Year: 2718, April 27th
Sector Newland Territories-32-85.071
Terran Earth Protectorate Light Cruiser Behemoth
The second day of the conference had begun and Jim started it out with a cup of coffee, a sandwich with bacon, cheese and Swedish meatballs and sausage plus a datapad with the latest Intel. He sat in the mess hall by an officers table, alone.
He read about Spec ops team Zulu’s mission to Hellrain yesterday. It had been successful with the death of a Spector and a Marauder scientist named Diana Hill. She had been on record with her DNA. She had been discharged from the Earth Protectorate science division six years ago and had been suspected of joining the Marauders. It was now confirmed. Jim thought it was unfortunate that she was killed. She could have provided valuable intelligence on Marauder research, bases and movements. Not to mention the unidentified Spector. He was probably nobody or from one of the other Terran factions. Possibly both. A lot of Marauders had lost everything because of some reasons and need an outlet. Many were ex-convicts.
He heard the chair opposite him being pulled out and Ada Dravograd sat down with Lt. Commander Morgan by her side, still wearing her black armor suit.
“Commodore,” Jim greeted politely.
She smiled back.
“Admiral Flannigan. A please. You mind me asking you something?”
“Go ahead,” he lowered his datapad and put in beside him.
He noticed Morgan glancing at it.
“Do you-personally-believe that the Vaan’jorch will agree on the none-aggression pact with the Jorchae Duchy?”
Jim leaned forward.
“Well commodore. The Vaan’jorch haven’t shown any intentions of an invasion for a long time. They look to give it a wide birth. So, why not?”
“Giving them independence was seen as a great weakness by the Holy Empress at the time,” Ada countered. “Besides, the Jorchae would only accept it to get free reign to continue harassing Vaan’jorch space and steer up trouble in Jorchae colonies and core worlds. They’d try, at least.”
“Probably. But-” Jim raised a finger. “-they have been extremely unsuccessful in that. We’d all like to see the Jorchae rise up and break free completely from under the Vaan’jorch grasp, but they won’t do that. Indoctrination for hundreds, thousands of generations. Six-thousand years of it, actually. But…if they did break, they’d take a large part of the Dominion’s empire with it. Stop their industries and cripple it the military.”
“I’d love to see the greatest power in the galaxy taken down a notch,” Ada added in.
“This Conclave, union idea. It will limit their influence and power-”
“If it works, admiral,” Morgan interjected. “It’ll take decades to work out.”
Jim nodded. He knew the idea was more of a dream, but a UN amongst the stars would potentially save billions of lives from war, starvation, plague and oppression. But if they pressed to quickly, they’d fail immediately. A few were actually open for it. The Grand Sano Imperium was one of them. Sense their once grand empire is a ruin, they fear a Dominion invasion in the future. A Conclave would protect their independence. The Klloorr Hierarchy was also open for it, but hesitant also. They were worried their government would lose some power to the Conclaves authority. The United Earth Directorate thought the idea was interesting, but they didn’t think it could ever work in reality.
“Do you really think that no one will figure out why you do this?” Ada cross her arms over her chest.
Jim looked at her, slightly confused.
“Commodore-” he started.
She smirked smugly.
“This isn’t about creating peace. The Earth Protectorate has trouble with shipyards. You and I both know that you have too few shipyards to rebuild you ships in war. You know that you can’t rebuild your ships quick enough if attacked and lose heavy numbers. That’s why you want this. That’s why you need this ready. To keep everyone off you for a few decades until you have enough shipyards.”
Jim looked at her. A stoic gaze. He knew she might be right. He had thought of the same thing. He suspected that it was very possibly the President tried this to save time until the TEP could expand their shipyards to match their neighbors. Even if they-in war-destroyed Twin Moon-for example-ships with a ratio of 7-1 they would be unable to rebuild their ships fast enough.
“What we want, is peace,” Jim said. He couldn’t say he agreed with her, even if he had considered it himself. That would be selling out his own government.
Ada continued smiling.
