Campaign Updates

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 206, Day 14, Sandhurst system
The D’Bringi raiding force pulls away from the outer colony and heads towards the outer system.  All told, the casualties on the two colonies were relatively light for an outright invasion, but relative was a deceptive term.  Humans had died at the hands of the D’Bringi and their alien allies.  Again.

Month 206, Day 17, Sandhurst Prime
Early in the day the twenty-one ships of the relief force from the Sligo system arrived over the main colony in the Sandhurst system.  The residents of Sandhurst Prime celebrated their savior’s arrival while continuing to pick up the pieces after the D’Bringi raid.  Fortunately, the damage was concentrated around the spaceport and the capital city.  Although it would take some time to tally up the losses and sort out the chaos, it was clear hundreds of civilians and militia had died, a number that would likely rise to the low thousands by the time order was restored. 

The D’Bringi made off with the bulk of the goods and resources that had been gathered at the colony for the monthly trade convoy to the Alliance.  In addition, the D’Bringi destroyed approximately 40% of the two colony’s industrial potential.  It appeared that the destruction wasn’t actually intentional, but rather a side effect of their rushed attempts to make off with as much valuable loot as possible, without regard to the side effects or damage.  All told, initial reports were that the D’Bringi had taken approximately 8,000 MCr’s in trade and industrial goods. 

Commodore Antonia Durant, CO of the relief fleet, left a squadron of destroyers and three escort carriers in orbit of the main colony and then set out for the warp point to the Danzig system to ensure that the D’Bringi had left. 

Month 206, Day 18, 1200 hours
Tai-shu Okada’s ships jumped out of the Phyriseq system, and once in the Chruqua warp nexus they immediately sent messages to the ICN node at the warp point to the Ember system, which led back to the Rehorish home system.  It would take sixteen hours for the response to return.  In the meantime, the three Rehorish destroyers made their way through the defenses around the warp point that led back to the Phyriseq system, and Tai-shu Okada wasn’t the only one that watched the defenses with a wary eye as they passed by.  There were twenty-six bases arrayed around the warp point, mostly small fighter carrying bases backed by three larger cruiser-sized bases that would control the automated weapons that would surround the warp point in a time of war.    The larger bases were manned by Rehorish crews, but the fighter bases were mostly crewed by D’Bringi, who were temperamentally better suited for fighter operations. 

Nothing untoward happened, though, and the three Rehorish destroyers left the area around the bases and sped off towards the warp point to the Ember system.  When the response from the ICN node came back, they were unsurprised to find that the ICN in this system was shut down as well.  Tai-shu Okada directed the destroyer’s commander to send messages to all of the nodes in the system, to test the extent of the problem.  It took hours for responses to come back, but when they did it soon became clear that the system was completely cut off from the ICN. 

Month 206, Day 22, Sandhurst System
The Sandhurst Battle Group under Commodore Antonia Durant reached the warp point to the Danzig system late in the day and joined the Sandhurst Patrol Group, which had reached the warp point some time before.  The D’Bringi ships had jumped out four days ago.  Commodore Durant wanted nothing more than to continue the pursuit, but she had been ordered to hold her position until reinforcements reached her position.  Given the D’Bringi penchant for ambushes, she understood the admiral’s thinking, but any delay allowed the D’Bringi to get further and further away.   

Month 206, Day 23, Sligo System
Early in the day the twelve ships from the Redwing squadron reached Sligo orbit.  Just hours ago, orders had arrived from Fleet HQ in Epsilon Eridani.  The 1st Battle Fleet was ordered to advance on the Alliance colonies at the end of the Sandhurst warp chain and demand an explanation for the raids on Colonial Union populations.  Troops would be sent in a follow-on force, if necessary. 

Admiral Bonaventura forwarded the orders to Admiral Carstairs, who was now in the Sandhurst system, and dispatched the Redwing squadron to join her.  Once the forces were assembled at the warp point, Admiral Carstairs was ordered to advance on the Alliance colonies in the Dether system and demand an explanation for the raids on Colonial Union territory. 

Month 206, Day 25, Managua system
The D’Bringi raiding group jumped out of the system back to Alliance territory at 1800 hours.  They had successfully deterred the Colonial Union Patrol Group from pursuing them, and so no one observed them jumping out through the closed warp point.  Once back in Alliance territory they set out for a large D’Bringi colony two jumps away, in the Stahat system.  The ICN node at the warp point to Colonial Union territory noted the arrival of the ships, but as it had when they jumped into the Colonial Union, it failed to report the activities of the ships up the chain.   

Month 206, Day 25, Epsilon Eridani
The Colonial Union Senate voted overwhelmingly to end the occupation of the Tlatelolco and offer them membership in the Colonial Union, effective immediately.  The withdrawal of troops would begin starting next month, and negotiations were to begin concurrently.  The Prime Minister herself asked Senator Semenov to head up the negotiations with the Tlatelolco, as recognition of his tireless work on their behalf.  She graciously ordered the navy to make a corvette available for his use, to speed him to the Redwing system to begin negotiations as soon as possible. 

Senator Semenov recognized the move for what it was, a way to get him out of the capital and away from the action for as long as possible.  Worse, he had just received information from his contacts in the navy about Admiral Bonaventura’s orders to confront the Alliance within their territory.  He had expected something like this from the Prime Minister, and so he was ready. 

Before he left, Senator Semenov called a special session of the Senate and, with a majority of the Senators present, appointed retired admiral Ruston, hero of the first D’Bringi war and the fall of Earth, as a Senatorial Ambassador to the D’Bringi, charged to determine the truth of their actions and intentions in the Sligo sector.  With the mandate from the Senate, Ambassador Ruston was dispatched to the Novosibirsk system, which was the capital of the Confederated Free States, the neutral buffer state between the Alliance system of Sapporo and the Colonial Union system of Kirov.  Both the Alliance and the Colonial Union maintained full embassies at the CFS capital, and it was the place where the trade agreement that currently existed between the two states was negotiated.  The fact that the Prime Minister ordered a military approach to determining the motivation for the events in the Sligo Sector without even attempting a peaceful political approach spoke volumes about how she wanted the negotiations to go.  Two D’Bringi raids into Colonial Union territory was a serious violation of the treaties between the two states, but the loss of life was limited, at least so far, as was the economic loss.  Holding the three Rehorish colonies at the end of the Sandhurst warp chain hostage would escalate the situation significantly.  The last estimate of the population of that system was approximately 60 million Rehorish on three habitable planets.  When the 1st Battle Fleet arrived in that system, it would almost certainly provoke a significant response within the Alliance.  They had to try to resolve the situation before the Alliance fleet reacted to the 1st Battle Fleet, or it would be too late.  That was always assuming it wasn’t too late already, of course.  If the D’Bringi raids were the first step in a new war, then events were already moving forward, and nothing would stop them. 

Unaccountably, the navy was unable to free up any ships to transport Ambassador Ruston to Novosibirsk, so he was forced to take passage on a transport heading that way on a normal trade run.  This wasn’t unexpected, but it was disappointing.  Ruston’s ETA at the CFS capital was Month 207, Day 25.

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 207, Day 1, Alliance
The beginning of Month 207 found the Alliance fractured and in disarray, although few knew the full extent of the problems.  The ICN was only partially functional, although that was not apparent to the bulk of the low-level governmental, commercial, and public users.  Most of those kinds of messages were getting through to their destinations.  High level governmental communications, including naval comms, were completely compromised and either unreliable, or non-existent.  Again, this was not apparent to most users, at least not yet.  The associate members of the Alliance, like the Doraz or the Torqual, had no idea of the problem, as most of their messages were getting through, or, in some cases, the expected responses were being provided by the interference nexus without them being aware that their messages either didn’t get through or the responses were changed or substituted. 

There were some that were aware of the problem, though, and they were beginning to act.  The Rehorish were the first to discover the problem in the ICN and their own networks, and had sent couriers out to confirm their suspicions.  The couriers were ordered to report their findings back through the ICN in a one-time code that should be unbreakable in any reasonable amount of time, and then return at their best speed to confirm receipt of their findings.  In every case the courier’s message failed to return until the courier itself physically transited into the home system.  The interception of the courier’s messages, along with their confirmation of the missing D’Bringi ships, was all of the confirmation that the Rehorish needed.  Late in Month 206 the Rehorish cut off all contact with the ICN by physically disabling the ICN buoys in their system, and then they began a systematic purge of their networks.  This had the benefit of cutting their system off from whatever was manipulating their communications, but greatly reduced their ability to communicate with the rest of the Alliance.  Until they could sort out the problem their communications were limited to sending ships through the warp points in their system to interface with the ICN buoys on the far side.  These ships would download the accumulated messages into isolated storage where they could be examined for corruption or intrusion efforts.  No message would be viewed until it was confirmed to be clean.  This process was time consuming and, in the meantime, meant that the Rehorish system was effectively isolated from the rest of the Alliance. 

The T’Pau knew that something was wrong as well, having been alerted by the Rehorish.  While in theory the T’Pau were equal members of the Alliance with the D’Bringi and the Rehorish, they very much felt themselves the junior members compared to the other two, given their history with the D’Bringi.  Therefore, they hesitated to take any action that would alert the D’Bringi, who appeared to be responsible for the current problem, to the fact that they knew what was going on.  Instead, the T’Pau government began setting up a separate communications network in their home system, and they sent an alert code to their squadrons assigned to other Alliance fleets.  This code, disguised as an innocuous phrase within otherwise standard orders, directed their squadron commanders to raise the alert level of their ships and to beware of potential plots within the Alliance.  This was admittedly a very vague order, and did not mention any particular culprit or direct any specific action.  It merely warned the squadron commanders to keep their eyes open and to prepare for action.  In the meantime, the T’Pau Naval Intelligence Directorate began a low-key effort to determine the extent of the problems with their communications, but by the end of Month 206 this had had a limited effect, given their determination to remain undetected. 

Because of these problems, there was only one group in the Alliance that knew of the raids on the Colonial Union, and that a Colonial Union fleet was advancing on an Alliance colony.  In the D’Bringi home system, there were some who knew exactly what was going on. 

Month 207, Day 1, Alliance
On this day, a message was sent from D’Bringi Prime via the ICN throughout the Alliance to all D’Bringi colony worlds and outposts.  In addition, it was sent to the home worlds of the Rehorish and the T’Pau. 

The message was a video, and it began focused on Keeper-Cleric Half-Hand, a person known to most D’Bringi, standing in the ancestral castle of the last D’Bringi Emperor.  The castle was little more than a museum these days, the emperor’s clan long since having been exterminated during the Empire’s fall hundreds of years ago.  Instead of his usual vestments, though, the Keeper was wearing the last Emperor’s ceremonial armor.  Standing behind him were a small group of D’Bringi in clan colors, while a number of D’Bringi in functional combat armor and modern weapons stood arrayed around the room.  Sitting in rows of chairs in front of the Keeper were dignitaries gathered from across D’Bringi Prime.  If the camera had focused on their faces, the viewers might have seen that worry and concern were the dominant emotions on display, but the camera view was from the back of the throne room and for the most part their faces couldn’t be seen. 

The camera panned around the hall, taking in the imposing view of the Imperial throne room, with armed and armored guards standing around the walls.  Then it refocused on Keeper-Cleric Half Hand, who was standing in front of the last emperor’s throne. 

“I am speaking now to every D’Bringi, on every world reached by our great and glorious people!   We were once a backward and despised people on our home world, but then we unified first our planet, then our system, and then we reached out to the stars and created the vast and powerful Alliance!  We proved our greatness beyond a doubt.  We proved the superiority of our culture and our ways of doing things, not only to ourselves, but to every other race we met.  But somewhere along that path where we achieved greatness, we lost our way.  Our very clan leaders, the people who were supposed to safe-guard our culture, turned their backs on history, on the proven ways of doing things.  They became enamored with alien ways of doing things, alien thinking, and they abandoned our tried and tested ways!  The D’Bringi way!  Then worse, they began adopting those alien ways of doing things.  The Clans, long the guardians of the people and our culture, were minimized and reduced to puppets of the local and planetary councils.  Worse, the clan-less were given equal places in our society!  As if they deserved it!   As if they had earned it!”  At this a groan went through the room.  The attendees had been carefully selected for their adherence to the old ways, which in many cases had resulted in them being bypassed for promotion or new positions by others who embraced the new ways, but had come from less prestigious clans, or were clan-less. 

“I must admit that I had a hand in this as well.  As you know, it is the Keeper’s mission to maintain our culture and our way of life, but I was convinced, at least initially, that we must change in order to prosper.”  Another groan went through the room at this.  “I was wrong!  I know that now.  And so, I went to the leaders of our great nation, including the so-called great-clan chiefs, and tried to convince them that we must go back to our old ways.  They turned their backs on me!”  An angry shout went up in the room.  “They denied me!  When it became clear to them that I would not agree with them, then began moving against my Keepers.  They began political actions intended to delegitimize us, to remove us from our position as the defenders of our society!”  A shocked shout sounded across the room as the crowd began to get what was expected of them.  Their mood had abruptly changed from apprehensive to eager expectation.  The Keeper-Cleric held up his hands for silence, and after a few seconds they complied, settling down.  The Keeper-Cleric moved from where he had been standing to directly in front of the throne.  “And so now, because of their shocking disregard for our traditions, and their treason against our race for trying to disband the Keepers, I am now forced to do what I must to secure our future.  Therefore, to secure our way of life, I now declare the establishment of the 2nd Empire of the D’Bringi!  By the right of necessity, I now claim the throne of the empire as the first emperor of the 2nd Empire!”  The stunned crowd jumped to their feet and began cheering as Half-Hand sat on the throne.  For the first time in over two hundred years, an emperor sat on the throne. 

The cheering went on for some time, while Half-Hand sat on the throne showing no emotions.  Finally, he raised his hands and the cheering quickly died down.  “I will not lie to you; the road ahead is hard.  We have much to do to re-establish our greatness.   My first action as Emperor is to repeal all laws and acts of the toady governments that catered to the Alliance by hamstring our clans.  The Clans will be restored!”  Once again, the crowd jumped to their feet cheering.  This time Half-Hand quickly quieted them.  “However, merely repealing the laws won’t be enough.  It was our very clan leaders who led us into the chaos that now envelopes our people.  Therefore, I am ordering the arrest of the three ring-leaders of the treason against our people, the former Great Clan chiefs, Burning-Blade, Skull-Splitter, and T’Qek.  But because the treason does not stop there, I am also ordering the detention of every clan chief, his or her family, and their retainers.  They will be stripped of their positions and detained, until their complicity in the treason that has brought us low.”  Once again cheers broke out in the throne room, but this time they seemed less enthusiastic. 

“One of the traitors has already been apprehended!”  At those words the great doors at the end of the long throne room opened, and a group of guards escorted a hunched figure into the room.  The camera focused on the figure, and as they neared the front of the room it became clear that the guards were escorting the former clan chief Burning Blade into the room.  Burning Blade was the head of the D’Bringi Home System Council, and thus effectively the leader of the most powerful system in the D’Bringi Expanses, and one of the most prosperous and productive systems in the Alliance.  Now, though, he was bent and broken, and he moved slowly and with a limp.  The room was overtaken by whispers and comments from the crowd as the formerly powerful D’Bringi was marched up the row to stand in front of the throne.  Half-Hand stood, looming over the former clan chief.  “You, more than most others, are responsible for the chaos and decline in our culture that afflicts our people!  Therefore, I now demonstrate my resolve to right the wrongs perpetrated by you and your followers!  I now sentence you to death for your treason against the D’Bringi people.” 

With that announcement a figure moved forward from the side, from the ranks of the guards.  This D’Bringi was unarmored, and was dressed in the ceremonial garb of an Imperial Executioner.  He was large for a D’Bringi, and carried a headsman’s axe.  He moved forward to stand next to Burning Blade, and turned towards the emperor expectantly.  The emperor’s eyes swept the crowd for a few seconds, and then he nodded.  “Burning Blade, former clan chief and traitor to your people, do you have any last words?”  The hunched figure didn’t move or make a sound, which wasn’t surprising to the emperor, who had ordered his guards to ensure that the former clan chief would be unable to ruin the ceremony.  “Very well.  You maintain your cowardice to the end.  Executioner, do your duty.”

The guards moved away from the prisoner, and the executioner brought his axe up.  In one prodigious swing the former clan chief’s head was removed from his body, which crumpled to the ground.  There was silence throughout the room, then frantic cheering as every member of the crowd tried to cheer louder than their neighbors.  No one present wanted to appear less than enthusiastic.

The emperor held up his hands for silence.  “With this necessary step, I begin the purge of weakness from our society!  But my work isn’t done.  The rot runs deep, and many more await their just judgement.”  With that, the doors to the throne room were thrown open, and Keeper-Inquisitors, unseen in ages, entered the throne room and spread out through the restless crowd.  One by one the Inquisitors moved through the room and pointed at a dignitary, who was then roughly grabbed by guards and taken from the room.  The room was deathly silent as this happened, as the most powerful in D’Bringi society held their breath, hoping that they wouldn’t be next.  Finally, the Inquisitors filtered out, leaving the throne room silent and still.

The new emperor stood.  “I pledge to you that I will do everything in my power to ensure that our people are restored to their former glory!  I now call upon every loyal clan member to rally to the flag of the restored Empire!   Follow me to glory!”  The crowd was silent for a second, their fear palpable, but then, almost as one, they leapt to their feet and began cheering again, and the cheers went on and on.  They were cheering as if their lives depended on it, and the camera panned across the crowded room as the video faded out. 

The video was sent out via the ICN to every system with D’Bringi inhabitants.  Unlike many other messages, this one was unmolested and arrived at each if its targets.  On a number of worlds this was the trigger for local conspirators to leap into action.  The Keepers had had limited time and resources to prepare, and so they focused on the more populous D’Bringi colony worlds, where they were more likely to find discontented clan members who were nostalgic for the old days.   On most of these worlds the plotters achieved surprise and succeeded in decapitating the existing government and taking control with very little bloodshed.  In all, ten systems with small or larger populations declared for the new D’Bringi Empire.  This was by far the bulk of the D’Bringi colony systems with small or larger populations.  Only one system with a medium population failed to go over to the plotters, the Nagasaki system.  The Nagasaki system was a hub for expansion in that sector, and as such it had a large percentage of younger D'Bringi, many of whom were unsympathetic to the plotter’s cause.  Although the local plotters had some initial success, when they tried to declare for the new Empire there was a general popular uprising against them that forced them out of the cities and ended up with most of the plotters in custody or dead.  Most of the other systems had only settlement sized populations, or were poor and remote, so the plotters had decided to focus their attention on more central and important systems.  None of those systems went over to the plotters spontaneously, a fact that would surprise the new emperor when the reports finally came in.  He had counted on a groundswell of support from the common D’Bringi to win over at least some of those frontier colonies. 

