Ambrosia Software Web Board: Chapter One - A new beginning - Ambrosia Software Web Board

A set of jumpgate modules opened, and the Ishiman competitors entered the system. A bit later came a cargo ship with various Ishiman spectators on it. Then came a stream of Ishiman civilian traffic, as the Ishiman Stellar Protectorate was allowing free use of it's jumpgate modules for this event.

"Ishiman competitors, please report to the trading post for checks on your weapons. We need to make sure that this will be a peaceful engagement."

The ships flew over to the trading post, and docked. The brochure was downloaded to Irto Squadron's cargo ship, and Mag downloaded it into his own database. He began checking through the teams.

Elejeetian Empire: 3 cruisers, 1 battleship.
Audemedon Axis: 5 gunships, 5 cruisers, 12 fighters.
Prophets of Salril: 10 gunships, 5 cruisers.
Bazidaneze Star League: 5 gunships, 10 cruisers.
Free Worlds of Obain: 10 escort cruisers, 1 battleship.
Cantharan Order: 5 gunships, 1 heavy cruiser, 3 cruisers, 2 schooners.
Ishiman Stellar Protectorate: 1 gunship, 1 escort cruiser, 1 heavy cruiser, 5 cruisers, 12 fighters.
United Nations of Sol: 5 gunships, 9 cruisers.
Gaitori Union: 10 gunships, 6 cruisers.

This would be a close fight. He checked the other events going on. Lots of trading, parties, and tours of military ships. Some other mock-dogfights were going on, and there were Bazidaneze ships outfitted with EMP emitters ready in case anything got out of hand. The Ishiman Stellar Protectorate was supposed to host a surprise event after the fight was over, at the same time there would be a large party. Pretty impressive.

Mag looked through the list of parties, and found an interesting-looking one aboard the ISN 2020187, which had served in the Ares War. He hired a shuttle to pick him up, and headed for the airlock.

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"I think I have discovered the problem with humans. It is not entirely stupidity, as I once thought. It is their pigheaded and baseless philosophy: "If it isn't me, then it's opinions, feelings, and life do not matter, and it was meant to serve me." They also have this ability for creating excuses that are pointless, but they get others to believe it. A few examples: "It's only some savages. It's only five acres of rain forest. It's only one semi-truck. It's only fifty gallons of toxic waste..." After this realization, I marvelled at how humans, and the rest of the planet, have survived for so very long."
- Me

Year of Hell Day 43

Captain's Log U.N.S. Chimaera, Rear Admiral Levt in command

While we destroyed three of their hypergates, the Audemedons managed to spring a fractal trap on us. We were surrounded by thousands of their drone ships and badly damaged. The Foxtrot broke formation and proceeded to assault the planet itself, herorically buying us time to escape. We lost contact with it soon after.

We are alone now. The Chimaera has suffered minor hull breaches throughout the ship and a damaged EMP array. The Foxtrot's fate remains unknown, but knowing the Audemedons, it was most likely torn apart piece by piece and salvaged to build more drones.

The Audemedons have yet to launch their armada, which now tallies in the thousands. We have bought Earth time enough to evacuate. Surely the UNS would not be foolish enough to stay and fight against the Prophets. Either way, Earth will fall, for the prophets only attack when they are certain they will win. If the humans fight, they will die. If they retreat, they will live another day.

That is not their style.

When the Cantharans were invading Earth, few humans evacuated. Even in the face of overwhelming odds and a garanteed loss, we humans still do not give up. If Salril is determined to take Earth before the Ishiman Protectorate does, so be it.

------------------
Never put all your ranking officers in a shuttle.

(why would the UNS send ships to the Bazidanese competition when the Audemedon were knocking on the gates of Sol? It makes no sense.)

The Wild Karrde entered realspace 2 light minutes out from Obain.
"Where the hell are we? This doesn't look like a backwater planet to me!"
"Sir, I think that that EMP wave disrupted our navigational computer. We seem to be in the Obain system!" The helmsman was just as surprised as the capn'.
"Hail them."
"Comm channel open."
"Obain control, this is the Elejeetian ship Wild Karrde reporting. We need to dock for repairs."
"Roger, Wild Karrde. You show up on our monitors as a Modified Heavy Cruiser. I don't think we have any spare parts for a ship of your type."
"Control, requesting permission to land? If you let us use our Hypercomm, I'm sure that I can have parts brought in." That was one of the good things about being a Captain. People listened to you.
"Roger Wild Karrde. You are cleared for bay 232c. Grid coordinates 135,32. We will have an officer meet you. Control out."
That went quite well. I might have the ship back online in 3 days.
The Wild Karrde was on the ground within 20 minutes. The captain arranged everything else within 25.

