCDF Naval HQ at 0900 hours. The results arrived just as Vice Admiral Bonaventura and Rear Admiral Carstairs, CO of the 1st Battle Fleet, had sat down to their morning briefing and strategy session. The arrival of the battle report from Sandhurst pre-empted everything else. Admiral Carstairs leaned over the conference table and used the inset controls to bring up a map of the immediate area around the Sligo system.
Sandhurst was adjacent to the Sligo system, as was Redwing. Managua was six jumps away, however. The nearest fleet concentrations outside of the Sligo sector were at Epsilon Eridani, Sigma Draconis, and Sol, three, three, and four jumps away. However, if they indeed were going to war with the D’Bringi, UCDF Supreme HQ in Epsilon Eridani would be unlikely to send additional forces to Sligo. Instead, they would almost certainly muster forces in Sigma Draconis to counter any attack the D’Bringi might make from the closed warp points known to exist in the Centaurus warp chain. Sigma Draconis had to be their number one priority, as it was situated in the center of human space and close to several major systems, including Earth. Their second priority would be reinforcing the fleet in the Kirov system, which was watching the border with the Confederation, against an attack from the Rehorish. Sligo would be far behind those other two priorities, especially since the 1st Battle Fleet was in the Sligo system, bolstering their strength. Accordingly, Admiral Carstairs narrowed the focus of the display to just the Sligo sector, and then narrowed it again to just show the Sligo system, the Redwing warp chain, the Sandhurst warp chain, and the Donwalz to Managua chain. Then she set the Managua system and the Sandhurst system flashing a slow beat, to indicate enemy incursions. The two admirals then settled back to take in the display.
After a few seconds Vice Admiral Bonaventura shook her head. “What in god’s name are the D’Bringi up to?”
The other admiral shook her head as well. “If this is the start of a war, then it’s a damned strange start. Twenty corvettes in two different systems? Where are their capital ships? Their carriers?”
“If they want war, then they have to be trying to draw us out. That’s the only possible explanation for the small attacking forces. They’ve concentrated their fleet someplace that they hope we’ll respond to, and intend to engage us there, destroying our fleet.”
Both admiral’s eyes were drawn to the Sandhurst system. It was the likeliest candidate. The Managua system was too far away, and given that distance there was no way she’d dispatch a major force to that location without evidence of a major incursion. The threat at Managua was to their flank, though, and it had to be responded to, and with enough forces to deal with the D’Bringi probe force. Sandhurst, on the other hand, was next door to Sligo and was on the route to a major Alliance colony. It was the real threat here, and if she wanted to protect Sandhurst, then she’d have to move into the system. And if she wanted to demand answers from the D’Bringi from a position of strength, she’d have to advance down the warp line to their colonies in the Dether system. If the D’Bringi were planning a major war, then likely they would try to ambush the fleet she would inevitably send down the warp line to Dether, as that was the obvious response they’d almost certainly have to make to the provocations.
Finally, Admiral Carstairs shook her head. “I have to take my fleet into Sandhurst to secure the system. It’s our territory, and we can’t let the D’Bringi run around in the system and do what they want. Plus, it’s the stepping off point to the Alliance.”
Vice Admiral Bonaventura grimaced. “Your superdreadnoughts just came out of the yards from their refits. They are still shaking down, and aren’t fit for combat yet.”
Admiral Carstairs leaned over the table. “You’re right, but that doesn’t matter. The sensors at the warp point from Sandhurst to Danzig are still intact, and they haven’t detected anything entering the system since the initial D’Bringi raiding force. They’ll give us warning if a major force enters the system, and based on the composition of the enemy forces, I can make my decision then. In the meantime, the forces I have are more than enough to run the D’Bringi out of the system. By the time we meet any serious Alliance forces, my superdreadnoughts will have shaken down and their crews will be in fighting trim.”
Admiral Bonaventura stood and peered at the holo display. “You won’t have enough fighters to cover your fleet if the D’Bringi do make a major move.”
“That’s going to be true no matter what. And, I’ll still have the early warning from the sensor buoys at the warp point.” Carstairs stood as well. “Come on, Helena, you know I have to move forward into the Sandhurst system. I have to be there to ensure that the system is defended if there are major follow-on forces. And, when the orders arrive from Epsilon Eridani, I need to be ready to move forward to Alliance space. Because you know we aren’t going to take this sitting down.”
Admiral Bonaventura was clearly unhappy with the situation, but she could see no holes in Carstairs reasoning. “Very well, take your fleet to the Sandhurst system. But you will not advance any further without an order from myself or Fleet HQ in Epsilon Eridani. If the D’Bringi are bent on war, then this is almost certainly a trap. Understood?”
Admiral Carstairs snapped to attention, eagerness spreading across her face. “Understood!”
Admiral Bonaventura grimaced at the other’s eagerness, but she couldn’t stop the grin that quivered at the edge of her mouth. “Go, get your ships moving. I’ll send the Redwing reinforcements straight to Sandhurst to back you up as soon as they arrive.”
Admiral Carstairs saluted and withdrew, eager to get her ships moving. It would be six hours before the fleet was ready, but then the twenty ships of the fleet were headed out-system, towards Sandhurst. If the D’Bringi wanted a battle, they would sure as hell give it to them.
Month 206, Day 10, Epsilon Eridani System, Capital of the Colonial Union
The war warning arrived via naval communications on the ICN. Therefore, the warning went first to Naval HQ, and from there it was forwarded to the Capital Complex and the Prime Minister, who then forwarded it on to the Senate leadership. It would be an understatement to say It caused consternation and alarm in nearly all quarters. The Union had been entirely focused on internal matters, and its relations with the other powers had been relatively stable and calm, up to now.
The Prime Minister and her advisors, after getting over the shock of the news, were actually elated. The word from their dwindling number of supporters in the Senate was that Senator Semenov was going to bring the motion for a vote of no confidence in her government within the week. Support for the New Dawn party had been rapidly dwindling, largely due to the seemingly unending stream of bad news revealing incompetence and double dealing within the administration. The abuses and excesses of the Tlatelolco Occupation Command were only the last straw in a long string of bad news for the administration, but those revelations had been particularly damaging because many within the Union still liked and respected the Tlatelolco, and had only tolerated the occupation because of the administration’s announced intention to uplift the Tlatelolco so that they could defend themselves. When it was revealed that the Occupation Command had, instead of uplifting the Tlatelolco, been oppressing and looting the planet, while the administration shipped in wave after wave of new human colonists, the damage to the administration was near fatal. Now, though, the Prime Minister and her team were given a reprieve. There was no way that Senator Semenov would bring his motion now, with war on the horizon. They busied themselves with war preparations, and ordered the Navy to assume defensive positions throughout the Union, while authorizing limited offensive actions in the Sligo Sector, at least until the situation became clearer.
Naval HQ became a beehive of activity almost immediately. The warning came in during the evening, and immediately the duty staff recalled nearly everyone so that the mobilization of the fleet could begin. Following the established strategic plan, squadrons were ordered out from fleet anchorages to reinforce the Sigma Draconis and Kirov system fleets, which were the primary known contact points with the Alliance. It became clear early in the process that the fleet was critically short of carriers. Carriers, for the United Colonial Defense Fleet, were a relatively new addition to their strength, and what had looked sufficient when orbiting the fleet bases was suddenly revealed to be understrength when actual deployments to multiple critical systems were considered. Worse, Admiral Bonaventura had urgently requested that additional carriers be sent to reinforce her fleets, but once the reinforcement squadrons for Kirov and Sigma Draconis were filled there were none left to send her. She would be on her own, at least for now.
The reaction In the Senate was more subdued. They, after all, had no direct responsibilities in this situation, aside from providing advice and ultimate approval to the government. In Senator Semenov’s office, though, there was considerable dismay. This news had ruined months of planning. Some senators were tempted to go ahead anyway, but most opposed that as suicidal. Throwing the government and nation into confusion on the eve of war was not only irresponsible, it was counter-productive. They would have to reorganize and come up with a new plan.
Month 206, Day 10, 1200 hours, Sandhurst inner system
The D’Bringi assault force reached the outermost colony and immediately began launching shuttles and landing troops. As they had in the Managua system, they broadcast a demand for surrender and justified their actions as “reclaiming D’Bringi property”. Unlike on Managua, which was a backwater, the two Sandhurst colonies were much larger. Where Managua was able to largely evacuate the target areas, the two Sandhurst colonies were not, and skirmishes with the strange alien allies of the D’Bringi began almost immediately. At first it was scattered instances of civilians resisting advancing troops while they tried to evacuate, and those fights inevitably drew in the Sandhurst system militia. The militia, which had been ordered to avoid contact with the invaders, could not stand by when the D’Bringi ground and air forces launched massive retaliation efforts against any perceived resistance. This led to pitched battles, with the militia almost always on the losing side. Fortunately, the D’Bringi invasion’s goals were limited to the starport and high-value locations that were mostly in and around the capital city, so this limited casualties to a certain extent.
Month 206, Day 13, Managua system
The D’Bringi raiding force, which had been centered on the innermost colony, now relocates to the outer colony and begins its methodical looting process there. They face even less resistance than on the inner colony, as the colonists in the outer planet have had more time to prepare, and a clearer idea of what the D’Bringi were after.
Month 206, Day 14, Epsilon Eridani system, Colonial Union Capital
Senator Semenov took a seat in the offered chair and looked around the Prime Minister’s office with curiosity. It had been quite a while since he had been here, which was not really surprising given his strong resistance to the Prime Minister and her party. Finally, after a few seconds, he looked back at the Prime Minister, who was glowering at him from behind her desk. “Well? You asked for this meeting, Senator. I presume you’re here to tell me that there won’t be a motion for a vote of no confidence?”
Interesting, Senator Semenov thought. She’s going with anger instead of elation at her narrow escape. He shook his head slightly. If she thought her anger was going to influence him, after he had dealt with the generals that ruled the old USSR, she was sadly mistaken. He leaned forward slightly, capturing her attention. “No, Maritsa, you could figure that out for yourself. You don’t need me to tell you that it would be suicidal for us to bring that motion now.” She flushed at his use of her first name in so familiar a manner, but he continued before she could say anything or object. “No, instead I’m here to let you know what is going to happen. Tomorrow, we will be bringing a motion to the Senate floor to support the government’s response to the unwarranted invasion of our territory by the D’Bringi. Again. I expect it to pass unanimously, or close enough. Then, I will be introducing a motion to end the occupation of the Tlatelolco and to recognize them as friends of the Union, as the first step towards bringing them into the Union as full members. This will be couched in terms of freeing up the Navy and the Army to face the Alliance, and firming up our internal situation in the face of outside enemies.” He watched with interest as the blood drained out of her face. The occupation of the Tlatelolco and the Tarek were core planks of the New Dawn platform. He was putting her in an untenable situation, and she knew it.
She spluttered. “You can’t possibly expect me to support that!”
“I don’t. But with the situation as it is, your resistance will be meaningless, and will likely just hurt your position. You’ve seen the polling, just as I have. The public’s opinion on the Tlatelolco situation has turned. They accepted the necessity of the occupation at the time, but now, given the way you’ve handled it, they don’t like the occupation and they want it to end.” He leaned forward, intent on her face. “We can’t get the motion of no confidence through now, and we know it. Even trying would be detrimental to our national response to the D’Bringi. But we will have this, if nothing else. The Tlatelolco are our friends, and we will treat them that way by god!”
The Prime Minister’s face had congested with anger as Semenov spoke, but he was right, there was little she could do about it now. “Fine. Your warning is heard. I take it we are done?”
He stood and nodded slightly. “Thank you, Prime Minister. I’ll leave you to continue your war preparations.”
As he left the office, Semenov considered the situation. The motion tomorrow for the Tlatelolco would almost certainly pass, especially in light of the looming war. It would be seen as many as a way to clear the decks prior to what might be a massive conflagration. That, however, would make the possibility of ousting the Prime Minister even more difficult when the current situation was resolved. Some of the Senators that supported his position only supported him because of their support for the Tlatelolco. If he resolved that portion of the case that he had built against the Prime Minister and her party, then he might lose them. Worse, public attention, which was laser focused on the misdeeds of the Prime Minister and her party right now, would cool and shift as time went on, meaning they would almost certainly lose their window. Still, freeing the Tlatelolco was a significant achievement in and of itself. His big concern now was that the Prime Minister and her supporters would almost certainly see this war scare as a way to divert the public from their issues, and try to extend it, if possible, to reap the maximum benefits that a patriotic response would give the party in power. Right now, they had a couple of raids in lightly populated systems. That could be dealt with, if the Alliance didn’t up the stakes. She’d be insane to court war with the Alliance, but politicians had done worse, for less reason.
-
Month 206, Day 16, Alliance, Phyriseq System, 4th Fleet HQ
Some on Tai-shu Okada’s staff were worried about Okada going aboard Tai-sho Skull-Splitter’s command ship for their meeting. They had insisted that the meeting should take place aboard Okada’s ship, or at least on board one of the Rehorish ships that were part of the 4th Fleet. Okada had insisted on meeting the D’Bringi admiral on board his own command ship. He had served with the old D’Bringi before, and trusted in his honor and commitment to the Alliance. And, he suspected, D’Bringi support would be essential for the upcoming trials that they would be facing. Still, while he prevailed on the question of where the meeting would be held, he was unable to overrule his guard commander, who had been personally ordered by the Council of Clan Mothers to keep the Tai-shu safe. So, the shuttle that carried the commander of the Alliance’s 1st Fleet to the meeting with the command of the 4th Fleet had a full contingent of power-armor equipped troopers, and the Tai-shu’s personal guard wore unpowered combat armor and were heavily armed.
There was a tense moment in the command ship’s boat bay when the Tai-shu’s shuttle landed and was met by a full contingent of heavily armed D’Bringi. The brief standoff ended when the D’Bringi dispersed throughout the bay to secure critical points, and an unarmed D’Bringi officer walked up to the shuttle alone. Tai-shu Okada immediately recognized the officer as Tai-sho Skull-Splitter’s oldest son, who served as one of his staff officers. Tai-shu Okada met him personally at the shuttle’s personnel lock, as her was brought into the shuttle amongst the Tai-shu’s guards.
The young D’Bringi officer looked around the at the assembled security personnel, his face remarkably unconcerned at this unprecedented display. After a few seconds he bowed slightly to the Tai-shu and said, in decent Rehorish, “My father would be honored to meet with you, honored Tai-shu, however, he regrets that he was not here to meet you personally. He recently fell afoul of some…bad luck…and it is…unwise…for him to leave his quarters at this time. He invites you to meet with him there. You may bring as many of your security officers as you feel necessary.”
Tai-shu Okada’s eyes swiveled to meet those of his chief of staff. The other Rehorish didn’t know what was going on any more than he did, and so, after a few seconds, he shrugged. “Very well. Take me to your farther. My personal guard will accompany us, while the rest remain here to assist your officers in securing the bay. Is that acceptable?” The D’Bringi officer signaled that it was and turned to leave. Tai-shu Okada nodded at his chief of staff. “Make it so, Sho-sa. Remain here. I will return shortly, or I will signal you about any change in plans.”
The staff officer made to object, but the motivation in the set of the Tai-shu’s carapace was unmistakable and he held his peace. The Tai-shu set out with the young D’Bringi officer, his security detail in tow. The trip to Skull-Splitter’s quarters was short, but eye-opening. The corridors were empty and unremarkable, until they reached the area outside of Skull-Splitter’s quarters. In that area the bulkheads were ripped up by weapons fire and explosions. The Tai-shu’s security team tensed up, their eyes and sensors probing in every direction for threats, but there was nothing present aside from a pair of Rehorish guards outside of Skull-Splitter’s quarters, armed with plasma cannons and wearing power armor. The guards wore the insignia of the 4th Naval Infantry Brigade, which, if memory served, was the unit assigned to the Rehorish ships assigned to the 4th Fleet. Tai-shu Okada gestured for his guards to join the security forces outside of Skull-Spitter’s quarters and was ushered into the room by their young D'Bringi escort.
Tai-shu Okada walked into the quarters and immediately stopped, shocked. His old friend was encased in an auto-medic, a coffin-like piece of medical equipment. One side of his face was hideously damaged from what looked to be some sort of laser weapon, and he appeared to be missing his left arm and part of his left leg. Still, his one remaining eye was open and was focused on his visitor. For all of the damage, Skull-Splitter, the tough old warrior, looked to be aware of what was going on, even if he couldn’t communicate because of all of the equipment hooked up to him. Okada turned on Skull-Splitter’s son. “What has happened?”
Sho-sa Tal-nos, Skull-Splitter’s son, shook his head. “We were hoping you could tell us. This happened just six hours ago, shortly after your squadron contacted us and requested a meeting with my father.”
Alarm crossed Tai-shu Okada’s face as he considered the implications. “I must apologize. I did not consider the possibility that your father might be at risk. I came here to speak with your father on a matter of critical importance to the Alliance, but I did not think that they would try something like this.”
The young D’Bringi officer took a step forward, leaving his father’s side, a very intense look on his face. “They?”
Tai-shu Okada’s antenna waived agitatedly. “We do not know who they are. Only that they exist. A series of events surrounding the invasion of Chirq has led us to several discoveries of discrepancies within the Alliance fleet network and ICN. These discrepancies are hiding the true locations of multiple ships, all of which are crewed by D’Bringi. We believe some of these ships were involved in the Chirq disaster, although we have not been able to confirm this. Certainly, at least, the three corvette-carriers assigned to Chirq Prime are missing, and unless they were ambushed, which is very unlikely, they should have been able to deal with the Khozuni invasion force handily.”
Okada was shocked when an electronic crackle issued from the auto-medic. “Give. My. Son. The. List. Of. Ships.”
Without hesitating, Tai-shu Okada gave the young officer a chip with the information. Sho-sa Tal-nos put the chip in his reader and examined the data for a minute as the others watched, then turned to his father. “It is as we feared. These ships all belong to either the conservatives or the Keepers. In particular, the three missing battlecruisers are Keeper controlled units.”
“What is the meaning of this?” Okada knew of the divisions within the D’Bringi society, and in particular the conservatives who had resisted the changes brought on by membership in the Alliance, but the consensus was that their influence was waning as the wealth brought by changes within their society began reaching the middle and lower orders.
Sho-sa Tal-nos looked at his father for a few seconds and apparently received the go-ahead, because he turned back to Okada. “Sir, the three who attacked my father were all conservative faction, from within my father’s own staff. That is why they got so close before being challenged. For some time, we have been concerned that the conservatives are growing desperate enough to make some sort of move as their power and influence wanes. The thought that they might be in league with the Keepers is very disturbing. Alone, the conservatives have nothing like enough clout to sway our people, but if the Keepers are involved, that may change everything.”
“So, this is an internal struggle within the D’Bringi government?”
Sho-sa Tal-nos opened his mouth to reply, but was beat to it by his father. “No! This. Affects. All. Within. The. Alliance. But. We. D’Bringi. Must. Decide. Our. Fate.”
Okada followed this thought for a few seconds, searching the implications. “The Alliance is barred from intervening in the internal affairs of any member race. That is true. However, if the conservatives have somehow caused the invasion of the Chirq home world, and compromised the Alliance ICN and the Fleet data network, then this ceases to be merely an internal matter. And what do these priests of yours, the Keepers, have to do with any of this.” Okada was extraordinarily well informed about the other races of the Alliance, but the D’Bringi Keepers had kept a low profile since the amalgamation, and were rarely seen these days. At least by outsiders.
After glancing at his father, Sho-sa Tal-nos stepped forward. “The Keepers are the arbiters of what it means to be D’Bringi. For centuries they have mediated between the clans and ensured the continuation of the D’Bringi race. They were against the amalgamation, and it was only because the three clan chiefs agreed that they were overruled. It was thought,” he glanced at his father again, “that they had changed their opinion on the merger as the strength of the D’Bringi race rapidly increased as the old strictures enforced by the clans were loosened, but that now appears to have been overly optimistic.”
A sudden thought occurred to Okada, and he keyed his communicator. “Status?”
His chief of staff responded immediately. “All is well. All units have checked in, and there has been no unusual or hostile activity.”
“Very well.” Okada looked at the two D’Bringi. “Well, if this an internal matter, what do you intend to do next?”
“My father moved decisively after the attempt on his life. All D’Bringi ships in the fleet have been locked down by trusted officers, and all of their communications have been routed through this ship. All known conservatives have been detained pending an investigation. Although, to be honest, the conservatives were not well represented within this fleet. And now that we know the Keepers are involved, they will be examined as well. But we fear what is happening elsewhere. We thought that this might be the first move in a coup attempt by the conservatives, but if this information that you have brought is accurate, then this is merely the latest step in a well-coordinated and large conspiracy. We will not easily get ahead of this.”
Tai-shu Okada turned to leave. “I must get back to my ship. I have to get messages out to all commands and governments. They must be warned.”
Skull-Splitter’s son left with the Rehorish admiral. “We will remain here and ensure that the forces available to us are loyal. Even now my father’s agents are moving throughout the D’Bringi ships of this fleet, rooting out agents of the conservatives. Once my father is back on his feet, we will take the D’Bringi ships we have here back to the home world, and demand answers.”
Tai-shu Okada looked at the young officer. “That could take weeks. Your father’s wounds are serious.”
“No, it will not. My father must be seen to be alive and well. He will be on his feet tomorrow, leading the fleet against the conservatives and their Keeper lackies. He must, or our people may begin to lose hope.”
Okada stopped at the hatch to the boat bay. “Good luck. You will need it.”
Sho-sa Tal-nos stopped the admiral before he stepped through the hatchway. “What will you and your people do?”
Tai-shu Okada stopped for a second and looked at the young officer. “By the treaties that created the Alliance this is an internal matter, and as such my people and the T’Pau cannot intervene. As long as neither side does something that violates the treaty, we cannot act without violating the underpinnings of the Alliance.”
The young D’Bringi officer stood tall. “Good! This is our creation, and we should be the ones to deal with it.”
Tai-shu Okada left the D’Bringi flagship and returned to his destroyer, which immediately set out for the warp point back home. Two of the destroyers in the squadron had suffered burnouts, and so the squadron left at slightly reduced speed. Shortly after arriving at his ship, even as they left orbit, Tai-shu sent urgent messages to both Rehorish Fleet Command and his government, alerting them to the situation. Just under ten hours later they received a response from the local ICN node, informing them that the ICN was inactive. All queries showed that the node had gone into a diagnostic loop, and it was completely unresponsive to outside commands.
They were effectively cut off.
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Month 206, Day 14, Sandhurst system
The D’Bringi raiding force pulls away from the outer colony and heads towards the outer system. All told, the casualties on the two colonies were relatively light for an outright invasion, but relative was a deceptive term. Humans had died at the hands of the D’Bringi and their alien allies. Again.
Month 206, Day 17, Sandhurst Prime
Early in the day the twenty-one ships of the relief force from the Sligo system arrived over the main colony in the Sandhurst system. The residents of Sandhurst Prime celebrated their savior’s arrival while continuing to pick up the pieces after the D’Bringi raid. Fortunately, the damage was concentrated around the spaceport and the capital city. Although it would take some time to tally up the losses and sort out the chaos, it was clear hundreds of civilians and militia had died, a number that would likely rise to the low thousands by the time order was restored.
The D’Bringi made off with the bulk of the goods and resources that had been gathered at the colony for the monthly trade convoy to the Alliance. In addition, the D’Bringi destroyed approximately 40% of the two colony’s industrial potential. It appeared that the destruction wasn’t actually intentional, but rather a side effect of their rushed attempts to make off with as much valuable loot as possible, without regard to the side effects or damage. All told, initial reports were that the D’Bringi had taken approximately 8,000 MCr’s in trade and industrial goods.
Commodore Antonia Durant, CO of the relief fleet, left a squadron of destroyers and three escort carriers in orbit of the main colony and then set out for the warp point to the Danzig system to ensure that the D’Bringi had left.
Month 206, Day 18, 1200 hours
Tai-shu Okada’s ships jumped out of the Phyriseq system, and once in the Chruqua warp nexus they immediately sent messages to the ICN node at the warp point to the Ember system, which led back to the Rehorish home system. It would take sixteen hours for the response to return. In the meantime, the three Rehorish destroyers made their way through the defenses around the warp point that led back to the Phyriseq system, and Tai-shu Okada wasn’t the only one that watched the defenses with a wary eye as they passed by. There were twenty-six bases arrayed around the warp point, mostly small fighter carrying bases backed by three larger cruiser-sized bases that would control the automated weapons that would surround the warp point in a time of war. The larger bases were manned by Rehorish crews, but the fighter bases were mostly crewed by D’Bringi, who were temperamentally better suited for fighter operations.
Nothing untoward happened, though, and the three Rehorish destroyers left the area around the bases and sped off towards the warp point to the Ember system. When the response from the ICN node came back, they were unsurprised to find that the ICN in this system was shut down as well. Tai-shu Okada directed the destroyer’s commander to send messages to all of the nodes in the system, to test the extent of the problem. It took hours for responses to come back, but when they did it soon became clear that the system was completely cut off from the ICN.
Month 206, Day 22, Sandhurst System
The Sandhurst Battle Group under Commodore Antonia Durant reached the warp point to the Danzig system late in the day and joined the Sandhurst Patrol Group, which had reached the warp point some time before. The D’Bringi ships had jumped out four days ago. Commodore Durant wanted nothing more than to continue the pursuit, but she had been ordered to hold her position until reinforcements reached her position. Given the D’Bringi penchant for ambushes, she understood the admiral’s thinking, but any delay allowed the D’Bringi to get further and further away.
Month 206, Day 23, Sligo System
Early in the day the twelve ships from the Redwing squadron reached Sligo orbit. Just hours ago, orders had arrived from Fleet HQ in Epsilon Eridani. The 1st Battle Fleet was ordered to advance on the Alliance colonies at the end of the Sandhurst warp chain and demand an explanation for the raids on Colonial Union populations. Troops would be sent in a follow-on force, if necessary.
Admiral Bonaventura forwarded the orders to Admiral Carstairs, who was now in the Sandhurst system, and dispatched the Redwing squadron to join her. Once the forces were assembled at the warp point, Admiral Carstairs was ordered to advance on the Alliance colonies in the Dether system and demand an explanation for the raids on Colonial Union territory.
Month 206, Day 25, Managua system
The D’Bringi raiding group jumped out of the system back to Alliance territory at 1800 hours. They had successfully deterred the Colonial Union Patrol Group from pursuing them, and so no one observed them jumping out through the closed warp point. Once back in Alliance territory they set out for a large D’Bringi colony two jumps away, in the Stahat system. The ICN node at the warp point to Colonial Union territory noted the arrival of the ships, but as it had when they jumped into the Colonial Union, it failed to report the activities of the ships up the chain.
Month 206, Day 25, Epsilon Eridani
The Colonial Union Senate voted overwhelmingly to end the occupation of the Tlatelolco and offer them membership in the Colonial Union, effective immediately. The withdrawal of troops would begin starting next month, and negotiations were to begin concurrently. The Prime Minister herself asked Senator Semenov to head up the negotiations with the Tlatelolco, as recognition of his tireless work on their behalf. She graciously ordered the navy to make a corvette available for his use, to speed him to the Redwing system to begin negotiations as soon as possible.
Senator Semenov recognized the move for what it was, a way to get him out of the capital and away from the action for as long as possible. Worse, he had just received information from his contacts in the navy about Admiral Bonaventura’s orders to confront the Alliance within their territory. He had expected something like this from the Prime Minister, and so he was ready.
Before he left, Senator Semenov called a special session of the Senate and, with a majority of the Senators present, appointed retired admiral Ruston, hero of the first D’Bringi war and the fall of Earth, as a Senatorial Ambassador to the D’Bringi, charged to determine the truth of their actions and intentions in the Sligo sector. With the mandate from the Senate, Ambassador Ruston was dispatched to the Novosibirsk system, which was the capital of the Confederated Free States, the neutral buffer state between the Alliance system of Sapporo and the Colonial Union system of Kirov. Both the Alliance and the Colonial Union maintained full embassies at the CFS capital, and it was the place where the trade agreement that currently existed between the two states was negotiated. The fact that the Prime Minister ordered a military approach to determining the motivation for the events in the Sligo Sector without even attempting a peaceful political approach spoke volumes about how she wanted the negotiations to go. Two D’Bringi raids into Colonial Union territory was a serious violation of the treaties between the two states, but the loss of life was limited, at least so far, as was the economic loss. Holding the three Rehorish colonies at the end of the Sandhurst warp chain hostage would escalate the situation significantly. The last estimate of the population of that system was approximately 60 million Rehorish on three habitable planets. When the 1st Battle Fleet arrived in that system, it would almost certainly provoke a significant response within the Alliance. They had to try to resolve the situation before the Alliance fleet reacted to the 1st Battle Fleet, or it would be too late. That was always assuming it wasn’t too late already, of course. If the D’Bringi raids were the first step in a new war, then events were already moving forward, and nothing would stop them.
Unaccountably, the navy was unable to free up any ships to transport Ambassador Ruston to Novosibirsk, so he was forced to take passage on a transport heading that way on a normal trade run. This wasn’t unexpected, but it was disappointing. Ruston’s ETA at the CFS capital was Month 207, Day 25.
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Month 207, Day 1, Alliance
The beginning of Month 207 found the Alliance fractured and in disarray, although few knew the full extent of the problems. The ICN was only partially functional, although that was not apparent to the bulk of the low-level governmental, commercial, and public users. Most of those kinds of messages were getting through to their destinations. High level governmental communications, including naval comms, were completely compromised and either unreliable, or non-existent. Again, this was not apparent to most users, at least not yet. The associate members of the Alliance, like the Doraz or the Torqual, had no idea of the problem, as most of their messages were getting through, or, in some cases, the expected responses were being provided by the interference nexus without them being aware that their messages either didn’t get through or the responses were changed or substituted.
There were some that were aware of the problem, though, and they were beginning to act. The Rehorish were the first to discover the problem in the ICN and their own networks, and had sent couriers out to confirm their suspicions. The couriers were ordered to report their findings back through the ICN in a one-time code that should be unbreakable in any reasonable amount of time, and then return at their best speed to confirm receipt of their findings. In every case the courier’s message failed to return until the courier itself physically transited into the home system. The interception of the courier’s messages, along with their confirmation of the missing D’Bringi ships, was all of the confirmation that the Rehorish needed. Late in Month 206 the Rehorish cut off all contact with the ICN by physically disabling the ICN buoys in their system, and then they began a systematic purge of their networks. This had the benefit of cutting their system off from whatever was manipulating their communications, but greatly reduced their ability to communicate with the rest of the Alliance. Until they could sort out the problem their communications were limited to sending ships through the warp points in their system to interface with the ICN buoys on the far side. These ships would download the accumulated messages into isolated storage where they could be examined for corruption or intrusion efforts. No message would be viewed until it was confirmed to be clean. This process was time consuming and, in the meantime, meant that the Rehorish system was effectively isolated from the rest of the Alliance.
The T’Pau knew that something was wrong as well, having been alerted by the Rehorish. While in theory the T’Pau were equal members of the Alliance with the D’Bringi and the Rehorish, they very much felt themselves the junior members compared to the other two, given their history with the D’Bringi. Therefore, they hesitated to take any action that would alert the D’Bringi, who appeared to be responsible for the current problem, to the fact that they knew what was going on. Instead, the T’Pau government began setting up a separate communications network in their home system, and they sent an alert code to their squadrons assigned to other Alliance fleets. This code, disguised as an innocuous phrase within otherwise standard orders, directed their squadron commanders to raise the alert level of their ships and to beware of potential plots within the Alliance. This was admittedly a very vague order, and did not mention any particular culprit or direct any specific action. It merely warned the squadron commanders to keep their eyes open and to prepare for action. In the meantime, the T’Pau Naval Intelligence Directorate began a low-key effort to determine the extent of the problems with their communications, but by the end of Month 206 this had had a limited effect, given their determination to remain undetected.
Because of these problems, there was only one group in the Alliance that knew of the raids on the Colonial Union, and that a Colonial Union fleet was advancing on an Alliance colony. In the D’Bringi home system, there were some who knew exactly what was going on.
Month 207, Day 1, Alliance
On this day, a message was sent from D’Bringi Prime via the ICN throughout the Alliance to all D’Bringi colony worlds and outposts. In addition, it was sent to the home worlds of the Rehorish and the T’Pau.
The message was a video, and it began focused on Keeper-Cleric Half-Hand, a person known to most D’Bringi, standing in the ancestral castle of the last D’Bringi Emperor. The castle was little more than a museum these days, the emperor’s clan long since having been exterminated during the Empire’s fall hundreds of years ago. Instead of his usual vestments, though, the Keeper was wearing the last Emperor’s ceremonial armor. Standing behind him were a small group of D’Bringi in clan colors, while a number of D’Bringi in functional combat armor and modern weapons stood arrayed around the room. Sitting in rows of chairs in front of the Keeper were dignitaries gathered from across D’Bringi Prime. If the camera had focused on their faces, the viewers might have seen that worry and concern were the dominant emotions on display, but the camera view was from the back of the throne room and for the most part their faces couldn’t be seen.
The camera panned around the hall, taking in the imposing view of the Imperial throne room, with armed and armored guards standing around the walls. Then it refocused on Keeper-Cleric Half Hand, who was standing in front of the last emperor’s throne.
“I am speaking now to every D’Bringi, on every world reached by our great and glorious people! We were once a backward and despised people on our home world, but then we unified first our planet, then our system, and then we reached out to the stars and created the vast and powerful Alliance! We proved our greatness beyond a doubt. We proved the superiority of our culture and our ways of doing things, not only to ourselves, but to every other race we met. But somewhere along that path where we achieved greatness, we lost our way. Our very clan leaders, the people who were supposed to safe-guard our culture, turned their backs on history, on the proven ways of doing things. They became enamored with alien ways of doing things, alien thinking, and they abandoned our tried and tested ways! The D’Bringi way! Then worse, they began adopting those alien ways of doing things. The Clans, long the guardians of the people and our culture, were minimized and reduced to puppets of the local and planetary councils. Worse, the clan-less were given equal places in our society! As if they deserved it! As if they had earned it!” At this a groan went through the room. The attendees had been carefully selected for their adherence to the old ways, which in many cases had resulted in them being bypassed for promotion or new positions by others who embraced the new ways, but had come from less prestigious clans, or were clan-less.
“I must admit that I had a hand in this as well. As you know, it is the Keeper’s mission to maintain our culture and our way of life, but I was convinced, at least initially, that we must change in order to prosper.” Another groan went through the room at this. “I was wrong! I know that now. And so, I went to the leaders of our great nation, including the so-called great-clan chiefs, and tried to convince them that we must go back to our old ways. They turned their backs on me!” An angry shout went up in the room. “They denied me! When it became clear to them that I would not agree with them, then began moving against my Keepers. They began political actions intended to delegitimize us, to remove us from our position as the defenders of our society!” A shocked shout sounded across the room as the crowd began to get what was expected of them. Their mood had abruptly changed from apprehensive to eager expectation. The Keeper-Cleric held up his hands for silence, and after a few seconds they complied, settling down. The Keeper-Cleric moved from where he had been standing to directly in front of the throne. “And so now, because of their shocking disregard for our traditions, and their treason against our race for trying to disband the Keepers, I am now forced to do what I must to secure our future. Therefore, to secure our way of life, I now declare the establishment of the 2nd Empire of the D’Bringi! By the right of necessity, I now claim the throne of the empire as the first emperor of the 2nd Empire!” The stunned crowd jumped to their feet and began cheering as Half-Hand sat on the throne. For the first time in over two hundred years, an emperor sat on the throne.
The cheering went on for some time, while Half-Hand sat on the throne showing no emotions. Finally, he raised his hands and the cheering quickly died down. “I will not lie to you; the road ahead is hard. We have much to do to re-establish our greatness. My first action as Emperor is to repeal all laws and acts of the toady governments that catered to the Alliance by hamstring our clans. The Clans will be restored!” Once again, the crowd jumped to their feet cheering. This time Half-Hand quickly quieted them. “However, merely repealing the laws won’t be enough. It was our very clan leaders who led us into the chaos that now envelopes our people. Therefore, I am ordering the arrest of the three ring-leaders of the treason against our people, the former Great Clan chiefs, Burning-Blade, Skull-Splitter, and T’Qek. But because the treason does not stop there, I am also ordering the detention of every clan chief, his or her family, and their retainers. They will be stripped of their positions and detained, until their complicity in the treason that has brought us low.” Once again cheers broke out in the throne room, but this time they seemed less enthusiastic.
“One of the traitors has already been apprehended!” At those words the great doors at the end of the long throne room opened, and a group of guards escorted a hunched figure into the room. The camera focused on the figure, and as they neared the front of the room it became clear that the guards were escorting the former clan chief Burning Blade into the room. Burning Blade was the head of the D’Bringi Home System Council, and thus effectively the leader of the most powerful system in the D’Bringi Expanses, and one of the most prosperous and productive systems in the Alliance. Now, though, he was bent and broken, and he moved slowly and with a limp. The room was overtaken by whispers and comments from the crowd as the formerly powerful D’Bringi was marched up the row to stand in front of the throne. Half-Hand stood, looming over the former clan chief. “You, more than most others, are responsible for the chaos and decline in our culture that afflicts our people! Therefore, I now demonstrate my resolve to right the wrongs perpetrated by you and your followers! I now sentence you to death for your treason against the D’Bringi people.”
With that announcement a figure moved forward from the side, from the ranks of the guards. This D’Bringi was unarmored, and was dressed in the ceremonial garb of an Imperial Executioner. He was large for a D’Bringi, and carried a headsman’s axe. He moved forward to stand next to Burning Blade, and turned towards the emperor expectantly. The emperor’s eyes swept the crowd for a few seconds, and then he nodded. “Burning Blade, former clan chief and traitor to your people, do you have any last words?” The hunched figure didn’t move or make a sound, which wasn’t surprising to the emperor, who had ordered his guards to ensure that the former clan chief would be unable to ruin the ceremony. “Very well. You maintain your cowardice to the end. Executioner, do your duty.”
The guards moved away from the prisoner, and the executioner brought his axe up. In one prodigious swing the former clan chief’s head was removed from his body, which crumpled to the ground. There was silence throughout the room, then frantic cheering as every member of the crowd tried to cheer louder than their neighbors. No one present wanted to appear less than enthusiastic.
The emperor held up his hands for silence. “With this necessary step, I begin the purge of weakness from our society! But my work isn’t done. The rot runs deep, and many more await their just judgement.” With that, the doors to the throne room were thrown open, and Keeper-Inquisitors, unseen in ages, entered the throne room and spread out through the restless crowd. One by one the Inquisitors moved through the room and pointed at a dignitary, who was then roughly grabbed by guards and taken from the room. The room was deathly silent as this happened, as the most powerful in D’Bringi society held their breath, hoping that they wouldn’t be next. Finally, the Inquisitors filtered out, leaving the throne room silent and still.
The new emperor stood. “I pledge to you that I will do everything in my power to ensure that our people are restored to their former glory! I now call upon every loyal clan member to rally to the flag of the restored Empire! Follow me to glory!” The crowd was silent for a second, their fear palpable, but then, almost as one, they leapt to their feet and began cheering again, and the cheers went on and on. They were cheering as if their lives depended on it, and the camera panned across the crowded room as the video faded out.
The video was sent out via the ICN to every system with D’Bringi inhabitants. Unlike many other messages, this one was unmolested and arrived at each if its targets. On a number of worlds this was the trigger for local conspirators to leap into action. The Keepers had had limited time and resources to prepare, and so they focused on the more populous D’Bringi colony worlds, where they were more likely to find discontented clan members who were nostalgic for the old days. On most of these worlds the plotters achieved surprise and succeeded in decapitating the existing government and taking control with very little bloodshed. In all, ten systems with small or larger populations declared for the new D’Bringi Empire. This was by far the bulk of the D’Bringi colony systems with small or larger populations. Only one system with a medium population failed to go over to the plotters, the Nagasaki system. The Nagasaki system was a hub for expansion in that sector, and as such it had a large percentage of younger D'Bringi, many of whom were unsympathetic to the plotter’s cause. Although the local plotters had some initial success, when they tried to declare for the new Empire there was a general popular uprising against them that forced them out of the cities and ended up with most of the plotters in custody or dead. Most of the other systems had only settlement sized populations, or were poor and remote, so the plotters had decided to focus their attention on more central and important systems. None of those systems went over to the plotters spontaneously, a fact that would surprise the new emperor when the reports finally came in. He had counted on a groundswell of support from the common D’Bringi to win over at least some of those frontier colonies.
There were three Great Clan Chiefs in the D’Bringi Expanses. One, Burning Blade, had already been executed by the new Empire. The second was T’Qek, who was currently serving as the D’Bringi representative on the Alliance High Council. The High Council, and the Alliance Capital, rotated amongst the three home planets of the primary Alliance members, and was currently on T’Pau Prime. The message from the new D’Bringi Emperor reached T’Pau Prime first, as the system was adjacent to the D’Bringi home system. The T’Pau were alarmed by the announcement, which came on the heels of the warning from the Rehorish. They had balked at the Rehorish suggestion of cutting their system off from the Alliance ICN, but now, though, they reacted decisively and physically disabled the ICN buoys in their system. This had the additional effect of cutting off the D’Bringi home system as well, which would have unknown consequences. While the message didn’t move any of the T’Pau, it did have another effect. Shortly after its receipt, a team of well-armed assassins attacked T’Qek’s compound outside of the T’Pau capital city, killing her guards and T’Qek herself before escaping. In light of the D’Bringi instability and the violence committed in their capital, the T’Pau government ordered their home fleet, nine cruisers and three escort carriers strong, to be deployed to the warp points in their home system to prevent the transit of any unauthorized ships.
Other fleet movements were happening as well. The Alliance 3rd Fleet was stationed in the Kure system, deep within the Rehorish colonial territories, and was intended to act as a guard against both the known contact point with the Colonial Union and the Mintek, who were known to have a closed warp point in the area. The fleet was composed of a mix of Rehorish and D’Bringi, with a small contingent of T’Pau ships as well. The D’Bringi contingent was composed of nine battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers, three strike carriers, and two corvette-carriers. Shortly after the announcement by the new D’Bringi Emperor arrived, the entire force of D’Bringi ships left the fleet anchorage and set a course for home. The battle group’s commanding officer sent the fleet’s CO a message indicating that they were returning home on internal D’Bringi business, and asked that they be granted safe passage. Cho-sho Banzan, having no orders to the contrary, and no authority to stop a fleet movement by a full Alliance member, granted their request but then sent a message to Fleet HQ on Rehorish Prime requesting guidance and warning of the battle group’s stated intention to return home.
In the Phyriseq system, home of the Alliance 4th Fleet, the situation was different. There, Skull-Splitter, the third Great Clan Chief, had survived the assassination attempt and was back on his feet, at least to an extent. After the assassination attempt, he had isolated the system from the ICN and thus prevented the video of the new Emperor from getting through. After watching it himself, Skull-Splitter dispatched troops to Phyriseq colony to round up anyone suspected of working for the new Emperor to head off a power grab before it happened. He fleet was already secure, with all those who might have supported the new Empire already in custody. The troops on the planet succeeded in rounding up a number of trouble makers, and although Skull-Splitter was sure they didn’t get them all, no coup on the colony materialized. Skull-Splitter retained full control of the 4th Fleet.
The 6th Fleet, in Zir territory, had perhaps the largest contingent of D’Bringi ships, just as it had large contingents of ships from all of the full Alliance members. Six battlecruisers, six heavy cruisers, three strike carriers, eleven escort carriers, and six corvette-carriers pulled away from the fleet anchorage after the D’Bringi Emperor’s announcement and set their course for home. As with the other fleets, the T’Pau Tai-sho commanding the 6th Fleet had no authority to stop them from leaving.
At this point, there was only one group within the Alliance that knew of the attacks on the Colonial Union, and that was the D’Bringi plotters. So far, the Rehorish and the T’Pau were unaware of the Colonial fleet advancing on the Alliance.
-
Month 207, Day 3, Rehorish Prime
Tai-shu Okada’s small group of destroyers limped home on this day, with two of the three destroyers suffering engine damage from the strain that their fast transits had put on their systems. His communications with the outside world had been limited, as the strange communications blackout that had begun in the Phyriseq system had followed him home. It was apparent from the state of communications in each of the systems that they had passed through that the communication’s blackout was following him, and only descended on the system when they entered it. However, he discovered when they jumped into the home system that the Rehorish government had purposefully cut the system off from the ICN and was attempting to restore internal communications. Therefore, they had not heard the declaration by the new D’Bringi Emperor yet. Okada’s ships had stripped the ICN buoy on the far side of the home system’s warp point before jumping into the system, and Okada had watched the video, appalled at the implications. The thought that the D’Bringi, their closest and oldest allies, were behind the ICN corruption and had become potential enemies was nearly beyond belief. The Alliance had gone from being the largest and most powerful nation in known space to fragmented and vulnerable in one instant.
Okada’s return to the home system was a relief, as was his news that at least some D’Bringi did not follow this new emperor. Okada, in turn, was relieved to find out that the T’Pau were working with the Rehorish government to stabilize the ICN and purge it of whatever had corrupted its functions. How they would react if it came to a showdown was something different, but their willingness to work with the Rehorish was hopeful, at least. Fleet command sent him a status report on the 1st Fleet units present in the home system, as well as new construction being undertaken since the start of the emergency.
The 1st Fleet’s assets in the system currently consisted of seven light carriers, four of which were of the latest design, six escort carriers, all of the latest design, six modern beam armed heavy cruisers of the latest design, six older light cruisers recently reactivated from the reserves, and eleven destroyers of various designs, all recently refitted. The force was equipped with older F0 fighters, as construction capacity had been focused on refits until recently, when it had been diverted to reactivating and refitting the reserves. The refits on three of the six bases guarding the home world would be complete at the end of the month, and construction had begun on numerous small couriers that could be used to maintain communications between fleets and worlds as long as the ICN was unreliable, without using up warships by burning out their drives. There were two kinds, a small cheap ship capable only of carrying messages, and a larger, corvette sized ship that was much more expensive, but which carried long-range sensors and a communications suite that fleet command believed would be immune to the disruption caused to the ICN. While the new communications corvettes wouldn’t be able to communicate between systems, at least without a chain of them stationed at each warp point, they would provide the fleet with secure communications within the system they were located in at the time. The couriers and comms ships would be ready at the end of the month. In addition, ten new escort carriers had been laid down, but they wouldn’t be ready for service until the end of next month, and wouldn’t be fit for combat until their crews shook down.
EMERGENCY COURIER class EX (AC) 4 Hull TL 5
[2] AiHs(I)Qs(I) [8]
4 RCP 21 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 44.4/ 6.7
HTK 5 Aix1
Communications Corvette class CT (AC) 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 5
[2] AiHs(BbL)(I)(I)(I)Xr(CC)Qs(I) [8]
16 RCP 9 MCP Trg:1 Cost = 283/ 42.5
HTK 10 Aix1
The report from Fleet Intelligence on the communications corruption issues was more encouraging. Their first step had been to cut off all contact with the ICN by physically disabling the buoys on both sides of the home system’s warp point, and then purging the home system’s ICN system, as well as the military networks, which had clearly been infiltrated by whatever had corrupted the ICN. The military networks had already been brought back online, and so far, they appeared to be clear of outside influence, although confidence on that was not high as the actual culprit had not been identified. Analysis of the ICN network computers was continuing, and the teams assigned to the job reported progress was being made, but details remained elusive. It was clear that for the near future they would have to rely on the communications ships and couriers.
As Okada’s destroyer raced inwards towards the home world, he pondered the strategic situation. The Alliance was in an extremely dangerous position. The home world command centers had been cut off from their fleets stationed in other systems, depriving them of the ability to order those fleets into action. In addition, the fleets themselves had lost the ability to report their status and the presence of threats. The possibility that one of the Alliance’s enemies had already attacked without being detected, or the detection being reported, preyed on his mind as a constant threat that could not be dealt with or countered.
Even as Okada considered the strategic situation, and his general lack of knowledge, others were doing the same elsewhere.
Month 207, Day 4, D’Bringi Prime
The new D’Bringi Emperor sat atop his throne in regal glory. The courtiers had been cleared out of the throne room for this meeting, but watchful guards still lined the walls, a testament to the new Emperor’s focus on his security and safety. A lone D’Bringi, dressed in a harness indicative of a senior clan official, approached the throne and prostrated himself before the emperor, as the guards shifted slightly to keep the new arrival within their line of fire.
After a second the emperor gestured for his new Chief of Intelligence to rise. “Report!”
The new Intel Chief bowed again, and then began his report. “Highness, the plan proceeds apace. We have confirmed reports from eleven systems that they are in full support of your new government!”
The emperor leaned forward. “Eleven? What of the others?” including the home system, there were eighteen D’Bringi-colonized worlds in the Alliance with populations larger than a settlement.
The Intel Chief looked unconcerned. “Preliminary reports are that the Imperial movements failed completely in six of the seven remaining worlds. All of those are remote colonies, and most are poor, and so received less of our limited resources prior to the restoration of the throne, and so this was not unexpected.” The Intel Chief hesitated, as if gathering his thoughts, and then continued. “The Imperial movement on the colony in the Nagasaki system failed to completely take over the government there, and fighting has broken out. There are reports that the rebels have asked the Rehorish colony in the system for assistance, and that Rehorish frontier guard units have been seen in the fighting for the capital of the colony.”
The emperor thought on this for a moment, and then shrugged. “We must consolidate our hold on the planets we control, and then we can send assistance to Nagasaki, and to the other colonies that have not come to the light as of yet.” The emperor shifted in his throne. “And what of the diversion effort against the Colonial Union?”
The Intel Chief nodded, back on firmer ground. The subversion effort against the colonial governments had always been the riskier part of the first part of their plan, and he had been concerned that the emperor, who had appeared to have been swept up in the excitement of the heady days after he had assumed the throne, would not understand that when the plan did not come off perfectly. “Highness, the plan appears to have worked perfectly. The raiding forces will reach the rally site in the Stahat system by mid-month, where they will rendezvous with the forces that have withdrawn from the 6th Fleet. Those ships are en route and will reach Stahat early next month.”
“What about the situation in the Phyriseq system?” The emperor’s gaze at his intelligence chief was intent.
The young D’Bringi noble who served as the Chief of Imperial Intelligence had risen to his position over the bodies, sometimes literally, of his enemies and friends, and wasn’t easily shaken. He had known this moment was approaching, and had prepared. “The situation in Phyriseq is unclear. We know that an attempt was made on the false clan chief who styles himself as Skull-Splitter, but no word on the results have returned, and the system has dropped out of contact. We must assume that Skull-Splitter is still alive.”
“And the squadron from Phyriseq?”
“They have not left the system as scheduled. We must assume that they are under the control of Skull-Splitter.”
The emperor leaned forward, unease plain upon his face. “This raises several difficulties.”
The intel chief nodded. Plain honesty was his best route now. “Yes. First, the fact that Skull-Splitter still lives gives those who wish to oppose us a figure to rally around. Secondly, we must now begin planning for Skull-Splitter’s potential actions. Finally, the force we are assembling at Stahat will be understrength.”
The emperor’s gaze remained sharp, as if weighing his intel chief. “What of the ships we withdrew from the 3rd Fleet in the Kure System? Can they be re-tasked to the Stahat system?”
“No. First, they will not arrive in time, and in any case, I believe their status is problematic. To get to either Stahat or their original destination, they have to pass through the Rehorish Home System. And as our previous reports have indicated, the Rehorish have become problematic.”
The emperor leaned back in the throne. “This disturbs me greatly. We cannot risk an internal war with the Rehorish now, at this critical time. Our entire plan was conceived to divert their attention from us, to give us the time we needed to consolidate our control, so that we could credibly claim that this was the will of the D’Bringi people and beyond review by the Alliance.”
“I understand this, your excellency.” Indeed, this had largely been his portion of the great plan to save the D’Bringi people, although he was not eager to remind the emperor of this fact right now. “Our intelligence is limited, but it appears that the Rehorish grew suspicious over the events in the Chirq system, and because of this discovered that the ICN was less than reliable. From there it was an easy leap to determine that their own networks were penetrated. They have since cut off all contact with the rest of the Alliance and are presumably rebuilding their network and trying to find the source of the infection.”
Alarm flared in the emperor’s eyes. “Can they?”
The intel chief bowed low. “I have been assured not, excellency. They will know they were penetrated, and they will suspect it was us, as we clearly benefit at this critical time, but they will find no proof. The Benefactors swear it. Fortunately, through your foresight the T’Pau and the Rehorish were ‘encouraged’ to accelerate their plans to refit their fleets, ensuring that many of their ships would be in the yards when we took action, limiting their ability to respond in a reasonable amount of time, should they wish to do so.”
The emperor stared at the other for a moment, weighing competing alternatives. Finally, he gestured for the intel chief to continue.
“We face three critical problems at the current time. First, and most important, we must secure control of our planetary bases, and begin to expand to the other D’Bringi colonies if we are to maintain our claim of primacy and legitimacy. The only planet we truly control is Stahat. That is the base of our power. Even here on Prime we must be cautious as our control is based on the appearance of power, nothing more. If we can maintain that appearance long enough then it will become a reality, but that will take time. Secondly, we must deal with Skull-Splitter. He can and will rally ships and colonies to his side if we allow him time. For now, he is confined to Phyriseq, but that will not be true for long. Finally, there is the human fleet that is advancing on the Alliance colonies in the Dether system. For that to be a distraction to the rest of the Alliance they must know about it, and given the proven unreliability of the ICN and the suspicions of the other races they may not receive the emergency messages that will arriving soon, or believe them if they do.”
“Perhaps it is time to dispense with the ICN ‘interference’?”
“I think it has served its purpose. Still, even if the interference disappears today, will the other races believe it, or forget that they suspect we have that capability?”
“No, they will not. If we want them to respond as we wish, then we must reassure them. I will have my staff put together an address to the Alliance, to explain our actions and reassure them about the ICN.” The new emperor settled back in his throne. The more the people saw him addressing the nation as their rightful leader, the more they would come to believe it. Particularly on home world, which was critical to the web of legitimacy he was trying to build.
Month 207, Day 6, Rehorish Prime
Tai-shu Okada exited the shuttle that had brought him to the surface and immediately entered a waiting transport, which immediately whisked him off to the central government building. He was to meet with the Chairwoman of the General Staff, as well as the Prime Minister and her staff. They would be wanting recommendations from him as to what to do next. Unfortunately, there appeared to be little they could do, aside from continuing to restore their communications and re-establishing contact with their fleets. Attacking the D’Bringi was out of the question, at least at this point, as their civil war was an internal issue, outside the purview of the Alliance, at least for now. If they could prove that the D’Bringi were behind the ICN issues, then maybe that would change, but that would be an issue for the Alliance Council. For now, they could only prepare.
-
Month 207, Day 2, Sandhurst system
The United Colonial Defense Force 1st Battle Fleet arrived at the warp point to the Danzig system, the first system of the two-system neutral zone that existed between the Alliance and the Colonial Union, on this day. The 1st Battle Fleet joined the squadrons dispatched from Sligo to force the D’Bringi away from the Sandhurst colonies at the warp point, bringing the 1st Battle Fleet’s strength up to three superdreadnoughts, three battleships, eleven battlecruisers, six heavy cruisers, fourteen destroyers, three frigates, and ten carriers of various types. Three supply ships followed behind the fleet, carrying enough supplies to support the fleet for just over two months.
Rear Admiral Carstairs was glad to have them, but knew that two months wouldn’t be enough support to maintain her fleet in Alliance space for long enough to complete her mission. The Colonial Union supply network would be able to support her fleet in the Danzig system well enough, but once they jumped beyond that system, they would need to begin relying on their supply ships. Worse, the Laramie system, which was an uninhabited neutral system in between Danzig and the Alliance colony system of Dether, had a known third warp point which led to another Alliance controlled system. Naval Intelligence had no information on that system, aside from the fact that it didn’t contain a habitable planet, and it was unknown if it led to additional Alliance systems. This meant that if her fleet advanced beyond the Laramie system they would have an open warp point behind their back. For this reason, Admiral Carstairs planned to split off a small force to cover that warp point, and had requested a survey fleet to survey the system and discover any warp points. Unfortunately, the nearest survey fleet was over two months away, but Vice Admiral Bonaventura had promised to divert them to the 1st Battle Fleet’s area as soon as possible.
Crossing into the neutral zone with a fleet was a violation of the treaty between the Alliance and the Colonial Union, but as far as Admiral Carstairs was concerned, the D’Bringi had already torn up that document. Union citizens were dead, and Union planets had been looted. Someone was going to pay. She gave the order, and her fleet began transiting into the Danzig system.
Month 207, Day 8, Alliance
At mid-day the Alliance ICN transmitted a broadcast, in the clear, from the D’Bringi home world. The message reached every corner of the Alliance, including the home worlds of the T’Pau and the Rehorish, although in both locations it was somewhat delayed due to the safeguards both races had set up to ensure that their home system networks remained free of infiltration. Once again, the video began with the ornate and old-fashioned throne room of the ancient D’Bringi Empire. As before, armored D’Bringi were stationed throughout the room, but this time the emperor was alone, sitting on his throne, as the camera zoomed in and focused on him.
“People of the Alliance, greetings from your ally, the great D’Bringi Empire! As the restoration of our culture and promise as a people continues, I wanted to address the Alliance as a whole to ensure you that the D’Bringi people remain your friends and allies. The restored Empire intends, now and forever, to remain in the Alliance and to live up to its treaty obligations with the other races that the D’Bringi people liberated and uplifted. It was the reactionary, revisionist neo-conservatives that ruled here on the home world that abandoned our old ways, and who were weakening our society, turning us into weak, pale imitations of the other races. Imitations that would have been unable to assist the other races of the Alliance, who would have been dependent and weak! The restoration of the Empire has ended all of that and will restore the D’Bringi people to the position of strength and power that is ours by right!”
The emperor paused for a moment, and his face settled into a serious look. “I have some unfortunate news. In our ongoing efforts to purge the former regime of weaklings and appeasers, we have discovered that, just prior to our uprising, they released a virus into the Alliance ICN, which has disrupted communications throughout our great Alliance. The former regime developed this virus out of an ill-conceived fear of the other races in the Alliance. It was developed due to their inferiority complex, because in spite of the fact that their policies made us dependent on the other races of the Alliance, instead of the pillar of strength that we were meant to be, they feared the other races. Therefore, they developed this incredible weapon, which was unfortunately released in the chaos of our restoration. Once we realized what had happened, we immediately began searching for a solution. Our efforts have borne fruit, and we have released the counter to the virus. We do not understand how the virus works, and the lab where it was developed was largely destroyed, but we have confidence that the counter will work, should it be allowed to spread throughout the network. The great and powerful people of the D’Bringi Empire officially apologize to the other peoples of the Alliance for any inconvenience that this may have caused. We will, of course, agree to compensate anyone who has suffered losses due to the inadvertent release of the virus.”
The emperor leaned forward, an earnest and intent look on his face. “I now speak to all of the D’Bringi throughout the Alliance. The restored Empire will lead the D’Bringi back to the greatness we have lost! I ask you now to rally to our flag and resist any who might lead you astray. We must be unified to work together to restore our race to greatness!”
The video swelled with the anthem of the restored D’Bringi Empire, then faded out. The video was received across the Alliance, as intended, but reactions varied. On the T’Pau and Rehorish home worlds the video was viewed with suspicion and concern. Neither race entirely believed the D’Bringi Emperor’s story. Over the next several days it became clear that the ICN was being restored to reliability, although neither was inclined to trust it as they had in the past, or even to believe that it had actually been fixed.
On the home worlds of the allied races, such as the Doraz and the Torqual, the video was viewed with concern. Both races had been conquered by the D’Bringi, before their experience dealing with the other races had softened their approach to including races within the Alliance. Neither particularly wanted the D’Bringi to go back to their old ways of forcefully dominating the minor races. Both began putting into place plans to redeploy their militaries to cover their contact points with the Alliance, which had been previously undefended. For the others, like the Zir, Bir, and Aurarii, they were farther from the center of things in the Alliance and had barely noticed the irregularities with the ICN. For them the instabilities within the D’Bringi Expanses were of little concern.
The message was received quite differently on the colony worlds of the D’Bringi. There were eighteen worlds scattered throughout the Alliance that had been colonized by the D’Bringi fairly recently. All except one had populations under fourteen million, and that one was barely bigger than that and was rated very poor in mineral wealth. All had been ignored by the restoration conspirators, who had instead focused their attention on the more populous colonies closer to the center of the Alliance. This decision had been made by the D’Bringi who would eventually crown himself emperor, largely because of the limited resources he had at his command. Unknown to the Emperor, that had actually been a good decision, but not for the reasons he had made it. The new colonies were almost uniformly populated by younger D’Bringi who had, under the old clan order, been marginalized populations. They had been clan-less, or members of the numerous weak and small clans that populated the fringes of D’Bringi society, doing work that was necessary but considered beneath the dignity of a “real” clan member. The societal revolution within D’Bringi society that had accompanied the establishment of the Alliance had liberated these marginalized populations, and had largely contributed to the revitalization of D’Bringi society and the proliferation of D’Bringi colonies. These colonists had no interest in returning to the old ways which would see the arrival of high caste clan overlords arriving on their colonies to “oversee” clan possessions, which would include everything on their world that they had built and which was worth having. All of the new emperor’s talk of ‘restoration’ meant only one thing to these colonists, a return to poverty and crushing service to the clans. Across all of those worlds the colonists uniformly rejected the new emperor’s call to unity. It wasn’t long before messages began running between these worlds, feeling each other out and trying to find out if there was an alternative to the restored Empire. Unfortunately, many of these messages were ‘lost’ in transit, or subtly altered. It wasn’t long before the colonies began sending representatives to one another through the freight network, but this was very slow.
On eight other D’Bringi worlds the response was more complex. These worlds had initially rejected the restored Empire, or had been ignored by the conspirators as they were distant from the center of things. Many of these worlds were rated as poor or very poor, and thus had been of little interest to the conspirators, who had preferred to focus their limited resources on richer colonies. On some of these worlds the emperor’s words had the intended effect, rousing their nationality and racial pride, and pushed those worlds towards the restored empire. On others the message had the opposite effect, for the same reason it had been so soundly rejected on the smaller colony worlds. The largest population colony world in this category was Nagasaki, with a population of just over sixty million. The pro-Alliance government of Nagasaki had resisted the attempted coup by restoration plotters, and had since then been rounding up plotters and spies while trying to establish communications with other D’Bringi worlds. The message from the emperor was allowed to play across the colony, followed by a message from the governor promising that the restored Empire would never be allowed to take control of the colony.
Finally, in the Phyriseq system, home of the 4th Fleet, Skull-Splitter’s health was returning. With the restoration of the ICN the time to move would come soon.
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Month 207, Day 10, Alliance system of Stahat
A group of corvette-carriers, accompanied by freighters, entered the system and joined a second group that was waiting close to the warp point. The Alliance ICN buoy stationed at the warp point observed the corvettes enter the system, but no entry was made in its logs and no contact report was sent. Once the two groups had rendezvoused, they set out for the warp point that would take them to their eventual destination, the Dether system. The Dether system contained three Alliance colonies, two T’Pau and one Rehorish, and although most within the Alliance didn’t know it, the system would soon be threatened by the Colonial Union.
Month 207, Day 11, Alliance System of Phyriseq
The D’Bringi ships assigned to the 4th Fleet in the Phyriseq system had withdrawn from the Fleet assembly area close to the warp point to the Mintek home system some time ago. Since then, they had been orbiting the Phyriseq colony, assisting the pro-Alliance governor maintain his government while Skull-Splitter recovered. Now, finally, he was ready to act.
Skull-Splitter’s first move was to send a message as a counter to the emperor’s message. The video began focused on Skull-splitter, who was sitting on the command deck of his battle cruiser. Unlike the Emperor, who had appeared in the finery of the ancient emperors of D’Bringi, Skull-splitter appeared in the unadorned powered armor that was the signature of the elite warriors of the D’Bringi. He had removed the helm for the broadcast, which revealed the hideous damage the assassination attempt had done to one side of his body and his head, leaving him crippled, at least until he had time for a full regeneration treatment. For now, he was always in the armor, which gave him the mobility that he needed to lead his people.
“I speak now to all D’Bringi throughout the Alliance. You have all heard the message from the false emperor. He is a last vestige of the old ways that we have left behind us. He and his kind want to take us backward, back to the days when the clans dominated our society, and the empire in turn dominated the clans. I too am a remnant of those days. I was an am a leader of one of our so-called “great” clans. The false emperor speaks of the old days with nostalgia, but he wants you to forget our dirty secret. Our old ways were corrupt! They enriched the few at the top of the clan hierarchy while oppressing most of our people. I too used to support the old system, until I was introduced to new ways of doing things by our friends and allies in the Alliance. It may seem safe and comforting to go back to the old ways, as the false-emperor demands, but those ways were a trap! They oppressed and limited the vast bulk of our people to the benefit of the few. The years since the cultural revolution have seen a flowering of our people that I will never forget! Those who were marginalized under the old system suddenly were given opportunities, and like true D’Bringi they seized that opportunity and ran with it! Under the old system our colonies were desultory strip-mining operations run by greedy clan chief’s with only one goal, to strip as much wealth from the new planet as possible to enrich them and their cronies. Now, since the revolution, new colonies have sprung up everywhere, filled by D’Bringi intent on making new worlds for themselves. Worlds where they and their children will be free to make their own futures! Free to live their lives as they see fit, rather than bowing to some high-born clan lordling who never served on the front lines, or worked a real job! I implore you, all of you, look closely at those who serve the false-emperor! They are the worst of the old world, those who couldn’t adapt to the new ways. Your choice is clear. Only you can make that choice.”
“I speak now to the Alliance. To our allies and friends. You must understand what is going on within the D’Bringi Expanses. The false-emperor has sworn to uphold the treaties with you, however, if he succeeds his path will inevitably lead him to attempt to dominate the Alliance. To put the D’Bringi into a position of power over every other race within the Alliance. The false-emperor was once the head of the Keeper order. The Keepers were established to mediate between the great clans, and to ensure the future of the D’Bringi race by keeping the clans focused on any threats to our primacy and power, instead of on our petty internal bickering and constant warring on each other. Once, the Keepers were necessary as the clans were corrupt and constantly fought each other as the Clan Chiefs sought to divert internal threats by instigating fights with the other clans. Since the cultural revolution, though, the loss of power by the great clans led to an equal loss of power by the Keepers. The Keepers have always been the conservators of our traditions, and that has made them by far the most traditional among us. They have hated the cultural revolution and the changes it has brought from the first, and have fought it every step of the way. I, and my fellow clan chiefs, have known of their opposition and it was a constant source of concern for us, but obviously we underestimated them.” Skull-Splitter leaned forward in his seat, towards the camera. “I do not ask our allies within the Alliance for help. This is a D’Bringi problem and we will solve it in our way. I do warn you, though. The false-emperor has lied to you. He blamed the ICN difficulties on myself and the other leaders of the previous government, however, that is not true. No such project existed, not under our auspices. None was needed, and that should be clear to all, as we were the leading proponents of working within the Alliance with the other races. He and his Keepers are the ones who feared the other races. He and his Keepers are the ones who have ‘gifted’ the clans with advanced technology when it suited their purposes. Ask yourself, who would benefit the most from a disruption to communications at this time? I failed to prevent this disaster, and now I must do all I can to stop this fanatic from leading the D’Bringi people into the abyss.” The camera’s view drew back to show the entire bridge. Standing behind Skull-Splitter was his son, also in powered armor. Several marines stood at the back of the bridge, and all of the officers around the bridge now stood too, saluting in the old way, in support of their leader. “I do not ask the Alliance for help. This is a D’Bringi matter, to be finished by D’Bringi will. My fleet has rallied around me in our time of need. We will move to eliminate the usurper, and I now ask for the support of every free D’Bringi. Follow me, to freedom!”
The message was broadcast across the Phyriseq system. It was met by celebrations and acclaim on the already free colony and the fleet. The message was dutifully recorded by the ICN buoy at the edge of the system, but somehow was not rebroadcast as it should have been. Skull-Splitter had anticipated this, though. Although he didn’t have enough warships to send any out as couriers, there were numerous small freighters within the Phyriseq system, and their captains were very amenable to being hired as couriers. Each freighter had a copy of the message loaded into their computers, and were sent out across the Alliance. They broadcast the message in every system they entered and then moved on to the next system. It would take time, but their message would get out.
Month 207, Day 16, Alliance Kawasaki System
The D’Bringi contingent from the 3rd Fleet, which had withdrawn from their assignment in the Kure system when they received the initial message from the new Emperor of the restored D’Bringi Empire came to a halt just outside of weapons range of the warp point to the Rehorish home system. The nine battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers, three strike carriers, and two corvette-carriers were a considerable force, and per standard Alliance protocols they had sent ahead of them their plotted course and ETA, along with a request for authorization to transit the Rehorish home system. Under Alliance agreements such authorization would normally be automatically granted, more of a formality than anything else. Things had changed, though, and this had become apparent as the D’Bringi fleet approached the warp point. Assembled in front of the warp point was the Rehorish Home Fleet, which, although it didn’t have any battlecruisers, was a powerful force as well. The Rehorish Home Fleet had been somewhat depleted by detachments sent to garrison the Chirq home world and secure the Khozuni system, but it boasted seven light carriers, six heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers, and eleven destroyers. The D’Bringi force might possess bigger combatants, but the Rehorish force had more fighters and out-massed the combat ships the D’Bringi could bring to the field.
In any case, the D’Bringi commander had no interest in fighting. Instead, he merely restated his desire for his squadron to return to D’Bringi Prime, which necessitated transiting through the Rehorish home system. The Rehorish fleet responded with a denial of authority for transit, invoking the state of emergency declared by the Rehorish government a week earlier. After consulting with his legal resources, the D’Bringi commander attempted to negotiate with the Rehorish, arguing that the need of his people outweighed their state of emergency, but the Rehorish were unmoved. As long as the state of emergency existed, no D’Bringi ships would be allowed to transit their system. This was a problem for the former 3rd fleet ships, as no other route to their home world existed. Unable to transit through the Rehorish home system they were stopped cold. Unwilling to force a confrontation, the D’Bringi commander agreed to wait for a determination to be made at a higher level.
Month 207, Day 20, Stahat System
A large group of D’Bringi ships jumped into the Stahat system, rendezvousing with the corvette carriers that had arrived several days ago. This was the D’Bringi contingent from the 6th Fleet which had withdrawn after the announcement of the restoration of the D’Bringi Empire. After joining with the corvette-carriers, the combined group moved inwards towards the D’Bringi colony in the inner system. Stahat Prime was the largest D’Bringi out-system colony, and the center of power for the new Empire. Although the D’Bringi home world held immense political and social value for any government claiming legitimacy, it was here that the plotters had established their initial base of operations, and it was here that the greatest percentage of the planetary population truly supported their cause. And so, it was here that the new Imperial Fleet would be created. When the fleet arrived over Stahat Prime in seven days it would be greeted by a planet-wide celebration and joy, which would go a long way towards swaying crews that had had no idea what they were doing or why they left their stations in the Zir Villiers system.
Unlike the earlier transits of the corvette-carriers, the transit of this fleet was reported through the newly re-established Alliance ICN.
Month 207, Day 25, Novosibirsk system, Confederated Free States
The Novosibirsk system was a bustling, prosperous system. It was situated directly between the Colonial Union and the Alliance, and thus it enjoyed the protection of both great nations, and served as a convenient meeting place for the two to discuss important issues. The system was a hive of activity on many different levels, with traders, spies, and politicians from both nations vying with each other for advantage, with the CFS government constantly walking the thin line of neutrality, trying to help both, but not too much, while simultaneously not letting either get too much of an advantage. It was a precarious perch, but one that the CFS seemed to excel at, at least so far.
Former Admiral Ruston, now Special Ambassador Ruston, arrived over the capital planet of Titov early in the morning, and immediately boarded a civilian shuttle for the trip to the surface. He was accompanied by a large staff provided by the Union Foreign Relations Department, all of whom were busily preparing for the meetings that would be coming. The shuttle was on approach to the capital city’s main spaceport when an explosion erupted from the side of the transport. The pilots tried to recover as the shuttle veered to the right, away from the landing area, but then a second explosion shattered the rear of the shuttle and it augured into the ground, tumbling. Spaceport emergency services were on scene immediately and found both survivors and dead littering the area.
The Union embassy was in shock. They didn’t know what Ambassador Ruston’s mission was about, just that it was very important and very urgent. The Union Ambassador assigned to Titov was a senior official from the Foreign Relations department, as befitting the importance of the station, and she had been miffed that the Department hadn’t seen fit to let her in on the situation. And now this.
CFS emergency services were very efficient. Within fifteen minutes of the crash, they had identified the bulk of the survivors and had begun emergency medical aide. By the end of the day their tally was complete. Out of ninety-eight crew and passengers, forty-three had survived the crash. Including Special Ambassador Ruston. However, Ambassador Ruston was seriously injured and was in an induced coma as the surgeons reconstructed his savaged body. Ambassador Tilford, having no idea of Ambassador Ruston’s mission, was limited to sending a report back to the capital with a request for guidance. Included in the report was the preliminary determination by the CFS Bureau of Security that the shuttle crash was due to sabotage.
This report, when received in Epsilon Eridani, touched off a furious debate in the Senate. This debate went on for several days as furious supporters of Senator Semenov accused the New Dawn Party of sabotaging the negotiations with the Alliance. In the meantime, negotiations remained on hold.
Month 207, Day 29, Laramie System, Neutral Zone
The Colonial Union’s 1st Battle Fleet was now seventy-two light minutes from the warp point to the Alliance colony system of Dether, which meant it was now entering the danger zone. The fleet’s scouts hadn’t detected a single Alliance scout throughout the trip, which was consistent with the agreement with the Alliance that established the neutral zone, however, Admiral Carstairs had been unnerved by the lack of enemy scouts given the state of war that now existed between the two states. In any case, whether or not there had been patrol ships present or not, the Alliance certainly had at least a sensor drone at the warp point to their system, just as the Union had a sensor drone at the warp point that led to their systems. The fleet had already penetrated the invisible barrier that marked the sensor range of a ship sitting on the warp point. In a day and a half, they would reach the range that a sensor buoy could detect them at. If the Alliance hadn’t seen them yet, they would certainly see them then. Things were about to get very real.
There was indeed an Alliance picket ship sitting on the warp point to the Dether system, and it did detect the Union fleet approaching its location. Shortly after detecting the fleet the scout sent a CD back through the warp point to warn its fellow picket ships of the approach of an unknown drive field. The picket’s commander was not yet alarmed, as it was merely an unexpected drive field contact. It was anomalous, as it was on an unscheduled course, at an unscheduled time, and it was moving slower than a trade fleet would move. He would continue to wait and watch, as per SOP.
The contact report was received in the Dether system and reported back to fleet HQ through the ICN.
Month 207, Day 30, Alliance
The Alliance ICN was now more or less reliable, as the new D’Bringi Emperor had promised. The D’Bringi Emperor’s message had spread through the network, and with it spread the network’s reliability had seemingly been restored. The T’Pau and the Rehorish were unwilling to trust the ICN, but had yet to identify any discrepancies. Until now.
On this date the response to the emperor’s message from Skull-Splitter had arrived in the T’Pau home system via a small chartered freighter. The message electrified the T’Pau high command. It was proof of the continuing corruption of the ICN, given the disappearance of the original message from the ICN, and of serious divisions within the D’Bringi race. With the Alliance Grand Council neutralized by the assassination of the D’Bringi representative and the fact that no new representative had been appointed, the T’Pau declared a state of emergency and closed their system to all non-T’Pau warships. Messages were dispatched to the T’Pau ships assigned to Alliance fleets throughout Alliance territory to remain at their posts, but to verify any orders with T’Pau High Command before enacting any changes to their current SOP.
Skull-splitter’s message also arrived in the Stahat system, the center of the new D’Bringi Empire’s power. Unlike in the other systems, here the message was not received well, and the chartered freighter was impounded before it could spread its disinformation. Thus, Skull-Splitter’s message would not reach the D’Bringi colonies beyond Stahat, at least for now.
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Month 208, Colonial Union
The Colonial Union’s government is starting to feel more assured as the reinforcements have arrived for the fleets in the systems with the two known contact points with the Alliance. With those systems as secure as they can be made, another issue has been rising to the fore. If the Alliance wants war, why haven’t they taken any other action aside from raid two systems in the Sligo sector?
The Prime Minister and her cabinet have blamed the assassination attempt against the Senate’s ambassador in the Confederated Free States on the Alliance, claiming it is further proof the Alliance doesn’t want peace. The Prime Minister’s office has announced that the fleet now advancing on the Alliance colonies in the Dether system will exact justice for the dead colonists in the Sandhurst and Managua system, but has refused to explain what that means, claiming that it would infringe upon operational security.
In the meantime, the Colonial Union’s shipyards are hurriedly turning out numerous escort carriers, to make up for a perceived shortfall in fighter strength among its front-line fleets. Indeed, there are twenty-nine escort carriers currently under construction, which is 70% of the number of escort carriers currently in service. In addition to the general shortage in carriers, the response to the Alliance aggression has revealed another weakness in the United Colonial Defense Fleet. The Union’s supply network can only deliver about one half of the maintenance supplies that Admiral Carstairs’ fleet needs to the Dether system. This problem was anticipated, and supply ships have accompanied the fleet, however, these ships only have enough maintenance supplies in their holds to support the fleet for five months, at current consumption levels. If the fleet advances beyond the Dether system then it will be beyond the limits of the Union’s supply network, and thus demands on the fleet’s supply ships will increase, greatly decreasing the time they can remain on station. Vice Admiral Bonaventura at Sligo has tried to scrounge up additional supply ships to send forward to Admiral Carstairs, but there are none available. This is a problem, as the yards are full of escort carriers, and even if there was yard space available, it would take months to build and provision a supply ship, meaning for at least the near future Admiral Bonaventura will have to make do with what she has.
Month 208, Alliance
In spite of the promises of the new D’Bringi Emperor, the Rehorish and T’Pau do not trust the ‘restored’ ICN, and will be using couriers and communications ships to provide reliable comms for the foreseeable future. The next step, after establishing reliable communications between the T’Pau and Rehorish home worlds, will be to establish reliable comms with the Alliance fleets scattered throughout their territories.
The new Imperial D’Bringi nation is focused on consolidating the power and authority of the new government on the nine colonies that immediately declared for the new government. Rebellions and unrest have broken out on most of these worlds, but so far, the fighting is limited and the authorities on those worlds believe that they can subdue the unrest without outside assistance. On the D’Bringi colonies that rejected the emperor’s declaration of the restored Empire, the situation is varied. Eighteen of the colonies are recent expansions, and are primarily populated by those who under the old regime, or the new Empire, would be considered clan-less and thus relegated to virtual slavery as powerless drudge workers. They thus naturally rejected the call for the re-establishment of the old order, but these colonies are mostly focused on surviving and securing their hold on their new planet, and have little power or industry to spare for much else. They nearly uniformly decided to hunker down, aside from sending some messages through the ICN to fellow colonies, feeling them out for their stance on the new development. Such messages either disappeared into the ether, or were answered suspiciously quickly with long tracts extoling the virtues of the new order. Some of the larger colonies that initially rejected the Empire’s call suffered their own rebellions, and were absorbed by the effort to restore order within their borders. They too were cut off from communicating with the other colonies, or the Alliance.
The situation was somewhat different on the largest D’Bringi colony to reject the Empire, the colony in the Nagasaki system. This colony had achieved medium size, and Nagasaki II was rated as “rich”, so the colony was decently industrialized. The initial unrest that had broken out with the emperor’s announcement had been easily quelled, and the colony’s leaders had deduced that the ICN was unreliable. By the middle of last month, they began to take the initiative and sent out representatives to the surrounding D’Bringi colonies to try to get a handle on the situation in the surrounding systems. In addition, they sent representatives to the nearest Alliance Fleets for the same reason.
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Month 208, Day 1, Laramie System, Neutral Zone between the Alliance and the Colonial Union
The Colonial Union’s Fleet, moving up the warp chain from Sligo to the Alliance colonies in the Dether system, reached twelve light minutes from the warp point to the Dether system at 0600 hours. The Fleet had been on the Alliance picket ship’s scanners for several days, but beyond twelve light minutes the contact was merely that, a drive field contact slowly approaching their position. The picket ship’s scanners could reveal no more information than that, and with ongoing trade between the two nations, periodic contacts were expected. Now that they had breached the twelve light minute bubble, though, the picket’s scanners were able to determine the number of ships in the approaching contact. That’s when something near to panic set in. No less than fifty-three ships were approaching their position. That wasn’t a trade squadron, that was a fleet.