There were three Great Clan Chiefs in the D’Bringi Expanses.  One, Burning Blade, had already been executed by the new Empire.  The second was T’Qek, who was currently serving as the D’Bringi representative on the Alliance High Council.  The High Council, and the Alliance Capital, rotated amongst the three home planets of the primary Alliance members, and was currently on T’Pau Prime.  The message from the new D’Bringi Emperor reached T’Pau Prime first, as the system was adjacent to the D’Bringi home system.  The T’Pau were alarmed by the announcement, which came on the heels of the warning from the Rehorish.  They had balked at the Rehorish suggestion of cutting their system off from the Alliance ICN, but now, though, they reacted decisively and physically disabled the ICN buoys in their system.  This had the additional effect of cutting off the D’Bringi home system as well, which would have unknown consequences.  While the message didn’t move any of the T’Pau, it did have another effect.  Shortly after its receipt, a team of well-armed assassins attacked T’Qek’s compound outside of the T’Pau capital city, killing her guards and T’Qek herself before escaping.   In light of the D’Bringi instability and the violence committed in their capital, the T’Pau government ordered their home fleet, nine cruisers and three escort carriers strong, to be deployed to the warp points in their home system to prevent the transit of any unauthorized ships. 

Other fleet movements were happening as well.  The Alliance 3rd Fleet was stationed in the Kure system, deep within the Rehorish colonial territories, and was intended to act as a guard against both the known contact point with the Colonial Union and the Mintek, who were known to have a closed warp point in the area.  The fleet was composed of a mix of Rehorish and D’Bringi, with a small contingent of T’Pau ships as well.  The D’Bringi contingent was composed of nine battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers, three strike carriers, and two corvette-carriers.  Shortly after the announcement by the new D’Bringi Emperor arrived, the entire force of D’Bringi ships left the fleet anchorage and set a course for home.  The battle group’s commanding officer sent the fleet’s CO a message indicating that they were returning home on internal D’Bringi business, and asked that they be granted safe passage.  Cho-sho Banzan, having no orders to the contrary, and no authority to stop a fleet movement by a full Alliance member, granted their request but then sent a message to Fleet HQ on Rehorish Prime requesting guidance and warning of the battle group’s stated intention to return home. 

In the Phyriseq system, home of the Alliance 4th Fleet, the situation was different.  There, Skull-Splitter, the third Great Clan Chief, had survived the assassination attempt and was back on his feet, at least to an extent.  After the assassination attempt, he had isolated the system from the ICN and thus prevented the video of the new Emperor from getting through.  After watching it himself, Skull-Splitter dispatched troops to Phyriseq colony to round up anyone suspected of working for the new Emperor to head off a power grab before it happened.  He fleet was already secure, with all those who might have supported the new Empire already in custody.  The troops on the planet succeeded in rounding up a number of trouble makers, and although Skull-Splitter was sure they didn’t get them all, no coup on the colony materialized.   Skull-Splitter retained full control of the 4th Fleet. 

The 6th Fleet, in Zir territory, had perhaps the largest contingent of D’Bringi ships, just as it had large contingents of ships from all of the full Alliance members.  Six battlecruisers, six heavy cruisers, three strike carriers, eleven escort carriers, and six corvette-carriers pulled away from the fleet anchorage after the D’Bringi Emperor’s announcement and set their course for home.  As with the other fleets, the T’Pau Tai-sho commanding the 6th Fleet had no authority to stop them from leaving. 

At this point, there was only one group within the Alliance that knew of the attacks on the Colonial Union, and that was the D’Bringi plotters.  So far, the Rehorish and the T’Pau were unaware of the Colonial fleet advancing on the Alliance. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 207, Day 3, Rehorish Prime
Tai-shu Okada’s small group of destroyers limped home on this day, with two of the three destroyers suffering engine damage from the strain that their fast transits had put on their systems.  His communications with the outside world had been limited, as the strange communications blackout that had begun in the Phyriseq system had followed him home.  It was apparent from the state of communications in each of the systems that they had passed through that the communication’s blackout was following him, and only descended on the system when they entered it.  However, he discovered when they jumped into the home system that the Rehorish government had purposefully cut the system off from the ICN and was attempting to restore internal communications.  Therefore, they had not heard the declaration by the new D’Bringi Emperor yet. Okada’s ships had stripped the ICN buoy on the far side of the home system’s warp point before jumping into the system, and Okada had watched the video, appalled at the implications.  The thought that the D’Bringi, their closest and oldest allies, were behind the ICN corruption and had become potential enemies was nearly beyond belief.  The Alliance had gone from being the largest and most powerful nation in known space to fragmented and vulnerable in one instant. 

Okada’s return to the home system was a relief, as was his news that at least some D’Bringi did not follow this new emperor.  Okada, in turn, was relieved to find out that the T’Pau were working with the Rehorish government to stabilize the ICN and purge it of whatever had corrupted its functions.  How they would react if it came to a showdown was something different, but their willingness to work with the Rehorish was hopeful, at least.  Fleet command sent him a status report on the 1st Fleet units present in the home system, as well as new construction being undertaken since the start of the emergency. 

The 1st Fleet’s assets in the system currently consisted of seven light carriers, four of which were of the latest design, six escort carriers, all of the latest design, six modern beam armed heavy cruisers of the latest design, six older light cruisers recently reactivated from the reserves, and eleven destroyers of various designs, all recently refitted.  The force was equipped with older F0 fighters, as construction capacity had been focused on refits until recently, when it had been diverted to reactivating and refitting the reserves.  The refits on three of the six bases guarding the home world would be complete at the end of the month, and construction had begun on numerous small couriers that could be used to maintain communications between fleets and worlds as long as the ICN was unreliable, without using up warships by burning out their drives.  There were two kinds, a small cheap ship capable only of carrying messages, and a larger, corvette sized ship that was much more expensive, but which carried long-range sensors and a communications suite that fleet command believed would be immune to the disruption caused to the ICN.  While the new communications corvettes wouldn’t be able to communicate between systems, at least without a chain of them stationed at each warp point, they would provide the fleet with secure communications within the system they were located in at the time.   The couriers and comms ships would be ready at the end of the month.  In addition, ten new escort carriers had been laid down, but they wouldn’t be ready for service until the end of next month, and wouldn’t be fit for combat until their crews shook down. 

Code: [Select]

EMERGENCY COURIER class EX  (AC) 4 Hull TL 5
[2] AiHs(I)Qs(I) [8]
4 RCP  21 MCP    Trg:1     Cost =  44.4/ 6.7
HTK 5 Aix1 


Code: [Select]

Communications Corvette class CT  (AC) 3 XO Racks 16 Hull TL 5
[2] AiHs(BbL)(I)(I)(I)Xr(CC)Qs(I) [8]
16 RCP  9 MCP    Trg:1     Cost =  283/ 42.5
HTK 10 Aix1 

The report from Fleet Intelligence on the communications corruption issues was more encouraging.  Their first step had been to cut off all contact with the ICN by physically disabling the buoys on both sides of the home system’s warp point, and then purging the home system’s ICN system, as well as the military networks, which had clearly been infiltrated by whatever had corrupted the ICN.  The military networks had already been brought back online, and so far, they appeared to be clear of outside influence, although confidence on that was not high as the actual culprit had not been identified.  Analysis of the ICN network computers was continuing, and the teams assigned to the job reported progress was being made, but details remained elusive.  It was clear that for the near future they would have to rely on the communications ships and couriers. 

As Okada’s destroyer raced inwards towards the home world, he pondered the strategic situation.  The Alliance was in an extremely dangerous position.  The home world command centers had been cut off from their fleets stationed in other systems, depriving them of the ability to order those fleets into action.  In addition, the fleets themselves had lost the ability to report their status and the presence of threats.  The possibility that one of the Alliance’s enemies had already attacked without being detected, or the detection being reported, preyed on his mind as a constant threat that could not be dealt with or countered. 

Even as Okada considered the strategic situation, and his general lack of knowledge, others were doing the same elsewhere. 

Month 207, Day 4, D’Bringi Prime
The new D’Bringi Emperor sat atop his throne in regal glory.  The courtiers had been cleared out of the throne room for this meeting, but watchful guards still lined the walls, a testament to the new Emperor’s focus on his security and safety.  A lone D’Bringi, dressed in a harness indicative of a senior clan official, approached the throne and prostrated himself before the emperor, as the guards shifted slightly to keep the new arrival within their line of fire. 

After a second the emperor gestured for his new Chief of Intelligence to rise.  “Report!”

The new Intel Chief bowed again, and then began his report.  “Highness, the plan proceeds apace.  We have confirmed reports from eleven systems that they are in full support of your new government!”

The emperor leaned forward.  “Eleven?  What of the others?”  including the home system, there were eighteen D’Bringi-colonized worlds in the Alliance with populations larger than a settlement. 

The Intel Chief looked unconcerned.  “Preliminary reports are that the Imperial movements failed completely in six of the seven remaining worlds.  All of those are remote colonies, and most are poor, and so received less of our limited resources prior to the restoration of the throne, and so this was not unexpected.”  The Intel Chief hesitated, as if gathering his thoughts, and then continued.  “The Imperial movement on the colony in the Nagasaki system failed to completely take over the government there, and fighting has broken out.  There are reports that the rebels have asked the Rehorish colony in the system for assistance, and that Rehorish frontier guard units have been seen in the fighting for the capital of the colony.”

The emperor thought on this for a moment, and then shrugged.  “We must consolidate our hold on the planets we control, and then we can send assistance to Nagasaki, and to the other colonies that have not come to the light as of yet.”  The emperor shifted in his throne.  “And what of the diversion effort against the Colonial Union?”

The Intel Chief nodded, back on firmer ground.  The subversion effort against the colonial governments had always been the riskier part of the first part of their plan, and he had been concerned that the emperor, who had appeared to have been swept up in the excitement of the heady days after he had assumed the throne, would not understand that when the plan did not come off perfectly.  “Highness, the plan appears to have worked perfectly.  The raiding forces will reach the rally site in the Stahat system by mid-month, where they will rendezvous with the forces that have withdrawn from the 6th Fleet.  Those ships are en route and will reach Stahat early next month.”

“What about the situation in the Phyriseq system?”  The emperor’s gaze at his intelligence chief was intent. 

The young D’Bringi noble who served as the Chief of Imperial Intelligence had risen to his position over the bodies, sometimes literally, of his enemies and friends, and wasn’t easily shaken.  He had known this moment was approaching, and had prepared.  “The situation in Phyriseq is unclear.  We know that an attempt was made on the false clan chief who styles himself as Skull-Splitter, but no word on the results have returned, and the system has dropped out of contact.  We must assume that Skull-Splitter is still alive.”

“And the squadron from Phyriseq?”

“They have not left the system as scheduled.  We must assume that they are under the control of Skull-Splitter.”

The emperor leaned forward, unease plain upon his face.  “This raises several difficulties.”

The intel chief nodded.  Plain honesty was his best route now.  “Yes.  First, the fact that Skull-Splitter still lives gives those who wish to oppose us a figure to rally around.  Secondly, we must now begin planning for Skull-Splitter’s potential actions.  Finally, the force we are assembling at Stahat will be understrength.”

The emperor’s gaze remained sharp, as if weighing his intel chief.  “What of the ships we withdrew from the 3rd Fleet in the Kure System?  Can they be re-tasked to the Stahat system?”   

“No.  First, they will not arrive in time, and in any case, I believe their status is problematic.  To get to either Stahat or their original destination, they have to pass through the Rehorish Home System.  And as our previous reports have indicated, the Rehorish have become problematic.”

The emperor leaned back in the throne.  “This disturbs me greatly.  We cannot risk an internal war with the Rehorish now, at this critical time.  Our entire plan was conceived to divert their attention from us, to give us the time we needed to consolidate our control, so that we could credibly claim that this was the will of the D’Bringi people and beyond review by the Alliance.”

“I understand this, your excellency.”  Indeed, this had largely been his portion of the great plan to save the D’Bringi people, although he was not eager to remind the emperor of this fact right now.  “Our intelligence is limited, but it appears that the Rehorish grew suspicious over the events in the Chirq system, and because of this discovered that the ICN was less than reliable.  From there it was an easy leap to determine that their own networks were penetrated.  They have since cut off all contact with the rest of the Alliance and are presumably rebuilding their network and trying to find the source of the infection.”

Alarm flared in the emperor’s eyes.  “Can they?”

The intel chief bowed low.  “I have been assured not, excellency.  They will know they were penetrated, and they will suspect it was us, as we clearly benefit at this critical time, but they will find no proof.  The Benefactors swear it.  Fortunately, through your foresight the T’Pau and the Rehorish were ‘encouraged’ to accelerate their plans to refit their fleets, ensuring that many of their ships would be in the yards when we took action, limiting their ability to respond in a reasonable amount of time, should they wish to do so.”

The emperor stared at the other for a moment, weighing competing alternatives.  Finally, he gestured for the intel chief to continue. 

“We face three critical problems at the current time.  First, and most important, we must secure control of our planetary bases, and begin to expand to the other D’Bringi colonies if we are to maintain our claim of primacy and legitimacy.  The only planet we truly control is Stahat.  That is the base of our power.  Even here on Prime we must be cautious as our control is based on the appearance of power, nothing more.  If we can maintain that appearance long enough then it will become a reality, but that will take time.  Secondly, we must deal with Skull-Splitter.  He can and will rally ships and colonies to his side if we allow him time.  For now, he is confined to Phyriseq, but that will not be true for long.  Finally, there is the human fleet that is advancing on the Alliance colonies in the Dether system.  For that to be a distraction to the rest of the Alliance they must know about it, and given the proven unreliability of the ICN and the suspicions of the other races they may not receive the emergency messages that will arriving soon, or believe them if they do.”

“Perhaps it is time to dispense with the ICN ‘interference’?”

“I think it has served its purpose.  Still, even if the interference disappears today, will the other races believe it, or forget that they suspect we have that capability?”

“No, they will not.  If we want them to respond as we wish, then we must reassure them.  I will have my staff put together an address to the Alliance, to explain our actions and reassure them about the ICN.”  The new emperor settled back in his throne.  The more the people saw him addressing the nation as their rightful leader, the more they would come to believe it.  Particularly on home world, which was critical to the web of legitimacy he was trying to build. 

Month 207, Day 6, Rehorish Prime
Tai-shu Okada exited the shuttle that had brought him to the surface and immediately entered a waiting transport, which immediately whisked him off to the central government building.  He was to meet with the Chairwoman of the General Staff, as well as the Prime Minister and her staff.  They would be wanting recommendations from him as to what to do next.   Unfortunately, there appeared to be little they could do, aside from continuing to restore their communications and re-establishing contact with their fleets.  Attacking the D’Bringi was out of the question, at least at this point, as their civil war was an internal issue, outside the purview of the Alliance, at least for now.  If they could prove that the D’Bringi were behind the ICN issues, then maybe that would change, but that would be an issue for the Alliance Council.  For now, they could only prepare. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 207, Day 2, Sandhurst system
The United Colonial Defense Force 1st Battle Fleet arrived at the warp point to the Danzig system, the first system of the two-system neutral zone that existed between the Alliance and the Colonial Union, on this day.  The 1st Battle Fleet joined the squadrons dispatched from Sligo to force the D’Bringi away from the Sandhurst colonies at the warp point, bringing the 1st Battle Fleet’s strength up to three superdreadnoughts, three battleships, eleven battlecruisers, six heavy cruisers, fourteen destroyers, three frigates, and ten carriers of various types.  Three supply ships followed behind the fleet, carrying enough supplies to support the fleet for just over two months. 

Rear Admiral Carstairs was glad to have them, but knew that two months wouldn’t be enough support to maintain her fleet in Alliance space for long enough to complete her mission.  The Colonial Union supply network would be able to support her fleet in the Danzig system well enough, but once they jumped beyond that system, they would need to begin relying on their supply ships.  Worse, the Laramie system, which was an uninhabited neutral system in between Danzig and the Alliance colony system of Dether, had a known third warp point which led to another Alliance controlled system.  Naval Intelligence had no information on that system, aside from the fact that it didn’t contain a habitable planet, and it was unknown if it led to additional Alliance systems.  This meant that if her fleet advanced beyond the Laramie system they would have an open warp point behind their back.  For this reason, Admiral Carstairs planned to split off a small force to cover that warp point, and had requested a survey fleet to survey the system and discover any warp points.  Unfortunately, the nearest survey fleet was over two months away, but Vice Admiral Bonaventura had promised to divert them to the 1st Battle Fleet’s area as soon as possible. 

Crossing into the neutral zone with a fleet was a violation of the treaty between the Alliance and the Colonial Union, but as far as Admiral Carstairs was concerned, the D’Bringi had already torn up that document.  Union citizens were dead, and Union planets had been looted.  Someone was going to pay.  She gave the order, and her fleet began transiting into the Danzig system. 

Month 207, Day 8, Alliance
At mid-day the Alliance ICN transmitted a broadcast, in the clear, from the D’Bringi home world.  The message reached every corner of the Alliance, including the home worlds of the T’Pau and the Rehorish, although in both locations it was somewhat delayed due to the safeguards both races had set up to ensure that their home system networks remained free of infiltration.  Once again, the video began with the ornate and old-fashioned throne room of the ancient D’Bringi Empire.  As before, armored D’Bringi were stationed throughout the room, but this time the emperor was alone, sitting on his throne, as the camera zoomed in and focused on him. 

