The Terpla'ns - Chapter 4

The Terpla’ns – Chapter 4

Chapter 4.25

Chapter 4.5

Chapter 4.75

“The rank suits you, Anjur,” said System Admiral Hanset, military governor of Hamthen Prime. “High Command has decided that you’ve won enough battles to give you a rank befitting your station.”
      On the tail end of his month-long leave Anjur finally got what he had been promised and waiting for the past six months. “More likely they didn’t want to pay the salary of yet another System Admiral,” Anjur mused, touching the rank insignia on his collar tab. My aunt may have twisted some arms on the High Command to help me, he thought, but the Promotions Board is beyond her reach. They promoted me before the public began to ask why I wasn’t made an admiral by now. “With a rank commensurate with my responsibilities I can now have the greater reward. I understand you have several sites for my consideration?”
      “Yes. I’ll show you in my office.” Hanset took his honored guest through several plain-looking rooms and corridors before ending up in an ornate chamber. Like all Axis buildings on Hamthen, Hanset’s governing tower was built from prefabricated parts. It was impractical to retrofit captured alien structures to meet Axis requirements. Moreover it was unnecessary since all alien cities were going to be razed eventually. Opening a file on his computer the governor had Anjur look at several prospective sites for his Hamthen residence, a gift from the First Leader.
      It has been a year since the Asteroid Axis successfully assaulted the warp point defenses of the Hamthen system. Occupation of the Hamthen’s homeworld has entered its eleventh month and has made worthy progress. Of the 3.5 billion aliens, now referred to in official correspondence as Aboms (short for abominations), 600 million have been relieved of the burden of living. Systematically whole regions were being depopulated and settlements, ranging from villages to cities, leveled completely. Slave labor was only being used to clear land selected as sites for Axis habitation. Just two months previous the first 1,500 Axis settlers arrived to take residence in the prefabricated dwellings of Anjur City, the Axis capital on Hamthen. Working on a timetable the Axis Army expected to have the Aboms fully exterminated in five years time. Wholesale use of nukes was ruled out as the Axis was going to make the planet their own. This didn’t prevent the massive use of conventional explosives, especially those that rivaled kiloton-ranged nukes.
      Anjur came to a decision and made his selection, showing it to Hanset. “Excellent choice,” said the governor. “You’ll have a good view of the mountains, and the land is fertile. Native grapes grow there as well. Our wine experts tell me it will make for a good table wine.”
      “Excellent. If it’s possible, I’d like to visit the site today. My remaining time here won’t permit me otherwise.”
      “I can arrange that, Anjur. The risk is minimal after the last major anti-resistance offensive in the area.” Hanset then issued some orders through his communicator. “A shuttle will be ready in twenty minutes at the airfield. There’ll be a dinner tonight in the Tower, attended by senior military officers and civilian officials. I’d be honored if you join us and share some of your war stories from the front.”
      “I’d be happy to entertain your guests, Hanset. They will want to hear first-hand how we’re winning the war.”

Pressing its advantage for the past year the Axis Fleet Command continued its conquest of Hamthen space. Unable to break into Hagelkorn the assault went through Stratus, Altostratus, and Contrail. The defenses at Virga, a system that bordered Contrail and Harvest Slope, a CPS system, have held against one serious probe. Cirrus, one transit out of Contrail, had fallen to Anjur’s task force before he was recalled to Hamthen for his promotion and one month of R&R.
      While Anjur’s task force was in a holding position in Contrail a fresh one, Star Force 4 of the First Advanced Fleet, staged an assault to conquer Hamthen systems past Cirrus. Encountering light resistance past Cirrus, and with the aid of captured astrogation data, SF 4 sped on until it came to a jarring halt at Pileus, a system that connected to Wrangler, located in CPS territory. Aside from Virga, just Hagelkorn, Thunderhead, and Pileus remained under Democracy control.
      The Allies had reinforced Hagelkorn and Pileus steadily but had been failed to break back into Hamthen in the two assaults made after its fall. Task groups of the Second Advanced Fleet had freed up those of the First, defending the Hamthen/Hagelkorn warp point while practically all the mobile yards in AFC service had been brought forward to assemble bases. With that task complete they were sent to Altostratus, Contrail, and Roll Cloud, the last system being the one that connected to Pileus.
      For its size the CPS didn’t have all that large a fleet before the war, both active and reserve. This was even more the case for its allies, for their territories were far smaller and had fewer population centers. Even the Hazen and the UWL, both of whom had large fleets for one reason or another had mothballed most of their units during the years of peace. Add to this the distance involved, for Hamthen territory was on the ‘eastern’ side of CPS space and the Allies were on the order of one to five months away at battleship cruising speed. Now that the war was in its sixteenth month the situation was rapidly improving. Reinforcements were arriving at Hagelkorn, Pileus, and Virga at a steady clip. It was the same case for the Axis but more so, given their fondness of spoiling attacks. The Axis probe of Pileus the previous week had wrought some damage, especially on the small bases guarding the warp point. Judging from the number of ships involved, two waves of carriers and one of minesweepers, the Axis had an ample reserve to back up its aggression.
      Admiral Kamani, commanding Task Force 11 of the 1st Field Fleet, CSF, was charged with the defense of the Pileus/Roll Cloud warp point. 1800 patterns of mines arranged in two concentric shells along with 450 armed buoys covered said warp point. Backing up the automated defenses were 36 bases and 224 ships of various sizes. The good majority of those units were CSF with the rest coming from the Tuphon, Valhallan, Hazen, Humarsh, and Tzel. The Crajen were sending a task group to Pileus but was still two months away, and the Endril, Bulan, and Uan had yet to finish upgrading and building up their respective fleets.
      There was only one ally that, in Kamani’s opinion, wasn’t living up to their much-ballyhoo military might. Like the Tuphon, the Quagaar had a government ran by a council of corporations but in this case it was defense industries instead of a more broad representation of companies. Still practicing the art of the pitch, the Quagaar Convention of Defense Contractors (CDC) presented such a good face on first contact that a trade and military assistance treaty was agreed to in two months. In short order the CDC earned a contract to build a new medium freighter for the CSF. As a further example of their selling skills the CDC, for a ‘modest’ licensing fee, provided the Commonwealth with heterodyne laser technology. This benefited the shipyards owners in Commonwealth space for the costs of refitting ships and bases helped in a time of stagnant new construction.
      Where the CDC had fallen short was following through on their treaty commitments. Even after formalizing relations with the Hamthen only now had the Contractor Defense Fleet (CDF) sent a single three-ship division to the front. Much noise had been made by the Quagaar on the need to refit their reserve ships and building a carrier arm of their own. To Kamani, whose family was involved in defense industries back on Terpla, this sounded like the age-old tradition of stringing out contracts to keep the money flowing. After decades of running the government the various Quagaar corporations seemed to believe to arm and prepare for a war was more profitable than to actually fight in one. If Kamani had his way he would see to it that the CDF participated in front line combat instead of skulking in the background, providing auxiliary service at premium prices.
      From his CIC on the commander cruiser Cobalt Bay the Admiral contacted the officer in charge of the three CDF cruisers, a Commander Wan. Looking like a Terpla’n done in reverse, the typical Quagaar has two legs and six arms arranged symmetrically around the center of the body. There were four eyes, smaller than those of a Terpla’n and also equally spaced apart. Wan’s eyes were bright green, and the front pair focused on Kamani as his image appeared on the video screen. “Greetings, Admiral. What do I owe for your call?”
      “It’s a courtesy call,” said Kamani. “Tomorrow the task force will be conducting a warp point defense drill. This will be the first drill held in a war zone with Quagaar warships in attendance. Given the armament of your ships I’ve assigned them to take station with the capital missile bases.”
      “A sensible plan, Admiral. My ships were made to engage at a distance.”
      Kamani blinked acknowledgement. “The drill will also serve to test the reaction speed of our crews. Fresh Crajen and Valhallan units are here as well, and your crews’ performance will be compared to them and not to the veterans. So…”
      A klaxon announcing an Axis transit sounded off in Cobalt Bay’s CIC. Kamani excused Wan, terminating the link and focused on the holoimager. Five dreadnought-sized minesweepers emerged from the warp point and were followed by 200 escorts in a mass transit. 56 of the small vessels interpenetrated and exploded. Close-in defenses consisted of twelve type-2 bases; survivors from last week’s probe with half of them armed with hetlasers and the other with plasma guns, divided in two groups and stationed half a light-second from the warp point. With them sat six Tamaya heavy cruisers outfitted with plasma guns. In combination with the other, distant bases and those task force units that became active 47 escorts were destroyed and one sweeper badly mauled. The sweepers fired their transit-addled lasers and CAMs at two of the small bases, destroying one and badly damaging the other. On their part the escorts fired capital mine-clearance charges into the minefields.
      Two automated weapon controllers became active and fired off 200 buoys armed with lasers. With the large number of escorts involved only minor damage was done. No second wave followed and three of the escorts came about and transited back into Roll Cloud. The quintet of sweepers turned as best they could to face their exit vector, firing their point defense systems at the buoys. Half of the CAP reacted fast enough to engage, and coupled with the other units that became active they utterly destroyed the remaining Axis ships before they could leave. Five minutes of uneasy quiet had passed before Kamani gave the order to stand down and commence a SAR operation for base survivors. It was doubtful that any Axis life pods would be found but they would be searched for as well.
      Five hours after the one-minute action (one could hardly call it a battle) Commander Wan contacted Kamani. On his part the Admiral wasn’t surprised to see Wan holding datapads in four of his six hands. “Sir, this action on the Axis’ part hardly made sense.” The Quagaar commander waved a datapad for emphasis. “They lost five minesweepers and 197 escorts just to ensure three escorts would make it back to Roll Cloud. Casualties for them alone are at least 21,000. For all that they only destroyed two small bases, badly damage a third, and eliminate 30 patterns of mines and 21 rechargeable laser buoys. Don’t get me started about the economic disparity.”
      “Then I won’t, Commander,” Kamani said in a sharp manner. I wished you were here for last week’s probe, he thought bitterly. You would’ve had more data to work with. “The Axis could very well have sent pinnaces to probe. What happened here today was a message. If they’re willing to throw away 21,000 lives on a mere probe then no cost is too high to take Pileus from us. They have to know the importance of this system in relation to its warp connections, especially with databases from captured ships. If Pileus falls, then Thunderhead and Hagelkorn will be isolated, and Hagelkorn doesn’t have the wherewithal to support defenses and the guarding task force on its own.”
      “Won’t this probe lead us to strengthen the defenses here even more, Admiral?” Wan asked. Being a veteran of submitting requisitions and defending them in the face of superiors Wan wasn’t phased by Kamani’s manner.
       “Naturally and unavoidable, Commander. We have to assume they’re serious about taking Pileus, not after sending two probing attacks in the space of one week. Reinforcements will be sent here for the near-term. That means they can’t be sent to Virga or Hagelkorn or become part of an offensive task force to reclaim Hamthen space. So it appears whatever plans Admiral Ayrth had for taking Hamthen back via Hagelkorn will have to be put on hold.” Kamani paused for a moment as he eyed a repeater screen beyond the camera pick-up. “If you’ll excuse me, Commander, I have to review the reports on the few Axis prisoners we’ve been able to secure. Let me say in closing that your crews performed well as the newbies, all becoming active in the first minute.”
      “Thank you, Admiral,” said Wan. “I’ll pass that on to my crews.” As soon as the connection was terminated he started on his report for his superiors back on Quagaar. After the Uan, an insectoid race whose territory was three transits out from Virga, the CDC was the closest ally next threatened by the Axis advance. Wan stressed the need for the Expeditionary Fleet to be sent to Virga as soon as practical so that it could assist in the counter-offensive. But the CEOs of the CDF had their own priorities to address first, and the fleet would move only when they felt good and ready. This was another example on how both sides dithered away their opportunities that would’ve save much trouble later on.
      For now the buoy parks and minefield patterns of the inner ring were adjusted, all losses eventually being replaced from stocks pulled from a depot in the Calrat sector. Another Axis attack was expected, but with three points of contact to choose from it was anybody’s guess. The task force had to endure another waiting game, and it was one that Kamani hoped to finish sooner than later.

Mr. Skuu, Minister of the Naval Department and the last surviving senior member of the Democracy government, was roused from his sleep by hunger pangs. He and his cadre of resistance fighters had taken refuge in the ruins of a town, located in a zone the Axis Army had pacified months earlier. Pacified, in this context, meant all the previous inhabitants had been killed or fled to areas not yet under attack. While the buildings were raised their basements were still intact, provided that they weren’t filled with debris or burnt out. The cadre had selected the basement of a broadcast studio which had escaped fire and collapse, but had no power. Ancient oil lamps served for lighting while thick bowls housed cooking fires. It was to one of these that Skuu was drawn towards.
       “I’ve got news,” said Kaan, one of Skuu’s lieutenants, as he handed over a stick of fried meat and a canteen. “Our teams observing the shuttle fields recorded the disembarkation of over 50,000 troops over the past week. The Axis Army now has 4.1 million troops on our planet. If they stay to schedule, then the next influx of troops will be in two weeks.”
      Skuu took a bite and chased it with a swig of water from a canteen. He also nursed a cramp in left rear leg. “And our troops?”
      “They’ve ambushed a convoy that was on the way to Fall Garden. It was carrying an engineering company, judging from their insignia and what little equipment the troops were able to observe. We lost only fifteen, plus twelve wounded.”
      “Hardly noticeable with the civilian dead,” Skuu said harshly. “Still averaging over a million per day?”
      “Yes, Sir,” Kaan said with distaste. “The Axis aerospace fighters are, as usual, conducting daily bombing attacks on villages and towns using hyper-napalm mixed with high explosives. That’s not mentioning disease and starvation.” Kaan threw the datapad he was referencing against a far wall. Its tough casing prevented it from breaking. “Sir, if the Axis is such a genocidal group of bastards then they could’ve nuked use well before now. Why prolong it?”
      Skuu grunted and took another swig from the canteen. “Indeed. They’re spending a considerable amount of effort to kill us on the ground instead of doing it from space. My intelligence teams (most of them university professors assisting the few naval officers involved) have succeeded in obtaining further historical data about the Axis.” Skuu reflected for a moment that the data in question was gathered from raids on Axis rear-area depots and at great expense. It was the response to one such raid that lead to the death of the Minister of Energy, a personal friend of Skuu’s. “It appears to be a cultural imperative. They must prove their inherent superiority not only to us but to themselves in a demonstrable way, every day. Admittedly, they don’t need to throw in infantry like they have, not with the ground weapons at their disposal. I believe one of the reasons, if not the only reason, the Axis has been increasing its presence is for bragging rights.”
      Kaan looked stunned. “Bragging rights?”
      “Indeed. Captured information and even enemy messages in the clear have established that much, Kaan. We, the ‘Aboms’ as they call us, are being compared to animals in a safari hunt. Every Axis soldier wants to be able to tell their children and grandchild how they hunted down Aboms in the name of their race. It’s hypocritical on their part, for most never get in close enough to actually see those that they kill.”
      “Then we have to insure that they’re be fewer of them around to tell their stories,” Kaan said with dark humor. “We’ve secured several hyper-napalm canisters and attached them to some of our rockets. They’re in position to fire onto what the Axis believes to be a secured rear-area recuperation center. If they shoot them down at altitude it’ll only serve to spread the hellish stuff out in a wider area.”
      Before Skuu could reply a resistance fighter came over to the fire. She was a veteran in the Army, having fought the Axis ground forces until her platoon was wiped out and subsequently becoming part of Skuu’s cadre. “Sir, an Axis patrol is twenty kilometers away and approaching the town along the main road. They have a tripod tank with them.”
      “I see.” Skuu blinked with his inner eyelids. “Everyone in town is to proceed to the fallback spot immediately.” After the fighter acknowledged and left Skuu got up and checked his web gear. “Must be in response to our convoy attacks yesterday. They’re going to gas every town in the area just to be sure.”
      “Or it could be a regular ‘delousing’,” Kaan replied, checking his own webbing. “They’re also going back to places they’ve destroyed to deny their usefulness to us. Using a tripod tank is just their way to scare up some game.”
      The Axis Army had the usual assortment of vehicles from armored hovercraft to aerospace fighters. What inspired terror on sight for the Hamthens were the tripod machines employed by their genocidal enemy. Most of a tripod’s 35 meter height was made up by its legs, topped off by an inverted bowl. Fixed armament consisted of three particle guns on the bottom side of the bowl with a fourth on top. The main weapon was a microwave emitter that had considerable range. It was learned that the Axis used this weapon in a previous war against a robotic race, but it proved just as deadly to living beings. Expendable weapons included rockets with high explosives and hyper-napalm.
      By far the worst weapon employed by the Axis Army was a gas weapon nicknamed black smoke. Dropped by aircraft but employed the majority of the time by the tripods, black smoke was a heavy gas that killed by coating lung interiors, causing painful suffocation and leaving an oily sheen on all exposed surfaces. Gas masks were of little help as the black smoke coated them and rendered current filters useless. Skuu was assured by scientific teams that a counter-agent was being perfected, but he could never forget the sight of black smoke rolling down a valley and engulfing a city. 29,000 citizens were killed, leaving behind a dead metropolis that gleamed from the smoke’s residue.
      Skuu’s cadre pulled out of the town and proceeded to a wooded hilly area. Behind them they heard and felt the rhythmic walking of the tripod. Halfway up a hill Skuu turned around and used his binoculars, focusing on the tripod. As expected it opened several canisters of black smoke, walking the length of the town’s main streets. It was like midnight given a physical form with the tree-legged monstrosity rising above it. Thirty minutes later the smoke was no longer visible, but Skuu knew that it had sought its own level, seeping into basements and sewers before it finally lost its cohesiveness. Axis troops following the tripod waited until the black smoke cleared before moving into the town, tossing explosives into buildings that still stood above ground, wrecking them and their foundations and stirring up materials for the fires to feed on. It was an assault to the senses that make Skuu sick to his stomach. On the spot he renewed his vow to see the end of Axis occupation of his world and to see destruction visited upon his enemy. The cadre moved on, and that night they ate a cold dinner so as not to attract the attention of Axis patrols and reconnaissance drones. They endured a few more cold nights before they could bring about the end of a few more of their enemy.