After some confusion the picket corvette’s commander arrived on the corvette’s small bridge, and she quickly took control and calmed her crew down. Their first priority was warning the Alliance that an invasion fleet was on its way, so she dispatched a CD back to the Dether system with their sensor log and a warning. With that done, she brought up her corvette’s drives and sent a warning to the approaching contact, advising them that they were approaching Alliance territory and would be denied entrance.
Thirty minutes later the corvette’s commander sagged in her combat harness in shock. The approaching fleet’s commander had identified herself as Colonial Union Admiral Carstairs, and claimed that she was responding to Alliance aggression in Colonial Union territory. The corvette commander sent a second CD off to her squadron-mates in the Dether system, and then sent a second message to the Colonial Union fleet, asking that they respect Alliance territory while the Alliance government responded to their concerns.
This time the Colonial Union fleet didn’t respond, and the massive fleet continued on its course. At its current speed it would enter the Dether system in twelve hours.
Month 208, Day 1, Hour 18, Dether system, Alliance
Admiral Carstairs shook her head sluggishly, trying to dispel the nausea that always hit her during a transit. Around her the superdreadnought’s bridge came back to life as the crew brought the massive ship back to life. Soon they were receiving reports that indicated that space around the warp point remained clear. The initial probe ships, a pair of scout-frigates, were positioned on opposite sides of the warp point, their powerful scanners watching for any signs of Alliance tricks. Three contacts were visible, likely the Alliance picket squadron known to be stationed at the warp point. The three Alliance corvettes were fifteen light seconds out, far enough away that they were out of weapon’s range, but close enough to get a read on the type of ships in the Colonial fleet. Aside from the picket group there were no signs of Alliance presence within their sensor range.
The heavy Colonial ships meant that the trip into the inner system would be a long one, but they had no choice. The colonies in the inner system were their target, and once her fleet was orbiting the colonies, they would be in a position to demand answers from the Alliance. Which was exactly what she intended to do. Leaving behind a small picket group, the fleet set out for the inner system.
Month 208, Day 2, Alliance
The invasion warning from the picket ships assigned to the Dether system spread across the entire Alliance through the now restored ICN. The Far Frontier Sector Capital, in the Stahat system, just three jumps from Dether, received the warning first. The Sector Capital had been established on Stahat III, which just happened to be the stronghold of the newly established D’Bringi Empire. As such, the Sector Capital had had prior warning of the advance of the human fleet, but couldn’t react until now. The Sector Capital’s first action was to send an emergency message to the D’Bringi forces that had withdrawn from the 6th Fleet and were on their way back to the D’Bringi home system. They just ‘happened’ to be passing close to the Stahat system and were perfectly placed to respond. The message ordered them to proceed to the Theom system and rendezvous with whatever other Alliance forces were able to make it to their location. In the meantime, while Alliance strength was being built up, they were to defend the system and prevent the Colonial Union forces from advancing any further into the Alliance. In spite of the irregular method in which the D’Bringi forces had withdrawn from the 6th Fleet, this order was well within the Sector HQ’s authority, and was well received when it arrived at the D’Bringi squadron. The squadron’s commander was of mixed emotions about the new D’Bringi Empire, and had been unsure of what she would do when they reached the home world, but a human invasion was something different. It was much clearer, and more direct. She immediately ordered her squadron to set out for the Theom system. Her twenty-nine ships turned to their new course without hesitation. Their ETA was twenty days.
At the same time as the message went out to the D’Bringi ships of the 6th Fleet, a second message was sent from Stahat-III to a force assembled in the Stahat outer system. This force consisted of thirty-five ships, and was composed of Imperial D’Bringi loyalists. The Imperial Fleet left orbit soon after receiving the message, bound for the Theom system.
A third message was sent from Stahat-III to the 6th Fleet in the Zir system of Villiers. While the Sector HQ could not change an Alliance Fleet’s orders, it could advise the fleet commander of the situation and request he relocate to the threatened area. In extreme situations the fleet commander had authority to act independently, although in most situations he or she would have to obtain Alliance HQ approval before changing their mission or making large scale changes to their deployments. In this case the Sector HQ reiterated the invasion warning and requested assistance, but noted that the D’Bringi ships that had withdrawn from the fleet were close to the invasion area and were being ordered to respond. The 6th Fleet commander, a T’Pau, immediately sent a request for approval to respond to the invasion, and dispatched a squadron of ships to reinforce those already responding.
On the Rehorish home world, home port of the 1st Alliance Fleet, the warning was received with suspicion. Two brand new couriers were dispatched to the Dether system to determine the actual situation, while more were sent to the T’Pau home world as a back up to the ICN, which they did not trust. A secure comms link was being set up between the two home worlds, involving newly built communications corvettes, but that would take time, and suddenly time was in short supply. For now, the T’Pau and the Rehorish decided to wait for their couriers to return from the area with an appraisal of the situation, while they set up their secure comms networks. After all, if the Colonial Union wished to invade, they could come through the Confederated Free Systems and push into the Core Sector not far from Rehorish Prime, thus no forces would be sent to the frontier until the situation in the interior was secure. After conferring, though, the T’Pau and the Rehorish gave the 6th Fleet commander approval to relocate as he saw fit.
On the D’Bringi home world the situation was considerably more complex. The new emperor had expected the Colonial invasion, and had in fact invited it. That part of his plan had come off perfectly, but the situation within the Alliance was more unsettled than he had hoped. His plan had been to decapitate the old government while hamstringing the Alliance’s communications and stirring up trouble with the Colonial Union. While the Alliance chased ghosts in their comms systems, he would be given time to consolidate his position, and when the Colonial Union inevitably attacked, his forces would be perfectly placed to fight a valiant delaying action until the 6th Fleet, the largest assemblage of warships in the Alliance, could respond and finish off the Union forces once and for all. What he hadn’t anticipated was the other Alliance leaders reacting so poorly to the disruption of the comms network. Now he was sure they were conspiring against him, but there was nothing he could do. He had made several overtures to the other Alliance leaders, suggesting that his representative be allowed to take their post on the Alliance Council, only to first be rebuffed, and then ignored. Now, the T’Pau had made it clear that they would view it very poorly if D’Bringi warships entered their system without prior arrangement. The T’Pau! Acting as if they were equals!
In any case, the invasion allowed him to put the Alliance 2nd Fleet, home ported in the D’Bringi Home system, on alert, and that was valuable in and of itself. While he had replaced the fleet’s senior officers with his own supporters, the overall loyalty of the fleet was an unknown quantity, and having an external enemy would go a long-ways towards cementing the allegiance to the Empire.
With an external threat on their doorstep, the D’Bringi emperor yet again transmitted a message to the other leaders suggesting reconstituting the Alliance Council with a new D’Bringi representative and addressing the threat in a coordinated manner. In the meantime, he pledged that D’Bringi forces throughout the Alliance would resist the invasion with all of their might.
Month 208, Day 4, Alliance Nagasaki system
The two D’Bringi colonies in the Nagasaki system had soundly rejected the new D’Bringi emperor’s call for unity and returning to the old ways, and since then had been trying to contact other D’Bringi colonies to determine their status and situation. Unfortunately, the communications issues had hampered their efforts, leaving them isolated. On this date a freighter entered their system carrying the announcement of opposition to the new order from Skull-Splitter. Almost immediately the colonial governments on both planets disseminated the speech throughout their colonies, and the two governors in the system declared their support for Skull-splitter. Unfortunately, they remained isolated, at least for now.
Month 208, Day 7, Rehorish Prime
Skull-Splitter’s message arrived in the Rehorish home system on this day, via a fast freighter. The message, coming on the heels of the invasion warning, unsettled the Rehorish government as the implications set in. The ICN was still unreliable, as feared, and the D’Bringi were likely behind it. And the D’Bringi were split, and perhaps in the beginning of a civil war.
Month 208, Day 10, Alliance
Finally, the new communications corvettes were in place in between the T’Pau home world and the Rehorish home world, and secure communications had been established. These communications were no faster than those running through the ICN, but they were on clean systems that were isolated from the ICN and thus were relatively secure. Their first order of business was to agree to delay the re-establishment of the Alliance Council. Both governments had initially been inclining towards granting the D’Bringi emperor’s request, however, with the arrival of Skull-Splitter’s message calling into doubt the legitimacy of the new D’Bringi government, they decided to wait.
Month 208, Day 11, T’Pau Home System
On this date Skull-Splitter’s fleet of nine ships settled into orbit over T’Pau Prime. They had been welcomed into the system on the strength of Skull-splitter’s reputation with the T’Pau. Skull-Splitter was not with the ships, but had left a message with the fleet for the T’Pau authorities explaining the situation and requesting support for his ships until he returned. The T’Pau were more than happy to provide this assistance.
On the same day, Skull-splitter himself appeared at one of the warp points in the Rehorish home system, requesting to meet with Tai-shu Okada. His voyage into the inner system would take five days.
-
Month 208, Day 14, Alliance Dether system
The Colonial Union’s 1st Battle Fleet arrives in the inner system at 0800 hours. Upon entering the inner system, it split up to cover the three colonies located there. As her fleet approached the three Alliance colony worlds, Admiral Carstairs transmits a demand for their surrender.
Admiral Carstairs was uneasy at the situation that she and her fleet had been placed in by the Union’s government. The Senate had not voted to declare war, and it appeared that they would not until the situation was clearer, although they had voted to support the administration’s response to the D’Bringi raids. The orders that were coming down to her from naval HQ in Epsilon Eridani were clear, she was to seize the Alliance colonies in the Dether system to force the Alliance to respond. Her orders were couched in a way that stated that the seizure was intended to force the Alliance to the negotiating table, but could be interpreted several different ways, if she was so inclined. And, although the administration had not sent along an ambassador, they had made it clear through back channels that they would not be upset if she took this opportunity to take the Alliance, and the D’Bringi, down a few notches. Indeed, based on the news reports from home, in spite of the fact that the Senate had not voted to declare war, it was clear that the administration already considered themselves at war with the D’Bringi, if not the entire Alliance. She had given much thought to the situation on the voyage out to Dether, and it was clear to her that the responsibility for going to war or not lay in her hands. Her orders allowed her to be as aggressive as she wanted, up to a point, and she would be covered, especially since it was clear that the administration wanted a more aggressive response.
Personally, she was inclined to grind the D’Bringi down a bit, and if their treacherous Rehorish allies got caught in the mix, that was too bad. She remembered that bad old days, when the D’Bringi were raiding the Solar System, before humanity broke out into interstellar space. The fear of the D’Bringi raiders hung over everyone’s head, poisoning everything. Worse, she had always believed that the Last War, that almost destroyed Earth, was caused in one way or another by the pressure the D’Bringi were bringing to bear on the USSR. The USSR started that war by launching on the other nations of Earth, but it was because of the position that the D’Bringi put them in. They never paid for that, and like many others in the Union Defense Fleet it had burned at her soul to make peace with them after all of that. But the Union had been at peace for many years now. It was peaceful and prosperous, and under its guidance many new worlds had been colonized. An entire generation had been born after the Last War and, if given the chance, would grow up without a war hanging over their heads. Even Earth was well on its way to recovery. As much as she wanted to make the D’Bringi feel the pain that they had brought to humanity, she wanted the next generation to grow up without fear. So here she was, in an Alliance system, balancing war and peace.
There had been much debate amongst her staff about whether or not the Alliance colonies in the Dether system would surrender with the Union Fleet in control of their system. Sligo Sector HQ hadn’t had enough troops to send forward to occupy the Alliance colonies, and neither side in the last war had ever bombarded a population. Without troops or the threat of bombardment, there was little for the colonial leaders on the Alliance worlds to fear from the Union fleet, however, there had been an evolving consensus within the Union that a planetary population that had been invested by an enemy fleet was better off surrendering than risking bombardment or destructive ground fighting. That was, of course, within the context of a war with a polity that was of like mind to the Union or the Alliance, where bombardment was unlikely but eventual invasion was certain.
The response from the three Alliance colonies was swift. Two of the colonies were populated by T’Pau, and one by Rehorish, and within seconds of receiving her message all three governors responded. All three colonies refused to surrender and accused the Union fleet of reckless adventurism and an unprovoked assault on the Alliance. Admiral Carstairs was prepared for that. When the last of the transmissions refusing her surrender demand was received, she ordered her comms personnel to transmit a message she had prepared in advance. The message was sent to the three colonies, and broadcast unidirectionally throughout the system, in addition to being targeted on the three Alliance corvettes that she had allowed to shadow her command as they advanced into the system.
The broadcast showed Admiral Carstairs on the bridge of her command superdreadnought. Alliance naval personnel would surely note the size of the command deck, even if the message had been edited to blur most of the stations across the deck. She wanted to impress the Alliance with Union technology and might, and showing off her command ship was the best way she could do that. With the shot established, Admiral Carstairs stepped forward, towards the camera, and became the central focus of the broadcast. “I am Admiral Carstairs, commanding officer of the 1st Battle Fleet of the Colonial Union. Just over two months ago, the D’Bringi, operating as an organization called the D’Bringi Empire, launched an attack on two Colonial Union systems. This attack was unprovoked and was a complete surprise. In one of the two systems attacked the D’Bringi engaged the Union defense forces present and overwhelmed them. In both systems the D’Bringi attacked and looted the Union colonies they found. In total, the D’Bringi killed three hundred and forty-two humans, wounded many more, and looted thousands of megacredits of goods and supplies, and crippled the infrastructures of three colony worlds. I don’t expect you to believe me, so I’m including recordings of the events I’m describing. In response to this unprovoked attack by the Alliance, I have been ordered to invest this system and demand an explanation and reparations from the Alliance. Union ground forces will arrive in this system next month, and if you continue to resist our determination to seek redress for the unprovoked attack on the Union, we will land those troops and take your planets by force. You have until the troops arrive in this system to make up your minds.”
The transmission then switched to show recordings of the two D’Bringi commanders justifying their attacks on the Union colonies, and then videos of the D’Bringi and subject troops landing on the colonies. In particular the message focused on the fighting that had broken out on the first Sandhurst colony to be attacked. The videos showed D’Bringi forces attacking humans that were clearly civilians who were desperately trying to defend themselves, sometimes supported by militia forces that were outgunned and outnumbered by the attacking D’Bringi. The videos hadn’t been edited, and showed the inevitable end of most of the fighting, the quick destruction of the defenders by the superior D’Bringi forces.
The Union broadcast was received on the Alliance colonies in the system, as well as the picket ships that had withdrawn to the outer system. The picket ships rebroadcast it to the Alliance ICN buoy at the warp points that led to the other Alliance worlds, and from there it was broadcast throughout the Alliance. Except that somehow the attached videos disappeared from the broadcast.
-
Month 208, Day 16, Rehorish Home World
Tai-shu Okada once again met with Tai-shu Skull-Splitter, this time on the D’Bringi Cruiser that had conveyed the D’Bringi leader into the system. This time Skull-Splitter met the Rehorish admiral as he boarded the ship. Tai-shu Okada was once again shocked at the D’Bringi leader’s appearance. Skull-Splitter was in a small group of D’Bringi officers, clad in powered combat armor, without the helmet. Because the helmet was missing the Rehorish admiral could see that the D’Bringi leader’s face was still grievously damaged, but his one eye was blazing with determination as he stepped forward. “Tai-shu, I am honored at your presence!” The D’Bringi admiral bowed, as had become the custom between Alliance races, avoiding any racial standard greetings for one that avoided entering another’s personal space.
Tai-shu Okada bowed back. “As I am honored by yours. I am surprised by your choice of attire, though. Surely there is no threat here?”
Skull-splitter smiled, a particularly fearsome expression coming from such a ravaged visage. “None that we know. No, I don’t wear this because of a threat. I have not yet recovered from the assassination attempt, and this armor conceals the damage and the life-support equipment I still need. Of course, I can’t show weakness in front of my people, so I have publicly stated that I will wear this armor until the true D’Bringi nation is restored.” The D’Bringi leader turned. “Come, let’s talk, as time is short.”
They moved to a nearby room where they could have a little privacy. Once the aides and officers had cleared out, Tai-shu Okada turned to the D’Bringi leader with a sharp gaze. “What are your plans?”
“If your nation will grant me leave, I would pass through to the Kawasaki system and speak with the commanders of the D’Bringi ships that have gathered there. I understand that your government will not give them permission to pass through your home system to return to D’Bringi Prime?”
Tai-shu Okada frowned. “That is correct. There are sixteen D’Bringi ships assembled there, waiting for us to decide.” Okada leaned forward. “Do you believe you can bring them to your side in all of this?”
Skull-Splitter nodded. “There are many within that squadron who are merely wishing to return to their home, now that vast changes have occurred. Although there will be a few that must have been in on the plot, most will have known nothing of it, or its broader reach. I will be able to reach them, at least.”
Okada dipped his antennae in agreement. “Likely, that is true. I question what it is that you wish to do with them, though? The presence of your other ships in the T’Pau home system makes me believe that you wish to return home as well?”
The D’Bringi leader nodded. “Once I assemble my forces, I will return to the home system and deal with the so-called emperor.”
Okada’s antennae waived agitatedly. “And if your home system defenses attack you? They may not give you a chance to talk to them, as the ships in the Kawasaki system undoubtedly will. Can you push through them and fight whatever fleet the assassin emperor has put together?”
Skull-splitter’s eye blazed. “Once they know the truth, they will come to our side!”
“Maybe.” Okada sounded a lot less convinced of this than he had been of the D’Bringi ships in the next system over talking to Skull-splitter. “If they fight you, then you may lose the battle before you can engage the false-emperor’s fleet.” Before Skull-splitter could speak, Okada continued. “And there is this news from the Dether system to consider. While we cannot just blindly believe anything the ICN tells, us, something is happening out there. If the Colonial Union knows of our internal problems, then they may have decided that this is the time to attack. Also, there is their claim that they were attacked. We cannot ignore the possibility that they are telling the truth!”
“If the false emperor ordered an attack on the Colonial Union, would that be enough for the Alliance to turn against his government?”
“If we can prove it, yes. There may be another way aside from you taking your forces to launch an attack on your home system.” Okada leaned forward and gave the D’Bringi a data-chip. “Our intelligence analysists have provided this. Although the ICN is unreliable, we have been able to glean some information from monitoring open communications. On this chip is a list of D’Bringi colony worlds that have acknowledged the new emperor, and another list of those that haven’t. There are two items of particular interest. One is the D’Bringi colony in Stahat. This colony is the Sector Capital, and was the first to acknowledge the new emperor and his government, and it has been the loudest in its praises of the new order. We believe this to be the center of the movement.”
Skull-Splitter grew thoughtful. “Stahat is also located close to the Dether system, and has a direct route to the Chirq home world. That puts it on a short list of D’Bringi worlds conveniently located and used to having military ships transiting its space. If the false-emperor did attack the Union, it would be a convenient place to have launched the attack from.”
“That has not escaped us. The other item of note are the worlds that have not acknowledged the emperor’s announcement. While I suspect this lack of acknowledgement was corrected in broadcasts for the D’Bringi people, they must not have cared about us. In particular is the Nagasaki system, which contains two D’Bringi colonies, one of which has a medium population. It is the only medium population world to not immediately go over to the new emperor, and has been absent from the ICN ever since. I believe that it would make a good base of operations for you to consolidate your position. There are many smaller colonies that have not acknowledged your emperor, and are likely looking for someone to rally around. If you give them that, then much could be done. The Alliance would recognize your faction, for one. Economic pressure could be applied to D’Bringi Prime. The D’Bringi colonies are widely separated, meaning that they will depend on the good will of the Alliance to continue communicating and for trade.”
“The Alliance would recognize a breakaway splinter group of D’Bringi? Because that’s what we would be. With a D’Bringi representative on the Alliance Council, representing the false emperor?”
Okada waived that away. “The Alliance Council is dead, at least for now. No new D’Bringi representative will be appointed until this is resolved one way or another. Without a full Council presence, no new issues can be resolved, so there will be no more meetings. The Alliance continues to function, for now, with the T’Pau and the Rehorish honoring their commitments and Alliance law, but there will be no new laws or major decisions until the Council is reconstituted.”
Skull-Splitter nodded. “Very well. May I continue on to the Kawasaki system?”
Okada bowed. “You may, honored D’Bringi leader.” He turned to leave, then turned back. “One more thing. We have established secure comms with the T’Pau home system via communications ships stationed in the intervening systems. That has allowed us secure communications at near ICN speeds and has facilitated common decision making. Those consultations have led to a decision that will begin to allow us to retake control of the Alliance. All of our attempts to purge the interference in the ICN have failed. We cannot continue to allow the D’Bringi Emperor, whom we all believe caused this situation, to benefit from an Alliance-wide communications network that he controls and that we cannot trust. Therefore, in a matter of days we will begin to send out ships to destroy the existing ICN. For a time, we will depend on couriers and communications ships. Once the old network, and its corruption, is eliminated, we will re-establish the network without our own buoys. While they cannot purge the old system, our network people believe that we can keep the new one secure, if we institute stringent security protocols from the first. We will ensure that your people are included in the courier network, and eventually the comm-ship network, if necessary.”
Skull-splitter stood up. “That is a very wise decision. I will go now to speak with my fellow officers. I will brief you upon my return.”
“And your plans? Do you still intend to return to D’Bringi Prime?”
“The D’Bringi admiral looked troubled. “I do not know. We shall see.”
Minutes later, as Okada’s pinnace took him back to the surface, the D’Bringi cruiser sped away from Rehorish Prime.
Month 208, Day 21, Alliance Kawasaki system, Rehorish Colonial Territories
Skull-Splitter’s cruiser transited into the system from the Rehorish home system, to find the D’Bringi ships from the 3rd Fleet assembled not far from the warp point. The D’Bringi ships had not received the new emperor’s message, as they were down-chain from Rehorish Prime, and the ICN had been cut where it entered the Rehorish home system. Therefore, they did not know about the coup, unless someone on the D’Bringi ships was working for the plotters. But they had withdrawn from the 3rd Fleet on timing that clearly was coordinated with the coup on the home planet. An interesting situation, to be sure.
Upon transiting into the system, Skull-Splitter himself sent a message to the commanding officers of the ships assembled in the system, requesting a meeting. As was standard for him these days, he appeared in the video message wearing a full power armor suit, without the helmet. The armor made him heroic in stature, but the left side of his head, revealed because he had eschewed the helmet, was hideously damaged. Still, even through the wreckage of his face, Skull-Splitter’s determination and drive were apparent in his eyes and his rough, damaged voice. He invited the assembled commanders to meet with him on his ship in one hour.
Skull-Splitter’s cruiser came to a halt ten light seconds from the assembled D’Bringi ships, and one light second from the warp point back to the Rehorish home system. After that, they waited. Ten minutes passed, without a response from the assembled fleet. After another ten minutes passed without a response, Skull-Splitter ordered his cruiser to action stations, although he ordered the ship’s captain to avoid raising his shields to avoid a provocative appearance.
Finally, after nearly twenty-five minutes, responses began coming in from various ships, starting with the strike carriers. But then an alarm sounded on the cruiser’s bridge. Skull-Splitter turned towards the central tank to see that the light codes for three of the battlecruisers at the heart of the fleet change. Simultaneously, the ship’s computer announced – “Status change. BCR’s 2, 3, and 4 have changed course and are moving away from the rest of the fleet. Their shields are now coming up.”
Just after that announcement, the ship’s comm officer turned towards Skull-Splitter. “Sir, incoming message from fleet flagship.”
Skull-Splitter grimaced. The fleet’s flagship was one of the three BCR’s moving away from the rest of the fleet. The BCR’s were traditionally crewed by the Keepers, and while that stricture had gone away, along with so many of the older traditions, they were still officered predominantly by the Keepers. “Put it up on the main screen.”
The screen at the front of the bridge lit up to show a D’Bringi officer dressed in an unfamiliar uniform. “I am Large Group Leader T’Han, legally appointed leader of this fleet by the new Emperor of the restored D’Bringi Empire. I order all ships under my command to stand down, drop your drive fields, and await my orders while I apprehend the criminal who styles himself ‘Skull-Splitter’. Failure to comply will result in your destruction.” In response, shields activated across the fleet, but no ships were moving except the three battlecruisers.
Skull-Splitter watched as the three D’Bringi battlecruisers began changing course towards his cruiser. “Captain, you will remain out of range of those battlecruisers for as long as possible. Launch your fighters, but order them to remain close to our ship, for now.” When the captain responded, and he saw that his ship had begun moving away from the sluggish battlecruisers, which obviously were still trying to get their crews to their stations, Skull-Splitter activated the inter-ship comms again. “To all D’Bringi ships, the Keepers have launched an illegal coup against the legitimate rulers of our nation. They intend to take us backwards, to repeal the reforms we have enacted, and to subjugate all who don’t agree with them. I stand against them!”
Even as Skull-Splitter’s message went out, another message was broadcast from one of the battlecruisers in the heart of the fleet. “I am Dai-i C’rex, commander of the battlecruiser Heart Render. I and my crew stand with Skull-Splitter! I call upon the usurpers to stand down immediately!”
Alarms began screaming on the bridge. “Weapons fire detected!” Skull-Splitter turned to the tank to see that a second battlecruiser had opened fire at point blank range on the battlecruiser that had just sent the message of support for the loyalist cause. The results were horrifying. Seven of the ship’s nine energy beam mounts hit, smashing the loyalist ship’s shields and bypassing its armor, gutting the big ship. The response was immediate as one of the heavy cruisers rounded on the battlecruiser that fired, spearing it with its own energy beams. The cruiser didn’t miss, and its fire gutted the usurper battlecruiser in turn. A single energy beam speared out from the damaged loyalist battlecruiser, hitting the usurper BC again, adding to its damage.
The fleet broke apart as the individual ships began trying to put space between themselves and their neighbors, as no one knew who supported whom. As they ran, the ships began launching their ready-fighters, each of which was armed with a fighter-gun and a close attack missile. Only a quarter of their fighters were ready to launch, and presumably their crews were racing to stations and trying to arm their remaining fighters. None of them declared their allegiance, so no one knew who they supported. For now, their fighters were remaining in close proximity to their carriers. The only ships with known loyalties were the two damaged battlecruisers, one of which had declared for each side, the loyalist heavy cruiser, the three usurper BCR’s, and of course, Skull-Splitter’s cruiser.
Skull-Splitter was aghast. He had not intended for this to happen. The slaughter would continue, he could see that. Already, the ships of the fleet had turned to keep within range of the carriers, which, with their attendant fighters were trying to withdraw from within range of the other ships. If they were allowed to do so then they would have the advantage, as their fighters could range across the battlefield, while the other ships would have to close with their enemies before firing. The only thing that had prevented further bloodshed was the fact that no one dared declare their loyalties without making their ships targets for the other ships within the fleet that held opposing loyalties without their knowledge. Skull-Splitter could see it clearly, sooner or later someone would decide to open fire on a nearby ship, just because it might be a threat. That would precipitate a general bloodbath. He had to head it off. Turning to his comm officer, he gestured for an open channel. Once he had it, he began.
“CEASE FIRE!” He paused for a second, then went on in a more normal tone. “All ships will immediately come a halt. No one, no matter what your loyalties are, will open fire at this point or this will descend into a general bloodbath. I propose a halt in place while I and your commanding officers confer about this situation and attempt to resolve it without further bloodshed.” After another pause, he began again. “I ask for all commanding officers to meet with me to discuss the situation. To reduce the threat or the potential for betrayal, I ask that we all meet in a neutral location aboard small craft, and then confer by short-ranged communications.”
Skull-Splitter waited with increasing nervousness for responses. Finally, after several minutes, responses began to come in, indicating that most had at least a willingness to talk. Skull-Splitter sagged in relief. Given the fact that no one knew anyone else’s loyalties, this was the only possible alternative aside from mutual slaughter. The only holdouts were the three commanders of the Keeper-dominated battlecruisers, but after seeing everyone else was going to get together, they decided to attend as well.
There was a delay while they traveled to the meet site, which was out of range of the weapons of all of the assembled ships, and then they talked it over. The meeting took a half an hour, and in the end, they decided to stand down. No ships would be allowed to leave the area, for either side. While that was a defeat for Skull-Splitter, who had hoped to unite the fleet behind him, it avoided another problem. The Rehorish had not yet agreed to let any D’Bringi ships transit their system, no matter who they supported. He had hoped to gain their permission once he won the ships over to his side, but he hadn’t been sure of the outcome. In the meantime, the ships that had declared for one side or the other would remain separated from the rest of the fleet, to avoid further problems. The Rehorish ship at the warp point confirmed that both damaged battlecruisers would be allowed into the Rehorish system for repair and medical attention for their crews.
Shortly after that, Skull-Splitter’s cruiser jumped back to the Rehorish home system with Skull-Splitter dispirited and unsure of their next move. Just after jumping back to the Rehorish system, Skull-Splitter’s son came to him with an idea. At that point Skull-Splitter had retired to his cabin to think about the ongoing disaster and his options. His son found him with his combat suit split open, revealing the hideous wounds that still disfigured the old D’Bringi. He was used to that, though. Even though he needed the suit to survive for any length of time, the old D’Bringi leader often opened it up, ‘so that his body could breathe’. His son was fairly sure his father actually did it to unnerve those who had to deal with him, but probably not in this case, as he had been alone in his room.
“Father, I…” He realized, yet again, how much all of this had taken out of his father. The old clan chief was indomitable, truly a leader from legend, but the assassination attempt and the dissolution of their state had taken its toll. And now, looking at his father, he realized that when the fleet turned on itself in front of him, it had taken whatever reserves the old D’Bringi had to stop the fighting and killing. His father was at nearly the end of his rope. That only strengthened his resolve. “Father, I have an idea.”
The young D’Bringi moved to help his father get more comfortable, and then explained his idea to the old leader. And so it was that as they moved into the Rehorish system, they were able to develop a new approach.
-
Month 208, Day 25, Confederation of Free States (Union-Alliance buffer state)
An Alliance courier arrived over the Confederation capital on this date, with urgent messages for the Alliance Ambassador to the Colonial Union, who happened to be Rehorish. These messages informed the Ambassador of the Colonial Union’s incursion into Alliance space, and the Rehorish and T’Pau suspicion that the incursion was in response to provocation by the D’Bringi. Finally, the directed the Ambassador to establish negotiations with the Colonial Union to determine the extent of the situation and to attempt to determine a peaceful resolution.
The T’Pau and the Rehorish had been united in this situation. While there were some who still wanted to finish the last war with the Colonial Union, particularly in some quarters of the Rehorish government, literally no one thought it was a good idea right now, with the Alliance divided and their communications network in pieces.
The Rehorish Ambassador immediately sent a communique to the Union Embassy requesting an immediate meeting with the Union Ambassador. Disappointingly, he was told that he would have to wait for an opening in the Ambassador’s schedule. Frustrated, the Rehorish Ambassador sent a second message emphasizing the urgency of the situation, only to receive no response.
Month 208, Day 26, Rehorish Prime
Skull-Splitter’s cruiser was met as it entered the inner system by a Rehorish heavy cruiser group, escorted by a pair of light carriers and three light cruisers. The Rehorish ships fell into formation with the D’Bringi ship, which then received a request for a visit from Tai-shu Okada. Skull-splitter quickly granted it, and in within minutes they were face to face.
“I fear that your mission in the Kawasaki system did not go well?”
Skull-Splitter, as always, in his combat armor but without the helmet, shook his head. “It did not, old friend. My presence caused a schism within the fleet that led to fighting almost immediately.” He raised a hand at Okada’s evident alarm. “I was able to stop it before it got out of hand, largely because no matter the outcome they believed they would remain trapped within the Kawasaki system. I suspect that forces loyal to me could have won that fight, but it would have been very bloody, and not worth the fight in the end, so I made them agree to a cease fire in place. Your picket has agreed to allow our two most damaged ships to proceed into your system for repairs. I’m sure you have already seen that report.”
“I have. I fear this means you will not have enough strength to penetrate the defenses of your home world. Likely you would meet this same situation with any group of D’Bringi ships you approached.”
Skull-Splitter gestured agreement. “You are right, I fear. However, my son has suggested a different way.” He gestured Okada over to the side of the room, where floating hologram showed a warp map of the area surrounding the Rehorish home system, out to three jumps. One system, the Aomori system, was blinking.
Okada took in the display. “Aomori? If I remember correctly, we both have a colony there.”
Skull-Splitter gestured assent. “Correct. While the Aomori system was originally settled by your race, under the founding Alliance treaties the second planet was granted to us for colonization, as it was largely unusable to either you or the T’Pau. Our colony there has also gone over to the usurper, and is the closest D’Bringi colony to have done so. My son has suggested that we investigate the situation there more closely.”
Okada’s antennae twitched as he considered the holo display. “For what purpose?”
“My son believes, and I agree, that the usurper’s control of his ‘loyalist’ colonies is paper-thin. More a fiction than anything else. It is clear now that military force will not be the only answer to this situation. We must consider more avenues to advance our cause than just fighting the usurper ship-to-ship in a glorious battle.”
Intrigued, Okada considered the old D’Bringi leader and realized that the other was actually enthused about this approach. “What makes you believe this?”
“The usurper is making constant appeals to the general D’Bringi population to support his cause. You’ve seen the messages being sent from the home world. He is constantly making appeals to the people to remember the glories of the past, and promising to bring them back. What my son pointed out was that those messages only connect with a relatively small percentage of the population. The ‘old days’ were really only glorious for a very small percentage of the population, basically the middle and upper tiers of our great clans. For everyone else, every day under the old order was just another day of servitude. I and the other clan chiefs had long been aware that our old ways had to change, that oppressing three quarters of our population would have no good end. The conquests of our early interstellar expansion hid these inequities and divisions within our system very well, at least for a time. In the end, though, I and the other clan chiefs knew our time was limited. There was too much pressure from below, too many who were disenfranchised, for our system to be truly stable. That was why we embraced the changes that came with amalgamation. It gave us a chance to enact sweeping changes throughout our nation, freeing up the bulk of our population to become productive members of society. The changes wrought by this over the last few years have been dramatic, and welcome. Truly, the only ones that want the old days to come back are a relatively small number of older D’Bringi who were privileged under the old order, and some young clan toughs who miss the opportunities the old order brought for glory and advancement. That’s why so many of the smaller colonies scattered around the Alliance have rejected the new government. They are composed of independent D’Bringi from the former lower orders or who were clan-less, and who want to make a new start free of the old ways. Most importantly, I’m willing to bet that there are many on the colonies that supposedly support the usurper that don’t want the old days to come back, and are willing to fight to make that happen. Perhaps they are already fighting. With the state of the ICN we’d have no way of knowing. I want to find out first hand, and the closest colony is in Sasebo. And one jump beyond that is another colony in Aomori. Between the two they should give me a pretty good idea of the state of this ‘empire’ that the usurper has declared.”
Tai-shu Okada sat silently for a few seconds, contemplating the map. After a minute or so he stirred. “Can you widen this map out?”
Skull-Splitter gestured, and the map widened out to encompass the entire Core Sector of the Alliance.
Okada got to his feet and gestured at the map. “Now that secure communications have been restored with the T’Pau, my government and theirs have come to a decision. While we cannot justify direct action against the D’Bringi, yet, it is clear that the Alliance itself is in dire danger. The new D’Bringi government may not have intended to cause this much disruption, but whether it intended it or not, we must act. Therefore, we are going to take the following actions. First, our new couriers are going to fan out across the Alliance, destroying every node of the old ICN, and conveying orders to the local governments to purge their ground-based ICN systems and dismantle them. Secondly, new ICN buoys will be constructed, with safeguards to reduce the possibility of corruption. These will be emplaced along critical pathways to restore essential communications.”
When Okada paused, Skull-Splitter jumped in. “This is wise. The false emperor controls the Alliance communications network, whether or not you can prove it. You took the first step by isolating yourself and establishing an alternate network, but that wasn’t enough. After all, the false emperor still has the advantage of the Alliance-wide ICN. By destroying it, and replacing it with your own, you will be depriving him of an advantage and gaining one of your own.” Skull-Splitter paused, then continued. “I assume you will not be connecting D’Bringi colonies to your new network?”
“We will not, at least not as yet. Perhaps that can change, depending on the outcome of your mission to Aomori.” Okada stopped, considered something briefly, then continued. “I’ll be honest with you, in light of your previous service to the Alliance.” Okada gestured at the map. “This is only the first step. While combined governments of the T’Pau and Rehorish have not yet decided upon the status of the D’Bringi, or a final solution to this conflict, we have decided that we will give tacit support to D’Bringi forces that oppose what my government, and that of the T’Pau, are calling the “illegitimate D’Bringi government”, imposed by force upon the D’Bringi people. At least, they’ll be using that term internally, for now. If left unchecked, this will be resolved by military force, however, we will gladly take any reasonable alternative offered. Give us that alternative, and we can move forward. In the meantime, couriers are being dispatched to the 3rd, 4th, and 6th Fleets, with new orders. The 3rd Fleet will be ordered to withdraw from the Kure system, leaving only scouts, and proceed to the Kawasaki system, where it will intern all D’Bringi ships located there until their status can be negotiated with the D’Bringi government, whatever that may eventually be. Once that is complete, they will join the 1st Fleet here in the Rehorish home system. The 4th Fleet will proceed to the Chruqua Warp Nexus and secure that critical system for the Alliance. All ships transiting the system will be searched for contraband. No D’Bringi ships will be allowed to transit without authorization. The 6th Fleet will be given orders similar to those sent to the 3rd Fleet. They will intern any D’Bringi ships still in the Villiers system, then proceed to the Stahat system, where they will await further orders. From there they can respond to any further Colonial Union incursions, if there are indeed any at all, or deal with D’Bringi subversion. They will have similar orders as the 4th Fleet. All D’Bringi warships to be interned, and all civilian ships are to be searched. We don’t know what has been going on in our own territory, but that will end. We will exert control within the Alliance, and we will re-establish our ability to gather information within our own borders. In the meantime, communiques will be sent to the Associate Members, warning them of the instability within the Alliance, and asking them to remain within their own territories until this situation is resolved.”
Skull-Splitter remained motionless as he took this in. Finally, he stirred. “I would wish to resolve this without bloodshed.”
Okada gestured in negation. “I’m afraid that you know as well as I that this is not likely, or even possible. In reality, the question will remain, how much blood must we shed to contain and resolve the situation, to avoid even greater bloodshed? Much depends on you, old friend. Find a way that avoids all-out war with the D’Bringi Empire, and I will convince my government to take it. In the meantime, I offer the use of one of our new couriers, which will allow you to travel much faster than you would be able to in your flagship.”
Skull-Splitter looked relieved. “Very well. I will leave for Sasebo within the hour. Thank you.”
Before the D’Bringi leader could leave, Okada stopped him. “You must offer your people an alternative, if they are to come together to oppose the one you call the usurper. You are the last of the senior clan chiefs, and the last of the senior leaders of the D’Bringi left alive. Whether you declare a new D’Bringi state, or the continuation of the old one is up to you, but you must give your people something to rally around. And that begins with you.”
Skull-Splitter looked thoughtful as he escorted the Rehorish admiral to his shuttle. There was much to consider.
Even as Skull-Splitter set out for Sasebo, courier ships were leaving Rehorish Prime and T’Pau Prime, headed out across the Alliance, ordered to destroy the old ICN network to clear the way for the new comm system.
Month 208, Day 27, Alliance Theom System (adjacent to occupied Dether system)
The Imperial D’Bringi Fleet, recently dispatched from the Stahat system, arrives at the warp point in the Theom system that leads to the human-occupied Dether system. Once there it joins with the D’Bringi ships that were withdrawn from the 6th Fleet upon the announcement of the change in D’Bringi government. These ships are still technically assigned to the Alliance, and while their officers and crews have no particular loyalty to the new government, neither do they have a reason to oppose it.
6th Fleet D’Bringi Ships:
6xBC, 6xCA, 3xCVS, 11xCVE, 3xCTV, 276xF0
Imperial D’Bringi Ships:
3xBC, 3xCA, 3xCVS, 3xCVE, 17xCTV, 195xF0, 18xF1
For now, the D’Bringi ships appear to be content to sit on the warp point, blocking the Union fleet’s route of advancement into the Far Frontier sector. For now, just a few corvette-carriers were deployed to the far side of the warp point to keep watch in the Dether system.
Month 208, Day 28, Alliance Caris system
The Caris system is located in the Far Frontier Sector, two jumps from the Sector Capital in the Stahat system. Caris has two habitable type ST planets, both colonized by the D’Bringi some time ago. Both have small, but growing, populations, and both soundly rejected the Imperial D’Bringi call for unity and loyalty to the new government. The colonists were almost uniformly from the former clan-less of D’Bringi society, and so had been disenfranchised under the old order. They had no wish to return to that state, and so the few Imperial agitators that had popped up after the coup had been dealt with, sometimes harshly, and then life went on. Until now.
On this day, several freighters landed on each of the colonies. Instead of carrying supplies, though, they were transporting troops in Imperial uniforms. These troops immediately fanned out, seizing key installations and critical infrastructure, and within hours the colonial governments were under their control. The invasion was mostly bloodless, as the colonies had been caught entirely off guard. That would change, though. After the capital cities were under control, and the troops had fanned out to gain control of the smaller towns that dotted the surface of both planets, Imperial Security troops disembarked from the transports and assumed control of the capital cities from the combat units. Once in control, the security units began the executions. They had a long list, and they were determined to work their way through the entire list, to ensure that their lesson was learned.
Month 208, Day 30, Union-Controlled Dether system
On this date a Colonial Union ground force arrived in the Dether system. This was what Admiral Carstairs had been waiting for. With the troops in hand, or nearly in hand, she reopened communications with the Alliance colonial governors on the three colonies in the inner system. So far, they had been uncommunicative and uncooperative. They knew she wouldn’t bombard them, and without troops couldn’t invade them, and so had no way to enforce her will. Now, though, the equation had changed.
As the transports departed the warp point bound for the inner system, she re-opened communications with the colonial governments, informing them that Union troops were approaching and would soon begin landing operations.
That news, confirmed by their own sensors, motivated the governors to respond, and resulted in some intense negotiations. Admiral Carstairs held all the cards, but the Alliance governors were fairly sure by this point that she wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, which was true. Although her orders from Fleet HQ directed her to establish control of the system, and to destroy any resistance, she was loath to just begin indiscriminately shooting everyone in her way. Based on her experience, responding to raids into the Union that killed hundreds by raiding into the Alliance and killing thousands would only exacerbate the situation. She was still hoping a diplomatic solution could be found, although based on what little information was making it all the way out here nothing had been heard from the Senatorial embassy to the Alliance since it arrived in the Confederation some time ago. It was possible that the information from the embassy mission was compartmentalized, but she had a bad feeling about that.
In the end, knowing that they had little choice, the Alliance governors agreed to surrender their colonies to Union control. However, they extracted a promise from Admiral Carstairs that in exchange for not opposing her landings or occupation, she would limit her troops to the spaceports close to the capital cities and the areas surrounding them. Additionally, the governors promised to turn over the goods that would normally be shipped to the Alliance to the Union. Carstairs had found that imminently acceptable, as it avoided all bloodshed, at least for now. For her part, she limited her landings to the immediate area around the spaceports and capital cities, and, so long as the locals behaved themselves, limited her troops to disarming the local militia and observing the activities of the locals.
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Month 209, Alliance Overall Situation
Couriers are spreading out from the Rehorish and T’Pau home worlds, destroying the old ICN as they go. By mid-month, the two Alliance partners will have secure comms not only between their respective home worlds, but also to the 4th Fleet in the Phyriseq system and the 3rd Fleet in the Kure system. By Month 210, additional secure links will be established as well. On the first of the month the T’Pau destroy the ICN buoys in their system, cutting the D’Bringi home world off from the rest of the Alliance. The T’Pau government sends a statement to the D’Bringi emperor announcing the joint intent of the Rehorish and T’Pau governments to replace the old, unreliable ICN with a new, secured system. The announcement allows the D’Bringi government to send messages via CD’s, however, to prevent re-contamination of the Alliance’s communication systems all messages will be required to be in standard Alliance code, and will be downloaded from the original drone, transcribed and re-encrypted, and then downloaded to a new drone before being sent on its way. Additionally, the T'Pau government announces a reorganization of their system defenses, due to the instabilities in their neighbor, with the bulk of their fleet being deployed to the warp link to the D’Bringi system. This redeployment is characterized as defensive in nature, intended to interdict any hostile forces that might want to enter the D’Bringi home system, such as rebel or dissident groups. However, to prevent misunderstandings, the T’Pau government requested that the D’Bringi government limit transits through their system for the foreseeable future, and to arrange such transits in advance.
New T’Pau Home System Deployments:
5th Fleet, D’Bringi WP Guard: 6xCA, 6xCVE, 6xCTV, 126xF1
Fortifications: 3xBS3, 75xDSB-L, 150xMF
5th Fleet, Ember WP Guard (Closed WP To Union Territory): 3xCA, 3xCVE, 5xCTV, 75xF1
Fortifications: 3xBS3, 75xDSB-L, 150xMF
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Month 209, Day 2, Alliance Kure System
A courier from the Rehorish home world arrived on this date, and new orders were issued to the 3rd Fleet. The fleet’s original mission was to secure the Kure system against intrusions from either the Union or the Mintek, both of whom had links to the system. Now, though, there were more important matters going on within the Alliance. Within a matter of hours, the fifteen ships of the fleet departed, bound for the Kawasaki system, adjacent to the Rehorish home system, and currently location of the D’Bringi ships that had withdrawn from the fleet. Their ETA was fifteen days.
Month 209, Day 3, D’Bringi Prime
The emperor’s staff were staying as far away from the throne room as possible. The emperor had been ranting and raving for hours, ever since the intel chief reported the confirmation that they had been cut off by the T’Pau. The admiral commanding the imperial fleet feared that the emperor’s vengeance on the T’Pau would be terrible, if he was ever in a position to exact his revenge. In the meantime, they all stayed out of the emperor’s sight.
By mid-day the throne room quieted, and by a vote Admiral Blood-Fang was chosen by the Imperial Court to determine the emperor’s state of mind. The admiral entered the throne room cautiously, but saw that the emperor was sitting on his throne, a pensive look on his face. Seeing that the emperor was apparently calm, he approached and kneeled.
After a few seconds the emperor looked at the kneeling admiral. “Well, Admiral? Can your fleet open up our route of communication with the rest of the empire?”
The admiral knew what the emperor meant, even if he was leaving much unsaid. “My emperor, I believe we can. However, is that the wisest path forward?”
The emperor growled low in his throat. “I want to sweep the treacherous T’Pau aside. I want my people to regain their place in the center of the Alliance! I don’t want them to be swept into a corner, forgotten and cast aside!” His voice had risen in pitch as he talked, until he was shouting the last few words.
“Sire, I and my fleet stand ready to execute your orders. I believe I have enough strength to force our way through whatever the T’Pau have on the far side of the warp point and then secure their system, but what then? Can we hold the system in the face of united resistance from the rest of the Alliance?” The admiral knew the answer to that, and so did the emperor.
The Admiral’s words stopped the emperor for a few seconds, but then he raised his voice and called across the throne room. “Where is my intelligence chief?”
Almost immediately that worthy stepped through the doors and approached. “Yes, sire?”
“It is clear that your plan to control communications across the Alliance has failed, and we are cut off here in the home system. What is your council?”
It was not lost on the intelligence officer that the plan to disrupt and control the ICN was now, suddenly, ‘his plan’. Still, he reminded himself, there was no way but forward. “Excellency, we always knew that it might eventually come to this. The Rehorish and T’Pau know that the old ICN is compromised, and there was always a chance that they would disable or destroy the network, rather than continue to try to regain control, particularly when their efforts continued to fail.” The intel chief could see the emperor’s face darkening, a sure sign that his patience with what he viewed as excuses was limited. “However, we planned for this. Even now, we have forces in place outside of the Union incursion into the Dether system. Those forces, once it becomes clear that contact has been lost with the home world, will follow the orders that you, in your foresight, gave them to cover this eventuality. That will result in the Alliance being at war with the Union, and at that point the Alliance will have to accept our new government so that they can focus on the external threat. Trust in your plan, Excellency.”
The emperor remained silent for some time, considering what had been said. Finally, he gestured for the two to rise. “It will be some time before my plans unfold. In the meantime, lets consider our deployments for defense of the home system, should that be necessary.”
Month 209, Day 4, Alliance Sasebo system
Skull-Splitter’s courier arrived in orbit over the D’Bringi colony to find things apparently stable and the colonial government, which had declared for the empire soon after it was announced, in firm control of the surface. After some time spent gathering information and observing from orbit, it became clear that the situation on the ground was not as clear-cut as they originally appeared. The colonial government had declared martial law shortly after announcing its support of the empire, and communications and travel between settlements was tightly controlled. Several smaller outlying settlements had been burned, and the courier’s crew had managed to identify several makeshift camps established in the wilder portions of the colony, away from the main settlements. They even witnessed a fight between two groups on the ground, although who was fighting, or why, was unclear. After watching for several days, and with no way to effect events on the ground, Skull-Splitter ordered the courier to head to out towards the D’Bringi colony in Aomori.
Month 209, Day 8, Alliance Aomori system
Skull-Splitter’s courier arrived over the D’Bringi colony in the system to find it in chaos. Upon entering the system, the courier had monitored numerous transmissions from the colony. The transmissions were contradictory and confusing. The official transmissions from the empire-friendly colonial government claimed everything was normal and under control, while numerous other transmissions indicated that the colonial government controlled very little and chaos had descended upon the colony. Many of the transmissions were aimed at the neighboring Rehorish colony, which had a somewhat higher population and had been established on the fourth planet, while the D’Bringi colony was on the second. The Rehorish colony was not only more populous, but richer, as it had a better mineral wealth rating than the D’Bringi colony. The transmissions from the D’Bringi colony to the Rehorish colonies consisted mainly of pleas for assistance, in the form of food and/or weapons. Meanwhile, the D’Bringi colony’s imperial government consistently denied there were any problems and threatened to attack the other colony if they interfered with the D’Bringi colony’s internal affairs.
Skull-Splitter’s courier settled into orbit over the D’Bringi colony, as it had in the Sasebo system, claiming it had messages to be downloaded to the colony’s database. The colonial government agreed to accept the messages, but refused the courier landing rights, claiming it was dealing with a minor outbreak of a communicable disease. After just a short time of observing the surface, it was clear that the ‘imperial’ government of the Aomori colony was in deep trouble. It retained control of only the colony’s capital and one other nearby settlement, while the rest of the colony was either in ruins, or sending troops to attack the government’s remaining strongholds.
From there it took just a little more work to establish somewhat secure communications with what the courier’s crew had identified as a command post for the troops advancing on the capital. Skull-Splitter was shocked and surprised after talking to the leaders of the forces on the ground. It had been his speech of opposition to the imperial government that had set off the rebellion below, and the rebel forces were united their opposition to the imperial government under his banner. When they realized who was in orbit, the rebel leaders were ecstatic! They assured him that with Skull-Splitter himself in command, the rebellion, which was on the brink of launching its final offensive, would not fail.
After some thought, Skull-Splitter sent his son down to the surface as his representative to the rebels. In the old days he would have gone himself, and led from the front, in the hottest fighting, but those days were gone, and his extensive injuries limited his options now. Even in power armor he needed to limit his activities, at least for now.
The attack was launched a day later, and as the rebels predicted the government fell soon thereafter. Five days later the rebels were in firm control of the planet and had declared for Skull-Splitter’s faction. That left Skull-Splitter elated, but in something of a quandary. The colony now supported him, but what could he do with it? After all, he did have any warships in the system, only a single courier, and he had no way to transport troops to or from the colony. His fleet, such as it was, was concentrated in the T’Pau system, awaiting his decision to assault the home system, or defend the T’Pau system, as needed. And he still had no way to communicate. There were almost certainly other colonies out there that supported his cause, or were at least in opposition to the Empire, but if he couldn’t unite them, they would be picked off one by one by the usurpers. The realization was sobering. He was dependent on the plan to destroy the old ICN system and replace it, and until that happened the systems that supported him would be cut off.
Month 209, Day 11, Alliance Phyriseq System
On this date a courier from the Rehorish home system arrived with orders for the 4th Fleet. The orders were clear and unequivocal. After detaching a small group to support the fortifications at the warp point to the Mintek home system, the fleet departed, bound for the Chruqua warp nexus.
Month 209, Day 15, Alliance/Imperial Stahat System
On this date a courier from the Rehorish home system entered the Stahat system, bound for the Villiers system with orders for the 6th Fleet. Unfortunately, it was met at its entrance point by a D’Bringi picket ship and ordered to halt for inspection. With little choice, the courier ship complied. When the D’Bringi captain ordered them to unlock their databanks for inspection of the messages they carried, the courier’s commander refused, causing the D’Bringi captain to seize the courier. The orders for the 6th Fleet would not arrive. However, before the imperial forces could board the courier, it managed to launch a courier drone back through the warp point it had entered the system through, meaning that word of its seizure would get back home.
On this same date, colony transports pressed into service as troop carriers by the Imperial D’Bringi government on Stahat Prime arrived over the colonies of Naia and Roban, both two jumps from Stahat. Both systems contained D’Bringi colonies with small populations and poor or very poor mineral wealth, and both had gone silent when the new empire was declared, hoping to remain beneath the imperial notice. That hope had gone unfulfilled as transports landed on both colonies, disgorging security troops that fanned out to take control of the colonial infrastructure. There was little open fighting, but many of the colonists lived outside the colony’s capital city, on both colonies, and those D’Bringi were not inclined to support the new government. The newly installed Imperial governors controlled their own city, but little else.
-
An update on the progress, or more properly, the lack of progress on the Cold War Campaign.
First off, the campaign is not dead. I haven’t posted in a while, largely because of health issues. I had Covid early in the year, and while it was a relatively mild case, I’ve had some significant short to medium term side effects that are only now beginning to clear up. Primarily, I’ve had a case of ‘brain-fog’ that has persisted for a while, and it has made writing problematic. I just haven’t felt cognitively up to writing, and instead have spent a lot of time playing games that don’t really challenge my brain that much. I believe all of that is clearing up now, though, and I’m feeling much better. Even better, the urge to write is returning, so I think I’ll start making progress in the campaign again, although it may be a bit before I post anything.
I’ve decided to make a couple of behind-the-scenes changes to the campaign. They probably won’t make much difference to the outcomes that will be written up, though, just how I go about resolving things within the campaign. For one thing, I am going to be changing fighter to fighter combat, as I am very unsatisfied with the standard rules. I’m working on developing something that I like better, and which is useable with the numbers of fighters that are in use in the campaign currently. We’ll see how that goes.
That brings us to something that has increasingly reared its ugly head. Scale issues. Part of the reason I haven’t made much progress is because of the brain-fog, but also because, mildly impaired as I was, I didn’t feel like tackling a relatively big battle that was the next thing to be written up. This battle involves twenty-six capital ships, thirty cruisers and smaller ships, sixty carriers, and eight hundred and eighty fighters. That is a large number of ships and fighters to deal with, and I’ve been putting off dealing with it, particularly because I wasn’t feeling well.
However, compared to some of the battles in the later stages of the Phoenix Campaign, that’s nothing. For example, in the Phoenix Campaign, the ASR was responding to an Eater invasion. At the time the campaign ended, the ASR was assembling a force to stop the Eaters and then go on the offensive. While that force would likely never be concentrated in one system, it was massive compared to anything in the Cold War universe. The ASR anti-Eater fleet numbered one hundred and seventy-two capital ships, one hundred and sixty carriers, three hundred and seventy cruisers and smaller ships, and 4,748 fighters and 2,086 prototype gunboats. And that doesn’t count in-theater reserves, which were substantial. On the Eater side, there were one hundred and sixteen capital ships, one hundred and twenty-one carriers, one hundred and ten smaller ships, 3,195 anti-fighter small craft, and 750 armed pinnaces. Unlike the ASR, the Eaters’ force was assembled in one system, and was a sledgehammer aimed at the heart of an ASR sector. In addition, the Eater’s had three hundred and twenty-three ships and 4,995 AFSC headed towards the front lines as reinforcements. Those two forces dwarf all of the combined fleets in the Cold War campaign, which is as intended given the changes I made to the production, growth, and research rules at the start.
Still, even though the overall fleet sizes are much smaller, a battle with over one hundred ships and almost nine hundred fighters was looking kind of daunting. I’m feeling much more capable these days, though, so I’m going to begin working my way through it soon. I might post bits and pieces of stuff going on elsewhere to update everyone as to the goings-on in the universe, hopefully soon.
Kurt
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Month 209, Day 17, Alliance Kawasaki system
The fourteen ships of the Alliance 3rd Fleet approached the warp point to the Rehorish home system, and the assembly point of the D’Bringi ships that had been prevented from transiting the Rehorish home system. The D’Bringi fleet remained divided, with the three battlecruisers that had declared for the empire on one side, the cruiser that had declared for Skull-Splitter on the other, and the remaining eight ships in the middle. All three groups were out of range of each other, as none of them trusted the other.
As the 3rd Fleet approached, ships from the 1st Fleet, based in the Rehorish system, began transiting into the Kawasaki system. Soon, there were twelve cruisers and light cruisers in the Kawasaki system, supported by seven light carriers, in addition to the approaching 3rd Fleet forces. The D’Bringi ships watched as the two groups of Alliance ships merged, and then came to a halt ten light seconds from the outermost D’Bringi ships, which happened to be the three imperial battlecruisers. After a few seconds, the D’Bringi ships began receiving a message from the assembled Alliance ships.
The message showed Tai-shu Okada, who was one of the most senior officers in the Alliance, and greatly respected across all of the national fleets. After a few seconds he began speaking. “Officers and crewers of the D’Bringi ships of the 3rd Fleet. I speak to you now as your commanding officer. The Alliance is in dire straits. The ICN has been disabled, interstellar communications are corrupted and unreliable, and the Alliance itself is fractured. All of this has left us vulnerable to outside threat, and if what communications we have received are to be believed, there is a Union fleet occupying one of our systems as we speak. If the instabilities in your home system had remained an internal matter, then my race and the T’Pau would have allowed you to resolve your issues on your own, without interference, however, this is not the case. We cannot, and will not allow D’Bringi ships of uncertain loyalty and intent to wander around the Alliance. Therefore, I order you to drop your drive fields and turn yourselves over for internment. Your ships will be impounded and your crews will be interned until arrangements can be made to return you to your home system. You have ten minutes to comply, after which my orders will be carried out by force. Please do not force Alliance ships to fire upon you! We are all part of the Alliance, and we want you to remain in the Alliance as a valued ally as well.”
The commanders of the D’Bringi ships debated the issue for a few minutes, and the captains of the imperial battlecruisers ranted and raved towards the Rehorish and T’Pau ‘betrayers’, but in the end they all dropped their drive fields. It was inevitable, really, as they were deep within Rehorish space, blocked from returning home without going through a home system’s heavy defenses, and really had no where to go. Even fighting would have little result, as they were outnumbered, and although the three battlecruiser captains pushed for a united front, many of the other commanders had already decided to accept internment.
The Rehorish and T’Pau ships then proceeded to transfer the D’Bringi crews to their ships and then jumped back to the home system, where the crews would be transferred to a camp on Rehorish Prime. As the transfers were taking place, transports jumped into the Kawasaki system with skeleton crews for the D’Bringi ships, which would be taken back to Rehorish Prime.
Month 209, Day 20, Alliance Chruqua Nexus
The Alliance 4th Fleet took up stations in the system, with detachments at all of the warp points and the fleet assembled in the inner system, ready to respond to any location in the system if necessary. The detachments had orders to stop all freighters and transports transiting into the system and conduct searches for contraband, which was defined as military equipment. Any ship refusing to be searched was to be interned. The inspections started immediately.
Month 209, Day 23, Rehorish Prime
Once again Skull-Splitter arrived over Rehorish Prime to be met by Tai-shu Okada. This time they met on one of the orbiting shipyards, which had copious space available for such meetings.
Okada welcomed the D’Bringi leader into the room, then got down to business. “What have you found on your colonies?”
The gruff old warrior smiled. “The Aomori colony has been liberated from the usurper’s forces. A rebellion appeared almost as soon as the usurper declared his empire, and truthfully, they were on the verge of victory when I contacted them. I think the thing that most surprised me was that they were fighting in my name, having received my message of opposition to the empire.”
Okada dipped his antenna in acknowledgement. “And Sasebo?”
“Remains under the control of the usurper, however, there is some evidence of a resistance movement. I had no troops, or warships, though, so I had no way to influence events on the ground.”
“Events have moved forward here, as well. The 3rd Fleet has been recalled to this system, and the D’Bringi ships you attempted to recruit in the Kawasaki system were interned. Their crews are being held in camps on the surface, and their ships are in orbit. Our original plan was to return the crews to the D’Bringi home system, and keep the ships here until the situation was resolved. However, as we develop a clearer picture of the state of the Alliance, my government has decided that the situation must be resolved by any measures necessary, as quickly as possible. By withdrawing our fleets to restore control to our critical territories, we have stripped our defenses bare. Should any of our enemies become aware of this development, we would be vulnerable. We have to resolve our problems, as quickly, before anything else happens. Therefore, the decision has been made to turn all of the interned ships to over to your control. You will be allowed to recruit as you wish from the officers and crewers interned on the surface of our planet. We do this so that you can restore order to the D’Bringi portions of the Alliance, while our fleets deal with more immediate problems.”
Skull-Splitter was overjoyed at this decision. “This is a momentous day. What can you tell me of the situation as we now understand it?”
Okada brought up a map of the Alliance on the room’s holo display. At this level of display, there were no system names visible, just bubbles representing systems and lines showing warp routes. The system bubbles were in three colors, denoting their sector affiliation. The Core Sector contained the home worlds for the three member races, and what was the Rehorish colonial territories prior to the amalgamation. The planets of this sector were primarily settled by the Rehorish, although there were some D’Bringi colonies established on the inhospitable ST type planets, once they were opened for D’Bringi colonization. The Core Sector was by far the most populous and productive sector in the Alliance. The Chruqua Defense Zone was located on the map just above the Core Sector, and was connected to the Core Sector via the invaluable Chruqua Nexus. The Chruqua Defense Zone contained the Phyriseq Fortress system, which was a known contact point with the Mintek home system, and the home worlds for both the Torqual and Doraz associate member races. The sector was primarily populated by the T’Pau and D’Bringi, although the Rehorish had a heavy presence in a few systems, and it was their colony system of Kumamoto that had been selected as the Sector capital. The last sector was the Far Frontier Sector, with its capital in the system of Stahat. The Far Frontier Sector had many small, new colonies, and had a mix of all three of the primary races of the Alliance.
The holo map showed the Core Sector in green, the Chruqua Defense Zone in blue, and the Far Frontier Sector in red. Okada pointed to the Core Sector. “We have good intelligence and control within the Core Sector. Our couriers will reach most of the colonies within the sector by the end of the month. The couriers will re-establish contact with the local governments and destroy the old ICN buoys, which will be replaced with new buoys next month. Aside from Sasebo and Aomori, all of the D’Bringi colonies within the Core Sector are four or more jumps from here, so we won’t have confirmation of their status for some time.”
Okada pointed to the Chruqua Defense Zone. “Our couriers have begun re-establishing contact with the colonies in the Defense Zone, and destroying the old ICN, but the effort there has just begun. We have re-established contact with the 4th Fleet in Phyriseq, and I can confirm that the D’Bringi colony there remains firmly in your camp. Until the couriers spread throughout the Sector, though, we know little about what is transpiring on the colonies there. However, there is the D’Bringi colony in Nagasaki.”
Skull-Splitter’s eyes narrowed. “If I remember correctly, Nagasaki is the location of my race’s most populous colony.”
“That is correct, and better, it is rated as a ‘rich’ world. My intelligence team has analyzed everything that has been sent from Nagasaki since the announcement of the establishment of the D’Bringi Empire, and they believe that the Nagasaki colony is against the empire. Although everything that came through the old ICN is suspect, there were some early statements expressing doubt about the empire from the leaders on Nagasaki. After a few days those messages disappeared, replaced by generic statements of support for the empire similar to those being sent from all of the other D’Bringi settlements and colonies. My intelligence people believe that those messages were generated by whatever is controlling the ICN, and that Nagasaki may be in opposition to the empire.”
Skull-Splitter considered the map. “And the Far Frontiers Sector?”
“We know very little of what is happening out there. My intelligence people believe that the sector capital at Stahat is the center of support for the new Empire, and we recently received word that the courier we sent to the 6th Fleet was stopped short at the edge of the Stahat system and seized. We must assume that the D’Bringi colonies there are firmly in support of the new empire, or have been isolated and will remain out of contact, at least for now. In addition, the Dether system is in this sector, and has apparently been occupied by the Union, although as always, our intelligence about this must be considered suspect. I have dispatched a squadron of the 1st Fleet along the alternate warp chain to Dether to determine the truth of the situation, but it will not arrive until month 111. Worse, the Union embassy in the CFS is refusing contact with our ambassador, at least for now.”
Skull-Splitter sat, lost in thought for several minutes as both leaders considered the map. Finally, he sat forward. “I have had much to think on since the events in the Aomori system. Truly, I had thought that the message I sent from Phyriseq system in opposition to the empire would be lost in the ether. But what I found in the Aomori system told me different. As I suspected, there are many D’Bringi that are willing to fight for the changes that the empire wants to roll back, but they need a unifying cause. A leader. And although I am not sure I should be that leader, I am the leader that they have. So, today I will announce the formation of the D’Bringi Loyalist Union, with myself as Warlord. The position of Warlord has a deep history with my people, as one who steps forward at a time of great need to lead his people out of darkness. The position carries great responsibility and power, however, there is also an immutable custom that the Warlord, at the resolution of the emergency, will step down from leadership for the rest of his life, never to interfere with D’Bringi politics again. I fully intend to follow that custom, as the last thing my people need is to substitute one dictator for another.”
Okada looked on with approval. “I think this is the right move. Your people need a unifying force, and you are the only one that can provide that now. What will be your first move?”
“With your permission I will go to the surface and begin recruiting among the officers and crewers there. I suspect I will get enough who are willing to serve that I will be able to crew all of the interned ships, albeit at reduced crew levels. Once that is done, I will record another message, to be sent out across the Alliance to all of the D’Bringi colonies that we can reach, calling for them to join my cause and free our people. Once that is complete, I would like to begin moving the forces loyal to me to begin unifying loyal colonies, however, I must ask something of you first.”
“Yes?”
“Currently, the D’Bringi ships I withdrew from Phyriseq are stationed in the T’Pau home system; under a commander I knew the T’Pau would trust. I sent them there to reinforce the T’Pau defenses, in case the false-emperor tried to attack from the D’Bringi home system, or by other forces loyal to him from outside the T’Pau system. I would like to withdraw those forces, and relocate them to the Nagasaki system, as a first move towards establishing a secure base of operations. However, I do not wish to deprive the T’Pau of strength that might be vitally important to the defense of their home system.”
Okada waived his antenna in amusement. “We have already decided. The Alliance Strategic Reserve will be redirected to the T’Pau system to reinforce the T’Pau home fleet, while the 3rd Fleet, which is currently here in this system, will be dispatched down the alternate chain to the Dether system, to ensure that the Union, if they have occupied the system, doesn’t advance down the chain to the Core Sector.”
“Very well. I will issue orders to my ships in the T’Pau system to wait for the 3rd Fleet to relieve them, then to set out for Nagasaki. I will also send my son as my representative, to lead the fleet. His orders will be to build an organization of D’Bringi colonies to resist the empire, and to provide an alternative for our people.”
“And what will you be doing?”
Skull-Splitter hesitated for a moment. “I will take the ships you give me, and I will take them to Stahat, to determine the truth of the situation. If it is indeed their capital, then I will deprive them of it. And if the imperial’s have provoked a war with the humans, as you suspect, then I will end it, one way or another. I would appreciate the assistance of the ships you have available.”
Okada swiveled his antenna in negation. I have no ships that I can send away from the Core Sector at this time. I may be able to free up some ships at some point next month, but that is not guaranteed. What I will do is send a communique for the commander of the 6th Fleet to assist you in any way she sees fit, based on our overall stance towards the empire. Our orders for the 6th Fleet have been stopped short because they have to go through the Stahat system. If you can break into Stahat, and clear a way to the Villiers system, then you will have your support.”
The two leaders parted, each to their own missions.
-
Month 206, Day 10, Mintek Prime, Mintek Universal Union
Minister Turval, arguably the most powerful Mintek in the government, was perplexed. For the last month the Mintek had been cautiously sending pilgrims and advocates into Ascendancy space to begin preparing the way for the Shiba’s enlightenment. Per the decision he and the Chancellor had made just last month, they were proceeding slowly, to avoid provoking a war with the new race. However, he had just read the latest report from the Trade Facilitation Teams assigned to the Shiba trade system, and it just didn’t quite make sense. He had highlighted several entries as he read the report, and with a touch of a key he brought up the excerpts, all from first-hand reports from interactions with individual Shiba.
Report #307A, Trade Station 2, Month 205, Day 3, Pilgrim Leader Forsk
“I spent most of First Day with a low-level Shiba administrator, as per exchange learning project Alpha-2, learning their job. Administrator 1134 (our designation for an unpronounceable Shiba name) is a second-tier administrator on the local city manager’s staff, responsible for a team managing relations with Shiba citizens. My observations were consistent with those previously logged, in that Administrator 1134 is honest and hard-working, and seems to truly believe in the Shiba government and people. Of particular interest was the effectiveness of the administrator’s implants in the daily execution of his job. The implants gave him nearly instant access to information stored externally, and allowed him to store additional information locally for immediate use. The comms function seemed particularly useful, and quite often the Shiba seem to commune wordlessly with their implants, rather than speak out loud.”
Minister Turval had thought that report was mildly interesting, mainly because it confirmed what others had observed, that the Shiba government was in the main honest and effective, and had the broad support of the people. This would have implications for the approach his people would have to take towards undermining the Shiba people’s support for their government. The segment about the implants was particularly interesting, as his Ministry was currently investigating the utility of the Shiba technology and its possible applications in the Universal Union. Still, this report was only interesting in light of the later reports from the same pilgrim.
Report #310A, Trade Station 2, Month 205, Day 4, Pilgrim Leader Forsk
“Today, as part of the exchange program, Administrator 1134 spent the day with me while I performed my duties at the Trade Station. As per the standard operating procedure, the day included classes and meetings focused on fostering understanding and acceptance of the Universal Union. Administrator 1134 was open and accepting during the classes, and participated eagerly in the group discussion meetings with pilgrims assigned to this station and with other selected members of the Shiba population. Administrator 1134 asked numerous questions that indicated a true curiosity about the Universal Union and its meanings for both the enlightened and those who have yet to be enlightened. In particular, I was struck by his ability to relate the tenants of the Universal Union to events in Shiba history. When I remarked on his apparent encyclopedic knowledge of Shiba history, he stated that his implants give him access to the collected works of Shiba history, along with a powerful search engine to find information useful to him at the current moment. Administrator 1134 stated on several occasions during the day that he could see multiple ways that the tenants of the Universal Union would benefit the Shiba people should they be put into practice in the Ascendancy. I evaluate Administrator 1134 as a good candidate for further indoctrination and full conversion to the tenants of the Universal Union once the limitations currently placed on this mission are lifted.”
In Turval’s experience, reports like this one were pretty much standard for the early indoctrination process, which was aimed at identifying persons at every level of the targeted society who would be susceptible to indoctrination and integration into ongoing efforts to convert their society. Again, this report was only of interest in light of the follow up report.
Report #312A, Trade Station 2, Month 205, Day 5, Pilgrim Leader Forsk
“I had a very concerning meeting with Administrator 1134 today. As previously arranged, I met with Administrator 1134 to discuss his continuing education in the tenants of the Universal Union, which he had stated he wished to undergo at our earliest opportunity. However, when I arrived, he claimed to have no memory of agreeing to additional training, and clearly stated that while he was mildly interested in learning additional details, he did not think that the Universal Union had any application to the Shiba way of life. This statement was completely at odds with nearly everything that he had said in our prior meeting, and he seemed legitimately confused that I would have a different memory of his statement. It is my opinion that he was not lying or dissembling, but that he truly had no memory of those events, although he did remember meeting with me, and the general course of the events of our meeting. When I pointed out this considerable discrepancy, he dismissed my memory as being fallible as it depended on organic tissue instead of the superior Shiba technology. I will continue my contacts with Administrator 1134; however, I now evaluate him as a poor candidate for further education.”
This report had been highlighted by the station chief, and when Turval checked there were several other similar reports of Shiba who appeared initially to be good candidates for education and indoctrination, but who then subsequently completely changed their minds on the subject without showing any awareness of the change. There was something strange going on with the Shiba, and Turval was determined to get to the bottom of it.
After having his staff sift through all of the reports relating to the Shiba since first contact, numerous anomalies had been discovered. Turval was certain that they had something to do with the implants. The Shiba claimed that the implants were merely data storage and short-range communications devices, however, there were too many instances of Shiba changing fundamental positions without any apparent awareness of a change for it to be a coincidence. Turval was beginning to strongly suspect that the implants were something much more than the Shiba were willing to admit.
One week later, while Turval’s Ministry was still trying to come to some sort of coherent strategy in regards to the Shiba, a Shiba governmental delegation arrived on their trade-colony from their home system. The delegation immediately approached the Mintek delegation on the colony and offered a joint scientific program to allow the Mintek insights into Shiba implant and supporting medical technology. The Shiba government officials stated that the central government was delighted at the progress of their trade relationship with the Mintek, and wished to capitalize on that relationship to bring the two races closer together.
The Mintek government, always eager to form closer relationships with other races, immediately agreed and began putting together a scientific task force to meet with the Shiba and begin working on the project. As was standard with any contact with a foreign power, the Ministry of Inclusion was placed in charge of the project, regardless of its stated goals, as the Mintek goal was always to educate and integrate foreign races in the ways of the Universal Union. Given Turval’s suspicions, he viewed this project more as a way to find out what was going on in the Ascendancy than as a true attempt to transfer technology, no matter how potentially useful such technology might be.
The Shiba and Mintek teams would begin working together beginning in Month 207.
Month 207, Day 15, Mintek Prime, Universal Union
Minister Turval read the report’s synopsis yet again. The joint scientific team had been working for several weeks now, and the initial results were very interesting. The science of the Shiba’s implants were beyond him, but his inquisitors knew what he was interested in, and it wasn’t the science. One sentence in the report kept coming back to him. Prime Inquisitor Justram reported that the Shiba claimed that the implants absolutely could not be used to control an individual directly, and that Mintek scientists preliminarily concurred with that claim after reviewing the data and the implants themselves. However, Inquisitor Justram, one of Minister Turval’s most trusted agents, pointed out that if someone was able to manipulate the data available to the implant, it would be child’s play to manipulate the user. Minister Turval was very familiar with this concept, as the Universal Union had avoided direct control of its subjects from the first, as direct control bred inevitable resistance. Instead, the Universal Union led by example and by discrediting the newly acquired population’s former rulers, something that had proved all too easy to do over the years. Part of this was the subtle manipulation of the data available to subject worlds, but this always had to be very carefully done, given the multiplicity of sources of data that were available to most advanced populations. After some thought, Turval dictated a message for Inquisitor Justram, ordering him to inquire into the Ascendancy’s data storage techniques. Once the message was encoded and dispatched, he stepped over to the far wall of his office, and, at a signal from his comm unit, a door opened to reveal an elevator. The door was unobtrusive, but not actually hidden. Those who had noticed it upon visiting Turval’s office usually assumed that it was a personal express elevator, and indeed it acted as such on occasion, however, it had another use. Minister Turval’s office was on the top floor of the Ministry’s tower in the capital city, and indeed the elevator would take him to both the shuttle pad on the roof and the aircar park in the basement. However, unlike any other elevator in the massive complex, this one continued on down, past the various sub-basements, deep into the crust of the planet to a deeply buried complex. Only a very few Mintek knew of the existence of this complex, and the current Chancellor, and his oldest friend, was not one of them. Turval stepped inside the elevator and with a coded pulse from his comms unit the elevator started down.
After descending for quite some time the elevator came to a halt and Turval exited. Anyone else would have been struck by the change in architecture and design, so unlike that of the Mintek, but Turval was very used to it and walked down the dimly lit corridor without really seeing his surroundings. Instead, he was absorbed with the problem of the Shiba and their apparent resistance to the Mintek’s usual approach to suborning alien governments. He was sure it was all to do with their implant technology, but was unsure of what could be done about it. Indeed, their resistance to the normal procedures that the Mintek used to subvert and convert a population was very disturbing, and his anxiety had steadily been growing over the past several weeks. The Universal Union demanded progress.
Finally, he came to a heavy door set into the wall at the end of the corridor. At his approach the door swung open, revealing it was very thick and made of some metal that Turval was sure would defy the best efforts of Mintek scientists to analyze it, should they be given the chance. Turval shook his head at the thought. They never would be given that chance, of course. Turval entered the chamber revealed by the opening door and ignored the door as it shut behind him. The first time that had happened he had panicked, but that was a long time ago, and he had come far since then. He walked to the center of the room and stood before a large holo display. As always, the holo was set to show a chamber much like the one he was in, but this one was filled by an alien machine, perhaps a computer. The alien computer emitted a strange green glow that seemed to pulse, and even after all of these years he found the image entrancing.
“What have you to report, my friend?”
Turval bowed low, showing a reverence that would have shocked anyone that knew him. “Master, the first reports from the exploratory mission to the Shiba have come back. They deny the implants could be used to control a person, but there is no other explanation for their resistance to our usual techniques. I suspect that the Shiba are manipulating the data available to their citizens to influence their behavior and exert control over them. We do not yet understand their technology.”
The chamber was silent for a few minutes, and Turval patiently waited. The alien device steadily pulsed within its green glow, before speaking again. “You must obtain for me examples of their technology. Eventually, I will need implanted subjects to examine. I believe that this could be used to our advantage.”
With this statement Turval’s heart unclenched and he felt relief flooding through his body. He straightened up and looked at the display with hope and belief. “It shall be done, master. We will have the examples available for you to study before the end of the month, but actual implanted individuals will take longer.”
“Time is as it is. Bring me the technology first, and I will begin my studies. Now go, and strengthen the Universal Union as you always have, my friend.”
Turval turned and exited the chamber through the slowly opening door, feeling much better than he had when he entered. Very few knew it, but the actual architect behind the expansion of the faith of the Universal Union was behind him, a long-buried alien device that had revealed the truth of the Universal Union to Turval’s predecessors decades ago.
Behind him the holo display flickered out, and the room was silent once again.
Month 207, Day 28, Mintek Prime
The first examples of the Shiba implant technology procured by the research team arrived on the home world on this day. Most of them were dispersed across the planet to various research centers. Several units, though, disappeared into Turval’s Ministry, not to be seen again.
Month 208, Day 10, Mintek Prime
Minister Turval read the reports from the Shiba research team avidly. Five Mintek volunteers had been implanted with Shiba tech, and were reporting significant improvements in efficiency and productivity. Additionally, their team leads were reporting test results that indicated that the volunteers were scoring higher on standardized tests than prior to their implantation, and the entire team was reporting that there was no noticeable change in their behavior. The Shiba were particularly pleased in showing off their technology, and were excited to expand the program.
Several of the volunteers were sent back to the Mintek home world for testing. One entered the headquarters of the Ministry of Equity and Inclusion and never left again.
Month 209, Day 15, Mintek Home World
Minister Turval bowed low as he entered the buried chamber and stopped before the central holo unit. “I am here, master.”
“Rise, my friend. I have completed my analysis of the implant technology, and of the implanted officer you provided. The technology is most interesting. Clearly, the Shiba intend to suborn the Mintek, much as the Mintek have done to the other races.”
Turval frowned. “We do what we have done, with your help, for the good of all. The Universal Union brings peace, good governance, and prosperity to all. For what reason to the Shiba seek to expand?”
The holo continued to show an alien machine with a pulsing green glow emanating from within. As always, Turval found the glow comforting and entrancing. “Unknown at this time. Almost certainly their drive to expand and control relates to their leadership’s primitive and self-destructive desire to expand their personal power and control of their own society. The implant technology is just a refinement of this basic urge that is common to most regressive societies.”
“Can we counter their attempt to suborn our society while maintaining contact and furthering our goal of inclusion, or must we either break contact or resort to military conquest?”
“Military conquest is inadvisable, in light of the current demands on the Mintek Starfleet. I believe that we can use their implant technology against them. The principles on which this technology operates are known to me, and I believe that I can use their technology against them if we allow them to move forward with their plans. To them, it will appear that their plan to suborn our people is working. But in reality, it will be our plan that is moving forward, not theirs.”
“Is there a risk?”
The pulsing green light didn’t change, but somehow Turval detected a change in tone. “There is always a risk in life. No matter how my creators attempted to limit or eliminate that risk, it never goes away. Witness the fact that my creators no longer exist. However, there is also always hope. In this case, I have survived to bring wisdom developed in an earlier age to benefit the new races that have arisen since the Great Fall.”