“Of course admiral.”
Jim returned the smile.
“I wouldn’t put too much thought into it Commodore Dravograd.” He sipped from his coffee. “What’s your opinion of the Alliance’s war with the Drakken and UCD?”
Ada smiled, obviously noticing he changed subject. He also knew she had noticed that.
“I…think that the Alliance losing ships and manpower is always a good thing. Makes them a lesser threat for the next decade. Least until the next generation grows up and jump into the meat grinder.”
“Lot of people still die,” Jim reminded. He gravely disagreed with her. “Terran lives.”
“And Drakken.”
“And Drakken.”
“I suppose the Protectorate’s little xenophobia makes you forget that.”
“We are not xenophobic,” he countered harshly.
“Of course not. But you still prefer human lives before aliens. The empire doesn’t mind aliens. The Empress isn’t human after all, but billions worship her and her family.”
Jim nodded slowly, but said nothing.
“You have any family, admiral?”
He nodded again.
“I do. They live on Earth. You?”
“Nothing as close as boyfriend or children, but parents and siblings, yes.” She sipped from her glass. “It’s very impressive to be an admiral at thirty-nine,” she complimented.
“Thank you. From what I’ve heard, you’re climbing the ladder pretty fast yourself.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m just serving my people.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself, sir,” Morgan cut in.
Ada smiled and turned her head to her.
“Thank you,” she said appreciatively. She turned back to Jim. “Tell me admiral, you are trying to make a quite interesting scene with such a small flotilla.”
“We don’t think we need to show such force.”
“Make others underestimate you? Or is it like Hitler?”
Jim didn’t like that comparison but decided to ask what she meant before snapping at her. Giving her the benefit of the doubt.
“Care to explain that?” He asked coolly.
“I meant to disrespect, admiral. I just mean that before the Second World War started, it always worked one way. If you had two-hundred heavy bombers, you would tell the world you had one-hundred and…fifty or seventy instead. Pull the number down a tad. Every politician pretty much did it. It was how it worked and everyone knew it.” She shrugged lightly. “But Hitler didn’t do that. Think what you want of the tyrannical maniac, but he knew how to bluff. Instead of doing what everyone else did, he did the opposite. He claimed that he had more than he had, making everybody think he had even more then he claimed.”
“Hmm. Clever strategy, I admit that.”
Ada smirked.
“One of the only things he did right. He isn’t known as the world’s most evil man of all times for nothing.”
Jim snorted.
“I doubt anyone would believe that we don’t have any large ships than Light Cruisers.”
“No,” she granted him. “But maybe they were unavailable.” She shrugged again. “I don’t know.”
“Tell me Commodore. What did the Marauders want at Petrograd?”
“A few freighters with grain was the target. Destroyed two before we arrived.”
Jim noticed she clenched her fist.
“I have every single one of them. Every single one.”
“You aren’t alone in that.”
Morgan nodded in agreement.
Ada looked down in her knees.
“I’ve never been to Earth. Is it nice?”
Jim smiled slightly.
“Very. Green forests, mountains and long sandy beaches. The factories and planetary shipyards might not do much for the view but I assure you… it is beautiful. I wasn’t born there, but when my wife said she wanted to move there, I couldn’t say no.” He started smiling broader. “I’m going to retire to a villa in Australia one day.”
“I’d love to visit one day. Earth I mean,” she quickly added. “Not your villa.”
“You’d be welcome there to.”
Both smiled warmly.
Year: 2718 April 27th
Sector Fen-june-89-30.931
Blessing system, Rudemir, Hailstorm Command Base
Warlord Eaertal walked into the command center with heavy and strong steps. His feet left a thudding noise against the metallic floor. The large white skinned giant nine feet bipedal had his giant fists clenched on his sides. He looked around the large room. Three dozen Jorchae sat by consoles and keyed them and carried out their daily duties. A few Colossal’s also sat at consoles. Most of them were smaller than regular sized Colossal’s and almost human sized. A Kurhkzan stood on the floor, commanding and keeping order amongst the technicians.
