June 2248
Aboard Space Force One
Neutral Space in the United Planets System of Ilux II
We stood in stunned silence as the Torian Ambassador to the UP bowed low and backed out of the spacious office that was the centrepiece of this most illustrious of Terran spacecraft. The main movers and shakers in our central Government were all there: Ben Haynes, the UP Ambassador; The President’s Chief of Staff, Luis De Silva; Nancy Dechart, the veteran National Security Advisor and a visibly ailing Juniti Makata, Chief of Pan Terran Intelligence. We were all powerful and experienced politicians, military men and spy chiefs-and we were all stunned.
So what had led us to this place? That summer of June 2248, we fully expected to go to war with our water-loving foe. We had spent the last three years, after all, building not one but two Terror stars off their southern and central worlds. The brightest scientists on all of our planets had converged on Nuevo Barcelona and had developed the technology in record time leading to a Nobel prize for technology award for Professor Sharp-it had only taken him and his boffins just over a year to fully realise this apocalyptic research that should have taken more like ten. Construction duly began on TS1 or TASS Shiva in the new year of 2246 and it quickly became the focus for constructor after constructor under the able guidance of the flamboyant business leader Sir Freddie De Mac Ponghorn. Seven months later Shiva, the destroyer of worlds, was born.
The reaction from the Torians had been immediate: warnings were issued by their Ambassador on earth and the warnings were unequivocal: ‘provide an explanation for this unclassified Starbase that has just sprung up off our worlds in the Lentzlandians system or face the consequences’. Unfortunately, though the Torians knew that this was something ominous they did not know exactly what the Terror Star presaged because they were not familiar with the technology and so we dissembled. Meanwhile our anti spy networks remained at maximum alert so that the secret would not get through. Consequently, our relations with our enemy dropped from warm to cool-the plan was working.
All the while, I organised, plotted, and directed the Training cycles for our burgeoning Battle Groups. I missed my son but given that his Fleet was one of the closest to Earth, I made every effort to visit him aboard TASS Iron Duke whenever I could. The reports that I was given by the Chester A Arthur Battlegroup Commander, General Pierre Song, were glowing in the extreme. It seemed that none of the officers aboard any of the six ships in the group had ever seen an SGO quite like Starla-he was able to do things with fields of fires and firing solutions that would be beyond most men. His prowess was such that in nearly all fleet battle simulations the Iron Duke was always assigned Vanguard duty-it’s role to punch a hole in the enemy formation then afford protective fire to the rest of the Fleet-it was a dangerous role and one that usually ended in heavy damage or destruction. The crew of the Iron Duke veritably welcomed the task given the abilities of their command team of which the young Capt Starla Mormon was a vital part.
In the spring of 2247, we had our second Terror Star: TASS Seth, this one built in the Carinoids system and we were all extremely satisfied to note the apoplectic orange hue of the Ambassador as he railed at this new affront to Torian Sovereignty. On that occasion, he had been reminded firmly to whom he spoke by Da Silva: affront or no affront there was a protocol to be followed when addressing a President of the Terran Alliance and Ambassador Hruar Thientra had best be mindful of it, Luis had snapped. If the Torians could prove without a shadow of doubt that the intentions of our "research" Starbases were hostile then they should take the appropriate action-if not then they could take the matter and go bleat to the United Planets. It was a bravura performance and had stopped the Torian in mid splutter. He had bowed low and departed at which point we all burst into very undiplomatic gales of laughter no doubt piling more misery and shame on the proud Torian as he hurried away.
It had all seemed so close in spite of the minor distraction, at the beginning of the year, of a brief unavoidable fight to subjugate the Jessuins, who foolishly declined to give over their world Jessuins III (close to our Almada system in the far East corner ofg the galaxy) to our Hegemony. I had remembered thinking, as I despatched one of my ablest Generals to conduct the lightning war, how silly the minor race were being, given that the Iconians were hell bent on their destruction and we had been assisting the Jessuins with ships to resist them. When the Iconians started sending heavy Capitol ships to the fray I knew it was time to act-we could do without an Iconian held world right in our secluded back yard. Once we had ‘pacified’ our erstwhile ‘friends’, we sent a Governor who was not unfriendly to Jessuin culture and desires-we did have a heart.
The rest of the year was affected by financial worries as once again the galaxy suffered an interstellar recession: this one apparently caused by the extensive speculation by various markets on a widely discredited Iconian invention that was supposed to be the secret of eternal life-some throwback to the Precursor times apparently. I had scoffed at the whole idea at the first GNN report, laughing with my ADC as we watched a few months prior to the recession but, as had been the case since time immemorial, the markets defied common sense and soon led us all into a severe and sharp depression. Luckily the Finance Minister, a Japanese Doctor of Economics called Jen Su had been careful to keep our treasury at no less then 20Trillion Credits even with our vastly increased military spending-no small feat! She was someone I could really get on with and often found myself at lunch with her in the Financial Districts of Tokyo discussing how my plans would impact on the treasury and how she could help: she was, in short, the exact reverse of her predecessor, that odious and officious Finn Johansson.
