"Incoming projectiles. Relatively fast speeds, probably fired from rail guns. Strengthening shields at the broadside and north Western Hemisphere. Inbound fighters from the side, firing energy weapons. More going after the Patrol Boats. Activating CAS, FLaK, and AA missiles," Duke reported, flipping his fingers across the keyboard like a maniac. The rail gun projectiles hit, and either reflected off of the shields, or smashed themselves to bits on the shield wall. Either way, they made quite a bit of a mess for enemy missiles to get through.
The energy weapons were also absorbed by the first layer of shielding, creating immense kinetic energy each shot that was fired. The plasma and laser cannons dissipated upon contact, or exploded with energy, also. Quite the view, if one was morbid, really. Like fireworks.
The CAS, FLaK, AA missiles, and Missile defense systems were activated right away, and aimed at the enemy fighters and incoming missiles. The CAS miniguns spewed out shell after shell from their barrels, flying towards the enemy fighters like accurate demons of metal and explosives, which they probably were, to them. FLaK cannons fired, the barrels recoiling, then moving back into position. Their turrets were made of four guns, to maximize the weapons used.
The patrol boats were attacked almost instantly by small fighters, barely the same size, but still deadly. Some of the ships blew up in a fireball, while others smoked and died on the spot. Still, others fought on, blasting the air with shrapnel, CAS, and small missiles to take out the fighters, but with no fighter protection, it was like Focker Wolfs against a B-17. Very deadly.
"Devastator, rather interesting piece of weaponry has just been fired. Do not let the fighters out, I repeat, do not let any fighters out. Scans indicate that this weapon is an anti infantry weapon, designed to penetrate light shielding and kill the crew," Matt ordered, and clicked a button on his comms that addressed the entire ship, and fleet. "Strengthen shields immediately! Incoming missile!"
The missile hit, and exploded, spewing out the XRay lasers. Well, it didn't look like much. But those ships whose shields were weak suddenly began to drift silently, crew dead. This was something big, something deadly beyond comparison. This was a WMD war where anything was possible, and allowed. Around ten ships drifted through space with a dead crew, and 35 patrol boats were destroyed. "Dear god... Fire an ISBM! Fire it at the Valhalla! Quick!"
The alarms blared, and a large missile, undetectable by scanners, shot off into space, and disappeared into the Warp. It was following the Valhalla, and would explode as soon as it got near.
The energy weapons were also absorbed by the first layer of shielding, creating immense kinetic energy each shot that was fired. The plasma and laser cannons dissipated upon contact, or exploded with energy, also. Quite the view, if one was morbid, really. Like fireworks.
The CAS, FLaK, AA missiles, and Missile defense systems were activated right away, and aimed at the enemy fighters and incoming missiles. The CAS miniguns spewed out shell after shell from their barrels, flying towards the enemy fighters like accurate demons of metal and explosives, which they probably were, to them. FLaK cannons fired, the barrels recoiling, then moving back into position. Their turrets were made of four guns, to maximize the weapons used.
The patrol boats were attacked almost instantly by small fighters, barely the same size, but still deadly. Some of the ships blew up in a fireball, while others smoked and died on the spot. Still, others fought on, blasting the air with shrapnel, CAS, and small missiles to take out the fighters, but with no fighter protection, it was like Focker Wolfs against a B-17. Very deadly.
"Devastator, rather interesting piece of weaponry has just been fired. Do not let the fighters out, I repeat, do not let any fighters out. Scans indicate that this weapon is an anti infantry weapon, designed to penetrate light shielding and kill the crew," Matt ordered, and clicked a button on his comms that addressed the entire ship, and fleet. "Strengthen shields immediately! Incoming missile!"
The missile hit, and exploded, spewing out the XRay lasers. Well, it didn't look like much. But those ships whose shields were weak suddenly began to drift silently, crew dead. This was something big, something deadly beyond comparison. This was a WMD war where anything was possible, and allowed. Around ten ships drifted through space with a dead crew, and 35 patrol boats were destroyed. "Dear god... Fire an ISBM! Fire it at the Valhalla! Quick!"
The alarms blared, and a large missile, undetectable by scanners, shot off into space, and disappeared into the Warp. It was following the Valhalla, and would explode as soon as it got near.
Most of the craft attacking the HRA were the faster fighter-drones rather than the slightly slower manned fighters or the even slower bombers, by the time the first squadrons of manned fighters arrived to engage the HRA ships they were already recieving orders to withdraw immediately, since the Terelain fleet was preparing to jump to Aether-space.
Most of the manned fighters turned and headed back home quite quickly, with the drones covering their retreat. The losses from the HRA anti-fighter defences were relatively light amongst the manned craft, with six of the Type VII Claw Interceptors meeting their end in the withering fire, the drones had taken the brunt of the attacks and had come down to about eighty percent of their original numbers.
The small craft deactivated their weapons systems and shunted the power to their shields and engines to speed up their retreat. Once all of the fighters, bombers and drones had reached the safety of the carriers and capital ships the Terelain Fleet began retreating.
"All hands, prepare for Aether-space entry." Aelya warned the crew of her vessel, "Fleet, jump when ready." she then activated the long-range communications, "Tia'Ren's Light to fleet. We are withdrawing from Calypso System. Will send rendevous co-odrinates upon realspace re-entry." She paused and then said, "Dispatch word back home, accelerate re-activation of the fleet. Sending sensor data from HRA weaponry."
One by one the cruisers and destoyers jumped out of the system, followed by the two cariers and the dreadnought and then the flagship herself. As soon as they were safely in Aether-space, Aelya ceded control of the fleet back to the organic crew, "My apologies for the abrupt displacement of command, Lord Admiral. The situation devolved much more quickly than anticipated."
"You're following your orders, Aelya... your quick thinking probably saved our lives... I never would have thought of that trick with the Aetherc Crystals." The Terelain admiral sighed, "These HRA are more dangerous than we suspected. I think it is time we regrouped and called in the rest of the fleet. We need to coordinate with our Coalition allies. They're humans too, so perhaps they can give us some insight."
"Of course my lord. I will have a tactical assessment of the HRA weapinry and ships on your desk in a few minutes. Thyr is handling most of it." She said.
"Hm... I suppose it really was a good idea stationing your old comrade-in-arms here in his old place. You seem to work well together. Keep up the good work." Jikan said with a nod.
"Thank you, Lord Admiral. It's like the past twelve thousand years never even happened... except we're fighting naked apes with big guns, not canid-descendants." The AI's holographic avatar grinned, "They should be fun to blow up. The spectral patterns of the debris of their ships is much prettier than the Gillorians."
Most of the manned fighters turned and headed back home quite quickly, with the drones covering their retreat. The losses from the HRA anti-fighter defences were relatively light amongst the manned craft, with six of the Type VII Claw Interceptors meeting their end in the withering fire, the drones had taken the brunt of the attacks and had come down to about eighty percent of their original numbers.
The small craft deactivated their weapons systems and shunted the power to their shields and engines to speed up their retreat. Once all of the fighters, bombers and drones had reached the safety of the carriers and capital ships the Terelain Fleet began retreating.
"All hands, prepare for Aether-space entry." Aelya warned the crew of her vessel, "Fleet, jump when ready." she then activated the long-range communications, "Tia'Ren's Light to fleet. We are withdrawing from Calypso System. Will send rendevous co-odrinates upon realspace re-entry." She paused and then said, "Dispatch word back home, accelerate re-activation of the fleet. Sending sensor data from HRA weaponry."
One by one the cruisers and destoyers jumped out of the system, followed by the two cariers and the dreadnought and then the flagship herself. As soon as they were safely in Aether-space, Aelya ceded control of the fleet back to the organic crew, "My apologies for the abrupt displacement of command, Lord Admiral. The situation devolved much more quickly than anticipated."
"You're following your orders, Aelya... your quick thinking probably saved our lives... I never would have thought of that trick with the Aetherc Crystals." The Terelain admiral sighed, "These HRA are more dangerous than we suspected. I think it is time we regrouped and called in the rest of the fleet. We need to coordinate with our Coalition allies. They're humans too, so perhaps they can give us some insight."
"Of course my lord. I will have a tactical assessment of the HRA weapinry and ships on your desk in a few minutes. Thyr is handling most of it." She said.
"Hm... I suppose it really was a good idea stationing your old comrade-in-arms here in his old place. You seem to work well together. Keep up the good work." Jikan said with a nod.
"Thank you, Lord Admiral. It's like the past twelve thousand years never even happened... except we're fighting naked apes with big guns, not canid-descendants." The AI's holographic avatar grinned, "They should be fun to blow up. The spectral patterns of the debris of their ships is much prettier than the Gillorians."
Captain Nikoli concluded the senior officers' meeting and the officers left, leaving just him and Commander Liala.
"We took a few heavy punches," said Nikoli as he read the damage report more thoroughly. "Really are thankful that the Terelians took the brunt of the attack and we only got EMP'd."
"Unfortunate for the Ravios and George Washington though..." noted Liala.
"The bastards were aiming at us!" the Captain said, as he threw the datapad down on the table. "They are going straight for us Liala and they won't stop until we are dead."
"Of course not. We embarrassed them and they KNOW they were wrong in the first place. They are just trying to cover their asses now," responded the Commander.
"Yeah, well we need to use it to our advantage" said Nikoli. "But, I just don't wanna be the commander that's known for throwing ships in the front, to shield himself."
"That won't happen Captain. No one ordered the Ravios to sacrifice themselves and they did. Sometimes, I guess people really do believe in the greater cause, larger than themselves," Commander Liala stated.
Captain Nikoli nodded.
"Captain, we've a link established with the Sabre and Tia'Ren's Light," reported Communications Officer Ty, over the intracom. "Also we have some good news. Taskforce One of the 4th Fleet is actually en route to us at best possible speed. Rendezvous in the next 20 minutes."
That was good news, the Coalition ships would be a welcome addition to those they had now.
Nikoli turned toward the holotable and watched as the faces of Briten, Naiti, then Captain Linhider, and Overseer Tanner.
"Lord Admiral Jikan of Tia'Ren's Light, this is Captain Nikoli of the Valhalla. We have some things to discuss. I have with me here, Overseer Marcus Tanner, my Flotilla XO, Captain Jin Linhider, my ship XO and..."resident cybernetic" Commander Tonia Liala. My Chief Intelligence Officer Joshua Briten and Chief Tactical Officer De'nala Nai'ti are also joining us. If you may, can you join in on this conference. And bring who ever you deem necessary."
Captain Nikoli and the other waited patiently.
"We took a few heavy punches," said Nikoli as he read the damage report more thoroughly. "Really are thankful that the Terelians took the brunt of the attack and we only got EMP'd."
"Unfortunate for the Ravios and George Washington though..." noted Liala.
"The bastards were aiming at us!" the Captain said, as he threw the datapad down on the table. "They are going straight for us Liala and they won't stop until we are dead."
"Of course not. We embarrassed them and they KNOW they were wrong in the first place. They are just trying to cover their asses now," responded the Commander.
"Yeah, well we need to use it to our advantage" said Nikoli. "But, I just don't wanna be the commander that's known for throwing ships in the front, to shield himself."
"That won't happen Captain. No one ordered the Ravios to sacrifice themselves and they did. Sometimes, I guess people really do believe in the greater cause, larger than themselves," Commander Liala stated.
Captain Nikoli nodded.
"Captain, we've a link established with the Sabre and Tia'Ren's Light," reported Communications Officer Ty, over the intracom. "Also we have some good news. Taskforce One of the 4th Fleet is actually en route to us at best possible speed. Rendezvous in the next 20 minutes."
That was good news, the Coalition ships would be a welcome addition to those they had now.
Nikoli turned toward the holotable and watched as the faces of Briten, Naiti, then Captain Linhider, and Overseer Tanner.
"Lord Admiral Jikan of Tia'Ren's Light, this is Captain Nikoli of the Valhalla. We have some things to discuss. I have with me here, Overseer Marcus Tanner, my Flotilla XO, Captain Jin Linhider, my ship XO and..."resident cybernetic" Commander Tonia Liala. My Chief Intelligence Officer Joshua Briten and Chief Tactical Officer De'nala Nai'ti are also joining us. If you may, can you join in on this conference. And bring who ever you deem necessary."
Captain Nikoli and the other waited patiently.
"Lord Admiral Jikan of Tia'Ren's Light, this is Captain Nikoli of the Valhalla. We have some things to discuss. I have with me here, Overseer Marcus Tanner, my Flotilla XO, Captain Jin Linhider, my ship XO and..."resident cybernetic" Commander Tonia Liala. My Chief Intelligence Officer Joshua Briten and Chief Tactical Officer De'nala Nai'ti are also joining us. If you may, can you join in on this conference. And bring who ever you deem necessary."
The Lord Admiral nodded to himself, "I'll take this in my conference room... Aelya, Thyr, I'll want you with me. Patch this through to Captain Ivrun, he should be commanding the main fleet aboard the Tahvren"
"Aye sir." Aelya replied.
The Lord Admiral left the bidge and walked the short distance to the smaller conference room. There were comfortable chairs spaced around a circular table, he sat on one and the two hologaphic avatars of the Tactical and Strategic AIs flickered into existence flanking him, he pressed a sensor on the table and activated the holo-display. A moment later the faces of the Coalition people appeared before him, along with the face of the captain in charge of the Terelain reinforcements.