"Message for captain Talon Karrde!" Karrde was rudely awakened from a deep sleep. He cursed at the ungodly hour as he picked up the Hypercomm receiver unit.
"Hello?" He asked, still half asleep.
"Thank god I reached you. There's a crisis developing. Something that is much more important than a few renegades taking over a planet. Audemed is about to invade Sol!" That message jerked Karrde's brain fully awake and concentrated.
"Sir, my ship has been almost completely immobilised! Replacement parts will take a while to get here."
"I know. I have the permission of the Emperor himself to use our Gateship in the battle to come. Have one of the obish ships tractor you into orbit, and it will do the rest." Karrde was surprised, he was stunned! For the Emperor to risk the gateship in battle was incredible!
"What? Under whose command?"
"Mine. The Terrans were informed of this change mere minutes ago. You are to be one of the Escort ships. Most of our fleet will be involved in this!"
The full power of Audemed might have been enough to overrun the Humans, Ishiman and Obish task forces, but Elejee might tip the scales in the humans favour.
"Understood."
"Rest now, my friend. Battle will come soon! Elejee out."
"Karrde out." He signed off, feeling dread and honour in the coming conflict.

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"Sergeant, you can't fire that in here! We're indoors!"
"Only until I pull the trigger, Captain!" -Terry Pratchett

(Why not send ships? There's plenty of mercenaries that will represent the UNS.)

Admiral Jackson Spann was having tea with Trey'ish Wizr when one of the ensigns entered the room.

"Sir, I have some preliminary reports about the Audemedon fleet."

"Of course. Wizr, you will excuse me for a moment?"

Wizr nodded. "Of course my good friend."

Spamo turned back to the ensign. "Well, ensign, what have you for me?"

"Sir, we've recieved a long range message pod sent through an Audemedon jumpgate before it was destroyed. Apparently Rear-admiral Levt was send his status report."

The ensign hands Spamo a small pad, which he then reads over quickly.
"Thankyou ensign. Return to you post."

The ensign leaves the room, and Spamo turns back to the Trey'ish.

"Wizr, it seems we have some good news. The Audemedons have yet to launch their main attacking fleet. And Anglagard still stands in their way. One of my Rear-Admirals, a Jerry Levt has succeeded in his task of disabling Audemedon jumpgates. More importantly, we now hold a tactical advantage. Should they use their gateship to assault Sol itself without going through Anglagardia, they will be detected en-route and we would fall on them from behind. They will have to go through the Anglagard system in order to attack Sol safely. Since these reports say that the Auds have yet to attack, we have time to set up fortifications."

Wizr smiled and sipped his tea. "This is very good news. I think that we now have a good chance at turning this thrust at the UNS heart."

Over the intercom a voice spoke. "Admiral, we've exited the Jumpgate into the Anglagard system. Sensors show no signs of an Audemedon offensive. We're now preparing a more through scan."

"Very well. Alert me of any results. Spann out."

Spamo turned back to the Wizr, and drank the last of his tea.
"A very good chance indeed."

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Ne Cede Malis Sed Contra Audientor Ito

Darkk watched the data redouts. Currently, he held the only major bets on the UNS finishing in the top 3. He had good odds though, the Bazidanese Gaming Leuge had set the odds on the UNS at 1:15, as they held human technology in low reguard, as it couldn't be sold anywere for much money. Darkk, however, knew a UNS victory was likely. Especially when the odds were stacked by someone with interest in their victory. Someone like himself...

"Will that be sufficient?" Darkk asked the Cantharan commander standing right in front of him.
"Yes, 30000 credits will be plenty. As you insist on it being conditional, I will make my attack on the Audemedon and Salrilian forces as effective as I possibly can."
"If there's anything of your forces left after that, the Eleejeetians and Ishimans should be your next targets."
"I understood that when you told me you would only pay if the humans won. Cantharis's pride isn't on the line here, so I'm not under any pressure to play fair. I'm not even under any pressure to avoid this sort of thing. This is reguarded mostly as humoring the Bazidanese."
"I guessed as much. You, an important commander, only came because you were bored and wanted to make some cash off the inevitable gambling."
"Yes, which is prescisely why I am talking to you and not turning you in."

------------------
William Darkk, head of the Darkklight Entrepenurial Federation
Yes, I hate Cantharans. Does the trophy on the wall make it too obvious?

"The choice, you know, belongs to you, Mr. Pharris, but our simulations and predictions show that the lowest casualty rates exist if you attack the enemy while their fleets are divided between their homeworld and the outlying military stageing area, where a second fleet has collected to hold your advance."