I had also been seeing more of my friend, Professor Sharpe-a man still vital and young as he was a good ten years my junior. A genius to be ranked alongside the Einsteins and Da Vincis of the world, he was still a man dedicated to research and the provision of new wonders of innovation and technology. In the fall of 2247 he had unveiled, upon Britanion I, a Galactic wonder that was nicknamed ‘the eyes of the universe’. This was something that he had been working on with the Astrologers guild for some years and practically speaking allowed us an instant map of everything in every star system in the known galaxy. He had tried to explain to me the astro physics principles behind such a mind-boggling invention but I simply could not get my head around it. I had simply been pleased to be in his company again-he was a true friend.
‘You know the technologists have just announced the formation of our first Industrial Sector’ he told me, eyes shining brightly behind his spectacles.
‘I heard: a whole planetary region dominated by highly efficient industrial machinery-quite a feat-aren’t they planning such a project for three regions here on Earth: the Middle East, Brazil, and Eastern Europe?’
‘They are they are my friend. Can you imagine, Mike, the levels of automation required for such a thing?’
I could not but I reckoned that not only could the Professor envisage it but he probably had a hand in some of the inventions: he had just stunned me with the final blueprints for what he called ‘hyper-warp’ a propulsion system that could double the speed of our Ships!
It had all meant that we were in good spirits as we headed for a UP meet that should have resulted in the Torians declaring war on us and the phony posturing finally coming to an end. I had briefed my staff to prepare for an urgent despatch announcing the start of hostilities. All our fleets were in position and we had moved the TADF throughout the Alliance to Alert State Amber.
I had barely remembered the UP meeting itself: a resolution that we had sponsored that asked that the Torians, as the wealthiest nation, spread 2% of their income to the other Star Races for a period of three years. It was a ridiculous resolution, of course, with virtually no chance of success and even though we held the most influence within the UP there was nothing we could do as each of the other races voted no. It was a red herring anyway-we had come for rather more weighty matters. To that end, we had all been suitably pleased when, shortly after the Security Council recessed, we had received a missive from the Torian UP Ambassador for a private parley with the President aboard Space Force One. Ambassador Haynes had been despatched to fetch the Torian with haste and if Syars Adienta was surprised to see a reception party waiting for him when he arrived he did not show it. Taking a sip from his moisture dispenser, he commenced speaking-his blubbering speech captured perfectly and translated into English by our Universal Translators:
‘Mr President you are well met-greetings from the esteemed Greatness, Tlas Kzientha-‘
‘Let’s dispense with the pleasantries Ambassador’ the President interrupted ‘We know why you are really here’
If this uncharacteristic rudeness from Dr Amponsah ruffled the Ambassador, it did not show at all
‘Sir-if you will allow me-the Greatness wishes to pass on his felicitations and his hopes that our great races can work more productively in the future. He furthermore wishes to assure you that the recent defection of our worlds, Marie II, Britanion I and Paulos I to Terran control, whilst regrettable, must be reluctantly accepted as it has been done through the will of the residents of those planets’
This last provoked barely concealed pandemonium-what was going on? Surely, the Torians were not going to just accept the appropriation of three of their most productive worlds?
I could see the President was having difficulty controlling himself:
‘I see. And what of the Research Starbases that we have built off Carinoids and Lentzlandians? The last I heard Tlas Kzientha was most displeased at their construction not least because we have not divulged the true nature of them’
It was the nearest that we had come to admitting that they had been built for more sinister purposes: surely they would now take the bait? The Torian’s beak curled into what approximated a smile
‘Mr President, The Greatness is assured that the Terran Alliance can only have good intent for their construction and wishes to pass on his hopes that our saintly and strong Star Races can work more productively in the future.’
And that was that. As he left I slammed my fist on the table-what the hell was going on? I could hardly contain myself-was all the work and the effort of the last few years to go to hell because of some outdated notion of chivalry that was harboured by the enemy?
When I recovered my poise, I realised that the President was speaking to me:
‘....options General?’
‘Sorry Sir-say again.’
The President, clearly irritated repeated himself: ‘What are our options General? I presume that a first strike is out of the question?’
I was considering the beauty of Ilux II –its many oceans and verdant continents glittering from afar,
‘No Mr President-that would only make us the aggressor and bring all of the three other races in on the side of the Torians-we would be annihilated in short order.
‘What about paying off the other races as soon as the hostilities start-we have a strong treasury?’ This from Nancy Dechart.
I shook my head,
‘We don’t know how much it would cost us or how quickly we could do it-we are hemmed in from all sides by allies who would instantly be our enemies-we might be defeated before we could effect such a plan even with the best diplomats of the IRM on the job.’
The President eyed me askance,
‘Please tell me that you have some sort of a contingency General?’ he said coolly
I drew a deep breath,
‘All I can offer is this: we have a Transport fleet in our central systems of Trenor, Freya, and Embor. There are twelve Condor Transports in total: they can carry an invasion force of twelve thousand Marine Battalions-enough to menace several of the Torian’s prime assets. What I will suggest is that I send them along with a sizeable escort to the Torian main systems around Drengi. If that doesn’t jolt them into action I don’t know what will frankly. That’s all have to offer ladies and gentlemen.’
The President smiled
‘Make it happen General’