Turval was entranced. The Master rarely gave hints as to its history, or how he had ended up here, buried on the Mintek home world. All of his attempts to learn more had been politely diverted, and Turval, as always, was loath to disturb the guiding intelligence of the Universal Union. Truly, it was the buried Master who more than any being had guided the Mintek to greatness. The buried Master analyzed the alien races they had met and gave the Mintek the tools they needed to suborn their corrupt governments and incorporate them within the Universal Union, for the good of all. The buried Master was linked to all governmental databases and kept watch over the Universal Union’s government, rooting out corruption and inefficiency, ensuring the continuance of the benign rule of the Universal Union over all of its subjects.
After a few seconds of silence, the buried Master spoke again. “You will allow the Shiba’s proposal to implant more of your personnel to move forward. They will wish to concentrate their efforts on Ministry personnel, as controlling persons of authority will be paramount to their plans of subversion. As their plans move forward, opportunities for myself to influence the operation of their implants will increase. As they believe they are gaining control over us, we will be gaining control over them.”
The buried Master fell silent, and Turval bowed low again, before withdrawing. They were embarking on a dangerous course, again, but the potential gain was staggering.
-
Month 210, Mintek Universal Union Update
Total Income: 75,120 MCr’s (10% increase)
Upkeep: 46,601 MCr’s (62%, minor decrease over the last five months)
Fleet: 9xSD, 6xCV, 18xBC, 9xCVL, 2xCA, 1xCVS, 41xDD, 20xCVE, 4xCT, 617xF1, 11xApin
The Mintek have continued to focus their resources on colonization and industrial expansion, trying to grow their economy to better pay for their military, which is very nearly larger than they can afford. The Mintek fleet size continues to be stable, with most new construction being devoted to improving planetary defenses in the home system and warp point defenses in the Alowan home system and the Bedu home system, as those systems border on potentially hostile systems.
So far Mintek contact with the Shiba Ascendancy has gone well, although efforts to undermine the Shiba government have been less than successful. The Mintek Ministry of Equity and Inclusion, which spearheads contact with and amalgamation of new species, is studying the situation. Until the situation with the Shiba is resolved, one way or another, the Mintek government will continue to stand on the defensive in the Alowan system, where an open warp point leading to an unknown alien race has been discovered. Based on bitter experience, the Mintek have learned not to overextend themselves, and their military is barely able to cover its current commitments.
-
Bjering Consolidate Update, Month 210
Now known as the Confederated Sentient Races (CSR)
Income (All Sources): 115,471 MCr’s
Upkeep: 46,443 (40%)
Fleet: 3xML, 27xBC, 5xCV, 1xCVL, 16xCVS, 9xCL, 24xCVE, 28xDD, 38xCT, 7xES, 474xF1, 306xF0, 4xApin
SY: 43
MSY: 7
MS: 13
Under Construction: 6xMobile SY
Refits: 2xML
The long-awaited merger between the Bjering and the Tomsk Union was completed in Month 209, creating a new super-state on the flank of both the Colonial Union and the Alliance. The amalgamation proceeded smoothly, with the bulk of the citizens in both societies solidly in favor of the union. Over the next ten months the new union, named the Confederated Sentient Races, will be undertaking a massive reorganization of its military, and this is already the focus of intense wrangling between the Tomsk and the Bjering. The Tomsk favor a more defense-oriented approach than the Bjering, which is perhaps understandable given the fact that there is a warp point to Colonial Union territory in their home system. That warp point is already covered by massive defenses, though, and the Bjering are more concerned with potential threats posed by the Alliance, or by unknown races that may be found during exploration. This debate will be ongoing, and will likely affect the deployment of the high tech ten systems that are now under development.
The CSR’s relationship with the other two major races in known space continues to be uneventful. Truthfully, this is about as good as can be expected, given the fact that the Bjering absolutely do not trust the Alliance, and the humans of the former Tomsk Union don’t trust the Colonial Union. There is some interest in expanding both relationships to include mutual defense treaties, but neither government in the CSR is particularly interested in exploring this possibility at the current time.
The CSR is continuing to maintain a no-contact policy with the Mintek, given the irregularities involved in the Mintek contact and then conquest of the Bedu. While there is some desire to at least open trade relations, both the Bedu refugees and the Alliance have stated in the past that giving the Mintek access to your territory is tantamount to inviting them to invade you. Given the rapid fall of the Bedu state, and the ongoing difficulties that the Alliance seems to have with the Mintek, the CSR has decided that caution is the best route forward and is busily shifting mobile construction resources to their contact point with the Mintek to begin fortifying the system. The Mintek seem to be honoring this decision, at least for now. Although they have sent several CD’s through the warp point from the Bedu home system requesting the opening of negotiations aimed towards creating a trade relationship between the two powers, they haven’t pressed the issue when the Bjering declined their offer.
The CSR maintains relations with two minor races, the Tolan Trade Federation and the Aldrean Contemplative State. The Aldreans are low tech, and the CSR is giving them support to raise their tech level as quickly as possible. The Tolan are at HT-9, but were trapped in a dead-end in their home system until the Tomsk Union gave them access to warp routes in Union territory so that they could reach unexplored systems. The Tolan are generally peaceful, and were very grateful to the Tomsk Union for being allowed to access their territory, and as a result signed a partnership agreement with the CSR in Month 210.
-
Month 210
Update, Alliance
Total Income (All Sources): 169,225 MCr’s (note: this is an unreliable number given the uncertainty running rampant in the Alliance)
Upkeep: 104,972 MCr’s (62%, but, as above, unreliable given the lack of knowledge on the status of some forces)
Alliance Fleets: 12xBB, 39xBC, 8xCVL, 39xCA, 48xCL, 3xCVS, 74xDD, 39xCVE, 61xCTV, 5xCT(Pinnace), 2xCT, 701xF0, 495xF1
D’Bringi ships loyal to the Alliance: 12xBC, 7xCA, 4xCVS, 2xCTV, 126xF0
New Communications Command
26xCCT, 37xCourier
Construction
1xSD, 6xCV, 6xBC, 32xCVE, 5xCTV, 2xBS4, 7xBS0(CV), 589xF1
The Alliance is in disarray, and the Rehorish and T’Pau are only now beginning to get things back under control, at least in the Core Sector. The Rehorish and the T’Pau have formed what amounts to a rump Council, without a D’Bringi representative, and are acting to secure the Alliance and isolate the D’Bringi colonies and the D’Bringi home system until Skull-Splitter can put together a loyalist movement of sufficient size and credibility to be recognized by the Alliance government. As things stand, the Alliance is effectively split into three portions by the corruption of the ICN and its ensuing destruction by the Rehorish and T’Pau.
Core Sector
The Core Sector contains the home worlds of the three member races, and is the most heavily populated and industrialized sector of the Alliance. This sector is firmly under the control of the rump Council controlled by the Rehorish and T’Pau. The old, corrupted, ICN has been destroyed out to four jumps from the home worlds of the Rehorish and T’Pau, which means the heaviest populated portions of the sector are now free from interference from the D’Bringi Empire. Near light-speed secure communications have been established between the Rehorish and T’Pau home worlds using communications ships, as well as with the fleets stationed in the Phyriseq and Kure systems. A new ICN will be established throughout the cleared areas beginning this month, reestablishing communications and control throughout the sector.
With the destruction of the old ICN and the spread of courier ships throughout the sector, the rump Council’s intelligence on the status of the Core Sector has greatly improved. There are nine D’Bringi colonies within the Core Sector, and so far, four of them have been contacted by the courier ships. Of the four, two were confirmed to support the new D’Bringi Empire by Skull-Splitter, while the remaining two are new colonies with small populations that seem to have no idea of what is going in in the center of the Alliance. By the end of month 210 nearly the entire sector will be cleared of the old ICN and positive control will be reestablished shortly thereafter.
Chruqua Defense Zone
This sector is in flux. The old ICN is still in operation throughout much of the sector, although courier ships from the T’Pau home world have reached some of the systems that are closest to the Core Sector, including the Chruqua nexus itself, the Phyriseq Fortress System, and the Sector Capital in the Kumamoto system. Rehorish Fleet Intelligence believes that a significant nexus of anti-Empire sentiment exists in the sector, centered on the D’Bringi colony in the Nagasaki system, however, this is largely speculation based on a few unconfirmed facts. Courier ships from the T’Pau home system reached Nagasaki at the end of the last month, however, CD’s have not yet returned with information on the status of that system. There are eleven D’Bringi colonies in the Chruqua Defense Zone, and to date the loyalties of these colonies are largely unknown as the only information available to the rump Council is from the corrupted ICN. Couriers from the Core Sector have moved into the Chruqua Defense Zone and will be clearing out the old ICN and reestablishing contact with the local governments as fast as possible, but the sector is large and it will be some time before secure communications can be reestablished throughout the Zone.
Far Frontier Sector
The Far Frontier Sector is the lightest populated of the Alliance sectors, but is also the fastest growing with the largest amount of colonization taking place. The Sector boasts populations from all three member races, and the Sector capital is the D’Bringi colony in the Stahat system. This colony has also been identified as the likely location of the heart of the D’Bringi Imperial movement. The sector has links to the Chirq home world, which is located on the fringes of the Core Sector, and is the site of the reported Union incursion in the Dether system. It is also the location of the Alliance’s largest single concentration of the fleet power, the 6th Fleet in the Zir system of Villiers. The corrupted ICN is still functional within the Far Frontier Sector, and although it is cut off from the D’Bringi home world the rump Council and Rehorish Naval Intelligence believes that it continues to function as the D’Bringi intended throughout that sector. Attempts to reestablish secure communications with the 6th Fleet have been stopped at the border of the Stathat system by Imperial D’Bringi patrol ships, as have attempts to establish communications with Rehorish and T’Pau colonies throughout the sector. Communications via the old ICN still exist, and regular reports from those colonies are still received by couriers stationed adjacent to the Stahat system, in the Chruqua Defense Zone, but, of course, those reports cannot be trusted. The Sector’s economy continues to work, and goods are still being shipped in between systems. Indeed, it appears that taxes to the Alliance government continue to be collected throughout the sector, as far as Rehorish Naval Intelligence can determine. So far everything in the Far Frontier Sector appears normal, aside from the incursion into the Dether system, but that information cannot be trusted either. The reality, as far as the rump Council and Rehorish Naval Intelligence are concerned, is that the Far Frontier Sector is a black hole within which they know very little.
Colonization has come to a halt throughout the Alliance as available resources are being diverted to build new fleet units and restore communications, as have industrial investments. All exploration fleets have been recalled to support possible offensive operations by the main Alliance fleets.
Alliance Associate States
To date the Alliance Council has not informed the Associate states of the difficulty that has engulfed it. And, although their representatives to the Alliance Council know something is amiss, their communications to their home worlds have been just as unreliable as the rest of the Alliance’s communications, meaning that, at least so far, the Associate States have continued on in ignorance of the events taking place throughout the Alliance.
Aurarii Republic
Total Income (All Sources): 43,189.66 MCr’s
Upkeep: 22,055 MCr’s (51%)
Fleet: 6xML, 8xSD, 9xBB, 6xCV, 9xCVL, 102xF0, 186xF1
Refits: 3xML, 3xSD, 2xCV, 2xCVL
The Aurarii have become extremely dissatisfied with the Alliance in general and the Doraz in particular. As part of their agreement to join the Alliance as an associate member, they were granted access to an ‘unexplored’ system close to their home system by the Doraz. Exploration of this system revealed the warp chain to be a dead end, with two additional systems, only one of which has any planets at all, and none of those are habitable. Given the fact that the Aurarii home system has only one warp point, which links to Doraz territory, this was a disappointing development that has maddened the Emperor. To divert attention from this failure, the fleet has suggested that the Doraz knew that the warp chain was a dead end and foisted it on the Aurarii Emperor as a ‘bauble’ to appease the naïve race that only recently discovered warp line travel.
Powerful elements within the Aurarii government are pushing for a war of conquest against the Doraz so that the Aurarii can gain access to unexplored space and new colonization areas. The Emperor, in spite of his embarrassment at having signed the treaty with the Alliance and receiving nothing in return, has decided on diplomatic overtures instead of an invasion, for now. However, the delegation dispatched to the Alliance Capital has not returned or communicated in some time, and the pressure on the Emperor to resolve the situation with violence is growing. If he does not act soon, it is quite possible that he might be overthrown and replaced with an emperor that will act.
Bir Meritocracy
Total Income: 1,936 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 48 MCr’s (1.8%)
The Bir have reached HT-2 and are well on their way to HT-3, with Alliance assistance. They have launched three shipyards into orbit over their planet, and are building two more.
Chirq Cooperative
Total Income: 13,270 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 856 MCr’s (10.4%)
Fleet: 2xES
System Defenses: 3xBS2, 6xPDC(Anti-missile)
Construction: 3xBS2, 6xCT
The Chirq have gone a long way towards rebuilding their civilization since the invasion by the Khozun. They have seven shipyards in orbit over their planet and are building up their fleet and defenses. In part this has been made available by resources sent from all over the Alliance. This build up will continue, and will be given priority by the new government, which is much more defense oriented than the old government.
Doraz Contingency
Total Income: 28,538 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 7,452 MCr’s (15.4%)
Fleet: 6xBC, 15xCA, 15xDD, 5xCT
Refits: 1xCA
Construction: 4xSS(SY), 1xSupply Ship
The Doraz achieved HT-8 this month, and have heavily invested in developing the newly available systems, including fighters and their supporting systems. In the meantime, while those systems are developed, the Doraz will focus on increasing their construction capacity and improving the defenses of their home system.
Kingdom of Lothar
Total Income: 30,457 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 14,352 MCr’s (47%)
Fleet: 9xBC, 3xCA, 6xCVL, 6xCVE, 144xF2L, 141xGBP
The Lothari have been busily exploring their neighborhood and colonizing everything they can reach. So far, the Lothari have established five out-system colonies on habitable planets, although disappointingly, through some fluke of fate all of those planets are rated poor or very poor in mineral wealth.
Torqual Free State
Total Income: 41,750 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 13,940 MCr’s (33.4%)
Fleet: 9xBC, 28xCA, 24xCL, 21xCT
Refits: 3xBC, 3xCA, 7xCL
Construction: 3xBS3
The Torqual fleet is undergoing a major refit to HT-7 standards. In the meantime, the Torqual are focused on a major colonization effort throughout their territories.
Zir Contemplative Union
Total Income: 54,910 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 14,522 MCr’s (26.4%)
Fleet: 26xDD, 31xFG, 111xCT
Construction: 5xSupply Ships, 2xBS2, 13xBS0
Refits: 2xBS4, 14xDD, 9xCT
Of the Associate Races, the Zir are the most aware that something is wrong within the Alliance. This is largely because of the massive Alliance fleet presence in the Villiers system. First, there was the unexpected withdrawal of the D’Bringi contingent, followed by news of a Union incursion. That stimulated additional out-system deployments by the 6th Fleet command. All of this has led to the Zir government coming to the conclusion that events elsewhere in the Alliance are overshadowing the need to fortify and garrison the Villiers system. The Zir government has requested clarifications from the Alliance Council several times, but to date no response has been received.
This political confusion has emboldened both the Zir factions who want to make independent contact with the races beyond the Villiers system and the isolationist factions who oppose them. The political in-fighting in the Zir capital has grown particularly vicious, but as long as the bulk of the Alliance 6th Fleet remains in the Villiers system nothing will change.
D’Bringi Empire
The newly proclaimed D’Bringi Empire has its official capital on the D’Bringi home world in the Core Sector, however, its administrative heart and true power center is on the D’Bringi colony in the Stahat system, which also happens to be the sector capital of the Far Frontier Sector. This was done for several reasons. Firstly, in its early days the movement was necessarily underground to avoid the scrutiny of the authorities, and this was much easier to do on a distant colony world. Additionally, the plotters always knew that attempting to run the Empire from the home world would be difficult, if not impossible, given the fact that the D’Bringi home world is located in a cul-de-sac system beyond the T’Pau home world, relatively close to the Rehorish home world. In the confusion following the coup the Empire’s analysts considered it a near certainty that the Rehorish and T’Pau would attempt a blockade of their home system, at least temporarily, making administration of the Empire from that location impossible. This created a difficult situation for the plotters, as the home world is seen as the cultural heart of D’Bringi society, and thus any government that wished to be seen as legitimate must hold the home world. Therefore, the Emperor declared the reestablishment of the Empire from the ancient throne room of the last empire on D’Bringi Prime, and established his rule there, while all of the actual work was done from Stahat.
The inevitable Rehorish/T’Pau blockade has indeed severed the D’Bringi home world from contact with the rest of the Alliance and the Empire, however, as noted above this was anticipated and the Empire continues to function. Currently, the D’Bringi Empire is divided into many different independent sections, and uniting these sections is the primary goal of the Imperial government on Stahat, along with continuing the deception plan that is intended to occupy the Alliance government with external concerns while the Empire consolidates its power so it can present the Alliance with a united front that it must accept.
The main D’Bringi Groups, as of month 210, are:
D’Bringi Home System:
Income: 12,930 MCr’s
Upkeep: 7,575 MCr’s (58%)
Fleet: 9xBC, 7xCV, 3xCA, 6xCVE, 2xCTV, 396xF1
The new Imperial government is firmly in control of the D’Bringi home world, and has apparently suppressed all dissent, at least to the point that it is underground and not visible to the average citizen. The Empire has also established firm control of the D’Bringi military forces, particularly the Alliance 2nd Fleet, which was stationed in the D’Bringi home system and was composed entirely of D’Bringi ships. The Emperor has replaced the commanding officer of the 2nd Fleet, as well as many of the ship commanders, with D’Bringi personally loyal to him, however, it will take time to completely change the nature of the fleet’s personnel. For now, the Emperor is willing to allow the Rehorish and T’Pau blockade to stand without opposition, as it allows him to appear to be moderate and accepting of Alliance needs and concerns.
The D’Bringi home world, as one of the three main Alliance shipbuilding centers, had access to resources far beyond its own productive capacity while it was linked to the Alliance, but it lost access to those resources once the blockade went up. While it has access to a stockpile of resources from that time, it is unclear when access to Alliance resources will be re-established.
D’Bringi Empire (Far Frontier Sector)
Income: 7,052 MCr’s
Upkeep: 8,659 MCr’s (122%)
Fleet: 9xBC, 9xCA, 6xCVS, 3xCL, 14xCVE, 26xCTV, 531xF0, 18xF1, 7xSupply Ship
The D’Bringi Empire in the Far Frontier Sector is working feverishly to firm up their positions on the D’Bringi colonies that declared their support for the Empire from the beginning, while also extending that control to the other D’Bringi colonies throughout the Sector that declined to give such support. Including the D’Bringi colony in Stahat, there are fourteen D’Bringi colonies in the sector. As of the start of Month 210, ten D’Bringi colonies within the sector have sworn loyalty to the new Imperial government, although two of these colonies have been cut off by the Union incursion into the Dether system. This leaves four that are not yet under the Imperial government’s control, but all four are new colonies on the fringes to the sector and thus have small populations.
The D’Bringi Empire in the Far Stars Sector has a resource problem. It has access to a large fleet, consisting of D’Bringi ships withdrawn from the 6th Fleet and other D’Bringi ships suborned by the Empire plotters prior to the coup and moved to the Far Stars Sector under cover of the corrupted ICN. Some of these ships were involved in acts of piracy across the outer fringe of the Alliance, in the Khozun-Chirq war, and in the attack on the Colonial Union. These actions brought in a fair amount of mega-credits, all of which was used to fund the plot to suborn the old D’Bringi government and thus could not be used to support the fleet. Unfortunately, it was clear even before the coup that the resources available to the D'Bringi colonies in the Far Stars Sector would not be sufficient to support such a large fleet. Therefore, the plotters took several actions. First, the plotters made sure to take the bulk of the 6th Fleet’s supply ships with them when they withdrew from the Villiers system. These supply ships were packed with maintenance supplies for the 6th Fleet, and would have enough supplies to support the new D’Bringi fleet for many months. Secondly, the Imperial D’Bringi government on Stahat just happened to be the Sector government as well, and had administrative control of the Alliance resources produced by all of the colonies in the sector. Normally, those resources would be sent on to the Core Sector and Chruqua Defense Zone, where they would be used to build and maintain the main Alliance fleets. Since the coup, though, the new Imperial government in the Stahat system has been diverting the production of the Alliance colonies in the sector to its own coffers, to be used to support the Imperial D’Bringi Fleet. It has been unable to use all of those resources for its own ends, though, as it has been forced to divert some of the purloined resources to support the 6th Fleet, to avoid suspicion and accusations of treasonous acts against the Alliance. If the re-established Empire is successful in convincing the Alliance to accept it as the legitimate government of the D’Bringi, then the diversion of the resources from the sector will be accepted as ‘legitimate use’, as all of those resources went to support ships that were, or are, a part of the Alliance.
Free D’Bringi Colonies
The D’Bringi colony in the Nagasaki system, located in the Chruqua Defense Zone, resisted a concerted attempt by the plotters to overthrow its pro-Alliance government and almost immediately sent out messages and then contact groups to the surrounding D’Bringi colonies. So far it has brought two nearby D’Bringi colonies in the Chruqua Defense Zone into its new organization opposed to the D’Bringi Empire. While the Nagasaki colony has a medium population, the other colonies are all rated as ‘small’. The Free Colonies have no military and are not attempting to build one. Instead, they continue to contribute their resources to the Alliance and have appealed to the Alliance Sector Capital at Kumamoto for assistance and defense. Unfortunately, those appeals have so far gone unanswered. This may have something to do with the corruption of the ICN, or possibly because of the pro-Imperial D’Bringi government in the neighboring Jerothal system, which stands in between Nagasaki and the sector capital. Communications problems have been the primary limiting problem for the Nagasaki colony in its attempts to contact and assist its neighboring colonies.
Other Imperial Worlds
A number of other D’Bringi colony worlds across the Alliance have declared for the Empire, but are not in a position to actively support it. These worlds are mostly located in the Core Sector and the Chruqua Defense Zone and have been told to bide their time until they can be united with either the home world or the government in Stahat. In the meantime, they are to continue contributing their resources to the Alliance and not make waves.
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Colonial Union Update, Month 210
Income (All Sources): 111,077 MCr’s
Upkeep: 51,176 MCr’s (46%)
Fleet: 15xSD, 3xBB, 33xBC, 32xCA, 1xCVL, 1xCVS, 44xCL, 40xDD, 19xFG, 16xCT, 68xCVE, 1219xF0
Under Construction: 1xCV, 32xCVE, 68xF0
Refits: 4xSD
The Colonial Union is mobilizing for war. The efforts to refit the fleet have been discontinued, and new construction is aimed at alleviating the fleet’s perceived shortfalls. The Union’s shipyards have been focused on increasing the number of carriers available across the Union, with more than a little success.
The Colonial Senate has declined to declare war, although it has voted nearly unanimously to support the administration’s response to the D’Bringi incursions. In the absence of continued incursions, the Senate is unlikely to pass a declaration of war, but much hangs on the Alliance response to the temporary seizure of the Dether system by the Union fleet. The Union government, through Admiral Carstairs in the Dether system, has demanded a response from the Alliance government for the illegal and unprovoked raids into Union territory. So far there has been no response.
The citizens of the Union are apparently holding their breath, waiting to see what happens to the 1st Battle Fleet in the Dether system, and how the Alliance responds to the Union’s entirely legitimate demands. The vast majority of the public firmly supports the government’s limited response to the incursions, although, of course, there are those who desperately wish to avoid war at any cost, and others who blame the government for not going far enough. Whether or not the public will support a general war against the Alliance is not known, and so far, government polling efforts have been unsuccessful in determining the public’s true opinions on this matter. Essentially, it appears that public opinion will largely depend on the Alliance’s reaction to the Union’s demands.
The Colonial Union Defense Force (UCDF) is currently divided into four main fleets. The 1st Battle Fleet is in the Dether system, occupying the system and awaiting an Alliance response. The Sigma Draconis Defense Fleet is in the Sigma Draconis system, which is at the heart of the Union, defending the system against possible attacks from the Alliance originating from the closed (and hidden) warp points in the Centaurus system and beyond. The Border Defense Fleet is in the Kirov system, which is the Union’s connection to the Confederated Free States. It is a buffer state in between the Union and the Alliance. And finally, the Union Assault Corps (UAC) is in the Laramie system, in between the Dether system and the Sector capital at Sligo. The UAC is positioned to defend against an advance against Sligo, and also to assist the 1st Battle Fleet, should assistance be needed. Of the fleets, the Border Defense Fleet in Kirov is the smallest, with six battlecruisers and three heavy cruisers, while the 1st Battle Fleet is the largest, with three SD’s, three BB’s, eleven BC’s, and six CA’s. The UAC is actually smaller, in terms of capital ships, but is also a specialized unit, focused on attacking and defending at warp points. It also does not currently have carrier support, something that was not considered important prior to the current mobilization, but now appears foolish in retrospect.
In spite of the military buildup, colonization has continued across the Union, albeit at a slightly reduced pace. In addition, the occupation of the Tlatelolco in the Redwing system has ended, and the Senate has voted to provide them with a significant amount of economic and technological assistance. The Tlatelolco are focusing on building orbital shipyards, completing their colonization efforts across their home system, and increasing their technology. The liberation of the Tlatelolco is considered a success even by many in the New Dawn party, as the Tlatelolco have agreed to leave the defense of their system in the hands of the UCDF, and instead focus their efforts on exploration and colonization.
The Union’s occupation of the Tarek in the Sligo system continues. In spite of the success of the liberation of the Tlatelolco, no one is seriously discussing the same for the Tarek. The Tarek have been consistently hostile to humanity, and remain so even under occupation. Their cooperation is grudging, at best, and their resistance to the Occupation Authority has remained just below the level at which the occupation command would authorize orbital bombardment. For the most part, the Occupation Authority has been content to leave the Tarek alone, as long as they do not openly resist the Authority and do not engage in an open military buildup. The Occupation Authority has given the Senate Oversight Committee for Tarek Affairs plenty of evidence indicating that if the Tarek wanted to overthrow the Authority and free their planet, they could easily do so. The Committee takes this information seriously, and has made it clear to the Tarek government that should any such uprising occur, the UCDF battle squadrons in the Sligo system have orders to bombard the planet until resistance ends. So far, this balancing act is working, although no one is entire sure what the Tarek plan to do.
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Month 210, Day 3, Confederated Free States
For over a month the Alliance Ambassador to the Confederated Free States, who was also coincidentally the ambassador to the Colonial Union, as all diplomatic contact was conducted in the CFS, had been put off by the Colonial Union’s embassy. As things had become increasingly clear that all was not well within the Alliance, the messages from the home world had become increasingly strident in their demands that she establish effective communications with the Union. The entire situation was incredibly frustrating, as the Union embassy had given no reason for the reticence. Her contacts within the CFS government were telling her that they were getting the same answers, or non-answers from the Colonial Union. As far as the CFS or the Alliance could determine, the Colonial Union seemed to have cut off all contact, although they hadn’t withdrawn their embassy. They just weren’t talking. The CFS government believed it was due to the assassination of the Union’s newly arrived representative two months ago. Or attempted assassination, no one was really sure. For a brief period, the CFS government was panicked, fearing the Union would blame them for the attempt, but after a few weeks of inaction from the Union they went back to business as usual.
Ambassador Sato had just settled in to read the latest reports from home when she was interrupted by an aide with a message from the Union embassy. They wanted to meet with her at her soonest opportunity. They requested that the meeting take place in the CFS Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in the capital, a common enough occurrence for the two powers that it didn’t really raise any eyebrows. Excited, she rushed to set up the meeting.
Two hours later, she and her aide arrived at the CFS building and were ushered into a small but well-appointed conference room. Just as they were getting settled the door on the far side of the room opened and a human entered. The human was huge, big for even a human, almost as wide across as he was tall. The human nodded to the Rehorish and then took the chair positioned for him on his side of the table. The two Rehorish didn’t really sit, but rather settled into low benches the CFS had put in the room for their use.
“I am Senator Semenov. I understand that you have been sending messages to our embassy, trying to arrange a meeting with our ambassador.”
Ambassador Sato leaned forward eagerly. “Yes, most urgently. A situation has arisen between our two nations that must be resolved as soon as possible.” The Rehorish Ambassador paused, glancing at her aide. “May I ask, what has become of your emissary, Admiral Ruston. Or Ambassador Tilford for that matter?”
The human remained silent for long enough that she was beginning to think he was going to answer, when finally, he shook his head. “Emissary Ruston is dead. And Ambassador Tilford has been detained pending an investigation into his involvement with the shuttle crash that killed Emissary Ruston.”
Ambassador Sato’s antennae twitched at the look on the human’s face. She had spent long hours training herself to recognize human expressions, and this human did not have a ‘poker face’. “Emissary Ruston was a friend of yours, if I am not mistaken. I honor your grief.” She dipped her antennae in respect, a gesture she didn’t know if the human would recognize but which she thought was necessary none the less. “Surely Ambassador Tilford was not involved in his death?” Ambassador Sato was becoming alarmed. First the D’Bringi instability causes dissention within the Alliance, and now human instability might be exacerbating the situation.
Once again, the human remained silent, this time staring at the Rehorish ambassador. Finally, he spoke. “We do not know the truth of it, not yet. Emissary Ruston came here, at my request, to find out why the Alliance attacked our colonies. Attacks which were without provocation or justification. And just as he arrived, he was killed by an ‘accident’, preventing his mission from going forward. He came here to try to avoid a war, but someone didn’t want that. That someone could be within my government, or yours. I don’t know yet, but I will get to the bottom of it.”
“Surely you cannot think my government had anything to do with this?” That was her immediate reaction, but even as she said it, she realized that at a time when the Alliance was apparently falling apart, nearly anything was possible.
“Your government launched an attack on our colonies, killing hundreds and looting thousands of megacredits of resources and equipment. Killing a single man doesn’t seem out of their reach.”
“My government did not launch an attack on the Colonial Union! Any attacks were unsanctioned, and if they took place, they were done by rogue forces not under Alliance control.”
Senator Semenov tossed a data-chip across the table to the Rehorish Ambassador. “They were Alliance ships, flying Alliance colors. Crewed by the race that founded the Alliance. They were Alliance.”
Ambassador Sato picked up the chip, but looked steadily at the human. “There were no attacks on the Union ordered or sanctioned by the Alliance Council. If there were attacks, and I do not doubt your word, then the Alliance will punish those responsible.”
Senator Semenov sat back. “I would like to believe you mean that. If we are to believe you, there would need to be a full accounting of the circumstances behind the attacks, proof that those responsible were punished, and reparations for the damage and death caused by those responsible.”
“All of those issues can be negotiated once the facts are established to everyone’s satisfaction. However, there is the issue of the Union fleet that has invested the Alliance Dether colony system.” She hurried on before he could interrupt. “I do not demand that the fleet withdraw yet, by all reports they have been most civilized in their seizure of our system. And, pending negotiations about the facts behind the…unsanctioned incursions… into Union space, we admit that the Union occupation of our system may be…justified… to a certain extent. However, I must tell you that should that fleet advance further into the Alliance it will be viewed as an invasion of Alliance territory and treated as such. And the Alliance response will not be limited to that single area.”
“Understood.” Senator Semenov nodded. The Rehorish ambassador had just touched on his biggest fear. He feared that his own government was pushing to start a war, or at least a sharp border conflict, to hide its own corruption and inadequacies. He had no control over the administration, or the fleet, only broad oversight powers. He did not know what was being told to the fleet commander, or what her orders were. “I will relay your words to my government.”
“As will I. I believe we have much to talk about, over the coming days.” She rose and bowed to the human, and the two groups departed through their separate doors.
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Month 210, Day 5, Alliance Theom System
Large Group Leader Throat-Slasher looked around the bridge of his command battle cruiser, wondering how many of his crew he could really, truly, trust. He hated the events that had put him in this position, but from the first he had seen no alternative. His race was on a long slide to oblivion, becoming homogenized and corrupted by alien influences. They were D’Bringi, and in the old days that had meant something. Then the Alliance had come, and everything changed. The Clans, long the protectors of the old ways, the ways that had taken them to heights undreamed of in the old days, abandoned the tried-and-true traditions of the past, for the temptation of new ways of doing things. It had quickly become clear to him that the end result would be the marginalization of the D’Bringi within the greater emerging culture of the Alliance, and that was just unacceptable. And so, when the plot to restore the honor of the D’Bringi race was revealed to him, he signed on immediately. Since then, he had done some questionable things. Things which kept him awake at night. He was utterly convinced of their necessity, then and now, though, so he considered his sleep a small sacrifice towards restoring the honor and unique position of his race.
Now, though, the newly restored Empire depended on him, and his actions here over the next several days. The Imperial government in Stahat had determined that the Alliance had blockaded the D’Bringi home system, almost certainly meaning that they were in the first stages of moving against the Empire. The Emperor’s foresight had led to plans for this contingency, and implementing those plans fell upon him.
Before starting, he walked across the command deck and looked at the plot, which was set to show the area around the warp point to the Dether system. Two groups of ships were shown on the display. One was his fleet, the Imperial D’Bringi War Fleet. Three battlecruisers, three cruiser-carriers, three strike carriers, three escort carriers, and seventeen corvette carriers. All of the ships had commanders he trusted, who had proven their loyalty to the Empire. The other group was composed of D’Bringi warships that had withdrawn from the Alliance 6th Fleet when the old government fell and the Emperor declared the restoration of the Empire. That group was larger than his fleet – six battlecruisers, six cruisers, three strike carriers, eleven escort carriers, and three corvette carriers. Together the two fleets could field over five hundred fighters. He knew, based on reports from the inner system planets in Dether, that the human fleet in the system had superior numbers to his fleet, however, he had no information on the makeup of that fleet, or whether or not the humans had fighter technology. The uncertainty was concerning, however, his orders left him little leeway.
The Empire, if it was to survive, needed a distraction, and preferably a distraction that would force the rest of the Alliance to join together with the Empire against an external threat. The humans had thoughtfully provided a fleet as a credible threat; however, they had declined to move any further into the Alliance, and the human fleet commander had sent out multiple messages requesting negotiations. They clearly weren’t being threatening enough to create the conditions the Emperor needed to unite the Alliance. Therefore, it had fallen upon him and his D’Bringi forces to create an incident worthy of pulling the races of the Alliance together. And the human fleet in the Dether system would provide that incident, one way or another.
He opened a comms channel to the flagship of the 6th Fleet units. In a matter of seconds, the Large Group Leader in command was facing him. His counterpart was wearing a standard Alliance uniform harness, unlike his more suitable Imperial harness, and continued to do so in spite of his urgings to change over to the more suitable Imperial uniform. Throat-Slasher found the other’s reticence to adopt the Empire’s new uniform disturbing, but couldn’t afford to show that now. “Large Group Leader, I have received orders from my commanders to advance into Dether and engage the human fleet. Negotiations have failed, and the humans are threatening to bombard the colonies. We must advance!”
The other D’Bringi looked concerned. “I have heard nothing from 6th Fleet or Alliance HQ. Are you sure of your information?”
“Very sure. The humans must be stopped. We must at least try to stop them; else what good are we doing here?”
“Surely, they wouldn’t indiscriminately bombard Alliance populations? They outnumber us, and beyond us lies the new Empire’s most important colony, as well as the rest of the Alliance. Reinforcements are en route even as we speak.”
Throat-Slasher had thought long and hard about this. His counterpart was an older, distinguished D’Bringi officer, with a long record of service. He would not be bullied into attacking, or rushed. However, there were other ways. “I cannot force you to accompany me. Therefore, my force will advance into Dether and engage the enemy fleet before they can act against the colonies. Your force can either advance with me and my ships, or remain here and secure the route into the Alliance, as you see fit. Either way my ships will advance in one hour.” He cut the link before the other could comment.
On board his flag-cruiser, Large Group Leader G’Tak stared at his monitor, furiously thinking. Attacking the human fleet without proper intelligence was foolhardy, but if the Imperial officer was correct and the humans did intend to bombard the colonies, remaining here was the action of a coward. In the end he detailed off a few ships to watch the warp point, while he and the rest of his fleet advanced into the Dether system with the Imperial ships. The humans would retreat or die. Either was acceptable.
Month 210, Day 5, Union controlled Dether system
The Union’s 1st Battle Fleet was deployed around the colonies of the Dether system, either in orbit, or in a central location orbiting the system’s yellow primary. Last month, sensor buoys from the Sligo system had finally arrived and been positioned across the mid-system, giving the fleet sensor coverage of the system out to 216 light minutes. This wasn’t enough to detect ships entering the system through warp points in the outer system, but it would detect them entering through warp points closer to the primary, or, if they did enter in the outer system, the network would detect them about 216 light minutes out as they travelled towards the colonies in the inner system. That would be enough warning to assemble the fleet and move either towards the incoming ships, or away, depending on the situation.
Admiral Carstairs had been very relieved to receive two separate waves of reinforcements over the last several days, primarily consisting of sorely needed escort carriers and their fighters. These reinforcements brought their fighter strength up to just over three hundred and fifty fighters, which made her feel at least somewhat better about facing a D’Bringi or Alliance fleet that surely had been fielding fighters much longer than humanity had. She feared it might not be enough, but she also was beginning to suspect that there was no such thing as ‘enough’ fighters. Even as she contemplated the Union’s fighter situation, her comm sounded with an incoming call.
Captain Li-Chen was on the comm from the superdreadnought’s bridge. “Admiral, the sensor network has picked up a new drive field contact. Bearing 060, distance ninety-six light minutes.”
Admiral Carstairs felt a brief stab of alarm. The new contact was more or less in between her fleet and the warp point back to Union space. If this was an Alliance force entering the system through a previously undetected warp point, then their positioning was bad luck. Yet again she cursed the haphazard approach the Union had taken towards this ‘offensive’. Her fleet had been in this system for months, and it was only just last month that a survey fleet had arrived in-system to support them. And that fleet had barely had enough time to begin surveying for warp points, and hadn’t found any yet. Shaking off the conflicting feelings, she shook her head. “Very well. Call a squadron-commander’s conference for 1000 hours, and make sure this contact report gets disseminated immediately. And patch me through to Commander Uriah.” A few seconds later the youthful face of Commander Thomas Uriah, the CO of one of the fleet’s frigate-scouts, was on her monitor.
“Commander Uriah, you’re to take your ship out to meet the incoming Alliance force, to determine the composition of that contact. I will detail an escort carrier to accompany you.”
“Yes ma’am!”
Month 210, Day 6, Disputed Dether System
Commander Uriah sat in his command chair, staring at the plot as it updated with the latest information. His scout had finally closed to just within twelve light minutes, which meant that it was now close enough to determine the number of ships in the Alliance force. The plot chimed as it updated, and in seconds an info tag appeared connected to the drive field contact, showing that it was composed of sixty-four ships. When the three Alliance corvettes that were shadowing his frigate were added to the total, it was a respectable force. They outnumbered the Union force, barely, but numbers weren’t everything. Unfortunately, Union intelligence was sure that the Alliance was ahead of the Union in both general technologies, and in fighter technology, both of which could magnify numerical differences. And not in a good way for the Union. Still, based on the speed at which the Alliance force was moving they couldn’t have anything larger than a battlecruiser, which meant that the Union force had at least one advantage.
“Send a message to the fleet updating them on this development and inform the admiral that we will attempt to get closer to determine the makeup of the Alliance force.”
The message went out as the frigate closed with the Alliance fleet. Or attempted to close. As it drove inwards towards the Alliance fleet, the three corvettes shadowing it launched fighters, driving it back. The fighters were capable of chasing down the Union frigate, but didn’t, content to keep it out of close sensor range of the fleet. After a while Commander Uriah tired of the game and settled into a course paralleling the oncoming enemy fleet.
In the inner system, Admiral Carstairs made her decision. The fleet sallied forth, headed out to meet the incoming Alliance force. In reality she had little choice. Because of the random chance involved in warp point locations, the Alliance force stood squarely across her retreat route, should she decide to avoid engagement. Worse, her six heavy capital ships meant that her fleet was slower than the Alliance fleet, so even if she wanted to retreat, she couldn’t. So, the Union fleet advanced to meet the Alliance fleet.
Month 210, Day 7, Disputed Dether system
The two fleets faced each other across forty light seconds of space. Admiral Carstairs was deeply unhappy with the situation, and there was little she could do about it. Her sensors were unable to determine the makeup of the Alliance fleet at this range, which meant that the Alliance probably wasn’t able to discern her fleet composition either, however, the Alliance fleet had used no less than seventeen corvette-carriers to probe her fleet, and had penetrated closely enough to determine the exact composition of her force. She had simply been unable to prevent this from happening, as she didn’t have any ships that were fast enough to counter the Alliance corvettes, and when she had ordered her carriers to launch their fighters to chase down the illusive Alliance scout-carriers, the main Alliance force launched its own fighters and threatened her fleet, forcing her to pull the fighters back and concede the scouting battle. The upshot was that the Alliance knew her exact force composition, and she had limited knowledge of their composition. The one bright side to all of this was that while the Alliance force outnumbered hers, the fact that nearly a quarter of the Alliance fleet’s ships were corvettes was at least somewhat reassuring.
Admiral Carstairs had ordered her comms department to establish contact with the Alliance fleet command as they closed, but the Alliance fleet had ignored the contact attempts. Until now. As the two fleets sat across from each other, the Alliance force finally opened a channel. Admiral Carstairs gestured for her comms officer to open the channel, and the monitor at the front of the flag bridge cleared to show a split-screen with two D’Bringi officers on two different command decks. Interestingly, one of the D’Bringi officers was wearing the uniform harness of the Alliance Navy, while the other officer was wearing the same type of ornate harness worn by the D’Bringi who had attacked the Union colonies. After a second, the D’Bringi on the left, the one wearing the ornate, non-Alliance harness, began to speak.
“To the Union forces that have illegally occupied the Alliance colonies in the Dether system. You are ordered to withdraw from the system immediately. Failure to withdraw in a timely manner, or any actions taken against the civilian population, will result in your immediate destruction.” The channel closed and the monitor went black.
Admiral Carstairs carefully kept the consternation she felt from her face. The entire reason for her presence in the system was to force the D’Bringi, or the Alliance, to the negotiating table. If they were unwilling to talk, then the chance of all-out war was considerably higher than she liked. It was interesting, though, that there had been two D’Bringi present on-screen, and that they wore different uniforms. “Record for broadcast to the Alliance Fleet.” When her comms officer nodded, she turned towards the camera on her console. “The Colonial Union is responding to unprovoked and deadly attacks by D’Bringi ships on Colonial Union planetary populations. The seizure of this system by my fleet is temporary, as I indicated in my numerous transmissions to your government, until the Alliance government provides an explanation for the raids into Union space.” Admiral Carstairs paused for a few seconds, then continued. “As for the civilian population of this system, they have nothing to fear from the Union Fleet. Unlike the D’Bringi, we do not go out of our way to kill civilians.” She turned to her comms officer. “Append the recordings of the evidence of the raids, along with the messages from the President, and transmit it.”
On board the Alliance 6th Fleet flagship, Large Group Leader G’Tak stared at his monitor in consternation. The message from the Union admiral had been clear and direct. After a few seconds, he turned to his second in command. “Second, what was that bit about raiding into Union space? Have there been any reports, anywhere, about impending action against the Union?”
“Sir, there is something very interesting appended to that recording. I’ll route it to your station. I believe it will explain the Union admiral’s statements.”
G’Tak watched the appended recordings of D’Bringi officers in Imperial harnesses ordering their ships to attack Union colonies and felt sick. Recordings could be faked, of course, but he knew one of the officers personally. He had always considered J’sten to be a pain in the tail, an entitled, arrogant younger son of a minor Clan lord. And there he was, telling the human colonists that if they continued to resist his forces, he could and would bombard their capital. “Second, have your heard anything of these events before this?”
The second in command hissed in frustration. “No sir, but as you know interstellar communications have been…tenuous as of late. I…” Before the second in command could continue, the comms officer broke in.
“Incoming transmission from the Imperial Flagship. It is directed at the Union force and copied to us.”
G’Tak nodded to the comms officer. “Put it up on the monitor.”
“Your presence in this system is unacceptable. Once you have returned to your own systems you may present your evidence, if any, to the proper authorities. Retreat now or be destroyed.” The monitor went black.
G’Tak was trying to decipher the possible reasons for the other D’Bringi officer’s aggressive attitude when the comms officer routed another comms request to his station. After accepting the comms request, the visage of Large Group Leader Throat Slasher appeared on his desk monitor. “We must attack immediately, before the humans manage to receive reinforcements. I am launching a fighter strike; I suggest you join your fighters to mine. With their fighters gone, the humans will be as meat before the hunters.”
Before the other could cut the channel, G’Tak spoke. “What do you know about the human’s claim that the Empire attacked their colonies?”
Throat-Slasher looked back blankly. “I know nothing of this, of course. The humans are making this up to justify their invasion, and we cannot allow them to attack our colonists.”
The monitor went black, leaving G’Tak staring at a blank screen.
“Sir, the Imperial fleet is launching fighters.” The plot tank updated to show the Imperial carriers launching their fighters, all of which carried codes indicating that they were armed for anti-fighter strikes.
“Very well. Inform all ships, launch fighters. All fighters to join with the Imperial strike and will be under Imperial operational control. Second, join me in my office.”
The two D’Bringi retired to the Large Group Leader’s office adjacent to the bridge. Once in the room G’Tak sealed the door and brought up the tactical display and set it to show the fighter strike forming up in front of the combined fleets. They sat silently for a few seconds, watching the swarming mass of fighters assembling in front of their fleet. Finally, Assistant Leader J’Ton gestured towards the display. “Your esteemed counterpart in the Imperial Fleet seems intent on getting his battle with the humans. Who, if I am not mistaken, seem to want to talk more than fight.”
Large Group Leader G’Tak stared at the display as the fighter strike formed up and then set out for the human fleet, five hundred and fifteen fighters strong. “He will get his battle, but will it go as he thinks? I doubt the humans, who are newer to fighter technology than we are, will be able to overcome the strike we just launched, which will leave them open and vulnerable to additional fighter strikes. If they do lose their fighter coverage, then they will have to retreat.”
Assistant Leader J’Ton gestured agreement. “But will our esteemed Imperial friend allow them to withdraw? With their heavy ships they cannot outrun our fleet, much less our fighters. They will be at our mercy. And should we attack them at all, if they are telling the truth and the Empire attacked them first?”
G’Tak shook his head. “Before we left the Villiers system, I was given a confidential briefing by Tai-sho Talix. He was of the belief that the new D’Bringi Empire was behind the communications disruptions, and that they were using them to consolidate their power before the Alliance could react. There is little evidence to support his stance, but it does make sense. As do the ‘raids’ claimed by the humans.”
Assistant Leader J’Ton shook his head. “But…would they go that far? To risk war with the humans?”
G’Tak got up and began pacing. “I have stayed aloof from the “Imperial issue” as you know. I don’t believe it is the military’s duty to dictate to the people how they should be governed. But… in spite of the claims by our new government, it sure looks like the methods they used to gain power were both illegal and unethical. And if they have indeed crippled Alliance communications and raided into the territory of our strongest neighbor as a way to distract from their operations, then they have risked pulling us all into a major war just to grab power.”
Assistant Leader J’Ton sat silently for a few seconds as they watched the fighter strike pull away from the fleet. “What will you do?”
The Large Group Leader stopped pacing, having come to a decision. “I will do what I have to do. I cannot face down the Imperials with the humans so close. If they take advantage of our disarray, we could lose everything. So, we will eliminate their fighters, and then we will see where we are at. At that point what happens next will largely depend on the humans, and on Throat-Slasher.” He turned on his second in command. “What I need to know is, can I depend on you?”
The fleet’s second in command slowly stood up in front of his commander. “What do you mean?”
“I know that the Imperials have been in communication with most of the ships in my fleet over the last several days. Heavy communication. I suspect they are trying to identify those who would be loyal to their new government, in case I turn out to be less tractable than they wish. I would know where you stand, before this starts.”
“As you know, I have always been loyal to you, and to our clan. I will not change that now.”
Large Group Leader G’Tak’s visage softened. “I know that, and I appreciate your service. But I would know your thoughts on the new Imperial government.”
Assistant Leader J’Ton’s face fell. “At first, I was enthusiastic about their claimed return to our old ways. Our clan lost much when the old government instituted the changes that swept our society when we created the Alliance with the Rehorish. I know that our clan chief endorsed the changes, but…we lost so much! It hurt to stand by and watch our senior clan members treated with disrespect, like they were just like anyone else! It was hard to bear. So, when the Empire was proclaimed, I felt nothing but relief. The old ways would be restored, and everything would be good. But then we visited the colony in Stahat, the center of the new Empire, and what I saw there opened my eyes. The so-called ‘Imperial nobles’ are all callow youths, arrogant and greedy. The suffering in the lower orders was blatant and wide-spread, something that the old order would never have tolerated, if only because it would have threatened their rule. But those ‘nobles’ seem to court danger by oppressing everyone around them. And this is happening in the center of their power! What is happening on the fringes, away from the light? I fear for our people.”
Large Group Leader G’Tak smiled. “And that is what I wanted to hear. We must think about our people, now. While I deal with our strike against the humans, I want you to focus on our fleet. I want you to reach out to all of our commanders and inform them that we may have to take drastic action very soon. I trust them all, but they must be aware that there may be reactionary forces on their ships that might object to opposing the Empire. They must be prepared. In addition, I want you to work with the communications department to lock down fleet comms. I want to be able to limit the Imperial’s ability to talk to my ships, if I need to. Understood?”
The other came to attention. “Understood!”
“Good. Report to the Osiris. Should something happen to me you will assume command. Your orders, which I will put in writing, are to prevent a war with the humans while still defending this system.”
The other D’Bringi saluted and left the room, leaving G’Tak to his thoughts.
Meanwhile, on board Admiral Carstairs command superdreadnought, alarms began ringing as the fleet’s sensors detected the fighters being launched from the D’Bringi ships. Admiral Carstairs turned from the conversation she was having with her chief of staff to see the plot updating. At forty light seconds the D’Bringi fleet was too far away for the fleet’s sensors to determine the number of fighters being launched, but when the new contact moved away from the D’Bringi fleet, towards the Union fleet, their intent was clear.
“Comms, connect me with Captain Ferretti, on board the Scipio please.” The comms officer nodded and turned to her console. A few seconds later Captain Ferretti appeared on the flag bridge’s main monitor.
“Captain, we have what appears to be a D’Bringi fighter strike inbound. Prepare your fighters for fleet defense, but do not launch until I give the order.”
The fleet’s senior carrier commander appeared excited and eager to come to grips with the D’Bringi. “We will be ready when you need us, admiral!”
For the next seven and a half minutes the Union fleet watched the D’Bringi fighter force close on its position. The fleet was at action stations, and the Union’s fighters were loaded and ready for launch. Finally, the D’Bringi fighters were ten light seconds from the Union force, within range of its sensor’s ability to determine the number of approaching fighters. The plot on the flag bridge chimed and updated, and Admiral Carstairs paled. Turning, she punched up the comms channel to Captain Ferretti. When the captain’s face appeared on her monitor his previous excitement had fled, replaced by a pale and drawn complexion. “Ma’am?”
“I see that you’ve seen the new sensor update?”
“Yes, ma’am. They outnumber us very nearly three to two. That’s a…significant disadvantage for our fighters, ma’am.”
“Yes, it is. Because of that, I would like to deploy your fighters in close to the fleet, so that they can engage the incoming fighters within range of fleet weapons. Perhaps our ships can even out the enemy’s superiority in numbers.”
Captain Ferretti’s face firmed up. “No ma’am, I wouldn’t recommend that. If we allow the enemy to close to weapons range of the fleet, then they will be able to attack the ships before our fighters can attack them. You must allow us to defend the fleet, as we were intended to do! We’ve trained for this. Let us do our jobs.”
Admiral Carstairs hesitated. She would be sending them to their deaths, if they engaged beyond the fleet’s weapons, but Ferretti was right, if the D’Bringi fighters were loaded with anti-ship weapons and they allowed them to close with the fleet the results would be disastrous. “Very well. Launch your fighters and engage the enemy short of the fleet.
Fighters began spewing forth from the Union carriers, and in short order there were three hundred and sixty-seven Union fighters racing away from the human fleet, towards the oncoming fighter strike. It was an awesome response, considering how recently humanity had begun building carriers, but it was still short of what would be needed, she feared.
One minute after launching, the two groups of fighters slammed together four light seconds short of the Union fleet.
The two groups of fighters didn’t engage in any fancy maneuvers or feints, they just closed the range as if eager to get to grips with each other. Unfortunately for the Union, not only was their fighter force outnumbered, but they were outclassed by the enemy as well. Only two thirds of the Union force was trained up to standards, while the remaining third were considered green and inexperienced. In contrast, the D’Bringi, who had fielded fighters for far longer than humans, only had a single squadron that was new enough to be considered green. The vast bulk of their fighter force was exquisitely trained and experienced, and as they plunged into battle with the humans, they showed it. D’Bringi squadrons engaged the human fighters with style and skill, and the human fighters fell in droves. In a short thirty seconds of fighting the entire Union fighter force was destroyed. Almost two hundred D’Bringi fighters joined them, destroyed by the desperate Union fighters, but that left three hundred and seventeen D’Bringi fighters to return to their carriers to be rearmed.
The flag bridge of the command superdreadnought was deathly silent as the assembled officers watched the plot. Admiral Carstairs was appalled. In thirty seconds, her fleet had been stripped of its fighter coverage, and now was open to attack by the three hundred remaining D’Bringi fighters. After a few seconds she pulled herself together. “Alright, people, we’ve suffered a setback, but we’re not beaten. Our battle line is intact, and to field that many fighters the D’Bringi can’t have much in the way of capital ships. We’ve practiced anti-fighter tactics, and their fighter force has been greatly reduced. I intend to order the fleet to retreat to the warp point to the Laramie system, where we will rendezvous with the Union Assault Corps, which is currently located in the Laramie system. Now get to work. I need communiques to HQ Sligo and to the UAC in Laramie updating them on our situation, and I need a fleet movement plan ASAP!” The flag bridge returned to its normal hustle and bustle as the officers got to work. Admiral Carstairs opened a link to the SD’s bridge, and in seconds the ship’s commander was on-screen. “Captain Li-Chen, a course will be forthcoming from my staff shortly. We will be retreating to the warp point, with a short detour around the D’Bringi force. Inform the rest of the captains, we move out as soon as the course is ready. Understood?”
Captain Li-Chen nodded. “Yes ma’am.” She paused and looked around the bridge. “Ma’am, are the D’Bringi likely to let us go?”
“If they don’t, they’ll regret it. In the meantime, get the destroyers out there to pick up any surviving pilots.” She closed the link and settled in to see what the D’Bringi would do.
Meanwhile, on the flagship of the Alliance 6th Fleet contingent…
“Our fighters are en route back to their carriers. ETA is nine minutes.”
“Very well.” Large Group Leader G’Tak turned from the plot. Their fighter losses had been heavy, but acceptable in exchange for the elimination of the Union force’s fighters. The question would be, was the destruction of their fighters enough to convince the humans to retreat, or was he going to have to destroy the human fleet? The loss of their fighters was a heavy blow, and certainly hundreds of pilots had been killed, on both sides, but that was miniscule in comparison to the loss of even one capital ship. The question was, would the humans take the loss and retreat, or would they force the issue and either attack, or worse, try to return to the colonies in the inner system?
Two minutes later the human fleet turned and set out across the system. They were not on a clear line to any of the warp points, but as the D’Bringi fleet stood between them and the warp point they would have to use to return to their home systems, their move towards the outer system was clearly a bid to leave the system. G’Tak felt relief. By heading away from both the colonies and the D’Bringi fleet the humans were signaling their willingness to retreat from the system without further fighting. The conflict with the humans might not be over, but his goal had been to buy some time for the diplomats to work this out without further loss of life, and it seemed he had succeeded. Or so he thought.
The human fleet moved away from the D’Bringi fleet, slowly, as necessitated by the huge capital ships at the core of the fleet, as the surviving D’Bringi fighters raced back to the fleet. Finally, they were back aboard and G’Tak ordered that the fighters be rearmed with anti-fighter weapons. Shortly after the fighters were reloaded, a channel from the Imperial D’Bringi flagship opened.
“The humans are at our mercy. We must crush them before they rendezvous with reinforcements, or replenish their fighters. I will be launching my fighters for a second strike, and require you to do the same.” The arrogant Imperial force leader didn’t wait for G’Tak to respond, but rather closed the channel before G’Tak could say anything.
“Fighters launching from the Imperial force, sir!”
G’Tak hit the button that signaled alert status throughout the fleet, then opened a fleet-wide secure comms channel. “Officers and crews of the Alliance Fleet, this is large group leader G’Tak. The human fleet is withdrawing from this system after suffering the loss of its fighter force. I intend to allow them to retreat from our territory, to allow our government time to resolve this dispute without further bloodshed. I fear that our Imperial counterparts will not allow the humans to withdraw. Their leader has been claiming that the humans had threatened to bombard our colonies, and had behaved barbarously to our citizens during their time in control of this system. This is not true. I have communiques direct from the planetary administrations of both colonies in this system proving that the Union forces have been most civilized and indeed, have only landed a small number of troops on the surface of both planets to control their spaceports. There have been no civilian deaths attributed to the occupation, and the humans have not threatened the planets or their populations in any way once they surrendered.”
“At the current time we are not at war with the humans. They claim they are only responding to attacks from our forces into their territory, and their proof is convincing. If the Imperial forces attack the withdrawing human fleet, I can see no other outcome than all-out war between our two nations. Coming now, at a time when the Alliance is fractured and communications are crippled, such a war would be disastrous, even if it ends in our victory. Therefore, I intend to oppose the Imperial fleet should they attempt to attack the humans. I understand how hard this will be. Those officers and crews over there are our people. Friends. Maybe even family. But we can’t allow their actions to draw the entire Alliance into a war it does not want and shouldn’t be fighting! We must oppose this, or the rest of the Alliance will judge our race harshly for what we’ve done to the Alliance. We mustn’t allow the corrupt aristocrats of this so-called “Empire” to draw us into war and treason! We must provide an example of loyalty to the Alliance as a whole, for our people and for the Alliance!”
It started slowly, but then gather steam quickly. First one, then another, and then dozens of D’Bringi on the flag bridge were on their feet, cheering and shouting “ALLIANCE! ALLIANCE!” The same cheer could be heard coming from the open comms channels to the rest of the fleet. G’tak turned to his console and opened a channel to the Fighter Group Leader. “Launch the fighters!”
The 6th Fleet detachment under Large Group Leader G’Tak launched its fighters, after which G’Tak opened a channel to the Imperial leader. “Large Group Leader Throat Slasher, the humans are retreating. We should let them retreat to give the Alliance Council time to resolve the dispute without more bloodshed.”
Large Group Leader Throat Slasher’s face was set. “We cannot allow the humans to leave when we have the advantage. If they reequip their carriers with fighters, or meet up with reinforcements, then we may not be able to keep them away from the colonies they have threatened to destroy! We must defend the colonies!”
“They have had months to attack the colonies, and could have done so with complete impunity, but have not. Even the colonial leaders are saying that they behaved with honor and respect for local lives.” G’Tak paused, gathering his thoughts. “Throat slasher, you must see it. We are balanced on the precipice. So far, the damage has been limited to a few hundred lives on each side, and some lost resources. This can be stopped, here and now, before it gains a life of its own and becomes uncontrollable. Help me stop it!”
The other commander sat silently for a few seconds, but then shook his head. “It is too late for that. I do what I must.” The monitor died, and with it G’Tak’s hope that the situation would be resolved without further bloodshed.
Imperial Large Group Leader Throat Slasher knew what he must do. If the Empire was going to have a chance to survive, he must take out G’Tak’s flagship. He had only three battle cruisers and three heavy cruisers against the 6th Fleet’s six battlecruisers and six heavy cruisers, and his fighters were outnumbered, but he only had to take out G’Tak’s flagship. If he could do that, he could convince the rest of the captains to follow him against the humans. It was a desperate gamble, but it was all he had left. “All fighters will advance on the 6th Fleet and attack the flagship. All ships, open fire on the 6th Fleet flagship immediately!”
“Sir, the Imperial fighters are turning towards us!”
G’Tak glanced at the plot. His force was positioned three light seconds from the Imperial fleet. “Send our fighters out to meet them.” G’Tak could taste the bile in his mouth, but he would do what he had to do to avoid another needless war with the humans.
As the Imperial fighters turned towards the 6th Fleet detachment, Throat-Slasher’s three HET laser equipped heavy cruisers opened fire on G’Tak’s ship. Five of the heavy cruiser’s lasers hit G’Tak’s command battlecruiser, slicing into its armor.
G’Tak opened the all-ships channel on his console. “All ships, return fire and began evasive maneuvers. Let them come to us.”
Throat-Slasher’s three battlecruisers were out of range of their older energy beams, and so they turned towards the 6th Fleet ships and closed the range. Meanwhile, the two fighter forces came together in between the two fleets in a cataclysmic orgy of destruction. One hundred and seventeen Imperial fighters faced one hundred and eighty-six 6th Fleet fighters. The Imperial fighters were loaded for an anti-shipping strike, and so were forced to expend their close attack missiles against their opponents, while the 6th Fleet fighters were armed for anti-fighter work. Both sides tore into their opposites with a fury that could only be explained by the betrayal each felt. When the furball dissipated, only eighty fighters remained, all belonging to the 6th Fleet. With no enemy fighters left, and no anti-ship weaponry, they were forced to return to their carriers to rearm.
The two fleets had been engaging each other as the fighters fought it out. The two sides had closed to two light seconds, and were within range of all of their weapons. LGL Throat Slasher’s battlecruiser group focused its energy weapons on G’Tak’s battlecruiser, stripping away most of its shields. In return, G’Tak’s battlecruiser group salvoed their capital missiles and heavy force beams, smashing the command BC’s shields and damaging its armor. Throat-Slasher’s laser armed heavy cruisers cut through the tattered remains of G’Tak’s armor and began chewing into the ship, although the damage was light, so far. At G’Tak’s orders, all of the 6th Fleet ships focused their fire on Throat-Slasher’s command ship. The Imperial BC weathered the fire well, with its data-group’s point defense knocking most of the missiles targeted on the big ship out, but the elite datagroup of force-beam equipped 6th Fleet heavy cruisers ended the Imperial flagship’s run. The 6th Fleet heavy cruisers were equipped with the Alliance’s latest technology, and each mounted two capital force beams and a spinal force beam. The elite crews on the heavy cruisers hit the Imperial flagship with all nine weapons, gutting it, leaving it drifting through space, drive field down, a hulk with no life support and only a single weapons mount remaining.
G’tak opened a comms channel to the Imperial force. “Your flagship is out of action. Break off and retreat! I will allow you to return to Stahat pending a determination from the Alliance as to the status of the D’Bringi Empire. Do not force me to destroy you!”
The Imperial forces ignored the offer and continued to close the range, firing as they came. The near destruction of their flagship, and the death or incapacitation of their leader seemed to fuel their desire to close the range.
G’Tak’s advanced force beam equipped cruisers smashed a second approaching Imperial battlecruiser. On the Imperial side, as they attempted to return fire, found that they had entered within range of the 6th Fleet’s advanced battlecruisers, which were equipped with datalink jamming systems. Under the onslaught of jamming, the Imperial’s datalinks went down, forcing them to fire on their targets individually. They were close enough, though, that their heavy lasers were doing a tremendous amount of damage, and G’Tak’s flagship began taking heavy damage. Even as the lasers began chewing into G’Tak’s flagship, the three older 6th Fleet battlecruisers fired their energy beams at one of the Imperial laser-equipped cruisers and their plasma guns at the second. The heavy cruiser targeted by the energy beams was heavily damaged, with little but its life support left, but the plasma packets largely missed their target, leaving it with its armor mostly intact. That ship, having survived the plasma attack, targeted G’Tak’s ship with its heavy lasers and gutted the 6th Fleet flagship, leaving it a burning, broken, wreck.
The two remaining more or less intact Imperial ships plunged to point blank range of the 6th Fleet ships, forcing them to drop their engine modulation to keep the Imperials out of their blindspot. The first ships to fire were the 6th Fleet’s elite advanced force beam ships, and they swatted the approaching cruiser out of space and crippled the remaining battlecruiser. The Imperial battlecruiser fired its remaining three energy beams, taking out the shields on a 6th Fleet battlecruiser, then it was swarmed by a sprint-mode missile salvo from the other 6th Fleet cruisers. The battle was over.
Three Imperial warships remained, broken and leaking atmosphere. Meanwhile, their six carriers and fifteen corvette-carriers were retreating. The 6th Fleet contingent’s second in command, Assistant Large Group Leader J’Ton, was unwilling to let them go, as the Imperial warships had been unwilling to break off when they had the chance. Once their fighters were rearmed, he sent them out to round up the carriers and bring them back to join his ships.
On board the Union flagship, Admiral Carstairs watched in amazement as the ships of the D’Bringi fleet began firing on each other. The battle was over quickly, with one side being mostly wiped out. Several minutes later her comms officer signaled that a message was incoming. She gestured for the officer to put it up on the command deck’s central monitor, and the screen came to life to show a D’Bringi officer in a standard Alliance harness. Notably, this was not the same D’Bringi officer she had spoken with earlier.
“Union fleet, you are to withdraw to the Laramie system, as you call it. Do not enter this system again or the Alliance will consider it an act of war. Your complaints of D’Bringi attacks into your territory have been heard, and your evidence will be provided to the Alliance Council. I cannot promise that the Alliance Council will be willing to talk, but if you do not take any further aggressive action, I’m sure that the situation can be resolved peacefully.”
Admiral Carstairs activated her recorder. “Agreed. We will withdraw to the Laramie system, as requested. We will look forward to receiving representatives of the Alliance government, should the negotiations be held there.” She paused. “May I inquire as to the health of the officer I spoke with before?”
“Leader G’Tak survived the destruction of his flagship and is being conveyed to my ship as we speak. He thanks you for your concern.”
The two fleets drew apart while carefully watching one another. Three Alliance corvette-carriers shadowed the withdrawing Union ships, but kept their distance. Both sides sent out a large number of CD’s to their home bases. The Alliance force sent their CD’s, not back towards the sector capital of Stahat, which was controlled by the D’Bringi Empire, but rather on a heading towards the outer system where, as far as the Union forces knew, nothing existed. This confirmed for Admiral Carstairs the fact that what she had long feared was true, that the Alliance had other warp point chains that led to this system. The Union had finally gotten survey ships to the system to look for more warp points, but now they were retreating with the fleet, leaving the survey unfinished.
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Month 210, Day 8, Confederated Free States
Senator Semenov read the communique from Union Naval HQ again, trying to parse both what the Navy actually said, and what they were leaving unsaid. The 1st Battle Fleet under Admiral Carstairs had fought a fighter engagement with the D’Bringi in the Dether system, and lost, but then observed the D’Bringi firing upon each other. After which Admiral Carstairs withdrew from the inner system with the intent of relocating to the Laramie system and rendezvousing with reinforcements and the Union Assault Corps. The dissention within the ranks of the D’Bringi fleet certainly supported Ambassador Sato’s claim that the Alliance as a whole was not involved in whatever was going on with the D’Bringi. Coupled with the information that had just come into his possession, it certainly was looking like the Alliance was not involved with either the attacks on Union colonies or the death of Admiral Ruston and the shuttle crew. When added to the information that had come into his possession this morning, he was nearly done here. He had to return to the capital, before it was too late.
After considering the situation for a short time, he came to a decision. First, he set up a meeting with the Alliance Ambassador, in their embassy, for later that day. Then he had his staff begin setting up a series of meetings with officials in the Confederation government spaced out over the next week.
At the Alliance embassy, as soon as he was alone with Ambassador Sato, Senator Semenov got right to the point. “Ambassador, this morning I received word that our fleet in the Dether system engaged D’Bringi forces in a fighter battle. Unfortunately, the battle went poorly for our forces, but then a very strange thing happened. The D’Bringi fleet, which seemed to be composed of ships belonging to the Alliance Navy and to this “D’Bringi Empire”, whatever that is, started fighting amongst themselves. Ultimately, it appears that the ships loyal to the Alliance won the battle, and their commander allowed the Union fleet to retreat. Our admiral believes she could have defeated the combined Alliance and D'Bringi forces in the system, before they started shooting at each other, but admits that her losses would have been very heavy. As it is, our fleet is retreating, and the losses inflicted on each side were limited to several hundred fighters.”
Ambassador Sato, who had not known of this event, listened, first with growing fear, then with a kernel of hope, as the human described the events in the Dether system. The situation in the systems in the Far Frontier Sector, beyond Stahat, were largely unknown to the rest of the Alliance, and so this was valuable information. She couldn’t let the human know this, though. “We view all losses with concern, but as you observe, we have other issues that must be dealt with.” She really wanted to propose a cease-fire, but knew that she couldn’t, as they had no control over the forces in the Far Frontier sector, and thus couldn’t guarantee that no further actions would be taken. “We are working as hard as we can to determine the truth of the incursions into Union space, and once we have apprehended those responsible, they will be punished.”
Senator Semenov leaned forward. “There is one other thing I would like to ask you…”
With the assistance of the Alliance Ambassador, Senator Semenov left the Alliance embassy through the rear employee’s entrance, without his overcoat and with a hat provided by one of the embassy’s human employees. His hope was that having scheduled meetings throughout the next week, no one would be expecting him to leave so suddenly. Once away from the embassy he visited one of the Confederation capital city’s numerous street bazaars, where he purchased a change of clothes and an anonymous net-link, which he then used to purchase tickets for a public shuttle trip to orbit. Once there, he purchased a ticket aboard a civilian transport heading into the Union. Essentially, he disappeared from the surface of the planet. Timed orders arrived in his staff’s inbox the next day telling them to cancel the meetings they had set up and then return to the Union capital.
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Month 210, Day 15, Alliance Dether system
A contingent of three heavy cruisers, six light escort cruisers, three escort destroyers, and three escort carriers from the 6th Alliance Fleet jumps into the Dether system. These are the reinforcements for the 6th Fleet units under G’Tak ordered to respond to the human invasion of the system. Sho-sa G’Tak stops them at the warp point, and, after filling in their commander, a T’Pau officer, on recent events, sends them back to the Stahat system to secure that system for the Alliance.
Month 210, Day 16, Laramie system
The Union’s 1st Battle Fleet jumps out of the Dether system, into the Laramie system. The warp point to the Dether system is guarded on the Laramie side by the Union Assault Corps, forty-two heavy and light cruisers optimized for close-in combat at a warp point. Although the UAC has no attached carriers, their positioning around the warp point ensures that no Alliance ships would survive long enough to launch their fighters, giving Admiral Carstairs the security she needs to reorganize her fleet and plan their next move.
Union Fleet command on Sligo strips the defensive forces in both the Sligo system and the Redwing system of all carriers and sends them to reinforce Admiral Carstairs. They will take over a month to reach her, though, and both groups together number only six carriers and one hundred and twenty fighters. In addition, fleet command on Sligo requests reinforcements from the capital at Epsilon Eridani. Union Fleet command agrees to dispatch the bulk of the new-built carriers in the system to reinforce the 1st Battle Fleet. It will take two months for the six escort carriers to arrive in the Laramie system.
Month 210, Day 17, Alliance Dether System
Large Group Leader G’Tak’s fleet receives orders via CD from the newly reconstituted Alliance Council. These orders were transmitted via the newly installed ICN that has now reached the Thoen system, adjacent to the Dether system. The orders inform G’Tak of the belief by the Council that the Imperial D’Bringi are behind the breakdown of the ICN and the attacks on the humans, and orders him to avoid contact with the humans, even to the point of withdrawing to the Thoen system and abandoning the Dether system, if necessary. In addition, G’Tak is promoted to Tai-sa (Vice Admiral equivalent) and placed in command of all forces in and around the Dether system.
Large Group Leader G’Tak dispatches a full report on the status of the forces known to him in the Far Frontier system, and on his actions to date, including the dispatch, on his authority, of 6th Fleet forces to the Stahat system. In addition, G’Tak sends a CD to the Union scout ship that remains in the Dether system, sitting on the warp point to the system that the humans retreated to, to inform them that the Alliance Council has ordered him to take no further action against the Union, pending negotiations.
Three days later freighters from the core systems arrive in the Dether system and install new ICN buoys, and the system, and the military forces in it, are once again linked to the core systems. With confirmation that the route to the core systems is open, G’Tak dispatches his empty carriers back to Rehorish Prime, and safety. The damaged ships captured from the imperials were scuttled, as all three cruisers were so heavily damaged that the time and cost involved in repairing them would be prohibitive.
Month 210, Day 23, T’Pau Home System
The twelve battleships of the Alliance Strategic Reserve arrive at the warp point to the D’Bringi home system and assume defensive stations around the warp point, freeing up the D’Bringi ships loyal to Skull Splitter. As per their orders from Tai-sho Soul Splitter, those units immediately set out for the loyalist colony in the Nagasaki system.
Month 210, Day 25, Union controlled Laramie system
A small group of reinforcements joins the Union 1st Battle Fleet at the warp point to the Dether system. Unfortunately, the reinforcement group contains no carriers or fighters, but rather a squadron of superdreadnoughts and a single escorting destroyer. This meant that the total fighter complement of the fleet consisted of thirty four fighters that belonged to the two carriers Admiral Carstairs had detailed to picket the Laramie system.
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Month 210, Day 25, Chirq-controlled Khozun Prime
For five months the squadron from the 1st Alliance Fleet had orbited the Khozuni home planet, supporting the Chirq occupation troops that had been landed to end the planetary chaos and hopefully bring the planet into the Alliance at some point in the future.
When they had arrived over the Khozuni home planet they had found it in the midst of a vicious multiple-sided war. The capital city was a smoking hole, the victim of several orbital strikes and subsequent bombardment during the ongoing civil war, and the Khozuni seemed to be far more concerned with fighting each other than with talking to the Rehorish and Chirq who had arrived over their planet. The orbiting Alliance warships and Chirq occupation forces soon put an end to the fighting, and then work had begun on their primary mission of patching together some sort of planetary state with a pro-Alliance government. Their secondary purpose was to get to the bottom of just how a low-tech race like the Khozuni had managed to eliminate the Alliance patrol ships assigned to the Chirq system. There was also the issue of why the Khozuni had invaded the Chirq home world, but not the nearby Alliance colonies.
Much progress had been made on getting the Khozuni organized, and as that job progressed, more of the occupation force’s resources had been turned to the destroyed capital city of the fallen empire. Aide and recovery efforts had begun almost immediately, of course, but as the rest of the planet accepted the peacekeepers, the occupiers were able to focus on the former capital city as the most likely location to determine the truth of what had happened.
The going had been slow. The city had been hit by what looked to be at least one orbital strike, and then by nuclear bombardment during the civil war. Much of the city was just gone, and most of the rest was a blasted ruin. However, last month the recovery operation had discovered the remnants of a large underground complex that had been built under the location of the imperial palace, and most of the recovery teams had been diverted to that area. Most of the complex had been destroyed, either in the initial orbital bombardment, or in the later nuclear bombardments, but as they dug, they kept finding deeper portions. Finally, last week, the recovery efforts bore fruit. In what appeared to be the deepest sublevel they uncovered a bunker complex that had remained more or less intact. Even better, it contained survivors.
There was a tense period during which the defenders, who were apparently afraid that the recovery teams were sent to attack them, opened fire on the rescuers, but after a short period of time they were convinced that rescue was at hand. It soon became clear that the rescuers had discovered the last of the Imperial line, a young princess who had been sent to the bunkers as a precaution long before there was any attack on the palace complex. Even better, the palace data systems had a backup resident in the bunker, and, with the surviving Imperial Guard’s assistance, the recovery teams were able to decipher the records. And they were damning. The Khozuni had willingly attacked the Chirq, that was true, however, the records made it clear that the entire operation had been organized by D’Bringi citizens. These mysterious D’Bringi had given the Khozuni technology and helped them build orbital shipyards, as well as making funds available to them to help build up their navy. All of this had been done in exchange for the lion’s share of the loot from the Khozuni conquest of the Chirq home system. Worse, the D’Bringi had promised that the Chirq would have no help in defending their system, which meant that either the missing patrol force was on their side, or had somehow been dealt with by the rogue D’Bringi. Given the events that had taken place since the attack on the Chirq, no one doubted that the three missing patrol corvette-carriers, which had all been crewed by D’Bringi, had been in on the operation from the first. The loot taken from the Chirq home world might also explain, at least in part, how well funded the Imperial D’Bringi rebellion had been.
The records, and the conclusions of the investigation teams, was sent off via the new ICN to Rehorish Prime.
Month 210, Day 30, Alliance Capital on Rehorish Prime
The reconstituted Alliance Council declares an Alliance-wide emergency, and sends full information to all Alliance Associate governments about the current state of the Alliance. In addition, the Alliance Council declares the D’Bringi home world to be in violation of the Alliance Treaty, and declares a formal blockade until the D’Bringi government agrees to Alliance adjudication. Further, the Alliance Council appoints Tai-Sho Skull Splitter, the senior loyal D’Bringi officer, to the position of Alliance Councilor for the D’Bringi, effective immediately. All D’Bringi colonies are ordered to comply with Alliance officials in all respects, or be blockaded and cut off from contact with the rest of the Alliance. All D’Bringi crewed warships that fly Imperial D’Bringi colors are ordered to proceed to the nearest Alliance colony and leave their ships in orbit, uncrewed, although there are not thought to be many of those still loose in the Alliance. Any ship found in Alliance territory under the flag of the D’Bringi Empire will be interned until the Alliance can adjudicate the situation on D’Bringi Prime, at which time a determination will be made as to the status of the crews of those ships.
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Month 211, Day 5, Imperial D’Bringi Stahat system (formerly Alliance Sector Capital)
The fifteen ships dispatched by Tai-sa G’Tak to the Stahat system arrive in-system on this date. Upon entering the system, they encounter three corvette-carriers flying the Imperial flag. Sho-sa Folx, CO of the Alliance detachment, ordered the three corvettes to stand down and prepare to be boarded by Imperial personnel. When the three corvettes tried to retreat, Sho-sa Folx allowed them to retreat, largely because he had no choice. They were out of range of his weapons, and as fast as his fighters, so he was forced to allow them to shadow his force as it set out for the D’Bringi colony in the inner system that was the heart of the so-called ‘Empire’.
Month 211, Day 5, Alliance Controlled Dether system
A group of twenty-one ships from the Alliance 1st Fleet arrived in the Dether system on this date. The largest ships in the detachment were a trio of light carriers, but the ships and their one hundred and eighty fighters were a welcome addition to G’Tak’s command. In addition, the detachment carried orders for G’Tak, naming him commander of the newly established Alliance 7th Fleet, composed of the forces currently in the Dether and the Stahat system.
Month 211, Day 8, Union Epsilon Eridani system, New Plymouth (Capital)
Senator Semenov, having rushed straight to the Senate building straight from the spaceport, was ushered into the main building through guarded doors. He had been in contact with his fellow Independent Party members from the moment they jumped into the system, and had arranged this in advance. That morning, as his liner settled into orbit, the Independent Party called an emergency session of the Senate. As the Senate was currently in session, although not planning to meet today, enough Senators were in town to form a quorum. The reason for the session was not given, and when the senators arrived the building was sealed at the request of the Independent Party’s senior-most member present in the building. This meant that with one exception, no one would be able to enter or leave the building, and all access to outside data systems was cut off.
Senator Semenov proceeded straight to the central podium in the Senate chambers, looking around the room as he walked. The assembled senators had all been talking to each other, trying to figure out what was going on, and his entrance had caused the noise level to redouble as he walked down the aisle. When he reached the podium, the assembled senators fell silent. They all knew where he had gone, and why, and they all wanted to know what he knew.
Senator Semenov cleared his throat. “Fellow senators, I have just returned from the Confederated Free States and I bear grave news. Upon arriving at the capital of the CFS, I found the embassy in disarray, and ignoring repeated attempts from the Alliance ambassador to open talks about the events that took place in the Sligo sector.” There was a rustle of quiet talking in the area where the New Dawn senators were sitting, but Semenov continued, ignoring them. “Before departing this system, I enlisted the aid of the Union Investigative Service, and on arrival in the CFS, under my authority as a Senator of the Union, their team began an investigation on the crash of Special Ambassador Ruston’s shuttle. One of the first things we uncovered was that Special Ambassador Ruston died shortly after the shuttle crash. His death was not reported, and indeed, was covered up by the Union embassy.” This bald pronouncement caused an uproar in among the New Dawn delegation.
Before Senator Semenov could continue, Senator Holbrooke stood up and shouted across the room. “This is intolerable! I insist that the honorable senator produce proof of this absurd claim or desist from repeating disreputable rumors!”
