Campaign Updates

[Kurt (OP)]

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.   

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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!”

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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. 

[Kurt (OP)]

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.