"I will go to Earth, and I will destroy the fleets there, then I will turn the planet into a smoldering hulk! The ones who tried to hurt me shall not be allowed to live with their mistake!"

"But Pharris, you would not like to be hurt more, would you? Remember, the quickest path is not always the easiest. Destroy the combined defence fleet first, then you can destroy the human defence fleets in Sol at your leisure, and prolong their suffering."

he did not like the pain, he felt it now, even as units scurried to repair the huge jumpgate.

"I shall not wait for the gate to be prepared. I shall launch useing smaller gates, and I will eliminate the enemy's allies at Anglagard, then I will make Sol a burning inferno. for all who would try to harm my Axis!"

"Excellent Mr. Pharris. A strong, well thought out plan. When do you plan to launch?"

"I am launching as we speak."

"very good..."

Year of hell, Day 50

Captain's Log U.N.S. Chimaera, Rear Admiral Levt in command

We've been running. Fast.

Today we lost our rear FTL manifoil, effectivley crippling our means of transportation. At this rate we will reach Earth in 22 years. Therefore I've added "fix FTL manifoil" to my growing list of repairs. Until then, we must make use of the Audemedon hypergates themselves, which I find ironic due to the fact our mission was to destroy them.

In the middle of combat, our astrometrics section was caught in an explosion and exposed to space. We managed to close the internal bulkhads in time, but I lost 7 good men in that blast. The hull near the aft crews quarters is about to buckle. I've evacuated it and sealed it off completely. The crew now literally live where they work, except for the astrometrics engineers who are bunking in the mess hall.

I have to share my captains quarters with more than just my wife now too. What will that do to a man?

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Never put all your ranking officers in a shuttle.

[guys, let me explain this all to you. The Audemedons are sent by the prophets. The prophets want to prevent Earth from becoming part of the Ishiman Protectorate by taking it first. The prophets are taking down the UNS for the same reason they took down Gaitor - it would have risen to an unstoppable power and a major galactic threat. The prophets only atack when they know they will win. The prophets will win one way or another.]

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Never put all your ranking officers in a shuttle.

The Second UNS fleet hung in space around the now heavily fortified Anglagard system. The UNS defense systems in the system had been enhanced by Ishiman rapid-deployment equipment. Ambushes were set up within the Asteroid belt of the outer system, mines were placed and the capital ships took up a defensive stance within the range of the Bunker station and flak drone defense. The flak drones were Ishiman ideas, and there were a few scattered about at strategic points. It was only a matter of time until the Audemedons will arrive. An open comm channel with the Ishiman Gateship back at Sol was kept open at all times, in case of a need for rapid withdrawl to help defend Sol, or to send reinforcements in the case of a major siege. Admiral Spann was thanking all that was holy for the time he had to set up his defense. He was planning on several medals for Levt and his crew. If they made it back.

Spamo turned his head to the ops control center. "Lieutenant, any reports on Audemedon activity?"

"Sir, advance probes have reported that the Audemedons are on the move. We can't say where though, since the reports are sketchy and too widespread."

"Very well. Keep the fleet on yellow alert."

---------

Hours later, the attack came.
Orange blossomed in the starry sky, a spreading stain that remained once the myriad of tiny jumpgates closed. There were thousands...

"ALL HANDS RED ALERT!!" Spamo cried as the entire UNS fleet powered up and began to aquire targets. Too many targets.

Spamo looked at the viewscreen in horror. Thousands of Audemedon ships flew at his fleet. They passed through the minefields, and he saw the flashes of light as they drew closer. "Sir, every mine has detonated!"

"And not even a dent in their numbers..."

They horde closed on the UNS fleet which prepared to launch every missile that they had.
"All ships, fire on my mark..." Spamo stared at the oncoming Auds. "mark."

Hundreds of missiles launched from the clustered UNS fleet. They streaked towards the Auds. The lieutenant counted off the seconds until impact. "4...3...2...1...impact!".
Light blossomed within the Audemedon fleet. Hundreds of missiles detonated, ripping apart their targets in a nuclear fire.

And the fleet came on.
Spamo stood, stupefied in shock. "Report!"
"Sir, they've lost approxamatly 2.2% of their fleet from that attack."

Why weren't they launching thier own missiles? thought Spamo.
"Prepare another volley!"

"Not enough time sir! They're here already."