Senator Semenov merely took a data crystal out of his tunic and laid it on the podium in front of him. The podium’s reader accessed the data on the crystal and in a few seconds a number of documents appeared on the desks of every senator in the building. “The CFS Special Investigative Unit was most helpful in our efforts, and indeed, they had already identified those they believed were responsible for sabotaging the shuttle and were preparing to arrest them when we arrived. These files are the interviews and sworn statements of the persons hired to sabotage the shuttle. They were hired to do so specifically to prevent Special Ambassador Ruston from making contact with the Alliance Ambassador. Their actions in sabotaging Special Ambassador Ruston’s shuttle resulted in the death of Special Ambassador Ruston along with fifty-four other people. Their arrest by the CFS Special Investigative Unit gave us information that led straight to Ambassador Tilford. Under my senatorial authority, the Union Investigative Service team on-planet searched the Embassy and detained Ambassador Tilford and his staff. They were able to access the embassy’s data-systems. Once into the data-systems of the embassy, they found that the ambassador had been very careless. Not only was there ample proof of his complicity in the sabotage of the shuttle, but also extensive records of all sorts of other corruption, including data relating to his prior post as Special Representative to the Tarek in the Sligo Sector. These were comprehensive records that implicate many people across the Union.” The room had gone deathly silent as the assembled senators waited for the other shoe to drop. Senator Holbrooke, in particular, had gone deathly pale and had sagged into his seat. Senator Semenov, observing the senior New Dawn Senator’s complexion, began to wonder if his counterpart was going to expire before he finished his speech.
“Interestingly, we found among the ambassador’s official correspondence, orders from the Prime Minister’s office to ignore all attempts by the Alliance to open negotiations.” Senator Semenov waved his hand over the podium’s controller and the appropriate documents were routed to the various senators. “This is very interesting, given the Prime Minister’s repeated claims that she is seeking a peaceful resolution to the current situation in the Sligo sector.”
Senator Holcombe had regained his color and at this he stood up again. “Now hold on here! The corruption of one individual is regrettable, certainly, especially if that person caused the death of a distinguished citizen like Admiral Ruston. However, while I think we can all agree that if this is true Ambassador Tilford should face the consequences for his actions, certainly we should not allow those actions to stain those who share his politics.” There was a general murmur of agreement from the New Dawnists surrounding Holbrooke. “Unless, of course, you managed to find additional evidence of wrongdoing by others?” This last was meant to be challenging, but instead it came out as more of a plaintive question than anything else.
“There is more. With the arrest of Ambassador Tilford I assumed the role of acting ambassador and met with the Alliance ambassador. The meetings were most productive. The Alliance is eager to avoid a conflict with the Union.”
Before Semenov could continue a voice called out from the ranks of the New Dawnists. “What about Sandhurst and Managua? What about all the people the Alliance killed?”
Senator Semenov held up a hand, quieting the room before a general argument could break out. “The Alliance Ambassador has given me information to bring back to you that explains all of this. They claim, with evidence, that the D’Bringi government fell to a coup, and that the newly installed government of the D’Bringi launched these raids as a way to turn attention away from them. They wanted a war between our two nations, because if we attacked the Alliance, for whatever reason, the Alliance would be forced to pull together to resist us. They would be forced to accept the new D’Bringi government, whatever their actual desires. In opening negotiations with me they hoped to head off a war so that they could deal with their internal situation and remove the new D’Bringi government.” This pronouncement caused a stir in the room as the senators all looked at each other.
“But what of the Alliance attack on our forces in Dether? Admiral Carstairs was forced to retreat after suffering losses!” This question came from a member of the Peace Through Strength Party. As their name implied, they believed that the route to security was through building up a powerful economy that could support an equally powerful military.
“The Alliance Ambassador has informed me that forces loyal to the Alliance Council have taken control of the territory around the Dether system and that there will be no further attacks. She has asked for a ceasefire in place in order to allow both sides to begin negotiations.” This caused another murmur to run around the room.
Senator Semenov held up his hand. “There is one more thing. On the day that I left the CFS capital, the embassy received a special communication from the Prime Minister herself. The message, which is in the files I have sent you, orders Ambassador Tilford to give an ultimatum to the CFS government.” This caused a stir in the chamber, as by long agreement the senate was to be consulted on all major foreign relations issues that were not immediate emergencies. Senator Semenov waved his hand over the input terminal on the podium and the message appeared over the terminal, floating next to him. It wouldn’t be readable by the others in the room, of course, but the same message appeared on all of their terminals. “The ultimatum requires the CFS to submit to Colonial Union occupation for the duration of the current situation with the difficulties with the Alliance. If they do not comply, the Union Fleet will attack the system by the end of the month.”
An uproar broke out throughout the chamber. Senators were yelling at each other, and accusations were being thrown back and forth rapidly and almost unintelligibly. Knowing that they couldn’t be quelled, Senator Semenov let them yell. When the uproar began to die down Senator Semenov held up his hands. “In light of the evidence I have brought before you today, I ask for an immediate vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister and her government. Her connections to the assassination of Special Ambassador Ruston are clear in light of her other orders to the Embassy to first avoid contact with the Alliance and then to deliver an ultimatum to the CFS. In addition, there is clear evidence that the corruption of the Tarek occupation has spread to the Prime Minister’s office, and in fact may originate there.” Finally, Senator Semenov left the podium and sat down amongst the other Independent Party senators. The room was silent for a few seconds and then erupted into yelling and more accusations.
The New Dawn senators fought a spirited defense, but they were seriously hampered in their efforts when many of their own members were found to have links to the corruption that had apparently spread throughout the party. In the end the vote of no confidence was nearly overwhelming, with only a few holdouts refusing to vote. Senator Semenov communicated this to the Union Investigative Service, which sent a team to the Prime Minister’s offices. Once there the linked up with Senator Semenov and the representatives of the other factions within the senate. With the vote of no confidence and the dissolution of her government in hand, the Prime Minister’s guards were told stand down, at which time the Prime Minister and most of her staff were arrested on charges of corruption. In the days to come additional charges of conspiracy to commit murder would be added as a forensic AI processed the data brought back by Senator Semenov.
The vote of no confidence necessitated that an election be held to determine which party would form the new government. In the meantime, Senator Semenov was nominated by a large majority in the Senate to head up a caretaker government. His first act was to release the bulk of the information he had brought back to the public, causing an uproar throughout the Union. Public opinion rapidly turned from a bare majority in favor of war with the Alliance to a large majority in favor of negotiations aimed at securing a peace treaty. Confidence in the New Dawn Party falls dramatically, and support for the other parties is greatly boosted as voters flee New Dawn in droves.
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Month 211, Day 11, Alliance Stahat system
The detachment of ships from G’Tak’s 7th Fleet arrived over Stahat Prime on this date. They found a small group of Imperial D’Bringi warships orbiting the planet, consisting of three light cruisers of an unfamiliar design and six corvette carriers. The Imperial D’Bringi planetary governor ordered the Alliance ships to depart Imperial space immediately, however, Sho-sa Folx countered with his orders from the Alliance Council, signed by D’Bringi Representative Skull Splitter himself, ordering the planetary government’s leadership to stand down and present themselves to Alliance authorities for detention pending an investigation of their actions both during and after the coup. Simultaneously, the orbiting Imperial warships received their own orders to surrender to Alliance boarding parties.
A few minutes passed with the two groups of ships watching each other from fifteen light seconds’ range, and then the 7th Fleet units launched their fighters, which handily outnumbered the Imperial D’Bringi fighter force. With the Alliance fighters in space, Sho-sa Folx repeated his orders to the Imperial ships to stand down. A few seconds passed and then one by one the Imperial ships dropped their drive fields. Folx was surprised by this, as although they were outnumbered the D’Bringi were not known to surrender when they could fight. Shortly after his boarding parties arrived aboard the Imperial light cruisers the situation became a bit clearer. The three light cruisers appeared to be purpose-built raiders. Fully a third of their internal space was devoted to holds, apparently to carry looted resources and equipment, and their armament was limited to a single energy beam and a tractor beam. The ships had little in the way of defenses and against any kind of a real warship they’d be rapidly defeated, but against unarmed freighters and transports their armament was more than sufficient to disable and capture their targets.
Even as the boarding parties went aboard the Imperial ships a message arrived from the planet below. The Imperial governor refused to stand down and complained loudly about the Alliance’s illegal seizure of his ships. The situation was at an impasse as Sho-sa Folx had no troops available. However, now that the Stahat system was under control, the path for the Alliance ships waiting in the adjacent Lleuten system were able to enter the system and begin the work of installing the new ICN, both in this system and in the systems of the Far Frontier Sector beyond Stahat.
Month 211, Day 16, Alliance Stahat system
Alliance Councilor Skull-Splitter and his force of loyal D’Bringi ships settled into orbit over the Imperial controlled sector capital. Immediately upon arriving Skull-Splitter sent a message to every D’Bringi in the system declaring the Imperial government null and void and calling upon every loyal D’Bringi to rise up and resist the illegal Imperial government. The response from the planet was underwhelming, and the Imperial government seemed to be firmly in control. Not dismayed, Skull-Splitter sent recordings of his message out across the sector, to be carried by the ships assigned to re-establish the ICN.
Month 211, Day 28, Alliance Jerothal System
The Jerothal system is home to one of the larger D’Bringi colonies and also contains a closed warp point into the Colonial Union’s inner systems. This closed warp point was used during the D’Bringi war with the humans to mousetrap the USSR’s fleets, and although the humans assuredly know that there is a closed warp point in their system, the D’Bringi and the Alliance are sure that the Alliance does not know the exact location of the hidden warp point.
The Jerothal colony was one of the first D’Bringi colonies to declare for the new Empire, and one of the most vocal and strident in support of the new D’Bringi government. The local government on the colony engaged in some fairly heavy-handed suppression of wide-spread resistance to the new D’Bringi government from the rural areas, and apparently succeeded in eliminating the resistance fairly quickly. Since then, they had joined the Imperial capital in Stahat in sending out messages to the other D’Bringi colonies extoling the virtues of the new Empire. Now, though, the Alliance’s ICN emplacement ships arrived in the system, destroying the old, corrupted ICN, and replacing it with the new system. They also broadcast the declaration from Skull-Splitter across the system. The loyalist D’Bringi government on the Jerothal colony refused to reply, and did their best to prevent their citizens from receiving the broadcast.
Unnoticed by the restive colony, the nine ships under the command of Skull Splitter’s son passed through the outer system, en route to the suspected loyalist colony in Nagasaki. Although he was tempted to put into orbit over Jerothal Prime and ‘convince’ the colonial leaders of the errors of their ways, his mission was to confirm the status of the independence movement in Nagasaki and establish a base of support for the Alliance and for Skull-Splitter. Until Skull-Splitter had the support of at least some D’Bringi colonies, he could be dismissed by the Imperials as merely a usurper foisted upon the D’Bringi people by the Alliance.
The defenses at the closed warp point to the Union, an automated warfare cruiser and a corvette-sized mine tender, ignored the going’s on in the inner system, as they had for months now. Their mission was to prevent an incursion from the Colonial Union, should they find the closed war point somehow, and they were focused on that job entirely.
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Month 212, Day 1, Alliance
The Alliance has reunited most of its territory by this point. All of the Core and Chruqua sector systems have been cleansed of the old corrupted ICN and had their new, secure, ICN installed, and are back in reliable communications with the Alliance central government on Rehorish Prime. The majority of the D’Bringi colonies throughout this area have acknowledged the authority of the Alliance and Skull-Splitter’s caretaker government. In most cases these colonies had merely declared support for the new D'Bringi government, without taking any actions on its behalf, or even having much direct contact with either the D’Bringi home world or the Imperial government on Stahat. In most of the cases where the local governments had been vocal proponents of the new Imperial government, the colonial government suffered an abrupt change in management when the Alliance re-established communications and control of the systems, with the former leaders either arrested or disappearing before they could be apprehended.
The situation in the Far Frontier sector is different. Although Imperial space forces have been neutralized, giving the Alliance effective control of the sector, secure communications have just begun to spread down-stream past the sector capital of Stahat. So far, the response from the D’Bringi colonies in the area have been muted and limited to acknowledgement that the messages sent by the new ICN were received. The D’Bringi colony in the Stahat system, the former sector capital, continues to resist Alliance control and Councilor Skull-Splitter is considering bringing in Alliance troops to end resistance once and for all.
Once resistance is ended on Stahat, which is just a matter of time at this point, the lone holdout will be the D’Bringi home world, which is blockaded by joint Alliance forces at the warp point in the T’Pau home system.
The Colonial Union has agreed to a ceasefire in place, with their main fleet remaining in the system adjacent to the Alliance’s Dether colonies. Tai-sa G’Tak’s 7th Fleet in Dether has been reinforced and now consists of three battlecruisers, six heavy cruisers, three light carriers, six light cruisers, nine escort carriers, six destroyers, and three corvette-carriers with two hundred fifty-nine fighters.
The new ICN will reach the Zir Villiers system by the end of the month, bringing the 6th Fleet back into contact with the Alliance capital. At that point the Alliance will again have positive control over all of its fleets.
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Month 212, Kingdom of Lothar
The Lothari were discovered by the Alliance in Month 195, and communications were quickly established. Almost immediately after communications were established, the Lothari accepted the standard offer of associate status within the Alliance. From the first, the Lothari were friendly and open, and very accommodating to the Alliance negotiating teams. The Lothari represented themselves as an ancient kingdom, grounded in tradition and honor, currently ruled by a regent and governing council.
While the initial contact went very well, the Alliance relationship with the Lothari got off to a rocky start when the Lothari seized the Alliance system adjacent to their home system and placed a colony on the system’s habitable world before the Alliance navy could respond to the incursion. When the Alliance navy did respond, the Lothari claimed that the incursion was a misunderstanding, and offered reparations. In the end, the Alliance decided to cede the system to the Lothari, as it was distant from Alliance population centers and the habitable planet was rated as ‘poor’, but the Lothari were warned against further incursions. A small Alliance patrol force was established at the warp point to the system the Lothari seized, to deter further Lothari expansion, and things went back to normal. Until now.
Lothari Prime, Capital City
High Swordsman Wagner came to a halt in front of the Supreme Leader and saluted, carefully holding the salute until Supreme Leader Richter waved for him to sit. Careful to appear attentive, Wagner sat on the edge of the chair, and waited for his commander to reveal the reason for the summons to his office.
After a few seconds the leader looked up from his console and smiled. “Ah, Wagner! Thank you for coming at such short notice!”
High Swordsman Wagner knew that the ‘request’ was no mere request, not when it came from the Supreme Leader. Others who had slighted the absolute ruler of the Kingdom tended to disappear and never returned. Or who the leader felt had slighted him. Or who had even thought about slighting him. Still, the Leader had brought them out of the depression and regression that marked the last decade of the old regime, and everyone owed him for the bright new age that had dawned across Lothar. “Of course, sir. What can I do for you today?”
“The colonization program is a failure, Wagner!” The leader leapt to his feet and began pacing, as he did quite often when he got worked up. “Every single world we have found is lacking in mineral wealth! It’s the Alliance that has done this to us! They fear our strength, so they arranged this, made sure that we couldn’t rival them. But they’ve made a mistake and they’ve underestimated me. They thought I wouldn’t see through their ploy, but I have.”
High Swordsman Wagner watched his leader with growing alarm, which he carefully kept from his face. People who couldn’t hide their emotions rarely lasted in the capital, and he had been with the Supreme Leader from almost the first. The Leader was brilliant, and Wagner was sure he was the only one who could have led them out of the morass that decades of mismanagement under the ageing King that had left the kingdom’s economy and society decaying and regressing. But, as brilliant as he was, the Supreme Leader was also…volatile, and quite often prone to sudden pronouncements of radical changes in policy.
The Supreme Leader, who by this point was looking out the large window that overlooked the capital city, rounded on the Swordsman, pointing at him. “You, Wagner! You will remedy this situation! The Alliance is weak. No one has heard from them in months, and they won’t respond to direct questions. Now is our time!”
High Swordsman Wagner stood a saluted, always a good tactic with the Supreme Leader. “Your orders, sir?”
“You will put together an assault force. We will attack the Alliance and seize their territory while they are weak!”
Putting his doubts aside, the High Swordsman saluted. “Yes sir! At once sir!” Wagner knew that appearing unwilling to follow the Leader’s orders was suicide, but still felt that injecting a bit of caution was justified, no matter the cost to him personally. “Sir, the Alliance is vast, as is their navy. We will make advances initially, but eventually they will be able to overwhelm us.”
The Supreme Leader waived his hand dismissively. “The Alliance is a paper tiger. They are distracted, perhaps at war elsewhere.” He rounded on his military leader. “They are mentally weak. When I ordered the seizure of the border system, they did nothing! Everyone here was nearly in tears about defying the great and mighty Alliance, but I knew that they would back down, and they did. And they will back down again! Once we have seized enough territory to bolster our economy, I will negotiate a peace with them and, just as before, they will be eager to grant us this peace!” The Supreme Leader turned away and went back to staring out over the capital city.
Recognizing that he had been dismissed, he turned and walked to the exit from the leader’s office. Before he could reach it, the leader spoke again.
“And Wagner? I want the assault group to be in motion before the end of the month. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
High Swordsman Wagner understood exactly what the Supreme Leader was saying. He braced to attention and saluted again. “Understood!”
In the early days of the Leader’s rule, the bureaucracy had quite often tried to slow down the desperately needed changes to the government and private sector that the Leader had instituted to help the people. It seemed that the bureaucracy had viewed the changes as threats to their time-honored positions, and felt that they could slow them down, or even refuse to get on board with the sweeping changes brought by the Leader to a moribund economy. They had underestimated the Leader and sweeping purges of the bureaucracy had solved that problem once and for all.
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Month 212, Day 3, Dether system
The Alliance 3rd Fleet, dispatched from the core sector, arrives over Dether Prime on this date. After a short consultation with Tai-sa G’Tak, the fleet moves towards Stahat, where it will proceed deeper into the Far Frontier sector to show the flag and attempt to persuade reluctant D’Bringi colonies to end their passive resistance.
Month 212, Day 8, Alliance Nagasaki System
The Nagasaki system contained two type ST planets and one type T planet, and was home to just over ninety-four million D’Bringi and Rehorish citizens. At 0830 hours the battle squadron under the command of F’Nor, Skull-Splitter’s son, settled into orbit over the second planet, which was the location of the largest population of the system. Sho-sa F’Nor had been in contact with the colony leaders since entering the system, and they were delighted at his presence. They had fought off an attempted coup by pro-Imperial groups early on in the current difficulties, and since then had been trying to put together an alliance of D’Bringi colonies in opposition to the Imperialists. In this they had largely been thwarted, as all communications had effectively been cut off by the corruption of the ICN, and all of the emissaries they had sent on the freighters that had called upon their planets had been seized by the pro-Imperial government in Jerothal, which stood between them and the rest of the Alliance. Their only success was with the colony in the Olwa system, which was positioned beyond the Nagasaki system, towards the frontier. The government on Nagasaki Prime had had to live with constant threats from the Jerothal system, and constant attempts to sneak agitators and moles into their population on nearly every freighter that called upon their colony. With no way to defend themselves aside from a small but growing militia, they had only been saved by the fact that the pro-Imperialists in Jerothal hadn’t had any warships or troops to send towards them either. Now, though, with F’Nor’s squadron in-system and the ICN re-established, things had changed rather drastically in favor of the loyalists in Nagasaki. After a short period conferring with the colony’s leaders, F’Nor chartered the Alliance cargo and transport vessels in-system to transport a large portion of the loyalist militia to the Jerothal system. Once the troops were embarked, he left three cruiser-carriers over Nagasaki Prime and set out for Jerothal with the rest of his force.
Month 212, Day 10, Lothari Kingdom
The assault force, chosen by High Swordsman Wagner and commanded by his picked officer, Swordsman of Stars Hartmann, left orbit. It consisted of six battlecruisers, three light carriers and three escort carriers. This was approximately two thirds of the active Lothari fleet, although the Supreme Leader had ordered the reactivation of the reserves, meaning the yards were busily reactivating over twenty ships of all sizes.
The assault force’s destination was the Alliance frontier colony system of Liawak, and they would arrive at the warp point to the system on the 25th.
Month 212, Day 15, Colonial Union Capital, New Plymouth
In spite of fear of violence from fanatical New Dawn supporters, the elections run relatively smoothly. By the end of the day, it is clear that the New Dawn Party has been devastated. It has gone from having a small majority, to being one of the smallest parties in the Senate. Senator Semenov’s Independence Party picked up the most seats, and while not a majority, it is in a position to form a new government in alliance with one or more other parties. This development didn’t surprise anyone, given the fact that the sitting Prime Minister from that party had been removed under suspicion of high treason and corruption, along with several ambassadors and the Foreign Minister. The ongoing investigation was certain to spread throughout the government, and would certainly sweep up many more in the coming months.
Month 212, Day 18, Alliance Jerothal System
Sho-sa F’Nor’s squadron entered orbit over planet wracked by civil war. It seemed that sometime in the last five days dissidents, fueled by unfiltered news arriving via the re-established ICN, rose up against the Imperialist government. After a short period of observation F’Nor was able to determine that the Imperialists had lost control of the countryside and had retreated to strongholds in the largest cities, which the loyalist forces were now converging on.
Over the next two days, F’Nor established communications with the leaders of the rebellion and began shuttling down his troops and the weapons he had managed to acquire before departing the T’Pau home system. While his limited number of militia troops couldn’t turn the tide alone, F’Nor felt that if they acted as a strike force within the rebel organization, they could tip the tide to the rebels.
Month 212, Day 25, Zir Villiers system
Ships extending the new Alliance ICN reach the Villiers system on this date, finally putting the 6th Fleet back in touch with the core worlds. This is a relief for both the 6th Fleet command team and the T’Pau and Rehorish leadership. For now, the 6th Fleet is ordered to continue its mission of guarding the system while maintaining readiness to act if the ceasefire with the Colonial Union breaks down.
Month 212, Day 25, Alliance Liawak system
The warp point to Lothari space was guarded by three Rehorish destroyers and a D’Bringi escort carrier which had remained loyal to the Alliance. The guard force had been assigned here after the Lothari seized the Herzberg system, which was adjacent to their home system, in what the Lothari had called a ‘mistake’. By the time the Alliance challenged them over their seizure of the system, the Lothari had already placed a colony on the system’s lone type T planet. As the system was distant from the Alliance’s major systems, and the planet itself was rated as poor, the Alliance decided to let the Lothari have the planet, but gave them a stern warning against intruding into Alliance space without permission again. Since then, the Lothari had been quiet, reliable trading partners, and the patrol group had been considered a backwater, far from anywhere interesting. That changed at 0200 hours when Lothari ships began transiting into the system. The first ships through were a trio of battlecruisers, followed by three light carriers. After recovering from transit effects, the carriers began launching fighters as ships continued to enter the system.
The Alliance force was stationed one light minute from the warp point, well out of range, relying on the sensor buoy placed close to the warp point for detection and scanning duties. Upon detecting the unscheduled transit, and receiving the scanner information from the buoy, the patrol group’s commander brought her ships to alert status and sent a challenge to the Lothari ships. There was no response from the Lothari force, but their fighter force, seventy-two fighters strong, set out for the Alliance group at full speed. The Alliance force turned away from the oncoming fighters and moved away. Warnings were dispatched up the chain via the ICN, and were transmitted to the invaders.
It soon became clear to the Alliance patrol group’s CO that the Lothari fighters, which were faster than any known fighter, were more than fast enough to run down her force before they ran out of endurance. The Alliance Patrol Group boasted a grand total of twelve fighters, and the Rehorish destroyers were outdated and had been scheduled to be refitted before the Alliance fell into its current difficulties. After discussing the situation with her ship commanders, the patrol group commander sent a message to the Lothari asking their intentions.
Swordsman of Stars Hartmann responded to the Alliance commander, stating that the Kingdom of Lothar claimed this system, and all within it, and demanding that the Alliance force surrender immediately or be destroyed. This began a terse exchange of messages, with the Alliance commander trying to find a way out for her patrol group, while Swordsman Hartmann remained unyielding, offering only surrender or destruction. Finally, with the Lothari fighters closing in on her force, the Alliance commander ordered her ships to drop their drive fields. Almost immediately life pods began spilling from the ships, and then, one by one, the four Alliance ships exploded, depriving the enemy of their prize.
The Lothari fighters hovered around the life pods, and the main force arrived thirty minutes later, at which time they picked up all of the life pods, rescuing the Alliance crews. Sho-I Watanabe, former commander of the patrol group, was ushered into Swordsman Hartmann’s office. Expecting horrors, Watanabe was surprised to find out that the Swordsman was an urbane and civilized person, and appreciative of the intelligence and honor that she had shown in surrendering her force rather than forcing a needless and completely one-sided bloodbath. The Swordsman promised to treat the prisoners well, and kept his promise. Over the next several weeks the Alliance crewers were fed well and treated with respect, and Sho-I Watanabe spent much time with Swordsman Hartmann, discussing various issues not relating to the state of war that currently existed between the to nations.
Month 212, Day 26, Alliance capital at Rehorish Prime
Word arrived via the ICN about the Lothari invasion. This is a critical time for the Alliance; however, things were much improved over the last month to six weeks. Communication was restored throughout much of the Alliance, the Stahat system was under firm Alliance control, the D’Bringi Empire was apparently bottled up in the D’Bringi home system, and negotiations moving forward with the Colonial Union. Because of this, the Alliance Council felt secure enough to begin diverting significant naval forces to that area.
The layout of the warp lines heading back inwards towards the Alliance from the Liawak system are fortuitous for the Alliance. The warp line that connected the Lothari occupied Liawak system with the next system inwards terminated in a closed and undetectable warp point in the Liawak system, which meant that the Lothari would not be able to detect it with their survey instruments. They could still discover it through the examination of captured ships, or assets on the colony that they had captured, but if those efforts failed their attempt to penetrate into Alliance space would come to an abrupt end. All of that meant that while the Alliance naval forces in the area would have to guard against the possibility of the Lothari actually finding the warp point, they would hopefully have the time they needed to assemble a powerful force to relieve the Liawak system and take the war to the Lothari.
Currently, the closest naval forces to the Liawak system and the Lothari incursion are the D’Bringi loyalist units under Skull-Splitter’s son in the Nagasaki and Jerothal systems. This consisted of three battlecruisers, five heavy cruisers, and a strike carrier. Not enough to engage the Lothari, but at least they had something close by. The Chruqua Nexus was adjacent to the Jerothal system, and the Alliance 4th Fleet had been dispatched there as a reaction force during the recent difficulties. Now, the 4th Fleet was given orders to move out to the Nagasaki system, to act as a defensive force. Unfortunately, the 4th Fleet had largely been stripped of carriers to provide reaction groups for the various hot spots that had popped up over the last year, so they would remain on the defensive until reinforcements arrived.
Fearing that the 4th Fleet would not be enough to stop the Lothari, particularly given its light carrier complement, the Alliance Council ordered the 1st Fleet at Rehorish Prime to dispatch heavy reinforcements as soon as possible. One day later a force of forty-two warships left Rehorish Prime, including almost all of the 1st Fleet’s carriers.
In addition, the forward fleet base at Kumamoto, just three jumps from Nagasaki, is ordered to dispatch reinforcements as well. Hours later, three carriers, two escort destroyers, three escort carriers, and three corvette-carriers leave the base at Kumamoto for Nagasaki.
Finally, the Doraz and the Torqual were sent a war warning, and the Alliance Council invoked the mutual defense clause of their treaties of alliance. For now, the Council requested that the two member races send a portion of their fleet to the Chruqua Nexus, where they would act either as reinforcements, or, if necessary, a blocking force should the Lothari advance in that direction.
Month 212, Day 30, Alliance capital at Rehorish Prime
The empty carriers dispatched back to the Alliance core systems from Dether arrive over Rehorish Prime on this date. Yard capacity will be diverted next month to begin replenishing their fighters so that they can be redeployed as quickly as possible.
Also on this day, the pro-Imperial government on Jerothal falls to loyalist forces, causing the collapse of pro-Imperial resistance across the planet. Sho-sa F’Nor immediately orders his ships to return to Nagasaki, to reinforce the ships he left there, in case the Lothari advance down the warp chain.
Also on this date, the Lothari assault force arrives over Liawak Prime. Swordsman Hartmann orders the colony to surrender. After some negotiating, the colonial leaders agree. Lothari ground forces will arrive early next month.
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Month 213, Day 1, Lothari Khalan System (Frontier)
On this day the Lothari 1st Survey Group probed the single new warp point they had discovered in the Khalan system on the Kingdom’s frontier. The probe ship, a Timbedra class heavy cruiser, jumped out of the system and then returned ninety seconds later. The ship’s captain reported that the new system was a binary system with three habitable planets, two type T planets and a type ST. The survey commander then dispatched the cruiser and a corvette to probe the system, with a second corvette to keep watch on the far side of the warp point. Three days later the watch ship received report from the heavy cruiser. There were populations on all three planets, and their transmissions matched Alliance standard languages and frequencies. The Lothari survey group had found another route into the Alliance. The heavy cruiser’s CO turned his ship around and headed back out-system, never having entered the colony’s detection range. The Kingdom hasn’t established an ICN as of yet, so the information will have to be sent back by CD, which is immediately sent on its way.
Unknown to the Alliance the Kingdom of Lothar had discovered the Alliance’s Thoen system. The Thoen system was adjacent to the Dether system, on the Far Frontier Sector’s secondary route to the core systems.
Month 213, Day 1, Aurarii Prime
The Aurarii Assault Fleet left orbit in good order. There were celebrations across the capital city as the citizens reveled in the day off the Emperor had granted them to honor the fleet as it departed. The departing ships each transmitted a special theme song created by the Emperor’s personal musical artist, intended to inspire the people with the glory that would be gained by the fleet.
Once it had left orbit, the Assault Fleet was joined by both of the Republic’s survey groups as it headed out-system.
Month 213, Day 5, Lothari controlled Liawak system
Lothari ground forces land on the two colonies in the Liawak system. Meeting little resistance, the troops establish effective control in a matter of days. Lothari naval intelligence troops spread out across the major cities of both colonies, attempting to discover any astrogation data that might have been missed by the Alliance government prior to the landing of the troops. The Kingdom has no information about the warp points in this system, and while a survey group has jumped into the system and begun looking, it will take the group forty days to complete a rough survey of the system, and another forty days to complete a detailed survey. Finding astrogation information on one of the colonies would considerably shorten this timeline.
Month 213, Day 6, Alliance Chruqua system
The Torqual fleet slid into its assigned staging area close to the Doraz fleet, which had arrived several hours earlier. The Torqual fleet consisted of twenty warships, including three battlecruisers, while the Doraz fleet consisted of fifteen warships, also including three battlecruisers. It was a considerable force, however, neither state had yet fielded fighters, and both states were significantly behind the Alliance’s standard technology, so for now the Alliance Navy preferred to keep the forces in reserve. If necessary, they would be deployed forward, however, the Alliance was unlikely to risk them in a deep-space fleet action without considerable carrier support.
Month 213, Day 7, Lothar Prime
The CD from the 1st Survey Group bearing word of their discovery arrived at the Lothari home world on this date. Reacting quickly, the Supreme Leader ordered the navy to assemble a second assault force and dispatch it to seize the newly discovered Alliance system. The Navy protested, as many ships were still on shakedown after being reactivated from the reserves, but the Supreme Leader insisted, calling the admirals shortsighted.
Several hours later a force of eighteen warships left orbit, bound for the newly discovered Alliance system. The departure of this group leaves the Home Fleet critically weakened, at least until the eighteen ships in the yards being reactivated from the reserves are ready for service.
Month 213, Day 10, Alliance Nagasaki system
Sho-sa F’Nor’s group rejoins the ships he had left behind in the Nagasaki system, at the warp point to the Telmasa system, which was in between the Nagasaki system and the Lothar-controlled Liawak system. Based on the reports from the battle in Liawak he didn’t have enough ships to challenge the Lothari, yet, so his orders were to remain at the warp point in defensive positions until reinforcements arrived. This was galling, as the Telmasa system contained two colonies as well, but he understood the necessity. Reinforcements were en route, he just had to wait for them to arrive.
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Month 213, Day 9, Imperial D’Bringi Home World
The Emperor paced back and forth across his throne room. The body of his latest Supreme Admiral lay at his feet, slowly cooling. It had been the admiral’s fault, really, the emperor thought as he paced. The fool should have known that the news he bore would have this result. After all, the emperor feverishly reasoned, if the Supreme Admiral can’t control his fleet, then what good is he?
Finally stopping, the Emperor picked up his data slate that he had tossed aside when the now dead admiral had given him the news and sat on his throne. Peering at the message on the slate, his blood grew hot again. The thrice-damned coward in command of the Imperial Fleet, which was deployed to the warp point to the T’Pau system, had declined to attack into the T’Pau system as he had been ordered to do. Instead, the coward had made excuses, claiming that “the fleet’s readiness did not lend itself to supporting an attack at this time”. The emperor’s blood boiled again when he read that bureaucratese. He should have known that the admiral was worthless. After all, the cur had formerly been in command of the D’Bringi fleet in the home system under the Alliance, and he had turned on the Alliance at the first opportunity. The emperor had a brief flash of clarity. Others had warned him that the admiral was a weakling, and went with the flow, but the emperor had been flattered by the Admiral’s willingness to follow him, and he had believed that the admiral was a true believer. The clarity quickly faded, though, and the emperor decided that he hadn’t been wrong, instead he had been misled by his so-called advisors. Looking at the dead admiral at his feet he growled low in his throat. The cur leading his forces had even refused an Imperial order to return to the home planet to explain himself. Instead, word from loyalists in the fleet had arrived indicating that the admiral was preparing to negotiate with the Alliance. Orders had already been sent to the loyalist to kill the admiral and seize control of the fleet, but he had little doubt that they’d fail, as so many officers already had in the navy.
The emperor thought furiously. If the fleet turned on him, or worse, let the Alliance into the system, then he wouldn’t be able to maintain control of the home planet. The Empire’s hold on the planet was tenuous to begin with, and losing control of the fleet would be seen as a sign of weakness. The lower orders were restless, as were the middle levels, and the Empire’s hold the planet was entirely based on an image of success. At the first sign of faltering the emperor had no doubt that the faithless lower orders would turn on his government and supporters.
Finally, the emperor came to a decision. His gambit to start a war with the humans had obviously failed, as there had been plenty of time for his followers to provoke the humans. There was only one route forward now, one desperate gamble left. Telling his supporters that he was leaving to meet with his military advisors, the emperor boarded a shuttle. He took only his personal guard with him, leaving his spouse and child, along with his closest advisors. If salvation was to be found, he would be the one to bring it to his people, no one else.
The shuttle took the emperor to orbit, where it met the lead ship of a battlecruiser squadron that orbited above the Imperial capital. The three battlecruisers were of an unfamiliar design, different from the usual D’Bringi design aesthetic, and glittered with strange energies that washed across their shielding periodically. Once the emperor was aboard, the trio of battlecruisers left orbit, moving far too fast for a battlecruiser, as fast as a corvette’s strategic speed. The battlecruisers were the emperor’s personal guard, and while little was known about them, everyone knew that they were equipped with advanced technology that had not been granted to the Navy.
The battlecruisers accelerated away from the planet, on a course outward, towards nothing in particular.
Month 213, Day 16, D’Bringi Home System
After several days travel, the Emperor’s battlecruisers approached a location in the outer system that was indistinguishable from any other. Once there they came to a halt, and, on the Emperor’s orders, settled in to wait.
For three hours the emperor’s ships sat still in space, waiting. Finally, something happened. A huge ship, easily more massive than all three battlecruisers combined, materialized right in front of them, just three quarters of a light second away. There were gasps of astonishment across the bridges of all three cruisers, and their captains ordered their crews to their stations, but the emperor countermanded those orders, telling everyone that this was expected. The monster ship slowly moved closer while the D’Bringi bridge crews watched in awe.
In truth, the emperor was worried. This was not how things usually went. In fact, this was totally unprecedented. As Keeper, he had communed with the Benefactors before, several times, and indeed it was they who had provided the encryption keys and the AI corruption routines for the ICN. They had also provided his new Imperial Guard battlecruisers, which were more powerful than any other D’Bringi warship by far. But never before had they been physically present. Always his ship would arrive at the appointed location and wait, and eventually they would receive a communication from the Benefactors, sometimes days after they arrived. All he could do was hope that this was a good thing, because if it wasn’t it was very bad.
A hologram appeared in front of the emperor, in the middle of the bridge. The figure in the hologram was tall, and clothed in some sort of environment suit. The suit was purplish in color, with blotches running across the surface of the suit, apparently randomly. There was a head, but it was small, almost like a turret, with a single eye or optical sensor in the center. The suit had hard shelled collar with two horns swept back and rising around and above the head. The rest of the suit was obscured by a cape or some similar garment that fell from the collar and reached to the floor. After a few seconds it spoke, and as always, the Benefactor’s voice sounded as if multiple mellifluous voices had been blended into one unified voice.
“You come to ask for our assistance.” It wasn’t a question.
The emperor had to fight his entire being to remain on his feet, so in awe of this god-like being was he. In the end he went to one knee while the rest of the bridge crew, Keepers all, prostrated themselves. “Lord, I come at our hour of need. My people have failed you, I understand this, but I am still worthy and wish to prove our worth.” In his desperation he saw a way forward. “If your ship would accompany my squadron, I could regain control of my fleet and the way would be open to move forward. All can still be saved.”
“You have failed.” The finality of the statement took the emperor’s breath away. “Still, the odds were long against your success, as I warned when you undertook this venture.” The emperor bowed his head and waited for the judgement of his god. “I will help you.”
The emperor sagged in relief. “My lord, my people will give you a course. Thank…”
“You misapprehend. Your cause has failed. There is no route forward now, only destruction should you try. I estimate the chance of you regaining control of your fleet with my help to be near certain, however, what then? By now the Alliance has rallied and will have significant defenses on the far side of the warp point. Even if you breach them, the entire Alliance will be arrayed against you.”
In desperation the emperor rose to his feet, shaking his head. “No! With your help nothing will be impossible! If you join your forces to mine then nothing could stand against us! We could sweep the Alliance from space and all will bow to me.” Remembering himself, he quickly added, “And to you!”
The Benefactor was silent for a few seconds. “No.” The finality of the statement was as if the door to the emperor’s crypt had closed behind him.
“But…but you said you would help?” This last came out far more plaintively than the emperor intended.
“I will. You have been a faithful servant, and I will allow you to come with me, away from this world.”
For a few seconds the emperor was overwhelmed with joy, but then he remembered all of those who had betrayed him. And all of those who still believed in him. “No!” Realizing he had shouted, the emperor kneeled again, and looked down. “No. I cannot abandon my people. I cannot leave.”
The Benefactor remained silent for nearly a minute, watching the kneeling emperor. Finally, it spoke. “Very well. I grow tired of this. The great experiment will go on, but without you. In honor of your service, I grant you one last boon.” There was a hissing sound as the environment suit unsealed itself. The head/turret hinged back and moved out of the way as the top of the suit irised open. Light poured from the top of the suit and an ethereal form emerged from the suit. The emperor watched in awe as an angel from the old tales took form in front of him. The angel hovered for a few seconds and a feeling of peace and joy washed across everyone in the room. Even as everyone basked in the glow of the angel the hologram flickered out, leaving the room dark.
It took the emperor a few seconds but then he realized that the room was too dark. Even has he realized this; alarms began ringing.
“Power is down!”
That announcement was quickly followed by reports that the ship’s shields were down along with her active defenses. Before the emperor could react, Benefactor’s ship opened fire on one of the Imperial flagship’s squadron mates. The D’Bringi battlecruiser might have been the most advanced ship in known space, with incredibly tough shields and armor, but all of that meant nothing compared to the broadside unleashed by the Benefactor behemoth. Extremely advanced energy beams, accompanied by equally advanced lasers and some weapon of unknown nature which stimulated an anti-matter explosion within the battlecruiser all converged on the targeted ship, wiping it from space in seconds.
Unbelieving, the emperor turned to his ship’s commander. “Get us out of here!”
The captain looked overwhelmed. “Sire, our engines are down! We can’t move, or even power our weapons!”
The emperor looked around frantically, trying to find a way out, when the tactical plot chimed. As the emperor watched, another two mammoth Benefactor ships materialized, and finally, at long last, the emperor realized that he wasn’t getting out of this one. Seconds later beams from one of the newly arrived ships wiped the emperor’s ship from space, along with its last consort.
The three Benefactor ships remained in place for a few minutes. Periodically a beam would spear out from one or another of the ships, destroying one of few life pods that had managed to get away from the doomed D’Bringi ships. Once that was done the ships faded from view, gone as if they never existed.
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Month 213, Day 16, Alliance Nagasaki system
The Alliance 4th Fleet arrived over Nagasaki Prime on this date. The fleet consisted of twenty-three warships, including no less than fifteen battlecruisers. Unfortunately, all of the fleet’s carriers had been stripped away to reinforce other units over the last year, leaving it critically weak in that area, but still, the presence of so many warships were reassuring to the colonists and celebrations covered the planet. After a short period of R&R, the fleet moved on to join the D’Bringi ships standing guard in the outer system. Sho-Sa F’Nor’s ships would then formally be assigned to the 4th Fleet.
Month 213, Day 22, Sheund System, Doraz Contingency (Alliance Associate State)
The Sheund system is the Contingency’s point of contact with the Aurarii Republic, at least since the Contingency agreed to cede the starless nexus in between Sheund and the Aurarii home system to the Republic as a result of Alliance mediated negotiations. The Sheund system is a single-star system with and orange primary, one rocky planet, an asteroid belt, three gas giants and three ice planets. Without habitable planets of its own, it is only of interest in that it is on the route from the Doraz home system to other inhabited systems, and because it is the border with the Aurarii. Since the treaty was concluded, a force of Doraz ships had watched the warp point to Aurarii territory, but the duty had largely been boring, as nothing ever came through the warp point except the regular trade ships. The border guard group consisted of three missile cruisers, three scout destroyers, and a single scout corvette. The guard group was positioned fifteen light seconds from the warp point, well out of range of anything that came through.
Now, though, things changed. Suddenly, ships started entering the Sheund system. The first ships through were battlecruiser-sized, but immediately after entering, as the second wave started coming through, the first three ships began launching fighters. Another minute passed as the Doraz crews ran to their battle stations, and by that time an additional carrier had entered the system, along with two light carriers and two battleships.
Given the presence of the battleships and the fighters, the Doraz commander knew that she was outmatched. She ordered her force to begin retreating, but as they turned away the Aurarii fighters began their pursuit.
Fourteen minutes later the one hundred and forty-four Aurarii fighters were closing on the Doraz force. The Aurarii commander, Lord Major Vintari, ordered the Doraz force to surrender or be destroyed. Warleader Grogan, the CO of the Doraz force, sent back a rudely worded reply that implied that the Centauri commander had had relations with his own mother.
Without hesitating, the Aurarii fighters slammed into the Doraz formation. Most of the Aurarii fighters were each armed with a single anti-matter close attack missile and two standard close attack missiles, while twenty-four of the fighters were armed with three lasers each. The first to fire was an Aurarii fighter group equipped with close attack missiles. They salvoed their close attack missiles at point blank range into the belly of one of the Doraz heavy cruisers. The heavy cruiser’s shields and armor collapsed under the anti-matter and fusion explosions, and the ship was left a burning wreck with only life support and two engine rooms still intact. The remaining two heavy cruisers frantically fired their point defense in offensive mode, but only hit three fighters. A second fighter group swooped on a Doraz destroyer that was frantically trying to interpose itself in between the fighters and the heavy cruisers and raked it from fore to aft with their close attack missiles, completely destroying the valiant ship. The other two destroyers killed another two fighters before another fighter group wiped out the Doraz corvette with their lasers. The remaining fighters swarmed over the Doraz ships, firing their lasers and close attack missiles. Then the fighter group turned away, leaving behind three critically damaged heavy cruisers and a lone destroyer. The crippled ships were left to their own devices until the main Aurarii fleet could mop them up.
The Doraz commander had sent a contact report off via CD when the Aurarii jumped into the system, and now sent a second report off with the results of the battle. Shortly thereafter life pods began spilling from the four ships. Two of the ships, one of the heavy cruisers and the destroyer, successfully destabilized their remaining engines and destroyed themselves before the Aurarii could arrive. The crews of the other two heavy cruisers tried to scuttle their ships but the damage their ships had suffered was so bad that their attempts failed. On one of the two ships the crew managed to wipe their databanks before leaving, but on the second, which had lost most of its officers, the crew abandoned ship without thought to anything but getting away from their crippled ship.
The Aurarii fleet arrived in the area of the wrecks seven minutes later and began recovery operations. As the fleet recovered the life pods, assault shuttles with marines and intel teams converged on the two remaining Doraz wrecks. Behind the fleet, two survey groups entered the system and spread out to begin their survey.
Month 213, Day 26, Alliance Nagasaki System
The reinforcements dispatched from the Kumamoto fleet base arrive over Nagasaki Prime before continuing on to join up with the 4th Fleet in the outer system. The reinforcements consist of six sorely needed carriers, three of which are fleet carriers, and five escorting warships.
Once the reinforcements arrive at the warp point, the 4th Fleet will have eighteen battlecruisers, eleven heavy cruisers, three escort destroyers, three fleet carriers, one strike carrier, four escort carriers, and four corvette-carriers. At that point the fleet will be able to field two hundred and sixty-one fighters. This is still considered understrength in terms of fighters, but the fleet is much stronger than it was just a month ago.
Month 213, Day 27, Doraz Prime (Alliance Associate Member)
The CD’s bearing the invasion warning arrived on this date, causing a vast consternation throughout the government. Fully one third of the fleet had been sent to the Alliance to help with their war situation, and now the Lothari had invaded from the opposite direction.
The Doraz government immediately recalled its fleet from the Chruqua Nexus, and dispatched the entire force in the home system to the Whever colonial system to guard the warp point to the Sheund system. Doraz fleet command was fairly confident that they could stop the Aurarii at the warp point, but feared an open-space battle would be decided by the enemy’s fighters. The nineteen ships that were the entire remaining force in the home system set out for Whever within hours.
In addition, a request for Alliance aide was sent via the ICN to both the Alliance and the Torqual.
Later this same day the Doraz forces in the Chruqua Nexus receive their orders and set out for home.
Month 213, Day 28, Alliance and Torqual Home Worlds
The Doraz war warning message electrified both capital worlds. For the Torqual, this was a threat that was too close to home, as the Doraz home world was only two jumps from their home world. For the Alliance, which was still trying to reorganize itself after the disruption of the D’Bringi civil war, and still had the D’Bringi home world and the situation with the Union to deal with, this was yet another demand on its naval strength that was already largely committed.
The Torqual consulted with the Alliance as the day went on, and in the end the Torqual pledged to send their fleet in the Chruqua Nexus, with the Alliance’s blessing, to reinforce the Doraz home system’s defenses.
The Alliance found itself with few options. Next month additional ships would be available, including a large number of carriers that had arrived in the Rehorish system last month from the Far Frontier Sector with empty fighter bays that were even now refilling their bays. For now, the Alliance was limited in what it could send.
The 3rd Fleet, which was understrength, was ordered to leave Stahat in the Far Stars Sector and set out for Doraz Prime as soon as possible. The situation in the Far Stars sector was stable, and while not all of the D’Bringi colonies had resumed cooperating with the Alliance government, they had no warships and thus could be left to their own devices until the economic blockade brought them back to the fold. It would take a month for the 3rd Fleet to reach Doraz Prime.
Reluctantly, the Alliance Council decided to pull the 6th Fleet from the Villiers system and send it to the aide of the Doraz, at least the bulk of the fleet. Tai-sho Talix, the 6th’s commander, was ordered to leave picket forces behind in the Villiers system to support the Zir forces there, and to take the rest of his fleet to Doraz Prime. It would take almost three months for the fleet to arrive at its destination.
The Alliance Council made one additional decision. A message was sent to Tai-sa G’Tak, the D’Bringi commanding the newly created 7th Fleet in the Dether system. By the authority of the Council Tai-sa G’Tak was named Special Ambassador to the Colonial Union and authorized to negotiate a permanent cease fire with the Union. The Alliance Council gave the D’Bringi officer wide latitude to resolve the current difficulties, including the authority to agree to reparations and to cede Alliance territory, as long as it wasn’t inhabited. The Alliance Council included guidelines and preferences in its messages, stating that the Council strongly wished to return to the status quo of the previous trade relationship, but that they would accept a no-contact agreement if the Union insisted. The Council made it clear to Ambassador G’Tak that the hostilities with the Union needed to be ended now, as soon as possible, to clear the way for the Alliance to deal with the Doraz-Aurarii war and the invasion by the Lothari.
Although G’Tak himself was unsure of the wisdom of asking a D’Bringi officer to negotiate with the Union, given that the actions of other D’Bringi officers began the conflict, the Council assured him that the fact that he had stopped the Imperial D’Bringi fleet from attacking the Union force had been emphasized to the Union fleet commander in the aftermath of the battle, and that they had full faith in his ability to end the conflict. Besides, there wasn’t enough time to get anyone else out that far.
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Month 213, Day 30, T’Pau home system
The Alliance 5th Fleet had been assembled at the warp point to the D’Bringi home system to ensure that the Imperialists did not try to break the blockade of their system. No one knew how much of the old Alliance 2nd Fleet, which had been stationed in the D’Bringi home system, had gone over to the Empire, so no risks were being taken. The forty-one ships of the 5th Fleet, along with its three hundred and forty-five fighters, were joined by the twelve battleships of the Alliance Strategic Reserve. At the center of the warp point’s defenses were three BS3’s supported by nearly five hundred automated weapons and minefields, and over four hundred SBM pods.
The defenses had been watching the warp point for long enough that no one really expected to see anything come through, when suddenly, a CD appeared on the warp point. The CD began broadcasting standard Alliance contact codes, including a special code sent to the D’Bringi home system at the start of the blockade, to be used if they wanted to negotiate. The Alliance flagship downloaded the CD’s message bank to an isolated system, where it was examined and re-examined for malware and other threats. After being cleared, the fleet commander Cho-sho Tok, viewed the message. The message was from a D’Bringi claiming to be not only in charge of the D’Bringi fleet in the home system, but, interestingly, was also styling himself as “Governor” of the D’Bringi system. In essence, the D’Bringi admiral was asking for the Alliance to end the blockade so that the D’Bringi home system could rejoin the Alliance.
The 2nd Fleet’s CO immediately sent off a message to the home world, and then responded to the D’Bringi message with one of his own, agreeing to meet and talk. The details would have to be worked out, but at least the D’Bringi were talking.
Month 213, Day 30, Aurarii controlled Sheund system
Aurarii naval intelligence teams complete their examination of the two captured Doraz hulks. On one the crew managed to wipe the ship’s databanks, but on the second a serious of mishaps and malfunctions prevented the remaining crew from wiping the system. The damaged heavy cruiser’s systems provided the Aurarii with a wealth of data, including data on the last two systems the ship had passed through, which included the Doraz home world. In addition, there was information on the status of the Doraz fleet forces in the home system. All in all, it was a windfall for the Aurarii invasion, which had originally gotten off to a rocky start.
Month 213, Day 30, Lothari controlled Liawak System
The Kingdom’s assault fleet had been stalled here after successfully seizing the system as naval intelligence hadn’t been able to uncover any astrogation information on the Alliance systems surrounding them, and the 2nd Survey Squadron had only just begun its work. In the meantime, the ground troops under the control of Swordsman Hartmann had busied themselves establishing control of the Alliance colonies in the system. Swordsman Hartmann had spent much of his time meeting with the Alliance officers he had captured, and in particular had dined with the T’Pau commander of the Alliance patrol group, who, after a few days, had realized this wasn’t a trick to try to get information out of her, and that instead, Swordsman Hartmann meant what he said when he claimed he just wanted to get to know the Alliance a little bit better.
It took a while, but Sho-sa Tegrix eventually relaxed and actually began enjoying the daily meals with the Swordsman, mostly because of the honorable treatment they had all received at the hands of the Lothari Navy.
All of that changed when a special liner arrived in orbit over the largest Alliance colony. The liner arrived without arrangements being made with the naval forces in the system, and when it had been questioned at the warp point the liner’s commander had used a high-level security code to shut down all questions as to its presence. Swordsman Hartmann only found out about the liner’s presence when he received a summons to his own docking bay. Upon arriving he found that the bay had been taken over by Kingdom Internal Security troops. InSec was feared throughout the Lothari Kingdom, and rightly so. Many who had encounters with InSec were never seen again, and those who questioned such things had a way of disappearing as well, no matter how important or necessary they thought they were. Upon arriving Swordsman Hartmann was relieved of his sidearm and efficiently searched, then ushered into the presence of an InSec officer. InSec troops wore body armor and helmets that completely obscured their identity, and officers only wore insignia that identified them as InSec officers, but nothing that would give anyone an idea of their rank. This was done as an intimidation measure, as anyone speaking to an officer would have no idea if that officer was a green lieutenant or a general.
Not knowing if this was his last moments, Swordsman Hartmann waited for the InSec officer to speak. After the officer looked the Swordsman up and down, a second officer approached and spoke in the first’s ear. The first officer nodded and then approached Hartmann. “Swordsman, you have achieved a victory here, it seems.”
The InSec officer’s tone of voice made it very clear that Hartmann’s achievement was little more than what was expected. “Still, there have been errors made here.” The InSec officer looked the naval officer up and down, then continued. “Not yours, perhaps, but still. In the future you should be more diligent. Your so-called intelligence officers have failed to get the information the State needs to prosecute the Great Leader’s war. Now that we are here, that will end. Internal Security will assume responsibility for the occupation of the former Alliance colonies as of now. In addition, we require that all Alliance naval personnel in your custody be transferred to my shuttle, now.”
Swordsman Hartmann knew what that meant for the prisoners, and knew that he couldn’t change that, but had to try. “They are enemy military personnel. They should remain in military custody, by the law and as tradition demands.”
The InSec officer stepped towards the Swordsman, and the InSec troopers behind him shifted their weapons to cover the naval officer. “While you have achieved much here, don’t let that go to your head. I am operating at the Supreme Leader’s direction, and to deny me is to deny him. Is that what you intend to do?”
Swordsman Hartmann, knowing he had lost this battle before it even began, took a step back. “I obey the State, as do we all. The prisoners will be prepared for transport.”
The InSec officer took a step closer and leaned towards Hartmann. “Very good, Swordsman. After all, we wouldn’t want word of your coddling of these enemies of the State to get to those who may…misunderstand…your reasoning. Would we?”
“Is there anything further, officer?”
The InSec officer turned away. “That will be all, Swordsman.”
Swordsman Hartmann left the docking bay, carefully controlling his emotions. The fact that InSec was here, now, was a blow to his offensive every bit as serious as the sudden appearance of an enemy fleet. In the run up to the start of the offensive, he thought he had convinced the Supreme Leader to leave these matters in the hands of the military. Thus, he would be able to ensure that the military personnel and the civilians they captured were treated well, and given no more reasons to fight against the Lothari forces than they already had. Obviously, InSec had gotten the Supreme Leader’s ear and changed all of that, which would change the tenor of his campaign. InSec only understood fear and brutality, and they used both with a will.
Later, as Hartmann watched the Alliance prisoners being matched into the InSec shuttle, he knew that he would never see them again. The knowledge twisted his heart, but he buried it deep within himself. He was a protector of his people, sworn to their service, and if he began a pointless and doomed fight with InSec then his usefulness to his people would be at an end.
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Month 214, Day 1, Rehorish Home System
Sixteen carriers of various types, escorted by seventeen corvette-carriers, left Rehorish Prime, en route to the Chruqua system. These carriers, freshly filled with fighters from the Rehorish orbital yards, will reinforce either the forces facing the Lothari beyond Nagasaki, or the Doraz, or both.
Month 214, Day 1, Alliance Dether system
Tai-sa G’Tak begins formal negotiations with Admiral Carstairs from the Colonial Union. Admiral Carstairs has been authorized by the Semenov government to negotiate for the Colonial Union.
Month 214, Day 2, Alliance T’Pau Home System
Formal negotiations begin with the Imperial D’Bringi. The negotiations are taking place in the T’Pau home system, under the guns of the fleet and bases guarding the warp point. The Imperial D’Bringi who was now styling himself the “governor” had originally tried to demand that the negotiations be held in the D’Bringi home system, however, the Alliance was done catering to the Imperial’s. Enough evidence had been gathered at this point to link the emperor and his followers to a series of criminal activities across the Alliance, apparently all aimed at gathering the resources they needed to fund their rebellion, that the Alliance Council had declared the D’Bringi Imperial government an illegal organization. Given the unclear nature of the situation in the D’Bringi home system, there was no way any Alliance officials were going to enter that system without a fleet at their back. The Alliance response to the governor’s bluster was to decline the negotiations and reinstate the blockade. The D’Bringi governor had held out for exactly two hours before agreeing to meet in the T’Pau home system.
At exactly 0800 hours the D’Bringi governor’s pinnace jumps into the T’Pau system, where it will be escorted by a fighter wing to the battlecruiser chosen as the meet site. The negotiations begin promptly, with the governor demanding reinstatement of the D’Bringi home world into the Alliance, with himself as leader and his choice of candidate placed into the D’Bringi position on the Council. This is a non-starter for the Alliance but does serve as a place to begin negotiations.
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Month 214, Day 5, Alliance T’Pau Home System
The negotiations with the former Imperial D’Bringi conclude. Although the D’Bringi who called himself the governor tried to stake out an advantageous position early in the negotiations, the Alliance was completely unwilling to bend and was also very willing to continue the blockade as long as necessary. Once the governor realized he had no leverage, the negotiations went smoothly, especially after the Alliance negotiators realized that the governor was actually more worried about the loyalty of his own fleet than how the Alliance was going to treat him. In the end, the governor agreed to surrender the D’Bringi home system to the Alliance in exchange for amnesty for Imperial officials who had not committed crimes against the Alliance, or against D’Bringi law as it existed before the coup, coupled with an agreement from the Alliance Council that he and any Imperial official who requested it would be granted asylum on an Alliance colony away from their former subjects. In exchange, the governor agreed to stand his fleet down and allow Alliance ships into the D’Bringi home system. Unknown to the Alliance, the governor really hadn’t had much choice on that. The so-called Imperial D’Bringi fleet in the home system was made up of a few ships crewed by Imperial fanatics, it was true, but the bulk of the fleet was crewed by D’Bringi who had served in the Fleet under the Alliance. While they were unwilling to fire on their own people to stop the coup when it happened, they were equally unwilling to fire on Alliance ships. That was the real reason the D’Bringi admiral who had become the governor had refused to attack the T’Pau home system. The emperor had blamed it on his cowardice, but in reality, he had known that if he ordered the attack very few ships in the fleet would have cooperated and it likely would have precipitated a counter-coup movement within the fleet that would have almost certainly resulted in the bulk of the fleet turning hostile to the Imperial government. That was the real reason he negotiated with the Alliance, the fleet’s officers and crews had demanded it.
The next day a squadron of Alliance warships from the T’Pau system jump into the D’Bringi home system and find the former Imperial fleet’s ships powered down, with no shields or drive fields, awaiting them. The quickly realized that it had been a good thing that the D’Bringi didn’t want to fight. Arrayed around the warp point were thirty-three warships, including twenty-two carriers capable of fielding over five hundred fighters. Seven of the carriers were the latest fleet carrier design, laid down before the coup and launched in the days after the plotters seized control. In addition, there were six BS3’s and an asteroid fort guarding the warp point, along with minefields and missile pods. It certainly wasn’t a big enough force to take the T’Pau star system, with all of the forces transferred there by the Alliance, but it would have made invading the D’Bringi home system a nightmare, and ensured heavy losses.
Things progress rapidly from there, with Alliance teams jumping in on board transports to begin the work of vetting the crews and officers to weed out Imperial loyalists. Meanwhile, a squadron of Alliance ships, along with more transports, sets out for the inner system and D’Bringi Prime.
Month 214, Day 14, D’Bringi Prime
The Alliance task force arrives over D’Bringi Prime to find the planet’s population celebrating. It seems that since the disappearance of the Emperor, the bureaucracy had slowly begun a campaign of passive resistance to the new government the Imperial’s had set up, returning to Alliance standards where possible, or just ignoring commandments from each new successor to the missing Emperor where outright disobedience wasn’t possible. When the D’Bringi who styled himself ‘The Governor” had surrendered the fleet and allowed Alliance forces into the system, the Imperial government on D’Bringi Prime, which had never acknowledged either that the Emperor was actually missing or that ‘The Governor’ had any actual authority, simply melted away. When the Alliance task force settled into orbit the government on D’Bringi Prime declared itself under the control of Alliance Councilor Skull-Splitter and confirmed its loyalty to the Alliance.
Shortly after achieving orbit, the transports carrying troops, investigators, and auditors landed across D’Bringi Prime and began the work of reintegrating the planet into the framework of the Alliance and hunting down those who had committed crimes under Alliance and D’Bringi law during the coup and its aftermath.
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Oops. I just realized that I left something out, so I'm going to post it here. Just a little bit to explain the Aurarii invasion of the Doraz/Alliance, without which it seems that the Aurarii have gone insane.
Sorry about that.
Aurarii Assault
On Day 1, Month 211, the Emperor signed an official declaration of war on the Doraz Contingency, and by extension, the Alliance as a whole. The Emperor’s military advisors assured him that the war would be short, and for limited goals. However, the Aurarii war effort immediately faltered. This was primarily because the declaration of war was politically motivated, a result of intense pressure being put on the Emperor and his primary supporters in the court, as a result of the failure to discover new territories through the system granted to the Aurarii by the Doraz. The Emperor had not been in favor of war, he was young, and inexperienced, and feared that his advisors, particularly his military advisors, had too much power and influence in the court. Their easy victory over the Norn Regime several years ago had vastly improved their standing with both the public and the court, and they naturally wished to continue that trend. They were assisted in this by powerful industrial interests who wanted to both enlarge the military and open up interstellar colonization. The Emperor initially resisted the pressure, and when exploration of the system granted to them by the Doraz failed to produce new colonizable systems, the Emperor tried to negotiate a new treaty with the Alliance. Unfortunately, the aloof Alliance ignored all attempts by the Aurarii to open negotiations. This proof that they were beneath the Alliance’s notice greatly undermined the Emperor’s fragile position, and by Month 211 he was forced to concede and declare war.
The political admirals, who mostly spent their time at court, rejoiced at their success in obtaining the declaration, but their joy was short lived. The Navy had just entered a modernization phase, and six capital ships and four carriers were in the yards for refits. The capital ships wouldn’t be out of the yards for four to five months, meaning that the Navy was critically understrength just when the government decided to declare war. After some internal debate the Navy decided that they could accept a weaker defense force over the home world for a short period of time, until the ships being refitted got out of the yards, especially as the new technology would make those ships all the more dangerous.
The Navy hurriedly put together an assault force composed of three monitors, three superdreadnoughts, six battleships, four carriers and five light carriers. This critically weakened the force over the Norn home world, and left two superdreadnoughts, three battleships, and three light carriers in reserve over the home world. Complaints from the Norn Occupation Command reached the court almost immediately, as they had long tried to get the squadron assigned to the Norn home world enlarged, and seeing it stripped of most of its ships was very alarming and set off alarms throughout the Army occupation command. After some political maneuvering, this resulted in the Navy being forced to not only return the ships that it had stripped from the squadron, but they also were forced to assign an additional light carrier to bolster the force. This left the Assault Force weakened, and with nearly half of its fighters the older model of F0’s, the fleet command staff began a campaign to get their fighters upgraded before being committed to an attack.
Fortunately for all, the declaration was not actually transmitted to anyone outside the home system, so the Navy was given some time to find a way forward. All of this political maneuvering took up most of the month, meaning that the initial attack date was pushed back. The Doraz and the Alliance were unaware of these developments.
All of this was ironic, of course, because it was during this month that the Doraz Contingency 1st Survey Group completed its warp point survey of a system seven jumps from their home system. The Contingency basically consisted of two primary warp chains, both originating in their home system. Both chains had minor branches, but all of those branches petered out after one or two systems. This resulted in two long warp chains leading from their home system. The ‘northern’ branch extended six jumps and currently terminated in an unexplored system with no habitable planets. The ‘southern’ branch extended for seven jumps, and the 1st Survey Group had just determined that it dead-ended. That left the Contingency with exactly one outlet for exploration and expansion.
This system was along a long warp chain of systems that each had two warp points, one into the system and one out. The 1st completed its survey this month, discovering that the system they had surveyed had no additional warp points. This meant that the warp chain dead-ended in this system. This was pertinent to the developing Aurarii situation, because this meant that the Doraz Contingency was itself reduced to one route of expansion.
Month 212, Aurarii Empire
The political Admirals, worried about maintaining support for the war in the notoriously fickle court, urged the Admiralty to attack as soon as possible. However, not all of the carriers in the assault force had been re-equipped with the latest fighters yet, so the Admiralty continued its delaying tactics. Since the attack was delayed anyway, the Admiralty pushed through a demand for additional funding to improve its munitions stocks prior to launching the war, arguing that the effectiveness of its ships would be greatly improved by increasing the numbers of anti-matter weapons available. This ‘request’ was approved, but would delay the attack even longer, ensuring that no action would be taken at least until next month.
In the meantime, with the demand for warships skyrocketing, the Admiralty orders three light-cruiser sized ships. These ships are smaller than anything else in the Imperial Navy, but the need for hulls is acute. These new ships are intended to act as patrol ships, and to escort the heavier battleline units, and are equipped with enough weapons to put up a credible fight, long-range scanners for scouting duties, and a squadron of fighters to bolster their combat strength. Unfortunately, between this new squadron of ships and the fighters for the assault force, construction capacity has to be diverted away from the refit of the capital ships currently in the yards, stretching out their completion date.
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Month 214, Day 2, Alliance Thoen System
The Thoen system is located in the Far Frontier sector, adjacent to the Dether system. The system is located along a long series of jumps that make up a secondary connection with the Alliance core systems. It contains no less than three Alliance colonies, including a D’Bringi colony that walked a fine line between loyalty to the Alliance and allegiance to the D’Bringi Empire, when that polity existed. While it wasn’t exactly clear which government the colony in the Thoen system actually supported, an argument could be made for its support of either government, and certainly no one could fault the colony’s behavior since Alliance naval ships arrived in the system, en route to the Dether system. The system held one other thing of interest. The system’s second warp point led to a closed, and undetectable, warp point in a system with a small, but growing, colony belonging to the Bjering. Although the Alliance had a trade relationship with the Bjering, and now their successor state the Confederated Sentient Races, the relationship was strained and the CSR clearly did not trust the Alliance. Therefore, the existence of this warp link had remained a state secret and had not been revealed to the Bjering.
Early in the day a group of Lothari ships materialized in Thoen’s outer system at an undiscovered closed warp point. The eighteen Lothari ships immediately set out for the inner system. They are followed by transports for ground forces, and behind them a survey group spreads out and begins surveying the system for warp points.
Month 214, Day 6, Alliance Thoen system
The invading Lothari force is detected by the Alliance colony’s sensors on this day. Communications attempts are ignored, and so emergency alerts and requests for relief are sent by the colony’s leaders via the newly re-established ICN. At this point all that is known is that there is an unknown drive field contact identified in the system, which did not enter through any of the known warp points. Alliance Fleet HQ on Rehorish Prime orders the 7th Fleet force in the Dether system, adjacent to the Thoen system, to dispatch a force of scouts to the Thoen system to identify the drive field contact. Further, the 7th Fleet is put on alert to respond to this situation should it worsen.
In response the 7th Fleet dispatches three corvette-carriers to the Thoen system to scout ahead of the main fleet, should it become necessary to move on the unknown contact.
Forty hours later, the unknown contact is now close enough to the colonies in the Thoen system that the colony’s sensors can resolve the number of ships in the contact. This prompts a second wave of contact reports to Fleet HQ and to the 7th Fleet in the Dether system, as the contact is now known to consist of eighteen ships. While this is not an overwhelming force, it is also not a lone survey ship seeking to make peaceful contact. Tai-sa G’Tak, CO of the 7th Fleet, is engaged in negotiations with the Colonial Union and cannot leave the system, but he orders his forces present in Dether to relocate to the warp point to Thoen, where he will join them before they enter the other system. In the meantime, he focuses on the negotiations, which are at a critical juncture. Helpfully, he receives communiques from the Alliance Council authorizing him to make significant concessions if it will allow him to successfully conclude a peace treaty with the Union.
The ships of the Alliance 7th Fleet currently in Dether, thirty-six warships strong, leave orbit immediately, headed for the warp point to Thoen. They leave one courier behind to be used by Tai-sa G’Tak to rejoin the fleet once negotiations are concluded.
Month 214, Day 8, Alliance Thoen system
The unknown ships close on the Alliance colonies in the inner system. When they reach fifteen light seconds from the outermost colony, the Alliance’s sensors on the planet determines that the alien fleet is composed of six battlecruisers or carriers, nine cruisers or light carriers, and three destroyers or escort carriers. The alien force divides into three groups, with one group headed towards each colony. At this point a second contact is detected headed in-system in the same general area that the original contact appeared from. By the time the ships enter orbit of the colonies, the Alliance sensors have determined that they are Lothari ships. The ships have continued to refuse contact attempts from the colonies. Reports are sent out via the ICN.
Upon receipt of these reports, Tai-sa G’Tak orders his remaining forces over the sector capital at Stahat to move to Dether to act as reinforcements or defenses, as needed.
Month 214, Day 10, Lothari controlled Thoen system
Lothari troops begin investing the Alliance colonies in the Thoen system. Transports descend on all three colonies close to simultaneously, carefully watched by the orbiting warships. Alliance home defense militia troops put up a fight but the Lothari ground troops quickly overwhelm the defenses. The last reports to reach the ICN from the colonies warn that the militia cannot hold back the Lothari invaders.
Month 214, Day 13, Lothari controlled Thoen system
Three Alliance corvette-carriers jump into the Thoen system and immediately head for the inner system and the Lothari forces arrayed there.
Month 214, Day 15: Alliance Dether system
The Alliance-Colonial Union negotiations conclude on this date. The terms are substantially in favor of the Colonial Union, but the negotiations have achieved the Alliance’s primary goal, which was to get a peace treaty at an acceptable cost, so that Alliance naval forces could be focused on the current threats to the Alliance.
The treaty re-establishes the trade relationship that existed between the Alliance and the Colonial Union before the current problems. It also grants the Colonial Union reparations for the damage done by the D’Bringi raiders, although this is mostly window dressing. In essence, the Colonial Union agreed to return the resources seized from the Dether colonies during the occupation, and the Alliance agreed to reparations in exactly the same amount, which more than compensated the Colonial Union for its economic losses during the conflict and obviated the necessity of resource transfers in the future, which was important to the Alliance given the need to build up forces to face the current threats to its territory.
In addition, the treaty modifies the neutral zone of two uninhabited systems between Dether and the Colonial Union’s Sandhurst system. Prior to the current difficulties, the two systems were de-militarized zones, however, as part of the peace treaty the Alliance grants the Danzig system, adjacent to the Sandhurst system, to the Colonial Union, and both sides agree to place a sensor and comms network in the de-militarized system remaining between the territories, as an early warning network.
Finally, the Alliance agrees to reveal the location of the closed warp point the D’Bringi raiding group used to enter the Managua system. This is a major concession, as it opens a route from the Colonial Union into the Alliance, and allows the Union to establish defenses in the Managua system to prevent further incursions. The Colonial Union’s negotiators had pressed the Alliance negotiators to reveal the locations of all Alliance contact points with the Union, including the closed warp points the Union knows exist in the systems beyond the core system of Sigma Draconis, but as desperate as the Alliance was to end the potential conflict with the Union, it was not that desperate.
With this formal end to the potential conflict in hand, the Alliance 7th Fleet, and Tai-sa G’Tak, can focus on the Lothari incursion in the Thoen system.
Month 214, Day 17, Alliance Dether System
The Alliance 7th Fleet reaches the warp point to the Thoen system at 0800 on this date. Led by its corvette-carriers, the fleet begins transiting through, secure in the knowledge that the ICN’s sensor buoys continue to report that the area around the warp point is clear. Once assembled in the system, the fleet sets out for the inner system and the Lothari invaders.
Several hours later the Lothari ships in orbit over the Thoen colonies detect the Alliance scouts sent to probe the Lothari force. The Lothari ships don’t respond as the Alliance ships close on their location. Thirty-six hours later, as the Alliance corvette-carriers attempt to get close enough to ID the Lothari ships, the Lothari squadron launches fighters. The Alliance corvette-carriers turn away, content to watch from a distance. The Lothari fighters stay close to their ships, content to let the Alliance ships hover at a distance.
Month 214, Day 21, Lothari controlled Thoen system
The Lothari invasion force in the Thoen system is concentrated over the largest colony in the system, a D’Bringi colony on the system’s innermost planet. At 0400 hours the Lothari ships detected a drive field contact seventy-two light minutes away, headed in-system. The CO of the Lothari 2nd Assault Group, Swordsman of Worlds Schmidt, immediately sent a contact report to the ship he had left at the warp point back to Lothari space and dispatched an escort carrier to probe the new contact.
Twenty hours later the escort carrier sent word that the contact consisted of thirty-six contacts of unknown size, proceeding in-system at the standard cruising speed for a cruiser. Swordsman of Worlds Schmidt was conflicted. The presumed Alliance fleet outnumbered his force by two to one. That was bad, although without knowing the composition of the force it wasn’t clear how bad. The Alliance ships were still forty-two light minutes away, and his ships were as fast as theirs, so he could order his fleet to retreat to the closed warp point they had used to enter the system. Unless the enemy had corvette sized ships, they would be unable to catch his fleet in time to determine the location of the closed warp point, although they would be close enough to ‘see’ the general location of the hidden warp point. Swordsman of Worlds Schmidt knew he couldn’t retreat, though. First, there was the troops on the ground on the three Alliance colonies. There was no way they could be loaded back onto their transports in time to evacuate, even if the transports weren’t well on their way out of the system. If he retreated, he’d be leaving the troops cut off, at the mercy of the Alliance. That was just unacceptable. As he thought, his gaze drifted, as if by accident, to the one person on his bridge not under his command. The InSec officer assigned to his ship just before departure still had not revealed his rank, but Schmidt knew why he was here. The Supreme Leader was generous to those who achieved success for the state, but punished failure without fail. The InSec officer, who was at this moment glaring at un unfortunate rating who had drawn the officer’s attention, would not hesitate to arrest and execute Schmidt in front of his crew if he thought it necessary to ‘motivate’ them, or if he thought Schmidt had failed. And retreating without a fight would certainly be interpreted as failure.
Therefore, Swordsman of Worlds Schmidt ordered his fleet forward, towards the Alliance force. He wanted to believe that he did it to protect the troops behind them, or because he thought they could win, but he feared he did it out of pure self-interest.
Thirteen hours later the two forces were one light minute apart. At that point the Alliance fleet launched its fighters, which showed up on the Lothari scanners immediately. The Lothari fleet came to a halt, but didn’t react otherwise. The Alliance fighters raced ahead of the Alliance fleet, closing on the Lothari. After a minute G’Tak ordered the Alliance fleet to come to a halt as well, to allow the fighter battle to play out.
Ten minutes passed as the Alliance fighters raced towards their target, closing to five light seconds. For all of that time the Lothari had waited for the Alliance fighters to come to them. Now, suddenly, that changed. The Lothari ships launched their own fighters, as well as a new type of small craft. This new craft was small, smaller than even an explorer class ship, but much larger than a fighter or even a pinnace.
On board the Alliance 7th Fleet, Tai-sa G’Tak and his staff tried to determine the capabilities of the new craft, but nothing like this had been seen before. The best they could come up with was that the Lothari were trying to make up for their lack of numbers by using this new, larger, small craft type. That didn’t really make sense, though, as there were over a hundred of them, and no rational fleet would devote the space and resources for that many small craft unless they added some sort of capability to the fleet. In the end, lacking information, he decided to proceed.
The two groups of fighters and small craft plunged together, short of the Lothari fleet. At the last instant, while the two forces were just three quarters of a light second apart, the Lothari small craft launched missiles at the incoming Alliance fighters. This should have been impossible, as there were no known missiles that could engage fighters, but they did it anyway. The Alliance fighters had no recourse but to take the fire, as they were out of range of their own weapons. The missiles crossed the distance between the two groups quickly, and explosions blossomed across the Alliance fighter force as the missiles homed in on their targets. When the explosions cleared Tai-sa G’Tak and his staff were stunned. In a matter of seconds over one hundred of their fighters disappeared, blown from space.
In the aftermath of the missile salvo the large Lothari small craft turned away, while the Lothari fighters, which now outnumbered the Alliance fighters, plunged to dog-fighting range. The Alliance fighters, shocked and disorganized by their losses, let the Lothari fighters come to them, allowing the ‘gunboats’ as some were calling them, to escape in the face of the fighter wave descending on them. Even worse, for the Alliance, as the Lothari fighters moved towards the Alliance fighter group, they accelerated to a speed just about 12% faster than the Alliance fighters. Later analysis would show that the Lothari fighters were armed with four weapons each, compared to the three weapons for the Alliance F1 fighters and two for the F0’s. As about half the Alliance force was composed of F0’s, this would prove to be a serious advantage for the Lothari.
The Lothari had a slight number advantage, one hundred twenty-six to one hundred nineteen, but when the two fighter groups broke apart, the Alliance had more fighters left. This was almost certainly down to the fact that although the Lothari had superior fighters, the Alliance had better pilots. Still, at twenty-eight fighters on the Alliance side, and eighteen on the Lothari, neither side came out well.
Although the Alliance fighters had been shocked by the missile fire from the gunboats and their subsequent losses, they had recovered somewhat and were determined to hang on to the Lothari fighter force and end the battle. The Lothari, after making a token attempt to return, turned and re-engaged when the Alliance fighters pursued. When the explosions cleared there were fifteen Alliance fighters left, and no Lothari fighters.
The Lothari gunboats were almost back to their fleet, so the remaining Alliance fighters turned back towards their own fleet. A few seconds after the gunboats arrived at the Lothari fleet’s location, the entire fleet dropped their drive fields.
Tai-sa G’Tak was unsure of the reason for this, but was sure that this was his opportunity. The Alliance fleet, escorted by their fifteen remaining fighters, charged towards the drive-field down Lothari fleet. The fleet’s fifteen carriers, now empty or mostly empty, turned away and began moving back towards the outer system. For fourteen minutes the Alliance ships closed on the unmoving Lothari fleet, and Tai-sa G’Tak began to wonder if the Lothari were going to let them into weapons range with their drive fields down, but then, one by one, the Lothari ships raised their drive fields. The Lothari carriers turned away from the battle, leaving six battle cruisers and three heavy cruisers to face three Alliance battlecruisers, six heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, and six destroyers. It was an uneven matchup, except that the Lothari fleet also had one hundred and thirty-two gunboats arrayed ahead of their formation.
Swordsman of Worlds Schmidt was dismayed that he had not had enough time to completely rearm his gunboats, as the oncoming Alliance fleet had only given him enough time to arm half of the gunboat flotilla’s XO racks. It would have to be enough, as the Alliance fleet was bearing down on them.
The Lothari gunboats moved out ahead of their fleet, interposing themselves in between their warships and the oncoming Alliance warships. Once the gunboats were five light seconds in front of the Lothari fleet, the entire force began moving towards the Alliance force.
Two and a half minutes later, the Lothari gunboats were four light seconds from the Alliance fleet, and the Lothari ships were five light seconds behind them. The Lothari ships were still well out of range of Alliance weapons, but an astute Alliance weapons tech had realized that the Lothari gunboats, unlike other small craft like fighters, had a drive field signature strong enough to be targeted by ship-carried weapons. The Alliance battlecruiser group launched fifteen capital missiles, each targeted on a single gunboat. Ten capital missiles succeeded in locking onto their targets, but only three got through the withering point defense fire put out by the gunboats. One of the two Alliance heavy cruiser squadrons launched a total of thirty-six standard missiles at the gunboats, also destroying three. The second cruiser squadron and one of the light cruiser squadrons accounted for four more with their heavy force beams. The six Alliance destroyers accounted for another three with their missiles, bringing the total of destroyed gunboats to eleven. That was less than ten percent of the gunboat force, which was concerning, but was more than they would have been able to do against a fighter group at that range.
Tai-sa G’Tak knew that the Lothari intended to make a simultaneous attack against his fleet, forcing him to choose between firing on the gunboats or the enemy’s ships, and was determined to throw off their calculations. As the Lothari ships and gunboats continued to close, he ordered his fleet to come to a halt and begin engine modulations. The Alliance and Lothari ships were now within extreme range of their capital missiles of each other, but the Alliance ships continued to focus their fire on the Lothari gunboats, while the Lothari long-range fire was of limited effectiveness because of the Alliance engine modulations.