“People of the Alliance, greetings from your ally, the great D’Bringi Empire!  As the restoration of our culture and promise as a people continues, I wanted to address the Alliance as a whole to ensure you that the D’Bringi people remain your friends and allies.  The restored Empire intends, now and forever, to remain in the Alliance and to live up to its treaty obligations with the other races that the D’Bringi people liberated and uplifted.  It was the reactionary, revisionist neo-conservatives that ruled here on the home world that abandoned our old ways, and who were weakening our society, turning us into weak, pale imitations of the other races.  Imitations that would have been unable to assist the other races of the Alliance, who would have been dependent and weak!  The restoration of the Empire has ended all of that and will restore the D’Bringi people to the position of strength and power that is ours by right!”

The emperor paused for a moment, and his face settled into a serious look.  “I have some unfortunate news.  In our ongoing efforts to purge the former regime of weaklings and appeasers, we have discovered that, just prior to our uprising, they released a virus into the Alliance ICN, which has disrupted communications throughout our great Alliance.  The former regime developed this virus out of an ill-conceived fear of the other races in the Alliance.  It was developed due to their inferiority complex, because in spite of the fact that their policies made us dependent on the other races of the Alliance, instead of the pillar of strength that we were meant to be, they feared the other races.  Therefore, they developed this incredible weapon, which was unfortunately released in the chaos of our restoration.  Once we realized what had happened, we immediately began searching for a solution.  Our efforts have borne fruit, and we have released the counter to the virus.  We do not understand how the virus works, and the lab where it was developed was largely destroyed, but we have confidence that the counter will work, should it be allowed to spread throughout the network.  The great and powerful people of the D’Bringi Empire officially apologize to the other peoples of the Alliance for any inconvenience that this may have caused.  We will, of course, agree to compensate anyone who has suffered losses due to the inadvertent release of the virus.”

The emperor leaned forward, an earnest and intent look on his face.  “I now speak to all of the D’Bringi throughout the Alliance.  The restored Empire will lead the D’Bringi back to the greatness we have lost!  I ask you now to rally to our flag and resist any who might lead you astray.  We must be unified to work together to restore our race to greatness!”

The video swelled with the anthem of the restored D’Bringi Empire, then faded out.  The video was received across the Alliance, as intended, but reactions varied.  On the T’Pau and Rehorish home worlds the video was viewed with suspicion and concern.  Neither race entirely believed the D’Bringi Emperor’s story.  Over the next several days it became clear that the ICN was being restored to reliability, although neither was inclined to trust it as they had in the past, or even to believe that it had actually been fixed. 

On the home worlds of the allied races, such as the Doraz and the Torqual, the video was viewed with concern.   Both races had been conquered by the D’Bringi, before their experience dealing with the other races had softened their approach to including races within the Alliance.  Neither particularly wanted the D’Bringi to go back to their old ways of forcefully dominating the minor races.  Both began putting into place plans to redeploy their militaries to cover their contact points with the Alliance, which had been previously undefended.  For the others, like the Zir, Bir, and Aurarii, they were farther from the center of things in the Alliance and had barely noticed the irregularities with the ICN.  For them the instabilities within the D’Bringi Expanses were of little concern. 

The message was received quite differently on the colony worlds of the D’Bringi.  There were eighteen worlds scattered throughout the Alliance that had been colonized by the D’Bringi fairly recently.  All except one had populations under fourteen million, and that one was barely bigger than that and was rated very poor in mineral wealth.  All had been ignored by the restoration conspirators, who had instead focused their attention on the more populous colonies closer to the center of the Alliance.  This decision had been made by the D’Bringi who would eventually crown himself emperor, largely because of the limited resources he had at his command.  Unknown to the Emperor, that had actually been a good decision, but not for the reasons he had made it.  The new colonies were almost uniformly populated by younger D’Bringi who had, under the old clan order, been marginalized populations.  They had been clan-less, or members of the numerous weak and small clans that populated the fringes of D’Bringi society, doing work that was necessary but considered beneath the dignity of a “real” clan member.  The societal revolution within D’Bringi society that had accompanied the establishment of the Alliance had liberated these marginalized populations, and had largely contributed to the revitalization of D’Bringi society and the proliferation of D’Bringi colonies.  These colonists had no interest in returning to the old ways which would see the arrival of high caste clan overlords arriving on their colonies to “oversee” clan possessions, which would include everything on their world that they had built and which was worth having.  All of the new emperor’s talk of ‘restoration’ meant only one thing to these colonists, a return to poverty and crushing service to the clans.  Across all of those worlds the colonists uniformly rejected the new emperor’s call to unity.  It wasn’t long before messages began running between these worlds, feeling each other out and trying to find out if there was an alternative to the restored Empire.  Unfortunately, many of these messages were ‘lost’ in transit, or subtly altered.  It wasn’t long before the colonies began sending representatives to one another through the freight network, but this was very slow. 

On eight other D’Bringi worlds the response was more complex.  These worlds had initially rejected the restored Empire, or had been ignored by the conspirators as they were distant from the center of things.  Many of these worlds were rated as poor or very poor, and thus had been of little interest to the conspirators, who had preferred to focus their limited resources on richer colonies.  On some of these worlds the emperor’s words had the intended effect, rousing their nationality and racial pride, and pushed those worlds towards the restored empire.  On others the message had the opposite effect, for the same reason it had been so soundly rejected on the smaller colony worlds.  The largest population colony world in this category was Nagasaki, with a population of just over sixty million.  The pro-Alliance government of Nagasaki had resisted the attempted coup by restoration plotters, and had since then been rounding up plotters and spies while trying to establish communications with other D’Bringi worlds.  The message from the emperor was allowed to play across the colony, followed by a message from the governor promising that the restored Empire would never be allowed to take control of the colony. 

Finally, in the Phyriseq system, home of the 4th Fleet, Skull-Splitter’s health was returning.  With the restoration of the ICN the time to move would come soon. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 207, Day 10, Alliance system of Stahat
A group of corvette-carriers, accompanied by freighters, entered the system and joined a second group that was waiting close to the warp point.  The Alliance ICN buoy stationed at the warp point observed the corvettes enter the system, but no entry was made in its logs and no contact report was sent.  Once the two groups had rendezvoused, they set out for the warp point that would take them to their eventual destination, the Dether system.  The Dether system contained three Alliance colonies, two T’Pau and one Rehorish, and although most within the Alliance didn’t know it, the system would soon be threatened by the Colonial Union. 

Month 207, Day 11, Alliance System of Phyriseq
The D’Bringi ships assigned to the 4th Fleet in the Phyriseq system had withdrawn from the Fleet assembly area close to the warp point to the Mintek home system some time ago.  Since then, they had been orbiting the Phyriseq colony, assisting the pro-Alliance governor maintain his government while Skull-Splitter recovered.  Now, finally, he was ready to act.

Skull-Splitter’s first move was to send a message as a counter to the emperor’s message.  The video began focused on Skull-splitter, who was sitting on the command deck of his battle cruiser.  Unlike the Emperor, who had appeared in the finery of the ancient emperors of D’Bringi, Skull-splitter appeared in the unadorned powered armor that was the signature of the elite warriors of the D’Bringi.  He had removed the helm for the broadcast, which revealed the hideous damage the assassination attempt had done to one side of his body and his head, leaving him crippled, at least until he had time for a full regeneration treatment.  For now, he was always in the armor, which gave him the mobility that he needed to lead his people. 

“I speak now to all D’Bringi throughout the Alliance.  You have all heard the message from the false emperor.  He is a last vestige of the old ways that we have left behind us.  He and his kind want to take us backward, back to the days when the clans dominated our society, and the empire in turn dominated the clans.  I too am a remnant of those days.  I was an am a leader of one of our so-called “great” clans.  The false emperor speaks of the old days with nostalgia, but he wants you to forget our dirty secret.  Our old ways were corrupt!  They enriched the few at the top of the clan hierarchy while oppressing most of our people.  I too used to support the old system, until I was introduced to new ways of doing things by our friends and allies in the Alliance.  It may seem safe and comforting to go back to the old ways, as the false-emperor demands, but those ways were a trap!  They oppressed and limited the vast bulk of our people to the benefit of the few.  The years since the cultural revolution have seen a flowering of our people that I will never forget!  Those who were marginalized under the old system suddenly were given opportunities, and like true D’Bringi they seized that opportunity and ran with it!   Under the old system our colonies were desultory strip-mining operations run by greedy clan chief’s with only one goal, to strip as much wealth from the new planet as possible to enrich them and their cronies.  Now, since the revolution, new colonies have sprung up everywhere, filled by D’Bringi intent on making new worlds for themselves.  Worlds where they and their children will be free to make their own futures!  Free to live their lives as they see fit, rather than bowing to some high-born clan lordling who never served on the front lines, or worked a real job!  I implore you, all of you, look closely at those who serve the false-emperor!  They are the worst of the old world, those who couldn’t adapt to the new ways.  Your choice is clear.  Only you can make that choice.”

“I speak now to the Alliance.  To our allies and friends.  You must understand what is going on within the D’Bringi Expanses.  The false-emperor has sworn to uphold the treaties with you, however, if he succeeds his path will inevitably lead him to attempt to dominate the Alliance.  To put the D’Bringi into a position of power over every other race within the Alliance.  The false-emperor was once the head of the Keeper order.  The Keepers were established to mediate between the great clans, and to ensure the future of the D’Bringi race by keeping the clans focused on any threats to our primacy and power, instead of on our petty internal bickering and constant warring on each other.  Once, the Keepers were necessary as the clans were corrupt and constantly fought each other as the Clan Chiefs sought to divert internal threats by instigating fights with the other clans.  Since the cultural revolution, though, the loss of power by the great clans led to an equal loss of power by the Keepers.  The Keepers have always been the conservators of our traditions, and that has made them by far the most traditional among us.  They have hated the cultural revolution and the changes it has brought from the first, and have fought it every step of the way.  I, and my fellow clan chiefs, have known of their opposition and it was a constant source of concern for us, but obviously we underestimated them.”  Skull-Splitter leaned forward in his seat, towards the camera.  “I do not ask our allies within the Alliance for help.  This is a D’Bringi problem and we will solve it in our way.  I do warn you, though.  The false-emperor has lied to you.  He blamed the ICN difficulties on myself and the other leaders of the previous government, however, that is not true.  No such project existed, not under our auspices.  None was needed, and that should be clear to all, as we were the leading proponents of working within the Alliance with the other races.  He and his Keepers are the ones who feared the other races.  He and his Keepers are the ones who have ‘gifted’ the clans with advanced technology when it suited their purposes.  Ask yourself, who would benefit the most from a disruption to communications at this time?  I failed to prevent this disaster, and now I must do all I can to stop this fanatic from leading the D’Bringi people into the abyss.”  The camera’s view drew back to show the entire bridge.  Standing behind Skull-Splitter was his son, also in powered armor.  Several marines stood at the back of the bridge, and all of the officers around the bridge now stood too, saluting in the old way, in support of their leader.  “I do not ask the Alliance for help.  This is a D’Bringi matter, to be finished by D’Bringi will.  My fleet has rallied around me in our time of need.  We will move to eliminate the usurper, and I now ask for the support of every free D’Bringi.  Follow me, to freedom!”

The message was broadcast across the Phyriseq system.  It was met by celebrations and acclaim on the already free colony and the fleet.  The message was dutifully recorded by the ICN buoy at the edge of the system, but somehow was not rebroadcast as it should have been.  Skull-Splitter had anticipated this, though.  Although he didn’t have enough warships to send any out as couriers, there were numerous small freighters within the Phyriseq system, and their captains were very amenable to being hired as couriers.  Each freighter had a copy of the message loaded into their computers, and were sent out across the Alliance.  They broadcast the message in every system they entered and then moved on to the next system.  It would take time, but their message would get out.   

Month 207, Day 16, Alliance Kawasaki System
The D’Bringi contingent from the 3rd Fleet, which had withdrawn from their assignment in the Kure system when they received the initial message from the new Emperor of the restored D’Bringi Empire came to a halt just outside of weapons range of the warp point to the Rehorish home system.  The nine battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers, three strike carriers, and two corvette-carriers were a considerable force, and per standard Alliance protocols they had sent ahead of them their plotted course and ETA, along with a request for authorization to transit the Rehorish home system.  Under Alliance agreements such authorization would normally be automatically granted, more of a formality than anything else.  Things had changed, though, and this had become apparent as the D’Bringi fleet approached the warp point.  Assembled in front of the warp point was the Rehorish Home Fleet, which, although it didn’t have any battlecruisers, was a powerful force as well.  The Rehorish Home Fleet had been somewhat depleted by detachments sent to garrison the Chirq home world and secure the Khozuni system, but it boasted seven light carriers, six heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers, and eleven destroyers.  The D’Bringi force might possess bigger combatants, but the Rehorish force had more fighters and out-massed the combat ships the D’Bringi could bring to the field. 

In any case, the D’Bringi commander had no interest in fighting.  Instead, he merely restated his desire for his squadron to return to D’Bringi Prime, which necessitated transiting through the Rehorish home system.  The Rehorish fleet responded with a denial of authority for transit, invoking the state of emergency declared by the Rehorish government a week earlier.  After consulting with his legal resources, the D’Bringi commander attempted to negotiate with the Rehorish, arguing that the need of his people outweighed their state of emergency, but the Rehorish were unmoved.  As long as the state of emergency existed, no D’Bringi ships would be allowed to transit their system.  This was a problem for the former 3rd fleet ships, as no other route to their home world existed.  Unable to transit through the Rehorish home system they were stopped cold.  Unwilling to force a confrontation, the D’Bringi commander agreed to wait for a determination to be made at a higher level.   

Month 207, Day 20, Stahat System
A large group of D’Bringi ships jumped into the Stahat system, rendezvousing with the corvette carriers that had arrived several days ago.  This was the D’Bringi contingent from the 6th Fleet which had withdrawn after the announcement of the restoration of the D’Bringi Empire.  After joining with the corvette-carriers, the combined group moved inwards towards the D’Bringi colony in the inner system.  Stahat Prime was the largest D’Bringi out-system colony, and the center of power for the new Empire.  Although the D’Bringi home world held immense political and social value for any government claiming legitimacy, it was here that the plotters had established their initial base of operations, and it was here that the greatest percentage of the planetary population truly supported their cause.  And so, it was here that the new Imperial Fleet would be created.  When the fleet arrived over Stahat Prime in seven days it would be greeted by a planet-wide celebration and joy, which would go a long way towards swaying crews that had had no idea what they were doing or why they left their stations in the Zir Villiers system. 

Unlike the earlier transits of the corvette-carriers, the transit of this fleet was reported through the newly re-established Alliance ICN. 

Month 207, Day 25, Novosibirsk system, Confederated Free States
The Novosibirsk system was a bustling, prosperous system.  It was situated directly between the Colonial Union and the Alliance, and thus it enjoyed the protection of both great nations, and served as a convenient meeting place for the two to discuss important issues.  The system was a hive of activity on many different levels, with traders, spies, and politicians from both nations vying with each other for advantage, with the CFS government constantly walking the thin line of neutrality, trying to help both, but not too much, while simultaneously not letting either get too much of an advantage.  It was a precarious perch, but one that the CFS seemed to excel at, at least so far. 

Former Admiral Ruston, now Special Ambassador Ruston, arrived over the capital planet of Titov early in the morning, and immediately boarded a civilian shuttle for the trip to the surface.  He was accompanied by a large staff provided by the Union Foreign Relations Department, all of whom were busily preparing for the meetings that would be coming.  The shuttle was on approach to the capital city’s main spaceport when an explosion erupted from the side of the transport.  The pilots tried to recover as the shuttle veered to the right, away from the landing area, but then a second explosion shattered the rear of the shuttle and it augured into the ground, tumbling.  Spaceport emergency services were on scene immediately and found both survivors and dead littering the area. 

The Union embassy was in shock.  They didn’t know what Ambassador Ruston’s mission was about, just that it was very important and very urgent.  The Union Ambassador assigned to Titov was a senior official from the Foreign Relations department, as befitting the importance of the station, and she had been miffed that the Department hadn’t seen fit to let her in on the situation.  And now this. 

CFS emergency services were very efficient.  Within fifteen minutes of the crash, they had identified the bulk of the survivors and had begun emergency medical aide.  By the end of the day their tally was complete.  Out of ninety-eight crew and passengers, forty-three had survived the crash.  Including Special Ambassador Ruston.  However, Ambassador Ruston was seriously injured and was in an induced coma as the surgeons reconstructed his savaged body.  Ambassador Tilford, having no idea of Ambassador Ruston’s mission, was limited to sending a report back to the capital with a request for guidance.  Included in the report was the preliminary determination by the CFS Bureau of Security that the shuttle crash was due to sabotage.   

This report, when received in Epsilon Eridani, touched off a furious debate in the Senate.  This debate went on for several days as furious supporters of Senator Semenov accused the New Dawn Party of sabotaging the negotiations with the Alliance.   In the meantime, negotiations remained on hold. 

Month 207, Day 29, Laramie System, Neutral Zone
The Colonial Union’s 1st Battle Fleet was now seventy-two light minutes from the warp point to the Alliance colony system of Dether, which meant it was now entering the danger zone.  The fleet’s scouts hadn’t detected a single Alliance scout throughout the trip, which was consistent with the agreement with the Alliance that established the neutral zone, however, Admiral Carstairs had been unnerved by the lack of enemy scouts given the state of war that now existed between the two states.  In any case, whether or not there had been patrol ships present or not, the Alliance certainly had at least a sensor drone at the warp point to their system, just as the Union had a sensor drone at the warp point that led to their systems.  The fleet had already penetrated the invisible barrier that marked the sensor range of a ship sitting on the warp point.  In a day and a half, they would reach the range that a sensor buoy could detect them at.  If the Alliance hadn’t seen them yet, they would certainly see them then.  Things were about to get very real. 

There was indeed an Alliance picket ship sitting on the warp point to the Dether system, and it did detect the Union fleet approaching its location.  Shortly after detecting the fleet the scout sent a CD back through the warp point to warn its fellow picket ships of the approach of an unknown drive field.  The picket’s commander was not yet alarmed, as it was merely an unexpected drive field contact.  It was anomalous, as it was on an unscheduled course, at an unscheduled time, and it was moving slower than a trade fleet would move.  He would continue to wait and watch, as per SOP. 

The contact report was received in the Dether system and reported back to fleet HQ through the ICN. 