“What is the statues of the Planetary Defense Batteries?” Eaertal asked.
The Kurhkzan turned around slowly and looked at him.
“The maintenance is complete,” he said in a monotone voice.
“I want a test preformed in three hours,” Eaertal ordered.
The Kurhkzan nodded.
“Understood Warlord.”
“Get a Freighter group to tractor in an asteroid. We need something to fire a six-thousand pound slug at.”
“Understood.”
Eaertal turned and studied a female Kurhkzan that just entered the CC.
A Jorchae called the female over. She walked over and the Jorchae chattered in a quick tone. Another nearby spoke up suddenly to. A third and suddenly a fourth. The female turned to Eaertal.
“Warlord Eaertal,” she said her that Kurhkzan monotone voice. “Nine observation posts towards the Dark Rift has stopped transmitting.”
Eaertal looked suspiciously at her.
“What? Are you sure?”
She nodded slowly.
“Affirmative, sir.”
“Three more has stopped transmitting!” A Jorchae exclaimed.
“Warlord!” One cried out. “Twenty-six listening posts along the Dark Rift have stopped transmitting. In our neighboring sector fifty-two stopped transmitting ten minutes ago. We just received the communique.”
“Warlord! Another sector is reporting fourteen…fifteen and rising, numbers of listening posts and outposts has gone dark. Seventeen and rising!”
“Warlord, Governor Rei-Lin on Brodimir is ordering all warships in this sector to report to the planets closest to the border and all military forces prepared for combat,” the male Kurhkzan alerted calmly.
Eaertal was silent for a moment, taking in everything he was just told. He turned around.
“I want this planet battle ready!” He barked. His voice echoing across the room.
The two Kurhkzan officers nodded calmly.
Orders were quickly carried out and transmitted system wide.
“The Planetary Defense Batteries will be ready to fire momentarily,” the male explained. “Do you want the warships in the system to gather at Rudemir, Brodimir or divide between both?”
Eaertal thought for a micro second.
“We have the Planetary Defense Batteries and thousands of Starfighters. I want all warships to Brodimir, defending the goddess.”
“Understood, Warlord.”
They had to make sure the goddess was safe, at all costs. It was the most important task Eaertal could think of right now. Brodimir didn’t have as many PDB as Rudemir had.
“Warlord, ten more listening posts in our sector has gone dark,” he was alerted.
Whoever was attacking them, they had firepower and numbers. They were attacking at least fire sectors at once. Who was it though? It had to be someone, or something…from beyond the Dark Rift. Whoever it was, they had made a big mistake. Taking on the Dominion would be their last act. Soon they would fall and kneel to the Vaan’jorch’s for mercy. They would beg to the Holy Empress to spare them. Soon.
But this might open up the gates for an invasion by the Drakken, UCD or the Twin Moon Empire. The Jorchae Duchy and Grand Sano Imperium was also likely, but they were simply minor powers.
Eaertal rubbed his temple. He could barely wait to show these enemies who they had taken on. What kind of mistake they had made. But soon they’d found out. No one defeated the Vaan’jorch Dominion.
“Send word to Haitrochk Command! Alert the Holy Empress and the Golden Concord immediately!” Eaertal demanded.
“The orders will be carried out,” the female Kurhkzan responded.
Eaertal didn’t know if informing the Councilors in the Golden Concord at this time was necessary and what they could do, but he still thought it important. Informing Haitrochk Command was of the most importance. They were the military head of the Dominion Armed Forces and could quickly organize a defense and a counter offensive. He had full trust in the Vaan’jorch goddesses he was giving the empires defense to. They could not fail. They were master strategists and military tactical geniuses.
“Warlord! Unidentified ships are exiting hyperspace and entering the system!” A Jorchae cried out.
Eaertal and a Kurhkzan officer walked over.
“Do we have them on screen?”
The Jorchae nodded back.
“I want them on the main screen,” Eaertal commanded.