"Captain Nikoli, honoured others... this is Captain Ivrun in command of the Dragonholme class Hypercarrier Tahvren. He is in charge of the rest of my fleet that is presently inbound."
Captain Ivrun bowed his head in greeting, "I apologise for not being able to join in the fun back at Calypso. We're still a couple of minutes out, waiting for rendevous co-ordinates."
He then gestured to the two hologams flanking him, "These are Aelya, my Strategic Command Artificial Intelligence, formerely stationd aboard the Hand of Terel..."
"Captain Nikoli I am pleased to finally meet you under less... unfortunate circumstances." The AI said, she then glanced at Liala and smiled slightly, "And you must be the one who piloted the Valhalla. Mr Rilam, the Hand's helmsman wanted to shake your hand for that display, perhaps in more settled times we may talk."
"And finally this is Euthyra, the Tactical AI aboard this vessel." Jikan finished.
Euthyra bowed his head respectfully, "Honoured Allies." He said simply.
The Lord Admiral nodded to himself, "I'll take this in my conference room... Aelya, Thyr, I'll want you with me. Patch this through to Captain Ivrun, he should be commanding the main fleet aboard the Tahvren"
"Aye sir." Aelya replied.
The Lord Admiral left the bidge and walked the short distance to the smaller conference room. There were comfortable chairs spaced around a circular table, he sat on one and the two hologaphic avatars of the Tactical and Strategic AIs flickered into existence flanking him, he pressed a sensor on the table and activated the holo-display. A moment later the faces of the Coalition people appeared before him, along with the face of the captain in charge of the Terelain reinforcements.
"Captain Nikoli, honoured others... this is Captain Ivrun in command of the Dragonholme class Hypercarrier Tahvren. He is in charge of the rest of my fleet that is presently inbound."
Captain Ivrun bowed his head in greeting, "I apologise for not being able to join in the fun back at Calypso. We're still a couple of minutes out, waiting for rendevous co-ordinates."
He then gestured to the two hologams flanking him, "These are Aelya, my Strategic Command Artificial Intelligence, formerely stationd aboard the Hand of Terel..."
"Captain Nikoli I am pleased to finally meet you under less... unfortunate circumstances." The AI said, she then glanced at Liala and smiled slightly, "And you must be the one who piloted the Valhalla. Mr Rilam, the Hand's helmsman wanted to shake your hand for that display, perhaps in more settled times we may talk."
"And finally this is Euthyra, the Tactical AI aboard this vessel." Jikan finished.
Euthyra bowed his head respectfully, "Honoured Allies." He said simply.
Matt stared at the destruction the enemy had caused, and a silent, deadly anger burned deep inside him. He reached out with his mind, trying to find the Aether, and saw some sort of nanites moving towards the Psykers. Well, that would be interesting, if they didn't find them first. With one look, and not even, he could see millions of tiny explosions in space, like he had destroyed them all.
But now he had made up his mind. He sat back down in his chair. He had no allies in this war, just them. Like Germany against the tide of the Allies, he was alone. But he wasn't going to loose yet. A plan began to formulate inside his head, and one that would be the destruction of every single enemy that dared oppose them.
"Sir, they've scanned us before the jump. Seems that they have gotten our data of our weaponry and ship layouts," Duke said, a little worried. Matt smiled at him to reassure him. "You mean, that... Oh you're good, sir,"
In fact, what the enemy thought was data on the ship types and weaponry, was in fact nothing. If you looked at it without the computer of the Battleships and up, it would look like jumbled up, encrypted, coded, and messed up garbled nonsense. Which in fact, it was. But nonetheless, the enemy would have fun looking at this nothingness.
"Order a war conference, and get the fleets ready. This is war," Matt ordered, and got up to go to the conference room. It was a big room in the middle of the ship, surrounded by an invincible, and the most densest metal, in the world: Tyrrilium. Very rare, very expensive.
"Men, you all know why I've called you here today. At this table is seated the deadliest humans in the world, the strongest leaders we have, and all close friends. As I speak, the Forge Worlds of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, all the way to 10th fleet are being assembled, and lifting off their respective planets. The biggest, Forge World 1, has just made the jump to warp, along with the rest of the first fleet.
"We will be securing the next system close to Coalition's Capitol, and begin our attacks from there. We will be accompanied by the 2nd through 5th Fleets, along with their respective Armies. The 6th through 12th Fleets will be occupied on the Alien borders. Any questions?"
But now he had made up his mind. He sat back down in his chair. He had no allies in this war, just them. Like Germany against the tide of the Allies, he was alone. But he wasn't going to loose yet. A plan began to formulate inside his head, and one that would be the destruction of every single enemy that dared oppose them.
"Sir, they've scanned us before the jump. Seems that they have gotten our data of our weaponry and ship layouts," Duke said, a little worried. Matt smiled at him to reassure him. "You mean, that... Oh you're good, sir,"
In fact, what the enemy thought was data on the ship types and weaponry, was in fact nothing. If you looked at it without the computer of the Battleships and up, it would look like jumbled up, encrypted, coded, and messed up garbled nonsense. Which in fact, it was. But nonetheless, the enemy would have fun looking at this nothingness.
"Order a war conference, and get the fleets ready. This is war," Matt ordered, and got up to go to the conference room. It was a big room in the middle of the ship, surrounded by an invincible, and the most densest metal, in the world: Tyrrilium. Very rare, very expensive.
"Men, you all know why I've called you here today. At this table is seated the deadliest humans in the world, the strongest leaders we have, and all close friends. As I speak, the Forge Worlds of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, all the way to 10th fleet are being assembled, and lifting off their respective planets. The biggest, Forge World 1, has just made the jump to warp, along with the rest of the first fleet.
"We will be securing the next system close to Coalition's Capitol, and begin our attacks from there. We will be accompanied by the 2nd through 5th Fleets, along with their respective Armies. The 6th through 12th Fleets will be occupied on the Alien borders. Any questions?"
Commander Liala let out a laugh and smile mischievously at Aelya. "Well, things were a little hairy back then. Apologies for uh intruding on the ships systems and scaring you all. I try not to do that...too much..."
Captain Nikoli nodded and was about to start when Overseer Tanner cut in.
"Captain, I have necessary paperwork completed on the term, guidelines, and regulations of this Joint Operation with the Terelians. I think it best that we go over that now-"
"No," Nikoli simply said.
"Captain!"
"I said no Overseer," responded Nikoli. "Send it to them and let them read over it. You can put my signature on it, and we'll call it discussed."
Overseer Tanner's mouth twitched shut and merely glared at the Captain.
Nikoli turned his attention back at the Lord Admiral.
"Lord Admiral, first I must apologize for the haste of our actions, and not informing you of them accordingly. And, I would like to extend our thank you for the valiant defense that you put up in a stead. That said," he tapped a few keys, calling up a screen of ship depositions. "We are currently en route to meet up with a task force from one of our fleets which will be mobilized soon. From the reports, itll be of a sizable quality, with four other battleships, two battlecarriers, around two dozen cruisers, and a large assortment of destroyers and frigates. Also with them, will be a number of supply and support vessels with ammunition and repair facilities. That's the good news."
Captain Nikoli looked toward Intelligence Officer Briten and nodded.
"So that you are aware, while in the Calypso system, we initiated a set of actions, under CODE DOWNFALL, which saw to the ceding of the system. During that time, we set to analyze as much of the enemies tactics and force, while utilizing several probing and delaying tactics of our own. The first, was the destruction of the Outpost Station and the decoy evacuation craft. Data from that, gave us in sight, into their first strike doctrine, which appears to be an alarming use of EMP weaponry. Our own analysts question the efficiency of such weapons and the striking capabilities. After that, was the destruction of the sensor net relays and the release of a very large number of alien nanites. If the Captain is allowing, we can transmit some data to you concerning their...effects. We hope that by releasing them amongst the HRA forces, it would be enough to delay and distract them as we mount a counter offensive. Lastly, was the deployment of one of our new missiles, the xray bomb pumped lasers. We weren't able to get too much data on their effectiveness and can only extrapolate. Hopefully, you can tell us a bit, seeing as you made the jump a few minutes after. Nonetheless, we can conclude one thing: the HRA Empire is throwing a significant weight of its forces at the Valhalla."
"And hopefully we can use that to our advantage," Captain Nikoli said. "Thank you Briten. Any questions or statements thus far?"
Captain Nikoli nodded and was about to start when Overseer Tanner cut in.
"Captain, I have necessary paperwork completed on the term, guidelines, and regulations of this Joint Operation with the Terelians. I think it best that we go over that now-"
"No," Nikoli simply said.
"Captain!"
"I said no Overseer," responded Nikoli. "Send it to them and let them read over it. You can put my signature on it, and we'll call it discussed."
Overseer Tanner's mouth twitched shut and merely glared at the Captain.
Nikoli turned his attention back at the Lord Admiral.
"Lord Admiral, first I must apologize for the haste of our actions, and not informing you of them accordingly. And, I would like to extend our thank you for the valiant defense that you put up in a stead. That said," he tapped a few keys, calling up a screen of ship depositions. "We are currently en route to meet up with a task force from one of our fleets which will be mobilized soon. From the reports, itll be of a sizable quality, with four other battleships, two battlecarriers, around two dozen cruisers, and a large assortment of destroyers and frigates. Also with them, will be a number of supply and support vessels with ammunition and repair facilities. That's the good news."
Captain Nikoli looked toward Intelligence Officer Briten and nodded.
"So that you are aware, while in the Calypso system, we initiated a set of actions, under CODE DOWNFALL, which saw to the ceding of the system. During that time, we set to analyze as much of the enemies tactics and force, while utilizing several probing and delaying tactics of our own. The first, was the destruction of the Outpost Station and the decoy evacuation craft. Data from that, gave us in sight, into their first strike doctrine, which appears to be an alarming use of EMP weaponry. Our own analysts question the efficiency of such weapons and the striking capabilities. After that, was the destruction of the sensor net relays and the release of a very large number of alien nanites. If the Captain is allowing, we can transmit some data to you concerning their...effects. We hope that by releasing them amongst the HRA forces, it would be enough to delay and distract them as we mount a counter offensive. Lastly, was the deployment of one of our new missiles, the xray bomb pumped lasers. We weren't able to get too much data on their effectiveness and can only extrapolate. Hopefully, you can tell us a bit, seeing as you made the jump a few minutes after. Nonetheless, we can conclude one thing: the HRA Empire is throwing a significant weight of its forces at the Valhalla."
"And hopefully we can use that to our advantage," Captain Nikoli said. "Thank you Briten. Any questions or statements thus far?"
Lord Admiral Jikan contemplated what hd been said for a moment and then said, "Firstly, there is no need to apologise for a strategic necessity, and your thanks are appreciated." He sighed softly, "I just wih we didn't have to do this in the firstplace... but I suppose my people must pay the price of the mistakes of our Elders... and of the HRA leaders." He chuckled, "I should also thank you for forestalling Overseer Tanner. Whilst I acknowledge the importance of his task, and offer all due respect to such an important personage, at the moment our concern shouldbe military matters. The niceties of diplomacy can be hammered out later once we're sure we're not about to be attacked by the HRA again."
He then turned his head slightly tio look at the hologram of Captain Ivrun, "Captain, please alter the course of the fleet to rendevous with the Coalition forces in this region. Let the might of the Star Kingdom stand besides that of the Coalition Alliance."
"Of course, Lord Admiral." He said respectfully, he then turned to the Coalition members on his screen, "My taskforce comprises the Dragonholme class Hypercarrier Tahvren, the Pelenor class Battleships Asanth, Yrel and Tuthon, the Adriand class Battlecruisers Esena, Anhuin and Sovereign Realm." The Captain paused and tapped something out of view, "We've also got about fifty Anhuin Attack Cruisers, twenty five Gerena Escort Cruisers and a screen of destroyers, mostly Asenti Long Range Frigates and K'Tarka Light Destroyers."
"I have one question for you, Captain." The Lord Admiral said, "Why would the HRA be targetting the Valhalla specifically? You destroyed their carrier Yorktown on Calypso, but we ourselves destroyed the Battle Barge Bismarck." He then smiled slightly, "Actually, one more question... any other surrises I shoul be aware of like the one you pulled back there? I don't mind it happening once or twice, but I really wouldn't want to end up taking the full brunt on every attack. We might have the ships for it, but every death amongst my people is... well, quite distressing. I have to have a group of men and women prepared to sing the elegiac songs round the clock until we can get word sent back to Aerin so that proper memorials can take place... in war we must abandon some of our traditions but... the songs are too deeply ingrained and far too important to simply ignore."
He then turned his head slightly tio look at the hologram of Captain Ivrun, "Captain, please alter the course of the fleet to rendevous with the Coalition forces in this region. Let the might of the Star Kingdom stand besides that of the Coalition Alliance."
"Of course, Lord Admiral." He said respectfully, he then turned to the Coalition members on his screen, "My taskforce comprises the Dragonholme class Hypercarrier Tahvren, the Pelenor class Battleships Asanth, Yrel and Tuthon, the Adriand class Battlecruisers Esena, Anhuin and Sovereign Realm." The Captain paused and tapped something out of view, "We've also got about fifty Anhuin Attack Cruisers, twenty five Gerena Escort Cruisers and a screen of destroyers, mostly Asenti Long Range Frigates and K'Tarka Light Destroyers."