The Orange tide washed over the UNS fleet. Within seconds the entire system was embroiled in a merciless firefight. Fighters tore through space, engaging foes that outnumbered them nearly 6 to 1. The flak drones launched their deadly cargo into the melee, and the bunker station fired its cannons at passing Audemedon ships. The massive capital ships slowly engaged each other through the massed ships of each fleet. The Mariposa brought its weaponry to bear on a passing Audemedon gunship that soon flamed into debris. Next to it, the Mariposa's sister ship, the New Dawn blazed away at an onrushing Aud carrier. The carrier didn't have the firepower to match the New Dawn, and it fell to burning energy. It's fighters that it disgorged though began to rip apart the smaller ships of the UNS fleet. A pair of UNS Gunships succumbed to the concentrated fire of 12 pursuing Aud cruisers. Aud fighters worked in wolfpacks to take down fighter after fighter. A UNS carrier Intrepid snapped in half under the torrent of weaponfire. One of the halves plowed into an Aud carrier, bringing the lumbering hulk to a drift. Casualty reports poured into the Mariposa and Spamo watched in horror as the UNS fleet was slowly but surely being routed. The ambush ships had sprung their trap and had promptly been dealt with by a good eighth of the Audemedon fleet. They were no more. The remaining ships of the UNS were falling back together.

Spamo quickly made a decision that probably saved many lives.
"Signal the Gateship. Immediate extraction. We've lost the fight here, we must regroup at Sol."

"Yes sir, Signalling retreat."

"All ships, prepare for full retreat and extraction. Withdrawl plan Beta349."

The UNS fleet began to fall back on itself, the larger capital ships giving cover to the smaller ships, which in turn picked off enemy ships that penetrated the defensive circle. Another carrier broke apart, an Ishiman one this time. Debris spilled out into space, catching UNS and Audemedon ship in it's deadly hail.

An opalescent gate opend up in the center of the UNS formation. Immediately, ships began to pour into it. Cruisers and fighters disappeared into the gate. The capital ships created a virtual wall of shields and metal to cover the retreat. Finally, the capital ships withdrew into the jumpgate. Audemedons took potshots at withdrawing ships. Several cruisers were taken down as they entered the gate, and more than one capital ship trailed leaking atmosphere and engine gasses. As the last ship entered the gate, the Bunker station and flak drones detonated, set to self-destruct to prevent capture by the Auds. Flashes on the planet below signalled the destruction of military emplacements.

UNS losses: 44%

Audemedon losses: 6.8%

The last UNS stronghold lay at Sol.

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Ne Cede Malis Sed Contra Audientor Ito

[They ain't taking Sol dammit! We'll fight to the last man, us humans. Another frikkin' independence day. ]

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Ne Cede Malis Sed Contra Audientor Ito

The ISN 9155041 swung through the hords of Audemedon ships. Its pulse turrets Firing wildly, its concussion missile turret never ceaseing its spray of fire. The Trey'sh stood shocked, silent on the bridge as the crew glided smoothly through their duties, the ship ran like clockwork, in sharp contrast to the absolute chaos outside. Wizr shuddered in horror, watching the movements of the Audemedon fleet in amazement. The way they reaped confusion in the UNS numbers was amazing. The Obish and the Elejeetian ships fared little better than the Human ships.

the captain of the 9155041 had two 915 series advanced HVDs and several 915 HVCs under him, and was keeping the group tightly knit to provide mutual support, but it wasn't working, the ships were all taking heavy hits. In what seemed like minutes, they were back in a jumpstream heading for Sol. The Trey'sh was still standing by the Bridge windows, staring out in shocked amazement.

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Faris eck Vaenar Maletena-Wizr, Trey'ish of the Ishiman reestablishment comittee.
"I don't think I'm alone when I say that I'd like to see more and more planets fall under the ruthless domination of our solar system."

He came from fourty odd small jumpgates. He entered the sytem rapidly, and formed up quickly, rapidly readjusting his formations to confuse his opponents. His cruisers deployed their holograms, to further confuse the defenders. He plowed into the minefield, and he felt the singing pain, but ignored it, his rage drove him on. He saw the enemies whos ships had hurt him, and he was going to make them pay.

From somewhere deep and distant, he felt a voice whispering directions. Telling him when to change formation, when to advance the flanks, and when to break into the swarm. He knew it, and yet he needed to be told it, but the ships moved all the same. He surrounded and invaded the enemy fleet, grinning as he felt enemy ships explode. He didn't need to think about it any more, he drove the ships on with pure will. He winced as several of his ships were destroyed, growling in frustration as the Enemy ships closed around the Ishiman Jumpstream and made their escape. He managed to bring a few ships in after them, but he knew they would be destroyed in the jumpstream as soon as the Ishimans detected them.