After a few seconds an image appeared on the large ten meter screen.
The ships were dark green in coloring. They had smooth outer hulls and were long and many of them were pointy in the aft. They were strange to look at. Some of them were simply a hundred meters long, while the largest were at least two kilometers. Those were assumed to be Battlecruiser class. There were hundreds of warships and the mass of them approached Rudemir and Brodimir quickly. Others seemed to try and cut off escape routes. Almost two-hundred Dominion warships was in system. But they were spread out still. Most were in orbit over Brodimir but some were on their way there and would be distributed piecemeal into battle.
“Who are you?” Eaertal growled at the screen.
“Warlord. They will be in range of our Planetary Defense Batteries in two minutes.”
Eaertal grinned grimly.
“Good. We will show them a real Colossal welcome.”
“Scan them. Any identification?”
There were relative silence for a moment.
“Negative sir. There are nothing similar to them in our database.”
“Warlord, three-hundred Starfighters and bombers are gathering in orbit, with more on the way. It will take time until all of our Starfighters are standing by in planetary orbit,” a Kurhkzan said calmly in a monotone voice.
The unidentified alien fleet was approaching Rudemir and Brodimir. Splitting up in two fleets to secure both planets at once, assuming their numbers would win the day. They finally entered range of Rudemir.
“The first warships are in range.”
“Fire!” Eaertal roared.
Eight six-thousand pound slugs swooped up and into orbit and right at the unidentified starships. One hit a two-hundred meter Destroyer class starship and wrecked it, leaving nothing but debris behind. Another hit a Corvette. Not even any debris survived the impact. Two slugs smashed into a Battlecruiser and tore it in two. Internal explosions rocked it and a sent out a shockwave the damaged two dozen smaller starships. The other slugs smashed into other targets with equal success. Ten seconds later two more slugs were fired into space. They hit a Light Carrier and a Heavy Cruiser. Both were utterly destroyed.
In the CC they cheered. Dominion Planetary Defense Batteries was one of the most powerful artillery pieces in existence. The original had been created by the Colossal’s and they only fired two-thousand pound slugs instead of six-thousand pound slugs. The Vaan’jorch modified them after the war with the Colossal’s and increased their range and firepower with over 6,000 %. It originally only fired in atmospheres. It was a weapon that terrified everyone outside the Dominion. It made the cost of any invasion costly. Especially in lives.
“Reload the PDBs,” Eaertal ordered.
But he knew it was a waste of time, sense they were already being reloaded. He said this about the Jorchae: They worked quickly and were very effective. A Jorchae flew over and handed him a holopad. It confirmed that three million troops were already battle ready and ten million more were being prepared. The majority of them were Kurhkzan, Colossal and Serphoro. Sense Jorchae weren’t the most effective soldiers, they were often committed to other tasks. Technicians, medical staff, mechanics, pilots and artillery operators to name a few. On planets that had been declared fortified or fortress planets, there were always millions of soldiers in defense of it at any time.
“The first two batteries are ready.”
“Fire at will.”
Two more slugs were swirled away. They crippled a Heavy Battlecruiser and destroyed a troop transport. In one shot, ten-thousand invading troops had been killed. The Heavy Battlecruiser had been hit right in the bridge, but the slug had left the starships relatively unharmed. Internal explosions was tearing through it and ensuring it was no threat to anyone.
Eaertal noted that Dominion and enemy ships had engaged in orbit over Brodimir. Hundreds of Starfighters from the planet were aiding the defending fleet. Hundreds of alien Starfighters left Carriers to engage in a massive dogfight.
Starfighters from Rudemir had engaged hundreds of alien Starfighters. The aliens proved to be skilled pilots. But the Serphoro and Jorchae pilots proved more skilled for the most part.
Another slug swirled out into orbit and smashed a Heavy Battlecruiser.
Unfortunately, at the precise time, nineteen other Vaan’jorch planets were being invaded with must more success for the most part.