Month 207, Day 30, Alliance
The Alliance ICN was now more or less reliable, as the new D’Bringi Emperor had promised.  The D’Bringi Emperor’s message had spread through the network, and with it spread the network’s reliability had seemingly been restored.  The T’Pau and the Rehorish were unwilling to trust the ICN, but had yet to identify any discrepancies.  Until now. 

On this date the response to the emperor’s message from Skull-Splitter had arrived in the T’Pau home system via a small chartered freighter.  The message electrified the T’Pau high command.  It was proof of the continuing corruption of the ICN, given the disappearance of the original message from the ICN, and of serious divisions within the D’Bringi race.  With the Alliance Grand Council neutralized by the assassination of the D’Bringi representative and the fact that no new representative had been appointed, the T’Pau declared a state of emergency and closed their system to all non-T’Pau warships.  Messages were dispatched to the T’Pau ships assigned to Alliance fleets throughout Alliance territory to remain at their posts, but to verify any orders with T’Pau High Command before enacting any changes to their current SOP. 

Skull-splitter’s message also arrived in the Stahat system, the center of the new D’Bringi Empire’s power.  Unlike in the other systems, here the message was not received well, and the chartered freighter was impounded before it could spread its disinformation.  Thus, Skull-Splitter’s message would not reach the D’Bringi colonies beyond Stahat, at least for now. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 208, Colonial Union
The Colonial Union’s government is starting to feel more assured as the reinforcements have arrived for the fleets in the systems with the two known contact points with the Alliance.  With those systems as secure as they can be made, another issue has been rising to the fore.  If the Alliance wants war, why haven’t they taken any other action aside from raid two systems in the Sligo sector? 

The Prime Minister and her cabinet have blamed the assassination attempt against the Senate’s ambassador in the Confederated Free States on the Alliance, claiming it is further proof the Alliance doesn’t want peace.  The Prime Minister’s office has announced that the fleet now advancing on the Alliance colonies in the Dether system will exact justice for the dead colonists in the Sandhurst and Managua system, but has refused to explain what that means, claiming that it would infringe upon operational security. 

In the meantime, the Colonial Union’s shipyards are hurriedly turning out numerous escort carriers, to make up for a perceived shortfall in fighter strength among its front-line fleets.  Indeed, there are twenty-nine escort carriers currently under construction, which is 70% of the number of escort carriers currently in service.  In addition to the general shortage in carriers, the response to the Alliance aggression has revealed another weakness in the United Colonial Defense Fleet.  The Union’s supply network can only deliver about one half of the maintenance supplies that Admiral Carstairs’ fleet needs to the Dether system.  This problem was anticipated, and supply ships have accompanied the fleet, however, these ships only have enough maintenance supplies in their holds to support the fleet for five months, at current consumption levels.  If the fleet advances beyond the Dether system then it will be beyond the limits of the Union’s supply network, and thus demands on the fleet’s supply ships will increase, greatly decreasing the time they can remain on station.  Vice Admiral Bonaventura at Sligo has tried to scrounge up additional supply ships to send forward to Admiral Carstairs, but there are none available.  This is a problem, as the yards are full of escort carriers, and even if there was yard space available, it would take months to build and provision a supply ship, meaning for at least the near future Admiral Bonaventura will have to make do with what she has. 

Month 208, Alliance
In spite of the promises of the new D’Bringi Emperor, the Rehorish and T’Pau do not trust the ‘restored’ ICN, and will be using couriers and communications ships to provide reliable comms for the foreseeable future.  The next step, after establishing reliable communications between the T’Pau and Rehorish home worlds, will be to establish reliable comms with the Alliance fleets scattered throughout their territories. 

The new Imperial D’Bringi nation is focused on consolidating the power and authority of the new government on the nine colonies that immediately declared for the new government.  Rebellions and unrest have broken out on most of these worlds, but so far, the fighting is limited and the authorities on those worlds believe that they can subdue the unrest without outside assistance.  On the D’Bringi colonies that rejected the emperor’s declaration of the restored Empire, the situation is varied.  Eighteen of the colonies are recent expansions, and are primarily populated by those who under the old regime, or the new Empire, would be considered clan-less and thus relegated to virtual slavery as powerless drudge workers.  They thus naturally rejected the call for the re-establishment of the old order, but these colonies are mostly focused on surviving and securing their hold on their new planet, and have little power or industry to spare for much else.  They nearly uniformly decided to hunker down, aside from sending some messages through the ICN to fellow colonies, feeling them out for their stance on the new development.  Such messages either disappeared into the ether, or were answered suspiciously quickly with long tracts extoling the virtues of the new order.  Some of the larger colonies that initially rejected the Empire’s call suffered their own rebellions, and were absorbed by the effort to restore order within their borders.  They too were cut off from communicating with the other colonies, or the Alliance. 

The situation was somewhat different on the largest D’Bringi colony to reject the Empire, the colony in the Nagasaki system.  This colony had achieved medium size, and Nagasaki II was rated as “rich”, so the colony was decently industrialized.  The initial unrest that had broken out with the emperor’s announcement had been easily quelled, and the colony’s leaders had deduced that the ICN was unreliable.  By the middle of last month, they began to take the initiative and sent out representatives to the surrounding D’Bringi colonies to try to get a handle on the situation in the surrounding systems.  In addition, they sent representatives to the nearest Alliance Fleets for the same reason.     

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 208, Day 1, Laramie System, Neutral Zone between the Alliance and the Colonial Union
The Colonial Union’s Fleet, moving up the warp chain from Sligo to the Alliance colonies in the Dether system, reached twelve light minutes from the warp point to the Dether system at 0600 hours.  The Fleet had been on the Alliance picket ship’s scanners for several days, but beyond twelve light minutes the contact was merely that, a drive field contact slowly approaching their position.  The picket ship’s scanners could reveal no more information than that, and with ongoing trade between the two nations, periodic contacts were expected.  Now that they had breached the twelve light minute bubble, though, the picket’s scanners were able to determine the number of ships in the approaching contact.  That’s when something near to panic set in.  No less than fifty-three ships were approaching their position.  That wasn’t a trade squadron, that was a fleet. 

After some confusion the picket corvette’s commander arrived on the corvette’s small bridge, and she quickly took control and calmed her crew down.  Their first priority was warning the Alliance that an invasion fleet was on its way, so she dispatched a CD back to the Dether system with their sensor log and a warning.  With that done, she brought up her corvette’s drives and sent a warning to the approaching contact, advising them that they were approaching Alliance territory and would be denied entrance. 

Thirty minutes later the corvette’s commander sagged in her combat harness in shock.  The approaching fleet’s commander had identified herself as Colonial Union Admiral Carstairs, and claimed that she was responding to Alliance aggression in Colonial Union territory.  The corvette commander sent a second CD off to her squadron-mates in the Dether system, and then sent a second message to the Colonial Union fleet, asking that they respect Alliance territory while the Alliance government responded to their concerns. 

This time the Colonial Union fleet didn’t respond, and the massive fleet continued on its course.  At its current speed it would enter the Dether system in twelve hours. 

Month 208, Day 1, Hour 18, Dether system, Alliance
Admiral Carstairs shook her head sluggishly, trying to dispel the nausea that always hit her during a transit.  Around her the superdreadnought’s bridge came back to life as the crew brought the massive ship back to life.  Soon they were receiving reports that indicated that space around the warp point remained clear.  The initial probe ships, a pair of scout-frigates, were positioned on opposite sides of the warp point, their powerful scanners watching for any signs of Alliance tricks.  Three contacts were visible, likely the Alliance picket squadron known to be stationed at the warp point.  The three Alliance corvettes were fifteen light seconds out, far enough away that they were out of weapon’s range, but close enough to get a read on the type of ships in the Colonial fleet.  Aside from the picket group there were no signs of Alliance presence within their sensor range. 

The heavy Colonial ships meant that the trip into the inner system would be a long one, but they had no choice.  The colonies in the inner system were their target, and once her fleet was orbiting the colonies, they would be in a position to demand answers from the Alliance.  Which was exactly what she intended to do.  Leaving behind a small picket group, the fleet set out for the inner system. 

Month 208, Day 2, Alliance
The invasion warning from the picket ships assigned to the Dether system spread across the entire Alliance through the now restored ICN.  The Far Frontier Sector Capital, in the Stahat system, just three jumps from Dether, received the warning first.  The Sector Capital had been established on Stahat III, which just happened to be the stronghold of the newly established D’Bringi Empire.  As such, the Sector Capital had had prior warning of the advance of the human fleet, but couldn’t react until now.  The Sector Capital’s first action was to send an emergency message to the D’Bringi forces that had withdrawn from the 6th Fleet and were on their way back to the D’Bringi home system.  They just ‘happened’ to be passing close to the Stahat system and were perfectly placed to respond.  The message ordered them to proceed to the Theom system and rendezvous with whatever other Alliance forces were able to make it to their location.  In the meantime, while Alliance strength was being built up, they were to defend the system and prevent the Colonial Union forces from advancing any further into the Alliance.  In spite of the irregular method in which the D’Bringi forces had withdrawn from the 6th Fleet, this order was well within the Sector HQ’s authority, and was well received when it arrived at the D’Bringi squadron.  The squadron’s commander was of mixed emotions about the new D’Bringi Empire, and had been unsure of what she would do when they reached the home world, but a human invasion was something different.  It was much clearer, and more direct.  She immediately ordered her squadron to set out for the Theom system.  Her twenty-nine ships turned to their new course without hesitation.  Their ETA was twenty days.

At the same time as the message went out to the D’Bringi ships of the 6th Fleet, a second message was sent from Stahat-III to a force assembled in the Stahat outer system.  This force consisted of thirty-five ships, and was composed of Imperial D’Bringi loyalists.  The Imperial Fleet left orbit soon after receiving the message, bound for the Theom system. 

A third message was sent from Stahat-III to the 6th Fleet in the Zir system of Villiers.  While the Sector HQ could not change an Alliance Fleet’s orders, it could advise the fleet commander of the situation and request he relocate to the threatened area.  In extreme situations the fleet commander had authority to act independently, although in most situations he or she would have to obtain Alliance HQ approval before changing their mission or making large scale changes to their deployments.  In this case the Sector HQ reiterated the invasion warning and requested assistance, but noted that the D’Bringi ships that had withdrawn from the fleet were close to the invasion area and were being ordered to respond.  The 6th Fleet commander, a T’Pau, immediately sent a request for approval to respond to the invasion, and dispatched a squadron of ships to reinforce those already responding. 

On the Rehorish home world, home port of the 1st Alliance Fleet, the warning was received with suspicion.  Two brand new couriers were dispatched to the Dether system to determine the actual situation, while more were sent to the T’Pau home world as a back up to the ICN, which they did not trust.  A secure comms link was being set up between the two home worlds, involving newly built communications corvettes, but that would take time, and suddenly time was in short supply.  For now, the T’Pau and the Rehorish decided to wait for their couriers to return from the area with an appraisal of the situation, while they set up their secure comms networks.  After all, if the Colonial Union wished to invade, they could come through the Confederated Free Systems and push into the Core Sector not far from Rehorish Prime, thus no forces would be sent to the frontier until the situation in the interior was secure.  After conferring, though, the T’Pau and the Rehorish gave the 6th Fleet commander approval to relocate as he saw fit. 

On the D’Bringi home world the situation was considerably more complex.   The new emperor had expected the Colonial invasion, and had in fact invited it.  That part of his plan had come off perfectly, but the situation within the Alliance was more unsettled than he had hoped.  His plan had been to decapitate the old government while hamstringing the Alliance’s communications and stirring up trouble with the Colonial Union.  While the Alliance chased ghosts in their comms systems, he would be given time to consolidate his position, and when the Colonial Union inevitably attacked, his forces would be perfectly placed to fight a valiant delaying action until the 6th Fleet, the largest assemblage of warships in the Alliance, could respond and finish off the Union forces once and for all.  What he hadn’t anticipated was the other Alliance leaders reacting so poorly to the disruption of the comms network.  Now he was sure they were conspiring against him, but there was nothing he could do.  He had made several overtures to the other Alliance leaders, suggesting that his representative be allowed to take their post on the Alliance Council, only to first be rebuffed, and then ignored.  Now, the T’Pau had made it clear that they would view it very poorly if D’Bringi warships entered their system without prior arrangement.  The T’Pau!   Acting as if they were equals! 

In any case, the invasion allowed him to put the Alliance 2nd Fleet, home ported in the D’Bringi Home system, on alert, and that was valuable in and of itself.  While he had replaced the fleet’s senior officers with his own supporters, the overall loyalty of the fleet was an unknown quantity, and having an external enemy would go a long-ways towards cementing the allegiance to the Empire. 

With an external threat on their doorstep, the D’Bringi emperor yet again transmitted a message to the other leaders suggesting reconstituting the Alliance Council with a new D’Bringi representative and addressing the threat in a coordinated manner.  In the meantime, he pledged that D’Bringi forces throughout the Alliance would resist the invasion with all of their might. 

Month 208, Day 4, Alliance Nagasaki system
The two D’Bringi colonies in the Nagasaki system had soundly rejected the new D’Bringi emperor’s call for unity and returning to the old ways, and since then had been trying to contact other D’Bringi colonies to determine their status and situation.  Unfortunately, the communications issues had hampered their efforts, leaving them isolated.  On this date a freighter entered their system carrying the announcement of opposition to the new order from Skull-Splitter.  Almost immediately the colonial governments on both planets disseminated the speech throughout their colonies, and the two governors in the system declared their support for Skull-splitter.  Unfortunately, they remained isolated, at least for now. 

Month 208, Day 7, Rehorish Prime
Skull-Splitter’s message arrived in the Rehorish home system on this day, via a fast freighter.  The message, coming on the heels of the invasion warning, unsettled the Rehorish government as the implications set in.  The ICN was still unreliable, as feared, and the D’Bringi were likely behind it.  And the D’Bringi were split, and perhaps in the beginning of a civil war. 

Month 208, Day 10, Alliance
Finally, the new communications corvettes were in place in between the T’Pau home world and the Rehorish home world, and secure communications had been established.  These communications were no faster than those running through the ICN, but they were on clean systems that were isolated from the ICN and thus were relatively secure.  Their first order of business was to agree to delay the re-establishment of the Alliance Council.  Both governments had initially been inclining towards granting the D’Bringi emperor’s request, however, with the arrival of Skull-Splitter’s message calling into doubt the legitimacy of the new D’Bringi government, they decided to wait. 

Month 208, Day 11, T’Pau Home System
On this date Skull-Splitter’s fleet of nine ships settled into orbit over T’Pau Prime.  They had been welcomed into the system on the strength of Skull-splitter’s reputation with the T’Pau.  Skull-Splitter was not with the ships, but had left a message with the fleet for the T’Pau authorities explaining the situation and requesting support for his ships until he returned.  The T’Pau were more than happy to provide this assistance. 

On the same day, Skull-splitter himself appeared at one of the warp points in the Rehorish home system, requesting to meet with Tai-shu Okada.  His voyage into the inner system would take five days. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 208, Day 14, Alliance Dether system
The Colonial Union’s 1st Battle Fleet arrives in the inner system at 0800 hours.  Upon entering the inner system, it split up to cover the three colonies located there.  As her fleet approached the three Alliance colony worlds, Admiral Carstairs transmits a demand for their surrender. 

Admiral Carstairs was uneasy at the situation that she and her fleet had been placed in by the Union’s government.  The Senate had not voted to declare war, and it appeared that they would not until the situation was clearer, although they had voted to support the administration’s response to the D’Bringi raids.  The orders that were coming down to her from naval HQ in Epsilon Eridani were clear, she was to seize the Alliance colonies in the Dether system to force the Alliance to respond.  Her orders were couched in a way that stated that the seizure was intended to force the Alliance to the negotiating table, but could be interpreted several different ways, if she was so inclined.  And, although the administration had not sent along an ambassador, they had made it clear through back channels that they would not be upset if she took this opportunity to take the Alliance, and the D’Bringi, down a few notches.  Indeed, based on the news reports from home, in spite of the fact that the Senate had not voted to declare war, it was clear that the administration already considered themselves at war with the D’Bringi, if not the entire Alliance.  She had given much thought to the situation on the voyage out to Dether, and it was clear to her that the responsibility for going to war or not lay in her hands.  Her orders allowed her to be as aggressive as she wanted, up to a point, and she would be covered, especially since it was clear that the administration wanted a more aggressive response. 

Personally, she was inclined to grind the D’Bringi down a bit, and if their treacherous Rehorish allies got caught in the mix, that was too bad.  She remembered that bad old days, when the D’Bringi were raiding the Solar System, before humanity broke out into interstellar space.  The fear of the D’Bringi raiders hung over everyone’s head, poisoning everything.  Worse, she had always believed that the Last War, that almost destroyed Earth, was caused in one way or another by the pressure the D’Bringi were bringing to bear on the USSR.  The USSR started that war by launching on the other nations of Earth, but it was because of the position that the D’Bringi put them in.  They never paid for that, and like many others in the Union Defense Fleet it had burned at her soul to make peace with them after all of that.  But the Union had been at peace for many years now.  It was peaceful and prosperous, and under its guidance many new worlds had been colonized.  An entire generation had been born after the Last War and, if given the chance, would grow up without a war hanging over their heads.  Even Earth was well on its way to recovery.  As much as she wanted to make the D’Bringi feel the pain that they had brought to humanity, she wanted the next generation to grow up without fear.  So here she was, in an Alliance system, balancing war and peace. 

There had been much debate amongst her staff about whether or not the Alliance colonies in the Dether system would surrender with the Union Fleet in control of their system.  Sligo Sector HQ hadn’t had enough troops to send forward to occupy the Alliance colonies, and neither side in the last war had ever bombarded a population.  Without troops or the threat of bombardment, there was little for the colonial leaders on the Alliance worlds to fear from the Union fleet, however, there had been an evolving consensus within the Union that a planetary population that had been invested by an enemy fleet was better off surrendering than risking bombardment or destructive ground fighting.  That was, of course, within the context of a war with a polity that was of like mind to the Union or the Alliance, where bombardment was unlikely but eventual invasion was certain. 