He grew frustrated, and vented his anger upon the few automated defences remaining, then idly ravaged the bunker station, capturing several of the troopers on board. Interesting... He would rest, then once his Axis was at top readyness in a few hours, he would launch again. In the mean time, he had found a distraction.

On the Bunker station, an Audemedon EVAT stood over the cowering humans, its eyes scanning them slowly...

The Obish escorts were off slightly better than the rest of the UNS. Cloaked and relatively undetectable, they had managed to evade the majority of fire sent by the Audemedons. However, one of the twelve was down, one's cloaking device was damaged almost to the critical point, two others had damaged FTL cores. As they jumped in to the system, these two received specific transmissions from Obish command aboard the ODV Liantasse. The escorts dropped their damaged FTL cores directly in the path of the Anglagard-Sol pathways. The Liantasse went out to join them, and its massive FTL core was deployed along with the damaged cloaking device slightly beyond the first two. All was in readiness, at least at whatever readiness the United Nations of Sol could be. Carriers, Ishiman and Human, lined along the initial ring of attack, discharging their fighters before the critical moment was reached. Cruisers, HVDs formed the next ring out. Finally came the Human Gunships and Obish Escorts, ready to turn maverick at the first sign of attack.

(Escorts: 11, 2 w/o FTL, 1 w/o Cloak,
Human Gunship: 7
Human Cruiser: 20
Human HVD: 4
Ishiman Cruiser: 12
Ishiman HVD: 2
UNS Carrier: 10 (Chimaera out on raid)
Ishiman Carrier: 6
Human Fighters: 114
Ishiman Fighters: 67)

Audemedon Forces unknown

------------------
-Pallas Athene of Dysian Beta, Obish Consensus Representative
-Nieru Dast, {M}ilitia Aeriane
-Danae Vernius
ThinkFish, and good things will come.

"I have never seen anything like it. Never. I have watched dozens of combats from the bridges of many ships from many races, and I have never seen the ferocity that I saw earlier today. I must say that I fear the worst for Sol. I have already asked the Legislature to commit more vessels. They should agree that it is needed after seeing these reports, but the ships themselves may not be here in time."

Spammo sipped tea, aggrivated, pacing through his cabin.

"I don't know what to do. they are certainly unlike any enemy I have ever fought before. They attack with such force, and with such precision, its amazing, and the power of their vessels is incredible."

"I cannot say that I am glad to be looking forward to another battle. I am only glad that the Elejeetians are coming soon."

"Well luckily, we disabled the jumpgate before we left, they will need to go backwards before they can come back towards Earth, that should buy us a few extra hours. Did the message say when the Elejee forces will arrive?"

"They have not. I believe they will be here before the Audemedons though,"

"Why?"

"Because if they are not, there is very little hope for Earth."

[We gonna have a comm frequency for this one?]
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Faris eck Vaenar Maletena-Wizr, Trey'ish of the Ishiman reestablishment comittee.
"I don't think I'm alone when I say that I'd like to see more and more planets fall under the ruthless domination of our solar system."

[This message has been edited by Trey'sh Maletena Wizr (edited 01-05-2001).]

[no, it's over]

The huge Audemedon fleet jumped into the system, with the aid of their hypergates and the Salrilian Gateship. The swarmed the Pluto and Neptune defense matrices and tore through to the Asteroid belt like a stone through a wet paper bag.

Thousands of mines detonated and numerous explosive asteroids (remnants of the belt used to destroy the Cantharan Gateship) exploded. Audemedon wreckage clogged the UNS scanners, yet their infallible numbers had sufferred but the slightest dent.

They threw themselves into the combined defensive fleet with a massive weight, shredding the capital ships in minutes....

Wizr stood on the bridge and watched in awe as the tidal wave of orange drone ships washed out even the mightiest of he defense vessels. "Status?"

"Sir, I don't know, but if these numbers are correct..." The ensign was spaced-out. "there are nearly half a million of those ships there."

The military officer spoke up. "Sir, we're detecting nearly a hundred Salrilian signatures entering the system over Luna!"

"They're broadcasting surrender orders.... the Fleet of Obain has retreated from the system."

"Mars has been overtaken!"

"The UNS Diablo has taken heavy damage."

"They're everywhere!"

It was too much for Wizr to bear. "Silence!" He ordered the bridge. It fell silent, save for the internal rumblings of the ship as it took battle damage. "Let's start from scratch here. The Salrilians don't want the UNS to become part of the Ishiman Protectorate, right?"

"Apparently."

"We ignored their warnings, so they sent a fleet to take Earth before we did."

"Indeed."

"So if we don't annex the UNS, Salril won't worry about the humans becoming a part of the protectorate."

