War is hell. (FTL, Intro, Closed now)

[Jixia]

(OOC: new to FT, I'd like someone who is pretty experienced at FT and mature to help with my intro thread/train me a little. I pretty much would like someone to send a fleet to attempt to invade my planet... bloody war ensues with a ceasefire or surrender on my part being the result. This would really help me add some history to my nation and give me some FT combat training as well. TG to join, I just need one person.)

Lieutenant Kaddawsky's Office, Outpost 4, outer edge of the Gamma Sol system.
Kaddawsky had been filing reports in his office all morning. He hadn't even set foot in the command room of the small outpost yet. Its not like it matters though, the 5 man crew won't notice him gone or even care for that matter. Nothing ever happens this far out from Terra Rasa.
The lights in the office flickered slightly. Not a normal occurrence for an outpost with the industrious Ensign Jacks as the engineer. The lieutenant activated his radio.
"Ensign Jacks, whats wrong with the power system?"
"I'm not sure, but our shields are..."
"ensign? ... ensign are you there?"
Kaddawsky ran out of his office to the command room. As he entered the room he saw a mysterious looking man he had never seen before in his life. The lieutenant froze when he saw that the man was holding what looked like a pistol.
"Whats going on here? I demand that you tell me what your doing here!" said Kaddawsky.
The man raised the weapon towards him.
"No!..... you don't want to do this. I'm an officer of the Imperial Navy, killing me would be a grave mistake."
The man seemed to hesitate, then pulled the trigger...

(OOC: for a reference my factbook is up to date)

[Unified Western States]

Outpost 4
Outer edge of the Gamma Sol system

Jackson Pryde smiled wryly as the NI-85 held tightly in his right hand put down the so called "Imperial Officer" with a single shot. Not that it surprised him. Firing an 11.6mm solid tungsten round at near hypersonic velocities, the NI-85 could punch through most armor, let alone this man's head.

Jack slid it back into it's holster and lightly stepped over the body, making his way to one of the control panels in the command room. He slid out a small grey square from his pocket and tapped the center. The four corners shot away from each other, forming a holographic screen in-between them. Jack began working simultaneously on the data-pad and the control console, attempting to link the two together. The datapad flashed green, and Jack once again smiled. These "Jixians" were not exactly technologically advanced. Not as much as the UWS, anyways.

Jack got to work on phase two of his operation. He began encoding a powerful computer virus into the outpost's mainframe that would attach itself to any communications leaving this facility. It took a few minutes to upload the virus, and when it was done Jack put away the datapad, contracting it back into a square and sliding it back into it's pocket.

Now, he started on the control terminal. He would need to dispatch a message to every Jixian ship, outpost or base that was within range of this outpost. It seemed relatively simple, and soon Jack and written up a phony status report from "Lieutenant Kaddawsky", as the dead-man's nametag had revealed.

It reported that everything was ok and that they had just been experiencing some power-problems and that nobody should worry if they go dark for a while. Nothing alarming, nothing that would have drawn the attention of the nation's military.

Jack lit a cigarette and shook his head.

"Jack, you've done it again." He chuckled slightly to himself, and then turned back to the control panel, where his message was waiting to be sent. "Now, mister virus, let's see what you can do."

With a single keystroke, Jack sent the message containing the computer virus. The message was broadcast on all the Jixian frequencies this outpost could broadcast on, and the result when somebody opened the message would be devastating.

The computer virus, known as the Collective Shutdown Order Prompt, or CSOP, would, upon getting into a computer, target its mainframe and begin shutting the all systems connected to that computer one by one; be they the life-support system of a ship or a planetary defense grid on a planet.

In any case, anyone who received the infected-message would soon find themselves very short of any working systems. The shutdown was permanent until the Jixians found a way to counter the virus. Which, to be honest, wasn't that hard. the virus itself had very little defense, just a lot of power. Finding a way to destroy it would be relatively easy.

But even if they did that, it would take a while to get all their systems back online. And in the dark window, where they were defenseless....that was when the 101st Strike Fleet would move in.

And finish the job.

But for now, Jack had to leave. So, whistling while he did, he strode over to the final piece of equipment that he had brought with him. A specially designed positron bomb, with 3kg of positron matter inside it. When this detonated, it would be like three 20KT nuclear bombs going off.

Jack dragged it to the center of the control room and set the timer for five minutes. The LCD screen began counting down, and Jack hurriedly made his way back to his ship. A small, single seat fighter, fast and reliable. Wasting no time, he got and and took off, streaking back towards where the 101st fleet was hidden, deep within an ion-cloud. Behind him, the timer hit zero. In a flash of blue and green, the entire outpost was vaporized, leaving not a single trace of its existence behind.

And Jack smiled.