The dinner had gone splendidly. Anjur had his guests, especially the civilians, spellbound with his recounting of battles he participated in. He even told of his brief confinement aboard an enemy ship, chalking his survival as proof the cosmos favored the Comensal race. In turn Anjur was given glowing accounts of actions by the Axis Army, clearing one region after another of the Abom population. Each story was toasted by shots of the first wine made from indigenous grapes, the taste of which rivaled those from home.
      Following the stories and post-dinner chatter the civilians and most of the military officers left the governing tower. Meeting privately in Hanset’s office was Star Admiral Terson and newly minted System Admiral Anjur. Despite the talk in the fleet that pegged Terson as jealous about Anjur’s successes the older admiral was confident of his place in Comensal history. Besides, he was selected to lead the conquest of the Hagelkorn system, which would put an end to the Democracy of Hamthen and add yet more accolades and a medal from the First Leader to his already impressive record.
      As befitting his rank, Terson sat at Hanset’s desk while Anjur took a seat across from it. “I’ll be brief,” said the seasoned warrior, posturing so his facial scar was more noticeable, a move to emphasis his seniority as well as his sacrifice. “Earlier tonight I was informed that the CSF attempted another assault at the Hagelkorn warp point. They’ve shown us that they now have assault carriers. It was repulsed, of course, but not without some losses on our part. With your offensive to break into Virga slated to begin with your return we have to keep the CSF fixated here in Abom space. To that end I will be conducting a raid into Hagelkorn and ravage their defenses. Coupled with the recent probes into Pileus this should draw whatever reserves they have here and away from you.”
      “I see,” Anjur said respectfully. “Will I still have the assault task group slated for the advance?” He asked as the assault element attached to SF 2, his command, was understrength and needed the reinforcement.
      “Yes you will, Anjur. My planned attack will not be extensive as I will only make use of those assault elements on hand. A whole new assault task group will have finished training and arrive here in five months time. By then I should think as you drive further into alien space, along with the thickening defenses here and in Roll Cloud, will give the CSF enough problems. I suspect our enemies will make one more serious attempt to enter Hamthen in the interim, but the final elimination of the Democracy will become easier with each fresh system you capture.”
      “I will take your confidence to heart, Terson. My star force will sweep across their systems like a fire on the savannah. The enemy can only wilt in the presence of our blood and fire.”
      Terson wagged an exaggerated admonishing finger at Anjur. “It’s time for you to come up with your own quotes. If you pass off mine as your own then you’ll hear some words from my lawyer.”
      “I will, Sir. The corridors of history will soon echo with my words of victory and supremacy of the Comensal race.”

Chapter 4.25
The orbital space above Hagelkorn III, occupied by its steadily expanding space station and the support elements of Task Force 21, Second Field Fleet, now played host to several units that recently saw battle. Some of these were ships that participated in the Allies’ third attempt to break into the Hamthen system. The nine ships that returned out of the eight assault waves were heavily damaged. Using up the rest of the available repair slips were the bases and the single ship damaged in an Axis counter-assault.
      The Axis sent in just five assault waves. The first two were composed of assault carriers while the rest were minesweepers. Instead of anti-mine charges all the ships carried close assault missiles on their external racks, battering those bases in the inner shell that hadn’t been attacked by the fighters. Every Axis ship spent the least amount of time in Hagelkorn as possible, firing at bases and buoys alike until they achieved their exit vector and left. The thick passive defenses served the first set of minesweepers well. As for the rest they didn’t make it out, but they had done what Terson expected them to do. Over 100 reusable laser buoys were knocked along with six type 2 and three type 5 bases. Three more bases suffered varying degrees of damage.
      Then there were the fighters. Having exhausted their close attack missiles on the bases they went after the Allied carrier group in a suicide run. In Hamthen the Allies kept their assault carriers on the warp point so that they could recover fighters; for their trouble only three Nikazu-Vs made it out. Terson made his cold-blooded decision early for he needed as many Soars come back as possible; pilots and fighters were replaceable. He gave a compelling yet simple speech to the strikegroups, all of them fresh arrivals from flight training and highly motivated. After that the pilots needed no further reminder to fulfill their orders. One CV was singled out by the dwindling squadrons and enough survived to inflict internal damage in their deliberate immolation.
      Casualties on the Junshu were heavy, especially on the hanger deck among the service crews. Everyone in both the main bridge and auxiliary control were wounded, including Rear Admiral Tulcus Jki. While tugs pulled the damaged units towards Hagelkorn pinnaces loaded with the wounded rendezvous with personnel transports, making use of their extensive medical facilities. It was on the eighth day after the battle that Jki recovered to the point where she was allowed her first visitor. Captain Reas, senior pilot and commander of the strike wings of TF 21, came aboard the Tranquil Sea expecting to see the worse. Jki, like the majority of Junshu’s crew, only wore the standard shipsuit instead of the reinforced one used for sustained periods of combat operations. So it was Reas was pleased to see his friend intact, something that couldn’t be said for the rest of the auxiliary control personnel.
     Even with several tubes attached to her body Jki achieved the desired level of playful sarcasm in her voice. “I should fire you for letting those fools hit my ship. If this was a ball game you would’ve been sacked by the general manager even before the game was over.”
     Reas pulled up a stool and sat next to Jki’s bed. “Then I want to talk to the referee about the other team’s conduct. Tackling the goalie is against the rules.” He noted with some discomfort the amount of medical cloth covering his friend’s body. While the standard shipsuit Jki wore wasn’t compromised she was heavily bruised by fly debris and sustained several broken bones. Thankfully her eyes were spared. “Junshu’s going to be out of the fight for four months while she’s being repaired and refitted and her replacement crew brought up to speed.”
     Jki blinked. “Good. She’ll keep Avma company.” One of the nine ships that returned from the abortive attempt to enter Hamthen, the Captain Avma (Jki’s former command) barely survived only because the Axis defenders shifted their fire after crippling the ship. “They’ll be fixed up in time for the fourth assault.”
     “This last one should’ve been the final one,” Reas admitted. “We should’ve made a mass transit after sending in the assault carriers. Our losses would’ve been nothing compared to the millions already killed on Hamthen. Every day we wait longer is another check mark against us.”
     “I agree with you, Reas. With data from the Axis minesweeper we captured from their second Hagelkorn assault the argument should’ve been settled. I would be seething with anger if it weren’t for the painkillers.” Jki stared up at the ceiling. “With Hamthen secured by our fleet the Axis forces remaining in the systems in-between Virga and Pileus would’ve been isolated and starved for supplies.
     “Still, I must see it from the other side. With this last Axis probe and what happened at Pileus the impetus to further defend remaining Democracy territory can only grow stronger. Only in our last assault did we learn how much the Axis actually had waiting for us, and had we been allowed we would’ve went in one go. But that’s water pumped from the bilge now. With the rate of refit and units built with the new technology arriving here at Hagelkorn we’ll be ready again in four months time.”
     Reas stood up. “I have no doubt about Pileus and Hagelkorn. It’s Virga that had better hold. Break through there, and it’ll be the Uans who’ll be threaten next.” A silly smile took over Reas’ mouth. “However, further talk about subjects we have no control over will do your recovery no good. That’s why I brought someone else with me.” With a whistle Reas had the person waiting outside in the corridor to come in. It was none other than Major Yun’su, commander of the Marines aboard the Avma.
     Bearing several patches from where he was injured from rescuing trapped Avma crewmembers, the huge E’sani was carrying a small aquarium. It was currently occupied by a lungfish, and the critter in question was looking past the transparent plastisteel right at Jki. “As you known, Tulcus,” Reas said, using his friend’s first name for emphasis, “the company of a pet can speed up the healing process by a significant amount. So, with the doctor’s permission I’ve taken up the offer by the Avma’s crew to have you watch Flip until Marine Country is patched back up.”
     Jki focused an eye on Flip, noting that the lungfish was working up to his namesake trick. “It’ll be kind of difficult to feed him while I’m confined to bed.”
     “The nurses will see to his care, ma’am,” Yun’su said in a deep, rumbling voice. “You just get healed up ‘cause we need you out there to kick some Axis ass.”
     “Your vote of confidence is compelling, Major. I’ll try to arrange some Axis ass for you to kick as well.” Jki had her bed elevated so that when Flip jumped out of his aquarium he landed what passed for a lap on a Terpla’n. Yun’su placed the 20-gallon aquarium on floor next to the hatch. After talking with Jki for a few minutes both he and Reas left, heading for a ward on the Tranquil Sea that had some of Avma’s recuperating Marines. For the rest of the day Jki was entertained by Flip’s repeated demonstration of gymnastics before she underwent a long, restorative sleep. After being feed by a nurse Flip returned to his aquarium and set about rearranging the gravel and plants to his liking.

Anjur arrived at Contrail ahead of his fresh assault task group thanks to the high cruising speed of the Ration Box freighter he used. He was eager to resume the offensive, taking advantage of the pressure the Allies had to be feeling in further bolstering the defenses of Pileus and Hagelkorn. The steady routine of pinnace probes into Virga hadn’t achieved anything, so Anjur ordered a mass probe by 30 pinnaces while he was five days out. Enough information was gathered for Anjur to plan an assault he believed would work without having to wait for the new ships.
     Virga fixed defenses had increased since the first probe. Twelve close-in type-2 bases were backed up by six more distant type-2s and six type-5s. Six hundred buoys now ringed the warp point, and undoubtedly the mine field was thicker. For the mobile forces the few pinnaces that reported back listed 12 DN, 9 BB, 15 BC, 24 CA and CLs, and 28 DDs. The suspected carrier group had four large carriers and at least four light ones, but that was hard to tell since CVLs and CAs were the same size and displayed the same drive field strength.
     Empowered by Terson and the High Command to resume the advance Anjur started a mere two hours after stepping foot on his flagship, the DN Saber. The first wave was composed of five minesweepers, each refitted with extra armor at the expense of one HET laser installation, and a mass transit of all the Hero BCs and Dispersion ESs in Star Force 2.
     Upon entry the minesweepers, facing in the direction arbitrarily labeled north, found that the bases still sat where the pinnaces found them five days earlier. The twelve close-in type-2s were divided into two groups, six each situated west and east of the warp point at a range of half a light second. Orbiting the warp point at the same distance were 17 squadrons of fighters. Four light seconds north were the remaining six type-2s and the six type-5s. The enemy fleet was divided in two. One section was two LS to the northwest with the other two LS beyond that, most likely the carriers and capital missile ships.
     Eight of the 24 Heroes and eight of the 40 Dispersions interpenetrated, but their transited-addled fire was effective. With external racks loaded with CAMs the Axis first wave destroyed nine of the twelve close-in bases for the additional loss of one minesweeper and nine Dispersions. One Hero lost its shields and half its armor. Still unseen at the moment were six type-1 bases sitting seven LS out towards the northwest. Four of these were mine/buoy controllers with two of them becoming active, ordering two hundred rechargeable laser buoys to open fire. The Dispersions served their function in defusing the laser fire, but their life expectancy for the next thirty seconds was very low. As for the Allied CAP eight of the seventeen squadrons banked sharply and closed on the battlecruisers. Three carriers and one BS5(V) crashed launched 17 squadrons with an ETA to the warp point of one minute.
     Five DNs and a CA composed the second wave, and as it completed transit one ES turned around and transited back to Contrail. One Cqux class DN was singled out by the Heroes and was turned into an immobile wreck. The second wave fired their internal weapons at the three remaining close-in bases, destroying them before they could fire back. In return the Allies removed the remaining Dispersions and five Heroes along with one BC badly damaged. After expending their ordnance the eight attacking CAP squadrons headed for the BS5(V)s while three of the remaining nine patrolling squadrons responded to the call to attack. Nineteen more Allied squadrons were crash launched from the carriers and another BS5(V).
     A section of the minefield lost seven patterns to the clearance charges carried by the fresh DNs while the minesweepers shot down 26 unused buoys. The CSF commander decided to hold the fire of his buoys at the moment. More Axis ships had to be destroyed so that the remaining buoys would be effective. To that end he ordered all active beam-armed and standard missile warships come within 1.25 LS range of the warp point and destroy the Heroes.
     The DNs of the second wave revealed themselves to be assault carriers, and their 20 squadrons of fighters were primed to dogfight, not to engage ships. This came as a surprise to the 20 Allied squadrons that entered point-blank range, being fixated as they were on the Axis capital units. Firing before they died the Heroes and the lasers of the minesweepers and the transit addled newcomers targeted the battleships and a dreadnought. Two Nikazus were destroyed with a third heavily damaged along with one Cqux rendered motionless as its last engine room sputtered and then died. Only half of the currently attacking Allied fighter squadrons managed to fire their full loads before being cut to ribbons by Axis fighter guns. Just 20 fighters from the strike pulled away, heading for the carriers to reload. 26 more buoys were shot down and nine mine patterns obliterated.
     All the Heroes were gone, along with one CA. Now with just 15 ships to contend with the Allied commander ordered the use of the remaining buoys. Damage overall wasn’t great, but for those ships already hit it was enough. The missile bases blasted one minesweeper and the third wave CA, but disappointment ran high as the third wave DNs launched 20 more squadrons, this time armed with short-range attack missiles.
      As the first three waves continued with their arduous turns for their exit vector the fourth wave, composed of five BBs and one CA, made its entry. The 20 gun-armed Axis fighter squadrons pounced upon 23 Allied ones, bent on destroying the BBs. While they did bagged four of the Axis capital ships only 12 fighters evaded destruction. Eight of the nine Allied BBs were gone or wrecked along with two DDs. Just five DN(V)s, one BB and a crippled CA comprised the current Axis force.
     Whatever hopes the Allies had for defending Virga ended as a horde of light cruisers and destroyers made a mass transit right after the fifth battleship of the fifth wave. Hardly anyone noticed one assault carrier recovering its fighters and transiting back into Contrail. Even with interpenetration of 8 CLs and 14 DDs that still left 28 and 34 respectively. The CSF admiral commanding the defenses ordered the destruction of the remaining Soars followed by the new battleships. Only one of the latter remained with its armor for the worst of wear.
     On the negative side only 101 out of 408 Allied fighters remained, prompting the admiral to have all the survivors fall back on his carriers and be rearmed with guns. He also made the decision of having the carrier group and the capital missile units to fall back to the Harvest Slope warp point. All other units were to close on the warp point with maximum ECM and destroy as many Axis ships as possible.
     Wave six had two BBs, three DNs and a CA. While the gun-armed Axis fighters kept busy by blasting the recharging buoy weapons like so many clay pigeons the stabilized CLs and DDs tore into the Allies. Three CSF dreadnoughts, one battleship, one battlecruiser, and two destroyers were plastered while the AFC lost three battleships, five light cruisers and seven destroyers.
     As wave seven, five DNs and a CA, entered the battlespace the Axis held the edge. There was no longer any doubt that the 2nd Battle of Virga was going to end in an Axis victory. Unable to destroy each wave as it enters, and losing the cohesion of datalinked fire the Allies still kept to their guns, knowing that each Axis ship destroyed here will give the defenders in Harvest Slope a better chance to stave off the inevitable.
Anjur, on the flag bridge of the DN Saber and the first ship of the eighth wave, felt vindicated with what he saw on his main view plate. The foul beings that allied themselves with the Hamthen were falling before the might of his ships. He had to be patient for a few more moments while the Saber shook off the effects of transit.
     Safely pass the outer mine ring, the remnants of the beam-armed Allied ships entered the inner ring and achieved point-blank range. Three more Axis CAs and a DN became debris before Anjur’s ships gutted the whole force. Only the missile-armed type-2 and type-5 bases, the empty carrier bases, and the automated weapon control bases remained. With the 11th wave Anjur now had 6 DNs, 5 DN(R), 13 CA, 15 CL, and 19 DD. The National Reach capital missile DNs continue to fire mine-clearance charges with the rest firing their capital force beams and HET lasers at the type-5 missile bases, sitting 4 light-seconds distant. When the selected patch of the inner mine ring was cleared the fleet move forward into the vacancy. This slight range reduction had the effect of doubling the damage caused by the capital force beams.
     After taking out the capital missile type-5 bases and losing one National Reach the Axis breached a section of the outer mine ring. Anjur ordered his ships to close to 2.25 LS range, improving accuracy and further increasing force beam damage. All the remaining bases, including the automated weapon controllers, were destroyed. When the fleet and light carriers made transit he had them launch their flight groups against the retreating Allied carrier and missile group. No fighters were lost in the assault, but with nine assault carriers gone Anjur had the orphaned strikegroups land on the fleet carriers. With recharged life support and rearmed with attack missiles they joined the strike against the retreating enemy. If there were still extra fighters left after the destruction of the Allied force Anjur would have the required number ejected and destroyed to make room.
     In his orders for the assault battle Anjur wanted as many ships as possible to be crippled so they could be boarded for their databases. With the usual order for surrender ignored 19 of the 42 Allied cripples self-destructed. Of the remainder, after particularly vicious boarding actions, six complete databases were recovered. While Anjur’s staff plumbed the depths of the data the rest of the fleet conducted SAR operations to recover survivors. Any Allied lifepod encountered was destroyed as policy dictated. Over 20,000 Axis spacers were recovered and sent back to the Hamthen system.
     The massed Axis fighter strike succeeded in destroying the remaining Allied force. For a price of 95 fighter shot down the strike claimed 4 CV, 4 CVL, 3 SD(R)s, 6 BC(R)s, 3 CA, 3 CL, 2 CLE and 2 DDE. Still, for the lack of hanger space to return to 121 more fighters had to be abandoned and destroyed. No cripples were left behind this time for Anjur had what he need. For the loss of 5 DN(MS), 9 DN(V), 6 DN, 1 DN(R), 12 BB, 24 BC, 7 CA, 21 CL, 29 DD and 39 ES the Axis had won entry into the Virga system. Only twelve CSF scouts remained, and with their speed there was nothing Anjur could do to eliminate them outright. Only with the passage of time and subsequent loss of on-board supplies would those pesky snoops finally die like the flies they were.
     As systems went, Virga only had one thing going for it. With information gathered beforehand Anjur had those few Army troops allocated to his force to land and occupy the second and third planets. Both were small, miserable worlds with thin atmospheres and colonized by the Hamthen, but were very rich in mineral wealth. Anjur needed their resources to lessen the strain on his logistical support elements. Of course, after the current campaign the Hamthens would be exterminated and Comensal colonists would take their place. As for the other colonies and outposts in Virga he ordered their destruction, tasking one destroyer to do the deed.
     By the time SF 2 reached Virga’s other warp point Anjur received a report from his intelligence staff. Data from four of the boarded ships only had information on Virga and the CPS system of Harvest Slope. As for the last two, coming from destroyers manned by aliens looking like anthropomorphic birds, they had information that made Anjur feel like a boy on his birthday. The destroyers had joined the Virga defenders very recently, and thus had more up to date information on military forces they observed on the way to Virga, six systems in all. As of a month ago Harvest Slope was guarded only by 600 mines, 200 buoys, and two automated weapon control bases. Next was a system called Interlock, having the same defenses but with three control bases instead of two. In the associated texts this system belonged to a nation called the Uan Cooperative. Anjur felt an instant revulsion upon seeing an image of the insectoid race, and destroying them couldn’t come fast enough in his opinion.
     The third system was called Amity, and it was also controlled by the Uan. Defenses this time included some small bases, but nothing that the assault task group couldn’t handle. Both Interlock and Amity were listed as uninhabited. What made Anjur’s mouth water was the fourth system, the Uan’s home star, and the thought of wiping out a race that resembled termites back home in one blow was very appealing. He knew that the Axis Army was so involved with the Hamthen operation there was no way the required troop strength could be raised and transported in the time needed. Unless the war situation shifted more favorably for the Axis any further alien homeworlds encountered would have to be bombarded instead of invaded and occupied. Data on the defenses was only six weeks old and undoubtedly would be made stronger by time Star Force 2 would reach them. It made no difference to Anjur, for in three weeks his reinforcements would arrive and then nothing would stop him from cutting further into enemy space like a Tsunami. It remained for Terson to finish off the Democracy remnant, thus placing all Hamthen systems under control of the Axis.