"I have one question for you, Captain." The Lord Admiral said, "Why would the HRA be targetting the Valhalla specifically? You destroyed their carrier Yorktown on Calypso, but we ourselves destroyed the Battle Barge Bismarck." He then smiled slightly, "Actually, one more question... any other surrises I shoul be aware of like the one you pulled back there? I don't mind it happening once or twice, but I really wouldn't want to end up taking the full brunt on every attack. We might have the ships for it, but every death amongst my people is... well, quite distressing. I have to have a group of men and women prepared to sing the elegiac songs round the clock until we can get word sent back to Aerin so that proper memorials can take place... in war we must abandon some of our traditions but... the songs are too deeply ingrained and far too important to simply ignore."
Overseer Tanner was about to make a quip, but merely tightened his lips shut, nostrils flaring.
Captain Nikoli paid him little mind, as he reviewed the forces their new allies had mustered.
"That is quite a sizable and seemingly formidable force, Lord Admiral. Hopefully, it should be enough to hold until we can get some additional Fleet firepower."
He tapped away for force deposition and pondered the Lord Admiral's questions.
"Damn I wish Cigol was here," he murmured to himself, as he rapped his knuckles on the table.
"I'm the next best thing Captain," Liala said having heard him, before taking up the speculation herself. "Its probable they are targeting the Valhalla for a number of reason. One, they must be under the assumption we "opened the first shots" in this war. Two, we took out a large carrier craft of theirs, which didn't put up or have much time to mount a defense and get off the ground. I am sure you can follow from there. Three, seeing as Aelya was on the Hand, she should have shown you the recording of our former Commander Cigol, dueling with one of their highest ranking officers, Field Marshall Ascrith Taranis. And lastly, the Valhalla, along with her Captain survived. With all the above, they feel like declarative asses, having been punched in the face, by some backwater primitive humans."
"Watch your Commander!" glared Overseer Tanner.
"Liala..." Captain Nikoli said. "Let's keep the candidness to a minimum in front of the dear Overseer."
"It's my job, to share the opinions that everyone's thinking Captain," she responded.
"I agree with her on that," chimed in Captain Linhider. "I saw the footage and the data myself. The bastards are embarrassed. And they will try and try to make sure they smite the Valhalla, before turning their attention to the Terelians or our other ships."
"But of course, that's merely condensed speculation Lord Admiral. I am sure Intelligence Officer Briten, can have a more thorough report sent to your people," stated Captain Nikoli. "As for any other surprises? I'm out at the moment."
"Lies and deception," Liala said with her devilish grin. "What the Captain meant to say Lord Admiral, i that, he never knows a trick until he needs it."
"Pfft, the devil's a lie on that," Captain Linhider chimed in. "By the way you look over the data, you would think you had everything planned weeks in advance."
"Ah the miracle on being on a ship named after a place for fallen warriors," sighed Captain Nikoli. "In any event Lord Admiral. I will be sure to notify, if I have a card up my sleeve. Anything else to note or discuss?"
Captain Nikoli paid him little mind, as he reviewed the forces their new allies had mustered.
"That is quite a sizable and seemingly formidable force, Lord Admiral. Hopefully, it should be enough to hold until we can get some additional Fleet firepower."
He tapped away for force deposition and pondered the Lord Admiral's questions.
"Damn I wish Cigol was here," he murmured to himself, as he rapped his knuckles on the table.
"I'm the next best thing Captain," Liala said having heard him, before taking up the speculation herself. "Its probable they are targeting the Valhalla for a number of reason. One, they must be under the assumption we "opened the first shots" in this war. Two, we took out a large carrier craft of theirs, which didn't put up or have much time to mount a defense and get off the ground. I am sure you can follow from there. Three, seeing as Aelya was on the Hand, she should have shown you the recording of our former Commander Cigol, dueling with one of their highest ranking officers, Field Marshall Ascrith Taranis. And lastly, the Valhalla, along with her Captain survived. With all the above, they feel like declarative asses, having been punched in the face, by some backwater primitive humans."
"Watch your Commander!" glared Overseer Tanner.
"Liala..." Captain Nikoli said. "Let's keep the candidness to a minimum in front of the dear Overseer."
"It's my job, to share the opinions that everyone's thinking Captain," she responded.
"I agree with her on that," chimed in Captain Linhider. "I saw the footage and the data myself. The bastards are embarrassed. And they will try and try to make sure they smite the Valhalla, before turning their attention to the Terelians or our other ships."
"But of course, that's merely condensed speculation Lord Admiral. I am sure Intelligence Officer Briten, can have a more thorough report sent to your people," stated Captain Nikoli. "As for any other surprises? I'm out at the moment."
"Lies and deception," Liala said with her devilish grin. "What the Captain meant to say Lord Admiral, i that, he never knows a trick until he needs it."
"Pfft, the devil's a lie on that," Captain Linhider chimed in. "By the way you look over the data, you would think you had everything planned weeks in advance."
"Ah the miracle on being on a ship named after a place for fallen warriors," sighed Captain Nikoli. "In any event Lord Admiral. I will be sure to notify, if I have a card up my sleeve. Anything else to note or discuss?"
"As you all know, the enemy has survived all of our first attacks. However, it is my personal pleasure to announce our newest weapon. The ICBM. This missile can destroy entire suns, and is big enough to travel through FTL. We have sent this one after the Valhalla, as you can see here. It's locked on, and shouldn't take too long. But about our torpedoes, gentlemen, I bring you the chief scientific officer, Vladimir," Matt said, and sat back down in his chair. Vladimir got up, nodded, and looked around. Perfect.
"Thank you, Emperor. It has come to my attention that the torpedo is actually under powered. During the battle, it didn't even sink a single ship. However, I have come up with several designs that will hopefully please. This first one here is the exact same torpedo, but with a shielding around it. Warp, and Void shields. It should protect against Chaff and FLaK. This one here has shielding, and a set of bomblettes that when activated, bombard the enemy with multiple different weapons. Any questions?" Vladimir asked, and sat back down. No questions. Good, now they could get to work on the deadliest weapon yet. But that XRay... It was harsh.
"Sirs, we're coming out of FTL. Approaching nearest enemy position. Another Coalition system," Duke said, and waited for Matt to get up. Matt and Chuck both got up, and followed Duke to the bridge, where they sat in their seats, and watched the screen. They moved forward, and came out of Warp far from the enemy, so they could get their ships ready.
"Okay. U Boats ready up! Go!"
The U Boats jumped out of FTL around the enemy, picking ships, and firing the newest Torpedoes into them. They fired off missiles at the stations, and fired their orbital bombardment batteries at the planets, before jumping back into the Warp. This continued, waiting for the Fleet to get there.
"Thank you, Emperor. It has come to my attention that the torpedo is actually under powered. During the battle, it didn't even sink a single ship. However, I have come up with several designs that will hopefully please. This first one here is the exact same torpedo, but with a shielding around it. Warp, and Void shields. It should protect against Chaff and FLaK. This one here has shielding, and a set of bomblettes that when activated, bombard the enemy with multiple different weapons. Any questions?" Vladimir asked, and sat back down. No questions. Good, now they could get to work on the deadliest weapon yet. But that XRay... It was harsh.
"Sirs, we're coming out of FTL. Approaching nearest enemy position. Another Coalition system," Duke said, and waited for Matt to get up. Matt and Chuck both got up, and followed Duke to the bridge, where they sat in their seats, and watched the screen. They moved forward, and came out of Warp far from the enemy, so they could get their ships ready.
"Okay. U Boats ready up! Go!"
The U Boats jumped out of FTL around the enemy, picking ships, and firing the newest Torpedoes into them. They fired off missiles at the stations, and fired their orbital bombardment batteries at the planets, before jumping back into the Warp. This continued, waiting for the Fleet to get there.
The Lord Admiral nodded, a smile on his face, "In that case, it might be interesting if we used the Valhalla as bait. If they're going after you speciically we could lure them into an ambush..." He seemed to consider the idea for a moment, "What do you suppose their reaction would be if my fleet jumped out on top of them in the middle of askirmish with your forces... say from behind and above them and trapped them between us?"
"In all likelyhood they would attempt to utilise their EMP and mustard gas weaponry." Aelya chimed in, "The EM radiation isn't much of a problem, and mustard gas really isn't all that effective." She chuckled, "Someone ought to tell them that we developed countermeasures against cellular degredation centuries ago."
"Still, we don't want to let them board our ships. The mustard gas, the flamethrowers... it's nasty." Thyr said, "Even the Gillorians weren't quite so brutal... they just blew the ship up and let us die of explosive decompression."
"Let's not start drawing comparisons between these humans and the Gillorians. If people start doing that, then it'll send a wave of panic back home... we do not want the King to be pressured into anything rash. We're not aiming for total civilisational collapse in this instance." Jikan said, "Just to bloody their noses a bit, send them a message. I do not want to be committed to a long-term conflict. A century or two of fighting should be enough to get these HRA to back off." He shook his head and then turned to the Coalition commanders, "In any case, warning of your tricks would be appreciated in the future. It makes planning our strategies much easier when you don't have to worry about your allies suddenly bathing the region in radiation, explosions and nanites and running away."
"At present, I have a basic extrapolation of HRA strategy. I assume that they will attempt to locate the Coalition Alliance capital system, I calculates a 72% chance of 'Exterminatus' being unleashed upon your principal world, and possible 'Exterminatus' on the principal worlds of Coalition member species. Occupation of secondary colonies and population centres likely." Aelya said, "Once the Coalition is defeated, they will turn upon us. Though I calculate a 53% chance they will attempt to initiate a two-front war and attempt to locate and attack Terelain territory. If that is the case then we shall have no choice but to.. escalate the conflict."
Jikan nodded, "At this time, my government does not wish to commit any significant force until we can determine the strength of the HRA military, their intentions and the danger they may pose to Terelain sovereignty. As our allies, we feel obligated to defend you teritory against HRA incursion, and if it is judged likely that the Coalition Alliance will suffer defeat or heavy losses, then my government is willing to commit more foces to the defence of your systems. The taskforce dispatched here is only a small fraction of the Grand Fleet. My mission is to aid in the defence of Coalition assets and gather intelligence on HRA military ships and strategy."
"In all likelyhood they would attempt to utilise their EMP and mustard gas weaponry." Aelya chimed in, "The EM radiation isn't much of a problem, and mustard gas really isn't all that effective." She chuckled, "Someone ought to tell them that we developed countermeasures against cellular degredation centuries ago."
"Still, we don't want to let them board our ships. The mustard gas, the flamethrowers... it's nasty." Thyr said, "Even the Gillorians weren't quite so brutal... they just blew the ship up and let us die of explosive decompression."
"Let's not start drawing comparisons between these humans and the Gillorians. If people start doing that, then it'll send a wave of panic back home... we do not want the King to be pressured into anything rash. We're not aiming for total civilisational collapse in this instance." Jikan said, "Just to bloody their noses a bit, send them a message. I do not want to be committed to a long-term conflict. A century or two of fighting should be enough to get these HRA to back off." He shook his head and then turned to the Coalition commanders, "In any case, warning of your tricks would be appreciated in the future. It makes planning our strategies much easier when you don't have to worry about your allies suddenly bathing the region in radiation, explosions and nanites and running away."
"At present, I have a basic extrapolation of HRA strategy. I assume that they will attempt to locate the Coalition Alliance capital system, I calculates a 72% chance of 'Exterminatus' being unleashed upon your principal world, and possible 'Exterminatus' on the principal worlds of Coalition member species. Occupation of secondary colonies and population centres likely." Aelya said, "Once the Coalition is defeated, they will turn upon us. Though I calculate a 53% chance they will attempt to initiate a two-front war and attempt to locate and attack Terelain territory. If that is the case then we shall have no choice but to.. escalate the conflict."
Jikan nodded, "At this time, my government does not wish to commit any significant force until we can determine the strength of the HRA military, their intentions and the danger they may pose to Terelain sovereignty. As our allies, we feel obligated to defend you teritory against HRA incursion, and if it is judged likely that the Coalition Alliance will suffer defeat or heavy losses, then my government is willing to commit more foces to the defence of your systems. The taskforce dispatched here is only a small fraction of the Grand Fleet. My mission is to aid in the defence of Coalition assets and gather intelligence on HRA military ships and strategy."
"Hmmm," Captain Nikoli thought about the scenario, playing different variations in his hand.
Everyone else seemed to be doing similar, as the room was quiet momentarily. Intelligence Officer Briten was busy looking away from, his face frowned in curiosity, from readings he was picking up on the scanners. Captain Linhider was lost in her own, when a thought hit her.
"Captain Nikoli," she said, as she perched her hand toward the Captain. "Didn't you mention in your report, that you delayed all attempts at a short-range battle with the Bismarck, because of the greater intensity of firepower they had on that field?"
Nikoli nodded, "Yes. We keep to missile range and periodically closed in, to increase particle beam effectiveness. The only time we went in close range was when..."
Captain Nikoli stopped, the idea hitting him. Linhider gave a cute little smirk, and Commander Liala shook her head as she realized what she was alluding too.
"You're not the only one can pull a few tricks out of a bag," she said. "May I Sir?"
"With pleasure," gestured Nikoli.