The response from the three Alliance colonies was swift.  Two of the colonies were populated by T’Pau, and one by Rehorish, and within seconds of receiving her message all three governors responded.  All three colonies refused to surrender and accused the Union fleet of reckless adventurism and an unprovoked assault on the Alliance.  Admiral Carstairs was prepared for that.  When the last of the transmissions refusing her surrender demand was received, she ordered her comms personnel to transmit a message she had prepared in advance.  The message was sent to the three colonies, and broadcast unidirectionally throughout the system, in addition to being targeted on the three Alliance corvettes that she had allowed to shadow her command as they advanced into the system. 

The broadcast showed Admiral Carstairs on the bridge of her command superdreadnought.  Alliance naval personnel would surely note the size of the command deck, even if the message had been edited to blur most of the stations across the deck.  She wanted to impress the Alliance with Union technology and might, and showing off her command ship was the best way she could do that.  With the shot established, Admiral Carstairs stepped forward, towards the camera, and became the central focus of the broadcast.  “I am Admiral Carstairs, commanding officer of the 1st Battle Fleet of the Colonial Union.  Just over two months ago, the D’Bringi, operating as an organization called the D’Bringi Empire, launched an attack on two Colonial Union systems.  This attack was unprovoked and was a complete surprise.  In one of the two systems attacked the D’Bringi engaged the Union defense forces present and overwhelmed them.  In both systems the D’Bringi attacked and looted the Union colonies they found.  In total, the D’Bringi killed three hundred and forty-two humans, wounded many more, and looted thousands of megacredits of goods and supplies, and crippled the infrastructures of three colony worlds.  I don’t expect you to believe me, so I’m including recordings of the events I’m describing.  In response to this unprovoked attack by the Alliance, I have been ordered to invest this system and demand an explanation and reparations from the Alliance.  Union ground forces will arrive in this system next month, and if you continue to resist our determination to seek redress for the unprovoked attack on the Union, we will land those troops and take your planets by force.  You have until the troops arrive in this system to make up your minds.” 

The transmission then switched to show recordings of the two D’Bringi commanders justifying their attacks on the Union colonies, and then videos of the D’Bringi and subject troops landing on the colonies.  In particular the message focused on the fighting that had broken out on the first Sandhurst colony to be attacked.  The videos showed D’Bringi forces attacking humans that were clearly civilians who were desperately trying to defend themselves, sometimes supported by militia forces that were outgunned and outnumbered by the attacking D’Bringi.  The videos hadn’t been edited, and showed the inevitable end of most of the fighting, the quick destruction of the defenders by the superior D’Bringi forces. 

The Union broadcast was received on the Alliance colonies in the system, as well as the picket ships that had withdrawn to the outer system.  The picket ships rebroadcast it to the Alliance ICN buoy at the warp points that led to the other Alliance worlds, and from there it was broadcast throughout the Alliance.  Except that somehow the attached videos disappeared from the broadcast. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 208, Day 16, Rehorish Home World
Tai-shu Okada once again met with Tai-shu Skull-Splitter, this time on the D’Bringi Cruiser that had conveyed the D’Bringi leader into the system.  This time Skull-Splitter met the Rehorish admiral as he boarded the ship.  Tai-shu Okada was once again shocked at the D’Bringi leader’s appearance.  Skull-Splitter was in a small group of D’Bringi officers, clad in powered combat armor, without the helmet.  Because the helmet was missing the Rehorish admiral could see that the D’Bringi leader’s face was still grievously damaged, but his one eye was blazing with determination as he stepped forward.  “Tai-shu, I am honored at your presence!”  The D’Bringi admiral bowed, as had become the custom between Alliance races, avoiding any racial standard greetings for one that avoided entering another’s personal space. 

Tai-shu Okada bowed back.  “As I am honored by yours.  I am surprised by your choice of attire, though.  Surely there is no threat here?”

Skull-splitter smiled, a particularly fearsome expression coming from such a ravaged visage.  “None that we know.  No, I don’t wear this because of a threat.  I have not yet recovered from the assassination attempt, and this armor conceals the damage and the life-support equipment I still need.  Of course, I can’t show weakness in front of my people, so I have publicly stated that I will wear this armor until the true D’Bringi nation is restored.”  The D’Bringi leader turned.  “Come, let’s talk, as time is short.”

They moved to a nearby room where they could have a little privacy.  Once the aides and officers had cleared out, Tai-shu Okada turned to the D’Bringi leader with a sharp gaze.  “What are your plans?”

“If your nation will grant me leave, I would pass through to the Kawasaki system and speak with the commanders of the D’Bringi ships that have gathered there.  I understand that your government will not give them permission to pass through your home system to return to D’Bringi Prime?”

Tai-shu Okada frowned.  “That is correct.  There are sixteen D’Bringi ships assembled there, waiting for us to decide.”  Okada leaned forward.  “Do you believe you can bring them to your side in all of this?”

Skull-Splitter nodded.  “There are many within that squadron who are merely wishing to return to their home, now that vast changes have occurred.  Although there will be a few that must have been in on the plot, most will have known nothing of it, or its broader reach.  I will be able to reach them, at least.”

Okada dipped his antennae in agreement.  “Likely, that is true.  I question what it is that you wish to do with them, though?  The presence of your other ships in the T’Pau home system makes me believe that you wish to return home as well?”

The D’Bringi leader nodded.  “Once I assemble my forces, I will return to the home system and deal with the so-called emperor.”

Okada’s antennae waived agitatedly.  “And if your home system defenses attack you?  They may not give you a chance to talk to them, as the ships in the Kawasaki system undoubtedly will.  Can you push through them and fight whatever fleet the assassin emperor has put together?”

Skull-splitter’s eye blazed.  “Once they know the truth, they will come to our side!” 

“Maybe.”  Okada sounded a lot less convinced of this than he had been of the D’Bringi ships in the next system over talking to Skull-splitter.  “If they fight you, then you may lose the battle before you can engage the false-emperor’s fleet.”  Before Skull-splitter could speak, Okada continued.  “And there is this news from the Dether system to consider.  While we cannot just blindly believe anything the ICN tells, us, something is happening out there.  If the Colonial Union knows of our internal problems, then they may have decided that this is the time to attack.  Also, there is their claim that they were attacked.  We cannot ignore the possibility that they are telling the truth!”

“If the false emperor ordered an attack on the Colonial Union, would that be enough for the Alliance to turn against his government?”

“If we can prove it, yes.  There may be another way aside from you taking your forces to launch an attack on your home system.”  Okada leaned forward and gave the D’Bringi a data-chip.  “Our intelligence analysists have provided this.  Although the ICN is unreliable, we have been able to glean some information from monitoring open communications.  On this chip is a list of D’Bringi colony worlds that have acknowledged the new emperor, and another list of those that haven’t.  There are two items of particular interest.  One is the D’Bringi colony in Stahat.  This colony is the Sector Capital, and was the first to acknowledge the new emperor and his government, and it has been the loudest in its praises of the new order.  We believe this to be the center of the movement.”

Skull-Splitter grew thoughtful.  “Stahat is also located close to the Dether system, and has a direct route to the Chirq home world.  That puts it on a short list of D’Bringi worlds conveniently located and used to having military ships transiting its space.  If the false-emperor did attack the Union, it would be a convenient place to have launched the attack from.”

“That has not escaped us.  The other item of note are the worlds that have not acknowledged the emperor’s announcement.  While I suspect this lack of acknowledgement was corrected in broadcasts for the D’Bringi people, they must not have cared about us.   In particular is the Nagasaki system, which contains two D’Bringi colonies, one of which has a medium population.  It is the only medium population world to not immediately go over to the new emperor, and has been absent from the ICN ever since.  I believe that it would make a good base of operations for you to consolidate your position.  There are many smaller colonies that have not acknowledged your emperor, and are likely looking for someone to rally around.  If you give them that, then much could be done.  The Alliance would recognize your faction, for one.  Economic pressure could be applied to D’Bringi Prime.  The D’Bringi colonies are widely separated, meaning that they will depend on the good will of the Alliance to continue communicating and for trade.”

“The Alliance would recognize a breakaway splinter group of D’Bringi?  Because that’s what we would be.  With a D’Bringi representative on the Alliance Council, representing the false emperor?”

Okada waived that away.  “The Alliance Council is dead, at least for now.  No new D’Bringi representative will be appointed until this is resolved one way or another.  Without a full Council presence, no new issues can be resolved, so there will be no more meetings.  The Alliance continues to function, for now, with the T’Pau and the Rehorish honoring their commitments and Alliance law, but there will be no new laws or major decisions until the Council is reconstituted.” 

Skull-Splitter nodded.  “Very well.  May I continue on to the Kawasaki system?”

Okada bowed.  “You may, honored D’Bringi leader.”  He turned to leave, then turned back.  “One more thing.  We have established secure comms with the T’Pau home system via communications ships stationed in the intervening systems.  That has allowed us secure communications at near ICN speeds and has facilitated common decision making.  Those consultations have led to a decision that will begin to allow us to retake control of the Alliance.  All of our attempts to purge the interference in the ICN have failed.  We cannot continue to allow the D’Bringi Emperor, whom we all believe caused this situation, to benefit from an Alliance-wide communications network that he controls and that we cannot trust.  Therefore, in a matter of days we will begin to send out ships to destroy the existing ICN.  For a time, we will depend on couriers and communications ships.  Once the old network, and its corruption, is eliminated, we will re-establish the network without our own buoys.  While they cannot purge the old system, our network people believe that we can keep the new one secure, if we institute stringent security protocols from the first.  We will ensure that your people are included in the courier network, and eventually the comm-ship network, if necessary.”

Skull-splitter stood up.  “That is a very wise decision.  I will go now to speak with my fellow officers.  I will brief you upon my return.”

“And your plans?  Do you still intend to return to D’Bringi Prime?”

“The D’Bringi admiral looked troubled.  “I do not know.  We shall see.”

Minutes later, as Okada’s pinnace took him back to the surface, the D’Bringi cruiser sped away from Rehorish Prime.   

Month 208, Day 21, Alliance Kawasaki system, Rehorish Colonial Territories
Skull-Splitter’s cruiser transited into the system from the Rehorish home system, to find the D’Bringi ships from the 3rd Fleet assembled not far from the warp point.  The D’Bringi ships had not received the new emperor’s message, as they were down-chain from Rehorish Prime, and the ICN had been cut where it entered the Rehorish home system.  Therefore, they did not know about the coup, unless someone on the D’Bringi ships was working for the plotters.  But they had withdrawn from the 3rd Fleet on timing that clearly was coordinated with the coup on the home planet.    An interesting situation, to be sure. 

Upon transiting into the system, Skull-Splitter himself sent a message to the commanding officers of the ships assembled in the system, requesting a meeting.  As was standard for him these days, he appeared in the video message wearing a full power armor suit, without the helmet.  The armor made him heroic in stature, but the left side of his head, revealed because he had eschewed the helmet, was hideously damaged.  Still, even through the wreckage of his face, Skull-Splitter’s determination and drive were apparent in his eyes and his rough, damaged voice.  He invited the assembled commanders to meet with him on his ship in one hour. 

Skull-Splitter’s cruiser came to a halt ten light seconds from the assembled D’Bringi ships, and one light second from the warp point back to the Rehorish home system.  After that, they waited.  Ten minutes passed, without a response from the assembled fleet.  After another ten minutes passed without a response, Skull-Splitter ordered his cruiser to action stations, although he ordered the ship’s captain to avoid raising his shields to avoid a provocative appearance. 

Finally, after nearly twenty-five minutes, responses began coming in from various ships, starting with the strike carriers.  But then an alarm sounded on the cruiser’s bridge.  Skull-Splitter turned towards the central tank to see that the light codes for three of the battlecruisers at the heart of the fleet change.  Simultaneously, the ship’s computer announced – “Status change.  BCR’s 2, 3, and 4 have changed course and are moving away from the rest of the fleet.  Their shields are now coming up.”

Just after that announcement, the ship’s comm officer turned towards Skull-Splitter.  “Sir, incoming message from fleet flagship.”

Skull-Splitter grimaced.  The fleet’s flagship was one of the three BCR’s moving away from the rest of the fleet.  The BCR’s were traditionally crewed by the Keepers, and while that stricture had gone away, along with so many of the older traditions, they were still officered predominantly by the Keepers.  “Put it up on the main screen.”

The screen at the front of the bridge lit up to show a D’Bringi officer dressed in an unfamiliar uniform.  “I am Large Group Leader T’Han, legally appointed leader of this fleet by the new Emperor of the restored D’Bringi Empire.  I order all ships under my command to stand down, drop your drive fields, and await my orders while I apprehend the criminal who styles himself ‘Skull-Splitter’.  Failure to comply will result in your destruction.”  In response, shields activated across the fleet, but no ships were moving except the three battlecruisers. 

Skull-Splitter watched as the three D’Bringi battlecruisers began changing course towards his cruiser.  “Captain, you will remain out of range of those battlecruisers for as long as possible.  Launch your fighters, but order them to remain close to our ship, for now.”  When the captain responded, and he saw that his ship had begun moving away from the sluggish battlecruisers, which obviously were still trying to get their crews to their stations, Skull-Splitter activated the inter-ship comms again.  “To all D’Bringi ships, the Keepers have launched an illegal coup against the legitimate rulers of our nation.  They intend to take us backwards, to repeal the reforms we have enacted, and to subjugate all who don’t agree with them.  I stand against them!”

Even as Skull-Splitter’s message went out, another message was broadcast from one of the battlecruisers in the heart of the fleet.  “I am Dai-i C’rex, commander of the battlecruiser Heart Render.  I and my crew stand with Skull-Splitter!  I call upon the usurpers to stand down immediately!”

Alarms began screaming on the bridge.  “Weapons fire detected!”  Skull-Splitter turned to the tank to see that a second battlecruiser had opened fire at point blank range on the battlecruiser that had just sent the message of support for the loyalist cause.  The results were horrifying.  Seven of the ship’s nine energy beam mounts hit, smashing the loyalist ship’s shields and bypassing its armor, gutting the big ship.  The response was immediate as one of the heavy cruisers rounded on the battlecruiser that fired, spearing it with its own energy beams.  The cruiser didn’t miss, and its fire gutted the usurper battlecruiser in turn.  A single energy beam speared out from the damaged loyalist battlecruiser, hitting the usurper BC again, adding to its damage. 

The fleet broke apart as the individual ships began trying to put space between themselves and their neighbors, as no one knew who supported whom.  As they ran, the ships began launching their ready-fighters, each of which was armed with a fighter-gun and a close attack missile.  Only a quarter of their fighters were ready to launch, and presumably their crews were racing to stations and trying to arm their remaining fighters.  None of them declared their allegiance, so no one knew who they supported.  For now, their fighters were remaining in close proximity to their carriers.  The only ships with known loyalties were the two damaged battlecruisers, one of which had declared for each side, the loyalist heavy cruiser, the three usurper BCR’s, and of course, Skull-Splitter’s cruiser. 

Skull-Splitter was aghast.  He had not intended for this to happen.  The slaughter would continue, he could see that.  Already, the ships of the fleet had turned to keep within range of the carriers, which, with their attendant fighters were trying to withdraw from within range of the other ships.  If they were allowed to do so then they would have the advantage, as their fighters could range across the battlefield, while the other ships would have to close with their enemies before firing.  The only thing that had prevented further bloodshed was the fact that no one dared declare their loyalties without making their ships targets for the other ships within the fleet that held opposing loyalties without their knowledge.  Skull-Splitter could see it clearly, sooner or later someone would decide to open fire on a nearby ship, just because it might be a threat.  That would precipitate a general bloodbath.  He had to head it off.  Turning to his comm officer, he gestured for an open channel.  Once he had it, he began.

“CEASE FIRE!”  He paused for a second, then went on in a more normal tone.  “All ships will immediately come a halt.  No one, no matter what your loyalties are, will open fire at this point or this will descend into a general bloodbath.  I propose a halt in place while I and your commanding officers confer about this situation and attempt to resolve it without further bloodshed.”  After another pause, he began again.  “I ask for all commanding officers to meet with me to discuss the situation.  To reduce the threat or the potential for betrayal, I ask that we all meet in a neutral location aboard small craft, and then confer by short-ranged communications.”

Skull-Splitter waited with increasing nervousness for responses.  Finally, after several minutes, responses began to come in, indicating that most had at least a willingness to talk.  Skull-Splitter sagged in relief.  Given the fact that no one knew anyone else’s loyalties, this was the only possible alternative aside from mutual slaughter.  The only holdouts were the three commanders of the Keeper-dominated battlecruisers, but after seeing everyone else was going to get together, they decided to attend as well. 

There was a delay while they traveled to the meet site, which was out of range of the weapons of all of the assembled ships, and then they talked it over.  The meeting took a half an hour, and in the end, they decided to stand down.  No ships would be allowed to leave the area, for either side.  While that was a defeat for Skull-Splitter, who had hoped to unite the fleet behind him, it avoided another problem.  The Rehorish had not yet agreed to let any D’Bringi ships transit their system, no matter who they supported.  He had hoped to gain their permission once he won the ships over to his side, but he hadn’t been sure of the outcome.  In the meantime, the ships that had declared for one side or the other would remain separated from the rest of the fleet, to avoid further problems.  The Rehorish ship at the warp point confirmed that both damaged battlecruisers would be allowed into the Rehorish system for repair and medical attention for their crews. 

Shortly after that, Skull-Splitter’s cruiser jumped back to the Rehorish home system with Skull-Splitter dispirited and unsure of their next move.  Just after jumping back to the Rehorish system, Skull-Splitter’s son came to him with an idea.  At that point Skull-Splitter had retired to his cabin to think about the ongoing disaster and his options.  His son found him with his combat suit split open, revealing the hideous wounds that still disfigured the old D’Bringi.  He was used to that, though.  Even though he needed the suit to survive for any length of time, the old D’Bringi leader often opened it up, ‘so that his body could breathe’.  His son was fairly sure his father actually did it to unnerve those who had to deal with him, but probably not in this case, as he had been alone in his room. 

“Father, I…”  He realized, yet again, how much all of this had taken out of his father.  The old clan chief was indomitable, truly a leader from legend, but the assassination attempt and the dissolution of their state had taken its toll.  And now, looking at his father, he realized that when the fleet turned on itself in front of him, it had taken whatever reserves the old D’Bringi had to stop the fighting and killing.  His father was at nearly the end of his rope.  That only strengthened his resolve.  “Father, I have an idea.” 