The private residence of Eyna Huj, President of the Commonwealth of Planetary States, had seen several high-ranking guests within its walls in the days following the news of the fall of Virga. Following a private meeting with the Uan and Quagaar ambassadors Huj had one final guest. Sal Jki, senator of Terpla and Huj’s friend, had been waiting in the reception area for forty minutes while Huj and the ambassadors had been going at it hammer and tongs in the office.
     Waiting a moment for the sake of formality Huj had Sal come in and take a seat, closing the double doors himself. “That was unpleasant bit of trouble,” Huj said as he took his seat. “It didn’t help matters that Qizqan’s Terpla had an annoying accent and that Fong mimicked it to a T.”
     “Yes, Quagaars do have the habit of talking like the people they’re with,” Sal said. “They consider it a form of flattery.” Having been in several conversations with Quagaan Sal spoke from experience. He saw how his friend was tired, and that stress and frustration from even before the war was taking its toll. Wrinkles formed around his eyes and his skin appeared rough and stiff. “Huj, I know that you won’t be able to get to sleep until you unload. Speak your say so that I can put the spin on whatever Qizqan and Fong’s press agents put out on the morning vids.”
     Huj closed both sets of eyelids for a moment, collecting the words he needed to say. “I appreciate that, Sal. Everything that can be done has been done. We’ve been fixated on saving Hagelkorn and Pileus and assumed the Axis would concentrate their efforts there instead of Virga. After all, we told ourselves that those genocidal bastards couldn’t afford to let a bastion like Hagelkorn alone, but we underestimated their offensive will.”
     “What is being done, Huj? I thought the Uan would make the most of the last year to prop up their defenses.”
     “Well, Sal, there’s the fix. They trusted us to hold the line at Virga while they modernized their industry and fleet. That left little in the way to build new ships let alone defenses. What squadrons we can send will go to Ua directly, even frigates pulled off from convoy duty. I fear that the Axis only launched this offensive now because they believe to have enough strength to carry through several well-defended systems. Those probes at Pileus and Hagelkorn were meant to distract us. A task force that was slated for Virga, one with the refits, will reach Ua in two months. If the Axis doesn’t have system data on Harvest Slope, Interlock, Amity and Ua they’ll be forced to survey for warp points.”
     “That’s a pretty slim hope, my friend,” Sal commented. “They could have very well captured a wrecked ship when we assaulted out of Virga some months back. If they recovered astrogation data that lead back to Ua they’ll see just how short the distances between the warp points really are.”
     “If they found data going that far, Sal, then they could get to Ua in one month, mines and buoys in-between regardless. That’s where the Quagaar and their Expeditionary Fleet comes in,” Huj said with sarcasm.
     Sal rolled his eyes. “Is that the same fleet they’ve been mouthing on for the past six months? A fleet with the bulk of its ships being corvettes and escorts, fitted out with the new armor? That’s money they could’ve spent on ships that have a life expectancy of more than one minute in battle. Hell, even setting up some of their bases to defend Virga would’ve gone a long way to redeem themselves in the public’s eye.”
     “After the undeserved scathing critique about our performance at Virga by the esteemed Madam Qizqan I was glad to hear Fong’s bombshell. The Expeditionary Fleet,” Huj said with a little less sarcasm, “is now en-route to Ua and will arrive in six weeks. With so many ships, albeit small ones, he assured Qizqan that they’ll provide the needed depth to the warp point defense until such time they’re relieved by our refitted task force.”
     “And having held the fort for the real soldiers the Quagaar will take their Expeditionary Fleet and go home to collect their hazard pay,” Sal said scathingly. “Whoever agreed to pay them a royalty fee for each HET laser built should’ve been fired.”
      “Now, now, Sal. I’m the one who’s venting here, not you,” Huj said with a chuckle. “I’ve done everything short of kicking them in the ass to contribute more to the war effort.”
     Sal looked quizzical. “What’s an ass?”
     “Something I’m thankful that we don’t have, Sal, from what I know about Quagaar physiology. When you talk to the press about this, tell them that they are highly motivated to prove their worth with this new fleet of theirs. Also say that the Uan are appreciative for our continued support and will accommodate our efforts.” Huj handed Sal a sheet of hardcopy. “Here are some specific facts I want you to say as well. Include them in your press release.”
     Dutifully memorizing the list Sal folded up the sheet and stored it in a leg pouch. “I’ll talk with the viddies tomorrow morning. That is, of course, after they asked about how my daughter is doing.”
     “Tulcus is one of the few bright spots in this war, Sal. I hear that she’ll be fit for duty in another month. We need her, and more like her when the liberation of Hamthen is launched, backed by all those new and refitted ships. There will be no more half-hearted attacks. We’re going to fall on the Axis like a ton of bricks. I just wish, when they see what they’re going to face, that they feel deep, abject fear.”

Chapter 4.50
Junior Executive Admiral Tang, Quagaar Contractor Defense Fleet, couldn’t help but admire his appearance in a full-length mirror located in the executive lounge of the battleship Spectrum, his flagship. His uniform was new as well as his rank and position, having been promoted only three months ago after intensive training in the War Management Program with several other potential junior executive admiral candidates.
     Tang had been given command of the Expeditionary Fleet, a true honor for one so junior in flag rank. He suspected the senior admirals didn’t want the command for fear of failure and resulting loss of their stock dividends and retirement bonuses. It was just as well in Tang’s opinion, for the old admirals already had enough money and it was time for some new blood to get some influence in the Chief Executive Board of Admirals. An early proponent of the strikefighter, and a fully qualified pilot, Tang had advocated for more carrier production and felt that with a few successful battles under his money belt his recommendations would get a better reception.
     Upon hearing the news of the fall of Virga Tang wanted to set out immediately for Ua. He even put forward a plan to send his corvettes and escorts ahead. With their higher cruising speed they would’ve reached Ua well before the cruisers and battleships. Numbering 192, those small ships would go a long way in defending Ua’s threatened warp point. The Strategic Planning Division had turned down his request, making him wait until the last six ships undergoing refit were ready. Tang was willing to leave those ships behind, for they were just missile cruisers and were unsuited for the required close-in defense. He suspected that was another reason why a junior flag officer like himself was chosen, for he didn’t have the pull or reputation that a senior could utilize.
     With his back pair of eyes Tang noticed the displayed time on the ornate wall clock. The Expeditionary Fleet was set to leave orbit in an hour. He allowed himself a final appraisal of his uniform before heading for the bridge. Easily costing a month's salary, the uniform was dull gold in color trimmed with black cuffs and leg strips. The purple headband held the silver cannon insignia with a single cannonball below it, denoting his rank of junior executive admiral. It gleamed from the polishing Tang lavished upon it earlier. The PR Division was going to get its fill when Tang makes his speech to the fleet, and perhaps some of the criticism directed at the CDC would slacken now that Quagaar were going to war against the Asteroid Axis.

First Daughter Yazyan, commander of the defenses of Interlock, had long since given up wondering when the Axis would arrive. Harvest Slope had fallen a week before, and the distance between the warp points in that system was minor. At the cruising speed of a dreadnought the enemy would’ve reached the Harvest Slope/Interlock warp point in two days. There had been no pinnace probe, not that Yazyan had anything to oppose one.
     Just 600 patterns of mines and 200 one-shot laser buoys protected Interlock. A trio of automated weapon control bases watched over the weapons as well as the warp point. In Yazyan’s opinion Interlock and Amity, despite being Cooperative territory (though uninhabited), should’ve been abandoned. The meager defenses for both systems will only serve to attract attention and tell the enemy he was on the right track. The one consolation was the six CSF Sloop scouts that had preceded the Axis advance and were now sitting 10 light-seconds out from the warp point in an equal-distant formation. When the inevitable happens the base crews would be able to evacuate via shuttle and transfer to the Sloops.
     Yazyan reflected the circumstances that brought the Cooperative to this state in history. Were it not for the need of living space the Uan race would’ve been content living on its home planet. Industrial efficiency and social beneficence had lead to a lifestyle where a female could afford to have three husbands in affluence. After establishing colonies on moons in the home system the fortuitous discovery of warp points allowed for further expansion. Amity and Interlock were both red dwarf systems and subsequently were very low on the list to colonize. The Backyard system had a generous, habitable world that orbited the right distance from a white sun. Population on that world recently reached 12 million, and in the neighboring Porch system a colony on a hostile yet mineral rich planet topped 100,000.
     The Uan found the Terpla’ns agreeable but felt uncomfortable around them and most other races. They were simply too tall, reminding the Uan of predatory beasts that were only held in check by the development of intelligence and civilization. Only the Crajen, that race of guild craftsmen, didn’t invoke the same unconscious feelings of apprehension. It goes without saying that the Uan found the physical appearance of the Comensal to be disquieting. The thought of having them on the proverbial front door to the Cooperative made Yazyan sick to her two stomachs.
     Much hay had been made about the loss of Virga and the lack of Allied reinforcement and planning in case of a successful Axis breakout. Yazyan was honest enough to admit to herself that the CSF was working under enormous pressure to defend what was left of the Hamthen Democracy and to mount a counteroffensive that would lead to a decisive Axis defeat. The Uan Space Fleet could’ve done more if only for its defense, such as accelerating the construction of additional bases to guard the threatened home system warp point. Development of strikefighters was the immediate goal but for now, thanks to CPS assistance, the recent deployment of AFSC will have to suffice.
     An ugly klaxon brought Yazyan to her control station. It was the expected Axis attack, the first wave composed of two battlecruisers and four dreadnoughts. Yazyan felt pride for her crew achieved action stations just as the sixth ship emerged. Only one DN, most likely a minesweeper, fired its rack-mounted mine clearance charges when Yazyan gave the order to fire one hundred laser buoys. The bomb-pumped lasers lacerated the ships, destroying their external ordnance before they could launch their charges.
    The two battlecruisers of the first wave achieved their exit vectors and transited out just as the second wave entered. Now with ten targets the remaining 100 buoys did less overall damage but the four DNs of the first wave lost their armor and streamed atmosphere. Yazyan ordered the minefield controllers to set the patterns to maximum expenditure. She anxiously waited until all the patterns were set, and in that time three waves of dreadnoughts, all capital missile units, emerged and fired clearance charges. When the last mine park was set the Axis had reduced its targeted patch to just nine patterns. Nothing was left to do but to evacuate, the crews of the control bases boarding the shuttles as the first enemy salvo reached out to Yazyan’s base. Enough missiles broke past point defense and the EDM to bring down the shields. With a swiftness that rivaled that of an exercise the base was cleared and the shuttle launched as the fifteen missile DNs fired in datagroups of three at the bases this time. Having fulfilled their designed role the bases exploded in an overkill of attention paid to them.
     After observing the transiting Axis fleet as long as they could the six Sloops moved away. Two would stay to keep watch in Interlock while the other four, carrying the base personnel, moved on to Amity. With only four sweepers requiring substantial repair to their armor and light internal damage Yazyan knew the Axis would move on Amity in the near future. There were more laser buoys in Amity, and the damage they’ll cause to the sweepers would slow the Axis down while they repair them for the attack on Ua. But the Axis proved they were a relentless race. It just remained to be seen if they had the wherewithal to mount a mass transit attack so soon after Virga.

The capture of Interlock had gone better than Anjur anticipated. He had expected the enemy to reinforce, no matter how inconsequential, in the three weeks he waited for the arrival of his assault task group for the Harvest Slope attack. That there had been no additional forces, both here in Interlock and Harvest Slope, told him that the enemy was still redeploying. As for Amity, being only one transit out from Ua, there was bound to be more in the way of reinforcements, albeit if only additional mines and buoys.
     Harvest Slope had two additional warp points, but there was no data, captured or otherwise, on the systems on the other side. After sending in pinnace probes and finding nothing, not even a buoy, Anjur dispatched two survey groups. Each group had enough supplies to last fifteen months, and if conditions were favorable they could survey up to four systems before having to return to Axis-controlled space. In the meantime Anjur took SF 2 to the Interlock/Amity warp point. He decided to take on Amity immediately so that he could control the Amity/Ua warp point and prevent any Allied counterstrike.
     Repeating his tactic, Anjur’s first wave was composed of four Grim Reaper and two Wave Rider minesweepers. What they found waiting for them were six type-3 bases and 300 buoys. The exact number of mines couldn’t be determined just yet but numbered at least 600 according to the captured data. All the sweepers this time carried CAMs on their racks for the data indicated the bases, arranged in three groups of two, circled the warp point at a range of one-quarter of a light second. Only one base reached action stations in the first thirty seconds but was so badly damaged it was only able to fire its three plasma guns, scoring two hits. Another base had its passive defenses wiped away. With the three automated weapon control bases still struggling to activate the Axis first wave came off practically untouched.
     The second wave entered and was armed like the first and together two bases were destroyed. 16 buoys were shot down by point defense. For the Uans’ part they got two bases active and gutted one BCA with energy beams while putting the hurt on a DN. All three control bases came on line and fired the remaining 284 buoys. One Grim Reaper was almost a total loss with the rest of the force losing most or all of their armor.
     As two of the Wave Riders exited to Interlock wave three, containing six Hailfires, arrived but the Uans ignored the temptation. The hulked Wave Rider was destroyed along with the gimped Grim Reaper. Another DN was almost as badly damage before the remaining bases were destroyed by the sweeper’s lasers and the appropriately named Hailfires. The automated weapon bases were abandoned, their crews setting demolition charges to prevent their capture. Like before the crews were picked up by two Sloop scouts that were watching the battle at a distance, leaving the other two to keep tabs on the Axis.
     The National Reach DN(R)s were called forward and with their BAM-Rc rounds they cleared a lane through the mines. For the loss of two ships Anjur was now on the doorstep to the Uan home system. He noted that six of the ten remaining sweepers from the attack just had armor damage and would be easily repaired in time for the Uan assault. He sent those six to the repair squadron stationed in Interlock. As for the other four their internal damage ranged from light to severe. He decided to send those ships back to Virga where auxiliary forces were already setting up an advanced repair anchorage as well as defenses to cover the Virga/Harvest Slope warp point.
     That night, while SF 2 journeyed across Amity to assume a defense posture around the Uan warp point, Anjur ruminated over recent events while idly listening to martial music. Having demonstrated their superior turning radius the Wave Rider minesweepers served their role well. No longer will a Hero BC have to be sacrificed in the first few waves of a conventional assault lead by minesweepers. Heavily armored, a Wave Rider could take almost as much laser damage as a Grim Reaper and still possess enough motive power and maneuverability to achieve an exit vector and escape. The class also served as a ‘cheap kill’ magnet, tempting the enemy to fire on a target that could be killed faster instead of the larger and more expensive Grim Reapers.
     As for the defenses the nasty little bugs had in Amity the only increase to measure against the captured data were the mines, rising from 600 patterns to 900. This told Anjur that the enemy considered itself only strong enough to defend their home system. With the bases used here in Amity, designed to knock down a ship’s shielding and then burn out the interiors with energy overloads, another assault in a conventional manner on Ua would lead to heavy losses in the sweepers. Anjur needed to keep as many of his sweepers intact for the next batch was slated for Terson’s definitive assault on Hagelkorn.
     A simultaneous transit attack was called for, especially in light of the captured data. Nine close-in and nine distant bases covered the Ua/Amity warp point with at least 1200 mine patterns and 600 laser buoys. The enemy couldn’t have failed to add more automated weapons and bases, leaving the size of the mobile forces a complete imponderable. Fortunately, the AFC came up with a solution in the form of the new Grenadier class corvette. 330 of the undersized corvettes were sent with the new Wave Riders as well as the Falcon Crest CVs. Anjur was glad to have them, for he received little in the way of conventional reinforcements.
     So, for the next three weeks SF 2 waited, guarding the Amity/Ua warp point while the least damaged minesweepers from the two previous assaults had their armor patched up. Once they’ve rejoined SF 2 the attack could commence in earnest.

On the day Anjur left Hamthen to rejoin SF 2 in Contrail an important message reached Comensal. Grandous, First Leader of the Asteroid Axis, Supreme Executive of the Comensal race, was displeased with the news he received. A survey force working out from the former Nu’Chut frontier had found another alien empire instead of a fresh route into Allied space. Grandous wasn’t displeased that another group of aliens was discovered, far from it. Providence had presented another obstacle to overcome and prove yet again the mettle of the Comensal race. It was just the timing could’ve been better. Axis Fleet Command already had its hands full dealing with the insolent walking squids and their equally repulsive allies. All possible improvements to the war economy were being made, including the colonization of asteroids and planets in Nu’Chut territory that had abundant mineral resources. Each month saw a gradual return in colonial investment and industrial expansion but costs for new construction, especially for the new warships, kept pace.
     Looking out of the window of his imperious office at the equally imposing capital cityscape beyond Grandous came to a decision. Despite the technical sophistication the new aliens showed, namely the prototype fighters they used, indicating they were at least at parity with the Axis, Grandous felt that this new threat to Comensal supremacy had to be crushed. It was a racial belief, rooted in ancient lore from even before the Axis came to power, that a supreme test was to be applied by Providence, the will and judging power of the universe, on the Comensal race that would tax every sinew and reserve. If found wanting, Providence would allow the forces of the universe to consume the Comensal. If triumphant, the race will have complete mastery over the material world and wield righteous authority over the universe as it saw fit.
     Grandous returned to his desk and penned an executive order, authorizing the AFC to conduct offensive operations against the new aliens with dispatch. He had an assistant hand-deliver the order in a sealed envelope directly to Prime Admiral Stelgan. It was a matter of historical import that the order was delivered in such a manner. Afterwards, following dinner with his immediate family and consulting with government ministers Grandous finished his day by reading after-action reports filed by Army units on Hamthen Prime. Each day on average on that world saw the death of one million more abominations that insult the universe with their existence. In a few years the planet would be free of them forever, allowing the Comensal to add yet another bastion to the people to grow and thrive.
     A final bit of news brought a smile to Grandous’ bone-plated face. Enough territory had been pacified on Hamthen to allow the construction of a second Comensal settlement. The foundations of the mansion that would serve as the First Leader’s residence on the planet had already been laid. He made a note on his schedule to make a visit to Hamthen in nine months time, the projected completion date of his mansion and associated command complex. A personal visit by the First Leader could only inspire the Army to conduct even more impressive actions against the Aboms and raise morale considerably. After writing a few other notes about his future visit he retired for the night, feeling justified that he had acted in the will of his race and that nothing would prevent it from fulfilling its destiny of universal supremacy.