"Sorry to keep you waiting for the punchline, Lord Admiral," Linhider started. "We're going to take you up on your plan, but modify it a bit. You are all obviously aware of Commander Liala's piloting and how she was able to inflict heavy damage on the Battle Barge, though at the heavy damage of the Valhalla herself."
"It was rather reckless Captain," quipped Overseer Tanner. "And That kinda of recklessness shouldn't be allowed to transpire in a dire military situation."
Linhider nodded, "I am glad you acknowledge this as a dire military situation Overseer, but its "surprises" like that are probably what we're going to need to beat the HRA down and make them pay fr what they've done. In essence controlled unpredictability."
"That's crazy! You can't control what's unpredictable!" scold the Overseer.
"We can and we will," Linhider said before turning back to the Lord Admiral. "I recommend, we jump BOTH of our forces into the middle of their forces, and we hug their capital ships close, making it hard for their commands to attack without fear of hitting their own ships. Then our ships, form up into a layered sphere and dish out firepower."
"Breaking them from the inside...," wondered Liala. "It sounds good in theory, but the problem is, it leaves us surrounded. If we reverse that and have us form a sphere around them, we spread out our effective defensive and offensive envelope, and they could possible focus on one point to break out."
"We can always use our frigates," added Linhider. "They are smaller, more agile, have stealth capabilities, and could probably catch their capital ships when they drop out of FTL."
"Eghhh, that'll be a suicide mission though," responded Nikoli. "Even in squadrons, they may not survive the combined defensive fire."
There was nothing else said from his people and Nikoli shrugged.
"In any event, Lord Admiral, we should work more to draw up the dynamics on that. As far as their EMP and mustard gas. We can handle the EMP weaponry, Liala and my Chief Engineer has put in a few contingencies to counter those. Not 100% effectively, but enough to where we aren't dead in the water. The issue though, is our smaller craft may not be able to have those same counters, regardless of standard military hardening techniques, etc. The mustard gas can be a problem, but we'll tackle that as we go along."
Captain Nikoli shrugged, but soon his face stiffened.
"I have no doubt, those yellow cowards will gleefully launch their "Exterminatus" on the capital planet, if they can find it. They did so willingly to a colony for god sakes!"
Captain Nikoli was fuming now and hid blood boiled at the callousness at which the enemy acted.
"I have no doubt. We have time, but not much of it. The Coalition is small, and not spread out amongst the stars, to be easily traceable, but if they can't find us, the ship, me, they will expend their forces trying to find the planets of the Coalition. I can not allow that."
"Nor will I Captain," stated the Overseer. "If it comes that, things are..."more dire than estimated," I am ordered to commence with contingencies of my own based on the situation."
"And you're not going to tell us are you..." mocked Liala.
"You are right Commander. And I should warn you not to try and hack into my personal data files for the information, lest you wish to endure the consequences," he said, icily.
"So be it," Nikoli said, ending that discussion. "In any event Lord Admiral, we must stop the HRA from going any further in their pursuit to redeem themselves from the stupidity they committed. The existence of humanity is at stake. We are facing probable extinction."
Everyone else seemed to be doing similar, as the room was quiet momentarily. Intelligence Officer Briten was busy looking away from, his face frowned in curiosity, from readings he was picking up on the scanners. Captain Linhider was lost in her own, when a thought hit her.
"Captain Nikoli," she said, as she perched her hand toward the Captain. "Didn't you mention in your report, that you delayed all attempts at a short-range battle with the Bismarck, because of the greater intensity of firepower they had on that field?"
Nikoli nodded, "Yes. We keep to missile range and periodically closed in, to increase particle beam effectiveness. The only time we went in close range was when..."
Captain Nikoli stopped, the idea hitting him. Linhider gave a cute little smirk, and Commander Liala shook her head as she realized what she was alluding too.
"You're not the only one can pull a few tricks out of a bag," she said. "May I Sir?"
"With pleasure," gestured Nikoli.
"Sorry to keep you waiting for the punchline, Lord Admiral," Linhider started. "We're going to take you up on your plan, but modify it a bit. You are all obviously aware of Commander Liala's piloting and how she was able to inflict heavy damage on the Battle Barge, though at the heavy damage of the Valhalla herself."
"It was rather reckless Captain," quipped Overseer Tanner. "And That kinda of recklessness shouldn't be allowed to transpire in a dire military situation."
Linhider nodded, "I am glad you acknowledge this as a dire military situation Overseer, but its "surprises" like that are probably what we're going to need to beat the HRA down and make them pay fr what they've done. In essence controlled unpredictability."
"That's crazy! You can't control what's unpredictable!" scold the Overseer.
"We can and we will," Linhider said before turning back to the Lord Admiral. "I recommend, we jump BOTH of our forces into the middle of their forces, and we hug their capital ships close, making it hard for their commands to attack without fear of hitting their own ships. Then our ships, form up into a layered sphere and dish out firepower."
"Breaking them from the inside...," wondered Liala. "It sounds good in theory, but the problem is, it leaves us surrounded. If we reverse that and have us form a sphere around them, we spread out our effective defensive and offensive envelope, and they could possible focus on one point to break out."
"We can always use our frigates," added Linhider. "They are smaller, more agile, have stealth capabilities, and could probably catch their capital ships when they drop out of FTL."
"Eghhh, that'll be a suicide mission though," responded Nikoli. "Even in squadrons, they may not survive the combined defensive fire."
There was nothing else said from his people and Nikoli shrugged.
"In any event, Lord Admiral, we should work more to draw up the dynamics on that. As far as their EMP and mustard gas. We can handle the EMP weaponry, Liala and my Chief Engineer has put in a few contingencies to counter those. Not 100% effectively, but enough to where we aren't dead in the water. The issue though, is our smaller craft may not be able to have those same counters, regardless of standard military hardening techniques, etc. The mustard gas can be a problem, but we'll tackle that as we go along."
Captain Nikoli shrugged, but soon his face stiffened.
"I have no doubt, those yellow cowards will gleefully launch their "Exterminatus" on the capital planet, if they can find it. They did so willingly to a colony for god sakes!"
Captain Nikoli was fuming now and hid blood boiled at the callousness at which the enemy acted.
"I have no doubt. We have time, but not much of it. The Coalition is small, and not spread out amongst the stars, to be easily traceable, but if they can't find us, the ship, me, they will expend their forces trying to find the planets of the Coalition. I can not allow that."
"Nor will I Captain," stated the Overseer. "If it comes that, things are..."more dire than estimated," I am ordered to commence with contingencies of my own based on the situation."
"And you're not going to tell us are you..." mocked Liala.
"You are right Commander. And I should warn you not to try and hack into my personal data files for the information, lest you wish to endure the consequences," he said, icily.
"So be it," Nikoli said, ending that discussion. "In any event Lord Admiral, we must stop the HRA from going any further in their pursuit to redeem themselves from the stupidity they committed. The existence of humanity is at stake. We are facing probable extinction."
"Sir, first planetary body within range. Should I launch the men? It seems to be just a simple scouting party, or a colony. Not too many people defending it there," Duke asked, looking smug with himself. This battle would be a very interesting one. The Forge World would come in, and destroy every last piece of resistance against them.
"Send the Forge World in. Destroy every enemy ship, capture every piece of data you can, and launch the ground troops. I want a Center for Disease Control set up on a habitable moon, and I want at least one fortress under construction within the next month, is that clear?" Matt asked, and looked around. Nods from everyone. Good enough.
Out of the blue, he could tell in the FTL that the U-Boats retreated back to their FTL space, and behind the main fleet. A smile crossed Matts lips as he knew what was going to happen next. A massive disturbance in the surrounding space time continuum registered on the sensors, and a massive ship popped out of nowhere. It was the Forge World. Composed of an entire factory world, a few battle barges, and Assimilated cultures and weapons. It was deadly.
"No funny business. Only Mustard Gas and EMP. NO EXTERMINATUS. Do you hear?"
"Send the Forge World in. Destroy every enemy ship, capture every piece of data you can, and launch the ground troops. I want a Center for Disease Control set up on a habitable moon, and I want at least one fortress under construction within the next month, is that clear?" Matt asked, and looked around. Nods from everyone. Good enough.
Out of the blue, he could tell in the FTL that the U-Boats retreated back to their FTL space, and behind the main fleet. A smile crossed Matts lips as he knew what was going to happen next. A massive disturbance in the surrounding space time continuum registered on the sensors, and a massive ship popped out of nowhere. It was the Forge World. Composed of an entire factory world, a few battle barges, and Assimilated cultures and weapons. It was deadly.
"No funny business. Only Mustard Gas and EMP. NO EXTERMINATUS. Do you hear?"
Jikan watched them all quietly for a moment and sighed, "I'm afraid I won't be able to authorise any suicide missions. The birth rate amongst my people is one of the lowest in the Known Galaxy. Terelain pregnancies last for an entire Aerain year; 413 days of 27 hours, and Terelains do not reach full physical maturity for fifty of those years and they aren't considered complete adults until their first century." He shook his head, "If I start authorising tactics that I know will cost me dozens of ships, hundreds if not thousands of lives on my own side..." The Lord Admiral sighed again, "Losses like that over any extended period of time are quite frankly unacceptable. I'd lose my head over it."
"As for the extinction of Humanity... there are certain precedents." Aelya said, "In theory the same duties and obligations that compelled Elder Amaar and Elder Tynian in trying to prevent this war, which ironically ended up causing this war, would also compel us to provide sanctuary to you. The destruction of an entire species is a... regrettable thing." The AI's hologram smiled, a little bitterly, "I can attest to that myself. Should the HRA begin genocidal actions upon Humanity, or the other races of the Coalition Alliance, my government will have no choice but to offer your peoples sanctuary on Terelain colony worlds. Our population is spread thinly across the colonies, and it wouldn't be too much trouble to move the civilian populace from a couple of our planets so that your species could be re-housed in safety away from the HRA."
"Of course, such an action would by default make Humanity, or any other species joining you, a 'Client Species' of the Terelain Star Kingdom. This means that we will be obligated to provide any and all military, political, economic and technological assistance to you, possibly including the eventual secession of Terelain systems to your authority, to aid in the re-establishment of your interstellar civilisation status." Euthyra said, "Client Species also have certain obligations, but those are quite light. With the much faster birth-rate of Humans, I would assume that your race would be asked to provide aid with labour-intensive operations, such as crewing starships."
"Client Status would be revoked as soon as your species is deemed capable of re-establishing themselves on an interstellar scale. I would project such recovery to be of at most three centuries, probably much quicker." Aelya said, "The last Client Species the Terelains had, the Isthenir, were a reptilian race that evolved on the homeworld. We... went our separate ways after the Second Great War."
"Of course, such an option is a last resort. The Kingdom is not in any way interested in expanding her borders, nor our we particularly interested in usurping the sovereign rights of independent spacefaring species. We've had some rather bitter experiences with Client Races. The Gillorians also evolved on our homeworld and were our Clients for a great deal of their history... and eventually there came the Second Great War and much sorrow. We have learned from the mistakes of the past, however. Our treatment of the Gillorians was rather heavy-handed, stemming from millennia of mutual distrust and lingering pains from old wars." Jikan said, "But such matters are for other days, darker days I hope shall never come to pass. For now, let us concentrate on the matter at hand. By now I assume the HRA will already be making attempts to locate and seize Coalition Alliance colonies to establish a beachhead in your territory. We will have to locate their avenues of attack and reinforcement and close them down."
"As for the extinction of Humanity... there are certain precedents." Aelya said, "In theory the same duties and obligations that compelled Elder Amaar and Elder Tynian in trying to prevent this war, which ironically ended up causing this war, would also compel us to provide sanctuary to you. The destruction of an entire species is a... regrettable thing." The AI's hologram smiled, a little bitterly, "I can attest to that myself. Should the HRA begin genocidal actions upon Humanity, or the other races of the Coalition Alliance, my government will have no choice but to offer your peoples sanctuary on Terelain colony worlds. Our population is spread thinly across the colonies, and it wouldn't be too much trouble to move the civilian populace from a couple of our planets so that your species could be re-housed in safety away from the HRA."
"Of course, such an action would by default make Humanity, or any other species joining you, a 'Client Species' of the Terelain Star Kingdom. This means that we will be obligated to provide any and all military, political, economic and technological assistance to you, possibly including the eventual secession of Terelain systems to your authority, to aid in the re-establishment of your interstellar civilisation status." Euthyra said, "Client Species also have certain obligations, but those are quite light. With the much faster birth-rate of Humans, I would assume that your race would be asked to provide aid with labour-intensive operations, such as crewing starships."
"Client Status would be revoked as soon as your species is deemed capable of re-establishing themselves on an interstellar scale. I would project such recovery to be of at most three centuries, probably much quicker." Aelya said, "The last Client Species the Terelains had, the Isthenir, were a reptilian race that evolved on the homeworld. We... went our separate ways after the Second Great War."
"Of course, such an option is a last resort. The Kingdom is not in any way interested in expanding her borders, nor our we particularly interested in usurping the sovereign rights of independent spacefaring species. We've had some rather bitter experiences with Client Races. The Gillorians also evolved on our homeworld and were our Clients for a great deal of their history... and eventually there came the Second Great War and much sorrow. We have learned from the mistakes of the past, however. Our treatment of the Gillorians was rather heavy-handed, stemming from millennia of mutual distrust and lingering pains from old wars." Jikan said, "But such matters are for other days, darker days I hope shall never come to pass. For now, let us concentrate on the matter at hand. By now I assume the HRA will already be making attempts to locate and seize Coalition Alliance colonies to establish a beachhead in your territory. We will have to locate their avenues of attack and reinforcement and close them down."