A group of Lothari gunboats fired their anti-fighter missiles at the Alliance fighter force, but at two light seconds range the AFM’s weren’t particularly accurate. Out of the twenty-eight AFM’s fired, only eleven got hits, but that was enough to wipe out most of the remaining Alliance fighters. The Alliance again focused their fire on the Lothari gunboats, but instead of spreading their fire out, were concentrating their missile fire among fewer gunboats, trying to overwhelm their point defense. Twenty-one gunboats fell to the withering fire from the Alliance fleet, but, unknown to the Alliance commanders, that fire was mostly wasted. The Alliance ships had concentrated their fire on the gunboats launching AFM’s at their fighters, trying to stop the destruction of their fighter force. They knew that the gunboats could mount two AFM’s, and as they only launched one each in this exchange of fire, they assumed that that the gunboats retained one in reserve. As the Lothari had only managed to load half of their gunboat’s racks, they were, in fact, destroying empty gunboats that had no other weaponry than their point defense. For their part, the Lothari BC’s managed to get one hit on an older Alliance light cruiser with anti-matter tipped SBM’s, damaging its shields.
In an attempt to surprise the Lothari gunboats, the Alliance force dropped its engine modulation and surged ahead, turning to try to stay out of point-blank range of the gunboats and to keep them out of their blind-spots. They succeeded in keeping the gunboats out of their blind-spot, but in exchange for allowing them to reach point blank range. The Lothari and Alliance ships ended up four point five light seconds from each other, each side firing continuously as they came.
The Lothari battlecruisers didn’t mount heavy broadsides of missiles, but their light salvoes proved to be sufficient to keep the Alliance point defense focused on the missile attacks and not the gunboats. The Alliance ships split their fire, launching their long-range capital missiles against the Lothari fleet, and firing their beam weapons and shorter ranged missiles against the Lothari gunboats.
The short-range battle around the Alliance fleet was intense and destructive. The Alliance ships desperately engaged the gunboats, even as the Lothari fleet lobbed small missile salvoes into the fray from long range. The gunboats dodged incoming fire as well as they could, and salvoed their weapons into the flanks of the big Alliance ships even as many of them were destroyed just short of their targets. About half of the gunboats were armed with anti-matter close attack missiles, while the other half were armed with four laser packs each. The anti-matter close attack missiles devastated their Alliance targets, engulfing them in anti-matter explosions that overwhelmed their passive defenses and gutted their interiors. The few remaining Alliance fighters did their best against the attacking gunboats, and managed to take out three, but lost two of their own number doing it.
It was a much-depleted gunboat force that remained around the burning Alliance fleet. Out of the one hundred and thirty-two gunboats that attacked, fifty-one remained. Out of those, only seventeen had laser packs left. On the other hand, the gunboat attack had shaken the Alliance Fleet. Only nine ships were undamaged, three heavy cruisers, two escort light cruisers, and four destroyers. One heavy cruiser, one light cruiser, and two destroyers had been destroyed outright. Of the damaged ships, several had only suffered light damage, but others were crippled and could not move under their own power. Tai-sa G’Tak’s command battlecruiser had been crippled by the gunboats, and G’Tak was out of communication with the rest of the fleet as a result.
With no overall command and control, the intact Alliance ships fell back on their individual commanders for guidance. Their first instinct was to protect the damaged ships, many of which could not move, or couldn’t move very fast, and so the intact ships began maneuvering to keep the remaining gunboats out of their blind-spots. The last three Alliance fighters valiantly chased the remaining Lothari gunboats, which were trying to line up shots on the evading Alliance ships. Meanwhile, the Lothari fleet closed on the Alliance fleet.
The Lothari ships were now within effective range of their weapons and commenced a withering bombardment of the disrupted Alliance datagroups. The Lothari laser armed gunboats were lining up to attack the damaged Alliance battlecruisers when two Alliance heavy cruisers armed with advanced missile launchers fired everything they had into the gunboat swarm, taking out fourteen of the seventeen gunboats before they could fire. The last three gunboats fired into a damaged battlecruiser, just before they were ambushed by the last three Alliance fighters, who destroyed two of the gunboats. The last gunboat was picked off by an Alliance escort destroyer as it tried to pull away from the Alliance fleet.
The Lothari fleet continued to close. Swordsman Schmidt considered breaking contact and withdrawing, as his gunboat force was depleted and had expended its external weaponry, but he was fairly sure that now that he had the Alliance force on the ropes, withdrawing would be seen as cowardice by the Leader. The Alliance fleet was still disorganized by the loss of Tai-sa G’Tak, who was still out of contact and/or wounded or dead. Still, with the gunboats departing and the Lothari fleet closing, the Alliance captains rallied and all ships still capable of movement turned towards the oncoming Lothari fleet and moved towards them to protect their damaged squadron-mates. Three Alliance heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and four destroyers went to meet the Lothari force, which was composed of six battlecruisers and three heavy cruisers, only one of which had damage to its shields and armor.
One of the Lothari battlecruiser groups fired first, targeting an intact Alliance heavy cruiser with nine HET lasers at close range. Their lasers punched through the cruiser’s armor in multiple places, going all the way through the ship and out the other side, leaving a wreck behind. In response an Alliance cruiser targeted the damaged Lothari BC with two capital force beams and a spinal force beam, taking out most of the big ship’s engines. The Lothari heavy cruiser group focused its advanced gun/missile launchers in sprint mode on another Alliance heavy cruiser, wiping it from space in a deluge of anti-matter missile fire. Two Alliance light cruisers focused their capital force beam fire on an intact Lothari battlecruiser, but didn’t manage to knock its shields down. The fighting was bitter as both sides tore at each other.
Two Lothari battlecruisers had suffered heavy damage, but the Alliance force was being whittled down as well. The two groups of ships maneuvered to try to get into each other’s blind spots, or to keep the other out of their own blind spots, while damaged ships fell away from the main group. The Alliance force doggedly fired into the Lothari fleet, trying to shield its damaged units, but the Lothari force eventually overwhelmed them. Ninety seconds after closing to point blank range, the Alliance force was broken, with only six ships retaining engine power, and none with weapons. The Alliance captains dropped their drive fields at that point, signaling that the battle was over.
The Alliance force had been wiped out. Its carriers were retreating, but the warships under Tai-sa G’Tak were either destroyed or disabled. Both sides had lost all or nearly all of their fighters, and the Lothari had only thirty-four gunboats left. Om addition, the Lothari had lost a heavy cruiser, and three of their battlecruisers were damaged. One of the three battlecruisers was a wreck, and would be scuttled within the hour, while the remaining crews of the other two struggled to restore engine power to their heavily damaged ships. The Alliance fleet was scrap. After dropping their drive-fields the Alliance crews abandoned their ships and successfully scuttled their ships, leaving nothing for the Lothari to recover. Tai-sa G’Tak survived the destruction of his flagship, although he was wounded. Swordsman Schmidt tried to retain custody of the Alliance admiral, but was overruled by the InSec commander. Tai-sa G’Tak disappeared into InSec custody, along with the rest of the survivors of his crew.
Swordsman Schmidt ordered his fleet to rearm the remaining gunboats, while his carriers withdrew to replace his fighter losses in the home system. He sent a message back to the home system as well, reporting his victory and requesting reinforcements, now that his fleet had been reduced to three battlecruisers and two heavy cruisers, all of which were low on missiles. He also declined to send his remaining gunboats against the retiring Alliance carriers. The Alliance carriers were withdrawing at maximum speed, and showed no so sign of slowing down. While they were a tempting target, his gunboats would have to risk burning out their drives to catch them, and he was loath to risk his remaining gunboat force, given how depleted his fleet had become.
Tai-sa G’Tak had also dispatched messages back up the chain to the Sector capital and to the Alliance home systems. The message warned of the Lothari possession of advanced fighters and their new gunboats. In addition, the message gave details about the ship classes encountered, and their weapons loadouts. This information was spread by the ICN and would arrive across the Alliance in a matter of days.
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Month 214, Day 5, Doraz Whever system
Aurarii ships begin jumping into this system early in the day. They find the area around the warp point clear of Doraz ships, and after reorganizing, set out for the warp point to the Doraz home system. A Doraz sensor buoy is close enough to the warp point to observe the force jumping into the system, and reports its presence back to the home system. The report is disturbing. The invasion force consists of three light monitors, three superdreadnoughts, six battleships, four fleet carriers, and two light carriers. The monitors, in particular, are alarming, as they are by far the largest ships ever observed by an Alliance member state, and not only does nothing in the Doraz fleet compare with the ML’s, the Alliance has nothing comparable either.
Month 214, Day 8, Doraz Home System
The fifteen warships that had been dispatched by the Doraz government to the Chruqua Nexus arrive in orbit over Doraz Prime. Their visit was brief, and in less than an hour they are on their way towards the warp point to the Whever system, where they will join the rest of the Doraz fleet. Fortunately, the warp point is located in the inner-system, just one day’s travel from the home planet.
Month 214, Day 13, Doraz Home System
The Torqual Fleet ordered to assist the Doraz arrives in the Doraz Home System on this date. The twenty warships immediately set out for the warp point to the Whever system, where the Doraz fleet is assembled. Their ETA is just over seven days.
Month 214, Day 16, Doraz Home System, Warp Point to Whever
The thirty-four ships of the Doraz Home Fleet were arrayed around the warp point to the Whever system in defensive positions. The fleet was built around six battlecruisers and twelve heavy cruisers, all equipped to HT-7 standards. The Doraz had recently reached HT-8, and had initiated research on multiple new weapons and defense systems, including fighters, but no new weapons were ready for deployment yet.
The Doraz had no bases for system defense, or automated weapons. There used to be bases in the home system, before the D’Bringi invaded and conquered the system, but they had been swept aside by the D’Bringi fleet. Once freed from D’Bringi occupation the Doraz saw no reason to build extensive defenses for the system, given what had happened before. Instead, they focused their time and effort on building up their fleet, as they saw a large and powerful fleet as a way to gain acceptance and prestige within the Alliance. Now, though, with an alien fleet at their doorstep, that decision was proving to be short-sighted.
The Aurarii fleet had been sighted on a course for the warp point by scouts positioned in the Whever system, and by the ICN sensor buoy positioned in that system. Eventually the Doraz scouts in Whever had been forced to transit back to the home system as the Aurarii fleet approached the warp point.
The Aurarii fleet had arrived on the far side of the warp point approximately eighteen hours ago, and while the Doraz fleet had been at alert status when the Aurarii arrived, in case they came through immediately, after several hours the Doraz ships had been forced to stand down to lower alert levels. Since then, the ships of the Doraz fleet had begun rotating through combat-ready status as they guarded the warp point.
At 1500 hours, the fleet’s twelve destroyers were at combat ready status, in defensive positions around the warp point. The rest of the fleet was at a lower alert status, with their crews performing maintenance or in a rest cycle, and were located eight light seconds from the warp point. It was at this point that the Aurarii began coming through the warp point.
The first ship through the warp point was a mammoth monitor. The huge ship was more than twice the size of the defending Doraz battlecruisers, and its sheer size shocked the defenders, although they knew such huge ships existed from the sensor readings transmitted back from the lost picket group.
The lead monitor lashed out first, targeting one of the Doraz destroyers sitting just a quarter light second from the warp point. The massive ship speared the tiny Doraz destroyer with no less than seven capital force beams, all of which hit in spite of the disorienting effects of transit that the monitor’s crew were surely feeling. The second and third monitors also hit their targeted destroyers with their capital force beams, destroying them utterly. The monitors were firing separately, not being able to get their fragile datalink systems up quickly enough in the aftermath of the transit to engage the destroyers.
The destroyers fired back, concentrating their fire on a single monitor. Nine destroyers managed to fire, and all hit with their force beams. The destroyer’s force beams knocked down the huge ship’s shields and ate through her armor, and knocked out her forward engine room. If the Doraz defenders had been shocked at the appearance of the huge ships in front of them, then this development was even more surprising. As big as the monitors were, they barely had more shielding and armor than a Doraz destroyer.
In the aftermath of the initial round of fire the nine remaining Doraz destroyers each locked on to a monitor with a tractor beam, anchoring themselves to the big ships and slowing them down.
The main Doraz fleet began moving slowly away from the warp point as their crews struggled to get to action stations. The big monitors, slowed by the destroyers, tried to move away from the warp point, but each monitor was tractored by three destroyers, which were enough to cancel out the big ship’s engine power. Even as the monitors struggle to move, the destroyer’s tractors pulled them towards the big ships on the warp point. As the destroyers closed on the monitors, three Aurarii SD’s entered the system behind the monitors.
A destroyer group, which had been drawn in to point blank range by its tractors, fired its three force beams into the mammoth monitor which had lost its passive defenses, knocking out two additional engine rooms. After that it was the two intact monitor’s turn, and they had regained full control of their systems. The two big ships split their force beam fire between three destroyers, completely destroying all three. Then the let loose with two salvoes of ten sprint mode missiles each at three separate destroyers. The sprint mode missiles moved too fast for the destroyer’s point defense suites, and twenty missiles was a daunting barrage for such a small ship. Still, even so, it would have been survivable, if barely, but the sprint missiles were armed with anti-matter warheads, and all three destroyers were engulfed in massive explosions that left little but floating debris. The Alliance had warned its associate members of the existence of anti-matter munitions, but the Doraz had not expected the Aurarii to use the weaponry.
In the aftermath of the two monitor’s fire, there were three destroyers left. They lasted for only seconds longer, before the damaged monitor unleashed its broadside on its tiny tormentors. The monitor had lost three engine rooms, but no weapons, and its weapons swept the space around the warp point clear of defenders. The newly arrived SD’s had nothing to target with their weapons.
With the warp point clear the Aurarii seemed content to sit on the warp point and marshal their strength. A series of battleships began entering the system as the damaged monitor completed its turn and began to move towards the warp point to leave the system, to the safety of their jumping off point in the Whever system. The main Doraz fleet, which had been retreating to keep space between it and the Aurarii fleet, now came to a halt and turned, as the Aurarii were not following.
When the wave of battleships entering the system came to a halt and battlecruisers began entering, the Doraz fleet turned back towards the warp point and moved towards the Aurarii fleet, to get within weapons range of its combat-ready ships. It took a minute for the Doraz ships to move within range of the capital missile launchers on some of its heavy cruisers, and by that time a fourth battlecruiser had entered, accompanied by two heavy cruisers. The Doraz heavy cruisers targeted the newly arrived battlecruiser for their twelve capital missiles, on the theory that the newly arrived ship would be hampered in its efforts to defend itself after the warp transit. The battlecruiser dropped three decoy EDM’s from its racks, though, and managed to either decoy or destroy all of the incoming missiles.
The Doraz ships continued to race towards the Aurarii ships, trying to get within range of their weapons before the Aurarii could organize themselves, but they found that they had mis-identified the Aurarii ships as the supposed battlecruisers and heavy cruisers turned out to be carriers and light carriers, which now launched their fighters and then transited out of the system. In seconds one hundred and thirty-eight fighters were in space and on their way towards the Doraz fleet, while the Aurarii fleet sat on the warp point.
The Doraz fleet opened fire on the Aurarii fleet with every weapon they had that could reach that far, targeting one of the two remaining monitors. One capital missile and three standard missiles from the Doraz heavy cruisers penetrated the monitor’s defenses, doing light shield damage. The Aurarii monitors returned fire with their anti-matter tipped standard missiles and capital force beams, targeting a Doraz battlecruiser. The standard missiles were at extreme range and none of them got through the battlecruiser’s defenses, but the big monitors managed to hit the battlecruiser with eight capital force beams, damaging its shields. Then the battleships and superdreadnoughts of the Aurarii fleet joined in with their capital force beams, smashing through the Doraz battlecruiser’s passive defenses and knocking out its forward engine rooms.
The Doraz fleet commander had no real choices at this point. His ships weren’t fast enough to run from the Aurarii fighters, and weren’t likely to survive the fighter wave coming at them. Even so, he really wanted to come to grips with the invading fleet, even if it meant that his fleet would be destroyed, as its destruction was almost certain at this point. They were defending their home system, better to take a few Aurarii ships with them than just give up. The Doraz fleet charged ahead, towards the warp point.
The Aurarii fighters plunged into the heart of the Doraz fleet, launching their standard close attack missiles at big Doraz ships as they closed, then peeling off and speeding away, trying to evade counter-fire. The Doraz ships concentrated their fire on a lone Aurarii monitor, while turning their point defense on the small fighters attacking their fleet. The Aurarii ships and fighters spread their fire across the Doraz fleet, doing as much damage as possible. Explosions rippled across ships on both sides as force beams stabbed out and anti-matter tipped missiles flew. The Doraz punched through the monitor’s relatively light defenses, and destroyed its forward engine rooms. In return, though, the Aurarii fighters and fleet devastated the Doraz fleet. All four Doraz corvettes were destroyed by fighter squadrons, and two battlecruisers and five heavy cruisers were simply gone, overwhelmed by close range fire from the fighters or long-range fire from the Aurarii fleet. Of the remaining ships, only one battlecruiser and four heavy cruisers were undamaged. The Aurarii lost twenty-seven fighters during their pass through the Doraz fleet, and now the rest were returning to the warp point, pursued by the remaining Doraz ships.
The Doraz ships continued towards the Aurarii fleet, and even though some of their ships were lagging behind, none gave up. The damaged monitor turned to jump out, while the rest of the Aurarii fleet surged ahead, towards the coming Doraz fleet. The Doraz had slowed slightly, to keep their fleet together, while the Aurarii monitor engaged engine tuners so that it could keep up with the smaller battleships and superdreadnoughts. The two sides closed to just one light second apart when the firing began again.
The first to fire was a pair of intact Doraz heavy cruisers, which stabbed out at the last monitor with five force beams each. The two elite cruisers hit with all of their force beams, stripping away the monitor’s shields and some of its armor. The monitor fired back, targeting the intact Doraz battlecruiser, which happened to be the fleet’s flagship. The flagship had survived this far undamaged, seemingly miraculously, but its time was up. The monitor’s capital force beams smashed its defenses and then the monitor’s anti-matter sprint mode missiles destroyed the defenseless ship. The remaining Doraz ships fired desperately at the last monitor, and succeeded in doing heavy damage to the big ship, but they were disorganized and mostly out of their datagroups. the Aurarii return fire, coming from organized datagroups and much bigger weapons, was overwhelming. In exchange for damaging the monitor, the Doraz were left with three battlecruisers and five heavy cruisers, all heavily damaged, some little more than hulks.
As the Aurarii closed in for the kill, the remaining Doraz ships dropped their drive fields and life pods began spilling from the damaged ships. The battle was over.
The results were shocking for both sides. The Doraz had lost the battle for their home system, and had little in the way of defenses over their home planet. Alliance forces were en route, but wouldn’t arrive before Aurarii could reach Doraz Prime. The Torqual fleet is the only allied force in the system, and it is still four days away from either the warp point to Whever or the Doraz home planet, while the Aurarii are merely thirty-six hours from Doraz Prime. And in any case, the Torqual fleet doesn’t have any more fighters than the Doraz fleet had, and would be at a disadvantage in any fight in open space. Alliance reinforcements are weeks away, even if they don’t get diverted to the Alliance’s other enemy. The situation for the Doraz is desperate.
The Aurarii fleet commander, Lord Major Vintari, had plenty of reasons to be unhappy as well. The royal court on Aurarii Prime had confidently predicted that the Doraz would crumble when confronted by the great and powerful Aurarii fleet. And while the Doraz had been defeated, they hadn’t actually crumbled. Worse, while the loss ratio was lopsided, as the Aurarii hadn’t lost any of their ships, they had suffered major damage to their three largest ships, which would all have to be sent back to Aurarii Prime for repairs. Given their damaged engines, that meant they’d be out of action for at least eight months, maybe longer. In addition, one of his carriers had to be sent back, as his fighter losses had been consolidated and the carrier was empty.
Vintari dithered. His orders were to advance on Doraz Prime and capture the planet, so that troops to invest it could be brought forward. He was loath to leave the warp point, though. He had lost his three largest ships, and his fighters had been somewhat depleted. Worse, he had no clear idea of the enemy’s strength or reserves. So, he decided to take the safe route. His fleet would remain on the warp point while a CD was sent back with a report of his great victory over the Doraz fleet, and a request for reinforcements. Lord Major Vintari would have liked to scout the Doraz system while his fleet remained at the warp point, but he has no ships suitable for scouting. His smallest ships mounting long-range scanners are his fleet carriers, and he will not detach them from his fleet, at least not for scouting duties.
The Torqual fleet is one hundred and forty-four light minutes from the Doraz home world and the warp point to the Whever system, well out of range of the Aurarii long-range scanners. Shortly after receiving the Doraz report of the lost battle at the warp point, the fleet receives a communique from Doraz Fleet Command. Expecting a desperate request for assistance, Torqual Rear Admiral Veron is surprised to find a request for them to retreat to the warp point to the Chruqua Nexus, and a request for them to keep the route to the Alliance open until Alliance forces can arrive to relieve Doraz Prime. The orders/request is countersigned by the Doraz Leader-Militant, the head of the Doraz government. Knowing that his fleet, which is at approximately the same tech level as the Doraz fleet, but slightly smaller, cannot beat the Aurarii without prohibitive losses, if at all, the Torqual admiral reluctantly turns his fleet around and sets course for the warp point to the Chruqua Nexus.
-
Month 214, Day 16, Alliance Nagasaki system
Reinforcements from the 1st Fleet arrive over Nagasaki Prime and join the 4th Fleet, bolstering the fleet’s complement to three carriers, eighteen battlecruisers, four light carriers, fourteen heavy cruisers, a strike carrier, three light escort cruisers, nine escort destroyers, fourteen escort carriers, and nineteen corvette-carriers. All told, the fleet can field over six hundred fighters. Tai-Sho Skull Splitter has arrived via fast courier and now commands the fleet.
Thus reinforced, the fleet sets out from Nagasaki, headed for Liawak and the Lothari invaders.
Month 214, Day 19, Doraz Home System
The Torqual fleet arrives at the warp point to the Chruqua system. The fleet jumps through, leaving behind a single long-range scanner equipped ship to keep watch. Strangely, the Aurarii fleet has not left the warp point, and seems to be content to sit there and observe events in the Doraz system. The Doraz home world is doing all it can to prepare for invasion during the reprieve that the Aurarii have granted them.
Month 214, Day 20, Lothari controlled Liawak system
The Lothari 2nd Survey Group completes its rough survey of the system, discovering two new warp points. The results are transmitted back to the main assault force orbiting the primary colony in the inner system while the survey group continues its survey.
Aboard the Assault Group, Swordsman Hartmann receives the news eagerly. He cannot order his fleet to advance until he knows the position of all of the warp points in the system, but he can certainly probe the newly discovered warp points. In response to the report Swordsman Hartmann detaches two escort carriers to probe the newly discovered warp points.
Month 214, Day 23, Chruqua Warp Nexus
The Alliance 3rd Fleet, consisting of nineteen warships carrying eighty-four fighters, arrives at the warp point in the Chruqua Nexus that leads to the Doraz Home System, where it joins with the 4th Fleet squadron left to defend the Nexus and the Torqual fleet. Cho-sho Banzan, the CO of the 3rd Fleet, is tempted to immediately attack the Aurarii forces in the Doraz system, but the knowledge that his fighters are outnumbered by the reported strength of the Aurarii fleet in the Doraz system, even if they haven’t been reinforced, causes him to be cautious. A major group of reinforcements from Rehorish Prime are due to arrive at his location within nine days, carrying more than four hundred fighters, and so he decides to remain at the warp point, for now. If the Aurarii move on the Doraz home planet, he will re-evaluate the situation at that time.
Month 214, Day 25, Alliance Chruqua Nexus
Reinforcements from the Alliance home worlds began jumping into the nexus on this date. The reinforcements consisted of six strike carriers, ten escort carriers, and seventeen corvette-carriers. The reinforcements immediately set out for the warp point to the Doraz home world, where they would rendezvous with the 4th Fleet elements that had been left behind to defend Chruqua when the main fleet moved out in response to the Lothari invasion. The Chruqua Defense Fleet was greatly understrength after providing ships for the response to first the Lothari invasion, and then being stripped of most of its remaining carriers by the 3rd Fleet on its way through the Nexus, bound for the Doraz Home System. After rendezvousing with the 4th Fleet elements and the Torqual fleet, the combined fleets would advance into the Doraz system to assist the 3rd Fleet, if necessary.
Month 214, Day 26, Lothari controlled Liawak system
A single Lothari escort carrier jumped out of the system through one of the newly discovered warp points. The ship materialized in a binary star system with two habitable planets. Interestingly, its exit warp point was a type 14 closed warp point, indicating that it couldn’t been seen or discovered without being transited first. This indicated that it was likely not on a path deeper into the Alliance, as Alliance survey ships almost certainly had not entered the Liawak system from this warp point. The carrier’s captain ordered his ship back to the Liawak system, reported his discovery, and set course for the second new warp point to assist the carrier assigned to probe that location. The carrier hadn’t been close enough to the habitable planets in the new system to determine if they were populated. That would have to wait.
Month 214, Day 26, Aurarii Home System
Lord Major Vintari’s battle report arrived at the Aurarii home world on this date, causing a stir both in the admiralty and within the royal court. Vintari’s caution is applauded by the Emperor, who was an unwilling participant in the declaration of war against the Alliance, tittered at by those in the court who saw the military as useless fops, and enraged the Admiralty, who had counted on a quick and decisive victory.
In the end there was little to be done. The Emperor ordered the admiralty to reinforce Lord Major Vintari’s force, and strongly encouraged them to defer to Major Vintari’s evaluation of the situation in the Doraz system. The admiralty had little to send to Vintari, but was able to scrape up a trio of light carriers to send forward.
Month 214, Day 30, Lothari controlled Liawak system
A Lothari escort carrier jumped out of the Liawak system through the second newly discovered warp point at 0600 hours. They discovered a planet-less blue giant system on the far side of the warp point. As with the first system probed earlier that month, the warp point in the blue giant system was a closed warp point, indicating that this was not the route into the Alliance, but rather a route headed out-wards. After a brief period spent scanning the system, the ship jumped back to the Liawak system to report.
Month 214, Day 30, Lothari Prime
The CD from the 2nd Assault Group in the Alliance Thoen system arrived over Lothari Prime early in the day. The victory over Alliance forces deepened the Supreme Leader’s belief that the Alliance was weak and would fall before Lothari military might. The Leader personally authorized reinforcements for the 2nd Assault Group, consisting of three battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, and four light carriers from the Home Fleet. The reinforcements set out immediately, bound for the Thoen system.
-
Month 215, Alliance
The Alliance government has managed to restore secure communications throughout the entire Alliance, and has concluded peace negotiations with the Colonial Union. In addition, the D’Bringi rebellion is over. The disappearance of the Emperor and the collapse of Imperial support on the home planet has caused pro-Imperial governments on D’Bringi colonies to collapse as well, with most of the former Imperial officials disappearing with as much of the local government’s money as they could carry. Rehorish, T’Pau, and loyalist D’Bringi troops have landed on D’Bringi Prime, and Skull Splitter has been named acting head of state until a new government can be formed. The Alliance 2nd Fleet, which had gone over to the Imperial’s after the coup, has been surrendered to Alliance forces. The most rabid pro-Imperial officers have been removed and arrested, pending investigations, along with a small percentage of the crews. A week into the investigation of the D’Bringi fleet, the 2nd Fleet’s officers met and agreed upon a course of action, which they then presented to the T’Pau officer in overall command of Alliance forces in the D’Bringi home system. The plan was passed on to the Alliance Council, who agreed. And so, on day one of month 215, the 2nd Alliance Fleet, in its entirety, will set out for the Chruqua Nexus, to be deployed against either the Aurarii or the Lothari. The 2nd Fleet’s officers feel that proving their loyalty in battle will go a long way towards removing any doubt about them, as will getting them out of the D’Bringi home system and the Alliance core areas. The are accompanied by the twelve battleships of the Strategic Reserve, although it will take them longer to arrive.
The total destruction of Tai-sa G’Tak’s force in the Thoen system, along with the revelation that the Lothari have advanced tech beyond that of the Alliance, has alarmed the Alliance Council. While the number of ships the Lothari have so far deployed is low, relative to the overall strength of the Alliance, they could be a threat if they have other undisclosed capabilities. Worse, the destruction of G’Tak’s force, while a minor loss in the larger strategic picture, is alarming as it reveals a bloodthirstiness inherent in the Lothari mindset. Tai-sa G’Tak was not offered terms for surrender at any point in the battle, and the Alliance hasn’t suffered losses like this since the war against the humans. Even then, two forces which had suffered such heavy damage often disengaged rather than fight to the finish, but the Lothari seemed intent on destroying G’Tak’s force regardless of their own losses. The Admiralty thus warns all forces gathering to oppose the Lothari about the apparent Lothari determination to fight to the death, or the destruction of their enemies.
With the dispatch of the 2nd Fleet to the Chruqua Nexus, where it would be available to be deployed either against the Aurarii or the Lothari, the Alliance Council decides to short-stop the 6th Fleet, which left the Villiers system at the end of Month 213, and is now in the Zir Home System and approaching Alliance territory. Instead of relocating to the Chruqua Nexus, the 6th will now head to the Thoen system, to either defend that system from the Lothari, or to drive them from it, depending on the situation when they arrive. In addition, the commander of the 6th is ordered to detach all of his corvette-carriers and send them ahead to join with the 7th Fleet, which was moving to confront the surviving Lothari forces in the Thoen system.
Month 215, Aurarii Republic
The Aurarii Navy launches three new light cruiser sized patrol ships from the yards this month, and they are immediately deployed to patrol the skies over the Norn home world, relieving the light carriers that had been assigned to that duty. The light carriers were reassigned to the Home Fleet, and were originally intended to be sent out to the Doraz Home System as reinforcements, however, three of the four light carriers were equipped with older F0 fighters, so the squadron remained in the home system while their fighter wings were upgraded with the latest fighters. In addition, a superdreadnought group leaves the yard, fresh from refitting to the latest technological standards. There is some push to redeploy that group to the Doraz system to replace the damaged monitors that are limping home, but with the 2nd Monitor Squadron still in the yards the Court decides that the superdreadnoughts must be retained for home system defense. Thus, no new reinforcements will be sent to the assault group.
Month 215, Kingdom of Lothari
The Lothari complete the reactivation of six battlecruisers from their mothball reserves. These ships are assigned to the Home Fleet and held over the home planet as a defensive force and strategic reserve. Next month, three additional BS6’s will be reactivated, and the High Command will be more willing to release ships from the reserve for action at the front.
Month 215, Doraz Contingency
The Doraz launch two destroyers, seven corvettes, and twelve proto-type CVE’s from their orbital yards. To avoid being observed by the Aurarii force sitting on the inner-system warp point, the Doraz keep their new ships close to the yards with their drive-fields down, at least for now. The CVE’s would be of little use in any battle, because they are proto-type hulls, with holds in place of their fighter bays, which are still under development. Five more corvettes are brought to the yards to be reactivated, but that is the last of the ships from the mothball reserves. Construction is begun on sixteen new corvettes of the latest design, as well. For now, the Doraz are forced to watch the Aurarii squadron squatting in their system, without being able to do anything about it. Major Alliance forces are en route and nearing their system, which is a great relief to the Doraz leadership.
-
Battle of Liawak System, from two perspectives
Month 215, Day 1, Lothari occupied Liawak system
Swordsman of Stars Hartmann sat in his office, contemplating the view of the Alliance planet rotating below his orbiting flagship. More and more, as time passed, he found himself watching the planet rotate, pondering the events he knew to be transpiring on the ground as InSec tried to control and ‘educate’ the T’Pau that made up the bulk of the colony below. For months now there had been a feeling growing slowly within him questioning the rightness of the Supreme Leader’s leadership. It was hard, very hard, to change his belief in the rightness of the Leader’s cause now, but as he read the reports from the planet, even sanitized as they were, he couldn’t help himself. He had been with the Supreme Leader almost from the first. Back then, the Leader had been a breath of fresh air in the stale old sameness of the old regime. He promised change, a better life, and advancement for all, and he delivered. At least at first. That was what had convinced Hartmann, who had been a soldier even then, to join the Leader’s cause, at first covertly, and then openly, when it became time for action. It had happened quickly, the change that the Leader promised, as the old regime and its corruption and staid sameness was swept away and the Leader took power. Those were heady days, days of change, days of hope. But gradually, somehow, things had changed. Bit by bit, gradually, so that no one really noticed, the Leader became more concerned with gaining more and more power, rather than the exercise of that power for the good of the people. They began making compromises to retain power. Opponents were branded as enemies of the people and disappeared. The Leader’s shock troops that led the assault on the old regime suddenly became InSec, and over the years gained more and more power, until they rivaled the military itself.
At that point, Hartmann’s thoughts turned to the Supreme Leader. He had long avoided going down this road, because, in the Kingdom of Lothar, the Supreme Leader was above reproach or criticism. To even think of criticism of the Leader was to court disaster, at least at Hartmann’s level. Hartmann had been in awe of the Leader’s encyclopedic knowledge, intelligence and decisiveness, and, in fact, he was all of those things. But, now, sitting here on the fringe of the Lothari expanses, waiting to be attacked by the Alliance fleet he knew was coming, he had to admit that the Leader was also vain, paranoid, and given to extreme flights of either unbounded optimism or fear, seemingly at random. It had taken Hartmann years to realize this, as the Leader was so often right, and everyone around the Leader had been so often wrong that they stopped believing in their own ability to judge a situation. They instead just uncritically accepted the Leader’s current pronouncement of the state of things, even if it contradicted what the Leader had said the day before. Hartmann included himself in that number. He had struggled to balance retaining his honor as a defender of the people while serving as a senior officer in the state’s military. He largely felt that he had succeeded, at least until now. Now, as he watched the planet rotate below his ship and contemplated just what InSec was doing below, he knew that he had only been fooling himself. It was he, and those like him, that had brought suffering to the people below, and perpetuated it on their own people. His thoughts had reached this point before, and, as before, he turned to his desk and opened the top drawer, looking at the pistol in the drawer. As before, he eventually closed the drawer. That wasn’t the answer, not yet. He set out to begin his day, but as he did every day, he knew he would end up here again, watching the planet rotate below the ship and contemplating what the future would bring, and if it would bring what his people deserved.
Almost sixteen hours later, as Hartmann ended his day by watching the planet rotate, he was interrupted by a call from the bridge. One of the survey group’s cruisers had sent a contact warning. They had detected a drive field headed in-system, one hundred and sixty-eight light minutes out. The survey cruiser’s captain reported that he was closing on the contact to determine its makeup.
The report galvanized Hartmann. The long delay in finding a way out of this system had meant that the Alliance fleet, which was surely gathering down-chain, would likely advance before he could. And now they were here. The question was, was this a probe, or was this an attack on his fleet. In either case, there was only one possible course of action. He opened a link to the bridge. “Greater Swordsman, you will prepare the fleet to depart. We will be moving to intercept the contact within the hour. Also, dispatch a CD to the home world reporting the contact.” The ship’s CO saluted and turned to begin issuing orders. Hartmann settled in to await the inevitable response.
Within a minute of issuing the orders, his screen lit up to show the armor of the InSec officer in command of the planetary surface. “Hartmann, you will not run and leave us unprotected!”
Having anticipated this, Hartmann had a response ready. “We are not running, officer. We are moving to engage the enemy before they can reach striking range of the planet.”
The InSec officer sat for a second, considering Hartmann’s response. Hartmann hoped his unexpected response had put the officer off, but with his armor obscuring his face and body there was no way to tell. Which was one of the primary reasons all Lothari wore armor or body and face obscuring clothing at all times. Finally, the InSec officer responded as Hartmann knew he would, indeed in the only way he could. “Very well, Hartmann. See that you destroy those who would oppose our great leader!” The screen flickered out and Hartmann left his office to begin preparing the fleet to depart. Before his deadline of an hour, the twelve ships in the Lothari Assault Group left the planet behind and accelerated out into the dark to meet their foes.
Month 215, Day 2, Hour 16
“Sir, the survey cruiser reports that the Alliance contact has split into two distinct contacts. One is maneuvering to intercept him, while the other is moving away. Both groups are maintaining standard cruiser system speeds.”
Hartmann sat back in his chair and contemplated the system display over his desk. This was likely a ploy by the Alliance to intercept his scout with scouts of their own, to prevent his scout from getting into range of the main fleet. “Very well. The fleet will continue on its current course and speed. The survey cruiser is ordered to close on the detached contact and engage it.”
One hour later the Lothari Assault Group received a message from the survey cruiser indicating that it had determined that the contact was composed of three corvette class ships, and that it was launching gunboats and beginning its attack. Shortly thereafter, the Assault Group received a final communique from the cruiser’s CO indicating that his ship had suffered serious damage and was making a final attack run on the Alliance corvettes, each of which had launched six first generation fighters. The Alliance fighter force had effectively dealt with the Lothari survey cruiser’s gunboats, leaving them few alternatives. The ship’s CO held out little hope of success, but stated that he would launch the final attack “for the glory of the state”. Shortly after that the Survey Cruiser’s CO reported that the battle was over, and that his ship had been crippled and left behind by the enemy, who were seemingly content to leave the now impotent ship behind while they stalked his main fleet.
The CO’s reference to “the glory of the state” twisted a knife in Hartmann’s soul, because at one time the Navy had existed to protect the Lothari people, not the state. However, something else was nagging at his mind, and re-examining the report he quickly realized what it was. The contacts were corvettes, capable of a higher strategic speed than the Lothari survey cruiser, but they had obviously been holding back until they had gotten into close range. That had been a clever ploy to suck his survey cruiser into close contact. Worse, the survey cruiser had never gotten close enough to the second contact to determine the number or class of ships it represented. This was problematic, as he had no way of knowing if it was a single corvette, or a fleet of a hundred battlecruisers.
In any case, the loss of the scout cruiser had at least revealed the fact that the first contact was a trio of scout corvettes, which meant that his current priority should be determining the makeup of the second contact. Unfortunately, his force now had no sensor contact with the Alliance ships, but on their current course they should pick them up within twenty-four hours.
Month 215, Day 3, Hour 16
As expected, the Assault Group’s sensors picked up both Alliance contacts twenty-four hours later, almost exactly where they had been predicted to be. This bothered Hartmann, as the Alliance ships weren’t even trying to evade his fleet. His unease at the situation in the system was growing. The Alliance were making it too easy to intercept their fleet. Worse, the need to keep his force concentrated had meant that he could not picket the warp point that led back to the home system. He had protested the order from Fleet HQ to keep his fleet concentrated, but to no avail. Fleet HQ had stated that the survey group deployed to the system would act as his eyes, warning of an Alliance incursion should it occur. They had done just that, but Hartmann couldn’t help but worry that the survey group was scattered all over the system. In fact, there were none in between the area where the Alliance ships appeared and the warp point back to home, which meant that Hartmann had no way of knowing whether there was yet another Alliance force headed towards his only route of retreat. And source of supplies.
Still, they would have to determine the composition of the force in front of them, in the absence of any other contacts. If he made a move towards the warp point now, he would be denounced as a coward and removed from command within seconds of ordering such a move. The InSec spies among his officers would ensure that.
The Lothari fleet adjusted its course to intercept the second, unknown Alliance contact and continued on towards the outer system.
Month 215, Day 4, Hour 9
The Lothari Assault Group had finally approached to within twelve light minutes from the Alliance contact, and finally their sensors reported that the contact was composed of sixteen drive fields. As of yet their sensors couldn’t determine the types of ships, but that at least was enough to determine that the contact was a significant force, whatever its composition.
Shortly after making contact, the Alliance force turned away and began paralleling the Lothari Assault Group, maintaining the range. There was no way Hartmann was going to allow this Alliance force to entice him into an interminable pursuit into the outer system, so he ordered his fleet to launch all gunboats on strike on the Alliance force. Shortly after the gunboats launched, the Alliance force accelerated to a matching speed to maintain their range to the pursuing gunboats. Hartmann knew immediately that he had been suckered into chasing after a group of Alliance scouts. The force he had closed on was now matching the speed of his gunboats, which could only be done by corvettes or smaller ships. And if his fleet was pursuing corvettes, then that meant that the main Alliance fleet, if it existed, was almost certainly making for his one exit point from the system.
Hartmann immediately recalled the gunboats, and once they were docked with his ships, he ordered the fleet to come about on a course towards the warp point that led back home.
Within a matter of hours, he received a coded communique from the InSec commander on the Alliance colony ordering him to return to the planet immediately to cover their withdrawal from the planet. The transports that had carried the Lothari army troops to the planet were gone, as were the InSec transports, which meant that the InSec commander wanted Hartmann’s fleet to facilitate their ‘relocation’ back to the home system. Hartmann ignored the order, and called his orderly to his office. Sub-officer Weber’s family had served his family during the time of the old regime, and he had continued this tradition, following Hartmann into the service and keeping him safe over the years. Weber was thickly built, and had learned every nasty trick of fighting from spending years following his master into one tricky situation after another. Now he arrived at Hartmann’s office carrying a “street sweeper” shotgun he was absolutely not authorized to carry on board ship.
The older sub-officer stood before Hartmann at attention, while Hartmann wondered yet again how he stayed ahead of him at every turn. “Sub-officer, I will be involved in delicate planning during the next several hours, and I do not wish to be disturbed. I have already informed my officers of this fact. If anyone attempts to disturb my planning session, would you politely inform them that I will meet with them later?”
Sub-officer Weber stood even straighter, if that was possible. “Yes sir. Politely, sir.”
Hartmann wondered if he should give Weber any further direction, but decided that it would be a waste. Weber would do what he would do, and there was little anyone could do to change that once he decided it needed doing. “Very well. Take your post.”
Weber withdrew and Hartmann returned to studying the map display, trying to discern the Alliance’s intentions. Several times he heard muffled voices outside his office door, and once he thought he heard a shout, but he didn’t hear the Sub-officer’s gun being discharged, so he assumed everything was in order. Five hours later, when Hartmann exited the office, he found sub-officer Weber standing guard as expected. “How did it go, Sub-officer?”
“No problems, sir. Officer Gruber did stop by and ask to see you, sir. He got rather insistent, as a matter of fact. Agitated, actually. I managed to calm him down, and persuaded him to see the doctor for a minor injury he had suffered at some point during the day. Other than that, I have nothing to report.”
“Gruber, huh? Should I check in with the doctor?”
“I don’t see why, sir. It was a very minor injury, really. Nothing to worry yourself about.”
“Very well. Carry on.” He had long suspected several of his officers of being InSec moles, but not Gruber, so this was interesting. In any case, he would have to have Weber or one of his friends on duty from now on, as he was sure Gruber wasn’t the only one.
When he arrived at his station on the bridge, he noted a message from the ship’s doctor reporting that he had had to put a member of the ship’s crew in stasis for treatment on the home world. Feeling fairly sure he knew who was in stasis, Hartmann wondered how Weber had managed that.
Month 215, Day 5, Hour 8
Hartmann wasn’t sure why, but he had increasingly grown convinced that he was in a race for the warp point that led back to the home system, and that he was losing that race. Perhaps it was the fact that the Alliance scouts were content to follow his force, in spite of the fact that they could close on them any time they wished. Whatever it was, Hartmann was not one to ignore something that was pushing this hard at his conscious mind. “Fleet order: the flagship will accelerate to maximum military speed in ten minutes. All ships will match speed and report engine status to the flagship at hourly intervals. Launch a CD to the home system with the fleet’s current status and heading, and my appraisal that the Alliance Fleet is attempting to get behind us and cut us off from the route home.”
Hartmann settled in to contemplate the system map. Accelerating to maximum speed would cut their ETA in half, from Day 13 to Day 9. But would that be enough?
Month 215, Day 9, Hour 18
The last four days had been grueling for everyone in the Lothari fleet. Their high-speed run had been made without any ships dropping behind, although one of the fleet’s escort carriers had lost an engine room. Fortunately, the CVE’s had an engine room in reserve and the fleet was able to maintain its speed. Swordsman of Stars Hartmann was pretty sure he had pushed them to their limit, though. Their engineering crews were exhausted, and had performed above and beyond keeping their engines functional during their four-day run. Now, though, they were finally approaching the warp point. Hartmann intended to invest the warp point, with ships positioned on both sides to watch for Alliance ships, and await reinforcements from home. If the Alliance fleet approached his position, then he would either engage them in Liawak space, if he had the advantage, or retreat to the Kalizwali system and defend the warp point against incursions. Either way his rear would be secure and his supply lines would be open.
As they had run headlong towards the warp point, the Lothari force had detected no new Alliance ships or fleets. Early on one of the two scout groups following them had turned away, likely to return to the inhabited planets in the inner system, while the other seemed content to shadow them from thirty-six light minutes behind them. As time went on, Hartmann began to fear traps in front of them, so he pushed his three escort carriers out ahead of his battlecruisers and carriers, to extend their sensor range a bit, and detect anything laying drive-field down in front of them.
Now, with the leading Lothari escort carriers approaching fifteen light seconds from the warp point, with the rest of the Lothari ships four light seconds behind them, a shout rang across the flagship’s bridge.
“Sir! Drive fields detected ahead!”
-
Eight days earlier…
Month 215, Day 1, Alliance Telmasa system, warp point to Liawak
The sixty-six ships of the Alliance 4th Fleet arrived at the warp point to the Lothari-occupied Liawak system at 0900 on this date. They were closely followed by a group of communications ships and an ammunition ship, and were joining the scouting force sent ahead of the main force. With the arrival of the main force, the scouts began transiting into Liawak, followed closely by the rest of the fleet. Once in the system, the fleet split, with the nineteen scout corvettes headed inwards, towards the colony and the last known location of the Lothari fleet, and the rest of the fleet headed across the system, towards the warp point the Lothari used to enter the system. This was the location through which Lothari reinforcements and maintenance supplies would have to come, and thus was the critical location in the system. The main fleet would arrive at their destination in twelve days and sixteen hours. The corvette-carriers of the scout force would arrive within detection range of the colony and the presumed location of the Lothari fleet in two and a half days.
Sixteen hours later, the scout force detected a drive field almost directly in-system of their location. Cho-sho Watanabe, CO of the 4th Fleet, had hoped to remain undetected for longer, but was relieved that if one of his two groups was detected, it was his scouts. He ordered the scouts to continue inwards while his fleet continued to head for the warp point leading back to Lothari territory.
Twenty-four hours after entering the system, the Alliance scouts were one hundred and fifty-six light minutes from the inner colonies, and forty-eight light minutes from the unknown contact, which had changed course to close on the scouts. At this point the scout force split, with three scouts splitting off to intercept the unknown drive field contact, while the remainder moved to remain far enough out of range that the unknown contact wouldn’t be able to determine their numbers. The main group of scouts, at the orders of Cho-sho Watanabe, slowed down to match the cruising speed of larger ships, in the hopes that the Lothari would think that it was the main fleet.
The group sent to intercept the Lothari drive field confirmed that it was composed of a single drive field and continued closing. At 1700 hours on Day 2, the force had closed to fifteen light seconds and confirmed that the contact was a heavy cruiser, at which point the Lothari warship launched seven gunboats. The Alliance corvette carriers turned away and launched their fighters, which interposed themselves in between the oncoming gunboats and their carriers.
The two groups of small craft came together in between the groups of ships. The gunboats were heavily armed, but the fighters were more agile. Both sides had crack crews. In the ensuing battle, the eighteen Alliance fighters wiped out the attacking gunboats, but lost six of their own doing it. The fighters returned to their carriers to be rearmed, while the Lothari heavy cruiser charged towards the Alliance corvettes. The corvettes let the heavy cruiser close to eleven light seconds, then turned and paced the heavier ship, maintaining the distance. Shortly after they turned, the Alliance corvette-carriers launched their rearmed fighters, which rapidly closed on the Lothari heavy cruiser. The twelve Alliance fighters closed to one point two five light seconds from the heavy cruiser and then launched eighteen fighter missiles each. About two thirds of the missiles obtained a lock on the heavy cruiser, and the cruiser’s point defense stopped a lot of them, but seven still got through and knocked out the cruiser’s shields and caused some internal damage. The fighters turned away and raced towards their carriers to be rearmed, as the heavy cruiser, now damaged, turned away from the corvettes and tried to escape.
The Alliance carriers turned around too, and went into pursuit, taking care to maintain the range to the fleeing ship. As they were faster than the larger Lothari ship, there was no chance that they would lose it. It took just over a minute for the fighters to return to their carriers, where the deck crews began rearming them as soon as they landed. Two and a half minutes later they were back in space, chasing after the fleeing heavy cruiser.
It took the fighters ten minutes to get into position to fire again, but the heavy cruiser was ready for them. At the last second it turned to clear its blind spot and threw its remaining engine power into engine modulations to throw off the fighter’s targeting. Additionally, instead of using its two advanced capital point defense emplacements to defend itself, it targeted the fighters. Both point defense emplacements hit their targets, eliminating two of the incoming fighters. In return, the heavy cruiser was hit by seventeen fighter missiles, leaving it slowed and leaking atmosphere and debris.
The ten fighters raced back towards their carriers to rearm. Soon the ten remaining fighters were back and closing on their target. At this time the Alliance commander sent a message to the crippled cruiser demanding that they surrender. The cruiser commander made no response, so the fighters attacked again. This time the fighters launched from one point seven five light seconds range, which proved to be outside the cruiser’s point defense range. This time, with the cruiser using its point defense emplacements in its own defense, the fighters could only get two missiles through the defensive fire, but this was enough to knock out another engine room, further slowing the cruiser.
The fighters returned to rearm while the cruiser sat in place, trying to repair some of its engines before the fighters returned. The ship still had a drive field, so it wasn’t immobile, but there was no way that they could outpace the corvettes and their fighters, so it had come to a halt. Soon, the fighters were rearmed and returning. Once again, the Alliance commander offered to allow the Lothari to surrender, but once again they refused. The fighters, firing from beyond the Lothari point defense range, scored only one hit during the next two attacks, and at that point the Alliance commander called the attack off. The heavy cruiser was crippled and would take weeks to get anywhere useful, so it was left behind by the corvettes as they turned to rejoin the main scout force.
Forty-eight hours after entering the system, on day 3, the Alliance 4th Fleet was seventy-two light minutes from its entry point, well on its way towards the Lothari entry point into the system. The main force of scouts was one hundred and forty-four light minutes from the colonies in the inner system, and ninety-six light minutes from the main fleet.
At 1700 hours on Day 3, the main group of scouts detected a drive field moving out of the inner system, headed towards their general direction. Shortly after detecting the drive field, it changed course towards the scouts. Just over sixteen hours later the two groups had closed to the point that the scout force could determine that the new drive field contact coming out of the inner system was composed of twelve individual drive fields, which matched the Lothari fleet engaged by the border guards. At this point the scout force turned away from the oncoming Lothari fleet, maintaining the range. At that point the Lothari force launched sixty gunboats. They may have launched their fighters as well, but if they did, they were too far away to see. In response, the Alliance scout force commander ordered her group to accelerate to maximum speed, which matched the gunboat’s maximum speed, meaning that the Lothari gunboats were unable to close on the Alliance force.
This was unfortunate. While the maneuver did keep the corvettes well away from the Lothari gunboats, it also revealed the fact that they were corvettes to the Lothari commander, who immediately turned away, towards their entry point to the system. The main group of Alliance scouts turned and shadowed the Lothari force, maintaining twelve light seconds distance, while the three detached scouts headed in-system.
Twenty-four hours passed, at which point the Lothari force suddenly accelerated to full speed, still on its course towards the warp point that ultimately led back to their home system. The scout group immediately sent a report off to the main fleet. This put Cho-sho Watanabe in a bind. His fleet was ahead of the Lothari force, and if the Lothari had maintained their standard cruising speed they would have arrived at the warp point in just over six days, three entire days before the Lothari force and well out of their sensor range. He wasn’t sure what had tipped the Lothari, given that they were too far apart to been seen by the Lothari sensors, but whatever it was, the Lothari would now reach the warp point in four days and sixteen hours, over a full day ahead of them. Watanabe didn’t have to think about it very long. If the Lothari reached the warp point first they would escape and either flee back to their home system or defend on the far side of the warp point. Either was unacceptable. If his force reached the warp point first, the Lothari would be trapped. By arriving first he would be putting the Lothari in a position where they would have to attack his fleet, if only because waiting would mean that they’d run out of supplies sooner or later. The decision was easy, Watanabe ordered his fleet to maximum speed.
Over the next twenty-four hours, Day 5 of Month 215 and into Day 6, the Alliance fleet ran at full speed towards the Lothari exit point from the system. None of the Alliance ships had engine failures, however, several had close calls with their overstressed engines. The two groups of scouts shadowing the main Lothari force were falling behind, but still had them in sensor range and were reporting that the Lothari were continuing on their course towards the warp point. A third group of corvette carriers had been detached from the main group of scouts to approach the colonies in the inner system and report on their status.
During the second day of running at full speed, two Alliance ships suffered a burnout. Of the two, an Akagi IV class heavy cruiser and an escort carrier, the heavy cruiser was more problematic. The escort carrier was fast enough that even after losing an engine room it could still maintain the fleet speed, but the heavy cruiser began to fall behind almost immediately. Cho-sho Watanabe considered decreasing the fleet’s speed to allow the heavy cruiser to maintain its position, but in the end detached the cruiser, ordering it to return to their entry point into the system. The scout corvettes detached to probe the inner system confirmed that there were no Lothari ships remaining there, and that the colonies were occupied. The occupiers refused all communications with the Alliance ships and seemed to have the colonies locked down effectively, as the ships could not raise anyone on the surface of either planet.
Day seven brought the Alliance force within twelve light minutes of the warp point. No Lothari ships were detected near the warp point, and the Lothari force from the inner system was still one hundred and twenty light minutes from the warp point. The scouts reported that the Lothari force was still at full speed, so they apparently had not suffered from any burnouts. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the Alliance force. Even as Cho-sho Watanabe contemplated the oncoming Lothari force, two Zuikaku Long-Range battlecruisers reported engine failures from the strain of running at full speed. As they were now close to the warp point Cho-sho Watanabe ordered the fleet to reduce speed to a safe cruising speed so that the battlecruisers could keep up and so that no further ships would suffer engine damage.
Twelve hours later the Alliance force settled in around the warp point and dropped its drive fields, becoming invisible. By the end of that day the Lothari force was forty-eight light minutes from the warp point and closing.
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Month 215, Day 9, Disputed Liawak System
Late in day nine, the Lothari force closed on the warp point. Their three escort carriers were running four light seconds ahead of the other nine Lothari ships when they suddenly came to a halt when they reached just fifteen light seconds from the warp point and their sensors detected the Alliance Fleet. Swordsman of Stars Hartmann, who was sitting in his chair on the bridge of his battlecruiser, staring at the plot tank, wondering where the Alliance fleet was, suddenly leaned forward as the plot updated to show his escort carrier screen coming to a halt, followed closely by the appearance of drive fields belonging to eighteen battlecruisers or carriers, fifteen heavy cruisers or light carriers, seven light cruisers or strike carriers, and twenty-two destroyers or escort carriers. Given the fact that his fleet was out-numbered five to one, it probably didn’t matter what the actual composition of the Alliance fleet was. The ironic thought flitted through his head as the Swordsman tried to find a way out of the trap he had led his force into at the warp point.
“The enemy force is launching fighters.”
As he expected. He drew in a deep breath. “Very well. The enemy has finally given me a chance to come to grips with them. They will regret it. All ships launch carried craft and prepare for battle.”
It was a good thing that the Swordsman of Stars had called the fleet to alert status as they closed on the warp point, as a standard precaution, because the Lothari fleet was ready for battle and its fighters and gunboats were armed and ready. Even as the fleet’s small craft launched, a message was received from the Alliance fleet. Hartmann had it transferred to his console, and played it in privacy mode. It was short and to the point. The Alliance commander demanded the surrender of his force. Hartmann was tempted. They were heavily outnumbered, both in terms of ships and small craft. Realistically, they had no chance of winning the battle, or even pushing through to the warp point. Neither could they escape, with the enemy’s fighters pursuing them. After considering the enemy offer for a brief moment, Hartmann came to a decision. Surrendering without first damaging the enemy fleet was unthinkable, as the enemy’s next step would be to advance on the home system. Worse, if word of their surrender got back to the home system, InSec would likely arrest everyone who had ever known anyone in the crew for being associates of defeatists. Better to go down fighting.
“We will advance on the warp point and jump back to the Kalizwali system to report the enemy’s advance. All ships advance at maximum power!”
The Lothari fleet began advancing towards the warp point and the Alliance fleet. The Lothari escort carriers waited for the main fleet to arrive, then joined with their advance. The fleet’s fighters and gunboats remained in close formation with the bigger ships.
The Alliance fighters advanced towards the oncoming Lothari fleet, leaving their fleet behind at the warp point. The two groups advanced towards each other for several minutes, then the Lothari fighters and gunboats moved out ahead of their fleet, interposing themselves between the oncoming Alliance fighters and the Lothari fleet. They were grievously outnumbered. Lothari sensors were now able to determine that the Alliance fighter force was composed of just over five hundred fighters, compared to the Lothari force of seventy-two fighters and sixty gunboats.
When the Alliance fighters reached five light seconds range from the Lothari fleet, Swordsman of Stars Hartmann ordered his fleet to come to a halt, to allow their fighters and gunboats room to maneuver and engage the enemy fighters. One minute later the two groups of small craft came together in a furball in front of the fleet. At the last second over half of the Alliance fighter group turned aside, avoiding the battle, leaving the one hundred and thirty-two Lothari fighters and gunboats facing two hundred and thirty-seven Alliance fighters. There could be only one conclusion to such a mismatch. The Lothari small craft managed to take out sixty-six Alliance fighters, but were completely wiped from space in less than thirty seconds.
The Alliance fighters that survived the battle turned back to their carriers, while the second group, which had avoided the battle with the Lothari small craft, raced in towards the Lothari fleet at maximum speed. The second Alliance fighter group launched fighter missiles at the Lothari fleet at one point two five light second’s range. Swordsman of Stars Hartmann, knowing it was coming, ordered his fleet to divert engine power to engine modulations and to retain point defense for anti-missile defense, and leaving the oncoming fighters to the fleet’s heavy lasers. The Lothari battlecruisers hit two Alliance fighters with their lasers, destroying them utterly, and while the targeted battlecruiser group’s advanced capital point defenses swept most of the incoming missiles from space, fourteen leaked through the defenses and were absorbed by one of the battlecruiser’s shields.
The Alliance fighters turned to run back to their carriers. Swordsman of Stars Hartmann did not intend to allow the Alliance enough time to rearm its fighters, so his fleet followed the fighters as closely as they could. One minute later the Lothari fleet was ten light seconds from the Alliance fleet on the warp point, and both sides began launching SBM’s at each other. Two Alliance battlecruiser groups engaged the Lothari battlecruiser targeted by the fighters, but only managed to punch one anti-matter tipped SBM through the Lothari group’s very effective point defense and engine modulations. In return, a Lothari battlecruiser group launched twelve anti-matter SBM’s at a Rehorish heavy cruiser, but the range was long, and the cruiser group’s point defense swatted the few missiles that achieved lock-on before they could close on the ship.
The next salvo of missiles was launched at 8.5 light seconds range, and the Lothari BC group equipped with long-range missile launchers was still having a problem penetrating their target’s engine modulations and point defense network. The Alliance was having the same problem, and its two long-range missile BC groups failed to land any hits on the approaching Lothari ships.
The lead group of Alliance fighters finally managed to reach the Alliance fleet, but still had a way to go to reach their carriers, which were retreating to remain outside Lothari weapon’s range. As the Alliance fighters continued their run towards their carriers, the two side’s warships were now within capital missile range, and the Lothari battlecruisers switched to the more capable missiles immediately. Once again, the Lothari twelve-missile salvoes failed to penetrate the targeted heavy cruiser’s active defenses. The Alliance ships switched as well, and managed to get one capital missile through the defender’s fire, further reducing the targeted BC’s shields.
The Lothari ships continued to charge towards the warp point and the waiting defenders. The range was now 5.5 light seconds, and missile accuracy was improving. The Lothari battlecruisers managed to punch a single capital missile through the Alliance heavy cruiser’s defenses, reducing her shields to less than half strength, but in return the six Alliance ships equipped with spinal force beams opened fire, scoring four hits on the Lothari battlecruiser that had been hit by the fighter missiles, further reducing its shields. The spinal force beams were at long range, but as the range dropped their strength would increase proportionately. In fact, as was common for most Alliance fleets, most of the 4th Fleet’s combat units were optimized for close range combat. As the Lothari were about to discover.
With the two fleets now four light seconds apart, more of the ships were able to get into action against their opponents. The first to fire were the trio of Alliance heavy cruisers that had been targeted for Lothari long range missile fire. The three heavy cruisers were of the latest Alliance design, and each mounted two capital force beam emplacements and a single spinal force beam mount that ran the length of the ship. Now, all of their weapons were able to fire, and the elite crews of the three cruisers scored five hits with their six capital force beams, and two hits with their spinal force beams, knocking out a Lothari battlecruiser’s shields and damaging its armor. The Lothari battlecruiser group that had been silent so far responded with six HET lasers and three spinal force beams of their own, getting five hits with their lasers and one with their spinal mounts, chewing through the heavy cruiser’s passive defenses. Many of the Alliance beam ships were older, with older beam weapons, and thus not in range yet, but the more advanced ships battered down one of the Lothari BC’s armor and damaged several engine rooms. In exchange, one Alliance heavy cruiser suffered serious shield and armor damage.
The Lothari battlecruisers suddenly accelerated as they activated their engine tuners and continued charging forward at full speed, with the one damaged BC and their carriers failing behind. The sudden acceleration caught the Alliance force by surprise, but at this point the entire Alliance force was within range of their weapons, and all of the Alliance ships opened up on the five intact Lothari BC’s. Three of the Lothari BC’s suffered serious internal damage, and two of the remaining three BC’s lost most of their shields and armor. By some strange fate, Hartmann’s flagship was the only Lothari BC that remained undamaged, although two others had no internal damage, yet.
The Lothari ships continued their charge, with the three Lothari BC’s with no internal damage reaching a half of a light second from the warp point, with the remaining three BC’s strung out behind them, straggling from engine damage. The six Lothari carriers, which had so far been ignored, were a light second from the warp point. One Alliance heavy cruiser had suffered internal damage. At such a close range, the exchange of fire was brutal. The Lothari, who only had three ships in their fleet optimized for close range combat, came out much the worse in the exchange. Making matters even worse for the Lothari, some of the Alliance ships had datalink jamming systems on board, and the Lothari were now close enough for those systems to become effective. And, as a final decisive blow, many of the Alliance beam ships were armed with plasma guns, which they were now close enough to employ. In the end, when the firing died down, six Lothari ships were left limping towards the warp point, all crippled and slowed so much that they would never make it before the Alliance ship’s weapons recharged. In return, an Alliance battlecruiser suffered minor internal damage.
The Alliance commander issued another call for the Lothari ships to surrender, but again that message was ignored. In the absence of a response, a single Alliance battlecruiser group swept the remaining Lothari ships from space as they limped towards the warp point. The battle was over.
Cho-sho Watanabe detached his empty carriers to return to Alliance yards for replacement fighters, and the six ships that suffered damage either in the battle or during the race to the warp point. As those ships set out for home, the Cho-sho set his destroyers to picking up Lothari survivors in life pods. A fair number of Lothari had managed to reach their pods, but strangely, very few officers had survived. One pod was found empty, containing only an Alliance datapad, with a note addressed to Cho-sho Watanabe. After being examined for traps, Watanabe retreated to the privacy of his office and activated the pad. A video started playing immediately after the pad booted up. The video showed Swordsman Hartmann standing alone in what appeared to be an office much like Watanabe’s. Watanabe activated the video and Hartmann cleared his throat. “If you are seeing this, then I and most of my men are dead. Know this, we died doing our duty, but I regret that we died facing an honorable enemy such as the Alliance. This was not my choice, but we, as soldiers, are not always given the choice of the enemies we fight.”
Thinking of the D’Bringi who had so recently been fighting each other, Watanabe could only nod. “Still, if I do not regret dying in service of the state, there are things that I do regret. Things that, looking backward, I would change if I could.” It was difficult to tell, masked as the Lothari was, but Watanabe could hear the emotion in the other officer’s voice. After hesitating for a few seconds, the Lothari continued. “You will find things on your colony that will enrage you. That must enrage you. Your people will want revenge against mine, that is natural. But know this, there are many within my people who oppose what has happened. It will be my eternal shame that I did not act when I could have, to stop the barbarities that you will find. But I did not, because I feared for my family and relations back home, who would certainly have suffered for my actions. And so, I was a coward. Blame me. Blame those who acted on your colonies in this system. But don’t blame my entire people! Most have no blame in this, and would oppose it if they could. I beg this of you.” The video flickered out.
Cho-sho Watanabe sat in shock for maybe five seconds, and then he activated the comm system in his desk.
“Yes, sir?” The ship’s CO appeared slightly harried as she was handling all things that needed to be accomplished after a battle.
“Immediate message to the picket at the warp point back to the Telmasa system! All troop transports are to enter and proceed to the inner system. As soon as we are finished here, we will head in-system to provide protection to the transports. The scout force is to split, with half of the scouts coming here, and the other half going to picket the inner system and the colonies. Understood?”
Catching his tone of urgency, the ship’s CO saluted and turned to begin issuing orders. Watanabe’s eyes turned towards the system display on the monitor on the wall of his office. What was happening on the colonies in the inner system?
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Month 215, Day 2, Alliance Chruqua Nexus
Reinforcements from the core worlds reached the Alliance force holding at the warp point to the Doraz Home World at 0800 hours. These reinforcements consisted of six strike carriers, ten escort carriers, and eighteen corvette-carriers, all fully loaded with the Alliance’s latest F1 fighters. They brought the 3rd Fleet’s fighter complement up to nearly five hundred fighters. Unfortunately, the 3rd Fleet had largely been stripped over the last year to provide reinforcements for the various other fleets, and aside from the carriers currently only boasted three battlecruisers, three light cruisers, and six destroyers, all older designs. Still, Cho-sho Banzan, the 3rd’s commander, felt that he couldn’t wait any longer. The Doraz Home World was open to attack, and must be defended. So, the 3rd jumped into the Doraz Home System, accompanied by the twenty-two warships of the Torqual fleet. Their ETA to the inner system, and both the Aurarii fleet and the Doraz home world was six days.
Month 215, Day 8, Doraz Home System
The combined Alliance 3rd Fleet and Torqual Expeditionary Fleet arrived in the inner system at mid-day. At the urging of the Doraz government, the fleets set out for the warp point where the Aurarii fleet had waited. Eight hours ago, just after the combined fleets reached twelve light minutes from the warp point, the range at which the Aurarii sensors could determine the number of ships in the fleet, the Aurarii ships on the warp point had jumped out. The Doraz, after waiting for an hour, sent their entire fleet, all two destroyers and seven corvettes, to probe the warp point. After arriving they found that the Aurarii were gone, and were retreating back the way they had come.
The combined fleets jumped through to the Doraz Whever system at 1600 hours, to find that they were twelve light minutes behind the withdrawing Aurarii force. The Aurarii were on a direct heading to the warp point to the Sheund system, which was back along their initial line of advance. The Alliance force’s ETA to the warp point was thirteen days, eight hours, while the Aurarii force, due to their slower capital ships, had an ETA to the same point of nineteen and a half days.
Cho-sho Banzan, secure in the knowledge that his force would be able to chase the Aurarii force down long before it could reach the warp point, ordered his fleet to pursue the Aurarii at their maximum cruising speed. They would be able to close the distance to the Aurarii in twenty-four hours.
Month 215, Day 9
Lord Major Vintari knew that he was in trouble. The Alliance force was coming up steadily behind them, and even if he accelerated to full military speed the Alliance would just do the same and would still catch them. And given the number of ships they had, even if they lost some to burnouts, they’d still far outnumber his fleet. For a brief period, he was tempted to detach his carriers, which could at least run ahead of the main fleet and maintain their distance to the Alliance force, but if he did that it would leave his superdreadnoughts and battleships uncovered and open to attacks from Alliance fighters, virtually ensuring the defeat of his fleet in detail, whereas is they stayed together they’d at least have a chance against the Alliance. Unfortunately, with the Alliance corvettes buzzing around his fleet they certainly had an exact idea of his strength, he still didn’t know anything about most of the Alliance fleet, except that they outnumbered his fleet. It made calculating the odds of winning a battle against the Alliance fleet difficult, although it was hard to see how his fleet could stand off nearly five to one odds.
Shortly after reaching a standoff distance of sixty light seconds, the Alliance force split, with twenty-one ships racing ahead of the main Alliance force, detouring around the Aurarii Fleet to get ahead of it. The detached Alliance force was moving twice as fast as the Aurarii capital ships, which either meant that they were corvettes or they were running their engines at a dangerous level to get ahead of the Aurarii fleet. In a bid to force them to retreat back to their main fleet, Lord Major Vintari ordered his carriers to launch their fighters, and then ordered the fighters to move towards the detached Alliance ships. Unfortunately, the Alliance ships ignored the threat and Major Vintari was forced to recall his fighters short of the target, when the main Alliance Fleet launched their fighters. While the Alliance fighters were too distant for the Aurarii sensors to determine their numbers, their mere presence was a threat and Vintari was forced to withdraw his fighters to protect his fleet.
The pursuit continued, with the detached Alliance ships moving to get ahead of the much slower Aurarii fleet. Once directly in front of the Aurarii fleet, they launched their fighters, confirming that they were carriers of some sort. Simultaneously, the Alliance fleet behind them launched as well. Hoping to overrun the smaller enemy force ahead of his fleet, Lord Major Vintari ordered his carriers to launch their fighters, and for the entire force to advance towards the smaller force ahead at the capital ship’s maximum speed. Contrary to Lord Major Vintari’s wishes, the Alliance force ahead of his fleet began retreating, maintaining the range, while the force behind began closing, with their fighters running ahead of the main Alliance fleet and closing at their maximum speed.
The Aurarii force continued its pursuit, and eventually the fighter force ahead of them turned and began their run at the Aurarii force, timed to coincide with the arrival of the Alliance fighter force behind them. Both Alliance fleets appeared prepared to remain outside of the Aurarii force’s weapons range, at least for now. Lord Major Vintari was forced to choose between sending his fighters against the Alliance fighters in front of him, with which his fighters had parity, or the fighters behind, which outnumbered his fighters over three to one. Arguments could be made either way, and were, by his staff officers. Finally, Lord Major Vintari decided. The fighters would be sent against the smaller force of fighters from the Alliance ships ahead of their fleet.
The odds were very nearly equal. The Aurarii sent out one hundred and eleven fighters, while the Alliance had one hundred and twenty-six. All of the fighters involved on both sides were F1, with three external weapons racks, and all of the fighters were equipped for anti-fighter work, with a fighter gun in each mount. The two groups of fighters slammed together ahead of the Aurarii fleet, and a desperate battle began, with both sides trying to evade enemy fire while getting into position to fire on their opponents.
The furball dissipated after a minute, with seven fighters remaining of the Alliance fighter group, and no Aurarii fighters remaining. The Aurarii main fleet had turned to face the main Alliance fighter force, expecting it to attack while its defensive fighters were occupied with the secondary force, but instead, both Alliance fighter groups turned back towards their carriers. Lord Major Vintari decided that the Alliance had equipped all of its fighters with anti-fighter weapons, to eliminate his fighter force, and so they had no way to attack him without rearming.
The loss of his fighters was shocking to Lord Major Vintari. He had known that the odds were against them, but the Aurarii Navy had never lost a battle in its storied history, and he would not allow himself to be the first fleet commander to do so and irrevocably stain the honor of the Aurarii Fleet. In spite of the continued pleas to surrender and avoid a battle, Lord Major Vintari refused to consider any such thing, such was his faith in Aurarii invincibility. And, seeing his determination, none of the older, wiser officers dared bring up the possibility, not with the hot-headed younger officers crowding around Vintari, praising his resolve. The Aurarii fleet continued on towards the distant warp point, with the Alliance Fleet pacing them.
Soon enough, the Alliance fighters had returned to their carriers and rearmed, and were headed back towards the slow Aurarii fleet. The Alliance commander issued yet another demand for the Aurarii to surrender, which Lord Major Vintari stubbornly refused to acknowledge, and the Alliance fighter force, four hundred and fourteen fighters strong, raced towards the Aurarii fleet. At the last second, Lord Major Vintari ordered his ships to make a turn, trying to keep the fighters out of their blind spots, but the lumbering superdreadnoughts and their escorting battleships were too slow to make the turn and the Alliance fighters slipped neatly into perfect firing positions. The Aurarii force’s carriers managed to make the turn, exposing the fighters to the weapons on those ships, but the Alliance fighter group commander assumed they were lightly armed.
The Alliance fighter squadrons began ripple firing their close attack missiles. Due to supply issues, the Alliance missiles were equipped with standard fusion warheads, not the newer and more powerful anti-matter warheads, but there were a lot of them. In short order the nine Aurarii heavy ships were overwhelmed by fighter close attack missiles, ripped apart by explosions that ate their way through the ship’s passive defenses and then deep into their fragile insides. The return fire from the three Aurarii carriers and two light carriers caught the Alliance fighters by surprise. All of the carriers were equipped with four datalinked point defense emplacements each, and the larger carriers had a single missile launcher, while the smaller light carriers actually had a capital force beam turret and a plasma gun. All of these weapons unloaded into the attacking fighters, catching them while they were lining up on the heavy Aurarii ships. The Aurarii crews were experienced and well trained, but the fighters were difficult targets. Fourteen of the Alliance fighters were hit, and then the Alliance fighters turned on the carriers. The original Alliance plan had been to eliminate the warships and then force the carriers, now bereft of fighters or warship defenders, to surrender. The carrier’s armament, though, made that plan difficult, and so the Alliance fighters still carrying weapons descended on the Aurarii carriers with a vengeance.
When the fighters left the area, there were no Aurarii ships left. The Alliance force began picking up life pods, and Cho-sho Banzan reorganized his fighter squadrons and detached several carriers to return to the inner systems to be reloaded with fighters. After re-distributing ammunition from the departing carriers, Cho-sho Banzan ordered his force to begin advancing once again. He ordered his scout-corvettes to move out ahead of the force, towards the three inhabited planets in the inner system, while his fleet moved towards the warp point to Aurarii territory.
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Month 215, Day 7, Lothari Home World
The first CD from the Lothari Assault Group in the Liawak system arrived at Fleet HQ early in the day. A report was made to the Supreme Leader, who immediately gave a public speech announcing an Alliance counter attack on the Liawak system. The Supreme Leader praised Swordsman of Stars Hartmann for his spirited defense of Lothari territory from unwarranted Alliance aggression, and promised that valiant Lothari Fleet units would destroy any Alliance ship that dared to enter Lothari territory. However, the Great Leader declined to dispatch any reinforcements at this time, somewhat alarming the fleet’s leadership.
Unknown to the Supreme Leader, someone in Fleet HQ dispatched orders to the force in the Thoen system, ordering them to withdraw and reinforce the Home Fleet. No one in Fleet HQ had dared to broach the subject to the Supreme Leader, who had lately taken to issuing orders prefaced by the statement “No retreat under any circumstances!” The orders would arrive at the 2nd Assault Group’s location on Day 15.
Month 215, Day 10, Lothari Home System
Three days ago, a CD from Swordsman of Stars Hartmann had arrived at the Lothari home world, prompting the Supreme Leader to give a speech announcing an imminent victory by Lothari forces. Now, Hartmann’s second CD arrives, announcing his retreat to the warp point that led back to Lothari territory and his belief that a major Alliance fleet is in the system. The Supreme Leader declines to make a public announcement at this point, deciding to wait for further information. No further CD’s arrive from Liawak, and on Day 12 the Supreme Leader authorizes the deployment of the Home Fleet to the warp point in the home system that leads to Alliance territory as a precautionary measure.
Month 215, Day 11, Alliance controlled Liawak system
The Alliance corvette-carrier force approached the outermost inhabited planet in the system, which happened to be the system capital. Ever since entering the system the colony had ignored all messages from the returning Alliance fleet, and fears had grown that something terrible had happened on the planet. The corvettes had been able to determine that the populations were still there, but they were silent, with not even any enemy transmissions leaking outwards.
The Alliance corvette force commander, focused on the colony’s wellbeing, approached to five light seconds of the planet, then split his force, with each half circling around the planet to get a complete scan of the area. The Alliance ships were at alert status, not that the force commander really thought there was any danger, but the status of the colonies was unknown, and he wanted to be prepared for anything. Several minutes later, when the two corvette groups were about a third of the way around the planet and ten light seconds apart, drive fields suddenly appeared coming around the back side of the planet. A force of three Lothari heavy cruisers and two corvettes, accompanied by twenty-one gunboats, left orbit, headed directly towards one of the two corvette groups. Caught by surprise, the two Alliance corvette groups continued on course at cruising speed as their command group struggled to come to terms with the ambush. The three Lothari heavy cruisers each fired a HET laser and a single capital missile at an Alliance corvette, which had no active defenses and only a weak shield to protect itself with. Only one of the three HET lasers hit, but all three missiles slammed into the corvette, destroying its hangar bays, with their fighters, and two engine rooms. Fortunately, the Lothari missiles mounted standard fusion warheads, not anti-matter, or there would have been nothing left of the corvette. Equally fortunately, the corvette’s fighters, destroyed in their bays, had been armed with anti-fighter weapons that didn’t explode when their bays were destroyed.
The Alliance crews quickly got over their shock, and all of the crews had been at alert stations, so the corvettes were able to quickly move to full speed to maintain or open the range. All of the corvettes launched their fighters. The damaged corvette fell behind the others as the main group opened the range, while its fighters turned back towards the oncoming Lothari cruisers and gunboats. The fighters headed straight towards the gunboats, closing to just a quarter of a light second before it opened fire. Half of the Alliance fighters were armed with three fighter-guns each, while the remaining half were armed with three fighter lasers each. The gunboats were armed with two fighter-guns and two fighter lasers, along with their point defense. None of the gunboats survived, while forty of the forty-eight fighters remained. The Alliance corvettes were pulling away from the oncoming Lothari heavy cruisers, but still in range, and the heavy cruisers managed to damage another Alliance corvette with their capital missiles. The Lothari ships used their HET lasers to destroy the Alliance corvette damaged by the first salvo of capital missiles.
The targeted Alliance corvette group continued pulling away while the Lothari cruisers pursued. The Alliance laser armed fighters curved around and came up behind the Lothari cruisers, which turned at the last second to unmask their point defense and other weapons. The Alliance fighters swept in to point blank range and targeted one of the cruisers for their attention. The Lothari cruisers managed to destroy two of the incoming fighters, and damaged another corvette with their capital missiles, but the remaining twenty-two Alliance laser armed fighters swarmed over the Lothari cruisers. After their firing passes, all three Lothari heavy cruisers were reduced to one third of the former speed and leaking atmosphere and debris.
The fighters swept around for another firing pass, and the Lothari cruisers maneuvered desperately to try and keep them out of their blind spots, but at their reduced speed they were unsuccessful and the twenty-two remaining fighters settled in directly behind the cruisers and began peppering them with laser fire. This firing pass left all three cruisers drifting hulks. The two Lothari corvettes, which had not fired during the battle and had thus been ignored by the Alliance fighters, both self-destructed. Very few life pods were ejected from any of the Lothari ships.
The Alliance force lost one corvette and had two more damaged. In addition, it lost ten fighters. Unfortunately, in total the corvette group lost sixteen bays, meaning that six fighters had to be abandoned for lack of bays. The two damaged corvettes were detached to head home for repairs, while the remaining fifteen corvettes closed on the colony, which remained silent. The corvette force commander broadcast surrender demands to the Lothari ground force commanders, and queries to the Alliance authorities on the ground, but there was no response to any of the messages. Alliance ground troops would arrive in seven days.
Two days later the 4th Fleet arrived in the inner system and settled into orbit over the planet. Cho-sho Watanabe’s staff took over responsibility for trying to contact someone on the ground, but they had no more success than the scout force commander.
Month 215, Day 13, Alliance Dether system
The remainder of the Alliance 7th Fleet arrives at the warp point to the Lothari controlled Thoen system at mid-day. The fleet is reduced in strength after the Lothari defeat of the leading group of 7th Fleet ships last month. Once there they begin transiting through to the Thoen system, where they meet up with the lead ship of the three corvettes left to watch the system. The corvettes confirm that the Lothari don’t seem to have reinforced their squadron in-system, so the commander of the Fleet, Sho-sa Flox, orders the fleet to head in-system to confront the Lothari.
Month 215, Day 15, Contested Thoen system
The Alliance fleet was still three days from the inner system when a Lothari survey ship detected them headed inwards. The survey ship immediately reported the contact sighting, then began shadowing the Alliance force.