Three weeks following the fall of Amity there were those in the Uan Space Fleet that finally felt relief. The much ballyhooed Quagaar Expeditionary Fleet had entered the Uan system over three days ago. In two days it will have reached the Uan/Amity warp point and assume its place in the defense.
     First Mother Gargen, commanding from the cruiser Wraith, would have appreciated it had the Quagaar brought more fighters. 72 of the craft based on six escort carriers was a laughable amount to what this Axis fleet demonstrated. Even without the assault carriers, the Axis was observed to have six fleet and six light carriers for a total of 288 fighters. However, now that the genocidal boney bipeds have displayed a new assault carrier class they could deploy 144 fighters in one wave, and that’s not mentioning their habit of mass transit attacks.
     Preening one of her feathery antennae Gargen reminded herself that her defense posture can only get stronger from this point forward. 1200 patterns of mines ringed the warp point, backed up by 600 one-shot laser buoys and 200 recently added energy beam buoys. Three new beam bases now made twelve guarding the warp point at a range of one-quarter of a light second. Four light seconds out were six capital missile and two AFSC bases. Two automated weapon control and one defense base sat three LS beyond them as well as two control ships. Along with one Progeny carrier the number of AFSC was 114 with 27 on CAP at any one time. 24 Hammers, 12 Anvils, 12 Arrows plus 12 CSF Rundenros and 6 Kilpros orbited the warp point at one light-second distance.
     In six weeks twelve more Anvils, three Hammers and two AFSC bases will be completed in the orbital construction slips. What was going to make the real difference was the arrival of a CSF task force in less than two weeks. The only thing going for the Quagaar was the absolute number of ships they brought with them: Twelve BBs, 18 CLs, 15 DDs, 96 CTs, 96 ESs, 6 CVEs and 3 DDEs plus scouts. Gargen let loose with an involuntary laugh, making the mostly male CIC crew jump in their seats. She chided them to be less of nervous nellies and to concentrate on their work. Back on the Quagaar she would’ve had more respect had their little ships been armed with energy beams. Old fashion lasers played to the Axis strength of thick armor of their assault ships. Worse yet, the escorts and two-thirds of the corvettes didn’t carry point defense, making them practically defenseless against fighters. Still, with them around to soak up Axis fire the USF would be able to concentrate its efforts with little interfere….
     A blood-red icon representing an enemy ship appeared on Wraith’s CIC holotank. From previous data provided by the CSF Gargen recognized the signature as that of a dreadnought, most likely a minesweeper. A second icon appeared while she checked the collar to her light duty pressure suit, issuing targeting orders over a face-mounted microphone. Just then the scale of the holotank image adjusted, and if a Uan could be pale Gargen would’ve been so. 330 corvettes and 30 escorts emerged from the warp point, with 96 and 12 respectively interpenetrating and exploding cataclysmically. Despite the fact the enemy had done this sort of thing several times, even in minor probing attacks, Gargen was stunned for a moment. She didn’t register the other two DNs and the BC that followed that horde until one of them fired its mine clearance charges and lasers.
     The escorts appeared to be the class that just had tactical scanners, surveying the area before transiting back out. When the first corvette fired its twin plasma guns Gargen knew she was doomed. Even with the destruction of the sweepers and the firing of 300 laser buoys only five CTs were taken down. With telling numbers the Grenadiers took all the close-in bases and even five light cruisers. There was no way enough of the undersized plasma slingers could be swatted away before their guns recharged, so Gargen told her force to ignore them. When the second wave emerged she cursed fate for denying her race the two days it needed, for making her break her word to her three husbands and children that they would be safe, and the Quagaar for being tardy with their help in the first place. She gave one final order to the active mobile defenders. A rating appeared and presented a helmet for her to wear. She turned it down for in a few minutes it wouldn’t matter at all.
     On appearance the first carrier, a Falcon Crest, was being charged by three light cruisers. Only a lazy turn to port denied the rammers a head-on hit, and all three missed in any event. Not so for the second ship, a Soar. One Anvil succeeded in a head-on immolation, destroying the shielding and armor of its target. Even the Terpla’n DDs and FGs participated in this spit-in-your-eye defiant act. Two Kilpros slammed into the third ship in line, another Soar. Damage raced all the way to the hanger bays, destroying each one like a soda can in a crusher. Of the five frigates one had the extreme misfortune of being mistaken for an enemy by the minefields and was destroyed, and the other four missed their Soar and joined the three CLs in a point blank exchange of fire. The number of laser buoys matched the number of ships the Axis had on the warp point after all was said and done – 229 for the Grenadiers, 17 for the Dispersions, and one for the only remaining Soar carrier.
     Wave three had five more DNs and a BC. Hammers and Anvils made another ramming effort, five each against three DNs. One had two-thirds of its shields knocked down while another barely had any armor left. As for the only four squadrons that got into combat they expended their loads on two Anvils, then loss 15 of their number to Uan AFSCs. Only one National Reach and the Wave Rider remained of the third wave, but the recharged plasma guns of the Grenadiers extracted their toll. Just four of the original 24 Hammers remained along with seven Rundenros and the Progeny. The twelve Arrows, now at maximum plasma gun range, were untouched but given their armament the First Mother commanding the missile bases (Gargen having died when the Wraith exploded from plasma bolt hits) ordered them to ram.
     Six Arrows went after the National Reach while three went for the Wave Rider. All seven FGs and the Progeny went for the fourth ship of the fourth wave. Only one Arrow hit the National Reach, tearing the rest of its armor and one-third of the interior systems. All the fourth wave ships were Hailfires, and the defenders missed despite their best efforts. The last 51 laser buoys were expended, more to make the repair bill for the enemy higher than to see them go unused. Morale for the Uan was incredibly high despite the inevitable outcome, and was boosted more when the last nine Axis fighters were shot down by 42 pursuing AFSCs, the amount of fire overcoming the inherent decrees of accuracy with the opening of the range. Now just 225 Grenadiers, 15 Dispersions, the Wave Rider and Hailfires greeted the fifth wave, all of which were Stalwart heavy cruisers.
     Swinging around, the Rundenros made a play for the Wave Rider as it turned for its exit vector. Two succeeded, slamming into the heavily armored BC’s port bow and turning it into a wreckage-expelling fireball. Thirteen of the fourteen light cruisers homed in on one Hailfire. Like their smaller battlemates two of the ships took their target into death. Two more Hailfires were greatly damaged by the remaining Hammers, but with the sixth wave there were no more Allied ships in weapons range of the warp point.
     Thirty-six AFSCs made a suicide run on the two crippled Hailfires with only seven succeeding and evading last-ditch defenses. Capital missiles from the distant bases only took down half the shields of a Hailfire and most of the passive defenses on a transit-addled Stalwart. Wave seven was comprised of National Will CLs, but the 98 remaining AFSCs concentrated on the crippled Hailfires and the Stalwart. One BC splintered into fragments from six impacts while the other only took two more hits. The Stalwart was badly damaged, retaining only one force beam and two point defense systems, and despite the point defense of its divisionmates was almost vaporized by a follow-up volley from the bases. Point defense from unengaged Axis ships shot down some AFSCs.
     Wave eight was yet six more CLs, and the last 18 Uan pilots divided themselves between the remaining crippled Hailfire and the equally decrepit Stalwart. The CA hadn’t a chance and blew up, while the BC lead a charmed life, shooting down two just as it achieved its vector to leave. Those AFSCs that missed their targets were shot down by the Axis cruisers’ point defense. Now it was just between the missile bases and the still growing Axis fleet on the warp point. One base lost its passives and was knocked out of datalink while one Hailfire started to take internal damage.
     The crippled Hailfire made its escape while the five Grim Reapers and a Wave Rider of the ninth wave took their positions alongside the warships. With increasing internal damage another Hailfire finished its turn and waited several anxious moments before it could finally leave. The Uans wouldn’t be denied, firing the final salvo that sealed the ship’s fate. Wave ten was four Prestige DNs (once of which was Anjur’s Saber) and one National Reach. From where he was standing Anjur felt he was on top of the world. The bases were being reduced slowly but surely, their salvos no longer as strong since two of their number were destroyed or wrecked. A final wave of five National Reaches entered, firing mine clearance charges.
     A Hailfire left before its armor could be breached, and another base was destroyed along with another made impotent. When the target minefield area was reduced to 43 patterns Anjur ordered one of his tactical maneuvers to be carried out. The sweepers, the DN(R)s, the regular DNs and 27 of the most damaged Grenadiers entered the depleted field with maximum ECM. After the attack the small ships were gone, of course, but just 19 patterns were left. Follow-up with mine clearance charges from the National Reaches and wide-angle mode tractor beams and HET lasers from the Grim Reapers took care of the rest. No other ship, not even the Wave Rider, lost shields completely. The two remaining bases fired on the last Hailfire, scoring no damage. With the path clear the remaining Axis ships charged forward, destroying the missile bases as well as the now-empty AFSC platforms and the automated weapons control bases. The two buoy control ships were chased down by frigates and destroyed. Again nothing really could be done about the annoying fast scouts watching the fleet, but Anjur kept them honest by always keeping a fighter squadron near them in case they go suicidal and closed in for a definite look before dying.
     While SAR teams conducted their business in Ua and as SF 2 assembled Anjur took stock of the situation. 193 of 330 Grenadiers remained, and of the 90 that took energy beam damage only 36 managed to restore life support. He had the 54 soon-to-be uninhabitable Grenadiers rendezvous with two repair ships in Amity with the rest heading back to Virga for their repairs. The 18 Dispersions went back to Virga with only two having to go to Amity to address their life-support deficiency. In honesty Anjur admitted in his post-battle report for the AFC that he should’ve had all of the ships of the first nine waves in the mass transit attack. As overwhelming as the Grenadiers were, even firing while addled by transit, the other warships would’ve handled the mobile Uan defenders. But as he already knew success was the best form of forgiveness. The death of an abomination home planet will secure that forgiveness.
     System Admiral Anjur knew Providence had indeed favored the Comensal. As if physically proving that favor all the planets in the Uan system were lined up like beads of water on a strand of spider silk. He sent one frigate and a scout to each of the two ice and three gas giants to bombard the colonies on their moons. For the 60 outposts in the asteroid belt he forwarded his two Bombardiers and two scouts. The Uan home planet will be handled by the fleet proper with its carrier-based fighters and missile ships. At a speed of 0.083c it will take the Star Force 2 of the First Advanced Fleet almost three days to reach the bug-filled world.

Junior Executive Admiral Tang needed no assurance that the personnel of his fleet felt the way he did now. All had access or friends that had access to the communication channels used by the Uan. In turn they all listened as the colonies in the outer system announced their destruction at the hands of the Axis. When it came to the asteroid outposts, operated like private family businesses, the calls proclaiming their doom ranged from the professional to the emotional. Mixed in with cries of despair were vindictive epithets, damning the Quagaar in general and Tang in particular. At no time were the transmissions tuned out, the crews felt compelled to hear what the dying people had to say about them, however deserving or uncalled for.
     For Tang it didn’t help matters that the translated speech he heard on the Spectrum was rendered as that of his mother. She was a linguist at a Quagaar university, and when diplomatic relations were established with the Cooperative she headed the team that compiled the translation matrix. As team leader, she decided to use her voice pattern to render the translated Uan speech instead of one that was monotone and neutral. To hear the Uan cries and invective from a flawless copy of his mother’s voice made Tang internally ill, but he kept his expression blank as his position demanded of him.
     After the Axis destroyed the orbital works of Ua Prime, even at considerable cost to their strikegroups and frigates, they immediately bombarded the planet. When the last broadcast station went off the air something twisted in Tang’s soul. He had the comm section patch him through to the fleet, and he spoke levelly he while he held the pen mic with a death grip in two of his six hands. “This is Admiral Tang. I’m confirming what you all may or may not already know. Ua Prime has been destroyed by Axis forces and momentarily the two lunar colonies will suffer the same fate. For almost three days all of us have been playing the game of ‘what if’. What if our smaller ships were sent ahead? What if we departed earlier without having to wait for the last six ships to leave refit? What if we had a respectable number of fighters?
     “I’m telling you now that this is not the time or place to play ‘what if’. Leave that to historians and to those that will try to put a shine on this particular steaming pile. We justly deserve the condemnation heaped upon us by the Uan. However, the one thing that we not tolerate is to be called contract breakers. More than the written words of official dispatches, it was the verbal contract we made with the Cooperative that will we defend the system down to the last ship. Some of you may see that pointless now that there is no population left to defend. That is irrelevant. Our word is our word, and to have it broken is like cutting off one of our own limbs. We have failed to save the lives of over seven billion but we will be thrice-damned to let the Axis fleet that conducted this genocide to get away. We outnumber the enemy, but in a conventional attack they’ll still win. Therefore we’re going to ram their battlewagons with our ships. Only then will we weaken them so much that when Task Force 22 arrives they can retake Amity and perhaps even Interlock with very little loss. I want it be known that whatever is said of our fleet, the one thing that will be said is that we gave our lives to keep our word. Tang out.” He left the bridge for the executive meeting room to formulate his battle plan with his staff, only stopping at the lounge to pick up a full bottle of liquor to dull the pain he felt in his gut. When the plan was done he nearly emptied it.

It was a spectacular destruction, Anjur thought, as SF 2 placed two days between itself and Ua. The space station and twelve orbital missile bases precluded a long bombardment by the surviving missile ships for their warheads were needed to purge the planet of Uan life. He therefore sent in his frigates and fighters to force the issue, finding the Uan had sent up a cloud of AFSCs. The space station was heavily armed too, far more than it reasonably should’ve been. Even with ancient standard and sprint launchers and lasers it tore into the frigate flotillas with much relish. Just 18 of the 48 frigates remained after the orbital defenses were finally squashed. Even the AFSCs played their part, crashing their craft into the frigates once the emptied fighters pulled out of range.
     Still, it was worth it in not only in Anjur’s eyes but of those of his crews as well. It took the expenditure of all the missiles in SF 2, including those on external racks, to finish the job. There would’ve been missiles leftover, but clearing away the remaining mines at the Ua/Amity warp point required the majority of magazine space be devoted to clearance charges. Destroying those mines prevented their future use by the enemy for Anjur had planned to take SF 2 back into Amity while it waited for reinforcement. The combats for the past two months had extracted its toll, and it was time to stand on defensive until SF 2 could once again carry on past Ua. The last bit of captured data from Virga indicated that the Uan had another system and a populated planet. There were only some 12 million of those bugs, making the bombardment to kill them a very light one.
     As for Ua itself it was going to require a considerable amount of work to clean up for Comensal habitation. Only two salvos were composed of neutron warheads. Radioactive pollution from standard missile warheads, combined with the massive planet-wide forest fires and ocean strikes was deemed necessary to insure the death of the buggy race. Anjur marveled that in a space a few hours the blue and green world took on a definite tint of ocher and brown. Only then, as he reviewed the pictures of the poisoned world, did Anjur consider that there was practically no data on the race that he mostly killed off that afternoon. All the Virga captured data indicated was that the race was an ally of the CPS and only gave the most basic of information on navigating through there space . There was nothing about Uan history, political structure, and society. So, unlike all previous races conquered and killed by the Asteroid Axis this Cooperative will take but a page or two in a volume devoted to the war. A footnote, really.
     Just one detail needed to be taken care of. A fleet of alien ships, in all likelihood another CPS ally, has been in the system for five days now. There was no doubt that Anjur was going to engage them, and not only because they could oppose his exit. The numbers appeared daunting, 74 combat capable ships versus 246, but 192 of those were corvettes and escorts. All those little ships will only serve to hone the skills of Anjur’s crews, skills that were already markedly improved after nineteen months of war. If the damage to his own fleet was great enough Anjur would consider falling back all the way to Virga. The hectic work of auxiliary forces has already assembled the first of several bases to cover the Virga/Harvest Slope warp point.
     Anjur entered Saber’s CIC and took his place at the command riser. In two hours the two fleets will be engaged in combat. He spent that time approving field promotions of personnel that performed exceptionally in the warp point battle.

Yazyan, former commander of the Interlock defenses and now liaison to the CSF forces that once existed in Ua, tried to make herself comfortable in the jury-rigged seat aboard Sloop 041. Only by a turn of fate was she and two ratings assigned to the ship days before the battle. Minutes prior to the bombardment she received new orders from the USF, making her the senior officer in the system and by extension the embodiment of Ua political authority. Technically, she could have given orders to Tang had she felt like it, but the cascade of death that climaxed with Ua’s destruction left her demoralized. Only for appearance sake did she take a seat in the scout’s bridge, watching the flat panel display with indifference.
     The Axis fleet, whether heading back to Amity or to challenge the Quagaars, was almost in definitive sensor range. Long before now its composition was determined: 6 DNs, 6 DN(R)s, 3 BBs, 3 BCs, 5 BC(W), 10 CAs, 15 CLs, 19 DDs, and 18 FGs. The carrier group had 6 CVs, 6 CVLs, 3 CAs and 3 DDs. Miscellaneous ships included an apparent transport and two escorts (the ones that wiped out the asteroid outposts) and eight scouts. Given the observed fighter losses it was going to be a straight-up fight between the two fleets. Odds were favoring the Axis as their missile ships could destroy the Quagaar small ships in job lots. The Terpla’ns in 041’s bridge figured that at most the Axis DDs and FGs would be destroyed, thus denying them units with which to pursue Quagaar cruisers.
     A trailing Sloop announced that the Axis fleet had split in two. The missile ships and two-thirds of the carrier group now moved away to port at cruising speed. Both of the remaining heavy carriers launched their fighters, sending them ahead of the main body as they turned to follow the departing National Reaches. Admiral Tang responded in kind, sending his 72 fighters out. He included his corvettes and escorts since at full speed they could keep up with the fully loaded fighters.
     Whoever was in charge of the Axis forces appeared to be overly aggressive and too sure of himself. The main body accelerated to max dreadnought speed. As the fighter groups clashed over the small ships the enemy opened fired at max hetlaser range. With the fighter’s help (before they were shot down) the genocidal enemy took out 12 corvettes and 2 escorts.
     When the weapons recycled the range between the charging enemies dropped to three-quarters of a light second. Two light second behind the corvettes were the Quagaar battleships, cruisers and destroyers. 36 more corvettes and 7 escorts fell like flying bird brought down by hunter. It was worse for the Axis, having 18 frigates and 18 destroyers either severely damaged or destroyed along with one CL destroyed and another damaged.
     Yazyan turned away from the screen, knowing that despite their best efforts the Quagaar were going to lose this battle. Even the twelve battleships, armed with a dozen old-fashion laser each, would be pounded into so much scrap by Axis beams. By their absence the Axis missile ships had obviously ran out of ammo, otherwise they would’ve added to the kill score. Just then an exclamation from the scout’s scanner station made Yazyan’s antennae perk up. A sideway’s glance then became a full-on stare on the main view panel. She wanted to disbelieve.
     The Quagaar corvettes and escorts conducted a ramming attack. Being head-on attacks they were devastating, and point-blank fire by startled Axis crews failed to knock them all down. One DN disintegrated from being hit by seven of the little vessels, and nine more capital ships had grievous internal damage. Worse yet from the Axis perspective was that those Quagaar ships that remained turned around and made a run on the nine slowed cripples. Four more succumbed from ramming damage, leaving only two combat-capable battleships, one having been hit by one escort and the other by two, both head-on hits. That duo was left to the fighter squadrons, firing close attack missiles in deadly waves that caused both ships to hemorrhage whole sections before exploding.
     Seeing the number of little protagonists so reduced should’ve been some good news for Star Force 2. Instead the feeling one gets from seeing monsters in the closet grew in the hearts of the Axis crews. They refused to fire on them, instead focusing on the Quagaar destroyers, taking out four. With the heavy weight of twelve Spectrums in the mix, and at a range just under a light second, the once-dreaded Axis fleet was down to 9 CAs and 5 CLs. With deft maneuvering Tang brought his ships into point-blank range of the Axis remnant, thanks in part to their increase use of ECM. It didn’t matter in the end. Two minutes after combat was initiated it was over. In the brief fight Axis point defense operators were still on their game, having shot down 28 of his 72 fighters. Tang ordered all enemy cripples to be eliminated and started a SAR operation to pick up Quagaar life pods, calling upon the trailing personnel transports to handle the job. Any Axis pods discovered in this search were destroyed.
     With dispatch Tang had his fleet go after the fleeing National Reaches. Even with engine detuning the big ships couldn’t keep the Commander Qwellens, Burnmarks and Hotpoints behind them. They were ordered to damage the ships so that the Spectrums and the cruisers could finish them off, allowing the smaller vessels to speed on towards the carriers and the Hailfires. Sloop 041 followed the avenging fleet. Yazyan remained fixed on the view panel with a predatory intensity. The wounding and subsequent dismemberment of the dreadnoughts by missiles, primary and laser beams only whetted her appetite for revenge. It was those monsters that belched their loads of death at her world, and it was fitting that they should die without them being able to raise a hand in their defense.
     The carrier group and Hailfires were detuning, thus it fell to the fighters, Burnmarks and Hotpoints to bring about their crippling. Just as maximum range for the lasers was reached the fleet and light carriers stopped detuning and turned to bring their weapons to bear. One CVL was left a crawling collection of parts that was once a ship while a Hotpoint was rendered the same way. With the turn complete the Axis and the Quagaars clashed again, now at point-blank range. A total of two corvettes and two escorts were destroyed in that exchange with the Axis being reduced to five armed carriers. Maneuvers on the Quagaars’ part kept the combat close, making those five weaponless as well, but at the further cost of two more corvettes gone with another heavily damaged. As if to prove that they made their point of fighting to the last the Axis crews, including those on the Hailfires, the transport and escorts, made their ships self-destruct. Yazyan felt cheated, for she wanted to watch them die like the dreadnoughts. The only Axis ships that got away were the scouts, moving at top speed that precluded armed fighters from catching up with them.
     As great as the loss of the Uan homeworld was, in the following weeks there was the feeling that this was a major turning point in the war. Aside from minefields and buoy parks along the way the Allies reclaimed Amity, Interlock, and Harvest slope with alacrity. There was no way at this point they could’ve known that the Hokum Imperium had entered the war against the Axis, a move that forced the AFC to reallocate its forces at this crucial juncture. With its forts and automated weapons the AFC thought it could hold off the Allies until such time a new fleet could be mobilized. In three months after the defeat of Star Force 2 that supposition was firmly crushed by the Commonwealth Space Force.