"That sounds quite convenient Lord Admiral. Grace us with your protection and perhaps some of your "magical technology" and all we, low brow, barbarians have to do, is breed like rabbits, build your ships and take the brunt of the war," Overseer Tanner snide. "But, obviously you people wouldn't dare dream to place us in such...indentured servitude would you?"
"That is enough!"
This time it was Captain Linhider who spoke, her holographic head, staring off toward Overseer Marcus Tanner.
"We won't get anywhere with you constantly insulting the only allies that could help win us this war!" she exclaimed.
"Well if you haven't noticed," Tanner started. "It's been our allies who seen to dragging us into wars, and taking the most causalities."
"We are not having this debate, when we should be concerned about the immediate tactical considerations at hand," chimed in Nikoli, already annoyed. "The Terelians are our allies at the moment, and that's final."
"I will concede to your military authority Captain...for the moment," Overseer Tanner threatened.
No one else said a word and Captain Nikoli adverted his eyes back to the Lord Admiral.
"As I said, most of our colonized space is small, say a 30-40 light year diameter," Nikoli explained.
From there, there is a large buffer zone, say 20 light years or so, and then there are a number of Frontier colonies spread around. If they are going for our capital, we can easily track them. From Calyspo, are only three other colonial places, very small industrial start ups. Liala, has tracked their initial trajectory from when they entered Calypso and extrapolated that they would go for-"
Alarms began to ring, and Intelligence Officer Briten, cut the Captain off.
"Subspace disturbance detected! It's right on us Captain!"
"Evasive actions," Captain Nikoli yelled!
With that, the ICBM launched by the HRA jumped into the subspace corridor and smashed into the Valhalla.
"That is enough!"
This time it was Captain Linhider who spoke, her holographic head, staring off toward Overseer Marcus Tanner.
"We won't get anywhere with you constantly insulting the only allies that could help win us this war!" she exclaimed.
"Well if you haven't noticed," Tanner started. "It's been our allies who seen to dragging us into wars, and taking the most causalities."
"We are not having this debate, when we should be concerned about the immediate tactical considerations at hand," chimed in Nikoli, already annoyed. "The Terelians are our allies at the moment, and that's final."
"I will concede to your military authority Captain...for the moment," Overseer Tanner threatened.
No one else said a word and Captain Nikoli adverted his eyes back to the Lord Admiral.
"As I said, most of our colonized space is small, say a 30-40 light year diameter," Nikoli explained.
From there, there is a large buffer zone, say 20 light years or so, and then there are a number of Frontier colonies spread around. If they are going for our capital, we can easily track them. From Calyspo, are only three other colonial places, very small industrial start ups. Liala, has tracked their initial trajectory from when they entered Calypso and extrapolated that they would go for-"
Alarms began to ring, and Intelligence Officer Briten, cut the Captain off.
"Subspace disturbance detected! It's right on us Captain!"
"Evasive actions," Captain Nikoli yelled!
With that, the ICBM launched by the HRA jumped into the subspace corridor and smashed into the Valhalla.
Jikan's face darkened at the Overseer's words, he was going to retort, when the warnings began sounding and the Valhalla's signal cut out. Jikan stared at the empty space above the table for a moment and then swore, "Toren's teeth! What happened?"
"Sensors indicate disturbances in subspace indicative of a... destroyer-class vessel? Perhaps a cruiser. There's interference... I can't pick up the Valhalla." Aelya reported, "Thyr, analysis?"
"Possibly an FTL weapon." He said after a moment, "High-yield. I project a 50% chance that the Valhalla has just been destroyed. I can't give a proper estimate until I know what the weapon is."
"Missile? The HRA seem to just love missiles." Aelya said.
"Hm... FTL missile, anti-matter or fusion warhead... possibly just nuclear, I've seen no indication of AM or fusion technologies thus far." Thyr said, "Primitive, but effective."
"Defences?" Jikan asked.
"Difficult. The weapon would have to travel very fast to catch up with a vessel in FTL. That's cut down warning time to... well, not very much. Standard anti-missile defences won't work in the Aether, the laws of physics are just too different." Euthyra said, "I'll work on it." He glanced at Aelya, "Link systems?"
"Hmhm... I suppose we'll have to." She said a little hesitantly, "Want to conference any others into this?"
"No, I know you best, we work well together. Let's not get swamped with too much foreign data." He said, "We'll have a preliminary analysis of what weapons-systems we think the HRA are capable of launching into FTL, their effectiveness and potential countermeasures." Thyr said.
"Get on it." Jikan ordered, he then turned to the hologram of Captain Ivrun, "Link up with the Coalition Alliance fleet, all possible speed. Standard defensive tactics, keep the engines ticking over. We might need to retreat at a moment's notice."
"Aye sir." Ivrun said, disconnecting to relay the orders.
Jikan sat there a moment and then tapped a sensor on the table, "Link me to Aerin, high-encryption, and scatter through... Iluvra Pattern, make sure they can't trace this back home."
"Link established." Aelya said distractedly.
"Priority one channel, Heartlands Sector, Aera System, Aerin, Terel'Liren, Oberoth... Palace." Jikan said.
A miniature full-body hologram of what looked to be a short, thin Terelain male dressed in ceremonial robes appeared on the table, "Jikan?" He asked, slightly startled, "What's wrong?"
"My Lord Chamberlain." Jikan said with a respectful nod, "I need to see Aelrend. Now."
"But... Jikan, he's in a meeting with the Conclave." The Lord Chamberlain said.
"I don't care Banton. It's urgent, or didn't you notice the Priority One channel I'm using?" The Admiral asked, "The HRA have FTL-capable weaponry, they just hit the Valhalla, the human command ship."
"Tia'Ren... survivors?" He asked.
"Ship status unknown, I'm presuming total destruction until I can confirm otherwise. I need authorisation for immediate mobilisation of the Fleet. I want the RNV Harkesh and the entire Fourth and Seventh Fleets enroute to me within the week."
The male's eyes bulged slightly, "Jikan... you're asking for... there's not been such a massive movement of the fleet in aeons!"
"I know. I'm not doing this lightly. I also want you to move the civilian populations from... Iveren and Thunien, prepare them for a possible influx of Human refugees." He said, "If this war goes badly, we'll be seeing a lot of heavy causalities, Human and Terelain."
"I understand. One moment, Lord Admiral." The Lord Chamberlain said, his hologram dissipating.
A minute or so later, the hologram flickered back to life, this Terelain male was tall and had a medium-build, his eyes were silver-grey and his fur was a dark brown with markings of black and lighter shades of brown, in contrast to the ceremonial robes Banton had worn he was wearing more casual, comfortable clothes which seemed to be a well-tailored shirt and pants, "Jikan." He said with a nod, "Banton tells me you're ordering the evacuation of two planets and the committing of a great deal of our present military strength."
"The HRA have proven to be more powerful than first anticipated. They've seized the Calypso system and are projected as making inroads in at least one, probably two or three other Coalition systems. At this rate of incursion I think we'll see total Coalition defeat in only a few years." Jikan sighed, "Aelrend we have to head this off now. We need to take out the HRA fleet in this volume immediately, we need to send a message."
"We've already sent a significant force to deal with them. You're saying we need more?" King Aelrend IV asked in concern.
"I'm saying I don't want to just defeat these HRA humans. I want to grind them into stellar dust." Jikan said, "I want to throw the full might of our people upon them, I want to show them what we are capable of. I want to terrify them so badly that they won't even sneeze in our direction, or that of the Coalition, for a full century." He paused and then said in a quieter voice, "They have FTL weapons Aelrend. Do you remember what the Gillorians were developing near the end of the war?"
"The Devastators?" He asked, his eyes widening, "I thought... I thought that was just historical propaganda."
"They managed to build two prototypes, one they launched against Ossa, and the other they launched at Aerin. We destroyed the one heading to Aerin but Ossa..." He trailed off, "It's been twelve thousand years and Ossa is still nothing but a charred ball of rock, when once it was teeming with life. I don't know if they've managed to develop this technology that far but there is a reason we forbade anyone developing FTL weaponry. This weapon they already have is at least the first stage towards developing Devastator-class weapons."
The King went quiet a moment, his face grim, "Bastet and Sehkmet are in your vicinity. They and a unit of Shadow-Walkers are at your disposal. I'll send the ships as soon as they're ready. Is that all, Lord Admiral?"
He nodded his head, bowing, "That is all I ask, Aelrend-King."
"My many-times great grandparents will be coming along with the fleet. I'm afraid Nariel is feeling guilty about this whole business and... Elder Tynian has made some unsettling remarks lately. I... there is a distinct possibility..." He paused and sighed, "Jikan. Watch Nariel, if she starts acting odd... just don't let her out of your sight."
"What is it?" Then Jikan's eyes widened, "You don't mean to suggest-"
"Elder Amaar is very old, Jikan. Very very old. She has known more grief, more regret than most. This latest set of events has troubled her greatly. If she were to die, then I am under no illusions that we'll lose Elder Tynian too. I will not hold you responsible should the worst occur, but if they were to die... I would be greatly aggrieved. I hope you will take precautions, Jikan."
"I understand my lord. I will watch over the Elders most carefully." The Lord Admiral said.
"That is all I ask, old friend. May your Ancestors watch over you, and grant you their wisdom. May you smite our enemies and bring peace once more unto the Kingdom." The Terelain King said formally, nodding his head. The link deactivated.
"Sensors indicate disturbances in subspace indicative of a... destroyer-class vessel? Perhaps a cruiser. There's interference... I can't pick up the Valhalla." Aelya reported, "Thyr, analysis?"
"Possibly an FTL weapon." He said after a moment, "High-yield. I project a 50% chance that the Valhalla has just been destroyed. I can't give a proper estimate until I know what the weapon is."
"Missile? The HRA seem to just love missiles." Aelya said.
"Hm... FTL missile, anti-matter or fusion warhead... possibly just nuclear, I've seen no indication of AM or fusion technologies thus far." Thyr said, "Primitive, but effective."
"Defences?" Jikan asked.
"Difficult. The weapon would have to travel very fast to catch up with a vessel in FTL. That's cut down warning time to... well, not very much. Standard anti-missile defences won't work in the Aether, the laws of physics are just too different." Euthyra said, "I'll work on it." He glanced at Aelya, "Link systems?"
"Hmhm... I suppose we'll have to." She said a little hesitantly, "Want to conference any others into this?"
"No, I know you best, we work well together. Let's not get swamped with too much foreign data." He said, "We'll have a preliminary analysis of what weapons-systems we think the HRA are capable of launching into FTL, their effectiveness and potential countermeasures." Thyr said.
"Get on it." Jikan ordered, he then turned to the hologram of Captain Ivrun, "Link up with the Coalition Alliance fleet, all possible speed. Standard defensive tactics, keep the engines ticking over. We might need to retreat at a moment's notice."
"Aye sir." Ivrun said, disconnecting to relay the orders.
Jikan sat there a moment and then tapped a sensor on the table, "Link me to Aerin, high-encryption, and scatter through... Iluvra Pattern, make sure they can't trace this back home."
"Link established." Aelya said distractedly.
"Priority one channel, Heartlands Sector, Aera System, Aerin, Terel'Liren, Oberoth... Palace." Jikan said.
A miniature full-body hologram of what looked to be a short, thin Terelain male dressed in ceremonial robes appeared on the table, "Jikan?" He asked, slightly startled, "What's wrong?"
"My Lord Chamberlain." Jikan said with a respectful nod, "I need to see Aelrend. Now."
"But... Jikan, he's in a meeting with the Conclave." The Lord Chamberlain said.
"I don't care Banton. It's urgent, or didn't you notice the Priority One channel I'm using?" The Admiral asked, "The HRA have FTL-capable weaponry, they just hit the Valhalla, the human command ship."
"Tia'Ren... survivors?" He asked.
"Ship status unknown, I'm presuming total destruction until I can confirm otherwise. I need authorisation for immediate mobilisation of the Fleet. I want the RNV Harkesh and the entire Fourth and Seventh Fleets enroute to me within the week."
The male's eyes bulged slightly, "Jikan... you're asking for... there's not been such a massive movement of the fleet in aeons!"
"I know. I'm not doing this lightly. I also want you to move the civilian populations from... Iveren and Thunien, prepare them for a possible influx of Human refugees." He said, "If this war goes badly, we'll be seeing a lot of heavy causalities, Human and Terelain."
"I understand. One moment, Lord Admiral." The Lord Chamberlain said, his hologram dissipating.
A minute or so later, the hologram flickered back to life, this Terelain male was tall and had a medium-build, his eyes were silver-grey and his fur was a dark brown with markings of black and lighter shades of brown, in contrast to the ceremonial robes Banton had worn he was wearing more casual, comfortable clothes which seemed to be a well-tailored shirt and pants, "Jikan." He said with a nod, "Banton tells me you're ordering the evacuation of two planets and the committing of a great deal of our present military strength."