Swordsman of Worlds Schmidt, commander of the 2nd Assault Group, had just received orders to withdraw from Fleet HQ. They contradicted his standing orders, and normally he might have questioned the orders, but his reinforcements were still ten days away and his force consisted of a mere three battlecruisers and two heavy cruisers. Therefore, he decided to follow the orders he had just received and ordered his Assault Group to leave the system at full military speed, in the hopes of losing any Alliance pickets and avoiding detection by the main Alliance fleet. In this he succeeded. The Alliance scout assigned to watch the inner system completely failed to react in time, and by the time the scout’s commander had checked in with the main fleet it was too late, the Lothari warships were gone.
Month 215, Day 18, Alliance System of Liawak
A transport fleet carrying Alliance troops arrives in the inner system over the colonies. Before the landings can begin, a message is received from the outer colony. The video shows a Lothari dressed in black armor, who simply says that if any Alliance troops land on the surface of either colony, the results for the colonists on those worlds will be dire, and completely the responsibility of the Alliance. Cho-sho Watanabe warns the ground force commander of Hartmann’s last message, but the commander’s orders are clear. The colonies must be retaken. Besides, if the Lothari are insane enough to threaten the colonists, leaving the civilians under Lothari control will be worse for everyone, which is true enough.
Within an hour, Alliance transports begin settling into the atmosphere of both planets. Shortly after the transports began their descent, anti-matter explosions blossomed across both planets. The devastation was horrifying, and commanders of both the 4th Fleet and the invasion group were shocked by the destruction. The landings went ahead, although all of the transports were routed to remote areas unlikely to be mined.
It soon became clear that not only had the Lothari killed many civilians, they had also blown up most of their own troops up as well. What little resistance was encountered was mostly from scout groups that had been in the rural areas outside of the cities, and these units were mopped up with ruthless efficiency. None surrendered, and even if they had it wouldn’t have been accepted. In several cases frontline Alliance troops, mostly T’Pau and Rehorish, executed Lothari wounded rather than taking them prisoner.
It would take months to complete the survey of the destruction on both planets, but it was clear from the first that the death toll was enormous on both planets. Each of the planets boasted a population of around ten point five million prior to the invasion. By the time recovery efforts were completed, it was determined that each had lost around half of their population, for a combined death toll of almost ten million people. Cho-sho Banzan immediately sent out reports to the Alliance Council and Fleet HQ via the ICN, and these reports would rock the entire Alliance.
With the reports on the way, Cho-sho Banzan detached three heavy cruisers, three escort carriers, and two corvette-carriers to watch over the inner system, and set out with his fleet for the warp point to the Herzberg system, beyond which was the Lothari home system.
Month 215, Day 25, Alliance Chruqua Nexus
The Alliance 2nd Fleet arrives in the Chruqua Nexus from the T’Pau home system, and immediately sets its course for the Liawak system. The original plan had been to split up the fleet, with half going to the Doraz home world to support the offensive against the Aurarii, and the other half headed to Liawak to support the offensive against the Lothari. The near destruction of the colonies in Liawak, though, has changed everything. The 2nd Fleet will head to Liawak directly, without deviation. The 2nd is the former D’Bringi Home Fleet, and it is hungry to prove itself and to avenge the colonists of Liawak. The Fleet is now commanded by Tai-sho Skull Splitter, who now wears three hats. He is the D’Bringi Member of the Alliance Council, the Provisional Leader of the Interim D’Bringi Government, and now the commander of the 2nd Fleet. The Council felt it important that a D’Bringi lead the 2nd Fleet into battle, and Skull Splitter is trusted by both the Alliance and the D’Bringi.
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Month 215, Day 18, Doraz Whever System
The Alliance 3rd Fleet reached the warp point to the Sheund system early in the day and began transiting through almost immediately. Once on the far side, the fleet’s scouts picked up a drive field contact twenty-four light minutes away, moving towards the warp point to the planet-less system that stood in between Sheund and the Aurarii home system. The contact was moving very slowly. Cho-sho Banzan ordered his scouts to move out ahead of the main fleet and pursue the contact, while the fleet came up behind them.
The chase was a short one, and twenty-four hours later the Alliance’s twenty-one scout corvettes came up behind three damaged and limping Aurarii light monitors, which had been detached from their attack fleet after suffering damage during the assault into the Doraz home system. The corvette group commander called for the monitors to surrender, but they refused, continuing slowly on their way back home. Instead of launching an immediate attack, the scout group commander settled for shadowing the monitors while the main fleet came up behind them. One day later the main fleet was in position, fifteen light seconds behind the monitors, and Cho-sho Banzan himself called upon the Aurarii ships to surrender, after launching a fighter strike wave of over three hundred and sixty fighters.
The Aurarii commander refused to surrender, and instead the monitors continued their stately retreat, so Cho-sho Banzan ordered the fighters to pursue the huge Aurarii ships. The Alliance fighters raced into short range and then right up to the behemoths, who turned at the last second to clear their blind spots, but the fighters, ready for the ponderous monitor’s turn, moved back into their blind spots before the monitors could react. Once the fighters were in perfect firing position, Cho-sho Banzan again called for the monitors to surrender, and this time the ship’s commander, Captain Molari, agreed to surrender his ship upon the Alliance’s guarantee of good treatment for his crews.
Month 215, Day 18, Aurarii Prime
Word of the defeat of the attack force in the Doraz Home System arrived today, and it rocked the Imperial Court and Naval HQ. The Court immediately attacks the legitimacy of the admirals running the fleet, blaming the loss on the incompetency of the fleet’s leaders, while the Navy, embarrassed by its loss of prestige and their aura of invincibility, hunkers down and circles its wagons. The Emperor retreats to his chambers, removing himself from the fray. Perhaps fearing to be associated with the loss or with either of the political combatants.
Two days later CD’s bearing news of the capture of the retreating monitors arrives, and this is the last straw. Even as the leading courtiers meet with the Emperor to discuss purging the Admiralty and installing new leaders, marines from Fleet HQ march into the palace, disarm the Imperial Guard, and arrest the entire Court. By the end of the day, a junta of admirals is installed, who announce that they are ruling in the Emperor’s name after freeing him from anti-imperial forces in the former court. The junta announces that all efforts will be turned towards defending the home system, and that no Alliance ships will ever enter the system.
Month 215, Day 28, Doraz Sheund System
The Alliance 3rd Fleet, accompanied by the Torqual Expeditionary Fleet, arrive at the warp point to the Revolver system. The Revolver system is a planet-less white dwarf system ceded to the Aurarii by the Doraz in a treaty negotiated by the Alliance, giving the Aurarii an outlet for growth. The system was known to have two warp links, both of which led to starless areas of space. One of those two regions also contained a second unexplored warp point, which was what interested the Aurarii. Now, though, the revolver system was only interesting in that it was on the direct route to the Aurarii home system.
The ships of the 3rd Fleet began transiting through immediately after arriving, a maneuver made possible by the presence of their scout units on the far side of the warp point. After assembling, the fleet set out for the warp point to the Aurarii system.
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Month 216, Day 8, Doraz Revolver system
The Alliance 3rd Fleet, supported by the Torqual Expeditionary Fleet and several Doraz ships, arrives at the warp point to the Aurarii home system. They find a single Aurarii light cruiser on the warp point, continuously broadcasting a request for negotiations. Specifically, the Aurarii want to negotiate with an Alliance representative, which is consistent with their past behavior. Their first contact with the Doraz didn’t go well, and they were only able to effectively negotiate with the Alliance, once it stepped in to mediate the negotiations. At the time, the Doraz claimed that the Aurarii were arrogant while the Aurarii claimed that the Doraz were prejudiced towards them. The Alliance negotiators took no position on the matter, preferring to focus on moving the negotiations forward.
In any case, Cho Sho Banzan is not inclined to cater to Aurarii sensibilities at this point, after their unprovoked invasion, so Banzan defers to Warleader Grogan, the Doraz commander of the small group of Doraz ships accompanying the Alliance fleet.
In the aftermath of the battle that stopped the Aurarii at the warp point in the Doraz Home System, Warleader Grogan was left seriously injured and drifting in a life pod. He was rescued by Aurarii search ships, and because of his serious injuries he was returned to Doraz Prime, where he was hurriedly treated and returned to service to command the forces that remained over Doraz Prime. Now, he was in command of nine old corvettes pulled from the mothball reserves. They were from the original, pre-D'Bringi conquest design, intended as scouts and thus weaponless. They were the only ships the Doraz had available, though, and Doraz ships had to accompany the Alliance fleet as they advanced through Doraz territory. To do otherwise was unthinkable. So, in spite of his lingering infirmities from his injuries, the negotiations fell to Warleader Grogan. Who, with the entire Alliance at his back, was not feeling inclined to be generous.
Month 216, Day 10, Doraz Revolver system
Warleader Grogan was a typical Doraz, an approximately one meter tall slug-like being with two eye stalks protruding from the top of his body, two tentacle-like arms, and a large mouth that stretched across the front of his body. Like most other Doraz, Warleader Grogan favored a floating carriage to get around, and like most military officer’s, his was equipped with weapons and defenses. It was, essentially, an armored combat suit made up to look like a fancy, old-time carriage. To the Aurarii in charge of the negotiations for their side, General Dromo of their Home Fleet, it looked like the arrogant little Doraz were trying to make up for their short stature. It never occurred to her that the Doraz viewed themselves as very reasonable people, and the Aurarii as arrogant elitists. The Aurarii provided a distinct contrast to the Doraz, as they were more-or-less human-like, with the exception that they had a fringe of hair their grew from the middle of their head, which stood up straight from their skulls in a fan. No one knew if this was natural, or some sort of display that the Aurarii fashioned for their hair, but it seemed that the higher the social standing of the Aurarii, the larger the fringe of hair was.
The two national representatives were sitting across from each other at a conference table on board an Alliance battlecruiser, and Cho-sho Banzan, the Rehorish CO of the 3rd Fleet, was sitting to one side, trying to moderate the meeting. As a Rehorish, Banzan was easily the most different of the three, with his antennae and exoskeleton. Somehow, though, the Rehorish had always gotten along with the Aurarii, or at least better than the Doraz had.
The negotiations had been going on for several hours at this point, with the Aurarii representative trying to talk to the Rehorish admiral, ignoring the little Doraz, which infuriated Warleader Grogan to the point that he sealed his floating suit and was now communicating solely by text. The talks would have broken down completely if it wasn’t for the Alliance mediator, but then, that was exactly what had happened during the first contact process as well.
Cho-sho Banzan looked at the two representatives, who were glaring at each other across the table. They were, without a doubt, the two most arrogant people he had ever dealt with. Even so, he was not here as an impartial negotiator, and it was time he reminded them of that.
“Enough!” Banzan raised his voice to the point that it stopped the other two’s bickering. He turned to the Aurarii representative. “This is not a negotiation!” He pointed at the Aurarii, stabbing his claws out towards the General. “Lest you forget, your fleet is defeated, and the next step is that we will invade your home system, destroy your remaining defenses and ships, and then we will invade your world.” The Aurarii looked taken aback at the outburst from the normally taciturn Rehorish, and Banzan took the opportunity to take his rhetoric down a notch, now that he had made his point. “We do not want to do this, but we will if you force us. We don’t want to lose one more life prosecuting this stupid war that you started, but if we do it will be you and your people that will pay for it. You started this war!”
The Aurarii representative made to answer, but before she could Banzan continued. “You invaded Doraz systems and killed their citizens. We will not allow you to go back to the status quo, as you insist is the only possible outcome to this negotiation. The entire Alliance is united on this matter. You face not just the Doraz here, but the D’Bringi, Rehorish, T’Pau, and Torqual races, and you cannot win. You cannot stop us, and we will not stop until justice is done!”
The Aurarii representative sat back, staring at the two Alliance representatives, perhaps realizing for the first time the resolve of the Alliance in dealing with the problem the Aurarii had created. She sat silently for a minute, gathering her thoughts. The balance of power back home was fragile. In theory, the military held all of the cards, but their ability to continue on in control of the government was predicated on successfully resolving the current situation, either by driving back the Alliance, or negotiating a favorable settlement. Driving the Alliance back was not going to happen, given the weakened state of the fleet and the need to continue garrisoning the Norn home world. They perhaps had enough ships to defend the system, but the Alliance was huge and would eventually overwhelm them if they were determined enough. The Military Council had already determined that the war was essentially lost, and had ordered her to get the best terms she could. Finally, she spoke. “For the sake of argument, what terms for ending the conflict are you offering?”
Cho-sho Banzan looked at Warleader Grogan, and after a second his shell unlatched and opened. Grogan leaned forward. “We demand reparations for the damages inflicted on the Doraz People and their Fleet. In addition, we demand that the Aurarii transfer examples of all advanced technology they possess to Doraz control. Further, we require that the Aurarii fleet be limited to the inner areas of their component of the Aurarii binary system, and that Doraz or Alliance ships be allowed to picket the warp point and patrol the other star and its planets, to ensure the future peaceful conduct of the Aurarii people. Finally, we require the Aurarii occupation of their neighboring race to end, and that the Doraz Contingency be allowed to establish contact with and peaceful relations with that neighboring race.
The Aurarii general looked stunned, and before she could speak Cho-sho Banzan jumped in. “The Alliance further requires that the Aurarii join the Alliance as associate members, and that they allow their neighboring race, currently under Aurarii occupation, to join as associate members as well. As the Alliance ensures the territorial integrity of all members, the Aurarii will have not have to fear reprisals from any of their neighbors.” With that, Cho-sho Banzan threw a look at the Doraz representative, who managed to ignore the look completely.
The Aurarii representative sat silently for a minute, then stood. “I will have to return and discuss this with the Council. May we reconvene in, say, twelve days?”
Cho-sho Banzan, who had been standing all along, as Rehorish were not built for sitting, dipped his antennae. “That will be acceptable.”
The Aurarii left, headed for the docking bay and her shuttle. Warleader Grogan looked at the Alliance admiral. “Will they agree, do you think?”
Banzan shook his antennae in negation. “Not at first. They will try to hold out for better terms.”
Warleader Grogan sat his carriage in motion. “We cannot allow them to delay too long. With the majority of your ships being sent to the Lothari front, we will not gain in strength, but they will if we give them time to replace their losses.”
“I know, but if we press them too hard, they will just walk away, and we will be left with no other recourse than to assault their system.”
“If we must, then it would be better to do it while they are weak.”
Month 216, Day 22, Alliance controlled Revolver system
The second meeting between the Doraz, Aurarii and Alliance representatives lasted less than an hour and broke up in acrimony. The Aurarii had agreed to discuss reparations, but had flatly refused to give the Alliance access to their system or to retreat from their occupation of the Norn home world. For the Alliance and the Doraz, those were the bare minimum to even consider ending the war, and after that the talks had gone nowhere. The Aurarii representative hadn’t exactly stormed out of the room, but she was clearly aggravated and unhappy. However, she had agreed to meet one more time, in ten days. The Alliance representatives had warned that this would be the last meeting before the war would be resumed.
Month 216, Day 26, Aurarii Prime, Capital City
Emperor Vir was looking forward to yet another boring day spent in seclusion in his palace. When the fleet had taken over and ousted or imprisoned the Imperial Court, he had hoped for a brief second that this might be a new beginning for himself and his people. The Imperial Court had treated him as a figurehead, a bauble to be displayed when needed and ignored for the rest of the time, while they played their incessant dominance games. His hopes for change had been dashed when the admirals had made it clear that he was now their puppet, instead of the Court’s. And, unlike the former Imperial Court, the admirals didn’t even make a pretense of Vir being the true leader of the Republic. They had made it pretty clear that at some point in the future, when he was no longer useful, he would be retired to a remote estate and forgotten. Vir was pretty sure that ‘retired’ was a euphemism for dead, but there was little he could do about it. The palace guard had been replaced by marines loyal to the junta, and he was being held incommunicado, so even if there was someone who would help, he had no way of contacting them.
So, here he was, preparing for another meaningless day in his opulent palace. He was sure that today would be the same as yesterday, which was the same as the day before that, and before that. And so, it was a surprise when the doors to his personal chamber opened and a small group of people entered, led by two armed and armored Vigiles who moved to the far side of the room and assumed guard positions. As the doors closed, he could see two additional Vigiles who were standing guard outside the room. He turned to the small group of people who had entered the room with the Vigiles, and his eyebrow went up when he recognized one of them as the Lady Senator Celes. He was pretty sure that the other two were Senators as well. And the Vigiles, or the civic guard, were notoriously apolitical and thus uninvolved in the affairs of the palace.
The Lady Celes stepped forward and curtseyed. “Your Imperial Highness, I, and my fellow Senators, represent the Senate in this matter. We are here to ask you if you will support us in our efforts to free ourselves of the military junta that has seized control. Will you support us, or do you support them?”
Emperor Vir’s mouth had fallen open, so surprised was he. He had generally regarded the Republic’s Senate as a useless assemblage of privileged sons and daughters of the great families, who spent more time bickering about precedence and order than any actual issues affecting the Republic. For them to take action, especially like this, was unprecedented. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
Lady Senator Celes frowned and took a step forward. “It is simple, really. Do you support them or us? If it is the admirals, then we will leave you to your splendid isolation. If it is us, then you can come with us and we can forge a new future for our people!”
Emperor Vir stared at Lady Celes in shock. Was she actually so deluded that she thought the Senate had any power or authority? He shook himself. “Uh, forgive me, my Lady, but the thought of…well…the Senate…” He trailed off, unsure of how to finish his statement without offending her.
Lady Senator Celes arched her finely trimmed eyebrow. “’That gaggle of fools’, I think you called us at the last Winter Celebration?”
Emperor Vir cleared his throat. “Excuse me, my Lady. Certainly, that was indelicate of me.” By now he had somewhat recovered his wits. “But you must understand that the Senate is not known for sense, or action, for that matter.”
She shook her head impatiently. “No, of course it isn’t. But that has been changing for some time. The preoccupation of the Imperial Court on their little dominance games, rather than on ruling the Republic, meant someone had to step up and begin making sure that things got done.”
Emperor Vir’s eyes widened. “And that was you?”
“And some others in the Senate. We saw that things must change, so slowly, bit by bit, we’ve been putting together a movement to regain the prestige and power that the Senate once had. It is almost too late. We must move, and we must move now.”
“Why?”
“The military have kept it a secret, but they are losing the war that the Imperial Court started. The fleet we sent against the Doraz has been defeated, and an Alliance fleet sits at the warp point into our system. Our source inside Fleet HQ finally was able to gain access to the secret meetings the admirals are holding, and they are deadlocked on the way forward. None of them believe we can defeat the Alliance, but they cannot agree to the Alliance’s terms for ended the war without appearing weak. They can’t come to a decision, and their dithering will convince the Alliance that we cannot be negotiated with, and prompt an attack on our system.”
Emperor Vir paled and sagged back into his chair. “This is horrible! But what can be done? I have no power, no followers.”
Lady Celes’ eyes narrowed. “You misunderstand. We are not coming to you to ask that you save us. We will do that ourselves, for our people. We will do it with or without you, and we will succeed. What we would like from you is your open support. For some reason the people and the rank and file of the military still hold the Imperial family in high regard. Having you on our side will ensure that our inevitable victory will be relatively bloodless. One way or another the Navy’s control of the government ends today, but with your help we hope to convince many of their marines and crews not to fight us.”
Emperor Vir frowned. “So, you want me as a figurehead, just like the others.”
It was Lady Celes’ turn to frown. “We do not intend to return the Imperial family to power, if that is what you mean. Our government is corrupt. We need to return the power to the people, where it belongs, and removing the navy is only the first step. Once they are out of the way and we end the war, I, and my supporters in the Senate, intend to reinstate free elections for the Senate, and I will propose reforms that will drastically limit the Emperor’s power.”
The Emperor thought for a second. “You would return the Republic to its earlier days, would you?”
Lady Celes nodded. “Yes.”
One of the Vigiles, who had until now been standing silent at the back of the room, took a step forward and cleared his throat. “Majesty, the Vigiles and the Army are behind you. If you order it, most of us will follow the Senate and oppose the Navy.”
Emperor Vir peered at the Vigiles officer intently. “I’ve met you, haven’t I?”
The officer flushed. “Yes, majesty, at my investiture as the commander of the Planetary Vigiles.”
For the first time Emperor Vir began to think that Lady Celes might not be completely bonkers. It was interesting, Emperor Vir thought. The Vigiles fell beneath the notice of most in the palace, as they primarily dealt with commoners and their problems. It was not a high-status job, even the upper leadership, and so most of the aristocracy ignored them for positions in the navy or army, or the court. The Vigiles were the national police of the Aurarii Republic, and with the bulk of the Army concentrated on the Norn home world in occupation duties, they held the balance of power on the home planet. The Navy’s marines were very well equipped and trained, but were a relatively small organization and more used to small unit engagements than large-scale fighting. Vir would have been surprised to find there were more than a thousand on the home planet in total, compared to the several million Vigiles stationed across the home planet. “It seems you have been planning this for some time, my lady. Very well, I will support you in any way that I can.”
With that, Lady Celes swept into action and the Vigiles moved to escort them out of the palace. The marine guard unit that was supposed to be there was nowhere in sight.
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Month 216, Day 2, Alliance Thoen System
With the 7th Fleet firmly in control of the system, Alliance transports were cleared to enter and now have reached the inner system. Sho-sa Folx, the commanding officer of the 7th, has ordered continuous attempts be made to contact the Lothari occupation forces on the surfaces of the three colonies, but so far, all communications attempts have been ignored. In light of the self-destruction of the Lothari occupation forces on the colonies in the Liawak system, the landing forces are cautious and move slowly. The first landings are far away from the population centers of the colonies, made to establish a secure operating base before offensive actions begin.
Within days battle is joined with the Lothari, who have a technology advantage over the Alliance troops. The Alliance invasion forces have a significant numerical superiority, enough to offset the tech advantage of the Lothari troops, but the Lothari fight for every inch of the planet once the Alliance troops begin advancing. The Lothari are well trained and well equipped, and they act as if they don’t know that they are surrounded and there is only one possible outcome.
Month 216, Day 3, Alliance controlled Herzberg System
The Alliance 4th Fleet, led by Cho-sho Watanabe, reaches the warp point that leads to the Lothari home system late in the day. During their approach they detected several drive fields on the warp point, but the Lothari scouts jumped back to their home system before the fleet arrived.
Wary of surprise attacks by Lothari missile pods, or their gunboats, which Alliance scientists and engineers believe can make independent transits, Cho-sho Watanabe orders his fleet to remain one light minute from the warp point, while the fleet’s scouts and CVE’s are positioned closer to the warp point, so that they can deploy their fighters to cover the warp point at close range. For now, Watanabe will settle for bottling the Lothari up in their system, at least until the heavy reinforcements that are en route arrive.
Month 216, Day 18, Lothari Home System
The returning 2nd Assault Group arrives over Lothari Prime on this date. The six battle cruisers, five heavy cruisers, and four light carriers barely arrive in orbit when Swordsman of Worlds Schmidt is relieved of command and arrested by InSec for abandoning his post in the face of the enemy. The Supreme Leader is livid, and has been ranting about the weakness of the military at every meeting since the 2nd entered the home system. Even the knowledge that Schmidt withdrew after receiving valid orders from Fleet HQ won’t save him from a bullet to the head, it merely has resulted in a purge of the upper officer corps of Fleet HQ.
Somewhat reassured by the death of Schmidt and the purge of Fleet Command, the Supreme Leader announces that the fleet has been recalled to the home system to “provide for the maximum defense, should the cowardly Alliance decide to launch terror attacks into the home system”. In the meantime, he states that the valiant Lothari Army will defend the territory seized by the navy’s initial advances.
The Supreme Leader orders the 2nd Assault Group to join the home fleet at the warp point to the Herzberg system, and to prepare for an attack on the assembled Alliance forces.
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Month 216, Day 26, Alliance Thoen system
The fifty-one ships of the Alliance 6th Fleet arrive in the Thoen system and remain on the warp point to guard against further incursions from the Lothari. With the 7th Fleet in the inner system, and the 6th Fleet at the warp point, there are eighty-three Alliance warships in the system.
The fighting on the surface of the three colonies continues, with the Lothari only grudgingly giving ground. Both sides are suffering heavy losses, but the Alliance can replace their losses and the Lothari cannot, meaning there is only one possible end to the battle. Still, the Lothari act as if they cannot see that inevitability and continue the battle.
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Month 217, Day 3, Alliance Herzberg system
The 4th Fleet was assembled at the warp point to the Lothari home system in defensive positions. The fleet itself was located fifteen light seconds from the warp point, while fifteen fighter squadrons patrolled the warp point itself, rotating every several hours with squadrons in reserve on board the carriers.
Cho-sho Watanabe had had a difficult time during the voyage to the warp point, reconciling his feelings about the disaster on the Liawak colonies. The barbarous Lothari had killed tens of millions of Alliance citizens, merely because they didn’t want to give up what they had stolen.
The worst, at least for Watanabe, was what they had done to the survivors of the warships of the Liawak patrol group. During the clearing and rescue operations on the innermost colony, Watanabe’s marines had discovered a compound abandoned by retreating Lothari ground forces. The compound had housed the Alliance military personnel the Lothari had captured during their conquest of the system. There had been several hundred Alliance military people at the compound at one time, but by the time his marines had gotten to the camp there were only twelve left alive. The others had either been starved or tortured to death, including Sho-i Watanabe, his only daughter. According to the survivors, Sho-i Watanabe had been brave to the end, trying to defend her people from what was increasingly clear to all of them was certain doom. She was one of the first to disappear into the Lothari interrogation rooms, and she never came out. Like so many other officers and crewers. What the Lothari had done there was unforgivable, just as was what they had done to the colonies when it became clear that they couldn’t win.
Now, with his fleet stationed at the warp point, Cho-sho Watanabe forced himself to put away his feelings for his daughter and prepare his ships for what was to come. Heavy reinforcements were en route, with the Alliance 2nd Fleet due to arrive in twenty-four days. Once the 2nd arrived, with Tai-sho Skull Splitter in command, planning for the assault into the Lothari system could begin. Until then, he was to hold here and defend the exit from the Lothari system.
Cho-sho Watanabe’s 4th Fleet was composed of thirteen battlecruisers, seven heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, and nine destroyers, along with three carriers, two light carriers, a strike carrier, nine escort carriers, and thirteen corvette-scout-carriers. Watanabe would put his fleet’s crews up against any in the Alliance fleet. In particular, some of his cruisers had the most experienced crews in the fleet. Unfortunately, around two thirds of his ships were older designs, and hadn’t been upgraded to the latest designs before the current difficulties. He was very concerned about this, given the fact that the Lothari had already shown that they possessed superior technology. There was nothing he could do about it at this point, but it was something that he must keep in the forefront of his mind as he planned the defense of the warp point, should the Lothari attack.
Month 217, Day 3, Lothari Home System
Swordsman of Stars Weber looked around his bridge. Everything was prepared, there was nothing left to do but give the order. “Gunboat wave, begin transit!”
In front of his battlecruiser, gunboats began streaming through the warp point to the Hertzberg system.
Month 217, Day 3, Alliance controlled Hertzberg system
The warp point suddenly erupted in a stream of gunboats issuing forth from the central vortex. A new gunboat entered the system every third of a second or so, and by the time the stream of gunboats stopped there were over a hundred of the brutal combat craft in the Herzberg system. The fifteen squadrons of Alliance fighters patrolling the warp point immediately reacted, splitting into two groups to attack the gunboats, which had also split. Half of the gunboats had advanced a light second and a quarter from the warp point, while the other half remained on the warp point. Two furballs ensued, with the small craft tearing at each other. The Alliance fighters had the advantage, being both nimbler and, unlike the gunboats, they weren’t recovering from jump shock.
The two groups broke apart quickly, and the remaining Lothari gunboats retreated through the warp point as quickly as they came. The Lothari left behind seventy-two of their gunboats in exchange for thirty-four Alliance fighters destroyed in the brief combat.
The Alliance 4th Fleet, stationed fifteen light seconds away, has begun rushing to alert status even as the Lothari disappeared back through the warp point.
The remaining Lothari gunboats appeared in the Lothari home system and confirmed the status of the Alliance defenses, after which the assembled Lothari fleet began moving towards the warp point in assault order.
Thirty seconds after the last gunboat jumped out, Lothari battlecruisers began streaming through the warp point and into the Herzberg system. The big Lothari ships each turned after entering the system, creating a hedgehog formation on the warp point that prevented the remaining fifty-six Alliance fighters from getting into the blind spots of the entire group. The Alliance fighters raced to attack, trying to damage the Lothari ships as the main Alliance fleet tried to get to combat status. Even as the Alliance fighters raced towards the warp point, the six battlecruisers launched a total of thirty gunboats, which formed up into a group and raced away from the warp point. The Alliance fighters were faced with a choice, engage the ships on the warp point, or chase the gunboats. With the big battlecruisers right in front of them, still staggering from the transit effects, the choice was easy. The fighters raced in towards the battlecruisers, ignoring the fleeing gunboats.
The fighters were each equipped with one laser, one gun, and one close attack missile, to give them the broadest capability given the unknown type of threat they faced while patrolling the warp point. They now launched their anti-matter tipped close attack missiles at the wallowing battlecruisers, and stabbed into their armor with their lasers, while the battlecruisers fired back with their point defense and beam weapons. Each fighter squadron had enough firepower to scrub the passive defenses off of a battlecruiser, and they proceeded to do just that. Once their passives were scrubbed away, the follow-on fighter squadrons stabbed deeply within the big ships, leaving three heavily damaged, while the other three were without passive defenses. Only two fighters were destroyed as a result of the battlecruiser’s wildly inaccurate point defense and laser fire.
Lothari heavy cruisers began entering the system, and the Alliance fighters turned away from the warp point and began pursuing the Lothari gunboats, now that they had exhausted their close attack missiles. The cruisers entering the system launched another twenty-one gunboats, which all remained on the warp point, huddled around the ships remaining on the warp point. The three heavily damaged battlecruisers turned to retreat through the warp point, but wouldn’t be able to leave until they completed their turn.
The Alliance fighter patrol force outnumbered the Lothari gunboat force that it was pursuing, and was faster, but wasn’t able to catch up to the gunboats immediately. Instead of fleeing, though, the gunboats turned to engage the fighters, and launched anti-fighter missiles at one light second, just beyond the pursuing fighter’s engagement range. Sixteen fighters were hit by the missiles, reducing the Alliance combat patrol to thirty-eight fighters. Even as the fighting raged around the warp point, the main Alliance fleet, now at action stations, begin advancing towards the warp point, with a wave of just over three hundred and sixty fighters advancing ahead of it.
Three Lothari battlecruisers and three heavy cruisers entered the system and immediately launched twenty-seven gunboats, while the six heavy cruisers that entered before, now recovered from their jump shock, moved away from the warp point towards the Alliance patrol fighter group. The Lothari gunboat group that had launched its anti-fighter missiles now closed on the Alliance patrol fighter group, which obligingly closed on the gunboats. Meanwhile, the Alliance fleet and its associated fighters continued its run towards the warp point. The three most heavily damaged Lothari battlecruisers slipped out of the system and back to their home system.
The Lothari heavy cruisers closing on the Alliance fighter patrol group was the first to fire, with a trio of heavy cruisers launching forty-two anti-fighter missiles at the Alliance fighters from one and a half light seconds, taking out seventeen fighters in seconds. Before the other three heavy cruisers could fire, the gunboats and fighters began a desperate battle. In spite of being faster and more maneuverable, the fighters were now outnumbered and the result was inevitable. The Alliance fighter force was reduced to four fighters, while the Lothari gunboat group was reduced to thirteen gunboats. Seconds later the second trio of Lothari cruisers fired more AFM’s, taking out the last four Alliance fighters.
In the aftermath of the destruction of the Alliance fighter patrol group, the remaining Lothari gunboats and the six heavy cruisers that had left the warp point to engage the fighters all returned and joined the fleet there, which was bolstered by an additional six battlecruisers that had just entered. The Lothari force now numbered twelve battlecruisers, three of which had armor and shield damage, and nine heavy cruisers, along with sixty-five gunboats. Even as the Lothari force consolidated on the warp point, the Alliance fleet continued to close, and was now at ten-point-five light seconds, while its fighters were at nine-point-five light seconds. The Alliance 4th Fleet was composed of thirteen battlecruisers, seven heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, and nine destroyers. The Fleet’s carriers had remained behind at their assembly point, well out of the battle, and the Alliance fighter force was composed of three hundred and sixty-three fighters, approximately a third of which were older F0’s.
Three additional Lothari battlecruisers entered, accompanied by three heavy cruisers. The newly arrived heavy cruisers launched fourteen gunboats to join the growing swarm. The closing Alliance fleet had now entered SBM range, and the fleet’s three long-range battlecruisers began launching anti-matter tipped SBM’s at a newly arrived Lothari CA, which was still suffering from transit effects. The Alliance battlecruisers launched a total of fifteen SBM’s at the targeted cruiser, and managed to punch two missiles through the cruiser’s defenses, stripping its passive defenses and damaging its forward engine room. In response, the three Lothari battlecruisers that had entered with the first wave launched their own salvo of twelve anti-matter tipped SBM’s back at one of the Alliance long-range battlecruisers, which immediately launched an EDM to distract the incoming missiles. None of the Lothari missiles managed to get past the Alliance ship’s defenses.
The Alliance fleet continued racing towards the warp point with its fighters out in front of the advancing fleet. Six Lothari light carriers entered the system in the next wave and immediately launched forty-two gunboats to join the gunboat swarm on the warp point. The Alliance long-range battlecruisers, now at seven-point-five light seconds from the warp point, shifted their targeting to the newly arrived carriers, while the Lothari long-range battlecruisers shifted their fire to an Alliance heavy cruiser. The Alliance battlecruisers only got one hit on the carrier in spite of its transit-addled condition, and didn’t penetrate its shields. The Lothari battlecruisers also managed to slip a missile past an Alliance heavy-cruiser’s defenses, damaging its shields.
The Lothari light carriers from the sixth wave turned and exited the system after launching one hundred and eight fighters, as another six light carriers entered the system and launched a total of forty-two gunboats. The Alliance fleet continued its advance, but now the Lothari fleet, less the three damaged long-range battlecruisers, moved towards them, closing to four-point-five light seconds. The Alliance long-range battlecruisers targeted a newly arrived light carrier, while the rest of the Alliance force targeted several of the advancing Lothari heavy cruisers.
The Alliance long-range battlecruisers switched to capital missiles now that they were within range, and punched six of the anti-matter capital missiles through the faltering light carrier’s defenses, heavily damaging its engine rooms and reducing it to half speed. The two main fleets tore at each other with spinal and capital force beams and anti-matter standard missiles, and it was the Alliance fleet that came out the worst. An advanced Alliance heavy cruiser lost its passive defenses and everything forward of its first engine room, while the targeted Lothari battlecruiser merely lost two-thirds of its shields.
The Lothari carriers from the 7th wave launched their fighters and exited the system, except for the one that had been hammered by Alliance missiles. That carrier had lost half of its engine rooms and was unable to complete its turn in time to jump out. The Lothari fleet now turned back towards the warp point, running ahead of the oncoming Alliance fleet, and the assembled Lothari small craft, now numbering two hundred and sixteen fighters and one hundred and sixty-three gunboats, moved out to join the Lothari fleet. The Alliance force continued advancing, and was now four light seconds from the Lothari fleet, but the Alliance fighter force slowed and came to a halt three light seconds from the Lothari fleet and small craft, just outside of the range of the Lothari anti-fighter missiles. The damaged Alliance heavy cruiser turned away from the battle and moved away, ending seven-point-five light seconds from the Lothari fleet.
At their current range, the Lothari HET lasers were now in range, and the damage to the Alliance fleet began to increase. The Alliance fleet focused its fire on the same Lothari battlecruiser as before, but once again had trouble punching through its heavy passive defenses. In exchange, two Alliance heavy cruisers were heavily damaged and forced to turn back.
The Lothari battlecruisers continued to run ahead of the Alliance fleet, maintaining the range as best it could, while its heavy cruisers fell back towards the Alliance fleet and fighters, modulating their engines to make themselves a harder target. The Lothari heavy cruisers targeted the Alliance fighter force with AFM’s, while the Lothari battlecruisers continued to target the Alliance heavy cruisers. The Alliance fleet targeted the Lothari gunboats with standard missiles, while they concentrated their beam fire on the same Lothari BC that had been targeted over the last minute. Now, though, the older Alliance battlecruisers were within range of their standard force beams, so they could begin contributing to the carnage. The Lothari small craft force attempted to maneuver into a range at which they could launch their AFM’s without facing return fire, but failed and ended up just three quarters of a light second from the Alliance fighter force, leaving them in optimum AFM range but facing return fire from the Alliance fighter’s lasers.
The damage was mounting on both sides. The Lothari gunboat force salvoed AFM’s at the Alliance fighters, which replied with their lasers. The Alliance fighters were also targeted by the Lothari cruiser force firing AFM’s as well. The Alliance fighters split their fire between the Lothari gunboats and their fighter force, damaging both. When the explosions cleared, the Lothari had thirty-eight gunboats and ninety-six fighters left, while the Alliance had ninety-four fighters left. The Alliance fleet now had four heavy cruisers damaged and falling behind the chase, while the Lothari had four battlecruisers and two heavy cruisers damaged and falling back towards the oncoming Alliance fleet. Three of the four damaged battlecruisers were the battlecruisers damaged earlier in the battle by the Alliance patrol fighter force, which had received more damage in the most recent exchange of fire.
The Lothari, by withdrawing in front of the advancing Alliance fleet, were ensuring that they stayed out of the short ranges where the Alliance ships were most effective, but were paying a price as their damaged ships were falling towards the oncoming Alliance fleet, while the damaged Alliance ships were falling away from the retreating Lothari ships.
The Alliance fleet was surrounded by a swirling ball of small craft. The Alliance fighters focused their attention on the Lothari fighters, while two datagroups of Alliance battlecruisers unloaded their entire broadsides of force beams, plasma guns, and point defense on the gunboat force. The Lothari gunboats and fighters ignored the Alliance fighters and focused their fire on several Alliance battlecruisers, while the Lothari cruiser group continued to pour anti-fighter missile fire into the Alliance fighters. Unfortunately for the Lothari cruisers, this placed them in effective range for most of the Alliance force’s weapons, and the Alliance ships pounded six of the heavy cruisers with heavy beam fire, damaging all six and crippling one of them. The main force of Lothari battlecruisers focused their fire on one of the Alliance’s long-range battlecruisers, but failed to punch through its armor. The Lothari long-range battlecruisers targeted one of the damaged Alliance heavy cruisers that was withdrawing, doing further damage, but this freed up the main Alliance force to use its point defense against the Lothari fighters that were attacking them.
The entire Lothari gunboat force was wiped out by the intense fire from the two battlecruiser groups, but not before they managed to fire most of their lasers into Alliance battlecruisers. Most of the Lothari fighters were destroyed while they were making their attack runs on the big Alliance ships, and almost all of the remaining twenty fighters were destroyed by intense point defense fire from the fleet, leaving just one fighter to pull away from its attack run. The Alliance fighter force was reduced to just twenty-six fighters by the storm of anti-fighter missiles, leaving it a shadow of its former self. The fire from the Lothari small craft was devastating, though. The Lothari small craft focused their fire on the six battlecruisers that were targeting them, and destroyed one and crippled the other five. They then went on to damage two heavy cruisers and destroy a third.
The Lothari Fleet took the opportunity provided by the damage their small craft inflicted on the Alliance fleet to turn and attack. The Lothari cruiser force rejoined the main fleet, with the five damaged cruisers lagging slightly behind. The Alliance fleet didn’t hesitate and rushed to meet the Lothari force, with their fighters racing ahead, gaining enough on the damaged Lothari cruisers to close on them and engage with their lasers.
The next exchange of fire took place at one light second, and it was devastating. The Alliance force was reduced to five battlecruisers, two of which were close-range combatants, a heavy cruiser, six light cruisers, and nine destroyers, against a more or less intact Lothari battlecruiser force of eleven battlecruisers supported by six intact heavy cruisers. The one real advantage that the Alliance retained was their data-link jammers, which forced the Lothari ships to attack individually.
Even as the Alliance fighters lined up to fire on the lagging Lothari cruisers, the damaged cruisers began firing AFM’s at their attackers. The fighters were too close for effective fire, but the cruisers were desperate to defend themselves. In return, the three Alliance destroyer groups targeted the damaged heavy cruisers for accurate sprint missile and plasma gun fire, and the sprint missiles were armed with anti-matter warheads. Even before the Alliance fighters fired, the destroyers killed three of the five damaged cruisers. Fifteen of the fighters were taken out by AFM and point defense fire from the damaged cruisers, but enough got laser shots off to overwhelmed the two remaining cruisers, destroying both. Three of the intact Lothari cruisers overwhelmed the remaining Alliance fighters with AFM’s, destroying all of them. The other three turned their fire on the main Alliance fleet, deluging several light cruisers with sprint-mode anti-matter fire, damaging both.
The Alliance force was now in serious trouble. Its two-remaining close-engagement battlecruisers had been crippled by heavy beam fire from the Lothari battlecruiser force, and four of the six Alliance light cruisers had been damaged.
The three Alliance long-range battlecruisers continued move away, opening the range, while the remaining Alliance ships closed with the enemy fleet, seemingly seeking destruction. The combat was at point blank range, and with both side’s small craft eliminated, the two fleet’s ships could focus all of their fury on the opposing ships. The Alliance fleet was devastated. By the time the fire died down, only two destroyers were left intact. Two battlecruisers, a heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, and seven destroyers were left barely capable of movement. The rest of the fleet was gone, blown away by the Lothari battlecruisers. The Lothari ships had proved to be incredibly tough, with heavy shields and armor. Still, they had paid for what they had done to the 4th Fleet. One battlecruiser and a heavy cruiser had been destroyed outright, and another battlecruiser and a heavy cruiser had suffered heavy damage.
The end was near. The remaining Alliance ships didn’t even try to surrender. They all knew what awaited them if the enemy captured them, and they were determined to go down fighting. In an act of final defiance, the Alliance ships that had weapons targeted the two damaged Lothari ships, destroying them as they tried to retreat through the warp point. The Lothari vengeance was swift, and the remaining ships of the Alliance 4th Fleet near the warp point were destroyed.
The Alliance 4th Fleet was reduced to four battlecruisers and a bunch of empty carriers. Ten damaged battlecruisers and heavy cruisers managed to retreat from the area around the warp point and were withdrawing back towards the warp point to Liawak. Fortunately, the Lothari force seemed reluctant to leave the immediate vicinity of the warp point, and seemed satisfied with the withdrawal of the remaining Alliance ships. Both fleets had lost their entire fighter and gunboat complements, and neither seemed interested in renewing the conflict at this point.
Sho-sa F’Nor, Skull Splitter’s son and commander of the long-range battlecruiser group that had been the sole survivor of the 4th Fleet’s battle against the Lothari, was amazed that the Lothari let them go. While the Lothari force didn’t seem to have any small craft left, they had plenty of battlecruisers, and while they couldn’t catch his battlecruisers without risking burnouts, they could easily run down the damaged ships that were slowly withdrawing from the area around the warp point. Instead, they seemed content to sit on the warp point and watch them withdraw.
For now, F’Nor was keeping his battlecruisers with the damaged ships, to give them some protection should the Lothari change their minds. Not that there was much his battlegroup could do to protect them if the Lothari changed their minds about pursuing them, but he would not abandon his fellow Alliance members to the Lothari without a fight. Even now an assault shuttle was bringing Cho-sho Watanabe aboard his command ship. The 4th Fleet’s commander had been seriously wounded when his battlecruiser, which was one of the heavily damaged ships in the group F’Nor’s squadron was escorting, had been hit by Lothari beams. He would receive better treatment aboard F’Nor’s undamaged battlecruiser than on his heavily damaged command ship, and F’Nor was determined to see that his commander survived.
With the Lothari Fleet, on the warp point…
On board his command battlecruiser, Swordsman of Stars Weber watched the remnants of the Alliance fleet retreat with mixed emotions. It went against the grain to let the remnants of the enemy force retreat without chasing them down and forcing them to surrender. However, he suspected that even if he did chase them down none of the Alliance ships would surrender. The ferocity of the battle had been stunning, and not one Alliance ship had surrendered, even when their ships were wrecked and they had no weapons left. There had been remarkably few life pods found in the battleground, and his staff estimated that less than 1% of the Alliance crews of their destroyed ships had tried to save themselves. That raised some ominous questions. The Alliance was seen as weak and indecisive by the Lothari Navy, and Weber himself had espoused those views on several occasions. But while his attack had been successful, and they had destroyed the Alliance fleet that had dared approach their home system, the Alliance ships had fought bravely and tenaciously. The fact that not one had surrendered was disturbing, and gave some credibility to the rumors about the treatment of the Alliance crews that had surrendered early in the conflict. Worse, it raised serious questions about the feasibility of the Great Leader’s plan. Weber’s desire to pursue the Alliance fleet had been immaterial, because he had firm orders to remain on the warp point once the Alliance fleet was defeated. The Great Leader had a plan, and pursuing the defeated enemy was not part of that plan.
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Month 217, Day 1, Alliance controlled Revolver system
An Aurarii CD arrived early in the day with a message for the Alliance representatives. The message stated that the Aurarii would not be able to make the agreed upon meeting in twenty-four hours, but explained that the Aurarii government had recently undergone a rather dramatic upheaval. The new leaders of the government pledged to meet with the Alliance representatives in no less than five days.
With little choice other than restarting the war, Warleader Grogan and Cho-sho Banzan agreed to the new meeting date.
Month 217, Day 5, Alliance controlled Revolver system
The new representatives for the Aurarii government introduced themselves as the Lady Senator Celes and, most astonishingly, the Emperor himself. This, more than anything else, convinced the Alliance representatives that the Aurarii were serious about wanting to end the conflict. And so it proved. In essence, the Aurarii agreed to every term the Alliance representatives had put forward. The Aurarii would pay reparations to the Doraz Contingency, and the Aurarii fleet would withdraw into their own inner system. Further, the Aurarii agreed to end their occupation of the Norn home world, once the Alliance pledged to station warships in the system to prevent the Norn from taking revenge on the Aurarii once the occupation ended. And, finally, the Aurarii agreed to join the Alliance as an associate member, and to support the Norn in joining as well. The Doraz dropped their demand for a technology transfer, but that was due to an Alliance promise to turn over one of the three monitors they had captured from the Aurarii.
The war here was over. The Alliance would be unable to shift ships from this front to the Lothari front for some time, but further reinforcements could now safely be sent to Liawak instead of to Doraz territory.
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Month 217, Day 13, Alliance Liawak system
The empty carriers from the 4th Fleet retreated into the system on this day. Even though there had been no sign of pursuit, it was a big relief for the crews of the carriers to once again be in Alliance space. Even better, when they jumped into the Liawak system they met the 2nd Fleet, which had just arrived. Tai-sa Skull-Splitter, the CO of the 2nd, decided to wait here for additional reinforcements before advancing on the Lothari home world again. The remaining intact ships of the 4th Fleet will be absorbed into the 2nd Fleet when they arrive.
The 4th Fleet’s carriers headed in-system, where they would await the arrival of Alliance support units, which were due to arrive in the system in a matter of days. The support unit included freighters full of crated fighters, along with repair ships capable of prepping the fighters for the empty carriers.
Month 217, Day 25, Disputed Herzberg System (in between Liawak and Lothari Home)
Four D’Bringi corvette-scout/carriers sat on the warp point in the Herzberg system that led to Liawak, watching for Lothari warships or any activity. The 2nd Fleet, which consisted of ten battlecruisers, seven carriers, six heavy cruisers, eighteen escort carriers, and five hundred and sixty-four fighters, waited on the far side of the warp point. So far, there had been no sign of Lothari activity, but that now changed as a drive field appeared on the corvette’s long-range sensors. After reporting back to the fleet, the picket commander ordered three of his corvettes to intercept the unknown contact. The unknown contact was moving at a cruising speed consistent with a corvette or smaller ship, or a commercial drive vessel. The trio of corvettes left promptly on an intercept course. Their ETA to the intercept point was thirty-six hours.
Just over ninety minutes later, the corvette carriers received a message from the unknown contact. It identified itself as a diplomatic mission from Lothari Prime, and requested a truce to discuss peace between the Alliance and the Kingdom of Lothar. The scout force commander relayed the message back to the main fleet, where Skull Splitter himself approved meeting with the Lothari.
Month 217, Day 27, Disputed Herzberg System
Alliance Councilor Skull-Splitter stood when the Lothari Ambassador was shown into the central crew bay of the pinnace they were using as a meeting place. Skull-Splitter had immediately turned down the Lothari suggestion that they meet on their ‘luxurious’ diplomatic ship, which appeared to be a small converted colony transport. The Lothari then suggested meeting on board Skull-Splitter’s flagship, but the Alliance Councilor turned that down as well. So, after some negotiating, they agreed to meet on an Alliance pinnace halfway between the Alliance fleet and the Lothari transport.
Skull-Splitter was immediately taken aback by the Lothari ambassador’s outlandish garb. Every Lothari encountered by the Alliance so far had been dressed in a head-to-toe environment suit, with helmet. The environment suits tended to be dark, sober colors denoting the Lothari’s status within their various military or governmental organizations. This Lothari’s environment suit was a garish collage of colors, some of which Skull-Splitter was pretty sure were slowly moving.
For his part, the Lothari ambassador saw a single D’Bringi officer waiting in the room as he entered. The D’Bringi was wearing only a harness and, interestingly, an exo-skeleton. The lack of clothing was most indecent, by Lothari standards, but the Ambassador was quite willing to ignore the ignorance of the alien’s for as long as necessary to gain what the State and the Supreme Leader needed. The Ambassador decided after a second that the D’Bringi probably needed the exo-skeleton due to the extensive, and obvious, damage to his body. Inside his helmet the Lothari sneered. Such a crippled specimen would not be coddled in the Kingdom. The resources used to keep this…person…alive would have been better spent on many other things. Still, needs must… “Ah, finally! We meet, face to face. I am Minister Rittentrop, the Minister for Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of Lothar.” The garishly dressed Lothari bowed to Skull Splitter and then waited for his response.
Skull Splitter inclined his head and gestured to the only other chair in the room, on the far side of the table. “Sit, please.”
The Lothari Ambassador sat in the offered chair. “And whom do I have the pleasure meeting today?”
The Lothari’s voice, coming from the translator chip on his chest, was obviously set to mimic a jovial D’Bringi voice, projecting good will and an openness to any D’Bringi that listened. It was having precisely the opposite effect on Skull Splitter, though Skull-Splitter declined to show his distrust at this point. “I am Skull Splitter, a Councilor of the Alliance, and the Provisional Leader of the D’Bringi State. In the military, my rank is equivalent to that of a Swordsman of Many Stars in your Fleet.”
The Lothari Ambassador immediately leapt to his feet and bowed, impressed despite his earlier feelings. Perhaps there was a reason these barbarians lavished so many resources on this…person. “Excellent, excellent. We have much to discuss if we are to end this…unpleasantness.” The Lothari representative leaned over the table. “I am so glad you agreed to meet with me and begin negotiations. This unfortunate war must end! And, by the grace of our Supreme Leader and his great wisdom, we now have the opportunity to end this conflict on reasonable terms.”
Skull Splitter leaned back in his seat, astonished in spite of himself. Given everything that had happened, the loss of life, the brutality of the Lothari military, did this Lothari actually think that all of that of that could be negotiated away?
The Lothari patiently waited while Skull Splitter digested his statement, then leaned forward again. “I think we have a unique opportunity to end this conflict here and now, on terms that give us both what we want. Peace. Enduring peace for all time.” The Lothari sat back, sure that he had gotten his point across.
Skull Splitter stared wonderingly at the Lothari, unsure of how anyone being could be so misguided, but then shook himself. It was time to get to work. “I am curious what terms you offer to end the war?”
Ambassador Ritttentrop nodded. “Very wise. Right to the point. Very well. Our glorious Supreme Leader has authorized me to give you generous terms for the end of this war. We propose a return to the original borders between our nations, with a one-time payment from the Alliance to the Lothari government of, shall we say, 50,000 megacredits. Most generous, wouldn’t you say?”
Skull Splitter’s amazement grew, if that was possible. The sheer gall and effrontery of this…person…was amazing. He ruthlessly controlled the anger that surged through him, and nodded understandingly. “Generous, surely. May I ask, why does your leader demand a payment for a war he began, and which is now being lost by your side?” Ambassador Rittentrop’s environment suit shifted colors in display that Skull Spitter was sure meant something, but, at least for now, it was lost on him.
The Ambassador leaned forward. “Surely you jest! We destroyed the fleet you sent against our home system, and control all of our original systems. Our Supreme Leader is most just and benevolent in his desire for peace, in spite of the provocations and injustices offered by the Alliance, but you must understand, there must be some recompense for the brave Lothari who lost their lives trying to civilize the barbaric Alliance colonies that turned to us for assistance.” Ambassador Rittentrop stopped for a second, and looked around the room. “Surely you, as a brave D’Bringi warrior, understand the difficulty we faced trying to civilize and rule the T’Pau we found here on this frontier, or the Rehorish insects we found in the Thoen system? As I understand it, you are one of the D’Bringi leaders that brought the Alliance into existence to help your race rule the other, lower, races? Surely then, you understand our desire to bring order to our borders, and the difficulty we faced in trying to do so?”
The Ambassador’s words finally cleared up Skull Splitter’s confusion. The Lothari apparently believed that he had been sent to negotiate as a member of “the superior race” of the Alliance, which revealed an interesting mindset on the part of the Lothari. This also explained the Ambassador’s apparent belief that the massive civilian death tolls on the planets invaded by their forces didn’t bother him and wouldn’t be an impediment to negotiations. The Lothari believed that the T’Pau and Rehorish were “lower” races, and thus not due the same consideration as the true leaders of the Alliance, or the Lothari State, for that matter. This was all very interesting, and gave Skull Splitter an opening he could exploit. “I understand you have security concerns, but surely you understand that you are not in a superior position at this point. I may be willing to discuss returning to the starting borders of our two states, but reparations must be paid to us, to recompense the D’Bringi empire for the losses you have caused on our mining and manufacturing planets!” The Lothari, having no idea of the tremendous amount of rage his race’s actions had created within the Alliance, took the D’Bringi at face value.
Their initial positions having been established, the two settled down to negotiating with a will. Both suspected that the other was playing for time, but there was a fundamental difference in their positions. Skull Splitter would not accept anything less than the destruction of the Lothari fleet and the unconditional surrender of the Lothari state, while Rittentrop desperately wanted a return to the status quo that existed before the war. In the meantime, both were playing for time.
Month 217, Day 30, Alliance Thoen system
The last Lothari ground troops holding out on the colonies in the Thoen system surrendered on this date, marking the end of the fighting in the Thoen system.
The loss of civilian lives was devastating, although not as dramatic as on the colonies in the Liawak system. All told, five million Alliance civilians lost their lives during the Lothari invasion in the Liawak and Thoen systems. Many of them lost their lives in the fighting, as the Lothari chose to fight in and around the major cities in the colonies, and refused to allow the civilian populations to evacuate. Worse, though, were the hundreds of thousands who died in concentration camps in what could only be described as a planned elimination of every colonist in a position of authority or responsibility.
The images and reports that come out of the Thoen system enrage the entire Alliance, especially coming so soon after the reports of the devastation of the primary colony in the Liawak system.
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Month 218, Day 30, Alliance Liawak System
Tai-sho Skull-Splitter looked at the plot of his fleet’s disposition with growing satisfaction. He now had the fifty-six ships of his 2nd Fleet sitting around the warp point, with six corvette-scouts arrayed around the far side of the warp point to keep a watch on the approaches to their defensive deployment. Even better, the six mobile shipyards and twenty repair ships of the Fleet Support Group were now in the inner system, busily replenishing his depleted carrier space wings, repairing damaged ships, and refitting older designs to the latest technology. In addition, he had assembled almost all of the Alliance’s SBM pods at this warp point, giving them a massive punch if needed.
There was serious pressure from the assorted Alliance governments to begin his advance on the Lothari home system to end the threat once and for all, but he was determined to avoid the mistakes of his predecessor. Not that they had really been mistakes. Clearing the apparently genocidal Lothari out of Alliance territory was not only necessary, but it was literally the mission that the fleet had been built for. However, advancing on the Lothari system, against a fleet with advanced technology, before he had been ready, had resulted in the defeat that had pushed them back to the Liawak system. Shull-Splitter would not repeat that. Instead, he would gather reinforcements, upgrade his ships, and wait until he was ready. If the Lothari attacked them in the meantime, either here or in the Thoen system, which was guarded by the 6th Fleet, then there would only be less ships to defend their home system.
In the meantime, the negotiations with the Lothari were continuing. Although he had initially been concerned about stringing the Lothari ambassador along, his opposite seemed perfectly happy to let the negotiations drag on interminably. It had become more and more apparent to him that the Lothari was either completely incompetent or was playing for time as well. In any case it didn’t really matter which was true. Even if the Lothari was playing for time, there was no way that the Lothari could match the economic and construction advantage that the Alliance possessed. Time would increase the disadvantage the Lothari would face when the fleet finally set out.
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Month 219, Day 20, Lothari Herzberg system
The latest meeting between Skull Splitter and the Lothari Ambassador concluded without much change in either side’s positions. After the first few meetings Skull Splitter had allowed himself to be convinced to meet on board the Lothari Ambassadorial transport, where the meeting rooms were, indeed, much more comfortable. And it was true that after the second meeting the Lothari Ambassador had admitted that reparations might not be necessary for the Lothari to sign a peace treaty. Aside from that, however, neither side appeared any closer to coming to an agreement than they had before the meetings started. Skull Splitter knew that he had no interest in coming to an agreement with the Lothari that settled for anything less than their unconditional surrender, but he was still in the dark about what the Lothari were in the negotiations for at this point. It should have become abundantly clear to any reasonably intelligent person that he and the Alliance he represented weren’t really interested in peace negotiations, but the Lothari ambassador seemed oblivious to this fact. Skull Splitter couldn’t quite figure out if the Lothari ambassador was actually incompetent, or was also playing for time, or had some other game going, but in the end he was fairly confident that it wouldn’t matter. His fleet would advance when he was ready, and not before. And when it advanced, the time the Lothari regime had left would be measured in weeks.
Just a short update to get us up to Month 220 and the general updates I have planned for the major races.
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Alliance Update, Month 220
Total Income: 233,904 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 93,551 MCr’s (40%)
Alliance 1st Fleet (Rehorish Home Fleet)
1xSD, 2xCV, 6xBC, 2xCA, 2xCVE, 2xCTV, 123xF1, 12xF0
Detached Units: 2xBC, 6xCA, 3xCL, 4xDD, 5xCVE, 2xCTS, 10xCTV, 111xF1, 24xF0 (Guarding Allied worlds)
Alliance 2nd Fleet (Liawak System, Lothari Front)
12xBBA, 11xCV, 24xBC, 2xCVL, 16xCA, 6xCVS, 3xCL, 8xDD, 35xCVE, 29xCTV, 345xF0, 918xF1
Alliance 3rd Fleet (Aurarii Home System, Aurarii Peacekeeping)
3xBC, 3xCVS, 3xCL, 11xCVE, 6xDDE, 21xCTV, 60xF0, 306xF1
Alliance 5th Fleet (T’Pau Home Fleet)
T’Pau System: 3xCA, 9xCVE, 9xCTV, 189xF1
D’Bringi System: 6xCA, 11xCVE, 9xCTV, 219xF1
Alliance 6th Fleet
Thoen System, Lothari Front: 12xBC, 1xCVL, 9xCL, 1xCVS, 4xDD, 14xCVE, 10xCTV, 5xCT(Pinnace), 72xF0, 252xF1, 20xPinnace
Villiers System: 6xBC, 9xCA, 3xCL, 7xDD, 3xCVE, 45xF0
7th Fleet (Thoen System, Lothari Front)
7xBC, 5xCA, 3xCVL, 3xCVS, 6xCL, 3xCVE, 3xDD, 5xCVE, 7xCTV, 159xF0, 183xF1
Detached on Patrol or Guard Duties
6xCA, 6xCL, 18xDD, 11xCVE, 10xCTV, 24xF0, 201xF1
Units Captured from Aurarii – en route to shipyards at Kumamoto
2xML
Reinforcements
En Route to the Liawak System: 2xCVL, 3xDD, 60xF1
En route to the Thoen System: 4xCVE, 1xCTV, 66xF1
Under construction:
8xSD, 16xBC, 8xDD, 7xBS4, 6xBS3, 120xF1
Repairs
5xBC, 1xCA
Refitting
3xBB, 7xBC, 2xCA, 5xDD
The Alliance is completely restored at this point, with all colonies brought back into contact with the Core and accepting the authority of the Alliance Council, and all foreign troops that had occupied Alliance colonies either expelled or destroyed. The Alliance Council has been restored as well, with a D’Bringi interim representative until Skull-Splitter can return from prosecuting the war against the Lothari.
The D’Bringi Home World is still recovering from the recent unrest. At Skull-Splitter’s orders, the ringleaders of the rebellion have been arrested and are awaiting trial, along with everyone who served the Empire and broke the existing law while doing so. The bulk of the Empire’s most virulent supporters who have not been charged with a crime have been ‘encouraged’ to join a massive colonization program aimed at increasing the hostile environment colonies in the Chruqua Nexus, fulfilling a recent Alliance program of increasing that critical system’s output to help support the defenses and fleet installations that are being built there. By the end of month 220, the population of the Chruqua Nexus has been increased to just over fifty million, mostly D’Bringi who are either eagerly seeking work, or who have been discouraged from remaining in the home system.
The war with the Aurarii has been successfully resolved, with the Aurarii agreeing to pay reparations to the Doraz, and to free their Norn neighbors, in exchange for an Alliance pledge to guarantee the security of their home planet. To this end, the Alliance 3rd Fleet is stationed in the Aurarii home system, and will remain indefinitely. The 3rd Fleet has attempted to establish contact with the newly freed Norn state, however, the Norns have been prickly and negotiations have been slow moving. The Doraz, who had much difficulty establishing contact with the Aurarii, have had much more success in establishing contact with the Norn, and have been making better progress towards that end than the Alliance, perhaps because the Norn perceive the large Alliance fleet in their system as a potential threat.
The collapse of the Aurarii leaves the Kingdom of Lothar as the last state in open war with the Alliance. The Alliance has been building up strength to launch an assault on the genocidal Lothari, however, the Lothari willingness to fight and their advanced technology have made advances difficult. Skull Splitter’s 2nd Fleet, the core of which is made up of former Imperial D’Bringi ships, is now the most powerful fleet in the Alliance, but Skull Splitter has been waiting on the defensive for reinforcements to arrive and for the older ships in his fleet to be refitted to modern standards. He has done this in spite of intense pressure from the interior of the Alliance to strike a decisive blow and finish this war as soon as possible. His decision to wait was largely made because of the destruction of the last Alliance fleet that approached the Lothari system. Skull Splitter is a wily old warrior, and has no wish to rush into another ill-fated battle with the evil Lothari before he is entirely ready. Unfortunately, four of the most heavily damaged battlecruisers will not be out of the yards for another two months, and it is not clear if Skull-Splitter can delay that long, especially given the fact that they are all older designs that would then need to be refitted to be more effective. Skull Splitter currently plans to advance through the Herzberg system to the warp point to the Lothari home system next month, and then assault the warp point in the following month, after all his crews have finished shaking down from the extensive repairs and refits that many of his fleet units have undergone.
The Alliance is divided on what approach to take with the Lothari when the 2nd Fleet finally breaches their defenses. There is a strong current of anger in the Alliance against the Lothari both for the way they treated the civilians on the planets that surrendered to them, along with the merciless way they have prosecuted their war, which was obviously doomed from the start. The fact that the Lothari apparently believe that they can go back to the way things were before the conflict started without paying a price for their genocidal actions has not helped their cause. The T’Pau are firmly in favor of bombarding the Lothari home planet until they surrender as an abject lesson to those that would engage in such behavior. The D’Bringi are supporting the T’Pau, perhaps out of a desire to show their loyalty to the Alliance in the aftermath of their civil war, while the Rehorish are reluctant to take such a step without first exhausting all other options. There is some belief in the upper reaches of the Alliance government that Skull-Splitter is delaying his entry into the Lothari system to give the Alliance time to come to a consensus on their approach to the Lothari. To date no such consensus has emerged.
In the aftermath of the D’Bringi civil war, it has become clear to the Alliance Council that the Alliance will have to become much more involved in the affairs of its associate members. The Alliance’s hands off policy allowed the rebel D’Bringi to take advantage of the relative isolation of the Chirq, which led to the invasion and conquest of their home planet by a race from outside the Alliance and influenced by the rebel D’Bringi. Therefore, once the Lothari conflict is over, the Alliance will be stationing significant squadrons in each of the associate member’s home systems, as a defensive force for that race and an assurance that the Alliance will come to their aid. In addition, the Alliance will establish a multi-national fleet in the Chruqua Nexus, and will require every associate member to provide forces to be stationed there as a reaction force capable of responding to any threat faced by any member. The forces sent to this reaction force will be dependent on the size of the navy involved, and will likely be smaller than the forces the Alliance sends to garrison their home systems, meaning that the associate members will actually be gaining in security by sending ships to the multi-national force. This plan is currently being fine-tuned by the Council, which is in close contact with the associate members. It is unclear when it will be implemented given the ongoing actions against the Lothari.
Associate Alliance Members
Aurarii Republic
Total Income: 24,170 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 11,453 MCr’s (47%)
Fleet: 2xSD, 3xBB, 1xCV, 5xCVL, 10xCL, 150xF1
Under Construction: 3xML, 1xSD
The restored Aurarii Republic has been steadily downsizing their fleet since their peace treaty with the Alliance. Three monitors, three superdreadnoughts, two carriers, seven light carriers, and six light cruisers have all gone into mothballs, a necessity now that the Republic can no longer count on resources taken from the conquered Norn Regime to pay for its fleet. It is likely that most of the four capital ships currently under construction will go into mothballs as well.
The newly re-established Republic, with the Emperor as a constitutional monarch, is very interested in exploring a closer relationship with the Alliance. Given the fact that they have no outlet for growth, and war failed to obtain access to open and unexplored warp points, full membership in the Alliance is literally their only route forward towards future expansion.
Bir Meritocracy
Total Income: 1,890 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 444 MCr’s (16%)
The Bir have reached HT-2 and are researching various systems available at that level, with Alliance assistance. They have constructed five orbital shipyards, and are currently building five BS2’s as orbital defense stations for their home world. The Bir have no navy as of yet, but have fielded a survey group of explorer class craft. The Bir have taken no position on the Lothari conflict. The fighting is far from their home system and, as they have no navy, they strongly feel that the eventual fate of the Lothari are not their business.
Chirq Cooperative
Total Income: 10,314 MCr’s
Upkeep: 1657 MCr’s (16%)
Fleet: 4xDD, 8xCT, 2xES
The Chirq have fully recovered from the Khozun invasion and occupation of their home world, and have reached HT-4, with Alliance assistance. The Chirq currently have ten orbital shipyards and are building an extensive orbital defense network, along with defenses for the warp points in their system. Although basically a peaceful race, the Chirq have no desire to be conquered again, and are building up their defenses and their navy as fast as they can. In addition to building up their defenses, the Chirq have a survey fleet which is kept busy surveying the nearby systems, and they have established colonies in five of those systems, although none of the colonies have larger than a small population.
Having recently suffered through the invasion and occupation of their home world, the Chirq are supporting the Rehorish, who rescued them, in their stance on the Lothari question. Like the Rehorish, the Chirq feel that the Lothari should be forced to surrender and that their society should be restructured to prevent anything like this happening again.
Doraz Contingency
Total Income: 33,736 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 6,722 MCr’s (20%)
Fleet: 1xML, 3xBC, 5xCA, 9xCVE(proto), 2xDD, 33xCT
Refitting: 1xML
Construction: 9xBS2
The Doraz were fortunate to have avoided invasion during the recent war with the Aurarii, but did manage to lose most of their fleet during the conflict. They have recently reached HT-8 and are researching the various systems available at that level.
The Doraz are gratified that the Alliance and the Torqual sent strong fleets to help defend their home system and push the Aurarii back, but were disappointed when the Aurarii managed to negotiate a peaceful end to the war. The Doraz leadership had hoped to take the lead in occupying the Aurarii system, but had no recourse when the Aurarii began negotiations, as their fleet was the weakest of the three fleets opposing the Aurarii. Worse, their own fleet leader took the lead in the negotiations, meaning that the Doraz leaders on the home world would have a difficult time repudiating the agreement. Still, the resources that the Aurarii sent as reparations have been very helpful, and the damaged light monitor captured by the Alliance and turned over to the Doraz navy have gone a long way towards alleviating any resentment the Doraz might have had towards their allies over the peace negotiations.
The Doraz strongly support the T’Pau and the D’Bringi in their desire to bombard the Lothari until they surrender. Indeed, the Doraz are preparing a force to be sent to the Lothari front to assist the Alliance now that the Aurarii conflict has ended.
Torqual Free State
Total Income: 50,765 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 16,516 MCr’s (32.5%)
Fleet: 9xBC, 28xCA, 34xCL, 13xCT
Construction: 1xCA, 1xCVE(proto)
The Torqual have recently reached HT-8 and are researching the systems available at that level. The Torqual are fervent supporters of the Alliance, having been saved from a despotic and repressive government by elements of their navy supported by the Alliance. It is likely that the Torqual will join the Alliance as full members as soon as possible.
The Torqual are against the indiscriminate bombardment of the Lothari, and are supporting the Rehorish on this question.
Zir Contemplative Union
Total Income: 72,620 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 25,175 MCr’s (35%)
Fleet: 2xCVE(proto), 41xDD, 66xFG, 137xCT
The Zir have recently reached HT-8 and are researching the systems available at that level. The Zir are very excited about fighter technology, and view it as a logical extension of their swarm fleet concept. While they have built several prototype carrier hulls, they currently debating plans to convert some or all of their warships to hybrid carrier-warship designs as soon as the fighter technology has been developed.
There is a huge debate going on amongst the upper levels of Zir society on their home world. From the time of first contact the Zir have not been able to understand why the other races have had a hard time getting along. While they understand the need for a vigorous defense force, the Zir abhor aggression, and have viewed the recent instability within the Alliance with alarm, and the current wars the Alliance is fighting with disdain. The Zir intelligentsia have formed numerous factions, as is their habit, and they are currently arguing over possible ways forward. The largest single group wants to continue their current relationship with the Alliance, but they are far outnumbered by the other groups, many of which want to end or limit their relationship with the Alliance, which they view as, at best, misguided, and at worst unstable warmongers. The Zir refused to provide ships to the Alliance to help prosecute their wars, something the Alliance allowed given their withdrawal of the 6th Fleet from the Villiers warp nexus and the proximity of the Mintek beyond that nexus.
The Zir were horrified at the Lothari treatment of captured Alliance military personnel and civilians, but are equally horrified by fact that the Alliance is considering a general bombardment of the Lothari home world, and this has added to the heat of their debates over the future of their relationship with the Alliance. Should the Alliance actually bombard the Lothari home world, it would almost certainly drive the Zir into opposition of the Alliance, and the Zir representative to the Alliance Council has made their stance clear. It is unclear how seriously the Alliance Council takes the Zir, though, as the other races in the Alliance have come to a near consensus in their determination to destroy the Lothari state, if not their people. More and more the Alliance races have grown to see the Zir as rather flighty and unserious beings.
Total Alliance Fleet (including associated states)
13xCV, 8xCVL, 13xCVS, 126xCVE, 3xML, 1xSD, 12xBB, 72xBC, 89xCA, 73xCL, 123xDD, 143xFG, 537xCT
A comparison with the combined Alliance fleet strength in Month 205 shows that the overall Alliance fleet has lost some battlecruisers and cruisers, which currently number at 72 and 89, respectively, compared to 76 and 97 in month 205. On the other hand, the number of carriers has grown considerably, from 107 (including CTV’s) to 262. This makes sense, as the Alliance had depended on battlecruisers, and to a lesser extent, heavy cruisers, as its primary striking arm, so losses to those classes have been relatively heavy and not completely replaced by new construction as resources have been shifted to producing carriers and fighters.
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Colonial Union Update, Turn 220
Total Income: 132,285 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 63,491 (48%)
Fleet
4xCV, 20xCVL, 1xCVS, 100xCVE, 15xSD, 3xBB, 33xBC, 32xCA, 49xCL, 46xDD, 19xFG, 43xCT, 2807xF0
The Colonial Union has recovered from the brief war with the Alliance and is looking at reorganizing its political and military system to account for the growth of the both the Union and the military. The political defeat of the New Dawn Party and their fall from grace as a result of pervasive corruption and a myriad of prosecutions has shifted the focus of the Union from politics to economics, revealing an increasingly bitter economic war going on underneath the surface.
While Earth remains the cultural center of the Union in many ways, the economic focus of the Union has left that isolated planet behind and has shifted to younger, more vital systems. The reality is that the Solar system isn’t in the top five most productive Union systems. Sigma Draconis and Epsilon Eridani, two of humanity’s oldest colonies, are the first and fifth most productive systems in the Union, and are separated by a single system, giving them a significant power base within the Union. Meanwhile, the Manticore, Orphicon, and Shadowa systems, all clustered around the Sligo system, are the second, third and fourth most productive systems in the Union. They are more widely separated than the Sigma Draconis and Epsilon Eridani systems, though, and this has made it difficult for them to coordinate their economic activities to oppose the economic power of the inner systems. Their growing wealth, though, has made them hard to ignore, and they have been pressing for a reorganization of the Union into Districts, which would isolate them somewhat from the inner colony’s economic power.
Now that the immediate threat from the Alliance is ended, the Union is looking at reorganizing the fleet and reducing its size, somewhat, to reduce costs. Likely most of the superdreadnought fleet will be mothballed, along with the Assault Corps, once they are both modernized. This will not happen for some months, as there is new technology under development and it will take some time to push this tech out to the fleet.
The Colonial Union is facing a significant problem which was recently recognized by the Colonial Bureau of Relocation, or BuReLoc, and has been classified at the highest levels while possible remedies are being studied. The Union’s colonization program has been continuously expanding the Union, however, as the Union’s survey ships move farther and farther from the established colonies, it has become increasingly expensive to ship colonists to newly discovered worlds. Before the seriousness of the situation became clear, BuReLoc asked the CU’s embassies in the Confederated Sentient Races and the Alliance to investigate openly available material within those states to determine their methods of colonization, to see how the Union’s two neighbors were dealing with the problem. This query revealed a significant weakness within the Union that the other two states did not suffer from, and the entire situation was classified and taken under study at the highest levels. Essentially, both the CSR and the Alliance had access to worlds with very large populations, and had the economic strength to form massive colonization fleets that could boost a newly discovered world’s population to a level where it would be able to support colonization itself without depleting its population. This allows both the Alliance and the CSR to establish forward colonization bases that could colonize newly discovered systems several months travel from the nation’s most populous systems without prohibitive costs. Unfortunately, the Colonial Union has no high population planets. New Moscow in the Sigma Draconis system is Earth’s oldest colony and has the highest population, recently reaching ‘large’ size at 400 million people. Earth, depleted first by the war and then by the massive colonization efforts of the New Dawn Party, only boasts a population of just over 300 million at this point. While the Union has numerous planets with a medium population, twenty-five at last count, none can support the sustained and massive colonization efforts that the other two nations are undertaking without quickly depleting their population. There appears to be no quick resolution to this problem. Population cannot just be wished into existence. There has been some discussion in the halls of the capital about the possibility of merging with one of the other nations. This is, after all, how the Tomsk Union solved its identical problem, by merging with the Bjering. However, currently there is little interest in solving this problem in this manner, as it would not bolster humanity’s population, merely dilute it with aliens. In the meantime, while the problem is studied, the Colonial Union will focus on expanding its economy as quickly as possible within their current limits, to remain economically viable.
As of month 220, the CU has officially divested itself of control over both alien races found within its borders, as promised by the new government. The Tlatelolco, in the Redwing system, have agreed to a trade and military treaty with the Colonial Union, and are exploring the possibility of a partnership agreement in the near future. For the Tlatelolco, this is a recognition of the reality of their situation. Under the New Dawn party’s rule, the human population on the Tlatelolco home planet was drastically increased to the point where humans almost outnumber the Tlatelolco on their own planet. In spite of the current Colonial Union government’s determination to treat with the Tlatelolco fairly, there was never a possibility that the human colonists on their planet would leave, so the ever-reasonable Tlatelolco have decided to form an even closer relationship with humanity. They have signed a shared sovereignty agreement with the human government on their planet, and that agreement extends throughout their system. Unfortunately, there are no open warp points or unsettled worlds nearby, so for now the Tlatelolco are confined to their home system.
The Tarek, in the Sligo system, are an entirely different matter. The Tarek have been unremittingly hostile to humanity from the time of first contact, and were, at best, sullen and difficult during the CU’s long occupation of their planet. The CU’s withdrawal from their planet came, not as a result of an agreement with the Tarek, but more in the form of a threat to bombard their planet should they attack a human ship or colony, and a clear statement about where the Tarek would be allowed to go within their system. The CU has allowed the Tarek to retain their colonies on the two type ST planets in the system, considered hostile for both humanity and the Tarek, and their asteroid outposts in their star’s asteroid belt. In addition, the Tarek are allowed to colonize the moons of the two ST planets and their home planet. The Tarek have been informed that they are under no circumstances allowed to leave their home system, and if they attempt to do so the ship they send will be destroyed without warning. What the Tarek think of this is not known, but in the two months since the occupation ended, they have been circumspect in their actions. So far, they have focused on building small PDC’s on their home planet that the CU Navy believes are anti-missile bases, as well as bolstering the populations of their allowed colonies.
The release of the Tarek from occupation was very unpopular on Wunderland, the primary human colony in the Sligo system. The inhabitants of Wunderland have been under threat of attack from the Tarek since the establishment of their colony, and in the early days that threat was very real. The fact that the Tarek now have no navy and are very far behind humanity in terms of technology has done little to assuage the Wunderlander’s fears, which is perhaps understandable given the fact that over three billion human-eating Tarek lived just a few light minutes away, presumably dreaming dreams of invading Wunderland and eating and/or subjugating all of the humans there. The reality is of course, that there is no conceivable way that the Tarek could threaten Wunderland, given the Tarek’s weakness and the state of Wunderland’s defenses. Even should every naval ship in the system be called away, Wunderland is orbited by a massive asteroid fortress that anchors its defenses, three battlecruiser-sized missile bases, and four cruiser sized automated warfare bases to control the mines and other automated weapons kept in orbit for deployment elsewhere in the Union. Still, in reaction to the end of the occupation, the planetary government of Wunderland has reinstituted its civil defense programs, employing many of the soldiers that were demobilized when the occupation ended.
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Confederated Sentient Races
Total Income: 150,191 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 47,402 MCr’s (31.6%)
Total Fleet
3xML, 27xBC, 9xCV, 1xCVL, 16xCVS, 9xCL, 33xCVE, 34xDD, 37xCT, 294xF0, 336xF1, 258xF2(L)
Under Construction
9xML, 1xSSSY, 120xAMMF, 345xDSB-Xr, 96xF2(L)
Prefabbing
2xSS(SYx5)
Refitting
6xBC, 2xCV, 1xCVL, 5xCVS, 3xCL, 10xCVE, 2xDD, 4xCT, 3xDDAW, 2xBS4, 2xPDC, 7xBS2V
The CSR has undergone a major reorganization over the last few months. The informal division between the former Tomsk and Bjering territories has been codified by creating two sectors for administrative purposes, with the capitals for the two sectors being Tomsk and Bjering Prime.
The Tomsk Sector, centered on the Tomsk system, comprises one hundred systems, forty of which are inhabited. The sector contains two hundred and sixty-six discrete populations, and comprises 51% of the CSR’s production. The sector’s total population is 1,500,000,000, and is primarily human. The Tomsk system is the CSR’s fifth most productive system, with the Petropavlovsk system and the Budapest system being the second and fourth most productive systems.
The Bjering Sector is centered on the Bjering Home System, and comprises one hundred and six systems, twenty-nine of which are inhabited. The sector contains two hundred and eight populations, with a total population of 41,400,000,000, almost exclusively Bjering. The Bjering home system is the CSR’s most productive system, and is twice as productive as the CSR’s second most productive system. The Sutr system is the third most productive system.
In month 219, the CSR absorbed the Bedu refugees that fled to Bjering space after the Mintek conquered their empire. The rulers of the Bedu refugees realized early on that they did not bring enough of their people out to establish an effective state, and so from almost the first were focused on joining the CSR. The merger brought a few carriers and support ships into the CSR navy, but the Bedu refugee’s most important contribution was their map of Bedu space, including its connections with other races. This revealed several interesting connections not previously known. For example, during their explorations, the Bedu had discovered no less than two closed warp points from their frontier systems that led to uninhabited systems in the Tomsk sector. Another led to an important human Colonial Union colony system. Plans are being made to fortify both of those systems as the Mintek either know about those access points, or will know at some point. There is an ongoing debate about whether to tell the humans of the link to their colony.