Prelude to Chapter 4.75
It was raining in the Crosswind region on Hamthen. Thanks to the rain whatever fires that resulted from the resistance ambush against an Axis Army sweep team had long since been put out before the arrival of reinforcements. All four lev-tanks and the two infantry platoons involved were destroyed, and as quickly as possible the fighters looted the bodies for personal battlecomps, hardcopy maps and anything else that would aid the intelligence teams. While the Axis swarmed the area with their tripod tanks, belching clouds of black smoke anti-personnel gas, the fighters had already cleared away to one of their numerous camouflaged camps.
     At a particularly dense portion of woods, laced with camouflage netting, Mr. Skuu, the leader of his cadre of resistance fighters, was reading the contents of a battlecomp with the help of a translation program. When he came to a particular bit of news he had his second in command, Kaan, come over and read it. Kaan made something that passed as a smile. “So that bastard Anjur’s been dead three months. That would explain that one-day halt of all activity on their part last week. We thought it was for the general that was killed by Luuf’s team.”
     Skuu grunted. “That general hadn’t done enough to rate such an honor. Anjur, conqueror of the Hamthen and exterminated of the Uan, has been given all the due honors as an ‘exalted hero of the people’, even a state funeral back on their homeworld with their First Leader giving the commemoration speech. It’s all there, read on.”
     Kaan went through the text at a furious rate. “His death would’ve been all the sweeter had he not destroyed the Uan system. I see the Axis press went into detail on that part, but as for his death it’s very terse. It also sounds self-serving, having ‘fallen in combat while dealing harsh damage to an enemy fleet’.”
     “The important part is that he is dead,” Skuu said firmly. “It’s a tragedy that the great majority of an allied race was killed off before he met his demise. Reading between the lines, what few there are, tells me the Axis fleet sustained a stunning blow at Ua. They’ve mentioned that Star Force 2 will have to be brought back up to strength before resuming the offensive. Since Anjur was on a dreadnought, and such ships require a fair amount of firepower to kill, I can infer that our allies had amassed significant forces to mount an offensive.”
     Kaan blinked. “There’s been no scuttlebutt or rumors of a CSF move out of Ua. Our comm monitoring teams have picked up no increased ship-to-shore chatter that would indicate a surge of Axis supplies heading to Virga, or to their fleets at the Hagelkorn warp point and the Roll Cloud system. There’s certainly been no counter-offensive from Hagelkorn for the past five months. Damn them!” Kaan snapped. “The Axis is willing to probe with mass transits, even their own news reports that, so why can’t the CSF do one with their fleet and be done with it? Five months. Over 150 million of our people would still be alive, and not choke on black smoke or killed by disease. Those six-legged too-talls…”
     “That’s enough of that,” Skuu glowered. “Our friends have fought and died to stave off Axis fleets, and they’re still spilling blood holding onto Hagelkorn and Pileus. They had to learn that against a nation like the Asteroid Axis that half-hearted attempts won’t work. Just like when we had to learn the hard way that Axis Army troops are perfectly willing to die so long as they take as many of us with them. When the CSF comes to liberate us, Kaan, they’ll come in strength. Not merely to secure the system, but to keep on pushing until all Axis forces have been destroyed and driven from Democracy space. Then they’ll keep pushing right on till the end, with warheads falling on the Axis homeworld. I’ll make it my mission to live so I can see that bombardment first-hand on the bridge of my friend’s ship.”
     Kaan looked humbled. “I’m sorry, Sir. It’s just that our victories here are usually measured in tens or hundreds of troops killed, while the Axis gets their million on average per day. The losses from one mass transit attack are insignificant….” Kaan went silent to maintain his composure.
     Skuu reached out and squeezed Kaan’s free hand. “You’ve place a lot of faith in that rifle of yours, and it has delivered every time you’ve used it. If you can find it inside yourself to have faith in our Terpla’n friends then we will see the day our world has rid itself of the Axis forever.”

Fleet Tracker 38A, formerly attached to Star Force 2, First Advanced Fleet, was dutifully watching the area of space around the Harvest Slope/Virga warp point. Any ship or a fleet for that matter that came within 36 light minutes of 38A would be monitored. After destroying SF 2 and recapturing Ua, Amity, Interlock and then moving into Harvest Slope the CSF task force hadn’t advanced. So far it seemed content on bottling up the survey forces that had looked beyond Harvest Slope’s two other warp points. Courier drones from the survey groups indicated that no further exploration was possible as the enemy had emplaced minefields on the far side of the two systems’ warp points. Having been resupplied up to the point the CSF gained control of Harvest Slope both survey groups had fifteen months of provisions. There was no doubt that the AFC would be resuming the offensive along this warp chain and thus freeing the ships from their involuntary imprisonment.
     Exactly one month after the CSF entered Harvest Slope a sensor blip registered at the six light-minute mark on 38A’s main plot. Gauging from the contract strength it could’ve been a cutter or a whole strike group of fighters. On his initiative the 38A’s skipper went to intercept. If this turned out to be a pinnace probe then he needed to shoot down as many of them as possible. A pinnace at full speed couldn’t outrun the scout ship, and with its point defense the 38A would bag them like game birds.
     Not for the last time the skipper wished his long-range scanners could determine the actual number of small craft contacts riding in the same patch of space at a range greater than 10 light-seconds. Only then he found that his contact was actually twelve craft in close formation. In a laid-back manner he told his point-defense crew to engage when in range and for the helm to proceed at full speed. At a little over 6 LS range the skipper noted that the contacts were pinnaces, but six of them were radiating more energy than expected. He also noticed that the pinnaces weren’t scattering once they detected his scout on their scanners. Very odd, for at least two or three would’ve evaded his ship eventually and make it to the warp point.
     Armed with a capital point defense system, the 38A actually had to keep the range open so that the long-range counter missiles had a better chance to hit the pinnaces. At random the fire control officer selected one of the pinnaces with the higher energy signature and was dismayed that it employed some sort of ECM without resorting to modulating its engines. The shot went wide of its mark, and another surprise revealed itself. Six pinnaces fired lasers with three of them hitting. Armor was breached and air gushed from a hole in the hull.
     Still possessing full speed the 38A moved and tried to distance itself from its now-armed game birds. Even with a maneuver that would eventually let the ship pull away the range was the same when the pinnaces fired again. An engine was knocked out, but the point defense crews found the range and shot down an attacking pinnace. Then another engine was destroyed, allowing the craft to close to point-blank range. Being so close and with an increase in ECM the point defense crew shifted fire to one of the ‘regular’ pinnaces but missed. A laser and a close-attack missile hit knocked down the shield and took out the point defense mount and long-range scanners. The communications drone was launched, but the enemy anticipated this. Five of the regular pinnaces had circled the crippled scout at half-a-light-second range. Even at top speed the drone was still in range of two of the pinnaces and was shot down.
     Expecting to be blasted, the skipper was shocked when one of the pinnaces docked to his ship above the housing of his remaining engine mount. Boarding charges blasted a hole in the hull and also took out the engine in the process, leaving the vessel without motive power. Being a scout and so fast the ship had very little need of marines for protection, so only twenty, a squad, had been assigned. At least 80 enemy marines had entered the ship. Terrified calls about crab-like monsters in battle armor filled the small bridge. Denied the chance to self-destruct the ship, only one duty remained for the skipper.
     Working furiously to purge the computer core, the skipper was knocked down when the hatch to the bridge was blown open. Five boarders scuttled in and systematically killed the crew, leaving the skipper for last. He thought that they did indeed look like sea crabs writ large and wearing armored vac suits. The creatures were under a meter in height. They each had four legs, a pair of arms that ended in claws and another pair of arms that had hands. A shot from a blaster sent the skipper down to the deck. He saw one of the crabs come over to him, extending an uncovered claw while still holding a blaster in one of its small hands. Firmly around the neck, the claw tightened until a popping sound was heard.
     The Crajen marine lieutenant retracted his claw and covered it with its vac suit glove. He gave the dead skipper a hateful look with his four eyes before turning to more immediate matters. With his squads reporting the ship secured another pinnace docked and sent in a team of technicians to inspect the computers. Of the three groups of pinnaces sent to capture scouts watching three of Harvest Slope’s four warp points only this attempt succeeded. One scout was subject to one too many hits and was blown up while another purged its computer core. None of the three scouts was able to get a drone successfully away, thus Axis forces in Virga were to remain ignorant for a little bit longer. Data from the third scout more than made up for the first armed pinnace lost in combat.
     As for the last Axis scout in Harvest Slope it was destroyed in a similar manner. Upon determining that it faced just six pinnaces, albeit radiating a larger power signature, the scout skipper went after them at full speed. Then, just as it reached maximum point defense range the pinnaces employed ECM and turned around and engaged at one-light second range. It took just one minute to destroy the little ship, and the one drone it managed to launch was intercepted at the Virga/Harvest Slope warp point by another group of armed pinnaces and their tender. This was the true beginning of the counteroffensive that would see the liberation of the whole of Democracy space in three months time.

While the action had focused on Virga and the periodic probes into Hagelkorn and Pileus, there went unnoticed a new developed in the Altocumulus chain. In the months after the fall of Hamthen the CSF had been cautiously surveying systems in the Calrat sector, hoping that a new link could be found leading back to Democracy space. Three months prior to the fall of Virga such a link was found. Pyrocumulus, one transit out from Altocumulus and two from Roll Cloud had a population of 100,000 on a humid, very rich world that orbited a white sun. Once the survey ship determined that it was Pyrocumulus it left immediately. Being a closed warp point, and with the brevity of the stay, any Axis sensor readings would’ve been brief and thus dismissed as a glitch.
     Barley, the Calrat sector system that linked to Pyrocumulus, was transformed into a staging area for Task Force 23, assigned to reclaim the Altocumulus chain. With both Pyro and Alto secured the other five systems in the chain would be cut off from reinforcement. Two weeks after TF 22 conducted its attack on Virga TF 23 made its move. Task Group 231 went on to Alto, taking with it a large group of minelayers and bulk freighters to seal off the Alto/Roll Cloud and Alto/Cirrocumulus warp points. Task Group 232 stayed in Pyro and went about to mine the Pyro/Cirrostratus, Pyro/Mammatus and Pyro/Alto warp points.
     Upon investigating Pyro IV it was found the great majority of the Hamthen population was alive. The small Axis space station over the planet was destroyed. An Axis Army division of 15,000 was garrisoning the planet, now down to 88,000 civilians, and was forcing the population to produce supplies for Axis units. The 20,000 CSA troops that were in the fleet train were brought in and conducted a bitter campaign that last two months at the cost of 11,000 to their number and 7,000 additional civilians.
     Considered a rear area for the lack of warp points the Alto Chain had very little in the way of Axis warships. What ships it did had were mostly assigned to Pyro, for its central location allowed for rapid deployment to any system in the chain. As TG 232 engage its counterpart in the space between Pyro IV and the system’s recently revealed forth warp point the first battle actually happened one hour earlier. Running ahead of TG 231 on the way to the Pyro/Alto warp point were two armed pinnace tenders and a scout. At full-tilt they overhauled a slower moving target which at the range of six light minutes was determined to be six ships. The tender commanders decided to send out the scout and their armed pinnaces once the range had dropped to one light-minute. Moving at a speed of 0.05c, the targets were either freighters or warships smaller than battlecruisers. If the former then the 18 Apins would attack; if the latter were battlecruisers then they’ll fall back since they didn’t have the firepower to deal with them.
     The armed pinnace, developed by the Crajen Small Craft Guild, has a crew of six. An enlisted small craft chief flight engineer managed both the propulsion unit as well as the power systems utilized by the pinnace’s various components. Another enlisted flight engineer assisted his chief but was primarily responsible for the life support system. A gunnery rating operated the Apin’s built-in gun, point defense and external ordnance. Sensors and communications were operated by another rating that was also responsible for electronic countermeasures. The command pilot was either an ensign or a Lieutenant 2nd Grade with the co-pilot being an ensign.
     Leading the 18-unit strike against the prospective six targets was Lieutenant Senior Grade Davke, commander of Apin Squadron 6, the Blue Whales, based on the battlecruiser-sized pinnace tender Curtys. Davke, as a 1st Grade Lt, was on the technical mission that helped the Hamthen develop the AFSC. He made several friends in the SNS and was eager to put the hurt on the Axis scum. When the Apin project asked for volunteers to form the first squadrons Davke was among the first to apply. After being trained to operate the Apin Davke was then utilized as a squadron instructor, putting fresh crews through their paces before they were sent forward on newly commissioned tenders. When the need for senior officers to command the pinnace wings became too great to ignore Davke’s request to be sent to the front was honored.
     If Terpla’ns smoked like the Valhallan and Endrili, then Davke would’ve had a cigar at the side of his mouth while he talked. He ate strips of mackerel jerky instead, making the flightdeck smell like a convenience store near a university campus. While this wasn’t a problem for the crew it was one for Davke’s passenger. Banna Coopersmith, a Crajen, was sitting in what could be called a rumble seat behind the co-pilot’s station. Allergic to mackerel, the mere smell of it made Banna’s four stalked eyes water. He was a public relations executive for the Small Craft Guild, and his assignment was to document the use of the armed pinnace by the CSF. A media package was to be made from the resulting footage, which meant Banna had to carry and operate a hand-held recorder, filming ‘scenes of interest’. Right now the scene was that of flightdeck banter. With battle only minutes away the crew was reducing tension by engaging in juvenile jokes.
     “Hey, Guns,” said Sensors. “You better use the head while you have the chance. Peeing in the suit will make everyone sick when you take it off.”
     “Blame the bad beer the R&E (recreation and entertainment) officer scored for the lounge, Sensors,” barked back Guns. “At least it’s better than the food. I’m surprised the filters and scrubbers still work after all the gas you pass.”
     “Play nice, you two, or I’m coming back there,” Davke chided. “The enemy should be so fortunate that they don’t have to work with you guys on a daily basis.”
     “New information from the scout,” Sensors announced, her tone now professional. “Targets identified as one Punch frigate, four frigate-sized freighters and a destroyer-sized freighter.”
     Davke swallowed the last bit of mackerel jerky he had been working on for the last half hour. “Sensors, our ETA to firing range?”
     “Six minutes, Cap’n.”
     “Alright, gang. Anyone who has to go to the head better do it in the next four minutes. All stations are to be manned for the two minutes prior to combat.” After a choir of ‘yes, cap’ns’ Davke turned to Banna. “Mr. Coppersmith, are your remote cameras on? You won’t have the opportunity to activate them once combat is engaged.”
     It took an effort of will for Banna not to choke as his sense of smell was overwhelmed by Davke’s jerky breath. “They’ve been on for the last five minutes, Mr. Davke.”
     “Oh, in that case Mr. Coopersmith can you edit out that comment about the wine we received from your guild? I’m sure they won't appreciate that we described the taste as rancid piss.” Davke said with complete sincerity.
     “You have my assurance, Mr. Davke,” Banna said with what passed for a straight face for a Crajen. He sealed his vac suit and went to internal air, finding the relief that he’d been denied since stepping foot on the flightdeck.

The small Axis convoy had been informed for some time by the Pyro IV garrison that a ship contact was closing on it, but in no way did it know exactly how many or what kind of ships were involved. With no long-range or targeting sensors the convoy commander hoped against hope that it was just a scout. He was stumped when eighteen pinnaces appeared on his screens. Thankful they weren’t fighters, he wondered why they chose to close in on his ships. If they were going to probe the Pyro/Alto warp point, then they could’ve skirted the convoy and not risk being shot down, which was going to happen if they continue on their current course.
     At 2.5 light-second range all the convoy ships were at action stations, point defense manned and ECM fully spun up. Still moving at 0.05c, the convoy turned 60° to port just as the pinnaces, which were radiating more energy than expected, closed to 1 LS range. For moving at full speed the pinnaces were unable to generate ECM. All the ships opened up and one of the pinnaces was shot down. Each of the remainder was armed with four of the recently developed fighter laser packs. Axis point defense crews felt pale as they saw the Apins wave in and out of explosions from proximity-fused point-defense missiles, closing relentlessly on their ships. The initial targets were a FT3 and the FT4, and despite the range they were destroyed, their weak hulls unable to withstand the lasers’ assault. Based on the debris cloud the FT4 was a transport, carrying Axis troops being sent home after serving their duty rotation on Pyro IV. As for the FT3 it had a full load in its holds, the space around its demise glittering with containers and cylinders of all kinds.
     Employing some engine modulation, the Apins only closed the range by one-quarter of a light second. This time the target was the frigate, and despite the higher level of ECM employed by the Punch it was turned into a crawling wreck by the volume of laser fire. The three other FT3s succeeded in shooting down another Apin, but now their existence was measured in seconds.
     At one-half LS range the FT3s scored their final kill, the Apin nicknamed Lugger by its crew was engulfed in a nuclear fireball from a CAM. With the firing of their lasers the Apins make these small ships disintegrate like sugar cubes in water. The crippled Punch fired its two courier drones, and being set at maximum speed the Apins couldn’t intercept them. Reaching for the Pyro/Alto warp point, the two Sloops that were already ahead of the drones still had a chance to shoot them down. With a final stab of laser fire the frigate went down.
     “Good work, people,” Davke said over the strike frequency. “We’ve eliminated ships that carried cargos and personnel that, in all likelihood, were heading to support Axis forces in Contrail or Roll Cloud. The loss of three of my Blue Whales is a painful but necessary price to obtain our victory. My crews will be drinking to their memory tonight in Curtys’ rec room, and I invite the 4th and 5th squadrons to join.”
     “Cap’n,” said Guns after the other crews acknowledged the invitation, “we only have that weak beer to work with. We need something stronger, something fitting for Sugar Dog, Tour Bus and Lugger.”
     Banna was intrigued. “Are those actual names?”
     Davke spoke, and with his sealed suit Banna was spared from his odorous breath. “They’re callsigns, and before anyone tells you different the fighter jocks got the idea from us shuttle jockeys. The callsigns are also the nicknames of the craft they piloted. Sugar Dog was a guy who liked sugary treats, and Tour Bus and Lugger were shuttle pilots in the civilian sector before enlisting.” Davke snapped his fingers. “Sensors, is there anything in the databases about those freighters?”
     “Nope, Cap’n. As far as we know this is the first time Allied forces have encountered these particular Axis classes.”
     “Well,” Davke said with a grin, “tonight we’ll be toasting those guys with a concoction of that weak beer and rancid pi… err, wine. To give them some form of immortality in military history, we’ll use their callsigns as reporting names. For the frigate freighter class we’ll call them Sugar Dogs, and the destroyer-sized transport Tour Buses. If we find a third class of freighter we’ll label them Luggers.”
     “Excellent idea, Cap’n,” said Guns. Unsealing his faceplate, Guns then proceeded to tear into a strip of mackerel jerky, as did the rest of the flightdeck crew. They were joined in the jerky fest by the two engineers, coming up to the flightdeck so they could see a playback of the attack. Banna decided to stay on suit air until the pinnace returned to the Curtys.

