Ares Chronicles: The End of the Order - Pt. 1 by Captain Carnotaur

The
End of the Order

Part
1

By Captain
Carnotaur

Prologue:

After the liberation of Earth, the Ishima,
Eleejetian, Bazidan, Obish, and Humans signed a cease fire treaty
with the Gatori and Cantharan. At first the Salrilians and Audemedon
would not sign the treaty, but the Cantharan Order finally persuaded
the Salrilians and Audemedon to sign it, a very unexpected
move.

Now three years later, the Cantharan,
Salrilians, and Audemedon are relatively isolated - not allowing
trade inside their space, and not contacting anyone. The Gatori Union
has returned to a relatively peaceful trading corporation. The human
government, called United Sol, has finally developed an interstellar
community. In this peaceful time, no one could have guessed at what
was to happen next...

Chapter 1

Robert Minler sat in the cockpit of his UNS
gunship. It had been three years since the surrender of the Cantharan
Order, and since then there had been less and less patrols to the
edges of United Sol space. He was one of the few pilots who still
patrolled UNS space.

"Sir! Did you see that?" the gunner suddenly
shouted.

"What?" Robert replied.

"Right there, near those asteroids. Did you
see it?"

"See what?" asked Robert.

The gunner shook his head. "It was right
there!"

"WHAT WAS?"

"An Audemedon fighter!" replied the
gunner.

"An Audemedon fighter? How could that
be..."

Robert was cut off by the scream of the pilot
of a gunship. Robert turned to see the gunship split in two by a pink
beam. Suddenly Robert's own gunship suddenly shook from an explosion.
Robert turned his vessel and saw the attackers - the
Audemedon.

There were three carriers, a large amount of
gunships, and a vast assortment of other ships. The enemy gunships
started firing, and Roberts gunships were all quickly destroyed.
Robert turned his own gunship toward one of the Audemedon carriers,
saw a flash of pink, and it was all over.

-----------------------------

Vance Sparrows sat in the command bridge of
Terran Station, orbiting Earth. It had been a busy week. A group of
Cantharan Pirates had attacked the Lanade system, and it had taken
six days to finally drive them off. The next day he and another UNS
admiral met with some Cantharan officials, who claimed they knew
nothing of it, and that they were not responsible. But other than
that, it hadn't been a very unusual week.

Suddenly, klaxtons all over the command bridge
and docking ring went off. Red lights blinked all over the place.
Vance dropped the root beer he had been drinking and turned towards
the female scanner operator.

"What is it? What's happening?" he
asked.

"Unauthorized jumpgate!" she
replied.

Vance turned towards one of the view screens.
He saw a jumpgate forming, and out of it sped five Cantharan
carriers, accompanied by several gunships.

"Launch fighters and cruisers! Prepare
gunships for launch! Are there any UNS carriers in the area?" Vance
yelled.

"One carrier! The UNS Megabattle, and a new
light carrier, the UNS Maxtor. Both are in the Alpha Centauri system!
They might not get here in time!" replied the scanner
officer.

Vance quickly left the bridge, leaving it in
the command of the station commander. As Vance headed towards his
gunship, dozens of UNS cruisers and fighters took off from the bunker
station and headed towards the Cantharan fleet. Photokinetic beams,
lasers, and C Missiles flew everywhere. The Cantharan carrier's
cluster cell arrays tore through the formations of cruisers and
fighters with ease, and Cantharan heavy cruisers quickly decimated
three wings of fighters.

Suddenly the Cantharan fleet was attacked by
three groups of gunships, about two dozen in all. However the
jumpgate opened again and another three carriers came into the
system. The United Sol forces were outnumbered, and now the Cantharan
fleet had even more reinforcements.

But suddenly another jumpgate formed, and out
sped the UNS Megabattle and the UNS Maxtor, accompanied by their
escorts. The two UNS vessels screamed through the action, and soon
four carriers were space junk.

The UNS gunships' laser turrets blew apart
enemy cruiser after cruiser. The two UNS carriers grouped together,
just as another carrier took off from Earth.

Soon the battle was almost over, the last two
surviving Cantharan carriers and the remains of the fleet made a run
for the jumpgate they came in, which was now forming. However, before
they got there, the UNS Maxtor fired six C Missiles at the jumpgate.
The missiles exploded, just as the remnants of the Cantharan fleet
reached the jumpgate. The jumpgate imploded, taking the Cantharan
fleet down with it.

Vance took his gunship, which was barely
holding itself together, towards the station. After it was docked,
Vance was told to report to the briefing room.

Admiral MacDouglas was there (he was the main
admiral for the entire UNS fleet), and with him were another two
captains. After Vance had entered, the admiral spoke.

"Gentlemen, within half an hour, the president
of the UNS will declare war on the Cantharan Order, Salrilian
Prophets, and Audemedon Axis. This attack was only one of many
attacks on UNS installations throughout our space. So far, the
Salrilians have destroyed three mining colonies on asteroids. They
also attacked the Klar system, but the attack was repelled thanks to
two Obish battleships and a dozen Obish cruisers.

"The Audemedons attacked two of our main
orbital shipyards, which were both destroyed. However, during the
diversionary attack on the Proxima Centauri system, the Audemedons
suffered heavy losses. The Cantharans attacked the Draalii system and
the Sol, where we repelled them as you all know. The Cantharans
succeeded in their attack on that system, destroying all eight of the
power generators there.