As some alien bombers managed to enter the atmosphere, they were taken out by anti-air artillery pieces planetside and Starfighters. The dogfight were fears, with heavy casualties on both sides. The enemy Starfighters were incredibly fast and maneuverable. The Dominion navy at Brodimir had retreated to orbit after suffering heavy initial losses. With aid from PDB they held for now.
Another pair of slugs hit their targets nicely. A Heavy Carrier and a Light Battlecruiser destroyed. As the fleet started spreading out, they entered range of further PDBs. They opened a devastating barrage. In ten seconds four starships were smashed to rubble. Two Light Carrier class, one Destroyer and one Heavy Cruiser.
“Target the capital starships first!” Eaertal decided. “They can’t win or hold Rudemir without capital ships. Troop transports are secondary.”
“Understood.”
With the next salvo two troop transports was destroyed along with two Light Battlecruiser, one Heavy and five Heavy and Light Cruisers. Three Heavy and two Light. Yet, the enemy were pushing forward. Eaertal was impressed with how the enemy continued pushing forward. But he was also worried because Brodimir was less fortified than Rudemir. He hoped that goddess Rei-Lin would managed to get to safety if the enemy invaded Brodimir. His Starfighters could help escort her out of the system or to Rudemir.
A slug tore a Heavy Carrier apart. Two supporting Corvettes were hit by debris and greatly damaged. One of them lost shields and all primary systems failed.
Three troop transport vessels were destroyed after the Destroyer covering them were crushed. Adding up the three troop transports, that was another thirty-thousand casualties. At least one-hundred and fifty-thousand enemies were estimated to be casualties this far. Possibly more. The enemy were unrelenting.
“Warlord, another enemy Battlecruiser have been destroyed.”
“Excellent. Ground them down!” Eaertal growled victoriously.
As the slugs continued smashing through the enemy ships as they started turning and finally retreating towards the first moon in orbit.
“Warlord Eaertal,” a Kurhkzan said. “Half the ships are breaking off towards Brodimir.”
“Damn it,” Eaertal grumbled in frustration. “Order our Starfighters to intercept and assist in defending Brodimir. And, get me a link to Brodimir Command. I want to know if goddess Rei-Lin is evacuating.”
Year: 2718 April 27th
Sector Fen-june-89-30.931
Blessing system, Brodimir, Governors palace
Rei-Lin sat curled into a ball in the corner of her chambers. She hugged her knees tightly and trembled in fear. Her black waist long hair was hanging in all direction from her head. The six feet female was horrified as she could hear bombs in the distance. It sounded like the explosions came closer. She had just heard a massive explosion. Unknown to her, a large enemy Light Cruiser had committed to a suicide run straight into a PDB six kilometers away.
Rei-Lin’s long sharp tail tugged at her right 1.5 decimeter horn. The young female sobbed loudly. Suddenly she looked up when she heard someone outside the door. The steps were heavy but firm. Her lilac eyes stared in fear. The white double doors opened with a bang as they smashed open against the walls. One of her Serphoro guards stood outside. It was the Lieutenant in charge of the night shift.
“My goddess!” He said swiftly. Rei-Lin saw at least six guards outside. Two of them were Colossal’s. “We need to evacuate you immediately. The enemy is focusing down our Planetary Defense Batteries.”
Slowly Rei-Lin wiped her tears from her eyes and started to stand up on trembling legs. She slowly walked towards them and the captain stepped aside and let her pass. In the corridor she saw five Serphoro guards, three Colossal and ten Jorchae. The corridor was almost filled as she walked with them surrounding her as a protective-living-shield.
“My goddess, Brodimir Command says that Warlord Eaertal on Rudemir has sent Starfighters to assist in your evacuating,” the lieutenant informed her.
Rei-Lin didn’t say or did anything to acknowledge his presence or that she even heard him. She was still terrified and held her arms close to her chest.
She spotted her bodyguard commander.
The captain saluted her and then bowed his upper body.
“The bombings are being fought off by our aero forces,” he told her. “Airspace around the palace is being cleared and a ship is being prepared for evacuating you goddess.”