System Layout - Democracy of Hamthen

Axis System ---- Dotz ---- Evershem ---- Hamthen ---- Hagelkorn ---- Thunderhead ---- Pileus ---- Wrangler (CPS)

Hamthen ---- Stratus ---- Altostratus ---- Contrail ---- Virga --- Harvest Slope (CPS)

Contrail ---- Cirrus ---- Rainbow ---- Roll Cloud --- Pileus

Rainbow ---- Rain Shadow (Starless Nexus)

Roll Cloud ---- Altocumulus ---- Pyrocumulus ---- Cirrostratus --- Exosphere (Starless Nexus)

Altocumulus ---- Cirrocumulus ---- Mammatus ---- Nassen

Mammatus ---- Pyrocumulus

Pyrocumlulus --- Barley (closed warp point) (CPS)

Chapter 4.75
Star Admiral Terson was feeling the pressure to do something. As bad as the destruction of Star Force 2 was the First Leader had to declare war on a new alien race. That meant a portion of the reinforcements slated for the now-dead System Admiral Anjur was siphoned off to the Nu’Chut sector. Having read the reports provided by the AFC, Terson seriously questioned why the First Leader started this second war. The entry point in the alien system of contact was closed, and the initial survey force was destroyed. It would’ve been a simple matter to fortify the other end just in case the aliens had seen where the drones disappeared when they exited the system.
     It appeared First Leader Grandous was compelled to take on this new race even before the AFC had made more substantial gains against the CPS. The destruction of the buggy Uan’s home system, heralded with much fanfare, was in Terson’s opinion taken as a sign by Grandous that his fleet could take on multiple threats. Now word came back that the task group sent to engage the aliens was defeated, and this on top of the Allied recovery of Virga and the Hamthen Altocumulus chain.
     Star Force 4, 1st Advance Fleet, was in Roll Cloud to back up the fortifications guarding the Pileus warp point. With Allied forces in Altocumulus SF 4 was threatened from two directions. Those mines and buoys left in reserve in Roll Cloud were deployed to cover the Alto warp point and the much reduced automated defenses in Cirrus and Rainbow were scrapped altogether and sent to Roll Cloud as well. A breakout from Virga into Contrail would leave SF 4 the choice of staying put, hoping for a relief force to push the Allies back, to advance and engage enemy forces in either Contrail or Pileus, or engage the Allies in Altocumulus. The defining factor was supplies, as SF 4 only had enough for five months, less if they have to use them for repairs.
     Retaking Alto and crushing the Allied force will enable SF 4 to stay in supply for a bit longer. That would mean abandoning Roll Cloud and leaving the Pileus warp point fortifications unsupported. A fleet could stand off from those bases and destroy them at their leisure, taking their fighter and missile strikes in stride. However, if their attention was diverted to system with much more importance, say like Hagelkorn….
     Terson made up his mind. He sent orders to the commander of SF 4 to conduct an immediate attack on Alto. With the number of intervening systems and the distance between warp points in those systems the message would take half a day to get to Roll Cloud. Long before then the defenses of Hagelkorn would’ve been destroyed

A little before Terson came to his decision Task Group 231 entered Altocumulus proper. Moving at cruising speed the task group would take eight days to reach the Alto/Roll Cloud warp point. Halfway through a section of freighters and minelayers broke formation and made best speed for the Alto/Cirrocumulus warp point with a similar force heading for the Alto/Roll Cloud warp point. Preceding the first detachment were four Sloop scouts, the Privateer-class pinnace tender Curtys and the Chaq-B class pinnace tender Bayyar. A sensor contact, taking a direct line course between the Cirrocumulus and Roll Cloud war points, was investigated. It turned out to be an Axis fleet carrier, two undersized FT2 freighters, and two scouts. One of the Axis scouts in turn investigated the sensor contact that was moving slower than the Sloops. In this way the Curtys and Bayyar were distinguished.
     After hearing the news the Axis carrier captain bought his ship about and headed for the Curtys and Bayyar. Believing them to be a Jonal minelayer and a regular Chaq pinnace tender the captain’s intention was to destroy or disable them so that they couldn’t emplace a minor minefield and conduct reconnaissance of the Cirrocumulus system. What he couldn’t have known was that the two ships really were armed pinnace tenders. In a calculated move the tender captains kept to their original course and allowed the carrier to close. They waited until the carrier, approaching from the port bow, had closed to six light-seconds range and launched fighters before turning away. Slowly gaining, the 30 Axis fighters were presented with what looked like 15 pinnaces upon reaching the three light-second mark.
     Aboard the Apin named Wholly Mackerel the attitude of the crew was righteous. Lt.(sg) Davke was chewing on his trademark mackerel jerky while inputting targeting priorities for the three squadrons he commanded. Banna Coopersmith had elected to come along instead of staying aboard the Curtys. He was contractually obligated to his guild to personally film two combat engagements involving Apins. Having fulfilled one when Davke’s Blue Whales attacked a small convoy in Pyrocumulus Banna decided to get the final one out of the way.
     While giving the jerky a final promise before swallowing Davke turned to Banna. “In all honesty, Mr. Coopersmith, you should’ve stayed on ship. If those jokers have guns on their rails then our widows will be collecting our pensions.”
      “If it’s all the same,” Banna said, enduring the smell of jerky that permeated the flightdeck, “I’ll take my chance here. I believe enough Axis pilots will break through and seriously damage the Curtys.”
     “Don’t sell your guild’s product short,” Davke said as he closed the faceplate of his vac suit. His following words sounded metallic through his suit’s external speaker. “We may be outnumbered two to one and don’t possess datalink, but we can engage three separate targets. And,” he said with relish, “if they expend their short-attack missiles on us it means that much fewer with which to attack the Curtys and Bayyar. I can’t think of a better way to go than by saving the ship.”
     “I prefer old age and dying in my sleep,” Banna blurted out, to which Davke and the rest of the flightdeck crew laughed. Ten seconds to firing range the lighting changed to red, and Banna sealed his suit, expecting to be blown up at any moment. Good luck was on his side that day, for all the Axis fighters carried just attack missiles, and they were just out of range to engage the pinnaces.
     Armed with an attack missile, laser pack, and an ECM pack each the 15 Apins opened up on the 30 fighters at a range of one-quarter of a light-second. Add in the built-in fighter gun and point defense mount the enemy pilots thought they were on the wrong end of a firing range. Seventeen fighters were blotted from the heavens, and the remainder flew past the Apins as they turned about to pursue. Now just 2 LS from the cruisers and the Apins 0.75 LS behind them the 13 Axis pilots thought the worse was behind them. They were wrong. They found out the hard way that the laser pack’s maximum range could still get to them along with the Apin’s point defense. Five more fighters were brought down.
      At 1.5 LS the Curtys used its shipboard laser to engage but missed. Now 1 LS behind the fighters the Apins only had their point defense with which to engage, bringing down two more for their effort. The six survivors kept going, passing the 1 LS mark without incident. Now unable to fire on the fighters anymore the Apins turned about and went after the carrier at full speed. A necessary move since the captain detuned his engines to keep the range open.
     Luck remained with the pilots for a bit longer as the six survivors past the half light second mark, weaving and banking through the explosions of point-defense missiles. It was clear that the Bayyar would be the target as twelve attack missiles wouldn’t put Curtys out of commission. At the last moment Bayyar turned to port 60° so that Curtys’ weapons could engage the fighters in the smaller ship’s blind spot. Even with CAMs on its external racks the big tender was only able to shoot down one fighter. Bayyar lost her armor and cargo hold after all was said in done, and the five fighters pulled away at full speed. Curtys couldn’t turn quick enough to bring even her laser into play, but the more nimble Bayyar still had the reach of her point defense. She missed, and the greatly diminished strike rushed back to its carrier to rearm with gun packs, for eventually the engine detuning will take its toll.
     Twenty minutes later the carrier stopped detuning, allowing the 15 Apins to close the range. Just as the armed craft were 1.5 LS behind the ship turned to starboard and fired its laser, taking out one of 5th Squadron’s Red Fins. It also launched its last five fighters. Generating ECM, the quintet went for a head-on strike, which was both daring and made the Apin’s job of shooting them down easier. One fighter was splashed before it could attack, but its squadronmates took down three Apins with them. The carrier’s capital point defense mounts claimed the fourth.
     At 1 LS range the 10 Apins were now at maximum range of their laser packs. Three scored hits while the carrier missed. Thirty seconds later the laser picked off another Red Fin. Five lasers punished the big ship’s armor, destroying all of its external ordnance. At half a light second Davke lost one of his Blue Whales, but with five more hits the carrier belched air and slowed from the loss of an engine room. Refusing to slow to generate more ECM, as this would allow the Apins to get into his blind spot, the carrier captain kept moving at best speed and turned at the last moment to bring his weapons to bear.
     The eight Apins were atop the carrier and revealed a new surprise. Carrying a single fighter close attack missile, this weapon wasn’t armed with a nuclear warhead but with anti-matter. Last-ditch fire took down one more Apin, but the rest made the ship a cripple moving at half speed. It was simple matter of maneuver to get into the ship’s blind spot and thus avoid further losses. Again, there was nothing the Apins could do to shoot down the four courier drones fired by the dying ship, trusting that the Sloops and the minelayer group at the Alto/Roll Cloud warp point could get them.
     Reduced as his force was, Davke had his crews go after the two undersized FT2 freighters. They were a new class not previously seen, so it was advisable to find out what they had in the way of defenses if any. One bright spot was their slow speed, allowing the seven Apins to augment their ECM packs with engine modulation. The freighters were armed with point defense, seeing how they illuminated the Apins with fire-control ladars, but were unable to generate a fire control solution due to ECM. Keeping the range open at 0.75 LS, Davke’s crews took their time, knocking out one FT2 and then the other. To his word, Davke gave this class the reporting name of Lugger, honoring one of the first Apin crews to be lost in combat.
     With only seven Apins left it was decided to base all of them on the Curtys, sending the Bayyar back to Pyrocumulus for repair. Arriving ahead of the minelayer group, the Curtys sent in one Apin to probe the Cirrocumulus warp point. What it found was a minefield of 120 patterns and 60 buoys being controlled by an undersized type-2 base. All seven Apins took out the buoys and waited until they were joined by three refitted Valhallan Reliant cruisers. Filled with mine-clearance charges, the Reliants proceeded to clear a path in the minefield while the Apins returned to the Curtys to get rearmed.
     The base fired its three drones, sending them to the warp point. One was shot down by the Reliants while the other two broke past and headed into Altocumulus. Returning, the seven Apins went down the lane cleared by the cruisers. The ships followed, their scanners intent on getting as much data on this type of base before it was destroyed. With ECM packs and modulation the base was unable to engage the Apins either at long or point-blank range. Three salvos of two anti-matter fighter attack missiles each, one salvo every thirty seconds, broke down the base, its disintegration revealing that it was assembled from prefabricated components instead of a unitary hull.
     A Sloop sped on to Cirro III to find a very small Axis space station orbiting the planet, its tonnage roughly the same as a type-4 base. It appeared to be identical to the one that orbited Pyro IV, as it fired but a single missile at the scout. Then, with the scout crew looking on in horror the station began bombarding the planet. Whereas Pyro IV was rich in mineral content Cirro III was poor. Only a 35,000 man Axis garrison watched over the 265,000 Hamthens that lived on the planet. Conquered for its resources to support the defenses in Roll Cloud the station commander decided to move up the extermination date of the population by two years. In any event it was planned to wipe out the population if Allied forces regained the system. In little over three hours the deed was done. Neutron warheads exterminated the settlement as well as ten percent of the troops despite the advanced warning.
     The Curtys attacked the space station with externally mounted capital missiles and its laser. As for the seven Apins they kept their distance and participated in only one sortie, firing stand-off missiles, yet another new weapon. The pinnaces and shuttles sent out by the station attempted to ram the Curtys, but were shot down by the Apins. The hopeless outclassed station kept flailing away with its sole missile launcher, firing sprint-mode missiles as the Curtys parked itself at point-blank range and lazed the station into oblivion, losing only half of its shields after all was said and done. As for the Axis troops they were treated to a brief missile bombardment courtesy of the Apins. Eventually a freighter loaded with kinetic bombardment satellites arrived and in conjunction with a single division of E’sani troops proceeded to kill all the Axis soldiers. It just wouldn’t do to let them live, even in scattered small groups for years to come, after they’ve killed so many out of expediency.
     Aside from encountering and destroying another Lugger the Apins of the Curtys were done with their first deployment of the war. New units were prepped and sent to the ship as well as the repaired Bayyar. Banna Coppersmith collected more than he bargained for his media presentation for the guild. He was made an honorary member of the Blue Whales and even given something called a flight jacket, complete with squadron patch and matching gloves. Though he could never wear the garment Banna treated it as a prized possession, never failing to show it to friends years later, even though it smelt like mackerel and beer. That was because it was presented during a victory party, one that the CPS and its allies were waiting for a long time.

CSF Admiral Ayrth, commanding Task Force 21 and overall commander of allied forces in the Hagelkorn system, knew he was taking a major gamble. He wanted to entice the Axis fleet in Hamthen into making a spoiling attack. The intent was to make the AFC believe it was in its best interest to keep the Allies fixated on defending Hagelkorn and not to risk an assault of their own. With the recovery of Virga (and thankfully its two colonies by Hazen ground troops) and the ongoing Altocumulus operation the AFC would be compelled to regain the initiative. So as to satisfy their ego as well as make them lose their assault force, which could only help the Allies for their plan to take Hamthen, Ayrth made the AFC an offer it couldn’t refuse.
     Before the third Axis probe assault on Hagelkorn Ayrth pushed for and got several type-4 bases for the defenses. These bases, however, mounted almost nothing but shield generators and armor. Indeed, each of the 12 type-4s Ayrth got cost as much as a dreadnought due to their prefab components. After the third Axis assault the bases were assembled and slotted into position with the type-5s. Their purpose was to confuse and spread enemy fire while the real bases reached action stations.
     With the introduction of the plasma-armed corvettes by the Axis, as demonstrated in the Ua attack, these floating armored citadels more than justified their cost. Ayrth ordered a major change to the defense posture. The Blockhouses, as the 12 became to be known, were left at the 1.25 LS position divided into four groups from the warp point. One-quarter of a light second behind them were six type-2 bases, armed with advanced missile launchers and equally spaced apart. At 2.25 LS, in two separate groups of three were the beam-armed type-5s and one LS beyond them, again divided in two groups, sat two of new BS6(V)s, 6 BS5(V)s, 4 BS5(E)s and 6 BS5(R)s. The other six BS5(B)s and six BS5(R)s were pulled out to a distance of 11 light-seconds, and thus they were invisible to the enemy targeting scanners. Long range scanners would take them as auxiliaries, such as personnel transports used to pick up survivors. Six tugs were on hand to tow the bases into combat if the need arose, but it was their apparent absence that should tempt the Axis to attack.
     2400 patterns of mines in one thick shell covered the warp point. 1500 weapon buoys in six parks were in attendance. Only 300 of them were of the one-shot laser variety, the rest being cut-down energy beams. The new corvette class had thick armor and its two plasma guns were given the best protection. It would take six point-blank laser buoy hits to destroy this corvette, and the numbers employed at Ua told Ayrth that lasers just won’t do. Using a relay of BC and CL fast freighters the admiral had 1200 energy beam buoys brought in from the Yoshibo fleet base in the weeks after the fall of Ua. When the Axis used their new corvettes again, and no-one doubted that they would, they would be burnt out by energy overloads and rendered impotent.
     As for the task force it orbited the warp point at 1.5 LS range, just outside the reach of plasma guns, with the capital missile and carrier components at 3 LS range. The CAP, being provided exclusively by the bases, was 174 strong and orbited the warp point at half-a-light-second distance. Everyone was expecting the attack soon for Ayrth allowed the last Axis pinnace probe, detected three days ago, to return unmolested. On the twentieth day after the Allies attacked Virga the Axis came calling.
     On the western side of the warp point the Allied ships watched as the first wave made its entrance. First and second in line were Soar carriers, followed by a mass transit of 300 Grenadiers, of which 96 interpenetrated and exploded. Fourth was another Soar, and the fifth was a mass transit of 8 Grim Reapers (2 interpen), 5 Soars, 4 Falcon Crests, 4 Wave Riders (2 interpen), 60 Sprinters (20 interpen) and 60 Punches (16 interpen). The last entry was 20 Dispersions with 6 trying to share the same space at the same time. 322 Axis ships, facing the arbitrarily designated northeast, fired their transit addled weapons at the type-4s while flushing mine clearance charges from their external racks.
     Starting with the first salvos the Axis wave received one surprise after another. The Blockhouses performed as required, soaking up a great deal of fire that would’ve brought down more conventionally armed bases. Only six were destroyed. Next were anti-matter warheads, dealing twice the damage than expected. 4 Soars, 3 Falcon Crests, 3 Grim Reapers, 2 Wave Riders, 4 Punches, 11 Grenadiers and 8 Dispersions were destroyed. 18 of the 29 CAP squadrons became active with 35 more crashed-launched from the bases and 18 from the carriers.
     The Axis was successful in destroying 139 mine patterns. Then there were the buoy controllers on the 12 small Allied bases and 6 automated weapon control ships sitting 6 LS ‘north’ of the warp point. Five bases and one ship became active, and between them they activated just enough energy beam buoys so that each Axis ship was subjected to two attacks. 154 Grenadiers lost their engines due to massive electrical overloads caused by the energy beams, thus rendering the Axis Commander’s plan to ‘plow the road’, where each ship was subject to just one attack, useless.
     20 Axis squadrons launched and made a bee-line for the BS5s to the north while the ships, namely the DDs and FGs, focused on the southern bases. The Soars and the Falcon Crest turned as best they could to face their exit vector. Twelve BCs arrived two at a time with only one pair interpenetrating and exploding. Like filing attracted to a magnet 10 of the 18 active CAP squadrons went for the new arrivals while the other 8 went after the carriers and minesweepers. It was here that fourth in the series of surprises was sprung on the invaders as the fighters were first generation, each armed with three close-attack missiles filled with antimatter.
     It was a slaughter. Just 52 Grenadiers remained, impotent while their plasma guns recharged. Half of those were unable to move due to energy beam hits. One Falcon Crest, one Grim Reaper, 4 DDs, 4 FGs, and 3 ESs were e-hulked. 42 Axis fighters were shot down, intercepted by 54 fighters and the point defense of the immediate target and of the bases nearby, leaving just 78. Ayrth ordered 132 more e-buoys used so that each of the remaining Grenadiers was targeted by at least 2 buoys. For all their trouble the Axis only badly damaged one BS5 with long-range laser fire. The new composite armor had proven its worth; otherwise it would’ve meant the sure destruction of one base and the damaging of another.
     Wave three was composed of 12 CAs and 12 CLs arriving in groups of four. Eight of the CAs interpenetrated while the CLs made it through safely. Ayrth ordered those ships that had plasma gun and energy beam armaments to close on the warp point with the intent of e-hulking as many ships as possible. Before they fell to the guns of defending fighters the Axis squadrons succeeded in destroying one type-5 beam base.
     There was no fourth wave. A full five minutes pass before Ayrth gave the order to stand down. SAR teams went into action, rescuing those few Allied life pods that were ejected during battle. No Axis life pods were picked up, and only those captured on the hulked ships were made prisoner. Whatever demented scheme the Axis admiral had in conducting this major probe attack it was proven a failure. For damage to one BS5 and one BS4, and the loss of one BS5, 6 Blockhouse BS4s, 1 BS2, 171 patterns of mines and 8 buoys the CSF had scored a major defensive victory.
     Of the 300 CTs only one escaped back to Hamthen with 8 hulked and captured. All 8 DN(V)s and 3 CVs were gone with one CV hulked. Added to the list were 8 DN(MS), 4 BC(MS), 56 of 60 DD (4 hulked), 56 of 60 FG (4 hulked), 16 of 20 ES (3 hulked and 1 escaped), 12 BC, 8 of 12 CA (4 hulked), and 6 of 12 CL (6 hulked). Personnel losses for the Axis alone were on the order of 119,000. A stagger number indeed, and Ayrth wondered what motivated the Axis to conduct an attack that in all likelihood would’ve failed. As willing as the Axis has proven to make mass transit attacks by now they should realize it would take a whole fleet, not just assault waves, to swamp the defenses of Hagelkorn. Ayrth shuttered at the mere thought if those corvettes were used for warp point defense, little monsters with guns that would tear down ships like piranha. The Axis had the chance to do so in Virga but didn’t, indicating that they saw the corvettes as purely offensive weapons. For that oversight 193 plasma corvettes, as well as the support elements of the Axis forces in Virga were destroyed as they tried to flee to Contrail.
     While Ayrth’s staff had wanted to wait three days before conducting the decisive assault on Hamthen, letting the enemy go back down to watch levels, he decided otherwise. If the Axis wanted clear proof of antimatter warheads and the new fighters then they’ll get it. The battles in Virga and Pyro may have been treated with skepticism but now all doubt was removed. Given time to digest the news the enemy might well be tempted to move his close-in bases out to 1.5 LS range, denying the plasma guns of Ayrth’s units a target even if it meant the bases couldn’t use them in turn. No, now was the time, while the enemy concentrated on their response to their failed attack that the fleet should strike.
     Four hours after the last enemy cruiser was rendered into a shorted-out wreck the assault component of Task Force 21 was sent in to Hamthen.