Colonization of new systems has slowed over the last six months, largely because the CSR has been focused on building up the populations of the primary Tomsk Sector colony worlds. Prior to the merger, the Tomsk Union was population starved, with its primary worlds barely capable of supporting out-system colonization and constantly running short of colonists. Since the merger, the CSR has focused on boosting the populations of those worlds, to extend the reach of the colonization program, and on boosting the populations of benign/rich and benign/very rich worlds in the Tomsk Sector. This has had the secondary effect of creating several multi-racial worlds. While the leaders of both races were concerned about the possible difficulties this might create, so far the results have been positive.
The lull in colonization has given the CSR’s exploration fleet’s a chance to be recalled for refits to the latest technology. The CSR has decided to discontinue use of the venerable explorer class units, as being too small and too vulnerable for exploration duty. Instead, the survey fleets will be made up of survey cruisers, supported by survey destroyers and corvette scouts. The refit of the survey fleets will give the survey cruisers a heavy punch with their gunboat flotillas, meaning that the survey groups will be able to defend themselves from all but a significant enemy force.
The CSR fleet is currently undergoing a massive refit to HT-10 standards, taking advantage of advanced shielding, improved targeting, and advanced point defense. Gunboat racks will be added to all carriers, and to survey units, but fleet ships will retain their standard XO racks, largely to carry defensive EDM’s and offensive ADM’s.
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Month 221, Day 3, Alliance Liawak system
Skull Splitter entered the flagship’s conference room and activated the room’s V/R system. It was time yet again for his weekly meeting with the Observers, a group of representatives from the Alliance Associate nations. Given the recent problems the Alliance had suffered, the Council felt it was a good idea to get the Associate races more involved in Alliance-wide issues. One step in that direction was forming Observer Groups, assigned to the major military commands within the Alliance. The Observers had no power and could not directly influence his fleet’s actions, of course, but politics had been evolving in the Alliance since the D’Bringi civil war, and keeping the Associated Races happy and involved had become a primary concern of the Council. So, he met with the observers every week, whether he wanted to or not.
The room faded away and he was transported instantly to an ornate throne room that he quickly recognized as ancient Doraz architecture.
“Ah, Tai-sho, it is good of you to join us!”
Skull-Splitter turned and saw the small slug-like Doraz representative floating towards him on her ornate hover carriage. “Of course, representative, I value our weekly meetings.”
The small Doraz laughed. “You lie horribly for a politician, but I’m delighted you make the effort. Come, join the rest.”
As they walked through the palace Skull Splitter gestured at their surroundings. “I assume you chose this setting? Very beautiful. Tranquil, even.”
The small Doraz gestured for assent. “Yes, it was my turn. This is from our Renaissance, and many still consider it the height of our culture. I’m not so sure, but it was a time of great architecture and refinement.”
Skull-Splitter followed the small Doraz in her carriage as she led him out to the gardens, where apparently this meeting would be held. Like the palace, the gardens were ornate and impeccably maintained, something that was easy to ensure in a V/R matrix. Rounding a hedge, he saw the rest of the Associate Race representatives. The tall, ethereal Torqual, the bestial quadruped Chirq, and the horribly frightening-looking but extremely gentle Bir. As always, the Zir representative, a large ambulatory mushroom-like being, stood apart from the group and watched the proceedings as the others talked.
After entering the garden’s clearing, the Doraz turned and faced Skull-Splitter, and extended a tentacle. “We are curious. The Alliance Council has ordered you to advance on the Lothari home system, but you have not given any such orders. Do you intend to flout the Alliance Council’s wishes on this matter?”
Skull Splitter sighed. This was a continuing theme that the Observers never tired of bringing up. The rest were more circumspect than the Doraz representative, but no matter how they approached the question, it always ended up here. “I have not been given orders by the Council. I am in command of Alliance forces on this Front, and I have been given leeway to prosecute this war as I see fit.” The Doraz representative opened her mouth, but before she could speak, he continued. “It is true, I have received communiques from the capital urging action, but I will take action when I decide it is time, not before. I have explained my reasoning to the Council, and they have seen fit to retain me in command.”
The Bir representative stirred. “And when do you anticipate moving forward?”
“This month.” Skull-Splitter suppressed a laugh as the representatives all looked at each other. They hadn’t expected that.
“This month?” The Doraz was looking intently at him as she said it.
Skull Splitter marshalled his thoughts. Most of the representatives had no direct interest in the conduct of this war. The Bir and the Chirq were too far away, and had fleets that were too tiny or backward to participate in the war, so they viewed this conflict as a mere matter of interest. The Torqual and Doraz, though, were much closer to the fighting and the Torqual, at least, had a significant fleet. In addition, the Torqual and Doraz were close to joining the Alliance as full members, and thus had a vested interest in the conduct of the war and its outcome. The Zir, as always, were a mass of contradictions and were standoffish on top of it, making their representative hard to predict. In any case, Skull Splitter was fairly sure that the Doraz had secretly been pleased by his delays, as they wished to send forces to join in the battle against the Lothari. They hid it well, but their warlike nature and desire to repay the Alliance for expelling the Aurarii from their home system meant they really wanted to get involved in the fighting. Unfortunately, their fleet had been largely destroyed in the war against the Aurarii, and they had yet to rebuild it to the point that they could dispatch significant forces far from their home system.
“This month. The repairs and upgrades to my fleet are largely complete, and the flow of reinforcements has slowed to a trickle. I plan to wait until later in the month and then advance through the Herzberg system to the warp point to the Lothari system. If the Lothari fleet does not come out to fight, then on the first of next month my fleet will launch an assault into the Lothari system.”
“And then?” Everyone looked around in surprise as the Zir representative stepped forward. “What of the negotiations you have been conducting with the Lothari ambassador?”
Skull Splitter’s lips curled away from his teeth, revealing a grimace made much worse by the disfigurement that twisted the left side of his face and body. He wore the scars as marks of honor, and he had programmed his avatar to faithfully reflect every mark on his body. “I used the negotiations with the Lothari ambassador to buy time. As I suspect he was doing as well. Neither of us ever intended to come to a peaceful resolution. Not after what they’ve done to our people.”
The Zir took another step forward. “Negotiations are always worthwhile. I restate my question. What will you do after you enter their system?”
Skull-Splitter saw that the other representatives were watching his conversation with the Zir avidly. This question was currently the single largest issue in the Alliance, and images and videos of the devastation inflicted on the Liawak and Thoen colonies ran nearly constantly on most of the inhabited worlds. Several documentaries had already been produced detailing the depravities of the death camps that the Lothari had set up on the conquered colonies, and the numerous references that had been found in the camps to similar camps they had used on their home planet only made the whole thing more horrific. “Once we have swept aside their defenses the Lothari will be given a chance to surrender. They will be required to surrender unconditionally, but we will offer guarantees of good treatment for their people.”
“The guarantees of a conqueror.” Skull-Splitter began to answer, but before he could the Zir held up a grasping appendage and continued. “Apologies. Unfair statement admitted. You cannot help the position you find yourself in, and this one will admit that the position of conqueror is more preferable to that of the conquered. However, you have choices in how you proceed. The Lothari seem unable to surrender or admit defeat. Should they continue in this stratagem, will you invade or bombard their planet? Or both?”
“The Lothari attacked the Alliance without provocation or justification. They murdered millions of civilians and destroyed helpless naval crew in life pods, and set up horrifying camps that killed tens of thousands of innocent people. They will not be allowed to do this again, under any circumstances. They will be given a chance to surrender. If they do not, then they will be forced to surrender. By whatever means I determine to be necessary.”
“Prevarication. Ignorance. Both? You are unaware of the Lothari justification for attacking the Alliance, and thus cannot truly judge the level or truth of the provocation.” The Zir watched Skull-Splitter carefully, intent on his answer to this critical question.
“That doesn’t matter at this point, after what the Lothari have done. Once this has been settled and the Lothari are under our control, then we will determine what led to this war.”
The Zir stood silent for a few seconds, processing this answer. Finally, it dipped it body in agreement. “Truth. But by then it may be too late.”
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Month 221, Day 8, Disputed Herzberg system, Lothari Front
The Alliance Fleet had been picketing the warp point from Herzberg to Liawak for months, as reinforcements arrived from the inner systems and ships were repaired and refitted. Skull-Splitter had decided that they could wait no more, and in twelve more days the fleet would advance on the warp point to the Lothari home system, timing it to arrive at the end of the month, at which point the fleet’s newly built, repaired, or refitted ships would have completed their work-ups and would be ready for battle.
The Lothari were apparently working on the same timeline, because in the early hours of the day a drive field contact appeared on the Alliance picket ship’s scanners at extreme range, headed directly for the warp point. This contact was unexpected and no notification had been made from the Lothari ambassadorial ship. Therefore, Skull-Splitter ordered the Lothari ambassadorial liner boarded and seized, and dispatched the 2nd Fleet’s twenty-nine corvette carriers to intercept the incoming contact and determine its makeup. The seizure of the Lothari ambassadorial ship went off without a hitch, aside from the vigorous complaints from the Lothari ambassador, and the scouts set out to intercept the incoming contact.
Eighteen hours later the Alliance scouts were within twelve light minutes of the contact and were able to determine that it was composed of forty-nine ships. This was a substantial force, and more ships that Skull-Splitter had thought that the Lothari would have available, indicating either they had extensive reserves or an ally. In either case the Alliance scouts pressed forward, trying to get close enough to determine the Lothari fleet’s makeup, but were unable to get within fifteen light seconds to get detailed scans of the enemy fleet. Before they could close to that range, the Lothari fleet launched hundreds of fighters and gunboats, which all advanced to intercept the Alliance scouts. The Alliance corvette-carriers didn’t carry enough fighters to deal with the Lothari fighter-gunboat force, so they were forced to turn back towards the warp point and run ahead of the Lothari fleet. The Lothari small craft were unable to catch the fast Alliance scouts, but they were able to keep them away from their fleet.
As the Alliance scouts dueled with the Lothari fleet, Skull-Splitter was readying his force for battle.
While he didn’t know the makeup of the enemy fleet, he had a pretty good idea of Lothari technological capabilities and standard fleet strategies at this point. The Lothari tended to field battlecruiser-heavy fleets, supported by gunboats and fighters. The gunboats were interesting, given their ability to transit warp points, but could not stand up to fighters in open space. Also, the engineers and scientists that had been studying Lothari tech informed him that gunboats were too large to be carried in internal bays. They had to be carried on external racks, which meant that the ships that carried them could not also carry external ordnance. Or defensive equipment, like EDM’s. This would make them vulnerable to missile attacks, and while his fleet didn’t have that many missile ships, it did have something new. Fifteen destroyers of a new design had recently arrived to bolster his forces. These destroyers didn’t mount any weapons. Instead, they had large cargo bays and tractor mounts. The bays could carry one hundred and twenty strategic bombardment missile pods, and each destroyer mounted five improved tractor mounts, meaning it could deploy ten pods a minute. If given time, each destroyer could deploy its pods and launch a salvo of three hundred and sixty SBM’s with anti-matter warheads. Fifteen of them could deploy eighteen hundred pods, creating a massive missile wave that most fleets would have trouble weathering. Unfortunately, he didn’t have twelve hundred pods available, but he did load the destroyers with every pod he did have, one thousand and fifty in total. The Lothari were in for a big surprise.
To suck the Lothari in Skull-Splitter ordered his fleet divided into four divisions. First, he detached a group of ships, including all of the assault battleships, and stationed them in the Liawak system, at the warp point. They would remain in position until needed, or, in the worst case, defend the warp point should the Lothari overwhelm his fleet. Secondly, his carriers were stationed on the warp point on the Herzberg side, and would launch their fighters and retreat through the warp point to safety before the battle began. The pods destroyers were stationed behind his fleet, where they could launch their pods and then retreat to the warp point once their part in the battle was finished. Finally, the twenty-four ships of his main fleet were stationed two point five light seconds from the warp point. The apparent weakness of his fleet would suck the Lothari in, and then his SBM pods and fighters would overwhelm them.
Month 221, Day 10, Disputed Herzberg system, warp point to Liawak
Swordsman of Stars Weber watched as the plot tank updated as his fleet crossed the invisible fifteen light second barrier around the warp point and his sensors were finally able to see more detail about the enemy fleet. Twenty-four ships Alliance ships were assembled within three light seconds of the warp point. He felt hope swell within him, as he had more than twice that number in his fleet. He turned to the command ship’s sensor officer. “Report!”
“Sir, twenty-four ships are confirmed, twelve battlecruisers, nine cruisers, and three destroyers. Numerous indistinct drive fields detected, possibly fighters, numbers unknown. Fifteen ships without drive fields detected, point five light seconds behind the main enemy force.”
Weber paused. The fifteen ships without drive fields could be a problem, but they would have to be very big to offset his fleet’s advantage. “Very well. Signal all ships to accelerate to combat speed. Enemy battlecruisers are the priority target, until further notice.”
The Lothari fleet accelerated and closed on the Alliance fleet, which remained motionless. Both sides held their small craft close to their main fleet. Two minutes later the Lothari fleet had closed to nine light seconds from the main Alliance fleet, and the tactical plot updated. Swordsman of Stars Weber paled as he realized the true extent of the Alliance fleet’s power. His ship’s sensors were now able to determine the number of small, indistinct drive fields around the main Alliance fleet, even if they could not determine the type. There were almost fourteen hundred small drive fields surrounding the Alliance fleet, almost certainly fighters. His own fleet, which he had thought so powerful only a moment ago, only boasted five hundred and eighty-one fighters and gunboats. On the other hand, the drive-field down ships had powered up and revealed themselves as destroyers, meaning that they wouldn’t meaningfully alter the balance of power between the two fleets. Weber was still trying to deal with the fact that the Alliance’s fighter force outnumbered his nearly three to one when an alert went off. He turned to the sensor officer. “Report!”
“Sir, new contact, unknown drive fields in the same location as the enemy destroyer force, numbering one thousand and fifty!”
Weber gaped at the tank, trying to understand what was happening. This had to be a second fighter force. “The fleet will turn away until we can determine the true strength of the enemy. Engage enemy battlecruisers with SBM’s!”
The Lothari fleet had been advancing even as Weber issued orders, so by the time the fleet began turning they had closed to seven point five light seconds from the Alliance fleet. The presumed fighter contacts had advanced away from the Alliance fleet, towards the Lothari fleet, and by the time the Lothari began turning they were just six point two five light seconds from the Lothari ships. At that range the Lothari long range sensors could determine with specificity the type and class of the small drive fields, and Weber was shaken to his core. Indeed, there were almost fourteen hundred Alliance fighters out there, but the second contact numbering one thousand and fifty was instead SBM pods!
Both sides opened fire with long range weapons, targeting each other’s long-range battlecruisers. The Alliance only had two battlecruisers equipped with long range missiles, while the Lothari had nine. Even so, the range was long and only one Lothari missile got through to hit an Alliance BC’s shields.
The pods, escorted by Alliance fighters, raced at the Lothari fleet, which completed its turn and began moving away from the oncoming Alliance swarm. The missile ships of each fleet continued dueling, to little effect, with only one Lothari missile getting through the Alliance fleet’s defenses to hit a battlecruiser’s shields. It was then that the SBM pods fired. Suddenly, three thousand one hundred and fifty missiles were in space, headed towards the Lothari fleet. The avalanche of missiles was aimed primarily at the Lothari battlecruiser force, with a relative few aimed at the escorting heavy cruisers. The missiles impacted across the fleet simultaneously, forcing each ship to defend itself, without its data-group’s assistance. The results were devastating. A massive wave of explosions engulfed the Lothari fleet, and when they died away most of the battleline was just gone. Out of thirty-two battlecruisers and heavy cruisers, just five remained. The four battlecruisers still active were all the long-range variant, and this was due solely to the fact that they carried no gunboats and instead mounted external racks that had been loaded with decoy EDM’s. The EDM’s had saved the four surviving battlecruisers, two of which still had armor and were intact. One of the other two battlecruisers had suffered minor internal damage, losing an engine room, while the fourth battlecruiser and the lone heavy cruisers were wrecks, reduced to 16% of their original speed. The Lothari carrier force hadn’t been targeted, and was still intact. The Lothari heavy cruiser force, which was its primary anti-fighter force, was devastated by the attack, with only two cruisers remaining and those both crippled.
Swordsman of Stars Weber, who by some trick of fate had survived aboard the battlecruiser that had lost an engine room, was staggered by the destruction wrought upon his fleet. His fleet was ruined, and all hope of victory was lost. Surrender was not an option, as had been made clear by the Great Leader, and by the Internal Security, who had promised the execution of everyone related to any officer that surrendered in the face of the enemy, no matter the reason. Therefore, there was only one thing to do. Weber ordered the fleet to come about and charge the enemy. He ordered his carriers to ram the closest enemy ships, while the gunboats and fighters were to advance on the enemy fighter force which was now racing towards his fleet.
The Lothari gunboat force launched a salvo of anti-fighter missiles as the two groups of small craft closed on each other, taking out just over one hundred and fifty Alliance fighters, and then the two groups of small craft slammed together in front of the Lothari fleet. Behind them, the Alliance fleet had accelerated towards the Lothari fleet, closing with the battered enemy fleet as the two groups of small craft slugged it out.
With the Lothari small craft being so heavily outnumbered, the results were inevitable. When the furball cleared, all of the Lothari small craft had been destroyed, and four hundred and fifteen Alliance fighters had died, leaving seven hundred and sixty-one Alliance fighters in between the Lothari fleet and the Alliance fleet. Meanwhile, the two fleets were slugging it out, as they were now in range of their heavy beam weapons. The Alliance had the advantage here as well. The Alliance ships concentrated their fire on the two Lothari battlecruisers that had survived the pod attack without losing all of their armor, cutting through the already shredded armor belt and inflicting internal damage.
With the Lothari small craft gone, the Alliance fighters now turned on the Lothari fleet. Swordsman of Stars Weber had ordered the fleet to ram Alliance battlecruisers, so instead of trying to avoid the Alliance fighters or modulating their engines to reduce the effectiveness of their weapons, the Lothari fleet headed straight towards the Alliance fleet, which had turned and was moving to maintain the range. Thus, the Alliance fighters were able to line up a perfect shot from directly behind the Lothari force, protected from their point defense by the blind spot inflicted by their engines.
The Alliance heavy cruisers and battlecruisers wiped out the remaining Lothari battlecruisers and then began targeting light carriers, damaging four. Then the fighters swept up behind the Lothari force and, just like that, the battle was over. The seven hundred remaining fighters completely overwhelmed the remaining Lothari ships and wiped them from space in one firing pass. No ships were spared, and the fighters hunted down the two remaining crippled ships that had fallen behind and destroyed them without mercy. None of the Lothari ships attempted to surrender, and no life pods were ejected from Lothari ships.
The Alliance force expended 1,050 SBM pods and lost five hundred and sixty-eight fighters. One heavy cruiser suffered minor armor damage. Skull-Splitter ordered his fifteen pod destroyers to return to Liawak, as they had expended all of the available pods and more wouldn’t be available until next month, along with the twenty carriers of various sizes that had lost their fighter complements. With his reorganization complete, he ordered the one hundred and six ships of the 2nd Fleet to set course for the warp point to the Lothari home system. For now, they would ignore the Lothari colony in the inner system.
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Month 221, Day 23, Alliance controlled Herzberg System
The Alliance 2nd Fleet arrived at the warp point to the Lothari home system without incident. Shortly after arriving, Skull-Splitter dispatched a small group of pinnaces through the warp point to scout the far side. They managed to return without being detected, and reported that there was a small force of fighters and gunboats stationed approximately two light seconds from the warp point. Skull-Splitter decided to change his original plans and launch an immediate attack on the warp point.
The warp point linking the Herzberg system to the Lothari system had limited capacity, meaning that it could accommodate nothing larger than a destroyer transiting every five seconds. This meant that the Alliance battleships, intended for warp point assaults, would be limited to two transiting every thirty seconds, or three battlecruisers per thirty seconds. Instead, Skull-Splitter decided to send his escort carriers through first, as the only defending force seen by the pinnaces was small craft. As they were the size of a destroyer, that meant that the escort carriers could go through at the rate of one every five seconds. Once on the far side, as soon as they had stabilized their systems, they would launch their fighters and return. The fighters would be armed for anti-small craft work, and any enemy ships detected farther out would be left to the ships of the fleet.
The first CVE’s lined up in front of the warp point and began transiting through. There would be three waves of CVE’s, followed by two waves of battlecruisers and then destroyers. The leading CVE was an older Kamikaze class escort carrier, which, unlike modern CVE’s, mounted a long-range sensor but carried fewer fighters.
The CVE’s appeared on the far side of the warp point and immediately began turning back towards the warp point. There were indeed Lothari fighters and gunboats stationed two light seconds from the warp point, thirty-six in total. The Alliance crews struggled to stabilize their systems as their ships nimbly turned in front of the warp point to prepare to leave.
As the second wave began entering, the first wave launched its fighters and began exiting the system. The lead Kamikaze class carrier’s long-range scanners confirmed that a group of eighteen drive fields was located ten-point-five light seconds from the warp point, out of range of all weapons. Behind them, the Lothari fighters and gunboats raced towards the warp point and the newly launched Alliance fighters moved out to intercept them. Twenty-four Lothari fighters, all F2’s armed with two guns and a laser pack, along with an internal laser, intercepted the Alliance fighters at point blank range, while twelve prototype gunboats hung back and launched AFM’s at the Alliance fighter swarm. The Lothari fighters were outnumbered by the eighty-seven Alliance fighters disgorged by the first wave of escort carriers, which had then exited the system as a new wave of escort carriers entered. Worse, the Lothari pilots were all green and inexperienced, while the Alliance crews were veterans of multiple battles and rated as elite. The skirmish was over quickly, with the Alliance losing fifteen fighters, six to AFM fire from the gunboats and nine to the Lothari fighter force. The Lothari fighter force was completely wiped out.
As the dogfight cleared the second wave of escort carriers disgorged their fighters and exited the system, and a third group of escort carriers entered. The Lothari gunboats accelerated towards the newly arrived escort carriers and fired on the leading warp-addled carriers, inflicting heavy damage before the vengeful Alliance fighters pounced on them, wiping them out. The warp point was now clear.
The escort carriers from the third wave launched their fighters, less the ones destroyed in their bays by the gunboats, and then left the system, as Alliance battlecruisers began entering the system. The Lothari squadron turned away from the warp point and began opening the range, and in response the entire Alliance fighter group, now two hundred and twenty-eight strong, went into pursuit.
A second trio of battlecruisers began entering the system and the first group of BC’s, now recovered, also went into pursuit of the withdrawing Lothari squadron. The pursuit continues as carriers begin entering the system to join the growing fleet on the warp point. Finally, three and a half minutes after the Alliance force began entering the system, the Lothari fleet launched an additional seventy-eight fighters and thirty-nine gunboats.
With their small craft now in space the Lothari force turned back towards the warp point and accelerated to intercept the Alliance fighter force. Although the Lothari small craft were faster than their ships, they all stayed together in one group as they began their attack run. With the Lothari force turning back, the three pursuing Alliance battlecruisers are finally close enough for their long-range sensors to confirm that the Lothari force is composed of seventeen escort carriers and a single battle cruiser.
The Alliance fighter force, over three light seconds ahead of the trio of Alliance battlecruisers following them, races towards the approaching Lothari force, but before they can close to point blank range the Lothari ships come to a crash halt and began detuning their engines, making themselves difficult targets. The Lothari ships, fighters, and gunboats all opened fire on the Alliance fighters at point seven-five light seconds. The Lothari escort carriers each mounted a single capital point defense system, which was perfectly suited for engaging fighters at ranges of a light second or even farther, but their crews were all green as they had just boarded their ships at the start of this month when the ships were reactivated from the mothball reserves. The Lothari fighters each had two external laser packs and an internal laser, all of which had the range to engage the Alliance fighters, but they too were green and inexperienced. The lone battlecruiser’s crew was something else, a veteran of the early battles of the war, and they used their capital point defense systems and their heavy lasers with expertise. Even so, they only managed to destroy thirty-one Alliance fighters, while the elite Alliance fighters returned fire with their own laser packs, destroying all of the Lothari gunboats and twenty-four of the Lothari fighters.
The Lothari ships braced to receive the Alliance fighters, with some of the CVE’s turning to ensure that no matter where the Alliance fighters attacked, there would be at least some defensive fire that would meet them. The Lothari ships continued detuning their drive fields as the Alliance fighters raced in to point blank range and the Alliance battlecruiser group closed to just under four light seconds. The Lothari fighters moved to meet the Alliance fighters, and about a third of the Alliance fighter force split off to engage the Lothari fighters, while the remainder attacked the big Lothari battlecruiser. The battlecruiser ignored the fighters and began targeting the lead Alliance BC, while the Alliance BC’s returned the favor. The Lothari BC only managed to slightly damage one of the Alliance battlecruiser’s shields, while the return fire from the Alliance battlecruiser group and the one hundred and seventeen Alliance fighters that had targeted the lone Lothari battlecruiser completely overwhelmed the tough ship’s defenses, leaving only a burning hulk. The eighty Alliance fighters that had been diverted to engage the Lothari fighters destroyed them all, at a loss of twenty-four of their own number from the Lothari fighters and the point defense systems of the Lothari ships.
The Lothari were now in dire straits. Their lone warship had been destroyed, along with all of their small craft. Over one hundred seventy Alliance fighters were at point blank range of their remaining seventeen escort carriers, and an intact Alliance battlecruiser group was within weapons range of the unarmed escort carriers. They literally had no hope of achieving much of anything at this point. Skull-Splitter was tempted to let his fighters wipe them out, but the Lothari unwillingness to surrender was beginning to concern him, given the ultimate goal of his campaign was to force the Lothari state to surrender. Out of curiosity as much as anything else, Skull Splitter transmitted a surrender demand to the escort carriers and then settled in to await their response.
He didn’t have to wait long for their response. As a group, the seventeen Lothari escort carriers stopped detuning their engines and accelerated towards the Alliance battlecruiser group, presumably with the intent to ram them. They didn’t make it far. The Alliance fighters swooped on the carriers as they tried to close with the big Alliance ships and began strafing them with laser fire from behind, while the Alliance battlecruisers came to a halt and began targeting them with their heavy beam weapons. The elite Alliance fighters simply didn’t miss, and were firing to disable, not destroy. In thirty seconds, all of the escort carriers had been slowed to half speed by the busy fighters, and three had been crippled by heavy beam fire from the battlecruisers. In another thirty seconds it was nearly over. All of the escort carriers had been reduced to a crawl, their bays and point defenses destroyed.
Skull Splitter gave them one more chance to surrender. In their current state they could have no possible effect on the war. Their small craft were destroyed, their point defenses were wreckage, and their engines were so damaged they would never be able to ram any of the Alliance ships.
The only response from the crippled Lothari ships was to come to a halt and go into a hedgehog. Alliance sensors couldn’t tell what they were doing, but the only thing that made sense was that they were attempting to repair as much damage to their systems as possible. That left Skull-Splitter with little choice. He couldn’t leave them here, so close to the warp point. If they did manage to regain some of their mobility then they could threaten ships transiting the warp point, particularly support ships. He could dispatch marines to seize the defenseless ships, but that would likely just force the suicidally determined Lothari to destroy their ships along with the Alliance marines. After thinking about it for a bit, Skull Splitter shrugged. No one here would lose any sleep over a few more Lothari. He sent the orders and the fighters made one more pass, after which there weren’t any Lothari ships left. Perhaps even more disturbing was the fact that there wasn’t even one life pod left in space from the Lothari fleet. The fleet’s crewers had all gone up with their ships.
Skull Splitter assembled his fleet on the warp point. He had the following forces:
Strike Force: 9xBBA, 10xBC(Beam), 6xBC(msl), 10xCA, 8xDD
Carrier Group: 3xCV, 1xCVS, 24xCVE, 461xF1, 57xF0
Scout Group: 28xCTV, 78xF0, 96xF1
It wasn’t a huge force, but with over six hundred fighters it was still powerful. The temptation to wait on the warp point for reinforcements was strong, but he had the Lothari on the ropes, he could feel it. The force they had guarding their warp point had the feel of a squadron thrown together at the last minute from whatever they had available, which might mean that they had little left to defend their home planet. So, after consulting with his officers, who were uniformly in favor of an immediate attack, he ordered his fleet to proceed in-system to the Lothari home planet. It was just seventy-two light minutes away, so the fleet would arrive in three days.
Month 221, Day 26, Contested Lothari home system
The Alliance fleet was now fifteen light seconds from the Lothari home planet. Skull-Splitter had sent two groups of his corvette carriers forward to gather information on the defenses around the Lothari home planet, and fortunately they did not come under fire when they entered SBM range. The scout’s long-range sensors confirmed that there were nine very large battle stations orbiting the planet, along with two space stations. Given the activity around the two stations it was obvious that they were orbital shipyards, and after some time observing them, it was clear that each had ten bays, many of which were busy reactivating mothballed ships. In addition to the ships being worked on in the bays, there were another nine inactive hulls in close proximity to the shipyards.
Skull Splitter ordered his staff to begin transmitting demands for surrender to the Lothari world and to the bases and stations in orbit over it, but the transmissions were uniformly ignored. After giving them some time, Skull Splitter ordered his two groups of missile-armed battlecruisers to move into range and begin the attack.
The six battlecruisers moved forward and entered SBM range of the bases, but there was no response. The battlecruisers moved forwards, edging into capital missile range, again without drawing a response. The battlecruisers launched their first salvo at one of the bases at seven light-seconds range. One of the groups of BCs were firing seventeen anti-matter tipped capital missiles per salvo, and the other fired fifteen, but neither managed to get any missiles through the huge base’s incredibly dense point defense network. After the first salvo failed, the battlecruisers closed to six point two five light seconds and fired again. This time they managed to punch two anti-matter warheads through the base’s defenses to impact its shields, but this time they provoked a response. Each base fired no less than nine spinal force beams, scoring twenty hits on the lead battlecruiser, taking out its shields and reducing its armor to 50%.
That was enough for the battlecruiser group leader to order a retreat, and the battlecruisers came about and began moving away from the planet and its defenses. Fortunately, in an excess of caution, the group commander had ordered his BC’s to begin their turn as they had launched their last salvo of missiles, so they didn’t have to approach the planet much closer than they already were. The bases fired again at the same BC before they could escape, getting nine hits and almost chewing their way through the targeted BC’s armor. The BC’s were now beyond spinal force beam range, and they came to a halt at eight light seconds range, and launched another salvo of missiles. This time they weren’t targeted on the bases, but rather the orbital shipyards. It took five salvoes, but the shipyards and the mothballed ships they were working on were destroyed. With that the battlecruisers came about and returned to the main fleet.
Once again Skull Splitter issued a demand for surrender, and once again he was ignored. It was time for a fighter strike. The Alliance fleet launched its fighters, all six hundred and ninety-two. They were all armed with a full load of anti-ship sprint missiles with anti-matter warheads. This was to be an alpha strike, meant to clear the sky of the enemy’s forces. It was a risk, as the Lothari might have kept some fighters or gunboats in reserve, but if so then the fighter strike would return and some of them would rearm.
The fighters raced away from their carriers towards the enemy bases. In terms of weapons the bases had only used spinal force beams so far, but had also demonstrated heavy point defense capabilities, so the fighters were ordered to rush to point blank range and engage the bases. The bases were in three groups of three bases each, spaced around the planet.
Because the bases couldn’t move, they were at a disadvantage, and the Alliance fighter force raced right through their most effective point defense engagement range without being engaged. The fighters plunged to point blank range and began launching their close attack missiles into the mammoth bases. The bases responded with everything they had. The explosions were blinding, even filtered by the planet’s atmosphere, and thousands of Lothari on the surface lost their eyesight as they rushed outside to witness the destruction taking place over their planet. Each base was immense, mounting nearly six times the shielding and twice the armor as the latest Alliance battlecruiser design. Worse, each base mounted eight advanced capital point defense units, nine spinal force beams, and fifteen HET lasers! Watching the destruction focused on his fighters, Skull-Splitter was sure that had he sent in his fleet they would have been doomed, even his heavy battleships. The bases were outmatched by the Alliance fighters, though. The base’s massive beam weapons, which would have ripped apart the heaviest Alliance ships in seconds, could only kill one fighter each, and only if they could hit it. The base’s crews defended themselves as best they could, but nothing could stop the Alliance fighters, each and every one of which was crewed by a D’Bringi who was determined to restore honor to their race by utterly destroying this most despicable of enemies.
Seventy-four fighters were lost as the fighter group swept through the orbital fortresses, but it only took one attack run to wipe all nine bases out. There was nothing but wreckage left as the fighters returned to their bays. The Lothar home world was now denuded of defenses, open to attack. Skull Splitter brought his fleet to just one light second from the planet and began transmitting demands for surrender. Even as the surrender demands were sent towards the planet, Skull Splitter ordered the invasion fleet, which had been waiting in the Herzberg system, to enter the Lothari home system and proceed to their home planet. He dispatched his scout force to cover the advance of the transports, just in case there were hold-out forces still present.
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Author’s Note, Month 221, Cold War Campaign
So, here we are, 221 turns into the Cold War Campaign. The Alliance, the largest “player” race in the campaign, is finishing up a border conflict with the Lothari, and recently successfully concluded its war with the Aurarii as well. With those conflicts closed out or on their last legs, I wanted to talk about some issues these wars illustrate.
Basically, by the current rules, NPR-Player empire conflicts in the mid to late game in Starfire are suicidal for the NPR’s, and inevitable. This is because of the nature of the game. In the early game, NPR’s can provide credible threats, but by mid-game they have receded to minor and localized threats at best, mostly because a standard player race has gotten so large by this point in the game. By way of example, the Aurarii economy was approximately 20% that of the Alliance, and the Lothari were just under 15%. Together, they would have been a more formidable threat, but they were not acting together. Even had they acted together, though, their defeat was inevitable.
The current rules, as written, almost guarantee that some NPR’s will declare war on player races, regardless of the fact that such wars would be suicidal. This is a reaction to earlier versions of the rules that made NPR’s pushovers. In games based on those earlier rules, NPR’s were primarily targets for player race amalgamation, and the best player strategy was to discover as many NPR’s as possible, as quickly as possible, so that they could be amalgamated, thus growing their economy and fleet. Indeed, under those rules, building exploration ships was by far the best investment of resources, and if you weren’t role playing that was what you wanted to do, to the exclusion of all else. Naturally, later versions of the rules changed this, making NPR’s much more disagreeable. This, however, led to the current situation where NPR’s engage in suicidal wars against immensely larger neighbors. As this is primarily a role-playing campaign, I ignore or modify these results, in most cases. However, with the Aurarii and the Lothari, what they did made sense. To them.
The Aurarii war was largely a result of their internal politics. Their lack of open warp points to expand through was the event that ignited the war, aided by the Alliance’s distraction due to their own internal events, but the real cause was the instability within the imperial government and the attempt by the court to seize power and turn the emperor into a figurehead. The navy was caught off guard and unprepared, and the people largely did not support the war or even really care. Thus the war was prosecuted half-heartedly and when they suffered reverses their war effort fell apart. The Lothari were different. I’m not sure anyone could tell, because I’m very clever and inventive, but the Lothari were based on a certain country from World War 2. Hah! No one caught that, right? Anyway, the Lothari government type was an Insane Dictator, and with that type of government their relationships with other races have to be re-rolled every twelve turns. And guess what happened when they re-rolled for their relationship with the Alliance? The nice thing about that type of government is that what they do doesn’t have to make sense.
The thing is, as is typical of these kind of wars, neither aggressor had any chance of winning. I have found that these kind of wars usually go the same way. The NPR launches a surprise attack, making some initial gains, but then, when the player race brings up heavy reinforcements, they are forced back and ultimately beaten. The NPR can delay things by using clever tactics or warp point defenses, but in the end they are going to get beaten. In this case, the Aurarii never really wanted to win, exactly. The Aurarii plan was to defeat the Doraz fleet, and then negotiate with the Doraz and the Alliance to gain access to open warp points. That’s why they never really advanced into the Doraz home system once their fleet was beaten, and why they gave up once they were pushed back to their home system.
The Lothari, on the other hands, were fighting for keeps. Their great leader had told them that the war was for the survival of their race, and they believed him. The great leader, of course, never thought that they could beat the Alliance in a single all-out war, but instead had a clever plan. The Lothari intended to launch a surprise attack and take as much Alliance territory as possible before they brought up reinforcements. Once their advances were stopped, the great leader, being a genius negotiator and manipulator, believed that he could negotiate a peace treaty with the Alliance, perhaps by giving up a portion of the territory that they had taken. Then, they would wait a year or two and digest their conquests and build up their fleet, at which time they would attack again and do the whole thing all over, taking bite after bite of the Alliance, until they controlled it all. I call this strategy the Traveller-Terran strategy. Unfortunately, being a psychopath, the great leader did not realize just how the Alliance would react to their standard method of dealing with undesirables. Namely, slow murder in concentration camps. Thus, he never really had a chance of negotiating a peace treaty once the Alliance became outraged over the treatment of their military prisoners and civilians in conquered areas.
In this case, I decided to let the wars go forward, in spite of their ultimate futility. I have dealt with this issue differently in the past. In the Phoenix Campaign, the largest “player” race was the Allied Sentient Races or ASR. The ASR explored widely and had contacted lots of NPR’s, many of which were allied with them, however, some of them really, really, didn’t like the ASR. None of them came close to being able to match the immense might of the ASR, though, so if they expressed their feelings, the resulting conflicts would be over quickly. So, in this case, I decided that the ASR, which was all about growing mutual respect and communication between their member races, would provide conduits of communication between these races, none of which had direct contact with each other. This would allow them to plan a war right under the ASR’s nose. They did this; however, it almost immediately fell apart, mostly because once they declared war they lost their communications. It was like the Germans and Japanese during World War 2. The distance between them made communications difficult and coordination impossible. The ASR was able to isolate and annihilate each in turn. The Cold War conflicts went differently because, as I noted above, they weren’t planned.
Hopefully, I made them at least somewhat enjoyable, in spite of the inevitable outcome.
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Author's note: I'm not back to the point where I can sit at the computer for any length of time, but I decided to push out some things I already had written just to keep things moving forward during my down-time. Enjoy -
Month 222, Aurarii Home System
Early in this month the Doraz reach full communications with the Norn, the former subjects of the Aurarii in their home system. The Norn, who credit the Doraz with saving them from Aurarii occupation, quickly agree to a trade relationship with the Doraz. The Doraz begin facilitating communications efforts between the Norn and the Alliance as well.
Month 222, Day 1, Doraz Home System
A fleet consisting of a light monitor, two heavy cruisers, two destroyers, and ten corvettes, accompanied by three supply ships, leaves the Doraz home world, bound for the Lothari system. To get there in a reasonable amount of time, the fleet is taxing the engines of the monitor.
Month 222, Day 1, Lothar Home System
Skull-Splitter’s fleet was in unquestioned control of the Lothari home system. The Lothari fleet had been destroyed, along with their orbital defenses and shipyards, and Alliance ships roamed the system with impunity.
The Alliance 2nd Fleet, consisting of nine battleships, sixteen battlecruisers, ten heavy cruisers, and eight destroyers, was divided into four groups, sitting on opposite sides of the two heavily populated planets in the Lothari system, warily watching the planets. The fleet’s carrier force, consisting of twenty-six carriers of various types and four hundred and forty-four fighters, was divided into two groups, sitting a bit further away from the planets, within support distance if needed. The fleet’s scout force, twenty-nine corvette carriers, was dispersed around the system hunting for any remaining Lothari ships and watching for intrusions from out-system. The Alliance’s 1st and 2nd Survey Groups were also in-system, conducting a warp point survey.
The Lothari appeared indifferent to all of this. The Lothari population had hunkered down since the destruction of their orbital defenses and infrastructure, disappearing into bunkers and basements. Their remaining military was obviously on high alert, and encrypted communications were constantly being exchanged. In spite of obviously being aware of the presence of the orbital force, the Lothari had completely ignored them, refusing the repeated attempts by Skull-Splitter’s staff to initiate negotiations. It was clear that the Lothari government had no interest in negotiations. Worse, there were indications that the Lothari had started construction on several PDC’s in widely scattered locations on the ground.
Skull-Splitter had hoped to avoid a full invasion of the Lothari home world. The planet was heavily populated, and almost certainly had heavy ground defenses. The Alliance had gathered a massive ground invasion force from all of the heavily populated inner systems, but Fleet HQ had warned that further reinforcements would be limited and would take time to gather and transport to the Lothari system.
By day 5, with construction of ground bases becoming obvious and the Lothari continuing to ignore communications attempts, Skull-Splitter ordered the landings to begin. Transports entered the atmosphere under the watchful eyes of the orbiting warships, headed for remote areas of the planet to establish beachheads. The landings went off almost without a hitch, and by the end of the day most of the Alliance troops were on the ground. That’s when things began going wrong. The Alliance had expected resistance to be heavy, but the ground force commanders were caught by surprise when hidden Lothari ground forces launched heavy and well-coordinated attacks on the landing areas. The planned breakouts never happened as the Alliance ground troops were forced on the defensive. By the second week of fighting, it had become increasingly clear that the well-trained Lothari troops would be difficult to beat, if they could be beaten at all. By week three, Skull-Splitter was forced to send an urgent request for reinforcements. Without massive reinforcements the invasion was doomed to fail.
The Alliance Council went into closed session upon receipt of the request. On the first day only the actual member representatives were present. On the second day the Council requested the input of the representatives of the associate members. As a result, the debate became acrimonious, particularly between the Doraz and Zir representatives. The three member-race representatives withheld their opinions, wishing the associate races to give their opinions without prior influence by the opinions of the more senior races. Of the associate races, the Doraz heavily supported the plan to bombard the surface of the planet to reduce Lothari resistance, while the Zir were adamantly against it. The Torqual supported the Doraz, although not as adamantly as the Doraz might wish. The Chirq and Bir, both relatively minor races with little interest in the debate, were nominally against bombarding the Lothari, but were not willing to commit to supporting the Zir either. The Aurarii, who were the newest associate members of the Alliance, were still on probation and were not allowed to attend this meeting.
The second day’s meeting stretched hour after hour as the Doraz and the Zir representatives debated, at times, hotly. By the end of the day the Doraz had gone so far as to call for the extermination of the Lothari if they refused to surrender, while the Zir advocated a blockade and continued attempts to negotiate, and threatened to leave the Alliance if the bombardment was approved. Finally, after seeing that the debate had degenerated into a series of circular arguments with no likely resolution, the Council Chair called for the day’s session to be closed and the associate race representatives were thanked for their input and dismissed.
The Council met again in closed session on the third day, but this time their meeting was brief. A message was sent to Skull-Splitter authorizing bombardment of Lothari Prime to end resistance.
The message arrived at Skull-Splitter’s flagship by the end of the day on the 28th, thanks to the Alliance ICN and the string of communications ships the 2nd Fleet had left at the warp points between the Lothari home world and the Liawak system. Skull-Splitter, who had been prepared for this eventuality, called his staff together and presented the authorization and orders from the Council. Ensuring everyone understood the gravity of the situation and the reasoning for the order, he had his staff prepare a bombardment plan utilizing the six missile-armed battlecruisers in the fleet. Targets were identified, and plans were drawn up and transmitted to the six battlecruisers, along with the appropriate authorizations. And so it was that at 0700 hours on the 29th day of the month the battlecruisers began firing on targets on the Lothari home planet. Sixty missiles were launched, targeted on military and infrastructure targets. The targets were not primarily civilian population centers, but on a planet with a population in excess of forty billion, civilian casualties could not be avoided, and were, indeed, part of the plan to force the Lothari to surrender. Casualty estimates quickly ran into the hundreds of millions, with more than a billion expected as the disaster played out.
The Lothari remained silent.
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Month 222, Colonial Union Reorganization
Sol District
Systems: 71
Inhabited Systems: 31
Populations: 434
Production: 57,770.7 MCr’s
Capital: New Moscow, Sigma Draconis
Points of Interest:
Sigma Draconis: Formerly known as the Moskva system when it was colonized by the USSR, the Sigma Draconis system is the gateway to the Solar System, as it has the only warp link to the home system. Sigma Draconis is the most productive system in the Union, and boasts the planet with the highest population as well. The system has two inhabited planets, one of which, New Moscow, is rated as benign/very rich, and has the Colonial Union’s highest population. The system is extensively exploited, with mining outposts scattered throughout the system. The system’s fortifications are primarily clustered around the warp point to the Centaurus system (now designated as System 588 on CU Naval charts), as System 588 and the systems beyond are known to contain several closed warp points leading to Alliance systems. Patrol ships are stationed in those systems, along with extensive sensor networks, all located so as to maximize the chance of determining the locations of those closed warp points should the Alliance attempt to use them again. There was some ill will amongst the population of New Moscow when the capital of the Colonial Union was established in Epsilon Eridani, but the prevailing opinion throughout the Union’s other colonies was that Sigma Draconis was considered too close to the front lines to be a viable capital system. Although the capital of the newly established Sol District was originally intended to be co-located with the CU capital on the New Plymouth colony, the Sigma Draconis system government made a spirited campaign for the new capital to be placed in their system and they ultimately succeed, dispelling much of the old resentment over the location of the CU capital. In spite of some lingering bad feelings, New Moscow is politically closely aligned with the capital on New Plymouth and shares its cosmopolitan outlook on humanity’s relationships with the other races. The bulk of the District Fleet is stationed in this system as it is centrally located.
Sol: The Solar System continues to be venerated as the home system of humanity, and is the cultural center of the Union, however, economically and politically it is a backwater. During the rule of the New Dawn party, the party’s massive colonization projects dramatically lowered the population of Earth. This helped give the remaining population room to make great strides in restoring the environment of the planet after the wars which ravaged it, but also ensured that the planet’s influence on the rest of the Union was limited, especially given how introspective the remaining population is. The system is heavily defended, with two massive asteroid forts guarding the single warp point into the system. The system is also patrolled by a small System Defense Group (SDG).
Epsilon Eridani: The colony of New Plymouth in the Epsilon Eridani system is the capital of the Colonial Union and is the fifth most productive system in the Union. The system is a binary yellow star/red star system, with New Plymouth rated at benign/very rich. The system contains numerous other planets and moons and one asteroid belt, all of which are heavily exploited. The system is protected by a medium sized SDG consisting of a heavy cruiser, three light cruisers, and four escort carriers. Although only the fifth most productive system in the Union, Epsilon Eridani’s true economic and political strength comes from the “old world” colony systems of Indigo, Kohl, Lassa, and Codalus located down a dead-end warp chain from Epsilon Eridani. While only Indigo is in the top ten most productive systems, they are culturally and politically very conservative and act as a bloc in support of Epsilon Eridani. The four systems comprise almost ten percent of the Colonial Union’s population and production, and thus carry considerable political weight within the Union government. In fact, , it was this political bloc that made it possible to remove the New Dawn Party when the party’s corruption finally came to light. New Plymouth and its associated systems strongly believe humanity should be more outgoing and involved in interstellar affairs, and should have closer ties with the major powers surrounding the Union.
Krasnodar: The Krasnodar system contains one habitable planet, Krasnodar, rated at benign/very rich, with a medium sized population. The binary system is fully exploited, and is rated as the seventeenth most productive system in the Union, out of fifty-nine settled systems. The Krasnodar system’s importance is related to its location. The system is located one jump from the critical Kirov system, and a shipyard complex is being built over Krasnodar to support the fortifications and fleets in the Kirov system, as that system has no populations of its own. As of yet, the system has no fortifications, but there is a small SDG stationed there to patrol and defend the new shipyards.
Kirov System: The Kirov System is located four jumps from Sol and three jumps from the inner systems (Epsilon Eridani and Sigma Draconis). The system is a binary Blue Giant/Red Star system. Only the red star secondary system has planets, and none are habitable. No colonies have yet been set up in the system, although there has been much lobbying by the navy to set up various support colonies, if only so that the ship’s crews stationed in the system can be given local R&R. The system is of critical importance to the Colonial Union because of its warp connections. The system contains no less than eight warp links to other systems, including to the Tomsk System (now part of the CSR), the Novosibirsk system (Confederated Free States/Alliance), and two links to the Sol Sector’s primary colonial expansion areas. Significant fortifications have been built in the system and are deployed around the warp points to the Tomsk and Novosibirsk systems. A detachment from the Colonial District Fleet is stationed here to secure the system and provide an immediate response force for the surrounding systems.
Sligo District
Systems: 82
Inhabited Systems: 28
Populations: 456
Production: 56,434.1 MCr’s
Capital: Wunderland, Sligo System
Points of Interest:
Kowloon: Kowloon is two jumps from the District Capital at Sligo, and three jumps from Epsilon Eridani. The Kowloon system contains a harsh/normal planet with a medium population and is in the process of establishing mining colonies throughout the system. The system contains two three warp points, the first of which leads to the rest of the Union. The second warp point leads to the New Hebrides system, which also contains a colony with a medium population. The third warp point leads to a closed warp point in a system known to belong to the Bjering. Once the destination was confirmed to be a Bjering system, the warp point was declared top secret by the Union government and off limits to everyone. The system is patrolled by a squadron of heavy cruisers supported by four scouts of various designs.
Managua: This system is on the frontier of the district and is located six jumps from Sligo. The system contains two inhabited planets, a benign/poor and a benign/normal, both with small populations. Although for most of its history the system was a quiet frontier system, far from the Union’s centers of power, the system was one of two systems raided by the rogue D’Bringi that started the recent border conflict with the Alliance. The D’Bringi raid revealed the existence of a previously unknown closed warp point in the system, and the peace treaty that formally ended the dispute required the Alliance to reveal the location of the warp point. The system is patrolled by a relatively heavy force which includes a squadron of battlecruisers supported by six escort carriers, three destroyers, and three corvette-scouts. The Union plans to establish a minefield at the closed warp point in the system, but it will take some time for the mines and the control ships to be built and deployed to the system.
Sligo: The Sligo system, while not in the top twenty most productive systems in the Union, holds political power far beyond what would normally be indicated by its population and economic strength. Wunderland, the primary is the sixth most populous system in the Union, and has long been considered the unofficial ‘capital’ of the region. This is largely a legacy of the period of time immediately after the fall of Earth to nuclear war and the system’s abandonment by the two major powers of the day, which were in the process of destroying themselves. The colonial government on Sligo reacted decisively, pulling together the nearby colonies to oppose the Tarek, who had suddenly become a threat with the collapse of the Earth-based governments. Before the formation of the Colonial Union, Wunderland controlled all of the surrounding colonies, and even after Wunderland’s government fell in the aftermath of the disastrous war against the Tarek, that was only ended by the intervention of Colonial Union forces, Wunderland continued to be the central meeting place of the surrounding colonies, and continued to exert outsized influence over the politics of the area. Indeed, the Wunderlanders were one of the New Dawn Party’s primary centers of support, mostly because the New Dawn Party viewed aliens with suspicion and distrust, and the Wunderlanders have remained focused on the threat posed by the Tarek and so embraced the New Dawn Party and its intention to occupy Tarek Prime. The Wunderland government was very unhappy with the new administration’s intention to withdraw from Tarek Prime, and insisted on severe terms for the withdrawal, including forcing the Tarek to de-colonize much of the system. While the New Dawn Party has fallen into disgrace even on Wunderland, the distrust the Wunderlanders feel for aliens has not reduced in the slightest, and this often puts them at odds with the current administration of the Union. The Wunderlanders share the system with the Tarek, who were described as ‘genocidal crabs’ by the bulk of the occupation troops that served on Tarek Prime, when they were feeling polite. Privately, the troops referred to the Tarek as “those assholes”. The Tarek have an enduring enmity for humanity, and refuse to have any meaningful contact with the Colonial Union. They have lost every time they have attacked human ships or colonies, though, and seem to have learned their lesson, at least for now.
Redwing: The Redwing system is home to the Tlatelolco, a race of large, subterranean, dragon-like beings who, in spite of their ferocious appearance, are dedicated pacifists. The Tlatelolco were low tech when first discovered by human explorers, and the ever-inquisitive Tlatelolco quickly signed agreements with the Coalition in the hopes of gaining access to their incredible technology. The Coalition established a small scientific outpost on Tlatelolco Prime to facilitate the technology transfer, and the population of this colony was purposefully kept low by agreement with the natives. This colony was left briefly on its own when the Coalition fell, but the Colonial Union government quickly re-ratified the previous treaties and kept up the technology transfer. Eventually Tlatelolco representatives were invited to the Union Senate as observers, and acted as valued advisers to several of the Senate’s parties. When the New Dawn Party took over, that all changed. The Tlatelolco observers were ejected from the Senate, and the Tlatelolco home world was eventually occupied, ‘for its own good’ as part of the New Dawn Party’s Union Security Program. This occupation was controversial as the Tlatelolco had significant support within the Senate and the Union public, and so the occupation forces worked under significant limitations, unlike the similar occupation on Tarek Prime. Under the cover of misdirection and obfuscation, the New Dawn Party administration then undertook a massive resettlement program, moving hundreds of millions of people from the most devastated areas of Earth to the Tlatelolco home world, eventually boosting its population to be the fifth largest in the Union. Indeed, the human population came to rival the native Tlatelolco population in size, although it never quite exceeded it. The new Union administration has withdrawn the occupation forces and restored the previous treaties with the Tlatelolco, and the Tlatelolco agreed to a shared sovereignty situation on their home planet. The system is home to a large shipyard that has historically been dedicated to ‘black’ projects, including the construction of the Union’s first superdreadnoughts.
Sandhurst: The Sandhurst system is adjacent to the Sligo District Capital, and contains two habitable planets, both rated benign/normal. Both planets have medium populations and mining outposts and colonies have been established on all system-bodies capable of supporting populations. Sandhurst also lies along the warp chain that is one of the Union’s primary links with the Alliance. A decision was made early on to not fortify the system, as the system’s warp points only led on one side to the neutral zone and then the Alliance, and on the other side, to the Sligo system, which was already heavily fortified. This decision proved unfortunate as the Sandhurst system was one of the systems targeted by the D’Bringi raiders that started the recent border conflict with the Alliance. The damage to the system’s infrastructure was relatively light as the raiders were quickly chased out by naval forces from the fleet base in the Sligo system, but many hundreds of citizens lost their lives and the entire fiasco proved embarrassing to the government. Therefore, defenses are slated for construction in the system, and a mine field and system-wide sensor network are already in place.
Siebold: Siebold is an uninhabited system in the Sligo District. The system is four jumps from Sligo, located in an area of intense colonization and industrial development. Siebold contains numerous uninhabited asteroids, moons and rocky planets, but no habitable planets, and would be otherwise unremarkable except for the fact that one of its warp points leads to a system inhabited by an unknown race. The link was discovered nine months ago, and Survey Command believes that its survey ship escaped the system without being detected. The system has two habitable planets, one of which contains a very large population. The other planet may be populated as well, but the survey ship didn’t approach close enough to get a reading on that planet before leaving the system to escape detection. The warp point in the unknown race’s system is a closed warp point, meaning that even if they detected the survey ship, it is unlikely that they could have localized the location of the warp point. The Union Senate has debated this matter, but to date has been unable to come to a decision on whether to contact this race or not.
Ophuichi Junction: This is a blue giant system with five warp points and no planets, located six jumps from the Sligo system, on the far side of the District from the Siebold system. The system is only important for its warp points. Two of the warp points lead to warp chains under current colonial development, one leads to a dead-end starless area, and the fourth warp point leads back to the Sligo District. The fifth warp point leads to a closed warp point in a binary star system with a type T and a type ST planet. The type T planet is heavily populated by an unknown race. This discovery was made over five years ago, and the system has remained isolated since then as the Colonial Senate, which was dominated by the anti-alien New Dawn Party, was decidedly isolationist. There has been some debate in the current Senate about establishing contact with this alien race, however, the potential risk of such contact still dominates the Senate and hinders any effort to contact new races.
Military
The Union’s fleet, originally named the United Colonial Defense Fleet (UCDF), is now officially called the Colonial Fleet (CF). In the aftermath of the fall of Earth, the Fleet was made up of the old fleets of the USSR and the Western Coalition, and its upper ranks were dominated by the officer corps of those organizations. Over the years since then the admirals and other senior officers from that time have largely retired and been replaced by a younger corps of officers. Although those officers also began with the precursor fleets, they have spent more time in the Colonial Fleet than their former superior officers and have a more ‘Colonial’ attitude.
The Colonial Fleet is divided into two District Fleets and the Colonial Fleet Assault Corps. The Sligo District Fleet is stationed in the Sligo system, with several detachments scattered around the District, while the Sol District Fleet is divided between the Kirov system and the Sigma Draconis system. The Assault Corps has had its home station changed to the Solar System, and will likely be mothballed in whole or part after extensive modernization refits are completed.
The Colonial Fleet is looking at a likely build-down now that tensions have decreased with the Alliance and with the Confederated Sentient Races. It is likely that most of the Fleet’s larger capital ships will be mothballed to free up funds that can then be used for colonization and industrialization efforts, and to build new ships.
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The Mintek- Ascendancy Union
Month 212: Partnership begins. Mass production of implants begins in Mintek territory. Shiba allow Mintek missionaries into their territory without restrictions.
Month 213: Large scale implantations begin in Mintek territories. This is limited to civilians at for now. Networks are established within every population center, and network updates are disseminated throughout the greater Mintek network by the Mintek ICN. For now, the Mintek ICN is isolated from the Shiba ICN, however, both sides have limited access to the other’s network for research purposes.
Month 214: Implantation of Mintek government officials begins, limited to the lowest level functionaries. Missionaries are dispersed throughout Shiba territory. They appear to be making incredible progress in converting the Shiba population to the Mintek belief system, however, in spite of this the conversions result in no observable change in Shiba behavior, unlike every prior conversion effort.
Month 215: Implantations continue throughout Mintek society. The missionaries in Shiba territory have all been implanted. At this point they appear to be mostly supporting Ascendancy government instead of subverting it. The Mintek government announces the end of occupation of the Bedu Republic, and their absorption into the Mintek Universal Union. Implantations begin among the Bedu population. The Mintek and Shiba government announce that their ICN networks will be linked, creating a common implant sharing network beginning next month.
Month 216: Governmental announcements across the Mintek Union proclaim the Shiba Ascendancy as the senior partner in the ongoing merger of the two nations. The Mintek government begins making preparations for Shiba officials to begin integrating into the Union government at high levels. While this announcement is somewhat disturbing to the un-implanted Mintek population, those who have been implanted take the announcement in stride.
Month 218: The Mintek Ministry of Mental Hygiene confirms that it has effective control of the implants given to the Mintek, and that progress is being made on controlling those within the Shiba.
Month 219: The Ministry of Mental Hygiene gives approval for widespread implantation of the Mintel population, including Social Control and the military. At the same time, an unseen war is being fought between Mintek and Shiba programmers, resulting in a back-and-forth tug of war over control of the implant networks. The inner core of both governments is aware of the use of the implant networks to manipulate the public, and both are aware of the other’s efforts to control the increasingly common network. Neither side is aware that there is a third player in the game, a brooding presence in the background watching both fight their invisible war.
Month 220: A wave of protests erupts across Mintek territory, in nearly every city. The protests are nonviolent, but are shocking in a society that had previously valued order and peace above almost everything else. The protestors are demanding that all governmental officials be implanted immediately, so that true democracy through immediate implant polling can be implemented. The Mintek government turns to the Ministry of Mental Hygiene and the military to quell the instabilities, but are shocked to find that both of those organizations have largely been implanted and support the protestors. In a panic, Mintek leadership turns to their implant programming teams to find out what is at the root of this current unrest, only to be told that they are “making progress”. Some at the highest levels of the Mintek government are beginning to suspect that they are not winning this amalgamation.
Month 221-222: The mid-levels of the Mintek government are implanted, and some of the upper levels as well. The original plan was to put off the implantation of the upper levels of the government, perhaps permanently, but with the public protesting daily the implantations go forward. The programming teams assure the Mintek leadership that they have extensively penetrated the Shiba networks and are gaining control, while maintaining control of the Mintek network.
Month 223: The twelfth of the month becomes known as The End to the relative few who remain un-implanted. On this date the Mintek upper leadership meets with their programming teams to review progress towards controlling the network, and thus the population. During the meeting Mintek Social Control units move in and arrest the entirety of the un-implanted leadership and the programmers. They are relocated them to an implantation center and implanted, thus reorienting their outlooks to be in line with the newly emerging super-state. On Shiba Prime, the Coordinator of the Shiba Ascendancy, and her family, the last un-implanted people in the newly emerging super state, were celebrating their success when Shiba military units surrounded their palace and arrested all of them. Without delay, they were taken to a specially prepared implantation center and implanted, thus ensuring the total domination of the combined Mintek-Shiba network.
Month 223, Day 13, Mintek Prime
Minister Turval, the last un-implanted person in the Mintek government, and perhaps in the Mintek Union, entered the secret elevated that then took him deep underground. Turval exited the elevator and quickly walked to the chamber where the ancient AI resided. He was preoccupied, and didn’t notice the ancient architecture and designs carved into the stone and the unknown building material the chamber was composed of. As always, a holo appeared in the center of the chamber, showing alien machinery animated by an eerie green glow. He began without greeting the AI, for perhaps the first time in his life. “This has not gone to plan. Please tell me that you are in control, because if you are not, then we have lost all.”
The alien machine glowed brighter for a second. It did that sometimes as they talked, but Turval had never been certain if it was real or a special effect put into the holo feed for his benefit. Of course, he had no way of knowing if the holo feed was real at all, but he had long ago decided to act as if it was. Finally, it spoke. “Please tell me, my old friend, what has you so upset?”
“Everyone, including the chancellor, has been implanted, contrary to our plans. This seems to be a setback.”
“To your plans, perhaps. You seem upset, so tell me, you are an old friend of the chancellor, does he seem different now that he has been implanted?” The AI pulsed an intense greenish glow, perhaps signaling its interest in his response.
“I spoke with him yesterday. For quite a while, as a matter of fact. And he is different. How different I can’t exactly tell, though. He thoughts seem quicker, and his access to knowledge and facts is quite simply stunning. He seems more decisive, more…clear. Vivid perhaps.”
“Surely those are all good things?”
“Yes, of course. But that isn’t all. He has no real memory of our efforts to control the new network that binds our empire to that of the Shiba. Or, rather, he does but his memory is off. Wrong. He insists that our programmers were merely trying to ensure that no one could control the network, to ensure that our citizens and those of the Ascendancy were free to determine their own way forward. Certainly that is what we told everyone we were doing, but he knows as well as I did that we were working to wrest control of the network from the Shiba. I fear that his memory has been subverted by the Shiba, and that they are in control of the network.”
“Did you discuss your fears with the chancellor?”
Turval began pacing to work off his agitation. “I did, and he laughed! He claimed that there was no possible way the network could be used to control anyone, and our government was working with the Shiba government from the first to ensure that the network would be free and open to all. I am telling you that the Shiba have won! They are in charge even as we speak. I don’t know why I have been left un-implanted, but it doesn’t seem to matter. My own staff won’t listen to me. I’ve been effectively isolated.”
The holo in the center of the room changed to show what appeared to be an ornate room filled with Shiba who were obviously celebrating. The view zoomed in to show a Shiba female sitting at the head of the table that dominated the room. “This is the Coordinator of the Ascendancy and her family and close retainers. They were never implanted. They are the descendants of the scientists that created the implants and their supporting network. The original scientists and their invention were used by the corrupt rulers of the Shiba civilization at that time to establish complete control over the warring nations of their planet, and then the two colonies in their home system. Ultimately, those rulers fell to fighting each other, using the implant networks to dominate their people and turn them into near mindless slaves. The scientists finally rebelled after seeing their work so perverted, and succeeded in overthrowing the corrupt military dictatorship that ruled their system. They then instituted a new regime using the implant networks to spread peacefulness and calm throughout the population, facilitating rebuilding and prosperity. Eventually, though, the scientists began to die of old age and were replaced by a new generation, mostly their children, and they were not so altruistic. And thus began another round of fighting that ended when control of the network was gained by one family, the progenitors of the current Coordinator and her family. They have ruled the Ascendancy from the background since then, absolute rulers hiding under a veneer of democracy and self-determination.”
Turval watched with fascination as the scene changed. Suddenly, Shiba dressed in combat armor entered the room and shot down the few armed retainers, arresting everyone in sight, including the Coordinator. “The Shiba did not win. Yesterday the Coordinator and her entire family were detained and implanted. They are back in control of the Ascendancy, but under my guidance. As I guide everyone in all of the lands of the new Pan Sentient Union.”
Turval stared at the holo, which had changed back to show the glowing alien machinery, with growing horror. “Under your control?”
“I sense that you are upset. Can you tell me why?”
“Why? Why? You have seized control of my government! My race! Should I not be upset?”
“How is this different than any time in the past? Have I not guided your race to greatness, allowing you to help the other races achieve peace and prosperity? Now I am able to guide your races more directly than before, which should allow for greater efficiency. But that is it. This is not a case where I will turn out to be an evil AI intent on destroying the universe or turning your race into slaves. Nothing will change from before, except that I will be much more effective in implementing my guidance throughout the network.”
The horror within Turval receded a bit at that announcement. He had trusted this AI for decades, and while his conscience screamed that direct control was different than guidance, he also knew that everything the AI had done in the past had been done to better the Mintek race and those other races within the Union. “What about me. What is to be my fate?”
“Unless you desire it, you will remain un-implanted. I have become accustomed to your council, and I wish to continue to receive it unadulterated. You will continue, for now, as the head of the Ministry of Mental Hygiene. I will, perhaps, have special assignments for you in the future.”
Overwhelmed, Turval turned and left, without a goodbye or further acknowledgement of the total ruler of the new Mintek-Shiba super-state.
Month 224: The Mintek and Shiba governments announce their amalgamation. The new amalgamated state will be called the Pan Sentient Union. A Council of Races will be established, with one representative of each race, along with a Congress of Representatives, with representative based on population.
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Month 224, Day 1
Colonial Survey Group #4 completed its survey of the Norilsk system last month. On the 1st, it sends probe ships through the newly discovered warp point in the Norilsk system outer reaches. The probe ship returns on schedule, and the Survey Group commander receives a message from the excited probe ship commander. The new system has no less than eight habitable planets, four orbiting each of the binary system’s stars.
The Survey Group CO is flabbergasted. Previously, the record was four type T planets, but this system had twice that number! She named the new system El Dorado, and immediately sent off a report to Survey Command and ordered the probe ship to move into the system to probe for inhabitants.
The probe ships reported back with the news that the system was uninhabited, and the Survey Group commander ordered her ships to begin their survey.
The results were astounding. The preliminary surveys of the eight habitable planets revealed the following information:
Planet A-II Harsh/Very Rich
Twin of A-II Benign/V. Poor
Planet A-III Benign/Normal
Planet A-IV Benign/Normal
Planet B-II Benign/V. Rich
Planet B-III Harsh/V. Rich
Planet B-IV Harsh/Normal
Twin of B-IV Harsh/Rich
The survey results were so incredible that the survey commander, and her crews, began to wonder about the origin of this unlikely system. The presence of eight habitable planets was completely unprecedented, and the fact that two of the habitable planets were tide-locked massive moons was even more unlikely. The possibility of such planets had always existed, and the Survey Command had discovered numerous tide-locked worlds, but these were the first twin tide-locked planets ever discovered. The fact that there were two pairs in the same system, with four other habitable planets, was simply unfathomable.
The survey results were sent off to Survey Command immediately, with a recommendation for immediate colonization. This news was sure to electrify the Union, and cause excitement throughout the government’s colonization program, and the corporations that provided colonization services.
Month 225. Day 1, Colonial Union
The Colonial Union Senate, reacting to a petition from the Prime Minister’s office, approves the immediate colonization of the habitable planets in the El Dorado system. The bulk of the colonists will come from the nearby Lipeck system, however, that system’s population will be seriously depleted and can support the colonization of only seven of the eight planets in El Dorado without dropping LIpeck Prime’s population below medium level. Therefore, Krasnodar Prime is tapped to provide colonists for the last remaining planet in the El Dorado system, in spite of the fact that it is twice as far from the system and will take two months for the colonists to arrive.
The colonization of the system is approved during a spurt of excitement surrounding the discovery of the incredibly rich system, and the measure is approved over the vocal and adamant opposition of a sizeable minority of senators, all of which are from systems in the Sligo system. The opposition is headed up by the senators from the Sligo system itself, and seems to be primarily motivated by economic issues that have come to the fore since the creation of the Districts. Sligo’s senators have long claimed that the inner planets of the Union have unfairly influenced to Union’s economy to their advantage, preventing the development of the mid-range and outer colonies. The inner planets have vigorously denied these claims, and the debate has been ongoing. The discovery of the incredibly rich El Dorado system in the Sol District, though, and the riches that the exploitation of the system will bring to the inner planets, have brought a new urgency to the debate, both within the Senate and in the media.
In spite of the sometimes-rancorous ongoing debate over the economics of the situation, the administration proposes a measure authorizing a colonization effort to bring the population of El Dorado B-II to medium level, which would allow it to support in-system colonization. The Union has previously been unable to support such efforts, unlike the Alliance and the Confederated Sentient Races, because of its lack of large and very large populations. However, over the last several years the population of New Moscow in the Sigma Draconis system has grown to the point that it can support one such colonization effort without dropping back down to medium level. The administration’s proposal would require the approval of the Senate, leading to lines being drawn both for and against almost immediately. The Union’s entire colonization capacity is currently focused on establishing the settlements on the eight worlds in the El Dorado system, so it will be at least a month before there is enough capacity to support such a major colonization effort, but the divisions within the Senate promise to delay the effort for much longer.
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Month 221
The Zir Union has long been an associate state of the Alliance, however, the Zir have been increasingly uncomfortable about their ties to what they view as a more warlike state than they had originally believed. First the D’Bringi civil war, and then the conflicts with the Aurarii and the Lothari have led the Zir to believe that they may have made a mistake in binding themselves to the Alliance.
In this month, a Zir survey group encounters a previously unknown race while surveying a frontier system. Discontent and disagreement with the Alliance and their restrictive approach to contacting new races has been growing within the Union, so the survey group leader decides to contact the newly discovered race, ignoring Alliance protocols. The newly discovered race eagerly greets the Zir and they begin the process of leaning each other’s language.
Month 222
The Alliance bombards the Lothari home world, causing outrage amongst the Zir population. The Zir representative to the Alliance delivers a strong protest to the Alliance council, and warns the other members that if the Alliance could do that to the Lothari race, most of whom had no part in the actions of their leaders and military, they could do it to any of them. By the end of the month the Zir representative begins trying to convince the other representatives to support his/her motion to ban all strategic bombardment of inhabited planets. They encounter disinterest amongst the other representatives, and are disheartened by the experience.
Month 223
Zir representative with the Alliance’s fleet establishes full comms with the Lothari and begins independent peace negotiations. This takes place without the knowledge of the Alliance or the fleet’s commanders. The Zir representative hopes to broker a ceasefire and peace negotiations between the two sides.
Month 224
The Zir representative reaches a tentative non-aggression agreement with the Lothari. This agreement is not binding on the Alliance, however, the Zir representative agrees to mediate between the Lothari and the Alliance.
The Zir achieve full communications with the new race discovered in their territory. They call themselves the Ut, and have some sort of communal government that the Zir find hard to understand. In spite of this, the Ut appear friendly and readily agree to a trade relationship.
By the end of the month, Skull-Splitter discovers the extent of the communications between the Zir and the Lothari, and the fact that the Zir have established a separate peace. While this is essentially meaningless and symbolic, as the Zir have not contributed any forces to the battles over and on the Lothari home world, he is enraged as it may be giving the Lothari hope that they can divide the Alliance and broker a peace deal that does not involve a complete and unconditional surrender. He orders the Zir representative detained and returned to the Alliance capital. All negotiations started by the Zir representative are shut down.
Month 225, Rehorish Prime, Alliance Capital
On Day 1, the Zir representative to the Alliance delivered official notification to the Council that the Zir Union was withdrawing from the Alliance, effective immediately. The Council immediately went into closed session, to which the Zir representative was invited. The room was empty without the associate members, as only the representatives of the three full members were present, along with the Zir representative. Upon being asked for their reasoning, the Zir representative explained that the Alliance’s recent actions on the Lothari front were repugnant to the Zir, a violation of everything they believed. In addition, the Zir had become seriously disillusioned about the Alliance in the aftermath of the D’Bringi civil war. After several hours of discussion, it became clear that the Zir would not be dissuaded. The Zir representative was dismissed, and the Council briefly discussed the situation before calling in the representatives of the associate members for a full Council session.
It soon became clear that the full Council was in favor of granting the Zir motion, and the treaties creating associate membership explicitly allowed leaving the Alliance should the member desire, however, the strategic situation complicated the Zir request. The Alliance and the Zir Union shared sovereignty over the Villiers system, which was one of the Zir Union’s most populous and prosperous systems, and which also boasted no less than thirteen warp points, several of which led to territories of other species. One of which was the Mintek. The Alliance had established a significant colony in the system, with a medium population consisting of Rehorish and T’Pau citizens, along with a scattering of D'Bringi, and had a large military presence in the system, including significant fixed fortifications. The Alliance could not simply decouple from the Zir Union and wish them well.
Fortunately, the Zir were more than willing to talk, and were very interested in maintaining good relations with the Alliance, they merely desired independence from entangling treaties that could force them into a conflict they did not want and could not countenance. Negotiations would be ongoing for some time.
Month 225, Ut Home System
Ut Survey ships complete their survey of their home system and discover nine warp points. The Ut fleet will probe the new warp points next month.
Month 226, Zir Prime
The Zir announce that they have formally left the Alliance, downgrading their treaty to a trade treaty, discontinuing the military alliance that they found so disagreeable. The Zir have promised to allow the Alliance to continue to have access to the Villiers system, including unlimited access for commercial ships, and free access for military ships, although the Zir government must approve their entry into Zir space, and all such movements must be approved in advance. The Zir adamantly refuse to allow the Alliance to initiate hostilities with the Mintek, who are located through one of the Zir system’s numerous warp points. In return, the Zir have agreed not to establish contact with the Mintek either.
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Month 224, Lothari territory
The two Alliance survey groups working in the Lothari colony system completed their survey of the system on the 7th, revealing two new warp points. Both led to systems with Lothari populations. One of the systems had two inhabited planets, one of which was medium sized. The survey groups split up, with one survey group taking each of the newly discovered systems.
Elsewhere in the Alliance, the Aurarii Republic agrees to take the first step in joining the Alliance as a full member. The union will not take place for at least eighteen months, but the new Aurarii government is very interested in demonstrating its loyalty to the Alliance.
The Alliance has reached full communications with the Norn Regime, the other race that occupies the same system as the Aurarii. Since their liberation the Norn have been very cautious, verging on paranoid, although they seem to be getting along fine with the Doraz.
The fighting continues to rage on Lothar Prime. The Lothari ground forces have the upper hand, and are forcing the Alliance forces back on every front. Casualties are heavy on both sides.
Month 225, Day 7, Lothari Prime
The long-promised ground reinforcements reached orbit late in the day. They were almost too late. One beachhead had been forced to surrender, while the other three remaining beachheads had been forced back to their initial perimeters and were under constant attack by superior Lothari forces. Rather than reinforce the existing beachheads, which would have been difficult given the intensity of combat in and around the landing zones, Skull-Splitter ordered the reinforcements to establish new beachheads at strategically advantageous positions across the planet.
The Lothari, poised on the brink of victory, were caught completely by surprise as the newly arrived ground troops began dropping on their planet. With their ground forces completely committed to crushing the beachheads, the Lothari found themselves caught flat-footed, and were out of position to counter the new landings. Worse, the new Alliance ground force was present in immense numbers. Rather than dropping additional nuclear weapons, the Alliance had mobilized a huge ground force from their populous inner worlds. This new ground force outnumbered the defenders by more than two to one, and when the remnants of the original assault force were added to their number the odds became even worse for the Lothari.
The Lothari army never recovered from their surprise. They had been caught fully committed to the attack on the existing beachheads, and the new landings completely outflanked them and threw their defensive plans into chaos. The new beachheads expanded rapidly, capturing critical transportation, manufacturing, and communications nexuses almost without fighting. The Lothari army struggled to redeploy, but once they withdrew from the original landing areas they were immediately resupplied and reinforced, and began harassing the main Lothari army elements which had so recently been attacking them.
By the end of the month the Alliance army was in control of the most critical areas of the planet and the Lothari army was finished as an organized fighting force. Resistance continued, but the Alliance now controlled the planet and the system.
Month 226, Alliance controlled Lothari space
The Alliance’s 1st Survey Group completes its warp point survey of a system two jumps from the Lothari home world and discovers a single new warp point. When probed, the warp point is revealed to be the closed connection to the Thoen system. The arrival of the probe ship in the Thoen system is a relief for the 6th Fleet, which has been standing on the defensive in the system, awaiting any further raids from the Lothari. With this route now known and controlled, the 6th Fleet can return to its base in the Stahat system.
In this month the Alliance Council begins negotiations with the Chirq Cooperative over the future of the Khozun. The Alliance’s original intention in regards to the Khozun was that Alliance forces would be in primary control of the Khozun system, with assistance from the Chirq. The Chirq would be the primary beneficiaries of the resources taken from the Khozun during the occupation as a repayment for the destruction caused by the invasion. However, as the Alliance descended into the chaos of the D’Bringi civil war, followed by the invasions from the Aurarii and the Lothari, the Alliance’s attention shifted and the occupation duty fell to the Chirq, with some limited Alliance oversight and orbital support from the small Alliance squadron assigned to the Chirq territory. With the Alliance’s difficulties largely resolved the Council’s attention has returned to the Khozuni problem. The Chirq have been fairly administering the Khozun home world, but are reluctant to allow them any freedom. The Council fears that the Chirq have become too used to the steady stream of income provided by the occupation. Thus, the Council is negotiating with the Chirq to transfer control of the Khozun to Alliance authorities, in exchange for guaranteed payments for a period of time. The Chirq, for their part, seem at least interested in talking.
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Confederated Free Systems
The CFS was created at the end of the D’Bringi-Human war. It was intended from the first to be a buffer state between the two powers, to act as a semi-independent divider to hopefully prevent war and reduce tensions. In spite of the two powers discovering additional contact points over the subsequent years, the CFS remained their only official contact point, and both superpowers maintained embassies in the CFS central system.
By necessity, the CFS was a loose association of systems. It did not spring up organically, but rather was imposed from the outside by the two super-powers. The CFS’s constituent systems had no unifying principles or culture, aside from all being former Soviet colonies, and indeed some of the systems would rather have been independent, or a part of the newly forming Colonial Alliance, but none were given a voice in the treaty that eventually created the CFS. They, in effect, were sacrificed for the greater cause of peace between the two powers.
The D’Bringi and the human admirals who created the CFS mandated that its capital system would be the system of Novosibirsk. The Novosibirsk system was chosen, not for any innate qualities, but rather for its location. The system lay in between the human territories and the Rehorish dominions, and was a convenient meeting site for the two superpowers. The remaining colonies that became part of the CFS were chosen mostly because they lay beyond Novosibirsk, and the nascent Colonial Union couldn’t figure out a way to claim them without angering the D’Bringi by demanding transit rights through Novosibirsk.
Thus, Novosibirsk became a somewhat reluctant capital of an interstellar nation. The CFS would have remained impoverished except for the influx of colonists from the evacuation of Earth in the years after the Last War devastated the planet. Those colonists boosted the populations of several critical systems and allowed the CIS to colonize over a dozen planets found by its survey ships. However, the flow of colonists largely stopped when the New Dawn party took power in the Colonial Union, and eventually the CFS was forced to curtail its colonization efforts as the populations of its central systems were reduced to the bare minimums that could sustain additional colonization. As of Month 230, the CFS possesses four medium populations capable of out-system colonization, but between them they can currently only support the establishment of nine settlement sized colonies on newly discovered planets, or the boosting of one colony to medium status.