"The HRA have proven to be more powerful than first anticipated. They've seized the Calypso system and are projected as making inroads in at least one, probably two or three other Coalition systems. At this rate of incursion I think we'll see total Coalition defeat in only a few years." Jikan sighed, "Aelrend we have to head this off now. We need to take out the HRA fleet in this volume immediately, we need to send a message."
"We've already sent a significant force to deal with them. You're saying we need more?" King Aelrend IV asked in concern.
"I'm saying I don't want to just defeat these HRA humans. I want to grind them into stellar dust." Jikan said, "I want to throw the full might of our people upon them, I want to show them what we are capable of. I want to terrify them so badly that they won't even sneeze in our direction, or that of the Coalition, for a full century." He paused and then said in a quieter voice, "They have FTL weapons Aelrend. Do you remember what the Gillorians were developing near the end of the war?"
"The Devastators?" He asked, his eyes widening, "I thought... I thought that was just historical propaganda."
"They managed to build two prototypes, one they launched against Ossa, and the other they launched at Aerin. We destroyed the one heading to Aerin but Ossa..." He trailed off, "It's been twelve thousand years and Ossa is still nothing but a charred ball of rock, when once it was teeming with life. I don't know if they've managed to develop this technology that far but there is a reason we forbade anyone developing FTL weaponry. This weapon they already have is at least the first stage towards developing Devastator-class weapons."
The King went quiet a moment, his face grim, "Bastet and Sehkmet are in your vicinity. They and a unit of Shadow-Walkers are at your disposal. I'll send the ships as soon as they're ready. Is that all, Lord Admiral?"
He nodded his head, bowing, "That is all I ask, Aelrend-King."
"My many-times great grandparents will be coming along with the fleet. I'm afraid Nariel is feeling guilty about this whole business and... Elder Tynian has made some unsettling remarks lately. I... there is a distinct possibility..." He paused and sighed, "Jikan. Watch Nariel, if she starts acting odd... just don't let her out of your sight."
"What is it?" Then Jikan's eyes widened, "You don't mean to suggest-"
"Elder Amaar is very old, Jikan. Very very old. She has known more grief, more regret than most. This latest set of events has troubled her greatly. If she were to die, then I am under no illusions that we'll lose Elder Tynian too. I will not hold you responsible should the worst occur, but if they were to die... I would be greatly aggrieved. I hope you will take precautions, Jikan."
"I understand my lord. I will watch over the Elders most carefully." The Lord Admiral said.
"That is all I ask, old friend. May your Ancestors watch over you, and grant you their wisdom. May you smite our enemies and bring peace once more unto the Kingdom." The Terelain King said formally, nodding his head. The link deactivated.
The first moon they came to was a lush forest moon, filled with hundreds of species of trees, thousands of plant species, billions of insects, and many, many primates. In a way, it was an earlier version of the moon. The climate was that of a jungle: warm, humid, and sunny. Not cold during the winter, and very wet during the raining season. Perfect for the thing that they were going to set up.
Deep in the middle of the jungle, out in the open, but hidden from sight, was a base. A small one, with low inner concrete walls, barbed wire, wired fences, electrical fences, and guard towers. Not to mention hedgehogs, sandbags, bunkers, trenches and mines. It was manned by about, say, 1,000 soldiers, 100 scientists and medical personnel, and 50 officers.
In a way, it held no visible military strategic position. Well, that was just to the eye. In reality, it was actually very useful. The base served as a launching point for the missiles that they would test out on enemy positions, and a CDCD center, or a Center of Disease Control and Distribution. In other words, it was a military medical lab, or MML, as everyone would call it.
There was a missile silo, not too far off, more in the north, but just as hidden. It was built into a mountain, jutting out the side slightly. It, too, had the same precautions as the first one, with checkpoints, and a road connecting it to the main base. Inside the mountain was a power plant, which harvested the energy from small objects using Einsteins equation E=MC2. Basically, they could take a pencil, and convert it into energy, which was very hard and expensive to do, but made many good advantages and won the military's funding.
The men called the missiles that were loaded into the silo MREs, Meals Ready to Eat. Which was ironic, in a way, because half of them were gas, and the other biological. It was truly a weapon of mass destruction, and a great one at that. If fired into a ship, everyone on board would be destroyed completely. The missiles were just that big, and deadly.
Each missile was around 100 feet long, and 20 feet wide, like a massive spaceship from the 60's. It had a warhead with positive, pressurized air filled with whatever the men wanted to put in there. Whether it be a deadly toxic Gas, or a Level 4+ Bio-hazardous material. When it neared the enemy shields, it penetrated them using a very very powerful EMP beam that destroyed the shields by overloading it with kinetic energy, and scrambling the electrical signals.
It's speed meant that it was unhittable by normal defenses, and it carried three stages in the tip. First stage was the EMP, and when it hit, it ripped off, leaving the pointed diamond tip. Next, it would hit the armor, and the explosives were just enough to shape the diamond, and push it through the armor, creating a KKV weapon that melted the outside all the way inside. There, the missile was timed so that when it hit, it would close the hole, and release the agent that it carried. Very deadly on ships, but on planets, it was different. It would wipe out a planet's intelligent life forms in a week.
The Generator also made a series of Warp Shields and Void shields. Warp first, then four layers of thick Void Shields, and then the Warp Shield again. This prevented any EMP blast that would destroy the shields, but the Warp only protected against those. So, in reality, to get into the planet, one would have to order a troop attack.
The Hellraiser was just outside this moon, hovering over the shields. It had just given the codes, and it let one Gunship go, flying out of the hanger and into space. Soon, caught in the gravitational pull of the planet, it descended to the surface, not too far from the actual base. On board were 10 SS Jungle fighters, and General Vladimir, the man in charge of this project.
He was greeted by two Razorbacks with heavy bolter attachments on top of the tank, as well as the boltgun that was built onto the tank in front of the driver entrance, a Stalker AA tank with two triple barreled 45mm Anti Aircraft cannons, two Rhinos, and 20 Jungle Troops. These men were Vladimir's escort.
Vladimir got into one of the Razorbacks, along with his five others, and so did the other five marines. Within a minute, everyone packed up, the gunship took off, and the tank column moved towards the base. Along the way, Vladimir stopped to think about what was going on, and grabbed a radio. He called up the Captain in charge of the base, Captain Robbins.
"Robbins, this is Vladimir, come in, over," Vladimir said into the microphone, and waited for a response.
"Yes, this is Robbins. I read you. What do you want? And why are you in a tank?" Robbins asked, a little curious about the nature of his arrival.
"I was ordered, by Field Marshal Corinth, to check on your progress in this sector. It appears that you were in charge of gathering intelligence, developing chemical and biological weaponry, and finding out Ascrith's whereabouts. How are you faring?"
"Come in and see. I've found some things, but you may or may not like them. I do have a surprise for you, though,"
****
Vladimir walked up to the airtight doors of the Level One area, the first stage in the procedure, and protection, of a Level 5 biological pathogen. Robbins scanned his card, and the doors opened. Both Vladimir and Robbins walked in, and stripped down to their skin, before putting on sterile surgical scrubs. So far, so good.
Next, they entered the UV room, the airtight doors of Level 2 and 1 closing behind them. Locked in. The UV light washed over them, and killed any viruses and bacteria that they may have on. Now they could get their second level of protection on. They put on the gloves, sealing them up with sticky tape between the gloves and the cuffs, and socks and boots. Now they could proceed onwards.
Level three saw the Decon shower, which was a very harsh shower that lasted 10 minutes. It was composed of water, bleach, and other chemicals that would wash them down to protect them, and sterilize anything else. Also, okay.
Level Four was the Space Suit. It was a blue, plastic suit that both men put on, and sealed themselves up. Instantly, the clear plastic, airtight face mask began fogging up, and the air getting stale. They both hooked up the air to themselves, and the suit puffed up like a marshmallow, and the screens cleared.
But now, there was Level Five, which was not what any of them liked to do. Walking in, they could hear the sound of the machinery whirring, and above them, an actual space suit with an exoskeleton began descending. Both men put those on, looking like astronauts, which in a sense, they were. They hooked on the helmets, and the detached their air. From now on, they would hook the air up to the backpack, which filtered it for them.
"Lets go. We got a very good surprise for you," Robbins said, and walked through the door into the Level Five Containment suite of the deadliest disease ever known to mankind. "We have to wear space suits, you see, because of the nature of this disease. It was so vicious, and volatile, that it actually burned through the plastic, but barely the skin. It only gave a small first degree burn. But that man we put into the Quarantine began looking very, very strange.
"Not only did he exhibit the same symptoms as people with Ebola Zaire, but he exhibited other symptoms. The skin started boiling, in a way. Very, very painful. That was day two. Day three, he was brain dead, but as we found, he still felt pain. On day four, that's where it really got weird. The body began decaying, but as we found, he was still alive. That's when he got up. The man's mind was taken over by this, self conscious virus. It literally created a queen inside his brain, as we later examined.
"So, he started acting like a Zombie, a walking, moving, deadly virus bomb. We kept him in there for a bit, but on the 10th day, he crashed and bled. By crashed and bled, I mean, his bones in his leg shattered, he collapsed, and bled out of every hole. He still lived, and began liquefying. His body turned into a living virus."
"Why did you bring me here?" Vladimir asked, walking with him. "You could've told me over video conference,"
"Because video conference wouldn't show this," Robbins said, and walked over to the door. He opened it, and it was a room with a glass wall covering 90% of it. Vladimir looked on in amazement. It was a new disease, one that would destroy any intelligent life form it touched. It created a fine mist, like a fungus would do. A Fungus/Virus/Bacteria hybrid. "I call it, Ebola Zombie. What do you think?"
"My god... Robbins, you are an insane genius..."
Deep in the middle of the jungle, out in the open, but hidden from sight, was a base. A small one, with low inner concrete walls, barbed wire, wired fences, electrical fences, and guard towers. Not to mention hedgehogs, sandbags, bunkers, trenches and mines. It was manned by about, say, 1,000 soldiers, 100 scientists and medical personnel, and 50 officers.
In a way, it held no visible military strategic position. Well, that was just to the eye. In reality, it was actually very useful. The base served as a launching point for the missiles that they would test out on enemy positions, and a CDCD center, or a Center of Disease Control and Distribution. In other words, it was a military medical lab, or MML, as everyone would call it.
There was a missile silo, not too far off, more in the north, but just as hidden. It was built into a mountain, jutting out the side slightly. It, too, had the same precautions as the first one, with checkpoints, and a road connecting it to the main base. Inside the mountain was a power plant, which harvested the energy from small objects using Einsteins equation E=MC2. Basically, they could take a pencil, and convert it into energy, which was very hard and expensive to do, but made many good advantages and won the military's funding.
The men called the missiles that were loaded into the silo MREs, Meals Ready to Eat. Which was ironic, in a way, because half of them were gas, and the other biological. It was truly a weapon of mass destruction, and a great one at that. If fired into a ship, everyone on board would be destroyed completely. The missiles were just that big, and deadly.
Each missile was around 100 feet long, and 20 feet wide, like a massive spaceship from the 60's. It had a warhead with positive, pressurized air filled with whatever the men wanted to put in there. Whether it be a deadly toxic Gas, or a Level 4+ Bio-hazardous material. When it neared the enemy shields, it penetrated them using a very very powerful EMP beam that destroyed the shields by overloading it with kinetic energy, and scrambling the electrical signals.
It's speed meant that it was unhittable by normal defenses, and it carried three stages in the tip. First stage was the EMP, and when it hit, it ripped off, leaving the pointed diamond tip. Next, it would hit the armor, and the explosives were just enough to shape the diamond, and push it through the armor, creating a KKV weapon that melted the outside all the way inside. There, the missile was timed so that when it hit, it would close the hole, and release the agent that it carried. Very deadly on ships, but on planets, it was different. It would wipe out a planet's intelligent life forms in a week.
The Generator also made a series of Warp Shields and Void shields. Warp first, then four layers of thick Void Shields, and then the Warp Shield again. This prevented any EMP blast that would destroy the shields, but the Warp only protected against those. So, in reality, to get into the planet, one would have to order a troop attack.
The Hellraiser was just outside this moon, hovering over the shields. It had just given the codes, and it let one Gunship go, flying out of the hanger and into space. Soon, caught in the gravitational pull of the planet, it descended to the surface, not too far from the actual base. On board were 10 SS Jungle fighters, and General Vladimir, the man in charge of this project.
He was greeted by two Razorbacks with heavy bolter attachments on top of the tank, as well as the boltgun that was built onto the tank in front of the driver entrance, a Stalker AA tank with two triple barreled 45mm Anti Aircraft cannons, two Rhinos, and 20 Jungle Troops. These men were Vladimir's escort.
Vladimir got into one of the Razorbacks, along with his five others, and so did the other five marines. Within a minute, everyone packed up, the gunship took off, and the tank column moved towards the base. Along the way, Vladimir stopped to think about what was going on, and grabbed a radio. He called up the Captain in charge of the base, Captain Robbins.
"Robbins, this is Vladimir, come in, over," Vladimir said into the microphone, and waited for a response.
"Yes, this is Robbins. I read you. What do you want? And why are you in a tank?" Robbins asked, a little curious about the nature of his arrival.
"I was ordered, by Field Marshal Corinth, to check on your progress in this sector. It appears that you were in charge of gathering intelligence, developing chemical and biological weaponry, and finding out Ascrith's whereabouts. How are you faring?"