Terson found it hard to accept the probe attack was not as successful as predicted. Data from the only two ships and two pinnaces that returned, not to mention the fifty courier drones, was still being mulled over by the intelligence staff. The six bases destroyed showed they were heavily shielded and armored. As for firepower the only observed weapons were externally mounted CAMs, odd considering that if they had other weapons they would’ve used them. Being the second time the Grenadiers were used in combat Terson came to the conclusion that they should hold their fire until the effects of transit had gone. The resulting increase in accuracy would make up for the losses inflicted by the defenders. Using SF 1’s 60 DDs and 60 FGs was a calculated move on the admiral’s part. With the Grenadiers to help the plan was for them to charge a selected patch of the Hagelkorn minefield, depleted by the mass use of mine clearance charges. Once through the regular warships were to charge the beam bases and destroy them in their entirety. Only the fact that these bases were further away than expected, and the massive use of energy beam buoys by the enemy, prevented more of them from being destroyed outright.
     While the loss of personnel was considerable Terson remained convinced his attack had the desired effect. The Allies would stay on the defensive in Hagelkorn, protecting the last Abom bastion, knowing that the Axis only sent in forces that were considered truly expendable while keeping the bulk of their fleet on reserve. Indeed, the battlecruisers and heavy and light cruisers used were ones originally slated for SF 2, but Terson recalled them a month ago from Contrail to reinforce SF 1.
     In his opinion, had the CSF been serious about recapturing Hamthen then they should’ve done so well before now. Only a mass transit attack would work against the defenses the Axis had emplaced over the last fifteen months: 24 type-5 bases – 12 beam, 6 missile, 4 fighter and 2 defense – and 3 control bases guarded the warp point along with 2400 patterns of mines and 1200 laser buoys. The beam bases were arranged in four groups of three, located 1.25 LS from the warp point. Four LS north and south sat the fighter and defense bases and half a light second beyond them were the missile bases. Six LS south of the warp point were located the 3 automated weapon control bases. A formidable defense, and 3 more beam, 2 fighter and one defense base were nearing completion over Hamthen, being assembled from prefabricated components. As for SF 1, currently orbiting 1.25 LS northwest of the warp point, it was composed of 24 capital ships (the 12 DN(R)s sat with the northern missile bases), 24 BCs, 18 CAs, 24 CLs, 18 carriers plus escorts (located with the northern fighter bases), and no less than 828 fighters (204 of which were on CAP at any one time), backing up the fixed defenses. Despite the widening of the war on the First Leader’s part Terson was going to get 24 more capital ships, 12 BCs and six fleet carriers in two months. With such reinforcement a mass transit with capital units would mean an end for the Hagelkorn system.
     Going over the data in his day cabin, located next to the CIC on the dreadnought Righteous Fury, Terson was alerted by the klaxon that announced an enemy warp transit. In a moment he was in the chamber, already set to combat lighting, taking in the huge hologram display of the warp point and its environs. The first three ships that emerged were huge, at least 30% more massive than a dreadnought. Unless these ships had heavy passive defenses Terson just considered them to be big….
     The fourth transit wasn’t a single ship but a tsunami. 160 ships, from the new larger warship class down to frigates, emerged with 36 interpenetrating. Taken aback by the sheer amount of tonnage Terson didn’t see the fifth transit was composed of one ship, but the sixth transit had 300 escorts and explorers (118 interpenetrating) and an incredible 400 enlarged pinnaces as described in sketchy reports from Virga and Altocumulus. 60 pinnaces exploded from interpenetrations, but the survivors moved out from the immediate environs of the warp point, breaking past the minefield at a further cost of 34 of their number.
     All the Allied ships faced northeast. Save one all carried capital mine clearance charges on their external racks. The exception was the first ship to enter, an Avami class assault carrier, and it fired 15 antimatter armed CAMs and a hetlaser at one Axis beam base, located at the edge of plasma gun range from the warp point. 85% of the base’s shields were smashed, and in the subsequent volleys the internal weapons of Allied ships destroyed three beam bases and damaged five, three of those seriously. 228 patterns of mines had been cleared by BAM-Rc rounds. The Allies lost three Avamis, four Salyfs, and one Nikazu-V with another with some light internal damage. Of the 1080 fighters embarked on the carriers that survived transit 702 remained, most of those on the fleet and light carriers. Facing them were a total of 816 Axis fighters with 102 of the 204-strong CAP becoming active and 222 more crash-launched from their bases and carriers. Deliberate targeting orders from Terson make the pure assault carriers the primary target for his warships. With them gone the Allies would be denied their use in future assaults.
     300 laser buoys were fired, matching the number of remaining Allied ships exactly. Damage to any one ship would be negligible, but did serve the purpose of wiping off any EDMs the larger ships, especially the fleet carriers, happened to carry. While that was done the 303 armed pinnaces that survived transit and the minefield fired their addled weapons at a buoy park, destroying 57 laser buoys. As the second wave, 3 DNs and 3 BCs, started to enter the fleet, light, and escort carriers transited back to Hagelkorn as a group. Two CV and two CVLs were destroyed on the far side, but this maneuver save the rest from destruction as Terson had designated them as the next targets.
     Allied minesweepers, composed of two SDs, six DNs, four BBs, and six CAs entered the ravaged portion of the minefield, accompanied by the 120 Magnet ESs and 62 Damage Sink EXs. 54 patterns were expended in the process of attacking the ships, bringing down the shields on everything smaller than the SDs and inflicting heavy armor damage on the CAs, ESs and EXs. Fulfilling their roll, the Damage Sinks were destroyed as they attempted to exit the field, taking a further twelve patterns out of the equation.
     Before Terson could grimace from the disappearance of most of the carrier targets an alarm spread across SF 1 and the fighter squadrons nearest the warp point. All datalinks had been cut by enemy jamming, making coordinated attacks impossible. Quickly as it could be determined the jamming was found to be generated by three of the enemy’s battleship-hulled carriers and two battlecruisers. The Axis admiral ordered that these ships be destroyed first so that datalinks would be restored. It was done, but with its short-term salvo advantage the Allies either gutted or destroyed the beam bases and tore into the CAP squadrons with their escort cruisers and frigates and fighters. The Endrili Hellstones vaporized one BS5 and a BB, firing killer salvos of antimatter sprint missiles. Even the addled new arrivals, three Cqux DNs and three Hazen Trumpeters BCs, took down a Hailfire. Just like the jamming Terson was given a new consternation by clear evidence of antimatter ordnance.
     Allied fighter strikes went out to engage the close-in warships and southern bases. The south-bound squadrons slowed down just enough so that their lasers and guns could engage the crash-launched Axis fighters (those responding to the first wave) outside the range of proximity-mode fighter close attack missile. Those Allied fighters that hadn’t engaged the CAP squadrons attacked the buoy parks, taking down as many of the automated weapons as possible before the control bases (the controllers on the beams bases having been destroyed) could activate them.
     With the fall of the jammers Terson had his ships pound on the Allied capital units, starting with the Hazen dreadnoughts. Four DNs and four Valhallan BCs were destroyed along with one BC heavily damaged. The Allied fighters attacked the Axis ships with conventional nuke-armed attack missiles on the real possibility that the Axis would’ve gunned for all the carriers at the start. Fighters sitting on their catapults, armed with antimatter attack missiles would’ve caused their carriers to go up like gasoline-soaked dynamite had even modest damage reached the launch bays. However, this didn’t limit the Apins from carrying antimatter ordnance. Terson, expecting the Apins to carry just one laser and a fRAM each (as observed in Virga and Alto), didn’t live long enough to express his curses as 303 Apins fired a laser and three fRAMs each, the equivalent of 50 fully-loaded squadrons of F1 fighters. Combined with the 30 F1 squadrons carrying conventional attack missiles Star Force 1 was effectively gutted.
     The one reason why the Allies conducted conventional assaults from Hagelkorn until now was due to the construction of a space station just a little over one light-minute away from the Hagelkorn/Hamthen warp point. Consisting of little more than shuttle bays and living quarters, the station was built just large enough to hold 400 Apins. Based on combat simulations, that number was decided on so that at least 100 would survive long enough to fire their weapons. Now in Hamthen with three times that number the Allies were in awe of the destruction they wrought. Only two Prestige DNs, three National Power BBs, four Hero BCs, four Hailfire BCs, six Stalwart CAs, and nine National Will CLs remained with the rest either destroyed or severely damaged. Terson was dead, his flagship smothered by a datalink group of Hellstones and the hetlasers of a trio of Tamayas.
     With the painful realization that the battle was lost the Axis carrier commander recalled those fighters crashed-launched moments after the third wave’s arrival and started to leave the area at best speed. He also had the fighters just launched from the bases to join him. The prime commander in charge of the National Reach DNs decided to leave as well, and for this action he was demoted one rank posthumously. Until then the close-in ships went down fighting and those fighters that survived to fire their attack missiles conducted suicide attacks on the Phyr escort frigates, succeeding in only bringing down the shields on six of them. What those pilots should’ve done was ram the Trumpeters. That trio of ships activated their jammers and launched 36 marine-filled assault shuttles; their intent was to board the e-hulked bases and immobilized ships for the purpose of capturing their databases.
     The minesweepers and Magnets were attacked by mines as they left their designated swath to be cleared. 37 of the previously damaged little ships were extinguished, but the rest were mobile and their plasma guns recharged. First blood this round went to the second-wave Cqux DNs, however. Even while crawling at 0.016c so as to generate the most ECM two Axis Hero-C BCs were pulverized into weaponless wrecks. Again the Axis fixated on destroyed the jamming ships, more out of frustration than for the pitifully few datalink connections they had left. Those fighters launched in the moments after the first wave appeared, after storming past the Allied CAP and improved point defense batteries, made their attacks as singletons due to the jamming, though their efforts did finish off the first and second Trumpeters.
     A third buoy controller became active and with it the Axis officer commanding the automated weapons elected to fire off 300 laser buoys. Tasked to engage enemy ships within three-quarters of a light-second range, many of the buoys were going to miss hitting the targets the control officer wanted – the Magnets. Just seven of the previously damaged ships were destroyed, and the rest of the assault force took some hits but far fewer thanks to ECM protection.
     The fourth wave entered, and it was composed of three Derakag BCs and three Terpla DNs, including the Captain Avma and Captain Dessis, Ayrth’s flagship. Mindful of the losses he incurred to secure the warp point Ayrth nevertheless felt righteous as he watched the Axis carrier and capital missile dreadnoughts flee the scene, covered by fighters that otherwise would’ve wrecked more havoc at the warp point. The southern missile and fighter bases were now being attacked by Allied fighters, so Ayrth ordered that the northern bases be finished off by his ships. To prevent their loss, the admiral had the minesweepers and the Magnets turn around and exit the system. Internally launched mine clearance charges from the Terplas and the Derakags took care of the last few mine patterns in the selected exit vector. The last Trumpeter exited for there was no longer a need for its jammer.
     Now all active, the three northern missile bases fired their one-time ship-killing volley at the Captain of Industry, a Tuphonese-crewed Terpla and veteran of the UWL War. The ship was destroyed with 50% overkill, but was avenged in short order. In moments the only close-in Axis ships that were left were either e-hulked or motionless due to shut-down damaged engine rooms. The whole of the southern bases were destroyed, but 140 Axis fighters, having destroyed the fourth-wave Derakags and polishing off the last of the Hazen Second Colonels, elected to crash their charges into Allied ships rather than serve as moving targets for the Apins. Twenty-three fighters each went after the six Tamaya minesweeper conversions while the last two went after a badly crippled Phyr. All the Tamayas were hit for light damage, leaving the 73 that missed to be downed by the Allied CAP.
     With the National Reaches out of missile range the last hurrah for Axis might came in the form of its 39 remaining laser buoys. The damaged scored only made the Allies think of it as a pathetic show of contempt. Moving into the clear zone of the minefield with maximum ECM the fleet focused its weapons on the northern defense and missile bases. The six Cqux opened up with their massive batteries of advanced launchers, their missiles’ antimatter warheads making an impression the Axis would never forget. What few missiles that got through contributed to the collapse of the defense base’s passive defenses, its hull belching air from several breaches. Primary beams pierced the missiles bases, taking out launchers and point defense systems. Each new wave that recovered from transit added to the bases’ torment, grinding them like rocks in a crusher.
     Regarding the fleeing ships Ayrth had no wish to send his destroyers after them, incurring losses to an already steep bill. So, as the destruction of the remaining bases continued he had all the fighters and Apins attended to the elimination of the Axis mobile forces. With just 96 fighters the Axis flight groups were outnumbered 5.4 to 1; with the Apins it was 8.9 to 1. The DN(R)s and the carriers were 1.25 LS apart and were moving at 0.083c when the Allies reached them. Firing their capital point defense at the Apins, the dreadnoughts brought down five at a range of 1.25 LS. Axis fighters, still loaded with close attack missiles, left their holding stance over the carriers and angled for the massive strike bearing down on them. The range had closed to 0.75 LS to the DNs, and the gun-armed Allied fighters turned in time to face their Axis opposites at a range of 0.25 LS.
     It was here that the Axis carrier admiral cursed himself for not rearming his fighters with gun packs. They were all shot down by the gun-armed fighters and the Apins’ built-in point defense and gun mounts. 17 more Apins were brought down by the point defense barrage but that left 281 and 326 laser-packed F1s. Four DNs lost their armor and a fifth was destroyed.
     Closer still, at 0.25 LS range the Allies destroyed no less than 8 DNs with laser fire for the loss of 20 Apins, some of which fell from long-range laser fire from the carriers. The DNs changed course and lured the Allies away while the carriers went to full speed. Only two more Apins were shot down before the last of the National Reaches exploded from overwhelming laser hits.
     Turning around the massive Allied group slowly caught up to the carriers. At 1.5 LS eighteen lasers from the carriers fired on the Apins, knocking out five. A bit closer in, capital point defense mounts opened up, and with the lasers brought down 24 more. Still closer at 1 LS regular point defense joined in, shooting down 37 in all. The ten pinnaces launched by the DD-sized tenders missed with their shots and were brought down by the Apin’s point defense. Four escorts DDs were destroyed and a fifth was reduced to half-speed.
     Having kept station with the Apins until now the Allied fighters, save eight squadrons, went to up 0.15c, placing them at 0.25 LS range from the carriers. As for the eight they went up to 0.133c. The Axis crews ignored the fighters and kept after the easier-to-hit Apins, taking out an incredible 49 in the space of thirty seconds. Return fire took out the last two DDEs, both pinnace tenders, all four escort cruisers and three CVLs with another now moving at half-speed.
     At point-blank range the laser-armed fighters and the 48 armed with one close-attack missile each went after the carriers tong and hammers. 25 more Apins succumbed to the single-minded fire of the Axis ships. Four CVs out of the original eight remained, and the 119 Apins turned away, leaving it to the fighters to finish them off. Unable to clear their blinds spots the captains performed their last duty and had their courier drones fired at maximum speed. The comm chatter on the pilots’ frequency was filled with as many whoops of victory as well as epithets since so many pinnace crews died in the process. Later the pilots learned that the losses they sustained as well as those ships destroyed in the warp point battle fell short of the average hourly death toll on Hamthen. It was a fact that stayed for them for the rest of their lives.