The young D’Bringi moved to help his father get more comfortable, and then explained his idea to the old leader.  And so it was that as they moved into the Rehorish system, they were able to develop a new approach. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 208, Day 25, Confederation of Free States (Union-Alliance buffer state)
An Alliance courier arrived over the Confederation capital on this date, with urgent messages for the Alliance Ambassador to the Colonial Union, who happened to be Rehorish.  These messages informed the Ambassador of the Colonial Union’s incursion into Alliance space, and the Rehorish and T’Pau suspicion that the incursion was in response to provocation by the D’Bringi.  Finally, the directed the Ambassador to establish negotiations with the Colonial Union to determine the extent of the situation and to attempt to determine a peaceful resolution. 

The T’Pau and the Rehorish had been united in this situation.  While there were some who still wanted to finish the last war with the Colonial Union, particularly in some quarters of the Rehorish government, literally no one thought it was a good idea right now, with the Alliance divided and their communications network in pieces. 

The Rehorish Ambassador immediately sent a communique to the Union Embassy requesting an immediate meeting with the Union Ambassador.  Disappointingly, he was told that he would have to wait for an opening in the Ambassador’s schedule.  Frustrated, the Rehorish Ambassador sent a second message emphasizing the urgency of the situation, only to receive no response. 

Month 208, Day 26, Rehorish Prime
Skull-Splitter’s cruiser was met as it entered the inner system by a Rehorish heavy cruiser group, escorted by a pair of light carriers and three light cruisers.  The Rehorish ships fell into formation with the D’Bringi ship, which then received a request for a visit from Tai-shu Okada.  Skull-splitter quickly granted it, and in within minutes they were face to face. 

“I fear that your mission in the Kawasaki system did not go well?”

Skull-Splitter, as always, in his combat armor but without the helmet, shook his head.  “It did not, old friend.  My presence caused a schism within the fleet that led to fighting almost immediately.”  He raised a hand at Okada’s evident alarm.  “I was able to stop it before it got out of hand, largely because no matter the outcome they believed they would remain trapped within the Kawasaki system.  I suspect that forces loyal to me could have won that fight, but it would have been very bloody, and not worth the fight in the end, so I made them agree to a cease fire in place.  Your picket has agreed to allow our two most damaged ships to proceed into your system for repairs.  I’m sure you have already seen that report.”

“I have.  I fear this means you will not have enough strength to penetrate the defenses of your home world.  Likely you would meet this same situation with any group of D’Bringi ships you approached.”

Skull-Splitter gestured agreement.  “You are right, I fear.  However, my son has suggested a different way.”  He gestured Okada over to the side of the room, where floating hologram showed a warp map of the area surrounding the Rehorish home system, out to three jumps.  One system, the Aomori system, was blinking. 

Okada took in the display.  “Aomori?  If I remember correctly, we both have a colony there.”

Skull-Splitter gestured assent.  “Correct.  While the Aomori system was originally settled by your race, under the founding Alliance treaties the second planet was granted to us for colonization, as it was largely unusable to either you or the T’Pau.  Our colony there has also gone over to the usurper, and is the closest D’Bringi colony to have done so.  My son has suggested that we investigate the situation there more closely.”

Okada’s antennae twitched as he considered the holo display.  “For what purpose?”

“My son believes, and I agree, that the usurper’s control of his ‘loyalist’ colonies is paper-thin.  More a fiction than anything else.  It is clear now that military force will not be the only answer to this situation.  We must consider more avenues to advance our cause than just fighting the usurper ship-to-ship in a glorious battle.”

Intrigued, Okada considered the old D’Bringi leader and realized that the other was actually enthused about this approach.  “What makes you believe this?”

“The usurper is making constant appeals to the general D’Bringi population to support his cause.  You’ve seen the messages being sent from the home world.  He is constantly making appeals to the people to remember the glories of the past, and promising to bring them back.  What my son pointed out was that those messages only connect with a relatively small percentage of the population.  The ‘old days’ were really only glorious for a very small percentage of the population, basically the middle and upper tiers of our great clans.  For everyone else, every day under the old order was just another day of servitude.  I and the other clan chiefs had long been aware that our old ways had to change, that oppressing three quarters of our population would have no good end.  The conquests of our early interstellar expansion hid these inequities and divisions within our system very well, at least for a time.  In the end, though, I and the other clan chiefs knew our time was limited.  There was too much pressure from below, too many who were disenfranchised, for our system to be truly stable.  That was why we embraced the changes that came with amalgamation.  It gave us a chance to enact sweeping changes throughout our nation, freeing up the bulk of our population to become productive members of society.  The changes wrought by this over the last few years have been dramatic, and welcome.  Truly, the only ones that want the old days to come back are a relatively small number of older D’Bringi who were privileged under the old order, and some young clan toughs who miss the opportunities the old order brought for glory and advancement.  That’s why so many of the smaller colonies scattered around the Alliance have rejected the new government.  They are composed of independent D’Bringi from the former lower orders or who were clan-less, and who want to make a new start free of the old ways.  Most importantly, I’m willing to bet that there are many on the colonies that supposedly support the usurper that don’t want the old days to come back, and are willing to fight to make that happen.  Perhaps they are already fighting.  With the state of the ICN we’d have no way of knowing.  I want to find out first hand, and the closest colony is in Sasebo.  And one jump beyond that is another colony in Aomori.  Between the two they should give me a pretty good idea of the state of this ‘empire’ that the usurper has declared.”

Tai-shu Okada sat silently for a few seconds, contemplating the map.  After a minute or so he stirred.  “Can you widen this map out?” 

Skull-Splitter gestured, and the map widened out to encompass the entire Core Sector of the Alliance. 

Okada got to his feet and gestured at the map.  “Now that secure communications have been restored with the T’Pau, my government and theirs have come to a decision.  While we cannot justify direct action against the D’Bringi, yet, it is clear that the Alliance itself is in dire danger.  The new D’Bringi government may not have intended to cause this much disruption, but whether it intended it or not, we must act.  Therefore, we are going to take the following actions.  First, our new couriers are going to fan out across the Alliance, destroying every node of the old ICN, and conveying orders to the local governments to purge their ground-based ICN systems and dismantle them.  Secondly, new ICN buoys will be constructed, with safeguards to reduce the possibility of corruption.  These will be emplaced along critical pathways to restore essential communications.”

When Okada paused, Skull-Splitter jumped in.  “This is wise.  The false emperor controls the Alliance communications network, whether or not you can prove it.  You took the first step by isolating yourself and establishing an alternate network, but that wasn’t enough.  After all, the false emperor still has the advantage of the Alliance-wide ICN.  By destroying it, and replacing it with your own, you will be depriving him of an advantage and gaining one of your own.”  Skull-Splitter paused, then continued.  “I assume you will not be connecting D’Bringi colonies to your new network?”

“We will not, at least not as yet.  Perhaps that can change, depending on the outcome of your mission to Aomori.”  Okada stopped, considered something briefly, then continued.  “I’ll be honest with you, in light of your previous service to the Alliance.”  Okada gestured at the map.  “This is only the first step.  While combined governments of the T’Pau and Rehorish have not yet decided upon the status of the D’Bringi, or a final solution to this conflict, we have decided that we will give tacit support to D’Bringi forces that oppose what my government, and that of the T’Pau, are calling the “illegitimate D’Bringi government”, imposed by force upon the D’Bringi people.  At least, they’ll be using that term internally, for now.  If left unchecked, this will be resolved by military force, however, we will gladly take any reasonable alternative offered.   Give us that alternative, and we can move forward.  In the meantime, couriers are being dispatched to the 3rd, 4th, and 6th Fleets, with new orders.  The 3rd Fleet will be ordered to withdraw from the Kure system, leaving only scouts, and proceed to the Kawasaki system, where it will intern all D’Bringi ships located there until their status can be negotiated with the D’Bringi government, whatever that may eventually be.  Once that is complete, they will join the 1st Fleet here in the Rehorish home system.  The 4th Fleet will proceed to the Chruqua Warp Nexus and secure that critical system for the Alliance.  All ships transiting the system will be searched for contraband.  No D’Bringi ships will be allowed to transit without authorization.  The 6th Fleet will be given orders similar to those sent to the 3rd Fleet.  They will intern any D’Bringi ships still in the Villiers system, then proceed to the Stahat system, where they will await further orders.  From there they can respond to any further Colonial Union incursions, if there are indeed any at all, or deal with D’Bringi subversion.  They will have similar orders as the 4th Fleet.  All D’Bringi warships to be interned, and all civilian ships are to be searched.  We don’t know what has been going on in our own territory, but that will end.  We will exert control within the Alliance, and we will re-establish our ability to gather information within our own borders.  In the meantime, communiques will be sent to the Associate Members, warning them of the instability within the Alliance, and asking them to remain within their own territories until this situation is resolved.”

Skull-Splitter remained motionless as he took this in.  Finally, he stirred.  “I would wish to resolve this without bloodshed.”

Okada gestured in negation.  “I’m afraid that you know as well as I that this is not likely, or even possible.  In reality, the question will remain, how much blood must we shed to contain and resolve the situation, to avoid even greater bloodshed?  Much depends on you, old friend.  Find a way that avoids all-out war with the D’Bringi Empire, and I will convince my government to take it.  In the meantime, I offer the use of one of our new couriers, which will allow you to travel much faster than you would be able to in your flagship.”

Skull-Splitter looked relieved.   “Very well.  I will leave for Sasebo within the hour.  Thank you.”

Before the D’Bringi leader could leave, Okada stopped him.  “You must offer your people an alternative, if they are to come together to oppose the one you call the usurper.  You are the last of the senior clan chiefs, and the last of the senior leaders of the D’Bringi left alive.  Whether you declare a new D’Bringi state, or the continuation of the old one is up to you, but you must give your people something to rally around.  And that begins with you.”

Skull-Splitter looked thoughtful as he escorted the Rehorish admiral to his shuttle.  There was much to consider. 

Even as Skull-Splitter set out for Sasebo, courier ships were leaving Rehorish Prime and T’Pau Prime, headed out across the Alliance, ordered to destroy the old ICN network to clear the way for the new comm system. 

Month 208, Day 27, Alliance Theom System (adjacent to occupied Dether system)
The Imperial D’Bringi Fleet, recently dispatched from the Stahat system, arrives at the warp point in the Theom system that leads to the human-occupied Dether system.  Once there it joins with the D’Bringi ships that were withdrawn from the 6th Fleet upon the announcement of the change in D’Bringi government.  These ships are still technically assigned to the Alliance, and while their officers and crews have no particular loyalty to the new government, neither do they have a reason to oppose it. 

6th Fleet D’Bringi Ships:
6xBC, 6xCA, 3xCVS, 11xCVE, 3xCTV, 276xF0

Imperial D’Bringi Ships:
3xBC, 3xCA, 3xCVS, 3xCVE, 17xCTV, 195xF0, 18xF1

For now, the D’Bringi ships appear to be content to sit on the warp point, blocking the Union fleet’s route of advancement into the Far Frontier sector.  For now, just a few corvette-carriers were deployed to the far side of the warp point to keep watch in the Dether system. 

Month 208, Day 28, Alliance Caris system
The Caris system is located in the Far Frontier Sector, two jumps from the Sector Capital in the Stahat system.  Caris has two habitable type ST planets, both colonized by the D’Bringi some time ago.  Both have small, but growing, populations, and both soundly rejected the Imperial D’Bringi call for unity and loyalty to the new government.  The colonists were almost uniformly from the former clan-less of D’Bringi society, and so had been disenfranchised under the old order.  They had no wish to return to that state, and so the few Imperial agitators that had popped up after the coup had been dealt with, sometimes harshly, and then life went on.  Until now. 

On this day, several freighters landed on each of the colonies.  Instead of carrying supplies, though, they were transporting troops in Imperial uniforms.  These troops immediately fanned out, seizing key installations and critical infrastructure, and within hours the colonial governments were under their control.  The invasion was mostly bloodless, as the colonies had been caught entirely off guard.  That would change, though.  After the capital cities were under control, and the troops had fanned out to gain control of the smaller towns that dotted the surface of both planets, Imperial Security troops disembarked from the transports and assumed control of the capital cities from the combat units.  Once in control, the security units began the executions.  They had a long list, and they were determined to work their way through the entire list, to ensure that their lesson was learned. 

Month 208, Day 30, Union-Controlled Dether system
On this date a Colonial Union ground force arrived in the Dether system.  This was what Admiral Carstairs had been waiting for.  With the troops in hand, or nearly in hand, she reopened communications with the Alliance colonial governors on the three colonies in the inner system.  So far, they had been uncommunicative and uncooperative.  They knew she wouldn’t bombard them, and without troops couldn’t invade them, and so had no way to enforce her will.  Now, though, the equation had changed. 

As the transports departed the warp point bound for the inner system, she re-opened communications with the colonial governments, informing them that Union troops were approaching and would soon begin landing operations. 

That news, confirmed by their own sensors, motivated the governors to respond, and resulted in some intense negotiations.  Admiral Carstairs held all the cards, but the Alliance governors were fairly sure by this point that she wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, which was true.  Although her orders from Fleet HQ directed her to establish control of the system, and to destroy any resistance, she was loath to just begin indiscriminately shooting everyone in her way.  Based on her experience, responding to raids into the Union that killed hundreds by raiding into the Alliance and killing thousands would only exacerbate the situation.  She was still hoping a diplomatic solution could be found, although based on what little information was making it all the way out here nothing had been heard from the Senatorial embassy to the Alliance since it arrived in the Confederation some time ago.  It was possible that the information from the embassy mission was compartmentalized, but she had a bad feeling about that. 

In the end, knowing that they had little choice, the Alliance governors agreed to surrender their colonies to Union control.  However, they extracted a promise from Admiral Carstairs that in exchange for not opposing her landings or occupation, she would limit her troops to the spaceports close to the capital cities and the areas surrounding them.  Additionally, the governors promised to turn over the goods that would normally be shipped to the Alliance to the Union.  Carstairs had found that imminently acceptable, as it avoided all bloodshed, at least for now.  For her part, she limited her landings to the immediate area around the spaceports and capital cities, and, so long as the locals behaved themselves, limited her troops to disarming the local militia and observing the activities of the locals. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 209, Alliance Overall Situation
Couriers are spreading out from the Rehorish and T’Pau home worlds, destroying the old ICN as they go.  By mid-month, the two Alliance partners will have secure comms not only between their respective home worlds, but also to the 4th Fleet in the Phyriseq system and the 3rd Fleet in the Kure system.  By Month 210, additional secure links will be established as well.  On the first of the month the T’Pau destroy the ICN buoys in their system, cutting the D’Bringi home world off from the rest of the Alliance.  The T’Pau government sends a statement to the D’Bringi emperor announcing the joint intent of the Rehorish and T’Pau governments to replace the old, unreliable ICN with a new, secured system.  The announcement allows the D’Bringi government to send messages via CD’s, however, to prevent re-contamination of the Alliance’s communication systems all messages will be required to be in standard Alliance code, and will be downloaded from the original drone, transcribed and re-encrypted, and then downloaded to a new drone before being sent on its way.  Additionally, the T'Pau government announces a reorganization of their system defenses, due to the instabilities in their neighbor, with the bulk of their fleet being deployed to the warp link to the D’Bringi system.  This redeployment is characterized as defensive in nature, intended to interdict any hostile forces that might want to enter the D’Bringi home system, such as rebel or dissident groups.  However, to prevent misunderstandings, the T’Pau government requested that the D’Bringi government limit transits through their system for the foreseeable future, and to arrange such transits in advance. 

New T’Pau Home System Deployments:
5th Fleet, D’Bringi WP Guard: 6xCA, 6xCVE, 6xCTV, 126xF1
Fortifications: 3xBS3, 75xDSB-L, 150xMF

5th Fleet, Ember WP Guard (Closed WP To Union Territory): 3xCA, 3xCVE, 5xCTV, 75xF1
Fortifications: 3xBS3, 75xDSB-L, 150xMF

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 209, Day 2, Alliance Kure System
A courier from the Rehorish home world arrived on this date, and new orders were issued to the 3rd Fleet.  The fleet’s original mission was to secure the Kure system against intrusions from either the Union or the Mintek, both of whom had links to the system.  Now, though, there were more important matters going on within the Alliance.  Within a matter of hours, the fifteen ships of the fleet departed, bound for the Kawasaki system, adjacent to the Rehorish home system, and currently location of the D’Bringi ships that had withdrawn from the fleet.  Their ETA was fifteen days. 

Month 209, Day 3, D’Bringi Prime
The emperor’s staff were staying as far away from the throne room as possible.  The emperor had been ranting and raving for hours, ever since the intel chief reported the confirmation that they had been cut off by the T’Pau.  The admiral commanding the imperial fleet feared that the emperor’s vengeance on the T’Pau would be terrible, if he was ever in a position to exact his revenge.  In the meantime, they all stayed out of the emperor’s sight. 

By mid-day the throne room quieted, and by a vote Admiral Blood-Fang was chosen by the Imperial Court to determine the emperor’s state of mind.   The admiral entered the throne room cautiously, but saw that the emperor was sitting on his throne, a pensive look on his face.  Seeing that the emperor was apparently calm, he approached and kneeled.

After a few seconds the emperor looked at the kneeling admiral.  “Well, Admiral?  Can your fleet open up our route of communication with the rest of the empire?”

The admiral knew what the emperor meant, even if he was leaving much unsaid.  “My emperor, I believe we can.  However, is that the wisest path forward?”

The emperor growled low in his throat.  “I want to sweep the treacherous T’Pau aside.  I want my people to regain their place in the center of the Alliance!  I don’t want them to be swept into a corner, forgotten and cast aside!”  His voice had risen in pitch as he talked, until he was shouting the last few words.

“Sire, I and my fleet stand ready to execute your orders.  I believe I have enough strength to force our way through whatever the T’Pau have on the far side of the warp point and then secure their system, but what then?  Can we hold the system in the face of united resistance from the rest of the Alliance?”  The admiral knew the answer to that, and so did the emperor. 