"Come in and see. I've found some things, but you may or may not like them. I do have a surprise for you, though,"
****
Vladimir walked up to the airtight doors of the Level One area, the first stage in the procedure, and protection, of a Level 5 biological pathogen. Robbins scanned his card, and the doors opened. Both Vladimir and Robbins walked in, and stripped down to their skin, before putting on sterile surgical scrubs. So far, so good.
Next, they entered the UV room, the airtight doors of Level 2 and 1 closing behind them. Locked in. The UV light washed over them, and killed any viruses and bacteria that they may have on. Now they could get their second level of protection on. They put on the gloves, sealing them up with sticky tape between the gloves and the cuffs, and socks and boots. Now they could proceed onwards.
Level three saw the Decon shower, which was a very harsh shower that lasted 10 minutes. It was composed of water, bleach, and other chemicals that would wash them down to protect them, and sterilize anything else. Also, okay.
Level Four was the Space Suit. It was a blue, plastic suit that both men put on, and sealed themselves up. Instantly, the clear plastic, airtight face mask began fogging up, and the air getting stale. They both hooked up the air to themselves, and the suit puffed up like a marshmallow, and the screens cleared.
But now, there was Level Five, which was not what any of them liked to do. Walking in, they could hear the sound of the machinery whirring, and above them, an actual space suit with an exoskeleton began descending. Both men put those on, looking like astronauts, which in a sense, they were. They hooked on the helmets, and the detached their air. From now on, they would hook the air up to the backpack, which filtered it for them.
"Lets go. We got a very good surprise for you," Robbins said, and walked through the door into the Level Five Containment suite of the deadliest disease ever known to mankind. "We have to wear space suits, you see, because of the nature of this disease. It was so vicious, and volatile, that it actually burned through the plastic, but barely the skin. It only gave a small first degree burn. But that man we put into the Quarantine began looking very, very strange.
"Not only did he exhibit the same symptoms as people with Ebola Zaire, but he exhibited other symptoms. The skin started boiling, in a way. Very, very painful. That was day two. Day three, he was brain dead, but as we found, he still felt pain. On day four, that's where it really got weird. The body began decaying, but as we found, he was still alive. That's when he got up. The man's mind was taken over by this, self conscious virus. It literally created a queen inside his brain, as we later examined.
"So, he started acting like a Zombie, a walking, moving, deadly virus bomb. We kept him in there for a bit, but on the 10th day, he crashed and bled. By crashed and bled, I mean, his bones in his leg shattered, he collapsed, and bled out of every hole. He still lived, and began liquefying. His body turned into a living virus."
"Why did you bring me here?" Vladimir asked, walking with him. "You could've told me over video conference,"
"Because video conference wouldn't show this," Robbins said, and walked over to the door. He opened it, and it was a room with a glass wall covering 90% of it. Vladimir looked on in amazement. It was a new disease, one that would destroy any intelligent life form it touched. It created a fine mist, like a fungus would do. A Fungus/Virus/Bacteria hybrid. "I call it, Ebola Zombie. What do you think?"
"My god... Robbins, you are an insane genius..."
Captain Jin Linhider, felt as if her heart stopped.
Government Representative and Oversight Officer Marcus Tanner, seemed to turn pale and his mouth was stitched shut.
They couldn't see anything, the blast and subspace disturbance, interefering with their sensors.
"Report," Linhider called out.
Commander Jacke, came from the NavBridge is face just as glum and sullen.
"We aren't picking up anything Ma'am," he stated. "There's no sign of them at all."
Captain Linhider was speechless. The deck was quiet until high pitched tone echoed throughout, and all the screens went to blue before turning to black. Commander Jacke rushed back to the NavBridge, to determine what was happening. Suddenly, everything rebooted and, Liala's face appeared on the screens. Linhider m let out a slight sigh, they must be safe then.
"Captain Linhider, Lord Admiral Jikan. I am a digital imprint of Chief Navigator, Commander Tonia Liala. I have been kept constantly updated, with a situational awareness and should only be activated, in the event that the Valhalla has been lost. I have nearly 97% of the personality and quirks and knowledge of Commander Liala, however I am not her. She too may be lost or extrememly incapitated," she stated. "Captain Jin Linhider, you are now moved to Flotilla Commander."
The copy of Liala, disappeared from all the screens and suddenly appeared on Linhider's alone.
"I know what you are going to ask Ma'am, and I can only be sure with the information I have. The Valhalla is not avaliable."
"The Taskforce is currently in range, and they are signalling the whereabouts of the rest of our flotilla, including the Valhalla," called out a communications officer.
"Thank you Liala. Are you fully integrated into the ship?" Linhider asked.
Liala bobbed her head coyily, "I could be. But the original Liala, and Captain Nikoli put in safe gaurds that allow me to only do so with proper authorization or unless a certain set of conditions are met. I am only a secondary database and overseeing your cyberwarefare suite persay."
"I see. And it seems you've let the Terelians aware of the situation...?"
"Yup," a part of the contingency. "Actually they should be getting a copy of Liala too, but with far more..."restrictions," than myself."
Captain Linhider nodded. "Thank you Commander."
"Just call me Navigator Ma'am."
"Very well. In any event I release you to integrate fully with the ship's systems," she stated, before flipping a few switches to open a comms channel. "To Lord Admiral Jikan, this is Captain Linhider, now Flotilla Commander. We are unable to ascertain the status of the Valhalla, but it appears that she has been destroyed with all hands. A sort of digital copy of Commander Liala, has been transmitted to my ship and your own, with full knowledge of most of the ship's information and tactical plans regarding this war. I have been informed that the copy sent to you, is merely for database purposes and poses no risk to your ship."
She tagged in another channel to the incoming taskforce.
"Taskforce 4.1, this is Flotilla Commander Captain Linhider, we are sending you an immediate code one update on the situation and await further instructions from High Command. Be advised, we have Terelain forces further incoming, and the status of the Valhalla is as stands: KIA. Repeat, Valhalla status KIA. Linhider out."
Captain Linhider closed the links and slumped in her chair and waited. She just couldn't believe it all.
"I...I must excuse myself," Overseer Tanner said before scurrying off the command deck, to no one's arguement.
He took the lift to his guest cabin aboard the ship and activated the desk terminal. He inputted a series of authorization codes, as his mouth sligtly twitched. The screen darkened, before a prompt appeared. He typed in:"The Warrior's Hall has fallen," before hitting enter. The screen darkened once again, before a set of orders filled the screen.
Overseer Tanner took his glasses off and began a long task of figuring out how to make them work. There was still time left, for the main engagement had yet to taken place. But with the Valhalla now gone....
Or perhaps with that ship gone, we can rest easier. Diplomancy, a much more adequate avenue, Tanner thought.
At the moment he really didn't know.
But what ever he chose, he had to make sure, Humanity was at the forefront ad would survive.
Government Representative and Oversight Officer Marcus Tanner, seemed to turn pale and his mouth was stitched shut.
They couldn't see anything, the blast and subspace disturbance, interefering with their sensors.
"Report," Linhider called out.
Commander Jacke, came from the NavBridge is face just as glum and sullen.
"We aren't picking up anything Ma'am," he stated. "There's no sign of them at all."
Captain Linhider was speechless. The deck was quiet until high pitched tone echoed throughout, and all the screens went to blue before turning to black. Commander Jacke rushed back to the NavBridge, to determine what was happening. Suddenly, everything rebooted and, Liala's face appeared on the screens. Linhider m let out a slight sigh, they must be safe then.
"Captain Linhider, Lord Admiral Jikan. I am a digital imprint of Chief Navigator, Commander Tonia Liala. I have been kept constantly updated, with a situational awareness and should only be activated, in the event that the Valhalla has been lost. I have nearly 97% of the personality and quirks and knowledge of Commander Liala, however I am not her. She too may be lost or extrememly incapitated," she stated. "Captain Jin Linhider, you are now moved to Flotilla Commander."
The copy of Liala, disappeared from all the screens and suddenly appeared on Linhider's alone.
"I know what you are going to ask Ma'am, and I can only be sure with the information I have. The Valhalla is not avaliable."
"The Taskforce is currently in range, and they are signalling the whereabouts of the rest of our flotilla, including the Valhalla," called out a communications officer.
"Thank you Liala. Are you fully integrated into the ship?" Linhider asked.
Liala bobbed her head coyily, "I could be. But the original Liala, and Captain Nikoli put in safe gaurds that allow me to only do so with proper authorization or unless a certain set of conditions are met. I am only a secondary database and overseeing your cyberwarefare suite persay."
"I see. And it seems you've let the Terelians aware of the situation...?"
"Yup," a part of the contingency. "Actually they should be getting a copy of Liala too, but with far more..."restrictions," than myself."
Captain Linhider nodded. "Thank you Commander."
"Just call me Navigator Ma'am."
"Very well. In any event I release you to integrate fully with the ship's systems," she stated, before flipping a few switches to open a comms channel. "To Lord Admiral Jikan, this is Captain Linhider, now Flotilla Commander. We are unable to ascertain the status of the Valhalla, but it appears that she has been destroyed with all hands. A sort of digital copy of Commander Liala, has been transmitted to my ship and your own, with full knowledge of most of the ship's information and tactical plans regarding this war. I have been informed that the copy sent to you, is merely for database purposes and poses no risk to your ship."
She tagged in another channel to the incoming taskforce.
"Taskforce 4.1, this is Flotilla Commander Captain Linhider, we are sending you an immediate code one update on the situation and await further instructions from High Command. Be advised, we have Terelain forces further incoming, and the status of the Valhalla is as stands: KIA. Repeat, Valhalla status KIA. Linhider out."
Captain Linhider closed the links and slumped in her chair and waited. She just couldn't believe it all.
"I...I must excuse myself," Overseer Tanner said before scurrying off the command deck, to no one's arguement.
He took the lift to his guest cabin aboard the ship and activated the desk terminal. He inputted a series of authorization codes, as his mouth sligtly twitched. The screen darkened, before a prompt appeared. He typed in:"The Warrior's Hall has fallen," before hitting enter. The screen darkened once again, before a set of orders filled the screen.
Overseer Tanner took his glasses off and began a long task of figuring out how to make them work. There was still time left, for the main engagement had yet to taken place. But with the Valhalla now gone....
Or perhaps with that ship gone, we can rest easier. Diplomancy, a much more adequate avenue, Tanner thought.
At the moment he really didn't know.
But what ever he chose, he had to make sure, Humanity was at the forefront ad would survive.
"To Lord Admiral Jikan, this is Captain Linhider, now Flotilla Commander. We are unable to ascertain the status of the Valhalla, but it appears that she has been destroyed with all hands. A sort of digital copy of Commander Liala, has been transmitted to my ship and your own, with full knowledge of most of the ship's information and tactical plans regarding this war. I have been informed that the copy sent to you, is merely for database purposes and poses no risk to your ship."
The Lord Admiral regarded the copy of Liala quietly for a moment, his expression was grim. Finally he nodded respectfully, "I see... in that case, please accept my condolences for the loss of the Valhalla and your original." Jikan sighed softly, "Aelya would have already begun integrating you with our systems, but I am afraid that both she and Thyr are... indisposed at the moment and the remaining AI aboard this ship is presently involved with replacing the drones we lost during the skirmish with the HRA forces."
The Terelain Admiral shook his head slowly; "You know I had hoped that my position as Lord Admiral of the Knights of Aera Fleet would be a largely ceremonial role, as it has been for many long centuries. Now I find myself at the forefront of a new war... already these HRA have shown a willingness to perform acts that even our ancestral enemies the Gillorians would not have done, not until they grew desperate near the end of the war." There was a worried frown on his face, "My people are the oldest and most advanced extant civilisation in our region of space, we had always assumed that if we were ever to return to war we would maintain this technological advantage... but never did we expect the enemy to so willingly annihilate whole worlds as they showed at Calypso, or be so ruthless towards non-combatants as they showed against our diplomatic cruiser."
"I have sent for reinforcements, and His Majesty has sent Bastet and Sekhmet, the 'Blade and Claw of the King' to aid me... they are assassins and spies, leaders of a clandestine organisation that is so secret as to be half-mythical. The Revered Elders are also on their way, and this time I have suspicions that Elder Amaar intends to die in battle against the HRA... and I've been told to stop her from doing so." Jikan shook his head, "I'm tempted to just skip the skirmishing and long litany of atrocities that the HRA will no doubt commit and just declare Eternal War and blast them all to the Void. But... there are rules of war. These insane humans might treat WPDs as toys, but I will not stoop to their level." The Lord Admiral growled softly, "But make no mistake. If they push me too far I will hit back, and I will hit them hard. The rules of war and Sentient Brotherhood be damned for eternity, I will unleash hell upon them."
He activated his inter-ship comms, "All ships, this is Jikan, The Coalition Alliance vessel Valhalla has been hit by an unknown weapon and is presumed destroyed. Be advised that the HRA are utilising FTL-capable weapons platforms, in addition to their other crimes. This war is escalating at a rapid rate, and I will give these humans one last chance at ending this war without undue loss of life. One chance. If they do not comply, then I have been given authorisation to declare Eternal War. You know what that means... I will be counting on each and every ship and every man and woman in the Fleet to do their duty. Remember this; you are Terelain, you are the scions of a legacy stretching back since before these hairless monkeys discovered fire. Each and every one of you is willing to die to defend your loved ones... and make no mistake. If the HRA defeat this fleet, then they will do far worse than even the Gillorians of old. Even Aerin, even the Jewel of the Galaxy, will be threatened. Do your duty in the coming days and we will prevail. But if the worst should come to pass, sell your lives dearly, make every single one of them curse the day their people ever dared look upon a Child of Terel in contempt or anger... let the cost of just one Terelain life be a hundred, a thousand of them... for they shall not spare us; no Elder, no woman, no child."