"Right."

"Shall the humans be more stingy with their freedom than their lives?"

The sensors detected the Audemedon Transports - dozens of them - as they folded into realspace directly over Earth! "We can't possibly intercept those in time! Sir, Earth will be overrun in as matter of minutes!"

Wizr let out a long and painful sigh and held his head in grief. Using what he knew of the Prophets, he made a descision that saved many many Ishiman lives. "Order the Protectorate fleet to withdraw."

"And leave the humans to die?"

"You heard my orders. We've seen enough."

With that, the Ishiman fleet turned, ship by ship, and disengaged...

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Never put all your ranking officers in a shuttle.

Darkk stared at the news report aghast as the UNS president, former captain of the Ares, surrendered to the Salrilians.
неб≤ THEM ALL!!!
Darkk was crying, something he hadn't done in years. Nothing had got to him since leaving Earth so long ago.
Of course, only Sol surrendered. The UNS fleet had escaped in large measure, in the pullback of the Ishimans. There would be a second resistance. Darkk had one bright spot in all this. His calls for more spending on defense and less on rehabilitating Earth had been correct. Rehabilitation was useless now, but had they actually built the defense systems...

It wouldn't have made much difference. о╗г*

Oh well, at least he could continue to feel no guild over his taking his command with him when he left. It didn't matter. It couldn't have mattered. All the work Darkk had done aboard Ares, for nothing. There was no way to fight the Auds. Even the full Eleejeetian navy couldn't stop 500,000 aud ships. Even the full Ishiman, Obish, UNS, and Eleejeetian navies wouldn't have mattered.

Darkk considered. He had a chance to be a hero again. He could hook up with the resistance, offer a base where they would be safe. Darkk hated being a hero. All that attention...

How to make the best of this... How to make the best of this... How to make the best of this... How to make the best of this... How to make the best of this... How to make the best of this...

Darkk considered. He couldn't think of anything. He might invite some UNS forces in, and expand his raids on the Cantharans and Gaitori, but that wouldn't do any good. There wasn't a way to fight something THAT powerful. Darkk would have to coop the whole Ishiman... hmm

NO. That would take more resources than he'd ever have, be more responsability than he ever could handle. Forget that. The only solution... There wasn't one. Darkk examined the souvaners he'd taken on the Ares campaign from Salrilian and Audemedon bases until he fell asleep and once again had nightmares about a simlab.

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William Darkk, head of the Darkklight Entrepenurial Federation
Yes, I hate Cantharans. Does the trophy on the wall make it too obvious?

[Actually, except for the 9155041 and its 915 escorts, the Ishiman ships were all piloted by humans, that was the only way Wizr convinced the ISN to send them. And The Trey'sh doesn't really have the authority to order back the Ishiman Ships, they're Spamo's. also, Earth is not a single base on an empty planet, its VERY heavily populated and has very tough terrain, it would take the Auds and the Sals years to round up all the Humans]

The remanants of the fleet retreated to Lalanade. Technicians immidiately deactivated the jumpgate, and the Ishiman Gateship proceeded to create a tremendous Hyperspace fold that spread for lightyears around the system. The fleets entered orbit of Alpha and Beta, and began shuttling wounded down to the surface, and repair equipment and supplies up to the damaged Ishiman and Human fleet.

Maletena was sitting in his quarters, despondent. Somehow, he had failed. It was the first time. He cursed the legislature for their reluctance to aid Earth. Now, several billion cubic light years of sovreign Ishiman Stellar Protectorate territory had been taken. They couldn't ignore this. He wouldn't let them. He would return to the Legislature, and he would make them put the entire Stellar Navy on the alert, and would start the massive industrial machine that the pacifist Ishimans had let lie, while one of the most promising races in the galaxy had been crushed, while under their supposed "protection."

He knew exactly how to do it. He had forced the legislature to sign the UNS as a protectorate before he had left for Sol. The territory was governed by the UNS, but technically it belonged to the Ishiman Stellar Protectorate. There were codes and procedures to be followed during invasions; the Stellar Navy was required to be put on high alert whenever Protectorate Systems were taken.

Through his trouble, he saw a glimmer of hope. Nobody in the legislature could stand up to the Trey'sh of the Reestablishment Comitee in person. In his absence, they had tried to undermime his efforts. He would have many words to mince with the Trey. He would be sure there was no ambiguity this time.

He had just enough time to message Admiral Spann with his intentions, a farewell and an apology before his shuttle was launched back to Ishima through a coded gap in the subspace jamming fold.