The Admiral’s words stopped the emperor for a few seconds, but then he raised his voice and called across the throne room.  “Where is my intelligence chief?”

Almost immediately that worthy stepped through the doors and approached.  “Yes, sire?”

“It is clear that your plan to control communications across the Alliance has failed, and we are cut off here in the home system.  What is your council?”

It was not lost on the intelligence officer that the plan to disrupt and control the ICN was now, suddenly, ‘his plan’.  Still, he reminded himself, there was no way but forward.  “Excellency, we always knew that it might eventually come to this.  The Rehorish and T’Pau know that the old ICN is compromised, and there was always a chance that they would disable or destroy the network, rather than continue to try to regain control, particularly when their efforts continued to fail.”  The intel chief could see the emperor’s face darkening, a sure sign that his patience with what he viewed as excuses was limited.  “However, we planned for this.  Even now, we have forces in place outside of the Union incursion into the Dether system.  Those forces, once it becomes clear that contact has been lost with the home world, will follow the orders that you, in your foresight, gave them to cover this eventuality.  That will result in the Alliance being at war with the Union, and at that point the Alliance will have to accept our new government so that they can focus on the external threat.  Trust in your plan, Excellency.”

The emperor remained silent for some time, considering what had been said.  Finally, he gestured for the two to rise.  “It will be some time before my plans unfold.  In the meantime, lets consider our deployments for defense of the home system, should that be necessary.” 

Month 209, Day 4, Alliance Sasebo system
Skull-Splitter’s courier arrived in orbit over the D’Bringi colony to find things apparently stable and the colonial government, which had declared for the empire soon after it was announced, in firm control of the surface.  After some time spent gathering information and observing from orbit, it became clear that the situation on the ground was not as clear-cut as they originally appeared.  The colonial government had declared martial law shortly after announcing its support of the empire, and communications and travel between settlements was tightly controlled.  Several smaller outlying settlements had been burned, and the courier’s crew had managed to identify several makeshift camps established in the wilder portions of the colony, away from the main settlements.  They even witnessed a fight between two groups on the ground, although who was fighting, or why, was unclear.  After watching for several days, and with no way to effect events on the ground, Skull-Splitter ordered the courier to head to out towards the D’Bringi colony in Aomori. 

Month 209, Day 8, Alliance Aomori system
Skull-Splitter’s courier arrived over the D’Bringi colony in the system to find it in chaos.  Upon entering the system, the courier had monitored numerous transmissions from the colony.  The transmissions were contradictory and confusing.  The official transmissions from the empire-friendly colonial government claimed everything was normal and under control, while numerous other transmissions indicated that the colonial government controlled very little and chaos had descended upon the colony.  Many of the transmissions were aimed at the neighboring Rehorish colony, which had a somewhat higher population and had been established on the fourth planet, while the D’Bringi colony was on the second.  The Rehorish colony was not only more populous, but richer, as it had a better mineral wealth rating than the D’Bringi colony.  The transmissions from the D’Bringi colony to the Rehorish colonies consisted mainly of pleas for assistance, in the form of food and/or weapons.  Meanwhile, the D’Bringi colony’s imperial government consistently denied there were any problems and threatened to attack the other colony if they interfered with the D’Bringi colony’s internal affairs. 

Skull-Splitter’s courier settled into orbit over the D’Bringi colony, as it had in the Sasebo system, claiming it had messages to be downloaded to the colony’s database.  The colonial government agreed to accept the messages, but refused the courier landing rights, claiming it was dealing with a minor outbreak of a communicable disease.  After just a short time of observing the surface, it was clear that the ‘imperial’ government of the Aomori colony was in deep trouble.  It retained control of only the colony’s capital and one other nearby settlement, while the rest of the colony was either in ruins, or sending troops to attack the government’s remaining strongholds. 

From there it took just a little more work to establish somewhat secure communications with what the courier’s crew had identified as a command post for the troops advancing on the capital.  Skull-Splitter was shocked and surprised after talking to the leaders of the forces on the ground.  It had been his speech of opposition to the imperial government that had set off the rebellion below, and the rebel forces were united their opposition to the imperial government under his banner.  When they realized who was in orbit, the rebel leaders were ecstatic!    They assured him that with Skull-Splitter himself in command, the rebellion, which was on the brink of launching its final offensive, would not fail.

After some thought, Skull-Splitter sent his son down to the surface as his representative to the rebels.  In the old days he would have gone himself, and led from the front, in the hottest fighting, but those days were gone, and his extensive injuries limited his options now.  Even in power armor he needed to limit his activities, at least for now. 

The attack was launched a day later, and as the rebels predicted the government fell soon thereafter.  Five days later the rebels were in firm control of the planet and had declared for Skull-Splitter’s faction.  That left Skull-Splitter elated, but in something of a quandary.  The colony now supported him, but what could he do with it?  After all, he did have any warships in the system, only a single courier, and he had no way to transport troops to or from the colony.  His fleet, such as it was, was concentrated in the T’Pau system, awaiting his decision to assault the home system, or defend the T’Pau system, as needed.  And he still had no way to communicate.  There were almost certainly other colonies out there that supported his cause, or were at least in opposition to the Empire, but if he couldn’t unite them, they would be picked off one by one by the usurpers.  The realization was sobering.  He was dependent on the plan to destroy the old ICN system and replace it, and until that happened the systems that supported him would be cut off. 

Month 209, Day 11, Alliance Phyriseq System
On this date a courier from the Rehorish home system arrived with orders for the 4th Fleet.  The orders were clear and unequivocal.  After detaching a small group to support the fortifications at the warp point to the Mintek home system, the fleet departed, bound for the Chruqua warp nexus. 

Month 209, Day 15, Alliance/Imperial Stahat System
On this date a courier from the Rehorish home system entered the Stahat system, bound for the Villiers system with orders for the 6th Fleet.  Unfortunately, it was met at its entrance point by a D’Bringi picket ship and ordered to halt for inspection.  With little choice, the courier ship complied.  When the D’Bringi captain ordered them to unlock their databanks for inspection of the messages they carried, the courier’s commander refused, causing the D’Bringi captain to seize the courier.  The orders for the 6th Fleet would not arrive.  However, before the imperial forces could board the courier, it managed to launch a courier drone back through the warp point it had entered the system through, meaning that word of its seizure would get back home. 

On this same date, colony transports pressed into service as troop carriers by the Imperial D’Bringi government on Stahat Prime arrived over the colonies of Naia and Roban, both two jumps from Stahat.  Both systems contained D’Bringi colonies with small populations and poor or very poor mineral wealth, and both had gone silent when the new empire was declared, hoping to remain beneath the imperial notice.  That hope had gone unfulfilled as transports landed on both colonies, disgorging security troops that fanned out to take control of the colonial infrastructure.  There was little open fighting, but many of the colonists lived outside the colony’s capital city, on both colonies, and those D’Bringi were not inclined to support the new government.  The newly installed Imperial governors controlled their own city, but little else. 

[Kurt (OP)]

An update on the progress, or more properly, the lack of progress on the Cold War Campaign. 

First off, the campaign is not dead.  I haven’t posted in a while, largely because of health issues.  I had Covid early in the year, and while it was a relatively mild case, I’ve had some significant short to medium term side effects that are only now beginning to clear up.  Primarily, I’ve had a case of ‘brain-fog’ that has persisted for a while, and it has made writing problematic.  I just haven’t felt cognitively up to writing, and instead have spent a lot of time playing games that don’t really challenge my brain that much.  I believe all of that is clearing up now, though, and I’m feeling much better.  Even better, the urge to write is returning, so I think I’ll start making progress in the campaign again, although it may be a bit before I post anything. 

I’ve decided to make a couple of behind-the-scenes changes to the campaign.  They probably won’t make much difference to the outcomes that will be written up, though, just how I go about resolving things within the campaign.  For one thing, I am going to be changing fighter to fighter combat, as I am very unsatisfied with the standard rules.  I’m working on developing something that I like better, and which is useable with the numbers of fighters that are in use in the campaign currently.  We’ll see how that goes. 

That brings us to something that has increasingly reared its ugly head.  Scale issues.  Part of the reason I haven’t made much progress is because of the brain-fog, but also because, mildly impaired as I was, I didn’t feel like tackling a relatively big battle that was the next thing to be written up.  This battle involves twenty-six capital ships, thirty cruisers and smaller ships, sixty carriers, and eight hundred and eighty fighters.  That is a large number of ships and fighters to deal with, and I’ve been putting off dealing with it, particularly because I wasn’t feeling well. 

However, compared to some of the battles in the later stages of the Phoenix Campaign, that’s nothing.  For example, in the Phoenix Campaign, the ASR was responding to an Eater invasion.  At the time the campaign ended, the ASR was assembling a force to stop the Eaters and then go on the offensive.  While that force would likely never be concentrated in one system, it was massive compared to anything in the Cold War universe.  The ASR anti-Eater fleet numbered one hundred and seventy-two capital ships, one hundred and sixty carriers, three hundred and seventy cruisers and smaller ships, and 4,748 fighters and 2,086 prototype gunboats.  And that doesn’t count in-theater reserves, which were substantial.  On the Eater side, there were one hundred and sixteen capital ships, one hundred and twenty-one carriers, one hundred and ten smaller ships, 3,195 anti-fighter small craft, and 750 armed pinnaces.  Unlike the ASR, the Eaters’ force was assembled in one system, and was a sledgehammer aimed at the heart of an ASR sector.  In addition, the Eater’s had three hundred and twenty-three ships and 4,995 AFSC headed towards the front lines as reinforcements.  Those two forces dwarf all of the combined fleets in the Cold War campaign, which is as intended given the changes I made to the production, growth, and research rules at the start. 

Still, even though the overall fleet sizes are much smaller, a battle with over one hundred ships and almost nine hundred fighters was looking kind of daunting.  I’m feeling much more capable these days, though, so I’m going to begin working my way through it soon.  I might post bits and pieces of stuff going on elsewhere to update everyone as to the goings-on in the universe, hopefully soon.

Kurt

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 209, Day 17, Alliance Kawasaki system
The fourteen ships of the Alliance 3rd Fleet approached the warp point to the Rehorish home system, and the assembly point of the D’Bringi ships that had been prevented from transiting the Rehorish home system.  The D’Bringi fleet remained divided, with the three battlecruisers that had declared for the empire on one side, the cruiser that had declared for Skull-Splitter on the other, and the remaining eight ships in the middle.  All three groups were out of range of each other, as none of them trusted the other. 

As the 3rd Fleet approached, ships from the 1st Fleet, based in the Rehorish system, began transiting into the Kawasaki system.  Soon, there were twelve cruisers and light cruisers in the Kawasaki system, supported by seven light carriers, in addition to the approaching 3rd Fleet forces.  The D’Bringi ships watched as the two groups of Alliance ships merged, and then came to a halt ten light seconds from the outermost D’Bringi ships, which happened to be the three imperial battlecruisers.  After a few seconds, the D’Bringi ships began receiving a message from the assembled Alliance ships.

The message showed Tai-shu Okada, who was one of the most senior officers in the Alliance, and greatly respected across all of the national fleets.  After a few seconds he began speaking.  “Officers and crewers of the D’Bringi ships of the 3rd Fleet.  I speak to you now as your commanding officer.  The Alliance is in dire straits.   The ICN has been disabled, interstellar communications are corrupted and unreliable, and the Alliance itself is fractured.  All of this has left us vulnerable to outside threat, and if what communications we have received are to be believed, there is a Union fleet occupying one of our systems as we speak.  If the instabilities in your home system had remained an internal matter, then my race and the T’Pau would have allowed you to resolve your issues on your own, without interference, however, this is not the case.  We cannot, and will not allow D’Bringi ships of uncertain loyalty and intent to wander around the Alliance.  Therefore, I order you to drop your drive fields and turn yourselves over for internment.  Your ships will be impounded and your crews will be interned until arrangements can be made to return you to your home system.  You have ten minutes to comply, after which my orders will be carried out by force.  Please do not force Alliance ships to fire upon you!  We are all part of the Alliance, and we want you to remain in the Alliance as a valued ally as well.”

The commanders of the D’Bringi ships debated the issue for a few minutes, and the captains of the imperial battlecruisers ranted and raved towards the Rehorish and T’Pau ‘betrayers’, but in the end they all dropped their drive fields.  It was inevitable, really, as they were deep within Rehorish space, blocked from returning home without going through a home system’s heavy defenses, and really had no where to go.  Even fighting would have little result, as they were outnumbered, and although the three battlecruiser captains pushed for a united front, many of the other commanders had already decided to accept internment. 

The Rehorish and T’Pau ships then proceeded to transfer the D’Bringi crews to their ships and then jumped back to the home system, where the crews would be transferred to a camp on Rehorish Prime.  As the transfers were taking place, transports jumped into the Kawasaki system with skeleton crews for the D’Bringi ships, which would be taken back to Rehorish Prime. 

Month 209, Day 20, Alliance Chruqua Nexus
The Alliance 4th Fleet took up stations in the system, with detachments at all of the warp points and the fleet assembled in the inner system, ready to respond to any location in the system if necessary.  The detachments had orders to stop all freighters and transports transiting into the system and conduct searches for contraband, which was defined as military equipment.  Any ship refusing to be searched was to be interned.  The inspections started immediately. 

Month 209, Day 23, Rehorish Prime
Once again Skull-Splitter arrived over Rehorish Prime to be met by Tai-shu Okada.  This time they met on one of the orbiting shipyards, which had copious space available for such meetings. 

Okada welcomed the D’Bringi leader into the room, then got down to business.  “What have you found on your colonies?”

The gruff old warrior smiled.  “The Aomori colony has been liberated from the usurper’s forces.  A rebellion appeared almost as soon as the usurper declared his empire, and truthfully, they were on the verge of victory when I contacted them.  I think the thing that most surprised me was that they were fighting in my name, having received my message of opposition to the empire.”

Okada dipped his antenna in acknowledgement.  “And Sasebo?”

“Remains under the control of the usurper, however, there is some evidence of a resistance movement.  I had no troops, or warships, though, so I had no way to influence events on the ground.”

“Events have moved forward here, as well.  The 3rd Fleet has been recalled to this system, and the D’Bringi ships you attempted to recruit in the Kawasaki system were interned.  Their crews are being held in camps on the surface, and their ships are in orbit.  Our original plan was to return the crews to the D’Bringi home system, and keep the ships here until the situation was resolved.  However, as we develop a clearer picture of the state of the Alliance, my government has decided that the situation must be resolved by any measures necessary, as quickly as possible.  By withdrawing our fleets to restore control to our critical territories, we have stripped our defenses bare.  Should any of our enemies become aware of this development, we would be vulnerable.  We have to resolve our problems, as quickly, before anything else happens.  Therefore, the decision has been made to turn all of the interned ships to over to your control.  You will be allowed to recruit as you wish from the officers and crewers interned on the surface of our planet.  We do this so that you can restore order to the D’Bringi portions of the Alliance, while our fleets deal with more immediate problems.” 

Skull-Splitter was overjoyed at this decision.  “This is a momentous day.  What can you tell me of the situation as we now understand it?”

Okada brought up a map of the Alliance on the room’s holo display.  At this level of display, there were no system names visible, just bubbles representing systems and lines showing warp routes.  The system bubbles were in three colors, denoting their sector affiliation.  The Core Sector contained the home worlds for the three member races, and what was the Rehorish colonial territories prior to the amalgamation.   The planets of this sector were primarily settled by the Rehorish, although there were some D’Bringi colonies established on the inhospitable ST type planets, once they were opened for D’Bringi colonization.  The Core Sector was by far the most populous and productive sector in the Alliance.  The Chruqua Defense Zone was located on the map just above the Core Sector, and was connected to the Core Sector via the invaluable Chruqua Nexus.  The Chruqua Defense Zone contained the Phyriseq Fortress system, which was a known contact point with the Mintek home system, and the home worlds for both the Torqual and Doraz associate member races.  The sector was primarily populated by the T’Pau and D’Bringi, although the Rehorish had a heavy presence in a few systems, and it was their colony system of Kumamoto that had been selected as the Sector capital.  The last sector was the Far Frontier Sector, with its capital in the system of Stahat.  The Far Frontier Sector had many small, new colonies, and had a mix of all three of the primary races of the Alliance. 

The holo map showed the Core Sector in green, the Chruqua Defense Zone in blue, and the Far Frontier Sector in red.  Okada pointed to the Core Sector.  “We have good intelligence and control within the Core Sector.  Our couriers will reach most of the colonies within the sector by the end of the month.  The couriers will re-establish contact with the local governments and destroy the old ICN buoys, which will be replaced with new buoys next month.  Aside from Sasebo and Aomori, all of the D’Bringi colonies within the Core Sector are four or more jumps from here, so we won’t have confirmation of their status for some time.” 

Okada pointed to the Chruqua Defense Zone.  “Our couriers have begun re-establishing contact with the colonies in the Defense Zone, and destroying the old ICN, but the effort there has just begun.  We have re-established contact with the 4th Fleet in Phyriseq, and I can confirm that the D’Bringi colony there remains firmly in your camp.  Until the couriers spread throughout the Sector, though, we know little about what is transpiring on the colonies there.  However, there is the D’Bringi colony in Nagasaki.”

Skull-Splitter’s eyes narrowed.  “If I remember correctly, Nagasaki is the location of my race’s most populous colony.”

“That is correct, and better, it is rated as a ‘rich’ world.  My intelligence team has analyzed everything that has been sent from Nagasaki since the announcement of the establishment of the D’Bringi Empire, and they believe that the Nagasaki colony is against the empire.  Although everything that came through the old ICN is suspect, there were some early statements expressing doubt about the empire from the leaders on Nagasaki.  After a few days those messages disappeared, replaced by generic statements of support for the empire similar to those being sent from all of the other D’Bringi settlements and colonies.  My intelligence people believe that those messages were generated by whatever is controlling the ICN, and that Nagasaki may be in opposition to the empire.”

Skull-Splitter considered the map.  “And the Far Frontiers Sector?”