She looked at him and nodded slowly as she continued to walk at a quick pace. The young twenty-two year old didn’t pay any attention to if her bodyguard’s image of her could change in her present terrified state. Seeing your god cry and cower might change most people’s image of them. But the main fact about that was, that the Vaan’jorch indoctrination on the school level had worked so well, it had no effect on hurting her or any goddess’s image. Their subjects had such respect of their goddesses that nothing could tear it down.
When they finally arrived outside she saw a red smooth armored transport awaiting her. Four Colossal’s stood guard on the ramp. In the air above her head, Starfighters-both friendly and hostile-fought a bloody battle. They kept the bombers and enemy interceptors from reaching Rei-Lin and her shuttle. She saw two Corvettes in position above the palace, firing on enemy Starfighters.
“Hurry goddess!” The captain exclaimed. He heard a voice in his helmet comm.
“Enemy troop transports landing in capital city. Brodimir Command barricading themselves to keep the fight alive as long as possible. The 503rd Armored Division is defending the HQ with anti-air batteries-” it was a quick status report. It was the voice of a Colossal male. “-and two Battalions of Colossal infantry is in the main square, engaging the enemies first ground troops. The ‘Brute’ and ‘Bloodbath’ Battalions. Civilian population has started being evacuated planet wide, but only some tens-of-thousands is predicted to survive.” The captain kept running as the transmission continued. “Colossal 4002nd Division is planning an offensive from the southern plains outside the capital. Enemy Starfighters seem to be endless-”
Rei-Lin ran inside the transport and her escort followed suit, the captain was the last inside.
“Takeoff immediately!” He ordered.
“Understood,” the Jorchae pilot affirmed.
Three squadrons of Multi-role Starfighters created a protective screen around the transport and both Corvettes maneuvered to follow them. When they reached orbit three Destroyers and four Squadrons of Interceptors joined them. All ready to die in protecting Rei-Lin. She was still mortified and had to qualms about letting countless lives be lost in her protection. It was as things should be in her mind. In the minds of most Vaan’jorch.
Year: 2718, April 27th
Sector Newland Territories-32-85.071
Terran Earth Protectorate Light Cruiser Behemoth
Ada and Morgan strolled through the ship corridors with a Protectorate soldier behind them, following their every step. He held a Holstein O3 Battle-rifle in his hands. Morgan looked back at the light armored Terran marine. The armor was tiny compared to the black armored suit of the Twin Moon marines. She was curious what the outcome would be if a Company of Twin Moon marines fought a Company of Earth Protectorate marines. They would probably beat them easily. She started smiling to herself. The Protectorate wouldn’t stand a chance if their two governments ever went to war.
She cursed the Protectorates cowardice. This whole idea of a conference was just to protect the TEP from a future war as tensions were rising amongst the Terran factions. This way, they might protect their cowardly asses and work on their ancient plans to unify all of humanity worked in the background. They somehow refused to accept that humanity was shattered and would never unify peacefully. War was the only solution to that question, and they were too weak for it. At least their navy was. A long war would destroy them.
“Commodore Ada Dravograd’s presence is requested on the bridge,” a woman said over the intercom. “Commodore Ada Dravograd’s presence is requested on the bridge.”
“Could be a transmission from Dauntless,” Morgan mused.
“Let’s find out I guess,” Ada said.
As they walked to an elevator and made their way up to the bridge. The green armored marine guard followed them. Ada was slightly annoyed by the armored soldier but she would have done the same thing if they were onboard the Dauntless. She thought about getting back to reading her fictional novel about a romance when she got back to Dauntless and her quarters.
Arriving on the bridge she saw Lieutenant Kerrigan. He smiled and walked to her.
“Commodore,” he said curtly. “You are being contacted by your vessel, Captain Haig.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Ada nodded. “May I take it in private?”
Kerrigan nodded.
“Of course.” He handed her an earpiece. She took in and placed it in her ear.