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Faris eck Vaenar Maletena-Wizr, Trey'ish of the Ishiman reestablishment comittee.
"I don't think I'm alone when I say that I'd like to see more and more planets fall under the ruthless domination of our solar system."

In the days following the devastation of all the major Earth military footholds, came the nanite plagues and the core ships, huge vessels designed to drill into and physically implant themselves into the molten core, serving as the energy source for the billions of drones to be constructed.

Yet all major population centers were left untouched. Gigantic domes were being constructed around them, and their confused populations, who were being fed with Salrilian-replicated grain and nanites....

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Never put all your ranking officers in a shuttle.

Year of Hell Day 60

Captain's Log U.N.S. Chimaera, Rear Admiral Levt in Command

Pickings have been good. We disabled a sentinal cruiser today and modified it's intact I.N.S.A. core to power our broken FTL drives. Our ETA for home has been cut by nearly nine years. While we got lucky with the sentinal, I can't help but feel this nagging feeling in the back of my head.

I only just realized their systems are empty. They sent their fleets, their huge motherships, their station, every mobile asset through their hypergates. It is too late now. If Earth hasn't fallen yet, it will soon.

But the Audemedons are not nearly as cruel as the Cantharans. Back during the surface battle for Eta Carinae, I was captured by their drones and 'extracted' of all useful data. I was kept in a stasis tank and fed cloned 'organic matter' until I was rescued. The Audemedons prefer to do all the hard work themselves, not trusting 'organics'.

They're content to leave the civilians to go about their own businesses. Their objective is to keep Earth from the "shikv't'a". The Salrilian word for Ishima.

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Never put all your ranking officers in a shuttle.

8 Lightnings could not believe it. He looked down at the scanners. He looked again, blinked. No! How could this happen!

Earth had surrendered. The Ishimans had left. And the Starbeam, along with the Terminal, were stuck here, cloaked, with all hyperdrive disabled. The hypergates were there, but how were two cloaked ships flown by the enemy supposed to make it through. No, it was time to get a message to home. Get a jumpstream sent in by a gateship, and pull them out.

But according to all Obish records, their ship was dead. Where it actually sat, marooned at the edge of the Sol system.

But of course! The hyperfighter was on board! It had a better chance of maintaining stealth around the Salrillians than the Escorts could ever have! he could take it and-

Well, perhaps it'd be best if he stay here. But one of their best pilots, g'Vai'el Thrtnz, was soon on board the fighter. They watched as the fighter disappeared in their bay, and watched the screens projecting it's most likely position. The gate opened and the fighter zapped through.

[BTW, Slug, the Salrillians do not always win. They got angry at the humans for denying their predictions, remember? They can lose, IMHO.]

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Subcommander g'Var "8 Lightnings" Krai'un
Second in command of the Escort Starbeam.
"CRUISER DESTROYED. 91 remaining" -Ares, chapter 9, Hand Over Fist

[This message has been edited by 8 Lightnings (edited 01-07-2001).]

[Two things:
1. The Sals had no way of knowing about the Apollo 2200, so they couldn't accurately predict anything in the Ares War.
2. We should have a meeting on this on GR. When?]

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"I think I have discovered the problem with humans. It is not entirely stupidity, as I once thought. It is their pigheaded and baseless philosophy: "If it isn't me, then it's opinions, feelings, and life do not matter, and it was meant to serve me." They also have this ability for creating excuses that are pointless, but they get others to believe it. A few examples: "It's only some savages. It's only five acres of rain forest. It's only one semi-truck. It's only fifty gallons of toxic waste..." After this realization, I marvelled at how humans, and the rest of the planet, have survived for so very long."
- Me

...This is an incursion into sovreign Protectorate Space. The Systems in the area belong to the Ishiman Stellar Protectorate, I refuse to allow these horrible beasts to take a planet that one of our protectorate races fought so hard to liberate. Therefore, as the Trey'ish of the reestablishment comitee, and liason to the UNS, I am raising the alert status in the liberated Cantharaan worlds to a state of invasion. You know what this means. As I have already established them as a protectorate, the Stellar Navy must be placed on alert. You all have my reccomendation of our level of troop commitment. I shall return momentarily to recieve questions.

He sat down at one of the speaker's consoles, next to the Human representative. In the seven minute recess, the Trey had time to read the briefing Wizr had sent them, and then each comitee could submit three questions. Computers filtered out duplicate questions, and then a comitee of randomly selected representatives of the comitees filtered them down further, so that Maletena was eventually presented with a list of around fifty questiones, ranked in their importance.