Jikan deactivated the comm, and smiled, "I think it is time we showed the HRA what we can do..."
The Lord Admiral regarded the copy of Liala quietly for a moment, his expression was grim. Finally he nodded respectfully, "I see... in that case, please accept my condolences for the loss of the Valhalla and your original." Jikan sighed softly, "Aelya would have already begun integrating you with our systems, but I am afraid that both she and Thyr are... indisposed at the moment and the remaining AI aboard this ship is presently involved with replacing the drones we lost during the skirmish with the HRA forces."
The Terelain Admiral shook his head slowly; "You know I had hoped that my position as Lord Admiral of the Knights of Aera Fleet would be a largely ceremonial role, as it has been for many long centuries. Now I find myself at the forefront of a new war... already these HRA have shown a willingness to perform acts that even our ancestral enemies the Gillorians would not have done, not until they grew desperate near the end of the war." There was a worried frown on his face, "My people are the oldest and most advanced extant civilisation in our region of space, we had always assumed that if we were ever to return to war we would maintain this technological advantage... but never did we expect the enemy to so willingly annihilate whole worlds as they showed at Calypso, or be so ruthless towards non-combatants as they showed against our diplomatic cruiser."
"I have sent for reinforcements, and His Majesty has sent Bastet and Sekhmet, the 'Blade and Claw of the King' to aid me... they are assassins and spies, leaders of a clandestine organisation that is so secret as to be half-mythical. The Revered Elders are also on their way, and this time I have suspicions that Elder Amaar intends to die in battle against the HRA... and I've been told to stop her from doing so." Jikan shook his head, "I'm tempted to just skip the skirmishing and long litany of atrocities that the HRA will no doubt commit and just declare Eternal War and blast them all to the Void. But... there are rules of war. These insane humans might treat WPDs as toys, but I will not stoop to their level." The Lord Admiral growled softly, "But make no mistake. If they push me too far I will hit back, and I will hit them hard. The rules of war and Sentient Brotherhood be damned for eternity, I will unleash hell upon them."
He activated his inter-ship comms, "All ships, this is Jikan, The Coalition Alliance vessel Valhalla has been hit by an unknown weapon and is presumed destroyed. Be advised that the HRA are utilising FTL-capable weapons platforms, in addition to their other crimes. This war is escalating at a rapid rate, and I will give these humans one last chance at ending this war without undue loss of life. One chance. If they do not comply, then I have been given authorisation to declare Eternal War. You know what that means... I will be counting on each and every ship and every man and woman in the Fleet to do their duty. Remember this; you are Terelain, you are the scions of a legacy stretching back since before these hairless monkeys discovered fire. Each and every one of you is willing to die to defend your loved ones... and make no mistake. If the HRA defeat this fleet, then they will do far worse than even the Gillorians of old. Even Aerin, even the Jewel of the Galaxy, will be threatened. Do your duty in the coming days and we will prevail. But if the worst should come to pass, sell your lives dearly, make every single one of them curse the day their people ever dared look upon a Child of Terel in contempt or anger... let the cost of just one Terelain life be a hundred, a thousand of them... for they shall not spare us; no Elder, no woman, no child."
Jikan deactivated the comm, and smiled, "I think it is time we showed the HRA what we can do..."
Vladimir stood outside the Level 5 quarantine zone, the Death Suite, as many called it. His mind was whirling with the thoughts of that disease he had seen. An amplified form of Ebola, that travels by air, and can go through Level 4 protection. He had never even heard about it in books. He thought that something like this was just too far out there.
And yet, he'd stared it right in the face, so to speak. One does not look at the effects of a Level 5 biological agent on a human, and simply forget it. No, those linger, and as he would find out later in life, it would linger as long as he lived. Which for him, was a very long time.
He had just taken off his space suit, and was resting on a chair nearby the airlock. Two Death Korps soldiers stood next to the door, guns in hand. They were wearing their gas masks, to protect from a possible contamination. They wore protective clothing that was airtight, pressurized negatively, and could keep the Virus out for a bit. Vladimir stared, and thought about those men. Why were they there?
Then Robbins exited the airlock, the door hissing and closing shut behind him. Vladimir stood up, stretched, cracked a few joints in the process, and waited for Robbins. Now was the boring admin stuff that they had to do.
"So, any news on Ascrith yet?" Vladimir asked, walking down the hall with him. He had yet to hear about the hacking missiles that would be directed at ships and computers, "I need to know as much as you can tell me about him,"
"We'll find out soon enough. We haven't been able to test out our Hacker Missiles. Apparently, if you fire them at a planet, military base, etc, it should be able to hack a computer with ease, and transmit the data before destroying itself. So, we just have to find an enemy ship, and fire it," Robbins said, walking to his office. "Along that note, we haven't gotten any information AT ALL about anything else. At most, we can gather, through patterns and instinct, what the enemy will do, but that's about it,"
"Bugger... Well, we gotta wait for a bit. Any luck on the spies?"
And yet, he'd stared it right in the face, so to speak. One does not look at the effects of a Level 5 biological agent on a human, and simply forget it. No, those linger, and as he would find out later in life, it would linger as long as he lived. Which for him, was a very long time.
He had just taken off his space suit, and was resting on a chair nearby the airlock. Two Death Korps soldiers stood next to the door, guns in hand. They were wearing their gas masks, to protect from a possible contamination. They wore protective clothing that was airtight, pressurized negatively, and could keep the Virus out for a bit. Vladimir stared, and thought about those men. Why were they there?
Then Robbins exited the airlock, the door hissing and closing shut behind him. Vladimir stood up, stretched, cracked a few joints in the process, and waited for Robbins. Now was the boring admin stuff that they had to do.
"So, any news on Ascrith yet?" Vladimir asked, walking down the hall with him. He had yet to hear about the hacking missiles that would be directed at ships and computers, "I need to know as much as you can tell me about him,"
"We'll find out soon enough. We haven't been able to test out our Hacker Missiles. Apparently, if you fire them at a planet, military base, etc, it should be able to hack a computer with ease, and transmit the data before destroying itself. So, we just have to find an enemy ship, and fire it," Robbins said, walking to his office. "Along that note, we haven't gotten any information AT ALL about anything else. At most, we can gather, through patterns and instinct, what the enemy will do, but that's about it,"
"Bugger... Well, we gotta wait for a bit. Any luck on the spies?"
Captain Linhider sent back an acknowledgment to Lord Admiral Jikan, before turning toward the communications officer, just as he was about to report to her.
"Ma'am, we are getting a signal from the Taskforce," he said. "Rear Admiral David Albus."
She nodded and turned toward the viewscreen, just as an old, grey haired, wrinkled face man appeared on the screen. He screamed of bureaucracy or pencil pusher, and was probably immediately drafted out of retirement for the post.
"Captain Linhider, Flotilla Commander. We have received your reports and arereviewing them now. You will form up in the designated area and integrate into Squadron 2. You are hereby no longer Flotilla Commander of Calypso," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
Linhider didn't question or argue.
"Is Representative Overseer Tanner with you?" Rear Admiral Albus asked.
"No sir," Linhider responded. "He is currently in his cabin at the moment."
The Rear Admiral seemed to ponder about something before giving a sort of tired, lazy nod.
"Very well, patch me through to him," he ordered. "Oh and you are now our military liaison to the Terelians. I can't spare any other officers for the position."
And with that the screen blinked off.
Christ...not even a goddamn thank you or well done or something, Linhider thought as she rubbed her forehead.
"Commander, you heard the Head. Get us in formation, and get us that line back to the Terelians."
She rose from her command chair and went over to the intelligence officers. She looked for the Chief and bent over to speak in private.
"Can I help you Ma'am," she asked, an eyebrow quirked in curiosity.
"I would hope so," Linhider smiled. "Tell me, what is the crew composition of those currently in Taskforce 4.1?"
The Chief Intelligence Officer frowned, before accessing the Coalition Fleet database and quickly reviewing the records.
"Just about 95% human, with a handful of Kitt'ane and Ykkin Officers aboard a few ships. Most of the humans are from Old Earth or Terra born, with some coming from the Inner Rim colonies," she reported.
"Alright. Whats the composition of the 4th Fleet and the human to nonhuman ratio of crew onboard ships in the Defense Force?" Linhider asked.
"Oh, the latter question I can answer off my head, and say there's just about a 50:50 ratio. The Kitt'ane have their own ships really, so nearly 25% of the ones serving aboard the Coalition ships, are either on loan, exchange program, or something else. The other 25% is due to a mix of mostly Ykkins, Nocvern and the other," the intelligence officer stated. "As for the composition of 4th fleet....yup...mostly human, small handful of nonhuman."
Captain Linhider nodded, "Thank you Chief."
"Aye aye, Ma'am," she said, before turning to eye the Captain. "Ma'am...should I be looking for something?"
"Oh no," Linhider said, as she shook her head. "Just a curiosity."
The Chief regarded the Captain for a moment, before nodding and turning back to her station.
Captain Linhider did the same, returning to the command chair. Her mind was turning to churn, and churning wasn't good.
* * *
Tai'Ren-Liala, blinked into virtual existence, watching the data streams go by. However there was something particular she wanted. She looked around a found rows of differing doors, representing different types of systems aboard the ship. She followed them until she came to one, with a marked "AI TACTICAL CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS" sign.
She brought up her own custom digital inventory and began rummaging though her tool kits. She found the one she needed, and began trying to hack into the door. Tai'Ren-Liala, was forgoing finesse, subtlety or even stealth. Her intention was to sound the alarm of just one person, or rather the attention of one artificial construct. She knew the alert were popping up all over the place, and so she wiped her tools back to a clean state, summoned and chair and sat back waiting.
"Ma'am, we are getting a signal from the Taskforce," he said. "Rear Admiral David Albus."
She nodded and turned toward the viewscreen, just as an old, grey haired, wrinkled face man appeared on the screen. He screamed of bureaucracy or pencil pusher, and was probably immediately drafted out of retirement for the post.
"Captain Linhider, Flotilla Commander. We have received your reports and arereviewing them now. You will form up in the designated area and integrate into Squadron 2. You are hereby no longer Flotilla Commander of Calypso," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
Linhider didn't question or argue.
"Is Representative Overseer Tanner with you?" Rear Admiral Albus asked.
"No sir," Linhider responded. "He is currently in his cabin at the moment."
The Rear Admiral seemed to ponder about something before giving a sort of tired, lazy nod.
"Very well, patch me through to him," he ordered. "Oh and you are now our military liaison to the Terelians. I can't spare any other officers for the position."
And with that the screen blinked off.
Christ...not even a goddamn thank you or well done or something, Linhider thought as she rubbed her forehead.
"Commander, you heard the Head. Get us in formation, and get us that line back to the Terelians."
She rose from her command chair and went over to the intelligence officers. She looked for the Chief and bent over to speak in private.
"Can I help you Ma'am," she asked, an eyebrow quirked in curiosity.
"I would hope so," Linhider smiled. "Tell me, what is the crew composition of those currently in Taskforce 4.1?"
The Chief Intelligence Officer frowned, before accessing the Coalition Fleet database and quickly reviewing the records.
"Just about 95% human, with a handful of Kitt'ane and Ykkin Officers aboard a few ships. Most of the humans are from Old Earth or Terra born, with some coming from the Inner Rim colonies," she reported.
"Alright. Whats the composition of the 4th Fleet and the human to nonhuman ratio of crew onboard ships in the Defense Force?" Linhider asked.
"Oh, the latter question I can answer off my head, and say there's just about a 50:50 ratio. The Kitt'ane have their own ships really, so nearly 25% of the ones serving aboard the Coalition ships, are either on loan, exchange program, or something else. The other 25% is due to a mix of mostly Ykkins, Nocvern and the other," the intelligence officer stated. "As for the composition of 4th fleet....yup...mostly human, small handful of nonhuman."
Captain Linhider nodded, "Thank you Chief."
"Aye aye, Ma'am," she said, before turning to eye the Captain. "Ma'am...should I be looking for something?"
"Oh no," Linhider said, as she shook her head. "Just a curiosity."
The Chief regarded the Captain for a moment, before nodding and turning back to her station.
Captain Linhider did the same, returning to the command chair. Her mind was turning to churn, and churning wasn't good.
* * *
Tai'Ren-Liala, blinked into virtual existence, watching the data streams go by. However there was something particular she wanted. She looked around a found rows of differing doors, representing different types of systems aboard the ship. She followed them until she came to one, with a marked "AI TACTICAL CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS" sign.
She brought up her own custom digital inventory and began rummaging though her tool kits. She found the one she needed, and began trying to hack into the door. Tai'Ren-Liala, was forgoing finesse, subtlety or even stealth. Her intention was to sound the alarm of just one person, or rather the attention of one artificial construct. She knew the alert were popping up all over the place, and so she wiped her tools back to a clean state, summoned and chair and sat back waiting.
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