"However the Cantharan, Salrilians, and
Audemedon all made many other small raids on certain border systems,
most of which were unsuccessful. Also, the Gatori have not supported
these actions, and I've received a message saying that they have
broken off all relations with the Cantharan, and their allies. Now we
have the advantage. However most of our communication relays have
been destroyed by Cantharan raiding parties."

The Admiral turned towards Vance and the other
captains, "You will all be supplied with a large fleet. Your missions
are to penetrate the enemies' lines. Captain Talner, you will attack
the Audemedon. Captain Rupurt, you will attack the Salrilians.
Captain Sparrows, you will attack the Cantharan. We're not sure if
the Gatori Union will help us, but the Bazidan and Eleejetian have
assured us they will. However be prepared for Eleejetian and Bazidan
reinforcements only to arrive after up to three weeks. The Ishima
have not told us whether or not they will help, so don't count on
them. Also, the Obish have launched their own raids and offensives
all across Cantharan and Audemedon space, so they may help you.
Dismissed!"

-----------------------------

After about three days, Vance's fleet was
ready. It was composed mainly of carriers, new light carriers, and
gunships. However he still had only minimum amount of cruisers and
fighters. He was also equipped with around three dozen assault
transports.

"Captain, we are ready to disembark. All ships
have reported in. Carriers are on standby," reported the scanner
officer.

"Okay, disembark now," replied Vance, sitting
in his bridge chair.

The huge fleet slowly detached from Terran
Station, and then headed towards a now forming jumpgate. Soon, they
were all on their way to the Cantharan border.

Chapter 2

"WARNING! WARNING! ENEMY SHIPS APPROACHING!"
chimed the alarm signal aboard the UNS Zealot, Vance's
flagship.

On the view screen sped four Cantharan
carriers, with about six cruiser escorts. Vance ordered all fighter
and cruiser units to speed forward full power. As the mass of
cruisers and fighters sped towards the oncoming Cantharan fleet,
Vance's gunships grouped together and started moving around the
Cantharan fleet. Vance's plan was to move around the enemy fleet,
surrounding them, and then finally blowing them to bits.

As the gunships made their way around the
fighting, the cruisers and fighters finally reached the Cantharan
vessels. Cluster cell arrays spewed plasma balls in all directions,
lasers streamed everywhere, magneto pulses plunged into Cantharan
ships, creating huge holes in the hull.

Suddenly, the three remaining carriers turned
and headed away from the fight, and away from the
gunships.

"They've seen the gunships! All ships, move
in! Carriers, go into warp and catch up to those enemy carriers!
Move!" Vance yelled over the intercom.

The UNS cruisers and gunships moved in, while
the carriers went into warp. They stopped about 200 kilometers from
the Cantharan ships, right within the enemy carriers weapons
range!

The carriers were instantly pounded by C
Missiles and photokinetic beams. The carriers turned around, just as
the gunships warped in behind the unsuspecting hostile carriers. Now
the Cantharan ships were being pounded by weapons fire. Soon, the
entire fleet was decimated.

Vance decided to remain in the system for a
while. He detected a small Cantharan bunker station on the edge of
the system. Using his carriers, Vance disabled it, and then captured
it using his assault transports.

Vance stayed there about 3 days, before
receiving a message from Admiral MacDouglas. It read: UNS/Audemedon
front going slowly. UNS/Salrilian front slightly behind schedule.
Held up at Taccer system. Report situation. Obish fleet coming to
assist you. Continue to Crekkit system, then wait for Eleejetian
reinforcements. No word yet from Ishima or Gatori. End Message. End
Message.

Vance replied that he was going fairly on
schedule. He then wondered which system to attack next. To get to the
Crekkit system, he would either have to go through heavily defended
Cantharan territory, or go through an area of space close to the
Salrilians. He finally decided he would rather face the Salrilians,
who were now fairly occupied with the UNS on another
front.

-----------------------------

After about seven days of shooting at sparse
Cantharan raids, Vance was wondering if he was walking into a trap.
He was thinking about turning around and heading towards the Obish
escorts that were to arrive soon.

As he was considering his options, a scanner
alarm went off. Vance turned towards the scanner control panel. On it
were nine diamonds, the symbols for large ships, and they were
red.

Suddenly the light carrier in front of Vance
was hit by several missiles before exploding in a huge ball of fire.
The gunship beside Vance's carrier was suddenly blown to bits by
another salvo of missiles.

"Evasive action!" Vance yelled just the UNS
Zealot was hit by a C Missile. The carrier swerved just as another
two missiles flew by. The carrier took another sudden turn and evaded
another three missiles.

"All ships open fire!"

The UNS fleet turned towards the enemy
carriers, and started to unload their weapons. Soon both sides had
heavy losses, mainly cruisers. Suddenly another large enemy target
appeared - a Salrilian carrier.

The T-space bolt rod smashed into a UNS
carrier, melting its hull and fusing electronic components. After a
few more seconds, the carrier imploded.

Vance ordered all his cruisers to concentrate
on the Salrilian carrier, while the other ships attacked the
Cantharan vessels. The Salrilian carrier vaporized the helpless UNS
cruisers one by one, until there was only a small squadron of them
left.

Vance ordered two of his carriers and the
remaining cruisers to try to destroy the Salrilian vessel.

The Salrilian carrier suddenly went full power
and streaked towards the UNS Zealot. Vance tried to get away, but the
Salrilian carrier was too fast. Then, it fired it's T-space bolt
rod...

To be continued...

Will Vance make it? Will the UNS/Audemedon
front collapse? Will the Obish finally arrive? Will the Gatori and
Ishima finally help? Find out in Part 2 of "The End of the Order",
coming soon!

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