“Captain Haig?”
“Sir,” Haig responded. “We have received an emergency transmission from Aiur.”
Ada was silent for a minute. That was bad. Whatever the transmission was about, emergency channels was only used in, well…emergencies.
“What’s going on, Haig?”
“Sir…twenty-seven listening posts have gone dark and we have lost contact with two colonies near the borders to neutral space in sector Bravo-88-12.392.”
Ada recognized that it was the same sector that the Petrograd colony was located in. normally she might think that Marauders was responsible but too many listening posts had fallen silent. This sounded far too much like an invasion.
“What’s the High Council’s response?” Ada asked firmly. She glanced at Morgan. She stood beside her, concerned about what little she was hearing.
“They are mobilizing the colonial military,” Haig explained. “The Imperial military isn’t being fully mobilized until they know what’s exactly going on. The colonies in that and neighboring sectors is being alerted and they mobilize their colonial marine garrisons and naval forces. Admiral Taylor’s 301st Scout Fleet is traveling to sector Bravo-88-12.392. They are waiting for the admiral’s report.”
“Damn it,” Ada cursed under her breath. “Captain, what’s our orders, we leaving the conference?”
“Yes, sir. High Council want Dauntless in the border sectors, showing the flag.”
“Copy that. We’ll depart immediately when I return.”
“Understood, Haig out.”
Ada turned to Morgan.
“Get the ambassador, we’re leaving.”
“What’s going on, sir?” Morgan inquired.
“I’ll tell you on the shuttle back to Dauntless,” she said, taking out the earpiece and putting it on a nearby console.
“Is everything alright, commodore?” Kerrigan asked politely.
“I’m afraid I have to depart, lieutenant. An internal matter to the empire.”
Kerrigan nodded.
“I’ll inform Admiral Flannigan.” He saluted her lightly. “I do wish you well, commodore.”
Ada nodded and left with Morgan.
Year 2718, April the 27th
Sector Jingo-11-55.310, Greece system
Planet Athena, United Colonial Directorate Fort Morty
Field Marshal Montgomery looked at the holographic map. The Drakken offensive had begun. The Holy Alliance forces in sector Kekk-09-00-498 was suffering heavy casualties trying to hold under the Drakken assault. The army at Bor’rock was had been encircled. Four million Terran soldiers, with supplies and vehicles was trapped and the Drakken forces were slowly squeezing them harder. In the past seven days, seven-hundred warships had been destroyed and two-hundred and sixty-five had been captured. Three-hundred and forty-thousand troops had been taken as POWs. The Alliance lines were crumbling beneath the force of the Drakken Empire. Right now four-thousand starships and ten million troops were participating in the Drakken offensive.
Meanwhile UCD squadrons of small starships were attacking Alliance supply liens in their territory and wreaking havoc behind enemy lines. Grand Admiral Kitchener had managed to gather two-hundred and eighteen capital starships plus four-hundred and seventy-four to a UCD offensive in the future. Right now they waited for the Drakken to succeed in annihilating further Alliance forces. The United Colonial Directorate had already suffered major losses in the war. Their manpower was recovering and ships were still being rebuilt. Their shipyards were working overtime to rebuild the UCD navy.
General Bailey Horn and Admiral Jake Hailey believed that this was the wars turning point. The Alliance wouldn’t win any longer. Not with the Drakken offensive. The Alliance was losing too many of their precious capital ships to turn the tide of war. Montgomery rubbed his forehead. This war was tiring business. The aging Field Marshal remembered he had to contact the Conclave and Chancellor Dan Borne about filling recruitment quotas. He was going to suggest introducing conscription to force young men and women into the military. Although UCD citizens enjoyed their freedom and would gravely protest the idea of forced conscription.
Until the Twin Moon Empire, the UCD citizens was in general less willing to die for the state. Same thing could be said for the Earth Protectorate, the Scavengers and the Terran Mining Consortium. The TME had manage to indoctrinate its people into a militaristic society where they gave their lives for the empire without question.
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