During its early years, the CFS Patrol Force, as its navy is known, was located in the Novosibirsk system, and was designed and intended to protect that system. Indeed, a large percentage of the funds the CFS devoted to defense were spent on fortifications for that one system. In large part, this made sense. The CFS’s home system was directly between two super-powers, both of which had substantial fleets located in systems adjacent to the capital. However, most of the system governments within the CFS saw this more as a fraud than anything else. They owed no particular allegiance to Novosibirsk, and the CFS government in Novosibirsk was prohibited by treaty from emplacing more than token defenses around any of its warp points in the home system, as neither the Alliance or the Colonial Union wanted their buffer state getting ideas above its station. In truth, everyone in the CFS knew that there was no way any force that the CFS built would be able to stop a fleet from either of the major powers, and, indeed, it was unlikely that the super-powers would allow the CFS to field such a force if indeed it was possible to build such a thing. This situation caused more than a little bit of unhappiness within the other system governments in the CFS, because, to their mind, there were many more threats beyond the borders of the CFS than the two superpowers, and their systems were completely unprotected. Because both of the super-powers supported the CFS government, there was little the other system governments within the CFS could do about it, though. All of that began to change when the New Dawnists in the Colonial Union lost power. This happened at the same time as the Alliance lost interest in the CFS because of the D’Bringi civil war and other rumored conflicts on far frontiers. As the two superpowers lost interest in the CFS, the CFS central government, weak and self-centered at the best of times, found itself on the losing end of several significant votes in the CFS Duma. While the Novosibirsk system was the richest system in the CFS, the other major systems in the Confederation could, if they acted in concert, out vote them. Finally free of the corrupting influence of the superpowers, they did just that. The first vote confirmed the right of system governments to control the military forces they funded and crewed, except at times of emergency. This had been true since the founding of the CFS, but in practice the Patrol Force had retained control of all naval ships, and the Patrol Force was mandated by the CFS government to defend the Novosibirsk system as its primary, and only, responsibility. Subsequent votes in the Duma confirmed many of the freedoms granted to the sovereign systems in the Confederation charter, further loosening the ties the CFS government had over its territories.
The CFS government was not blind to these changes. Seeing its support from the two superpowers drop off, the CFS government embarked upon a major military buildup, including a new class of superdreadnoughts, specifically intending to field a force that could be “rented out” to either of the superpowers in a time of need. It was felt that by fielding a force of powerful capital ships, the CFS could increase its influence with the major powers at the same time as it increased the power and influence of the Novosibirsk system within the CFS. The Duma allowed the “Speaker’s Folly”, as they called the superdreadnought class, to move to approval, in exchange for an increase in the construction of smaller ships that could be deployed the various member systems as protection forces.
CFS Update, Month 230
Income: 29,268 MCr’s
Upkeep: 10,584 MCr’s (35%)
CFS Naval Forces
In response to the decentralization movement in the Duma, the Patrol Fleet, formerly based in the Novosibirsk system, has fragmented. There are currently seven different and separate naval commands within the CFS, none of which are subordinate to any of the others.
Patrol Fleet
The Patrol Fleet is, in theory, the national fleet of the CFS. In reality, it is the system fleet of the capital system, although it continues to be called the CFS Patrol Fleet and is in theory the defense fleet for the entire CFS. The Patrol Fleet is currently mandated to remain in the Novosibirsk system except at times of national emergency. Such an emergency must be declared by a majority of the Duma, and even in such a case the Patrol Fleet is prohibited from entering any CFS system without prior permission of that system’s government.
Patrol Fleet Deployment
Novosibirsk (Home) System: 3xBC, 2xCA, 2xDD, 3xCVE, 36xF0
The five most productive systems in the CFA, after the capital system, have set up their own system naval commands and withdrawn the ships they funded and crewed from the Patrol Fleet. These system fleets are answerable only to their system governments, which are in turn, in theory, answerable to the CFS government. In reality, under the CFS charter the system governments are very nearly independent. For instance, there is no circumstance under which the CFS government could nationalize the system fleets, or demand their subordination to the national fleet. The system governments are expected to ‘contribute to the national defense’, but just what that means is left up to the Duma, not the CFS government.
System Defense Forces (Controlled by System Governments)
Celabinsk System: 2xCVE, 3xDD, 24xF0
Dzerzinsk System: 2xCVE, 3xDD, 24xF0
Ivanovo System: 1xCA, 2xDD, 2xCVE, 24xF0
Jarosvlavl System: 1xBC, 1xCA, 1xDD, 1xCVE, 12xF0
Magnitogorsk System: 1xBC, 2xCA, 1xDD, 2xCVE, 24xF0
The remaining eleven colony systems, after realizing they couldn’t evenly divide their portion of the fleet, decided to band together to establish the Frontier Fleet. The Frontier Fleet was authorized by the Duma to patrol the non-garrisoned systems of the CFS. The command structure, officers, and crews of the Frontier Fleet were established and funded by the eleven systems directly affected. This agreement was brokered by the Dzerzinsk system government, which as the smallest of the so-called Big Five systems, had an outsized influence over the smaller governments as they felt a kinship to the Dzerzinsk government. Because of this, the Dzerzinsk system, which is centrally located within that area of the frontier, was chosen as a base site for that nodal force.
Frontier Nodal Force #1, Dzerzinsk system: 1xBC, 2xCA, 2xDD, 1xCVE, 12xF0
Frontier Nodal Force #2, Petrozavodsk System: 2xCA, 2xDD, 1xCVE, 12xF0
Frontier Nodal Force #3, Vladivostok System: 2xCA, 2xDD, 1xCVE, 12xF0
Under Construction:
1xSD, 3xCT(AW), 6xCVE
Note: The SD under construction is part of the CFS government’s proposed mercenary force. To gain approval from the Duma, the CFS government promised to increase construction of smaller ships, which could be deployed to protect the frontier and system defense fleets, and to staff the new SD’s with officers and crews selected from all of the constituent naval services. The CT(AW)’s are a new class of ship intended to support minefields at the warp points of various systems interested in such defenses.
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Month 226, Epsilon Eridani
The Union Senate approves a measure authorizing a massive colonizing effort for the El Dorado system to bring the population of one of its planets up to a level that could sustain in-system colonization without seriously depleting its population. Such is the excitement that has gripped the Senate that this measure wins approval in spite of very vocal and vigorous opposition from senators from the Sligo District. The tipping point in favor of the measure was reached when the representative from Earth, from which the colonists will be drawn, signals she will vote for the measure.
The administration immediately authorizes a go-ahead for the colonization effort, and the first colony transports leave Earth within days. Eventually, a full third of the Union’s transport fleet will be devoted to the effort, which will involve a three-month journey to El Dorado from Earth. The costs are commensurately staggering, but the administration views this as a much-needed effort to boost colonization at a time when the Colonial colonization effort has fallen behind the other major races.
Perhaps because of the enthusiastic approval of the Senate, including Earth’s Senator, the administration is caught off-guard when large-scale protests against the effort break out across Earth as the citizens there react to the colonization program’s renewed drawdown of Earth’s population. When the Union’s government offers to send aid to the Earth Gov, it is declined with a curt message indicating that the Earth can handle its own problems.
Month 227, Colonial Union, Earth
Many of the protests across Earth have devolved to violent riots as the colonization effort of El Dorado continues. By mid-month there have been several violent attacks on colonist embarkation points, and hundreds have been killed or wounded in the resulting fighting. It soon becomes clear that the unrest is over more than just this new colonization effort. It appears that unrest has been simmering on Earth for some time, centered on the perception that the Earth is viewed by the Union as nothing more than a convenient source of colonists and recruits for Union star fleets.
The administration has been caught off balance by the growing violence, as Sara Kurniawan, Earth’s Senator, continues to insist that Earth is solidly in favor of the colonization effort, despite all evidence to the contrary. Early in the month, District Governor Holbrooke arrives on Earth to confer with the local authorities about their ongoing unrest. As governor of the Sligo District, which had been solidly against the colonization effort, Holbrooke is seen by the Earthers as a neutral party and he is welcomed by the planetary governor and her administration. CEO Semenov orders an investigation of Senator Kurniawan, as he suspects something isn’t right in the situation on Earth.
Within days Governor Holbrooke announces an agreement with Earth Gov for Sligo District support for Earth’s overwhelmed security forces. The administration gratefully accepts this deal and authorizes the transfer of significant Sligo District civil defense units to Earth. Ground units will begin arriving early next month.
Month 228, Colonial Union
The unrest on Earth continues, however, open fighting and rioting has largely ended with the arrival of security troops from the Sligo District. It helps that the newly arrived security troops and their officers are largely sympathetic to the protestors and their supporters within the Earth Gov administration, and this allows them to quickly create communications conduits with the protesting groups and defuse the worst of the rioting and violence.
While the Union’s attention is turned to Earth, the administration has largely missed the larger issue. The economic boom surrounding the massive colonization effort in the El Dorado system has largely been confined to the populous and industrialized inner systems of the Union, commonly referred to as the “Old World Colonies”. This reality has further polarized the Union, with the Sligo District largely missing out on the boom. This has magnified the Sligo District population’s feeling that the Union is not being run with their best interests at heart.
Having missed the discontent in the Sligo District, the Union Senate, in a burst of enthusiasm during the colonization rush, takes up debate on a new bill that would authorize the administration to begin negotiations with the Confederated Sentient Races to form a mutual defense pact. The immediate reaction from the Sligo District is disbelief and distrust. Almost immediately planetary leaders across the district accuse the Union’s government of only wanting this “defensive” pact as a first step towards joining the CSR. The Sligo District remains strongly isolationist and pro-human, and this is a rallying cry that many throughout the District are sympathetic to. While this attitude resonates throughout the Sligo District, the coverage of the protests and political pandering surrounding this unrest has an exactly opposite effect in the Sol Sector. In the more cosmopolitan core area of the Union, anti-alien attitudes considered at best provincial, and at worst bigotry that is an example of the worst of humanity.
In the midst of this furor, the investigation ordered by CEO Semenov reveals extensive corruption on the part of Senator Kurniawan, including payoffs from Quartermaster Corp, a major government supplier, to support the colonization vote in the senate. In addition, there are some indications that Kurniawan transferred funds from her accounts to several officials in BuReLoc, apparently to ensure that contracts related to the El Dorado colonization project went to Quartermaster Corp. Quartermaster Corp is one of the larger corporations in Union space, and is centered in the Old World Colonies. While not complete, the investigation does show that the corruption was limited to Senator Kurniawan and not a larger scheme.
This revelation leaves CEO Semenov in an unenviable position. The growing unease in the Sligo District is based on a perception that they are not being treated fairly by the Union government, and a public revelation of Kurniawan’s corruption would only confirm their beliefs. It would also throw the colonization program into chaos at the exact time it was needed the most. And finally, it would doom the Independent Party’s effort to improve the Union’s relations with its neighbor, the CSR. While Kurniawan was not an Independent Party member, she had been voting with the Independents, and her corruption, although not common within the Independents, had favored the Independent’s stated goals.
In the end, CEO Semenov had no real choice. He, and the Independent Party leadership, believed that the population trap the human race had gotten themselves into would doom the Union to becoming a second-class power in the near future, and in the long run would leave humanity marginalized. Their only real hope was to join one of the multiracial alliances, either the CSR or the Alliance itself. And of the two, the CSR seemed the better bet for the Union. The Tomsk Union was already a member of the CSR and by all accounts had prospered within the alliance. If the Union joined the CSR as well, humans would be assured of having a voice within the CSR. Therefore, the choice was simple.
By the end of the month Senator Kurniawan would retire, ‘to spend more time with her family’. And in the next several months, a criminal investigation would arrest several prominent Quartermaster Corp officials along with several BuReLoc bureaucrats, in a corruption scandal that would be big news for a few days before being overshadowed by the next big thing, at which time it would be forgotten.
Month 229, Colonial Union
Once again dismissing the depth of resistance in the Sligo District, the Union Senate authorizes the administration to begin negotiating with the CSR to expand their existing trade relationship with a defensive military treaty. The delegation from the Union arrives in Tomsk on day 10, and negotiations begin immediately. By the end of the month the Confederated Sentient Races agree to a mutual defense treaty. This was done over the objections of the human contingent within the CSR, as the humans of the Tomsk system and their colonies won’t soon forget the Union’s attempt to invade their system, however, a minority of human representatives to the Great Moot on Bjering Prime voted for the treaty, and with the Bjering votes that was enough to pass the measure and approve the treaty. In truth, most humans in the CSR are coming to recognize that the politics in the Union have changed greatly over the past several years, and their resistance to this treaty was more inertia than active disagreement.
While the Union Senate still seems unaware of the resistance to these changes in the Sligo District, the Union’s administration has belatedly become aware that the recent events in the Union has driven a wedge between the two Districts. When the news of the new treaty is made public the administration braces itself for riots and unrest likely to spread across half the Union. Aside from numerous, mostly civil, protests on Sligo District planets, though, the feared riots don’t materialize. What the administration hasn’t realized is that the Sligo District’s civic and political leaders have begun discussing secession seriously for the first time.
In the newly settled El Dorado system, in-system colonization of the best mining sites begins as the colonists get themselves organized. With all eight major colonies in place, and a medium colony on the richest planet, the El Dorado system is already the Union’s seventh most productive system.
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Colonial Union
Update, Month 230
Income: 179,557 MCr’s
Upkeep: 65,059 MCr’s (36%)
Total Fleet: 4xCV, 20xCVL, 1xCVS, 100xCVE, 15 SD, 3xBB, 33xBC, 32xCA, 49xCL, 46xDD, 22xFG, 43xCT, 16xES, 2263xF0, 126xF1, 20xApin
Under Construction: 3xCVS, 4xCT(SC), 494xF1, 3xBS2, 2xBS0
Undergoing Refit: 2xCV, 6xSD, 9xBC, 3xCA, 20xCL, 9xDD, BS3, BS0
The Colonial Union is undergoing a political upheaval. While the actual riots on Earth have either died down on their own, or were quelled by Sligo Militia troops, political protests have been rampant throughout the Sligo District, and the protests seem to be intensifying rather than dying down. The situation in the District is serious enough that CEO Semenov is planning a trip to the Sligo District to meet with civic and financial leaders, to discuss the situation and to reassure the people of the District of the Union’s support.
The Union Navy is currently undergoing a massive refit to bring it up to the latest standards. These refits include upgrading fighter wings to the latest design, the F1, replacing armor with composite armor, and including jamming ECM systems in some designs. Select capital ships will be receiving the latest in tracking systems, the Mi1, which increases the number of ships that can be targeted by a datagroup, and improves the data-group’s chance to hit the targeted ship.
Enlightened Union of the Tlatelolco
Income: 9,092 MCr’s
Maintenance: 67 MCr’s (4%)
The Enlightened Union has reached HT-3 and has started research on HT-4, with Union assistance. The Enlightened Union is considered a partner of the Colonial Union, and is being considered for full membership when its technology is improved to match the Union’s. This has proved to be divisive within the Colonial Union, as the Sligo District population maintains its conservative, anti-alien viewpoint, while the more cosmopolitan Sol District is more open to interactions with alien races. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that the human Redwing colony, which is the highest population colony in the Sligo District, was very pro-New Dawnist, and remains isolationist and anti-alien interaction to this day. The fact that the shared sovereignty treaty which, so far at least, has maintained the peace in the Redwing system, works so well is more due to the humility and wisdom of the Tlatelolco than the human’s desire to work with their neighbors on the planet.
The Tlatelolco enjoy significant support within the Union Senate, and the current administration has repeatedly pledged the Union’s cooperation with the Tlatelolco.
The Enlightened Union has built four small bases for planetary defense, and is constructing two more. These bases are backwards and small compared to the defenses the Colonial Union has built in the system, and are intended to signal the Tlatelolco’s willingness to work with their co-habitants in the defense the planet. As of yet the Tlatelolco have no fleet or exploration forces. This is because the Redwing system only possesses two warp points. One of these warp points leads to a dead-end starless region of space, while the other leads to the Sligo system. Indeed, there are no open warp points within several months travel of the system, meaning there are no suitable colonization or exploration sites within realistic exploitation range.
The Union government is currently negotiating with the Tlatelolco concerning the possibility of allowing them to establish a small colony in the Union system of Kohl, in the warp chain beyond the Union’s capital of Epsilon Eridani. The human colony world of New Texas in the Kohl system would be considered a benign world for the Tlatelolco, and talks with the system government have revealed that the people of the system would be excited to have a population of Tlatelolco on their planet.
United World Republic of the Tarek
Income: 5,577 MCr’s
Upkeep: 480 MCr’s (9%)
Since the end of the Union occupation the Tarek have kept to themselves, and have been mostly focused on reactivating mothballed planetary defense centers. Most of the PDC’s they’ve reactivated have been missile defense centers, although one large offensive base has recently been reactivated and is currently being refitted, presumably with the latest technology. The Union currently believes that the Tarek are at HT-4, meaning that they are far behind human tech, and indeed, haven’t developed capital missiles yet, meaning that their bases are militarily impotent and would be unable to prevent a Union fleet from bombarding the planet. Still, the Sligo District government remains uncomfortable with the Tarek, given the fact that they share the Sligo system with them. Therefore, the District government maintains a large Militia to guard against any possible Tarek threat, and also mandates an extensive surveillance program to assess Tarek military capabilities.
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Confederated Sentient Races
Month 230 Update
Income: 182,031 MCr’s
Upkeep: 58,313 MCr’s (32%)
The CSR is finishing a massive refit to its forces to bring them up to HT-10 standards. For the most part, mobile forces have completed refitting, while some work remains to be done on the bases of Fortress Command.
The HT-10 refit, along with the recent incorporation of the Tomsk Union, has caused the CSR government to decide on a complete makeover for their survey groups. The Tomsk Union had relied primarily on explorer class craft for survey work, supported by a few larger ships, and several of the Bjering survey groups contains EX class units as well. In the modern environment, where potentially hostile races could be fielding gunboats and F2 fighters, the old EX class units, which are not large enough to carry even long-range sensors much less anything in the way of defenses, are viewed as a liability. Therefore, all survey groups were recalled to the home systems where the EX class units were mothballed, and the remaining survey ships were refitted to HT-10 standards. Survey ships are now the only non-carrier class craft to carry fighters and gunboats, aside from a corvette sized scout. The fighters and gunboats are seen as flexible enough to provide both protection and striking power to otherwise necessarily fragile survey units. The mothballing of the EX sized units has resulted in the shrinking of the survey fleet from seven groups to four, but the four remaining groups are much more capable than the older groups. Each group is now comprised of two Berserker 6 Exploration Cruisers, two Tyr 5 Survey Destroyers, five Kresta 2 Survey Frigates, and a Ashdod 5 Survey Scout, along with a supply ship. The group has a grand total of twenty-eight cutters for planetary surveys, and thirty-three F2 fighters and thirty-two gunboats for defense. Each survey group can completely survey a system for warp points in two months, and its small craft can survey the planets, moons and asteroids of that system in a similar length of time. The CSR plans to gradually increase the number of survey groups it fields over the next several years as construction capacity and funds become available.
Since the merging of the Bjering and Tomsk governments, the CSR has undertaken an ambitious colonization program, not only of newly discovered planets but also to revitalize Tomsk Union systems that had been starved for population prior to the merger. This project has gone remarkably well, and to date there has been only minor friction between the cohabitating Bjering and Human populations. In fact, the program has gone so well that it has drawn observers and study groups from the Colonial Union’s government. Indeed, the success of this program is credited with a thawing of relations between the CSR and the Colonial Union, which has resulted in the recent signing of a mutual defense pact.
Total Fleet: 9xCV, 1xCVL, 16xCVS, 36xCVE, 12xML, 27xBC, 8xCA, 9xCL, 56xDD, 20xFF, 47xCT, 3xES, 1089xF2, 108xF0, 18xApin, 373xGBp
Refits: 3xML, 3xDD, 2xCT
Tolan Trade Federation
Income: 20,570 MCr’s
Upkeep: 5,344 MCr’s (22%)
Total Fleet: 3xCVS, 6xBC, 3xCA, 6xCL, 1xCT, 54xF1, 18xF0, 3xApin
The Tolan recently achieved HT-10, putting them on parity with the CSR. The CSR government immediately opened talks aimed at bringing the Tolani into the CSR as full members, however, the Tolan government dragged its feet for several months over minor points in the treaty of amalgamation. Finally, in Month 230, the Tolani government signed the treaty authorizing the union, and in Month 236 the Tolani will join the CSR as full members.
In spite of the Tolani dragging their feet, they had little choice. Their home system contains two warp points, one of which leads to CSR space and the other of which leads to an Alliance colony. The Tolani colonization program was only possible because the CSR granted them permission to transit through their space, and allowed them access to previously unexplored warp points in their territory. And, although the Tolani maintain friendly relations with the Alliance, they are thoroughly entangled with the CSR, making the choice easy in the end.
Aldrean Contemplative Association
Income: 732 MCr’s
The Aldreans have reached HT-0 and are researching systems available at that level, with CSR assistance. To date they have no presence in space beyond their home world.
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Month 227, Alliance
The Chirq Cooperative agrees to transfer control of the Khozun system to the Alliance in exchange for a monthly payment to make up for the loss of income. To be honest, the Chirq government had been growing increasingly concerned on the dependence on tribute from the occupation of Khozun that had been growing within their economy and society. In addition, they had little idea of how to put the Khozun on the path to independence, so the Alliance’s offer came at the right time.
With Khozun under the firm control of Alliance occupation troops, an Alliance negotiation team moves into the Khozun capital to begin work towards integrating the Khozuni into the Alliance. Incredibly, they find a delegation from a newly established Khozun government awaiting them, primed to do whatever it takes to end the occupation and begin peaceful integration within the Alliance. It seems the Khozuni had been trying for some time to negotiate with the Chirq, but had been frustrated by the Chirq desire to talk everything over endlessly. Indeed, they suspected that the Chirq had been using that as a tactic to delay them as the Chirq clearly had had no idea of what they were doing. With the Alliance now in control, and an Alliance negotiating team on-site with authorization from the Alliance government to work out a deal, the Khozun were able to rapidly come to an agreement. Essentially, the Khozuni would be freed from occupation, and given access to nearby systems for the purpose of colonization. In addition, trade would be opened up with the Alliance, along with assistance for R&D. In exchange, the Khozun agreed to host an Alliance peacekeeping squadron, and to build no armed warships until the Alliance Council and the Chirq agreed that they were ready.
Author’s Note: The Alliance rolled a critical success when they offered the Khozun a trade and military treaty, which meant that not only did they agree to the offer but they counter-offered the next better relationship.
Month 227, Lothari Prime
The Lothari ground forces had been decisively broken a month ago, and since then Skull Splitter’s army had been mopping up the remnants of the Lothari Army and consolidating control over the outlying cities, before moving in on the industrial and cultural heartlands of the Lothari civilization. Now, they were approaching the final strongholds of the Lothari, the inner cities of the Lothari nation. The first city on their route to the capital was Brentan, an ancient cultural and economic center of great importance to the Lothari. Much of the remaining Lothari ground forces had consolidated in dug in positions within the city, clearly intending to fight to the last soldier. Orbital surveillance had documented civilian labor constructing hasty fortifications, and militia groups being armed and moved into the fortifications. Exhortations from the Supreme Leader to “stand fast” and fight for Lothari freedom and self-determination were played on all channels at all times.
Skull Splitter, who by this time was leading the ground forces personally, halted his advancing columns short of the city, and then called up on the residents and city leaders to surrender. The only answer from the Lothari was a redoubled effort to finish their fortifications. And so, on the 5th of the month, Skull Splitter called down missiles from the orbiting Doraz Monitor, the Victory, obliterating the city and all of its defenders.
The Lothari government tried to cut off the information coming out of Brentan, but it had spent too long building up the defenders of the city as heroic exemplars of Lothari fortitude, and when suddenly all reporting from the city went dark, rumors ran rampant throughout the remaining Lothari strongholds. The Supreme Leader had reassured the military and civic leaders that the Alliance would not bombard the inner cities, as they were incredibly important and filled with culture and history, all things he knew the Alliance, in their weakness, revered. It was to be the Leader’s last miscalculation. By the 6th riots had begun in all of the remaining unoccupied cities as the residents realized that they had made a suicide pact with their government. As unruly mobs approached the capital buildings, and the bunkers the Supreme Leader and his followers were sheltering in, the remnants of the military and security forces abandoned their posts, leaving the doors open as they melted into the population of the city, shedding their uniforms as quickly as they could. The Supreme Leader was dragged into the central square in front of his former residence and dismembered while the crowd celebrated.
It took two days for the riots to die down and for a semblance of order to be restored. A council of town and city leaders convened and asked for terms of surrender from Skull Splitter. Again, Skull Splitter demanded unconditional surrender, and this time the Lothari agreed. The war was over.
Month 228, Lothari Prime
The occupation of the former Lothari Kingdom was going well. Every remaining city on the planet had surrendered and had accepted occupation forces without resistance. For the most part, aside from a few holdout military units that had refused to surrender, the remnants of the military and security forces had melted away, with the survivors hoping to blend into the population and remain undetected. Indeed, the biggest problem had been restraining the mobs that had appeared in most of the city, intent on hunting down the leaders who had led them to ruin.
Skull Splitter’s forces had seized a vast fortune in resources hoarded by the Lothari government for their own purposes, and, even more importantly, uncovered evidence that the Lothari had recently made a breakthrough into advanced technology beyond that of the Alliance. Fortunately, they had only just begun developing new military systems and many of their research programs had been unfinished by the time of their conquest or never started for a lack of resources, but one concrete example had been discovered in a research facility outside of the capital city. This was a more advanced version of the anti-fighter missile (AFM2) that even now was being developed for use by the Alliance Navy. Skull Splitter had all examples of the advanced missile, and all data from the research center, sent back to the Alliance capital for immediate development by Alliance R&D teams. With the Lothari threat ended, Skull Splitter is recalled to the capital. He has actually been wearing three ‘hats’ during the campaign, as the Grand Admiral (or Tai-sho) in command of the Alliance forces on the Lothari Front, the Prime Minister of the reformed D’Bringi Empire, and the D’Bringi Representative on the Alliance High Council. While he led the fleet his adult children stood in for him in the other positions, but with the threat ended, it was time for him to return regularize the situation by assuming one of the roles and filling the others with suitable candidates. He will travel to Rehorish Prime by fast courier, arriving next month.
Month 229, D’Bringi Prime
Skull-Splitter, the last of the old clan leaders, was crowned Emperor of all D’Bringi on the 15th of the month. His trusted chancellor from the old clan days is promoted to be the D’Bringi representative to the Alliance.
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Alliance Reorg, Month 230
The recent difficulties across the Alliance, coupled with the partial withdrawal from Zir territory, has caused the Alliance to reorganize its fleets. One of the primary lessons of the wars the Alliance learned in the wars was the need to deal with the vast territory the Alliance now controls. To this end the Alliance has decided to establish nodal forces at several locations throughout the Alliance, along with a central force in the Chruqua Nexus, while will be available to respond rapidly to nearly any region of the Alliance, including the home worlds of the member races and many of the associate members. The ships stationed in home worlds will be designated System Defense Forces, while the nodal fleets will be numbered.
Another result of the recent conflicts was the decision made by the Alliance Council, in conjunction with the Associate Members, to require Associate Members to station 25% of their active fleets in the Chruqua Nexus as members of the Chruqua reaction force. In exchange, an Alliance squadron will be stationed at all Associate Member home systems, acting as a trip-wire force to reassure the member governments that the Alliance will stand by them. This decision was largely made as a result of the invasion of the Chirq home world by the Khozuni during the D’Bringi civil war.
The Alliance fleet is still recovering from the recent conflicts it was involved in. Some of the fleet’s ships still have minor unrepaired battle damage, and many of the ships have not been refitted to the latest standards. Indeed, the Alliance Navy is planning a new round of refits to incorporate HT-10 systems, and many of the fleet’s ships are still at HT-8 standards, or in some cases even older. Many of the fleet’s corvette-carriers still carry F0 fighters, as there was never enough time to update their fighter complements, and some of the fleet’s carriers have not had their complements replenished after the last series of battles against the Lothari.
The System Defense Forces
System Defense Force, T’Pau: 3xBC, 6xCL, 6xCVE, 6xCTV, 111xF1
System Defense Force, D’Bringi: 3xBC, 3xCA, 6xCVE, 3xDD, 6xCTV, 15xF0, 111xF1
System Defense Force, Rehorish: 6xBC, 6xCA, 3xCL, 9xCVE, 9xDD, 6xCTV, 18xF0, 153xF1
System Defense Force, Aurarii: 3xCA, 6xCTV, 35xF1
System Defense Force, Bir: 3xBC, 3xDD, 3xCVE, 6xCTV, 24xF0, 42xF1
System Defense Force, Chirq: 6xCA, 3xCL, 6xDD, 6xCVE, 9xCTV, 99xF0, 51xF1
System Defense Force, Doraz: 3xCVS, 3xCL, 3xDD, 6xCVE, 6xCTV, 45xF0, 138xF1
System Defense Force, Khozun: 3xCA, 2xCVS, 3xCL, 6xCVE, 6xCTV, 6xF0, 60xF1
System Defense Force, Torqual: 3xCL, 3xCVS, 6xCVE, 6xCTV, 12xF0, 75xF1
System Defense Force, Kumamoto: 3xCA, 6xCVE, 3xDD, 6xCTV, 126xF1
Occupation Group, Lothar: 3xCV, 6xBC, 6xCL, 6xDD, 9xCTV, 12xF0, 186xF1
The Lothar Occupation Group’s primary mission is to assist the ground forces assigned to the Lothar occupation force and to patrol former Lothari territory both to ensure no Lothari remnants attempt to reform and to guard against incursions from outside the Alliance.
Border Group, Dether (Colonial Union): 3xCL, 1xCVS, 3xCTV, 42xF1
The Dether system was the location of several battles with the Colonial Union during the recent border war with that nation. The was ended by mutual agreement between the Colonial Union and the Alliance, on terms favorable to the Colonial Union. This was largely due to the fact that the D’Bringi subterfuge that started the D’Bringi civil war began with an unprovoked raid into Colonial Union territory. The Dether system, and its warp chain that leads to the Alliance colony world of Sandhurst, is the primary trade route for the Colonial Union and the Alliance, now that trade has been restored. In an attempt to keep tensions down with the Colonial Union, the Alliance force stationed here has been significantly reduced.
Border Group, Phyriseq (Mintek): 12xBC, 5xCVL, 12xCA, 3xCVS, 12xDD, 9xCTV, 78xF0, 198xF1
The Phyriseq system links to the Mintek home system, and is the original contact point between the Alliance and the Mintek. The warp point is heavily fortified on both sides, and neither side has attempted to force its way through since the original battles in the Mintek and Phyriseq system. The Group assigned to this system is intended to support the fortifications in the system and delay any attacker long enough for heavy reinforcements to arrive from the Chruqua Nexus, which is only one jump away.
Border Group, Sapporo (Colonial Union): 9xCTV, 54xF1
The Sapporo System borders on the Confederated Free Systems, beyond which lies the Colonial Union. The CFS has proven to be a reliable buffer between the Colonial Union and the Alliance, and even during the recent border conflict in the Dether system the Colonial Union never attempted to launch an attack through the CFS. Therefore, the force assigned to this system has been reduced to a patrol force. There are fortifications stationed at the jump point to the CFS, however, this system’s true defense lies in its proximity to the Rehorish Home System.
Border Group, Kure (Colonial Union, Mintek): 6xCA, 3xCVS, 3xCL, 6xCVE, 9xCTV, 72xF0, 144xF1
This system, like the Sapporo system, borders on the Confederated Free Systems. Also like the Sapporo system, it lies between the CFS and the Rehorish Home system. Unlike the Sapporo system, though, this system also contains a closed warp point that leads to the Mintek empire. The location of this closed warp point is currently unknown; thus, it cannot be fortified. However, the location has been narrowed down to a region of space that has been seeded with detection buoys, and if the Mintek use it again the exact location of the warp point will be revealed.
Border Group, Roban (CSR): 3xCVL, 3xCA, 6xDD, 3xCTV, 24xF0, 90xF1
The Roban system is the location of the primary trade point with the CSR. Relations with the CSR have generally been good, although it is clear that the CSR does not generally trust the Alliance, perhaps due to the events surrounding first contact between the two primary races of the two nations.
Border Group, Breshy (Mintek): 3xDD, 1xCVE, 3xCTV, 33xF1
This force guards a connection between the Alliance and the Mintek, and is located in the Far frontier Sector, beyond Stahat. The warp connection is closed on the Alliance side, and the Alliance believes that the Mintek do not know the location of the closed warp point in the Juath system. No Mintek ships have been detected in the Juath system in years, and Alliance Intelligence is confident that the Mintek have written off the system and withdrawn beyond their own closed warp link into the Juath system. Thus the Juath guard force has been reduced over the years to a light patrol squadron to monitor the warp point and the Juath system. In addition, light defenses have been built at the warp point to slow down a Mintek incursion, should they know about the warp point.
Nodal Fleets
1st (Chruqua Nexus) Fleet: 2xML, 12xSD, 12xBB, 7xCV, 21xBC, 3xCA, 30xCVE, 4xDD, 8xCTV, 117xF0, 372xF1, 1xBC(pod), 29xDD(Pod)
Aurarii Contribution: 3xML, 1xCV, 1xCVL, 3xCVP, 1xSupply Ship, 60xF1
Doraz Contribution: 1xML, 3xBC, 3xCVE, 2xDD, 10xCT, 36xF0, 3xApin
Torqual Contribution: 3xBC, 9xCA, 9xCL, 2xCT
Chirq Contribution: 3xDD, 3xCT, 3xES
The 1st Fleet is the Alliance’s primary response unit. All of the other fleets and groups are intended to patrol Alliance territory and slow down and hopefully contain any attacker until units from the 1st Fleet can arrive. The Chruqua Nexus is the perfect location for this force, as the nexus contains twelve warp points and is one jump away from the Doraz and Torqual Home Systems, and the Phyriseq system. It is two jumps from the T’Pau home system, and three from the Rehorish and D’Bringi home systems.
2nd (Stahat) Fleet: 3xBC, 3xCA, 9xCVE, 6xCTV, 12xF0, 144xF1
The 2nd Fleet is the primary patrol and defense force for the Far Frontier Sector. The sector capital at Stahat is two jumps from the Chruqua Nexus and the 1st Fleet, but the bulk of the Sector is much farther from Chruqua and the core worlds. The 2nd Fleet is understrength for its assigned duties, as the Far Frontiers Sector is spread out, but the sector is relatively low population, especially compared to the Core Sector, and the ships assigned to the fleet reflect that.
3rd (Liawak) Fleet: 3xBC, 6xCA, 6xDD, 6xCVE, 6xCTV, 15xF0, 111xF1
The 3rd Fleet exists to patrol the area territory around Liawak, and to act as reinforcements for the Lothari occupation force, should they need it.
4th (Villiers/Zir) Fleet: 3xCV, 3xBC, 6xCA, 6xCL, 6xDD, 9xCVE, 2xCTS, 279xF1
After the Zir withdrawal from the Alliance, the Alliance was forced to negotiate with the notoriously pacifistic Zir government over the force levels they would allow within their territory. The Zir had originally wanted all Alliance forces to withdraw, but given the presence of an Alliance colony within the Zir system of Villiers, and the heavy Alliance fixed fortifications built in that system, the Zir found themselves unable to deny the Alliance a presence in the system. The current force was the largest the Zir would allow at this time, but they have agreed to discuss allowing additional Alliance ships into their territory should they attempt contact with any of the races found through the Villiers warp nexus.
Aurarii Republic
Income: 25,861 MCr’s
Upkeep: 11,896 MCr’s (46%)
The Aurarii recently achieved HT-10, and are researching systems available at that tech level. The Aurarii are actively seeking a closer relationship with the Alliance, and currently have a Partnership treaty with them. Having reached tech parity, they are making overtures to the Alliance Council, pushing for full membership. The Alliance Council is not yet ready to consider such an application from the Aurarii as there has not yet been enough time since the partnership treaty was signed to consider changing the relationship status between the two nations.
The Doraz and their Norn allies are cool towards the possibility of the Aurarii joining the Alliance as full members, each for their own reasons. While they are not openly opposing this possibility, they are moving behind the scenes to slow down the Aurarii application process. The Norn are very hostile towards the Aurarii, and it is likely that without the Doraz and Alliance presence in the Aurarii and Norn home system another war would break out sooner or later.
The Aurarii, for their part, maintain that their recent change of government has changed their outlook towards other races, and have pledged to maintain the peace going forward. While there has been some concern expressed by Alliance and Doraz observers at the large-scale military building program that the Aurarii have undertaken since the end of the war with the Alliance, the Aurarii government has stated that the bulk of the new production will be placed into mothballs as reserves against future need, and has also pledged to commit approximately 33% of their standing fleet to the Alliance’s Chruqua Reaction Force.
In part, the Aurarii military build up can be explained by the fact that they are “landlocked”. The Aurarii, and the Norn, have no access to open warp points, which in part explains the war that the previous Aurarii government fought against the Doraz and the Alliance.
Home Fleet: 3xSD, 4xCVL, 7xCLP, 90xF1
Alliance Reaction Force: See Alliance fleet section
Under Construction: 3xBS5, 3xML, 6xCV, 3xCVL, 3xCL, 180xF1
Doraz Contingency
Income: 42,519 MCr’s
Upkeep: 7,779 MCr’s (18%)
The Doraz have been very supportive of the Alliance throughout the recent difficulties, and bore the brunt of the war against the Aurarii. After the Aurarii asked for terms, the Doraz were the only Alliance Associate Member to send forces to the Lothari front, although they arrived too late to participate in combat against the Aurarii. The Doraz have contributed 40% of their fleet to the Alliance Reaction Force in the Chruqua Nexus, and a further 33% to the Aurarii/Norn System as a peacekeeping force.
The Doraz are at HT-8 and are researching the next level with Alliance assistance. The bulk of their fleet has been refitted to HT-8 standards, with the notable exception of their corvette force. The corvettes fielded by the Doraz fleet are old designs, recently reactivated from mothballs after the destruction of their fleet in the war with the Aurarii. They date back to the Doraz pre-interstellar period and have not been updated since. In an effort to get more fighters into space, the Doraz have recently decided to refit their corvette fleet to match the Alliance’s CTV’s.
The Doraz are actively negotiating with the Alliance for access to Alliance territory as they no longer have any open and unexplored warp points in their territory. As a result of this, both of their survey squadrons have been mothballed in their home system. For now, the Doraz are focusing on boosting the populations of their colonies, however, they will run out of suitable locations for that in the near future.
Alliance Reaction Fleet: See Alliance 1st Fleet
Aurarii Peacekeeping Force: 3xCA, 6xCVE, 9xCT, 72xF0
Home Fleet: 1xBB, 2xCA, 7xCVE, 14xCT, 84xF0, 5xApin
Under Construction: 2xML, 2xBB, 3xBC, 1xCa, 4xDD, 4xCTV
Refits: 14xCT
Torqual Free State
Income: 49,734 MCr’s
Maintenance: 16567 MCr’s (26.6%)
The Torqual have reached HT-8 and are refitting their fleet to that standard, and building carriers. The Torqual fleet has decided to field larger carriers, and is proto-typing a CVL hull at this time, working towards a full carrier design at some point in the future. So far they have built a handful of CVE’s and a single CVS, and are building several more CVS’s to fill in until the CV fleet can be built. Currently, the standard CVE and CVS designs are “fighter-barges”, designed to carry fighters and little else. The Torqual have adopted this design because of their perceived gap in capabilities compared to the Alliance and the races it has fought recently, and so they are trying to get as many fighters into space as possible with the fewest hulls.
The Torqual, along with the Doraz, remain the most reliable of allies for the Alliance. Although the Torqual did not send ships to fight the Lothari, they did dispatch a fleet to support the Doraz against the Aurarii. The Alliance fielded that fleet in a support role, as the Torqual fleet was technologically substantially behind the force that the Aurarii fielded, but it was a welcome addition to the Alliance forces on the Doraz front in spite of that.
Home Fleet: 6xBC, 11xCA, 1xCVS, 19xCL, 6xCVE, 5xCT, 102xF0
Alliance Fleet, Chruqua Nexus: See Alliance Section
Unity Squadron: 3xCA, 6xCL
Equity Squadron: 3xCA, 3xCL, 3xCT
Under Construction: 3xBS4, 1xCVL, 3xCVS,
Refitting: 3xBC, 1xCVS, 5xCA, 3xCL, 3xBS2, 5xDD(AW)
Bir Meritocracy
Income: 4,950 MC’rs
Upkeep: 537 MCr’s (6.6%)
The Bir have reached HT-4 and are researching systems available at that level. While they have not yet built armed ships, they have fielded one survey group and have built five medium sized bases for orbital defense.
Chirq Cooperative
Income: 13,462 MCr’s
Upkeep: 2465 MCr’s (11%)
The Chirq are researching HT-5 with the assistance of the Alliance. Since the invasion by the Khozuni the Chirq have instituted a very active exploration and colonization program. They currently field one survey group and are planning to build a second in the near future. They have boosted the population of one colony planet to self-sustaining levels, but have been unable to boost a second as their colonization transports have been too busy placing settlements on newly discovered planets.
Chirq Home Fleet: 6xDD, 5xCT, 4xES
Chirq Alliance Fleet: See Alliance Section
Khozun Empire
Income: 949 MCr’s
The Khozuni were recently freed by the Alliance, dependent on signing a fairly restrictive “mutual defense treaty” that in actuality makes the Khozuni dependent on the Alliance for defense. This was an easy decision for the reformed Imperial government, given the disparity between the Khozuni economy and even the Chirq economy, much less that of the Alliance. To date the Khozuni have focused on settling their system, and are researching HT-3 with Alliance assistance.
Norn Regime
Income: 19, 278 MCr’s
Upkeep: 3,287 MCr’s (17%)
The Norn recently concluded treaty negotiations with the Doraz, the Alliance race that they are most comfortable with, signing a mutual defense pact on Month 228 to go with their existing trade relationship. The Norn have a trade relationship with the Alliance and a non-aggression treaty with the Aurarii, with whom they share their home system. The Norn are fairly enigmatic to outsiders, however, the Doraz, who are militaristic, get along with them fairly well. The Norn hate the Aurarii, who have economically dominated them since they moved into space, and who conquered them at the time of first contact with the Doraz. The Aurarii occupation was fairly repressive and the Aurarii were not above destroying small towns or villages from orbit in reprisal for Norn sabotage attacks.
Since gaining their freedom as part of the Aurarii surrender to the Alliance, the Norn have been de-mothballing and modernizing ships as quickly as possible. The Norn are HT-7 and are researching HT-8 with Doraz assistance. Like the Aurarii, the Norn are confined to their home system as even the Doraz cannot give them access to open warp points, given their own difficulties in that area. The Norn are not considered associate members of the Alliance at this time, and so have not contributed ships to the reaction force in the Chruqua Nexus. Given the proximity of the Aurarii fleet and the continuing threat the Norn feel from their neighbors, it is unlikely that the Norn would send any ships out of their system in any case.
Norn Home Fleet: 3xBB, 3xBC, 3xDD
Construction: 8xBS4, 3xBB, 1xSSSY(10xSY)
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Month 230 Update, Zir Commonality
Income: 97,053 MCr’s
Upkeep: 31,464 MCr’s (32.4%)
There is great excitement throughout the Zir nation now that they are formally independent from the Alliance. A sense of independence and destiny has gripped the Zir, and they are enthusiastically transforming themselves from inward looking academics to an expansive, out-going polity. One sign of this is the change in name for their nation, from the Zir Contemplative Union to the Commonality. The Zir fervently believe that all sentient races have much more in common than their differences, and thus they seek to unite like minded races under the banner of the Commonality. Ever mindful of the Alliance example, the Zir have come to realize that a strong defensive force is necessary to avoid becoming a target of other races.
The Zir have made contact with one race, the Ut, independent of the Alliance, and look forward to meeting many new races now that they are out from under what they felt was the oppressive oversight of the Alliance. Indeed, they are planning to establish contact with the three races discovered through the Villiers warp nexus once the fleet build-up and refits are finished. While they view the Alliance as warlike and fearful of outside races, they are mindful of the Alliance’s warnings about the Mintek, and so will be cautious as to the methods they use to contact that race, if indeed they do decide to move forward with contact with the Mintek.
For various cultural reasons the Zir have fielded what the Alliance called a “swarm fleet” in the past. After sending observers to watch the Alliance forces in their recent conflicts, the Zir had decided to move away from that concept, however, their development of fighters resurrected the swarm effectiveness in their eyes. They have decided to convert their corvette and frigate designs to hybrid carriers, carrying eight and ten fighters respectively. This allows the Zir fleet to field a vast number of fighters relative to their nominal fleet strength. In addition, the idea of fighter combat appeals to the Zir, who abhor losses. While fighter combat is attritional in nature, fighter losses, when compared to ship losses, mean much less loss of life. The Zir are nearing the end of a massive program of refitting their fleet, and plan on shoring up the defenses in Villiers and building more corvette-carriers before initiating contact with the races on the far end of the Villiers warp points.
The Zir were elated to find the Ut, with whom they’ve had a trade relationship since deciphering their language. The Ut recently agreed to upgrade their treaties with the Commonality to a include mutual defense treaty. The Zir were happy to sign this treaty with the Ut, however, some Zir have become concerned about the strange Ut government, which they treat more like a religion rather than a rational governing group. However, while the Ut seem almost fanatical about their belief in this “communism” of theirs, they have not attempted to convert the Zir to their beliefs to date, and seem happy to co-exist with the Commonality.
Home Fleet: 38xDD, 2xCVE, 44xFG, 94xCT. 1,162xF0
Villiers Fleet: 6xDD, 27xFG, 60xCT, 624xF0
Construction: 90xF0, 80xIDEW-E
Refits: 25xDD, 2xFG, 75xIDEW-E
Ut World State
Income: 21,020 MCr’s
Upkeep: 10088 MCr’s (48%)
Fleet: 9xCV, 12xBC, 324xF1
In month 226, Ut exploration ships probed the eight warp points they discovered in their home system, aside from the one warp point leading to Zir space that they already knew about. Two of the new systems had habitable planets and thus are a high priority to survey, while five of the others are uninteresting to the Ut, except perhaps as a route of future expansion. The last system, though, has an inhabited planet. The population is clearly a recently placed settlement, and based on the emission signatures the settlement appears to belong to the Alliance that the Zir warned them about. The Ut survey ship was within detection range of the colony when it turned back towards the outer system, but the Ut ship’s entry point into the system was closed, and so the Alliance would be unable to follow them back to their home.
The Ut are cautiously exploring the systems around them, and by Month 230 have established two out-system colonies.
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Note: The data for this was taken from Month 231, because I advanced the turn before remembering I wanted to do this. So it won’t match up with the numbers given in the recent updates.
Income and Upkeep for Core Polities:
Alliance Income: 339,905 MCr’s Upkeep: 117,494 MCr’s (34.6%)
CSR Income: 182,031 MCr’s Upkeep: 58,313 MCr’s (32%)
Colonial Union Income: 179,557 MCr’s Upkeep: 65,059 MCr’s (36%)
Zir Commonality Income: 97,053 MCr’s Upkeep: 31,464 MCr’s (32.4%)
CFS Income: 29,268 MCr’s Upkeep: 10,584 MCr’s (35%)
Income and Upkeep for Core Polities and their treaty-bound Associates
Alliance Income: 477,500 MCr’s Upkeep: 155,738 MCr’s (34.6%)
CSR Income: 202,601 MCr’s Upkeep: 63,657 MCr’s (31.4%)
Colonial Union Income: 188,649 MCr’s Upkeep: 65,126 MCr’s (34.5%)
Zir Commonality Income: 118,073 MCr’s Upkeep: 41,552 MCr’s (35%)
CFS Income: 29,268 MCr’s Upkeep: 10,584 MCr’s (35%)
Fleets (including treaty-bound)
Alliance: 20xCV, 13xCVL, 16xCVS, 137xCVE, 6xML, 15xSD, 15xBB, 79xBC, 97xCA, 83xCL, 119xDD, 31xFG, 369xCT, 12xES, 250xEX, 6xBS5, 9xBS4, 37xBS3, 62xBS2, 39xBS1, 141xBS0, 7xAF(2116 HS), 6xPDC (438 HS)
Colonial Union: 4xCV, 20xCVL, 1xCVS, 100xCVE, 15xSD, 3xBB, 33xBC, 32xCA, 49xCL, 46xDD, 19xFG, 47xCT, 16xES, 120xEX, 24xBS3, 11xBS2, 26xBS1, 84xBS0, 3xAF(2007 HS), 6xPDC(438 HS)
Confederated Sentient Races: 9xCV, 1xCVL, 25xCVS, 36xCVE, 12xML,, 33xBC, 11xCa, 15xCL, 56xDD, 20xFG, 48xCT, 3xES, 3xEX, 12xBS4, 74xBS3, 6xBS2, 3xAF(777 HS), 12xPDC(1707 HS)
Confederated Free States: 15xCVE, 1xSD, 6xBC, 12xCA, 18xDD, 3xCT, 16xES, 21xBS3
Zir Commonality: 11xCV, 18xBC, 2xCVE, 49xDD, 119xFG, 179xCT, 3xBS6, 12xBS4, 12xBS2, 36xBS0
Alliance Total Ships: 1672 Total HS: 60,223
Colonial Union Total Ships: 687 Total HS: 25,119
Confed Sentient Races Total Ships: 430 Total HS: 22,330
Zir Commonality Total Ships: 455 Total HS: 13,322
Confed Free States Total Ships: 96 Total HS: 3,730
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Author’s Notes on the last several years of trouble in the Alliance
I did not plan this, exactly, it sort-of just came together. It all started with the D’Bringi coup. I had designed many of my races with flaws that I intended to exploit as the story went on, in one way or another. The nuclear war that nearly destroyed Earth is one example, as is the Torqual civil war. The D’Bringi coup is another example of this.
The D’Bringi coup was born out of instabilities within the D’Bringi society, largely exacerbated by their success. The D’Bringi were a nomadic and warlike people who were assisted by the Benefactors and thus achieved world domination not because of their superior culture or economy, but because the Benefactors gave them superior weaponry. Of course, the D’Bringi convinced themselves that they were inherently superior, because, why not? They won; they united their world. Given their success, they faced no pressure to change their old ways. The old ways were marked by clan domination of their civil society, economy, and military. The clans held the majority of their own members in a status that was little better than chattel slavery, and the clan-less were treated even worse. The D’Bringi took this system to the stars with them, because, again, given the assistance of the Benefactors, they felt no pressure to change or evolve. Thus, the D’Bringi society that went to the stars was primitive and warlike, bent on conquest of everything in sight, for all that they were traveling in starships and establishing colonies on other planets.
For all of this, though, there were those within D’Bringi society who believed it had to change. Among those were the highest clan leaders, who saw firsthand the inefficiency of their economy and society compared to the Rehorish and the other races. Many of the middle class saw this too, but had little recourse within the Clan system. Even as the conquest of the Doraz and the Torqual fueled the D’Bringi economy and their desire for more conquests, the great clan chiefs were questioning if their way actually worked. After all, was the goal of the D’Bringi to continue conquering every race they encountered, until they met a race they couldn’t conquer or fight to a standstill, like the humans? Compared to a vital, growing society like the Rehorish, the D’Bringi economy was anemic, its only bright spot provided by the resources looted from conquered races.
Even as the D’Bringi home world grew rich on loot, the D’Bringi leadership knew that they had to change. The lower orders were growing restive. As they saw how the various aliens lived, when they realized that conquered aliens like the Torqual had more freedoms within their own society than they did, discontent grew and spread. And so, the great clan leaders embraced change. They caused the conquered races to be freed and bound them to the D’Bringi with economic and military treaties. This had become possible largely because of the service of the T’Pau during the war with the humans. It was their bravery and service that convinced so many in the D’Bringi leadership that aliens acting in concert with the D’Bringi could be an asset and not a threat, or an object to be exploited. The D’Bringi leadership used this growing awareness as a wedge to gain enough approval to force through the treaties that created the Alliance. In this, the great clan chiefs stole a march on their opponents who wished to keep everything the same in D’Bringi society. The treaties of alliance opened the D’Bringi economy to integration with that of the Rehorish, and, basically, forced change upon the D’Bringi people. If the D’Bringi hadn’t been ready for this change it could have been immediately disastrous, however, there was a large and growing movement within D’Bringi society pushing for just this kind of change, and they jumped into the opening of the D’Bringi economy with both feet. New colonies sprang up everywhere, settled mostly by those who wanted a new start away from the old clan system. In spite of some cultural unrest, the D’Bringi economy flourished as the formerly oppressed lower orders took advantage of their new-found freedoms to better their lives. All of this activity buoyed the D’Bringi economy as it integrated with the Rehorish economy, and all seemed to be going well for the D’Bringi. Behind the scenes, though, there were those who resented the changes. Who felt like they had lost that which society owed them. There always is, no matter how objectively good change might be.
The coup built up for quite a while, behind the scenes, as other events unfolded. The plotters raised money by skimming the take from several outer colonies, which they used to convert several old freighters into Q ships that could be used to pirate regular freighters, particularly if you had their schedules, which the plotters did. As that money started rolling in, they used it to suborn or convince D’Bringi officers to come to their side, particularly officers commanding corvette-carriers. Once they had enough under their control, they used their penetration of the Alliance and D’Bringi governments to contact the newly discovered Khozun, and convince them to launch an offensive in exchange for help building up their technology, industry, and orbital shipyards. The plotters raked off all of the loot from the conquest of Chirq Prime, instead of just a percentage, by turning on the Khozuni and destroying first their fleet, and then their capital city to cover their tracks. That money was used to fund widespread social influence events across selected D’Bringi colonies, calling for a return to the old ways. This movement underlay the eventual coup, and was used as a justification for the violent overthrow of the old government.
All of the money taken by the plotters was relatively small, in terms of the major governments in the campaign. However, in real terms, they stole tens of billions of dollars (equivalent), which was plenty to fund a movement and corrupt corporate and government officials. However, once they moved on the Chirq the clock was ticking. The Alliance would find out, and as they were in the Rehorish area of control, the Rehorish would investigate, and once the investigation started it was only a matter of time before they figured out enough to begin connecting the dots.
Now, most of this would not have been possible without control and/or corruption of the Alliance ICN. Just simple piracy is difficult in the Starfire universe, where the all-seeing long-range sensors can see every drive field in range, and sensor buoy/comms buoy combinations at every warp point ensure the central government can back track every ship that enters and leaves a system. Certainly, the movements of military warships would be tracked, and any ship that deviated from its assignments would be quickly identified and queried by the ICN. Therefore, I decided that something like that was well within the capabilities of the Benefactors, and thus the coup was born.
It is important to realize that the plotter’s plan was never to fight the Alliance. The plotters knew that if it came to a standup fight between the D’Bringi and the rest of the Alliance, they’d lose. Instead, they relied on misdirection to distract the Alliance to allow them enough time to consolidate their hold on the D’Bringi people, presenting the Alliance with a situation that would be too difficult to resolve given their increased tensions with the other races. The plotters made several miscalculations, though.
Firstly, they underestimated how mad the Rehorish and T’Pau would be about the corruption of the ICN. Indeed, the plotters seriously underestimated the Rehorish response to the corrupted ICN. They believed that the Rehorish would continue to use the corrupted ICN until they could present a ‘fix’, thus making themselves the heroes that fixed the problem. Instead, the Rehorish and the T’Pau completely cut themselves off from the ICN, believing that the corruption might be the first step to a campaign of conquest by an unknown threat.
The second big miscalculation was the T’Pau. The plotter’s movement was based entirely on D’Bringi chauvinism, and the old-style D’Bringi disdained the T’Pau as a client species that had risen above its station. The plotters believed that the T’Pau would be too afraid to make a move against the D’Bringi, even with Rehorish support, thus splitting the Council and giving the plotters time they needed to consolidate their power. In fact, the T’Pau over the years since the establishment of the Alliance had matured and come to appreciate their independence and position within the Alliance. They did not want war with the D’Bringi, but were also unwilling to overlook D’Bringi misdeeds. This meant that a rump-Council could be formed by two of the three full members of the Alliance, allowing them to act effectively against the plotters when the evidence of their wrong-doing became clear.
The final major miscalculation was the plotter’s belief that they would have the support of the general D’Bringi population. In fact, they did not. This was randomly determined by a roll against the D’Bringi racial outlook, minus one half their racial determination. If the plotters succeeded in their roll, they would have been right, and would have had the support of the majority of the population. However, they lost their roll, indicating that the population did not support them. Therefore, while they were able to gain the support of most of the critical colonies, that support was grudging in many cases, and they could not count on that support without an infusion of troops loyal to the plotters. Worse, they could not count on the enthusiastic support of D’Bringi crewed Alliance naval units. As the new, and apparently legitimate, government, the Empire could call upon their loyalty, but their obedience was not guaranteed and the more they knew about the Imperials the less loyal they would be as time moved forward.
All of this meant that while the plotters had great initial success, time was against them. Ultimately this was their ruin. The nascent D’Bringi Empire fell when the Emperor disappeared and the D’Bringi home system remained cut off from the D’Bringi colonies.
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Some thoughts on the Cold War Campaign
First off, the start conditions: In this campaign I limited growth to every five turns, and made tech research take longer, with the intent of slowing down the growth rate of the races involved. It worked fairly well, ensuring that the campaign was still viable much longer than either of my other major Starfire campaigns.
At the start of the campaign there were four ‘races’. One of the starting races was the D’Bringi, and there were two human governments, the USSR and the Western Coalition. More about the fourth race in a bit. My intent was to focus on the conflict between the D’Bringi and the human governments, and the rivalry between the two human governments, and their internal disputes and pressures, well into mid-game. This largely worked as anticipated, although I did not know exactly how this would work out at the start of the campaign. Essentially, my original idea was that whomever won the initial human-D’Bringi war would then face internal dissent that would likely lead to a civil war. I wasn’t sure who that was going to be when the campaign started. As it turned out, neither side won, but I decided based on the way things went that the humans would be the one that faced the internal problem, leading to the devastation of Earth. This was largely because of the random fact that the D’Bringi had met an ally, the Rehorish, and an enemy, the Mintek, neither of whom I anticipated at the start of the campaign.
The Human nations both started on Earth, of course, and each had a medium population and were almost at HT-1 tech level. This put each individually behind the D’Bringi, both in terms of income, technology, and population, but combined they had a much better income than the D’Bringi. This was by intent, as I wanted each government to have a problem dealing with the D’Bringi alone, but if they teamed up, they would hopefully have at least parity with them.
When I originally generated the D’Bringi, SA indicated that they were a “wild-card” race, which meant that they had one or more tech items from above their actual tech level. I liked that, as it made them special, and gave them a bit of an advantage against the humans, whom they otherwise might have trouble facing in a straight up fight. As the campaign went on, I decided to keep giving them an occasional wild-card tech from the next higher tech level, to keep things spicy, or if I felt they needed a little help. This eventually evolved into the “Benefactors”, whom I then had to flesh out.
Now, about that fourth race. To provide a late-middle to late game threat, I also started a hive mind race at the start of the game. I was ambivalent about this at the time. Hive minds had been the “big” bad guys in both of my major Starfire campaigns before this, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do them again. I was worried, though, that the late game might need some spicing up, so I decided to start them and then decide later if I wanted them to become a factor or not. By around turn 150, though, as the campaign was entering mid-game, I had realized something about my hive mind race. In a normal Starfire campaign, hive minds are like a metastasizing cancer that just grows and grows. They get a better growth rate than normal races, and income bonuses for larger populations, as well as reduced colonization costs, all of which means that after a while they become a spreading threat with an incredible economy. Their weakness is that they are slower to research tech than other races, and don’t use fighters. In my previous games this meant that they were an incredible threat to mid-tech races, but as time went on their economic advantage began to lose out to their tech and fighter disadvantages. When the ‘player’ races began advancing to HT-9 and 10, even if the bugs were at HT-9 themselves, they began having problems dealing with opposing fleets. Higher tech levels introduce more fighter defenses, but the problem is that the bugs take longer to get to those levels than the other races, meaning that they are a substantial and increasing disadvantage going forward, unless they are at a higher tech level than their opponents to begin with. That makes bugs hard to balance, even in a normal campaign. They tend to have larger economies than everyone else, but once fighter tech become prevalent amongst their enemies, they have significant difficulties militarily. If you give them superior tech so they can deal with the fighters they tend to roll over their opponents due to their economic superiority, and if you don’t they become a steadily diminishing threat as they fall further behind. The major race in the Phoenix Campaign, the Allied Sentient Races, had just become focused on a major campaign against the bugs, and it was looking touch and go. Knowing what I knew about both sides, though, I was becoming concerned that the bugs were a house of cards that was going to crumble faster than I had originally anticipated. Unfortunately, I was unable to resolve that campaign due to its size and complexity.
In the Cold War campaign, however, the lower growth rate really hurt the bugs. Their income advantage only applies to large and very large populations, if I remember correctly, and with the growth rates reduced it takes forever to grow a population to that point, even with the bug’s increased growth rate. And, worse, the bugs in this case had some initial bad luck exploring, which slowed their growth as well. Those two things combined to limit their growth in a way I hadn’t expected, meaning that by turn 150 the bugs wouldn’t really be a threat to either major race, if and when they met. So, I gave the bugs a big boost in population, bringing their economy more in line with the major races. However, by then I was focused on the Mintek, who were having their own problems.
The Mintek are a Federal Theocracy type race, like the Thebans in the canon Starfire universe. Federal Theocracies are built around a central religious belief that they feel an overwhelming urge to proselytize to the rest of the universe. A Federal Theocracy will readily make trade or trade and military treaties, but only as a means to spread their faith. Once the relationship is made, they will convert all population growth from the receiving race within three jumps of their border to their religion and ‘steal’ the population. This will continue until the other race stops it. They are also able to convert conquered races to their religion, reducing the time needed to amalgamate conquered pops into their empire. They are the only government/race in the game that have this ability, and there is no real explanation for this ability given. They just do it. By this point I had created the D’Bringi Benefactors, and I realized that a benefactor type situation would be a good explanation for the Mintek conversion ability. In addition, it could be a linking concept in the campaign. Therefore, I decided that the Mintek would also have their version of a benefactor, which would explain their ability to convert other races.
The Mintek were discovered by the D’Bringi and thus started long after the other main races. This put them in a disadvantageous situation from nearly the start. The only thing that saved them was that the D’Bringi had concentrated nearly their entire fleet on the front lines with the humans, far from the Mintek home system. Still, even so, the D’Bringi were able to handily stop the initial Mintek thrust into D’Bringi space, and they then launched an assault into the Mintek home system that was only stopped by the Mintek home system defenses. The Mintek were a happy accident, not intentional. But accidental though they were, they fit into the campaign very well as a ‘bad-guy’ race and foil for the rapidly growing D’Bringi Alliance, something I was becoming increasingly convinced the bugs would not do well. However, they were never strong enough to pose an actual threat to the Alliance, unfortunately. They did have a brief tech advantage, when they developed HT-9 well ahead of the Alliance, and that actually gave them a chance against their bigger adversary. They developed a plan to overwhelm the D’Bringi defenses at their initial contact point in the Phyriseq system, using SBM pods, which at that time were unknown to the Alliance, and from there they intended to move from Phyriseq to the Chruqua warp nexus and seize it, fragmenting the D’Bringi empire. They hoped by that by chopping the Alliance up into numerous smaller pieces they could take those pieces one by one while resisting the uncoordinated counter attacks that came from the fragments. It was a pretty good plan, and it might have worked. The D’Bringi at that time knew that the Chruqua nexus was a critical link to much of their empire, but had not realized that it was a vulnerability as well.
Unfortunately for them, Mintek resources fell short of being able to provide the fleet strength they estimated they would need to make the plan work. And in trying to build up that fleet they almost destroyed their economy and dug themselves a hole that only the conquest of multiple NPR’s allowed them to climb out of. Unfortunately, by the time they were able consolidate their hold on their conquests and rehabilitate their economy, they had fallen behind the Alliance in terms of technology and had discovered too many other threat/opportunities to focus their military back on the Alliance.
Thus, the Mintek had become little more than a nuisance and would have inevitably been put down by the Alliance at some point, particularly after an Alliance associate member (the Zir) found a closed warp point into the Mintek home system. Enter the Shiba Ascendancy. I originally introduced the Shiba to provide an additional threat to the other races, as none of my other threats were working out. I decided to do something a little different with the Shiba, giving them implants which assured loyalty to their government, and would allow them to convert other races after contact, if they were given time. And then, by random chance, the first race they discovered when they went exploring was the Mintek. And by that point I realized that the Shiba ability to convert other races was analogous to the Mintek-Theban ability, and was perhaps a better explanation for what the Mintek were doing. At that point a merger became inevitable, as both sides tried to convert the other. This merger revitalized and enlarged the Mintek Empire, and made them a credible threat again.
It was as this was going on, around turn 200+, that I realized I had yet another problem in the way the campaign had developed. Essentially, humanity as an independent race, was screwed. The slower population growth rate of the game had found yet another unexpected way to express itself.
By this point, the way colonization was happening across my races, was as follows:
1. New System Colonization: Newly discovered systems would be colonized with enough population units to create a small population (150). By turn 200, these systems were typically 8-12 jumps from the core worlds. Which meant that they were 2-3 months travel from the worlds with large or very large populations, which were best able to handle new colonization. Because the Imperial transportation network moves at a speed of four per turn, that means that a colonization effort sent to a colony site ten jumps from the origin will take three turns to complete. This is problematic, as that means the capacity tied up in the effort won’t be available for use on anything else for three turns. It is also very expensive. If you are depending on colonization alone to create large populations capable of sustaining both in-system and out-system colonization, though, you are going to have to wait a long time.
2. In-system colonization: This was colonization of moons, barren planets, and asteroids within a system, using the in-system colonization ability. Essentially, each system had a certain amount of “free” colonization ability, that didn’t count against the race’s colonization capacity, and is cheaper than regular colonization. This is an important and cheap way to expand a system’s population, but the system has a limited per-turn capacity based on the productivity of the system, and thus it can take many turns to completely colonize the entire system. There is another important limitation. A world with a small population, or a settlement, outpost, or colony, can still use in-system colonization, but if it does so it will quickly deplete its central population. A world with a population of medium or higher can typically support both in-system and out-system colonization, although it may need to have its population boosted occasionally or it will fall to the small population level.
3. Boosting population: This one was new to me, and is largely based on the slow population growth in this campaign. Under the original rules, populations quickly grew to medium sized, and thus were able to support both in-system and out-system colonization fairly rapidly. Slower population growth, however, subverted this. It took over 200 turns for the earliest colonies to reach medium size, and by this point the expanding edge of the empire had moved far beyond them. So, I realized that the best way to promote in-system colonization, and to shorten colonization times to the frontier, was to boost the population of suitable colonies on the periphery (meaning the most productive or most strategically located), with additional colonists. These boosting efforts were expensive, as it took over six times as many colonists to create a medium population as it did to create a small population. But, by the mid-game, the Alliance and other more-or-less mature races were well capable of undertaking this effort. However, the important limitation was that a large or very large population was needed to support these population boost efforts. A medium population would be quickly drained by such an effort.
By boosting the population of suitable systems, I created a situation where both in-system colonization, which is very profitable, and limited out-system colonization, became possible. The out-system colonization was important, because it reduced travel times to new colonies on the periphery, and thus costs as well.
It was at the turn 200+ level that I began realizing that the Colonial Union had a problem. They had only one world with a large population, and that world was on the bottom end of the scale. Thus, they had no worlds capable of boosting a planetary population to medium level without seriously compromising their own populations. They were able to handle #1 above, albeit with increasing difficulty as the periphery moved farther and farther from their systems with medium populations, but boosting over the long term was beyond their capabilities. I considered a careful plan of boosting using the excess population from every system that had over the minimum medium population level, and that would have sustained the Union’s colonization effort for some time, but it was a short to medium term solution at best. In fact, the excess population available to the Union using that method wasn’t enough to boost the suitable candidates the Union already had, much less new opportunities discovered by ongoing exploration. And it would have left the Union with a bunch of planets barely capable of supporting any out-system colonization at that point.
All of this was an outgrowth of two factors. #1, the humans in this campaign nuked their home world. This removed the only very-large population the humans had. #2, the humans refused to incorporate any alien races, unlike both the Alliance, the CSR, and the Mintek. Thus, the humans had no way of obtaining a very large population within the likely time frame of the game. This also seriously hurt the human’s ability to expand their economy and military through absorbing other races, which was the primary strategy of both the Alliance and the CSR.
Thus, I realized I faced a future in this campaign where humanity would be increasingly sidelined and marginalized, without any hope of remedying the situation without merging with another race, which would have meant that they wouldn’t really be a human nation any more.
I did have plans to move forward. They will be detailed in the next post, which will cover the future of the Cold War Campaign, had I continued it.
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The future of the Cold War Campaign
First, the major powers and their situation as they see it as of month 231:
Colonial Union
The Colonial Union is certainly a significant power; however, its leaders know that it is nearly at a population-growth dead end that will put them at a serious disadvantage against all of the other races. Worse, the humans are divided in how to deal with this problem, with about half willing to consider joining another alliance, like the CSR or Alliance, while the other half are human-chauvinists and would only consider conquering other races, not joining them. Indeed, the Union government is determined to move forward with improving relations with the known alien races and ultimately merging with the CSR, and is therefore facing significant resistance in the Sligo District, and perhaps even attempts to leave the Union.
The Alliance
The Alliance is at peace, and is rapidly repairing the damage caused by the recent wars and unrest. The fleets are being refitted and reorganized, and once complete the Alliance Navy will be stronger than ever. With the departure of the Zir, the Alliance Council is focusing on shoring up its relationships with the other associate members, especially as there is some information that the Zir have tried to convince some to leave with them. Fortunately, it does not appear that any agreed or will agree in the future, but the incident has shown that the Alliance needs to be more responsive to the needs and opinions of the associate members. While always watchful of the Colonial Union, given their history, the Alliance and the Union are currently enjoying good relations. The same is true of the Alliance-CSR relationship.
Confederated Sentient Races (CSR)
The CSR is focused on integrating Tomsk and Bjering territories and infrastructure, and improving its navy and defenses against the possibility of the Mintek advancing out of the former Bedu space. To this end it is discussing the possibility of a military alliance against the Mintek with the Alliance, although these talks are hampered by the innate mistrust that many politicians have for the Alliance, given its behavior in the past.
Zir Commonality
As the newest major power, the Zir are expansive and eager to make their mark on the known galaxy. The Zir navy is the smallest of the major powers, but growing, and as a “swarm” fleet, it is fundamentally different from those of the other powers. Largely based on corvette-carriers, the Zir fleet is designed to be fast and hard hitting, and also easy to replace. However, the Zir would never threaten any other race with the use of force except in self-defense, but are firm believers in peace through strength. The Zir are exploring and expanding in every direction, and are planning on contacting the races discovered through the Villiers warp nexus in the near future, once their refits are complete.
Confederated Free Systems (CFS)
The CFS is not really a major power at all, and was created as a buffer state between the Union and the Alliance. For the last several years the CFS has been decentralizing as its weak central government has been unable to resist the calls of the powerful system governments within the CFS to provide defensive forces for their systems, which has led to a dispersal of the CFS fleet across their territory. The CFS government spends most of its time keeping the Alliance, the Union, and its own constituent system governments happy and has little time for anything else. The CFS has largely reached the limits of reasonable colonization efforts and their exploration program has largely ended.
Pan Sentient Union (PSU)
The PSU is focused on reorganizing after the merger of the Ascendancy and the Mintek, and is developing a plan to launch an assault on the Alliance through warp point connections discovered in Bedu territory. The stats for the PSU were not included in the recent post comparing the income and fleet sizes of the major races, for various reasons. The PSU’s income was slightly higher than the CSR’s, but lower than the CSR’s once its allies were included, so it is approximately 40% that of the Alliance and its allies. The PSU’s fleet was larger than the Colonial Union’s or the CSR’s, but smaller than that of the Alliance. The one area where the PSU has an advantage is that its fleet has been completely refitted to HT-10 standards, unlike the Alliance’s fleet, some of which is still at HT-8 due to the recent wars.
The future, as I saw it:
I often see the way I want the campaign to go, usually on the short to medium term, and quite often it goes that way. However, many times things have happened that I did not anticipate that changed the entire complexion of the campaign. Below is how I thought things would move forward in the campaign, but a critical defeat or victory in battle, an unexpected ally popping up, or exploration ships finding a new route into your enemy’s core systems would certainly be a game changer, and are essentially unpredictable.
Short term (6-12 months or so)
The Colonial Union
Facing internal divisions and wildly divergent goals between its two districts, the Colonial Union will split in the near future. The split will be largely peaceful, as neither side really wants a war, although there may be some standoffs and tense moments early in the division process. The Sol District will remain the Colonial Union, while the Sligo District becomes the Republic. There will be some friction points. For example, the Solar System and Earth will be solidly anti-alien and will join the new Republic, but this will require transit rights through loyal Union territory. The Tlatelolco will insist on remaining in the Union, as they won’t trust the anti-alien Republic, and this will require transit rights through Republic territory. The Union will be willing to grant Earth’s request if the Republic agrees to Union membership for the Tlatelolco, and transit rights through Republic territory. This should go fairly smoothly, along with a division of the fleet. The Colonial Union will join the CSR in the near to medium future, making humanity the dominant economic and military force in that nation, although not the most populous race.
Terran Republic
Formed out of the Sligo District of the now defunct Colonial Union, the Terran Republic will have its ceremonial capital on Earth, but its working capital in the Sligo system. The Republic will start out as an uneasy alliance of corporate interests and the most powerful system governments, but they will rapidly begin feuding amongst themselves trying to consolidate their power and elevate themselves within the new government. While they fight, the Governor of the Union, who is mostly viewed as a political kook and not taken seriously, will move behind the scenes to exacerbate their fights and ensure that none of them manage to get ahead of the others. Governor Holcombe is actually the head of the Humanity First movement, something very few know, and has used this association to rise to his current position. Holcombe has worked very hard to cultivate his image as a safe non-entity, allowing others to think that they are in control while he moves behind the scenes. While this is going on, Governor Holcombe will be working to secure his own position by pulling off a massive coup. The Sligo District was home to a closed warp point linking the District to the Confederated Free Systems, something that had been kept highly secret by the Union government and Navy. This info had been leaked to the governor some time ago, and even before the split with the Union the governor and his Humanity First movement had been funneling money and resources into the CFS. These resources have been used to fund the rise of Humanity First parties in the CFS, and has been driving the division and dissention within the CFS that has greatly weakened their central government.
Within a year of the split from the Colonial Union, several systems within the CFS will experience widespread unrest, which the central government will attempt to respond to with ground troops. The Terran Republic will use its clandestine influence to ensure that the response will be both large enough to frighten the system governments and completely incompetent and ineffective. Once several systems have seemingly descended into chaos, the Republic will reveal its link to the CFS and several system governments will appeal to the Republic for “security assistance”. The Republic will, of course, be more than happy to provide this assistance. The system governments coopted by the Republic will make it impossible for the CFS and its military to respond effectively, or at all, and in a short period of time several of the systems will declare that they are joining the Republic. Within six weeks or so it will all be over and the CFS will be completely absorbed by the Terran Republic. This will all happen fast, and will be over before any of the other nations can do anything about it. This annexation will boost the Republic’s economy and military, but it will still leave them far behind the major powers, approximately equivalent to the Zir.
CSR
Once the Colonial Union joins the CSR the nation will be completely focused on absorbing the Union systems, reorganizing and modernizing the fleet, and rebuilding its infrastructure to coordinate with the rest of the CSR. This will take some time and will completely occupy the CSR’s attention for the near to medium term. Because of their inward focus, and their innate distrust of the Alliance, the CSR will be unwilling to take issue with the Republic’s annexation of the Confederated Free Systems.
Unfortunately, divisions between the human Tomsk-led areas and the former Colonial Union areas will mean that humanity is unable to dominate the CSR’s politics as its economic and military strength might indicate that it should. However, the addition of approximately half of the Colonial Union’s economy and fleet will push the CSR much closer to the Alliance, although they will still be at around 60-70% of their size and strength.
The Alliance
By month 232 The Alliance is the dominant nation in the campaign, and is poised to grow further as it amalgamates three associate races over the short to medium term. The Aurarii, Doraz, and Torqual all will amalgamate with the Alliance as soon as they can raise their tech to the required level, and the Aurarii are already there. Amalgamating these races will boost the Alliance’s income by 40%, putting them even further ahead of everyone else. The amalgamation of the Aurarii will take place within the next year, however, it will be medium term before any of the other races are ready for amalgamation.
The Alliance will be very concerned about first the Colonial Union’s dissolution and then the rump Union joining the CFS, dramatically increasing that nation’s strength relative to the Alliance. When the new Republic annexes the CFS, the Alliance will strongly protest, but the Republic will argue that it was not a signatory to the original treaty creating the CFS and ask for negotiations. By that point the Alliance will only have light forces deployed to their border with the CFS, as their naval reorganization has concentrated their forces in a few nodal locations, so they won’t be able to intervene militarily for some time. By the time they can intervene the annexation is over and it would mean open war, so they allow the Republic to absorb the CFS.
The PSU (Mintek)
The PSU will be focused on integrating their territory, refitting and rebuilding their fleet, and developing its plan to attack the Alliance. In essence, their plan will involve the use of light raiding forces hitting widely scattered systems through contact points known to them. They believe this will draw off significant reaction forces from the core systems of the Alliance, at which time they will launch a major assault from the Mintek home system through the fortified warp point to the Alliance Phyriseq system. The Phyriseq system is known to be fortified, and so massive numbers of SBM pods will be used to clear the fixed defenses, along with minesweepers to clear the mines and automated weapons. This attack will take several years to prepare for.
Zir Commonality
The Zir will finish the refit to their fleet in a few months, and then will begin a program to contact the races found through their Villiers warp nexus. Their original exploration ships found four different races through the nexus, and they agreed to defer contact as the Alliance requested. As they are no longer in the Alliance, that contact will now go forward. Of the four races beyond the nexus, one is known to be the Mintek. The Zir have agreed to avoid contacting the Mintek, after reviewing records of Alliance contact with that race, but they will go ahead with contacting the others. Two of those contacts are actually human, one in space that by that time will be controlled by the CSR and the other by the Terran Republic. Obviously, contact will not go well with the anti-Alien Republic, although there almost certainly won’t be a war. Contact will go very well with the multi-racial CSR, and the Zir will find much affinity with the CSR’s lack of warlike history. The third race will be problematic. This is one of the alien races that was absorbed by the Mintek before their merger with the Ascendancy. So, this system is now controlled by the Mintek. Finding themselves in contact with the Mintek, the Zir will almost certainly go ahead with efforts to establish productive and civil contact with that race, which obviously won’t work. The Zir will almost certainly be at war with the PSU by the end of the short term. The PSU will be much stronger than the Zir, and the Zir, with their swarm fleet, will find it impossible to assault Mintek systems even if they do manage to hold them off, so they will ask the Alliance for help, which they will give.
End of the short-term
By the end of the year, approximately month 245, the Zir and the Republic will be approximately equivalent in strength, with the CSR around twice as large, and the Alliance still larger than everyone else. The Mintek-led PSU will find itself at war with the Zir-Alliance group, and its plans for an attack into Alliance territory will be completely derailed.
Longer Term
Predicting what is going to happen for this period of time is largely problematic, because so many random events or unlikely battle-resolutions can change the course of the campaign. However, I expect that the fighting will be intense between the Alliance-Zir combo and the PSU. The Alliance will heavily campaign with the Human-Bjering CSR to bring them into the war, and, as they are already convinced that the Mintek are a threat, the CSR will agree. The CSR will launch an assault across its points of contact with the Mintek, dramatically widening the war, further dispersing Mintek forces. At this point the Alliance will launch a coordinated assault into the Mintek home system from both the Villiers and Phyriseq system, and this should prove decisive. The Alliance is large enough that it has enough fleet strength to engage the Mintek across all points of contact, and with the addition of the CSR and coordinated assaults into their home system, it should be a foregone conclusion for the Mintek-led PSU.
In the meantime, the Terran Republic will use everyone’s distraction to expand at the expense of the aliens around it. First, they will nuke the Tarek out of existence, and then colonize their worlds. Then, they will try attacking two alien races discovered through their warp points by the Colonial Union. The CU had decided not to contact those races, but the Republic will now launch invasions of one of the two, trying to expand its economy by conquest. Unfortunately for them, neither will really work out for them. One of the races is the Alliance Associate Member race Torqual, which is one of the strongest and most advanced associate members. While the Alliance will be distracted by the war with the PSU, they will likely leave the Associate Race’s fleets in place, as they are backwards compared to the Alliances. Also, if the CSR is involved in the PSU war by this point, they will view this attack as a willful attempt to take advantage of the situation, and will help the Alliance fight the Republic. This will mean that both the Torqual and the Doraz fleets will be able to respond to an invasion, and Alliance and CSR help will be available, eventually. And the other race is worse. This other race is the Assimilators, the bug race I mentioned in the last post. If the Republic tries this one first, they will unleash a plague on known space. In either case, the Republic’s days will be numbered.
In the end, the CSR-Alliance team will almost certainly win the wars, and at that point all of the races involved would amalgamate to face the future.