“We know very little of what is happening out there.  My intelligence people believe that the sector capital at Stahat is the center of support for the new Empire, and we recently received word that the courier we sent to the 6th Fleet was stopped short at the edge of the Stahat system and seized.  We must assume that the D’Bringi colonies there are firmly in support of the new empire, or have been isolated and will remain out of contact, at least for now.  In addition, the Dether system is in this sector, and has apparently been occupied by the Union, although as always, our intelligence about this must be considered suspect.  I have dispatched a squadron of the 1st Fleet along the alternate warp chain to Dether to determine the truth of the situation, but it will not arrive until month 111.  Worse, the Union embassy in the CFS is refusing contact with our ambassador, at least for now.”

Skull-Splitter sat, lost in thought for several minutes as both leaders considered the map.  Finally, he sat forward.  “I have had much to think on since the events in the Aomori system.   Truly, I had thought that the message I sent from Phyriseq system in opposition to the empire would be lost in the ether.  But what I found in the Aomori system told me different.  As I suspected, there are many D’Bringi that are willing to fight for the changes that the empire wants to roll back, but they need a unifying cause.  A leader.  And although I am not sure I should be that leader, I am the leader that they have.  So, today I will announce the formation of the D’Bringi Loyalist Union, with myself as Warlord.  The position of Warlord has a deep history with my people, as one who steps forward at a time of great need to lead his people out of darkness.  The position carries great responsibility and power, however, there is also an immutable custom that the Warlord, at the resolution of the emergency, will step down from leadership for the rest of his life, never to interfere with D’Bringi politics again.  I fully intend to follow that custom, as the last thing my people need is to substitute one dictator for another.”

Okada looked on with approval.  “I think this is the right move.  Your people need a unifying force, and you are the only one that can provide that now.  What will be your first move?” 

“With your permission I will go to the surface and begin recruiting among the officers and crewers there.  I suspect I will get enough who are willing to serve that I will be able to crew all of the interned ships, albeit at reduced crew levels.  Once that is done, I will record another message, to be sent out across the Alliance to all of the D’Bringi colonies that we can reach, calling for them to join my cause and free our people.  Once that is complete, I would like to begin moving the forces loyal to me to begin unifying loyal colonies, however, I must ask something of you first.”

“Yes?”

“Currently, the D’Bringi ships I withdrew from Phyriseq are stationed in the T’Pau home system; under a commander I knew the T’Pau would trust.  I sent them there to reinforce the T’Pau defenses, in case the false-emperor tried to attack from the D’Bringi home system, or by other forces loyal to him from outside the T’Pau system.  I would like to withdraw those forces, and relocate them to the Nagasaki system, as a first move towards establishing a secure base of operations.  However, I do not wish to deprive the T’Pau of strength that might be vitally important to the defense of their home system.”

Okada waived his antenna in amusement.  “We have already decided.  The Alliance Strategic Reserve will be redirected to the T’Pau system to reinforce the T’Pau home fleet, while the 3rd Fleet, which is currently here in this system, will be dispatched down the alternate chain to the Dether system, to ensure that the Union, if they have occupied the system, doesn’t advance down the chain to the Core Sector.”

“Very well.  I will issue orders to my ships in the T’Pau system to wait for the 3rd Fleet to relieve them, then to set out for Nagasaki.  I will also send my son as my representative, to lead the fleet.  His orders will be to build an organization of D’Bringi colonies to resist the empire, and to provide an alternative for our people.”

“And what will you be doing?”

Skull-Splitter hesitated for a moment.  “I will take the ships you give me, and I will take them to Stahat, to determine the truth of the situation.  If it is indeed their capital, then I will deprive them of it.  And if the imperial’s have provoked a war with the humans, as you suspect, then I will end it, one way or another.  I would appreciate the assistance of the ships you have available.”

Okada swiveled his antenna in negation.  I have no ships that I can send away from the Core Sector at this time.  I may be able to free up some ships at some point next month, but that is not guaranteed.  What I will do is send a communique for the commander of the 6th Fleet to assist you in any way she sees fit, based on our overall stance towards the empire.  Our orders for the 6th Fleet have been stopped short because they have to go through the Stahat system.  If you can break into Stahat, and clear a way to the Villiers system, then you will have your support.”

The two leaders parted, each to their own missions. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 206, Day 10, Mintek Prime, Mintek Universal Union
Minister Turval, arguably the most powerful Mintek in the government, was perplexed.  For the last month the Mintek had been cautiously sending pilgrims and advocates into Ascendancy space to begin preparing the way for the Shiba’s enlightenment.  Per the decision he and the Chancellor had made just last month, they were proceeding slowly, to avoid provoking a war with the new race.  However, he had just read the latest report from the Trade Facilitation Teams assigned to the Shiba trade system, and it just didn’t quite make sense.  He had highlighted several entries as he read the report, and with a touch of a key he brought up the excerpts, all from first-hand reports from interactions with individual Shiba. 

Report #307A, Trade Station 2, Month 205, Day 3, Pilgrim Leader Forsk
“I spent most of First Day with a low-level Shiba administrator, as per exchange learning project Alpha-2, learning their job.  Administrator 1134 (our designation for an unpronounceable Shiba name) is a second-tier administrator on the local city manager’s staff, responsible for a team managing relations with Shiba citizens.  My observations were consistent with those previously logged, in that Administrator 1134 is honest and hard-working, and seems to truly believe in the Shiba government and people.  Of particular interest was the effectiveness of the administrator’s implants in the daily execution of his job.  The implants gave him nearly instant access to information stored externally, and allowed him to store additional information locally for immediate use.  The comms function seemed particularly useful, and quite often the Shiba seem to commune wordlessly with their implants, rather than speak out loud.”

Minister Turval had thought that report was mildly interesting, mainly because it confirmed what others had observed, that the Shiba government was in the main honest and effective, and had the broad support of the people.  This would have implications for the approach his people would have to take towards undermining the Shiba people’s support for their government.  The segment about the implants was particularly interesting, as his Ministry was currently investigating the utility of the Shiba technology and its possible applications in the Universal Union.  Still, this report was only interesting in light of the later reports from the same pilgrim. 
 
Report #310A, Trade Station 2, Month 205, Day 4, Pilgrim Leader Forsk
“Today, as part of the exchange program, Administrator 1134 spent the day with me while I performed my duties at the Trade Station.  As per the standard operating procedure, the day included classes and meetings focused on fostering understanding and acceptance of the Universal Union.  Administrator 1134 was open and accepting during the classes, and participated eagerly in the group discussion meetings with pilgrims assigned to this station and with other selected members of the Shiba population.  Administrator 1134 asked numerous questions that indicated a true curiosity about the Universal Union and its meanings for both the enlightened and those who have yet to be enlightened.  In particular, I was struck by his ability to relate the tenants of the Universal Union to events in Shiba history.  When I remarked on his apparent encyclopedic knowledge of Shiba history, he stated that his implants give him access to the collected works of Shiba history, along with a powerful search engine to find information useful to him at the current moment.  Administrator 1134 stated on several occasions during the day that he could see multiple ways that the tenants of the Universal Union would benefit the Shiba people should they be put into practice in the Ascendancy.  I evaluate Administrator 1134 as a good candidate for further indoctrination and full conversion to the tenants of the Universal Union once the limitations currently placed on this mission are lifted.”

In Turval’s experience, reports like this one were pretty much standard for the early indoctrination process, which was aimed at identifying persons at every level of the targeted society who would be susceptible to indoctrination and integration into ongoing efforts to convert their society.   Again, this report was only of interest in light of the follow up report. 

Report #312A, Trade Station 2, Month 205, Day 5, Pilgrim Leader Forsk
“I had a very concerning meeting with Administrator 1134 today.  As previously arranged, I met with Administrator 1134 to discuss his continuing education in the tenants of the Universal Union, which he had stated he wished to undergo at our earliest opportunity.  However, when I arrived, he claimed to have no memory of agreeing to additional training, and clearly stated that while he was mildly interested in learning additional details, he did not think that the Universal Union had any application to the Shiba way of life.  This statement was completely at odds with nearly everything that he had said in our prior meeting, and he seemed legitimately confused that I would have a different memory of his statement.  It is my opinion that he was not lying or dissembling, but that he truly had no memory of those events, although he did remember meeting with me, and the general course of the events of our meeting.  When I pointed out this considerable discrepancy, he dismissed my memory as being fallible as it depended on organic tissue instead of the superior Shiba technology.  I will continue my contacts with Administrator 1134; however, I now evaluate him as a poor candidate for further education.”

This report had been highlighted by the station chief, and when Turval checked there were several other similar reports of Shiba who appeared initially to be good candidates for education and indoctrination, but who then subsequently completely changed their minds on the subject without showing any awareness of the change.  There was something strange going on with the Shiba, and Turval was determined to get to the bottom of it. 

After having his staff sift through all of the reports relating to the Shiba since first contact, numerous anomalies had been discovered. Turval was certain that they had something to do with the implants.  The Shiba claimed that the implants were merely data storage and short-range communications devices, however, there were too many instances of Shiba changing fundamental positions without any apparent awareness of a change for it to be a coincidence.  Turval was beginning to strongly suspect that the implants were something much more than the Shiba were willing to admit. 

One week later, while Turval’s Ministry was still trying to come to some sort of coherent strategy in regards to the Shiba, a Shiba governmental delegation arrived on their trade-colony from their home system.  The delegation immediately approached the Mintek delegation on the colony and offered a joint scientific program to allow the Mintek insights into Shiba implant and supporting medical technology.  The Shiba government officials stated that the central government was delighted at the progress of their trade relationship with the Mintek, and wished to capitalize on that relationship to bring the two races closer together. 

The Mintek government, always eager to form closer relationships with other races, immediately agreed and began putting together a scientific task force to meet with the Shiba and begin working on the project.  As was standard with any contact with a foreign power, the Ministry of Inclusion was placed in charge of the project, regardless of its stated goals, as the Mintek goal was always to educate and integrate foreign races in the ways of the Universal Union.  Given Turval’s suspicions, he viewed this project more as a way to find out what was going on in the Ascendancy than as a true attempt to transfer technology, no matter how potentially useful such technology might be.

The Shiba and Mintek teams would begin working together beginning in Month 207.   

Month 207, Day 15, Mintek Prime, Universal Union
Minister Turval read the report’s synopsis yet again.  The joint scientific team had been working for several weeks now, and the initial results were very interesting.  The science of the Shiba’s implants were beyond him, but his inquisitors knew what he was interested in, and it wasn’t the science.  One sentence in the report kept coming back to him.  Prime Inquisitor Justram reported that the Shiba claimed that the implants absolutely could not be used to control an individual directly, and that Mintek scientists preliminarily concurred with that claim after reviewing the data and the implants themselves.  However, Inquisitor Justram, one of Minister Turval’s most trusted agents, pointed out that if someone was able to manipulate the data available to the implant, it would be child’s play to manipulate the user.  Minister Turval was very familiar with this concept, as the Universal Union had avoided direct control of its subjects from the first, as direct control bred inevitable resistance.  Instead, the Universal Union led by example and by discrediting the newly acquired population’s former rulers, something that had proved all too easy to do over the years.  Part of this was the subtle manipulation of the data available to subject worlds, but this always had to be very carefully done, given the multiplicity of sources of data that were available to most advanced populations.  After some thought, Turval dictated a message for Inquisitor Justram, ordering him to inquire into the Ascendancy’s data storage techniques.  Once the message was encoded and dispatched, he stepped over to the far wall of his office, and, at a signal from his comm unit, a door opened to reveal an elevator.  The door was unobtrusive, but not actually hidden.  Those who had noticed it upon visiting Turval’s office usually assumed that it was a personal express elevator, and indeed it acted as such on occasion, however, it had another use.  Minister Turval’s office was on the top floor of the Ministry’s tower in the capital city, and indeed the elevator would take him to both the shuttle pad on the roof and the aircar park in the basement.  However, unlike any other elevator in the massive complex, this one continued on down, past the various sub-basements, deep into the crust of the planet to a deeply buried complex.  Only a very few Mintek knew of the existence of this complex, and the current Chancellor, and his oldest friend, was not one of them.  Turval stepped inside the elevator and with a coded pulse from his comms unit the elevator started down. 

After descending for quite some time the elevator came to a halt and Turval exited.  Anyone else would have been struck by the change in architecture and design, so unlike that of the Mintek, but Turval was very used to it and walked down the dimly lit corridor without really seeing his surroundings.  Instead, he was absorbed with the problem of the Shiba and their apparent resistance to the Mintek’s usual approach to suborning alien governments.  He was sure it was all to do with their implant technology, but was unsure of what could be done about it.  Indeed, their resistance to the normal procedures that the Mintek used to subvert and convert a population was very disturbing, and his anxiety had steadily been growing over the past several weeks.  The Universal Union demanded progress. 

Finally, he came to a heavy door set into the wall at the end of the corridor.  At his approach the door swung open, revealing it was very thick and made of some metal that Turval was sure would defy the best efforts of Mintek scientists to analyze it, should they be given the chance.  Turval shook his head at the thought.  They never would be given that chance, of course.   Turval entered the chamber revealed by the opening door and ignored the door as it shut behind him.  The first time that had happened he had panicked, but that was a long time ago, and he had come far since then.  He walked to the center of the room and stood before a large holo display.  As always, the holo was set to show a chamber much like the one he was in, but this one was filled by an alien machine, perhaps a computer.  The alien computer emitted a strange green glow that seemed to pulse, and even after all of these years he found the image entrancing. 

“What have you to report, my friend?”

Turval bowed low, showing a reverence that would have shocked anyone that knew him.  “Master, the first reports from the exploratory mission to the Shiba have come back.  They deny the implants could be used to control a person, but there is no other explanation for their resistance to our usual techniques.  I suspect that the Shiba are manipulating the data available to their citizens to influence their behavior and exert control over them.  We do not yet understand their technology.”

The chamber was silent for a few minutes, and Turval patiently waited.  The alien device steadily pulsed within its green glow, before speaking again.   “You must obtain for me examples of their technology.  Eventually, I will need implanted subjects to examine.  I believe that this could be used to our advantage.”

With this statement Turval’s heart unclenched and he felt relief flooding through his body.  He straightened up and looked at the display with hope and belief.  “It shall be done, master.  We will have the examples available for you to study before the end of the month, but actual implanted individuals will take longer.”

“Time is as it is.  Bring me the technology first, and I will begin my studies.  Now go, and strengthen the Universal Union as you always have, my friend.”

Turval turned and exited the chamber through the slowly opening door, feeling much better than he had when he entered.  Very few knew it, but the actual architect behind the expansion of the faith of the Universal Union was behind him, a long-buried alien device that had revealed the truth of the Universal Union to Turval’s predecessors decades ago. 

Behind him the holo display flickered out, and the room was silent once again. 

Month 207, Day 28, Mintek Prime
The first examples of the Shiba implant technology procured by the research team arrived on the home world on this day.  Most of them were dispersed across the planet to various research centers.  Several units, though, disappeared into Turval’s Ministry, not to be seen again. 

Month 208, Day 10, Mintek Prime
Minister Turval read the reports from the Shiba research team avidly.  Five Mintek volunteers had been implanted with Shiba tech, and were reporting significant improvements in efficiency and productivity.  Additionally, their team leads were reporting test results that indicated that the volunteers were scoring higher on standardized tests than prior to their implantation, and the entire team was reporting that there was no noticeable change in their behavior.  The Shiba were particularly pleased in showing off their technology, and were excited to expand the program. 

Several of the volunteers were sent back to the Mintek home world for testing.  One entered the headquarters of the Ministry of Equity and Inclusion and never left again. 

Month 209, Day 15, Mintek Home World
Minister Turval bowed low as he entered the buried chamber and stopped before the central holo unit.  “I am here, master.”

“Rise, my friend.  I have completed my analysis of the implant technology, and of the implanted officer you provided.  The technology is most interesting.  Clearly, the Shiba intend to suborn the Mintek, much as the Mintek have done to the other races.”

Turval frowned.  “We do what we have done, with your help, for the good of all.  The Universal Union brings peace, good governance, and prosperity to all.  For what reason to the Shiba seek to expand?”

The holo continued to show an alien machine with a pulsing green glow emanating from within.  As always, Turval found the glow comforting and entrancing.  “Unknown at this time.  Almost certainly their drive to expand and control relates to their leadership’s primitive and self-destructive desire to expand their personal power and control of their own society.  The implant technology is just a refinement of this basic urge that is common to most regressive societies.”

“Can we counter their attempt to suborn our society while maintaining contact and furthering our goal of inclusion, or must we either break contact or resort to military conquest?”

“Military conquest is inadvisable, in light of the current demands on the Mintek Starfleet.  I believe that we can use their implant technology against them.  The principles on which this technology operates are known to me, and I believe that I can use their technology against them if we allow them to move forward with their plans.  To them, it will appear that their plan to suborn our people is working.  But in reality, it will be our plan that is moving forward, not theirs.”

“Is there a risk?”

The pulsing green light didn’t change, but somehow Turval detected a change in tone.  “There is always a risk in life.  No matter how my creators attempted to limit or eliminate that risk, it never goes away.  Witness the fact that my creators no longer exist.  However, there is also always hope.  In this case, I have survived to bring wisdom developed in an earlier age to benefit the new races that have arisen since the Great Fall.”

Turval was entranced.  The Master rarely gave hints as to its history, or how he had ended up here, buried on the Mintek home world.  All of his attempts to learn more had been politely diverted, and Turval, as always, was loath to disturb the guiding intelligence of the Universal Union.  Truly, it was the buried Master who more than any being had guided the Mintek to greatness.  The buried Master analyzed the alien races they had met and gave the Mintek the tools they needed to suborn their corrupt governments and incorporate them within the Universal Union, for the good of all.  The buried Master was linked to all governmental databases and kept watch over the Universal Union’s government, rooting out corruption and inefficiency, ensuring the continuance of the benign rule of the Universal Union over all of its subjects. 

After a few seconds of silence, the buried Master spoke again.  “You will allow the Shiba’s proposal to implant more of your personnel to move forward.  They will wish to concentrate their efforts on Ministry personnel, as controlling persons of authority will be paramount to their plans of subversion.  As their plans move forward, opportunities for myself to influence the operation of their implants will increase.  As they believe they are gaining control over us, we will be gaining control over them.”

The buried Master fell silent, and Turval bowed low again, before withdrawing.  They were embarking on a dangerous course, again, but the potential gain was staggering.