From the failed Axis probe to the glowing wreck of the last Eagle Crest carrier scarcely four-and-one-quarter hours had past. The rest of Task Force 21 had already entered Hamthen and was making a beeline for the planet. Along the way they encountered a BB-sized tug towing a corvette and an escort. All three were destroyed in passing, for there was no need to capture them for the Allies had enough hulks to probe for data. Likewise, aside from the prisoners that were taken while securing the hulks around the warp point, no attempt was made to recover Axis life pods. For as massive as the Allied force was, both in warships and auxiliaries, there was only so much capacity to recover and care for survivors. Axis life pods were ignored, leaving their personnel to die through power exhaustion, asphyxiation, or suicide.
     Nine hours at maximum dreadnought speed had TF 21 right over Hamthen. Like Pyro and Cirro there was a small space station in orbit. It self-destructed just as the ships entered capital missile range. Admiral Ayrth already knew what that station had done in the interim, for contact with resistance groups was established hours earlier via pre-arranged radio frequencies. The space station had bombarded Hamthen, creating radioactive buffer zones between the population and Axis Army troops. Accompanying TF 21 were 100,000 Terpla’n and E’sani soldiers with 2 million more being transported from their staging grounds on Hagelkorn over the course of a week. Using kinetic bombardment satellites the initial divisions created clear zones of their own, targeting concentrations of Axis troops even as small as a platoon in the process. Air and artillery defenses were built up, and radiological scanners more robust and powerful that those of the Axis were able to detect the much clichéd ‘suitcase nukes’ sooner and thus neutralized with orbital strikes.
     System Admiral Hanset, military governor of Hamthen, acted on a contingency plan he hoped never to use. Upon receiving word of the successful break-in by the CSF the evacuation of the Comensal civilians, numbering 1,900, didn’t take long but the loading of seriously wounded army troops prevented the transports from leaving for four hours. Still, at maximum speed, the two ships plus their escort of two light carriers and those other auxiliaries able to keep up would make it to the Evershem warp point without interference.
     Hanset cursed this turn of events, and leveled several at Terson. War hero or no, Hanset believed that old age has ossified Terson’s brain. Had he acted decisively months ago, even without those corvettes, then the threat to the Axis’ new world would’ve been greatly reduced. Probe assaults, while they may have focused the enemy’s attention to defend Hagelkorn and Pileus, had the effect of also concentrating the enemy’s potential to conduct offensive operations as well. Had Terson been thinking aggressive like in his past exploits then he would’ve taken Pileus at the first opportunity and then assault Hagelkorn from two directions. No, old ‘Scarface’ Terson and the High Command just had to send Anjur down the Virga Chain in what amounted to a lucky fishing expedition, finding the home system of intelligent bugs. Had Hagelkorn been cleared out early, then more settlers could’ve been brought to Hamthen and sped up its incorporation into the Axis.
     With the Army effectively on its own for the foreseeable future the plan was to preserve itself as long as possible while at the same time continue its campaign to exterminate the Aboms (aka the Hamthens). Any other race would see this as two mutually exclusive goals. For the Comensal it was an imperative. Exterminating as much of the enemy as possible, whether it be soldiers, spacers, or civilians, would ensure the eventual victory of the race. Reorganizing behind their freshly-made radioactive barriers Axis troops then set out in battalion-sized formations to resume the killing. Having never developed the weapon, or even thought about it due to cultural prerogatives, Axis troops were punished harshly by kinetic strikes and found their battalions being broken up. Those would-be exterminators incinerated by the kinetic strikes would come to be envied by their comrades.
     What faced the five million Axis troops was more than resistance fighters, Allied armies, or even the incessant bombardment from space. It was the determination of a whole civilization fixed on destroying every single Comensal that soiled their world. By the millions huge bands of civilians, armed and unarmed, grappled with the enemy. Shot, bombed, and gassed in job lots those that lived to physically attack the boney-skinned killers found them down to using knives for they had run out of ammunition. It all ended the same, every soldier being dismembered, alive if possible, with the resulting freed limbs being used as clubs for as long they lasted.
     Allied troops tried to and then gave up dissuading the civilians from fighting the Axis Army. They just weren’t listening, and a fair number were killed in kinetic strikes that knocked out even the smallest concentration of enemy troops. What ended up happening was that the flanks and rear of Axis positions were attack by the Allies, leaving just the front open – open towards the hordes of a wrathful populace. Word had gotten around on what was happening to Comensal that fell in Hamthen hands. For a race that professed to be favored by Providence, righteous in their superiority, they chose to face the quick death by the Allies instead of the prolonged agony they so richly deserved.
     Along with the troopships came freighters of all sizes, filled to capacity with supplies to aid the population. A great many of the auxiliary support services were composed of E’sani personnel, and there was some concern that the Hamthen would be hesitant to receive help from them. Their height and thickness could be construed as intimidating, and they were bipeds, like the Comensal. Far from hesitant the populace embraced their newfound tall benefactors. Battlefield stories, backed up with video, showed the proven E’sani robustness in point-blank combat. Hits that would’ve killed an adult Hamthen only bruised the hide of an E’sani trooper, and each hit was repaid with a dead Axis soldier. Civilians went out of their way to congratulate any E’sani they met. Indeed, Hamthen children, who would run in terror on sight of a Comensal, ran towards E’sani service personnel and were rewarded with treats and toys. In this, after sixteen months of hellish night dawn had finally broken for the Hamthen.

Before the drama unfolded on Hamthen there was still one more act left to play out in the reaches leading up to the Evershem warp point. Admiral Jki’s carrier group, accompanied by 60 destroyers and faster than the dreadnoughts and battleships of TF 21, caught up to the trailing elements of the support group that once serviced Star Force 1, First Advanced Fleet. On the roster to be encountered first were six tugs, three machine module equipped FT9s, two FT9 bulk transports and two FT2 ‘Lugger’ freighters. To minimize fighter losses each squadron utilized stand-off missiles, sending volleys of 18 of the new weapon just beyond the anti-fighter engagement range for capital point defense. Destroying the tugs first, and damaging the rest to the extent that they streamed air from hull breaches, the fighters broke off their attacks and left the destroyers to finish off the FT9s.
     Next came the FT4 and FT3 freighters, two and six respectively, and one FT4 transport. From captured Axis records the FT4 class designation was known as Kitchen. Given the reporting name of Potholder by Jki on the spot she had the destroyers dispatch the ships so that her fighter crews could recuperate. Closer to the warp point were the larger dreadnought-based auxiliaries: 2 DN(FT)s, 6 DN prefab transports, 1 DN troopship, and 2 DN mobile shipyards. Hetlaser-armed destroyers engaged at maximum range, stripping the ships of their armor and a good portion of their external ordnance. This time the fighters carried full loads of laser packs, preferring to conserve their antimatter-armed close attack missiles.
     What remained were those ships just as fast as the carriers: six CA-hulled repair ships, two CA-hulled freighters, 2 CA minelayers, 1 scout, 2 CVLs, and, of most importance to Jki, two CA-sized transports were reported by a Sloop. Freshly received reports from resistance scanner and audio monitoring teams on Hamthen established that the transports were carrying wounded Axis troops and officers such as doctors, field engineers, and technicians. What really mattered was that the transport carried all the Comensal civilians that composed the beginnings of permanent Axis habitation of Hamthen.
     Jki had no sympathy of what was going to happen to the civilians on those ships. The Axis systematically killed hundreds of millions on Hamthen without conscience, treating the whole affair of genocide like it was one ongoing live-fire exercise. Whole regions had been made unfit for habitation through nuclear fallout, massive fires that burned out vegetation, and something called black smoke mentioned in the few reports Jki was able to read in-between the destruction of the Axis support ships. After enough regions had been cleared the first Comensal settlers arrived, so confident in their supremacy and their army that they decided not to wait until the planet had been purged of all Hamthen life.
     There was no way that the carriers or the destroyers were going to catch up to the transports before they left the system. Until the conditions on the far side of the Evershem warp point were known the destroyers were going to have to stay put. Fortunately there was going to one solution to both problems. Right after TF21 won the battle at the Hagelkorn warp point the 5th Pinnace Tender Squadron, composed of three BCs, three CLs and 54 Apins, was dispatched to invest the Hamthen/Evershem warp point. They were accompanied by the remaining 119 Apins from the warp point battle. The Apins, designated in CSF parlance as Whales, were sent ahead at full speed. With Axis’ speed as a constant Jki calculated that the transports were delayed by at least four hours before heading out. Jki concluded that had they left an hour or even a half an hour earlier then the chance to get to them would’ve been gone. In just under a day the 173 Whales would intercept the fast Axis auxiliaries.
     Unable to admit to the terror about to consume them the Comensal prepared to go down fighting. All 36 F0 fighters were fitted out with two gun packs each and placed in a holding pattern over the speeding convoy. The 119 Whales from the warp point battle lead the way, closely followed by the 54 based on the tenders. Following the same pattern as previous battles the convoy maneuvered so as to keep the Whales in the field of fire. Starting with the CVL lasers the first Whale was lost at 1.25 LS range. The fighters were released and they engaged the oncoming horde one light-second from the convoy. To keep them out of their blindspots the Whales had to turn broadside to the fighters and convoy alike. 34 were shot down, 29 of them by fighters. By numbers alone the 36 fighters were brought down by the guns and point defense of the Whales.
     Turning back to the convoy the Whales stripped the armor off four of the repair ships while losing only six more of their number. Now at 0.5 LS range the laser-armed Whales faced externally mounted CAMs being fired at them. The ship captains had no choice but to use them now less they were destroyed by laser fire while still on their racks. Most successful this round were the two transports, bringing down 8 of the 18 Whales lost. One repair ship was destroyed and another reduced to 1/3 speed.
     Closer still the laser Whales brought down another repair ship and stripped the armor off of the freighter CAs at a cost of 12 of their number. Just 48 remained as they finally reached point-blank range, destroying their third repair CA and crippling a freighter CA. 10 more Whales were vaporized by point-defense missiles. Having focused on the ones firing on them the Axis captains soon realized why the trailing group of Whales was so quiet. Now alongside their decimated brethren the 54 tender-based Whales opened up on the convoy with four antimatter close attack missiles each. Only 32 had to use their ordnance.
     From the explosion spectra the Whale crews knew the transports were filled to capacity. They only regretted the fact that they had to sacrifice 87 worthy crews to accomplish their mission. Some would later argue that the destroyers were better suited for the task of holding the warp point and engaging the auxiliaries. To do so would’ve left the carriers unguarded against any task group the Axis happened to have in the system. The last thing the CSF wanted to do was to cripple their carrier support after the losses sustained in reclaiming Hamthen in the first place. Nevertheless this battle remained a topic for the ‘day after referees’ for decades to come.
     The 38 remaining Whales that participated in the Hamthen assault sped on to the Evershem warp point. As for the other 48 they finished off the two cripples that fell behind for no further loss. Once back together the Whales probed the warp point and found just 600 patterns of mines and 120 laser buoys on the far side. No bases were evident as the scanners on the Whales only had a range of five light seconds. After destroying the buoys a Sloop entered and found just one small control base sitting 10 light-seconds away. Five hours later the carriers, destroyers and pinnace tenders arrived and one CVE was sent in, its strikegroup obliterating the base for no loss. Then after another three hours the DN and BB minesweepers and the Endrili Hellstones arrived and blasted open a lane.
     The six tenders and half-a-dozen Sloops entered Evershem. Recharging the 86 Whales and sending them out on patrol patterns revealed just one FT3 Sugar Dog. It was very likely it was the one that placed the buoys around the Evershem/Hamthen warp point. The little freighter was dispatched in a hail of conventional short attack missiles and laser fire by three Whales at no loss.
     A Sloop investigating Evershem II found that the Axis had an outpost but was recently evacuated. Another Sloop detected a collection of ships just before it entered the Evershem/Dotz warp point. Most likely it was freighters and transports carrying away the outpost population. One Whale entered and found nine hundred patters of mines and two hundred buoys. Informing the scout on the far side the Whale returned and proceeded to blast away at the buoys until none were left. Like earlier there was just one small control base, and in time it was destroyed by fighters from the carrier group.
     This time in Dotz the carriers were able to catch up to the evacuation convoy before it could leave. Accompanied by Whales, the CSF fighters, designated Sharks, tore apart the transports and their escorts. From the size and number of transports involved it was believed this was the outpost from Evershem. An Axis colony had been on Dotz III but being closer to Axis territory the colonists were able to get out in time. Now settled around the Dotz/Axis warp point the carriers, destroyers, Whales and minesweepers waited while the minelayers arrived to disgorge their loads. Now it was a matter for the rest of TF 21 to arrive so that all the hard earned gains could be secured.

The war was near the end of its 20th month. Ground fighting on Hamthen was still going strong two weeks after the arrival of the rest of the Allied army. Mr. Skuu, recognized by the populace as their interim executive by special vote, was brought aboard the Captain Dessis for a meeting with senior Allied officers. With numerous small scars and crinkled skin caused by the stress of war Skuu looked older than he actually was. He saw that Admiral Ayrth had the same kind of stress lines around his eyes as well as most of the other Terpla’n officers present.
     Hoping to see Jki, Skuu was pleased to find Captain Dojan, commander of the Captain Avma, was part of the meeting. He then cringed when he saw that Dojan was missing his back pair of legs, having lost them when the Avma was wrecked five months ago during a failed assault. Dojan had forgone getting prosthetic legs as that would’ve taken him out of the war for ten months. He made a pledge to his crew that he would go without his back legs until the war was over. Evidently a good number of Avma’s crew was missing a leg or two or just the lower half of one. They, too, decided to forego getting prosthetics for the duration as any such therapy would likely mean reassignment. All of them wanted to see the war through while serving on the Avma.
      “Mr. Skuu,” Ayrth said formally from Skuu’s right for the Hamthen was seated at the head of the conference table, as befitting a head of state, “before we discuss the ground situation I have a report on the status of Axis naval forces in Democracy territory. The CSF and Allied forces are now in control of Evershem and Dotz with the Dotz/Axis warp point being invested by automated weapons as well as the bulk of Task Force 21. The Altocumulus Chain is under Allied control as well, and the Axis task force that was stationed in Roll Cloud has been defeated by Task Force 23. Virga has been reclaimed, leaving only Stratus, Altostratus, and Contrail currently occupied by Axis forces.”
     “Any evidence of significant Axis naval forces in those systems, Admiral?” Skuu asked casually, trying not to let the headache he was feeling to color his speech.
     “Unfortunately none, Mr. Skuu. The few ships captured after the Battle of Altocumulus had information that was four months old. What we do know from data captured in Altocumulus and Virga is that all asteroid and hostile environment outposts and colonies from Stratus to Contrail to Roll Cloud have been destroyed. If the Axis has significant naval combat forces then, depending on their supply situation, they would either try to wait and hope their Navy will come to rescue them, or they would try to break out via Stratus and race to Dotz as best they could.”
     Skuu narrowed his eyes a little, not so much to show his seriousness but due to the room’s bright lighting. “If they were going to flee, then they would’ve done so as soon as they heard about the destruction of their Hamthen task force. Your forces are such that if they wanted to commit suicide then they would’ve attempted an assault on Virga or TF 23 in Roll Cloud. Does that sound right, Admiral?”
     “Yes, Mr. Skuu.”
     Skuu made a small smile. “Please show me the disposition of known Axis forces in Democracy space.” After a moment the wall-sized flatpanel screen at the end of the room lit up. Skuu got up so that he could touch the icons representing Axis bases with his calloused fingers. He felt the need to press those blood-red icons, hoping that they would burst with pixilated blood. “These bases, Admiral Ayrth, guarding the Roll Cloud/Pileus, Contrail/Virga, Contrail/Cirrus, and Hamthen/Stratus warp points, what are you going to do to them?”
     “Once reinforcements reach us here in Hamthen we’re going to assault the bases guarding the Stratus warp point. Once that’s done we can take out the bases in Contrail at our leisure. Task Force 23, once it gets replacements, will be taking out the Roll Cloud bases guarding the Pileus warp point.”
     Skuu made a fist and hit the wall screen, right over the bases icons in the representation for the Contrail system. “You need not do that, Admiral. I will not let those Axis bastards have the pleasure of taking more lives down with them to hell. To that end, as the interim executive and chief of the armed forces of the Democracy, I’m ordering that the Axis bases in Hamthen, Roll Cloud and Contrail left alone for a period of one year. Going by what I know of Axis economic policy, which is worthy since I’ve read a complete set of captured Comensal government documents in a raid on Anjur City, the bases kept their holds fully stocked with supplies at all times. Depending on the support group that use to keep the Axis task force in Roll Cloud in repair, if it made it to Contrail, then the bases will start losing capability in six months.
     “I want them to stew in their juices, Admiral. I want them to feel hopeless and forgotten. They’re banking that we’ll retake all of Democracy space now out of pride, giving their deaths some meaning. I want them after one year of waiting to be in torment, wishing for death.” Seeing that the officers were neither looking away in embarrassment or slack jawed in astonishment Skuu finished. “In one year’s time you can take out the Hamthen bases, after which you can then proceed to Contrail and use those bases there as live-fire practice for your missile crews.”
     Ayrth blinked with nictating membranes instead of his eyelids, indicating understanding. “I’ll forward your plan to the Combined Allied Command Staff with my full endorsement, Mr. Skuu. We can do without the casualties that would come from even a modest warp point assault. The bases will wither on the vine, so to speak, and each month whatever forces they do have stashed away there can only get weaker.”
     “Your endorsement will be appreciated, Admiral.” Skuu looked at the CSA generals that were in attendance. “Now, let’s proceed and discuss the strategy that has the best balance between eliminating Axis troops and preserving the population from their trepidations.”

Chapter 4 postscript

Mr. Skuu was proven correct about the Axis support group. A collection of freighters, transports, and repair ships, loaded with enough supplies to keep all of Star Force 4 active for four months (sans repairs) was in Roll Cloud when the news came of SF 4’s defeat. The group, Supply Train 7, moved into Rainbow and then into Rain Shadow, a starless nexus. There it played a waiting game for three months, sitting some 400 light-minutes away from the warp point. A diffuse net of scanner and comm buoys kept ST 7 informed if any intrusion was made into Rain Shadow. Falling back to the contingency plan, the commander of ST 7 took his ships and moved back into Rainbow. At the top speed of the FT9 bulk freighters it would take ST 7 five days to reach the Rainbow/Cirrus warp point and six days beyond that to reach Contrail.
     They never made it. TF 23 deliberately left Rainbow open and didn’t even place mines at the Cirrus/Rainbow warp point. Halfway through Cirrus TF 23, which had been waiting with drive fields down, energized engines and headed straight for ST 7. A mix of antimatter armed capital missiles, destroyers, fighters and armed pinnaces overwhelmed the ships so completely that the action was over in five minutes after the first missile volley was fired. With ST 7’s destruction the bases in what became to be known as the ‘three system prison’ of Stratus, Altostratus, and Contrail started to break down on the sixth month. On the twelfth month the destruction of the bases at the Hamthen/Stratus warp point was ordered. With those gone it was a simple matter of going to Contrail, waiting another month, and then dispatching the bases at the Contrail/Virga warp point. Waiting another month, then it was turn of the Contrail/Cirrus bases.
     The last bases to go were the ones at the Roll Cloud/Pileus. Nine months on without any supplies the only systems left working on the bases were life support and a pitiful number of weapons and hanger bays. To complete the misery experienced by the Axis crews they were dispatched by a single squadron of Disams equipped with SBMs armed with laser warheads at a range of 8 light-seconds. What fighters the bases put in the air were shot down by Allied fighters armed with laser packs, again at long range. As it became standard operating procedure for the rest of the war the Allies no longer picked up Axis life pods, but they never shot them down either. A drawn out, agonizing death by life support failure was a far more fitting end than that of a quick death brought by point defense fire.

11/01/07
updated 12/15/07

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