"I see that many of you do not approve of my motion to enact the emergency defence construction act. However, we all know that there is nothing worse than a tentative commitment of assets. That type of weak commitment will cripple any effort we make to liberate the captured Protectorate worlds. If we commit the resources, and go out fighting to rout the Prophets, I promise you that we shall make short work of the Audemedon Axis. They have half a million forces, but I have consulted with members of the Stellar Navy, as well as members of the defence and intelligence comitees, and all are confident that with a sufficient upscaleing of production, and the increased training and incorporation of Human pilots and the UNS Navy, we can secure the territory that has been invaded in a vicious unprovoked attack on the Sovreign Territory of the Ishiman Stellar Protectorate!

He stood for a moment, and waited. All of the questions that he had not adressed were currently being answered in a brief by his staff, and would be sent to every Trey's terminal in a few minutes. He felt confident that the motion would pass. Everybody knew what the codes said about defending protectorate space, and all of them knew how potentially valuable Earth and its systems could become. Almost all of the Trey'al, the representatives from the protectorate races felt a strong tie to the Trey'sh of Reestablishment, and he was guaranteed votes from the Trey'sh of the Defence comittee, another non-Ishiman, a person who had no qualms about useing military force, and who had worked with Wizr to establish the UNS as a protectorate, before he had even left for Earth.

He waited with the Human Trey'al, who seemed remarkeably composed for someone argueing for the future of his entire planet. He did seem very glad that Wizr was trere to back him up.

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Faris eck Vaenar Maletena-Wizr, Trey'ish of the Ishiman reestablishment comittee.
"I don't think I'm alone when I say that I'd like to see more and more planets fall under the ruthless domination of our solar system."

The hyperfighter finally drops out in a minor Salrillian system. The border patrols whiz past, and finally it is clear. The hypergate controllers are tricked into thinking the Obish ship is a cargo ship, and open a gate to a neutral system. From there, the fighter progresses to Obish space.

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Subcommander g'Var "8 Lightnings" Krai'un
Second in command of the Escort Starbeam.
"CRUISER DESTROYED. 91 remaining" -Ares, chapter 9, Hand Over Fist

El Spamo wept.

Earth was taken once again by non-human forces. The UNS was overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The losses were horrific on both sides, and though the defense killed more than they took, it made not one whit of difference in the end. They had literally been shoved through the Ishiman jumpgate by the combined forces of Salril and Audemed.

Jackson Spann sat alone in his stateroom now, his anger now replaced with grief. His family hadn't evacuated Earth, as they had confidence that the UNS fleets could repel the invaders. Spamo had no way of knowing wheter or not his parents had been obliterated in an attack by enemy troopers, whether his sister ran and hid, to perhaps prepare a resistance, or had she been captured and tortured by some soulless machine... Only that afternoon he had talked with Wizr, his Ishiman friend, about mobilizing the Ishiman war engine. It might prove to take back Earth. He had been full of fury and zealous hatred. Now he had crumpled and cried.

He wept for those still on Earth. He wept for humanity's loss.

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Ne Cede Malis Sed Contra Audientor Ito

Darkk ran through the simlab, shouting the names of those he had seen on the list. He dodged a barrage of LRPK fire and vaporised the Audemedon drone. Something twisted and mangled was on the nearby bed. Darkk looking in horror at what had once been a man. The Salrilians had done a thorough dissection, not bothering with anesthetic or killing him first. Darkk could feel the horror he had felt. Darkk turned and filled the advancing Salrilian with leptons. For good measure Darkk tossed a grenade into the next chamber, and cleared the area thoroughly before gaping at the further atrocities, these still barely alive. He noticed a small glowing screen...

Darkk sat bold upright. He'd been dreaming about the simlab he'd cleared during the Ares War again. In his opinion, assigning him to do marine work was demeaning for one who's callings are far more intellectual. At least he survived, and that experience now could help him in the many and varied situations pirates find themselves in.

Darkk suddenly realized he had nearly thought of something. He could almost see it. He knew what it did. He didn't know what it was. He would sleep on it some more.

Darkk looked down at the screen. A "subject transfer list", the Ishiman-made translater said. Darkk moved it over the names.

Roger Harris
Bob Lowell
Ruby Bridges
Phillip Contran
Muhammad Indis
Sally Darkk...

Darkk sat upright again. This might give him the chance to search, with much of the Audemedon and Salrilian fleets in Sol...

An unmissable opportunity. Darkk would never forgive himself for not taking it.

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William Darkk, head of the Darkklight Entrepenurial Federation
"Strategic warfare" is code for "killing civilians", and it's my calling. Yeah, it's barbaric. War's supposed to be.

[This message has been edited by Fleet Admiral Darkk (edited 01-07-2001).]