[Jixia]

JSS Dante Command Bridge, Destroyer, Jixian Flagship:
Construction on the Jixian navy's new flagship and only destroyer was finished. The ship gave everyone on Terra Rasa a great feeling of security and accomplishment. The state of the art ship was the pride of Jixian science and technology.
"Admiral Washington, all systems report ready to depart," reported a young ensign.
"Good. Helm, set a course for Outpost 3 at cruising speed. We'll make a quick turn around at the outpost and that should do for the maiden voyage."
"Yes, Sir."
A small beep started to sound from the comm station.
"Admiral, We are receiving a message from Outpost Four. They seem to be experiencing power problems and they advise us to ignore any communications blackouts from them."
The Admiral took a second to consider the message. Outposts are built with very stable power systems, they shouldn't be having problems. He thought.
"Keep up to date on their situation in case we need to assist."
"Yes, S.....there is something wrong. My console isn't responding."
The lights then went dark and the gravity disappeared. The Admiral floated out of his chair as the alarms and red emergency lights came online.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Sir! All systems are offline, including shields. Only emergency lights and minimal life support remain. Life support will only be able to supply one fourth the normal amount of oxygen, and all temperature control is offline." Spat out the crewman at the helm.
"There was something in that damned message. We need our shields back NOW! I have a terrible feeling about this."
"We should have shields manually back online within the hour captain. A makeshift transmitter and receiver can also be put together to put out an S.O.S. and contact command within ten minutes," Sounded the Engineer.
"Make it so!"
The engineer then floated speedily off the bridge towards main engineering...

Ten minutes later the engineer returns with a handheld communicator hacked to connect through the ships transmitter dish.
"Sir, you can now contact command, with this. Its only very choppy audio, but its something."
"Thank you."
This is Admiral Washington of the JSS Dante. Our has been infected with some sort of virus that we're still trying to get rid of. We are offline and we're a sitting duck out here. I request you dispatch a light cruiser to assist with repairs.
That is a negative Dante. After receiving data sent from your ship the entire defense grid save for a few outposts and lights cruisers on deep space missions have all been knocked out. The remaining few unaffected ships have safeguarded their computers and are on their way back to Terra Rasa in case of an enemy attack. It will be an hour before they get here and no major defenses will become partially operational until then. The Empire is a sitting duck. Your on your own captain
I understand. Good luck.
"Damn it! Whoever is behind this has really got us pinned."

[Unified Western States]

Ion-Cloud 432
Designated "Cloak Cloud"
UWSN Allegiance
Flagship of the 101st Strike Fleet

The 101st had been assembled under questionable circumstances, in a period of political turmoil within the UWS. Formed under the orders of the temporary president, Isaac Jurei, the 101st was tasked with scouring UWS space for rebels, pirates and all those considered "detrimental" to society, and destroying them. When the 2nd Revolution had come about, and the Western National Party had seized control of the nation, the 101st was repurposed. The ships were all put into gravity-dock and refitted, with heavier weaponry, heavier armor and the latest technology available. Then, the newly updated fleet was sent out to capture and secure planets with plenty of resources, regardless of who they belonged to.

And that was why the massive fleet, consisting of about one-hundred vessels, was here now. Twenty of the ships were terrestrial assault ships, constructed for the sole purpose of landing on the planet and dispatching their loads of thousands of soldiers each, along with combat walkers and battle tanks. The majority of the vessels, close to thirty of them, were Dawn-Class battleships, each of them mounting twin dark-particle cannons and god-only-knew how many gauss and missile pods. Of the remaining fifty ships, thirty of them were [url-http://www.nate-hill.com/eve/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ferox_2.jpg]Polaris-Class[/url] heavy cruisers, and nineteen were Ascension-Class light cruisers.

The final ship, the most important ship, was the ship that Admiral Jason Kohlhammer currently was standing on the bridge of, looking out of the vast view-screen out into the flowing ion cloud that surrounded the fleet. His ship was the first of its kind, an Allegiance-Class dreadnaught. Coming in at over four miles in length and equipped with dark-matter cannons and dark-energy beam weapons, the Allegiance was the most powerful ship ever constructed by the UWS. It's Time-Space shields could literally warp enemy fire into added energy for the ship, and it's guns functioned by warping the space-time around the target until it was torn to atomized pieces.

Now, a young ensign ran over to Admiral Kohlhammer, carrying a hologram in his hand. The entire bridge functioned as a projector, allowing holograms to form in thin air, anywhere within the bridge.

"Admiral, Admiral! Look at this." The ensign held out the hologram, which floated a few inches above his hand. Kohlhammer nodded and put his hand out, the hologram shifting from the ensign's hand to his. He glanced at the hovering screen, scrolling through its information with ease.

"What am I looking at? This is a blank power reading. Why do I care?" Kohlhammer snapped, the ensign gulping nervously.

"This is a reading of the Jixian energy grid that our probes have been relaying back to us. Most of their grid is dark. No defenses, no scanners, no nothing."

Kohlhammer nearly jumped to his feet. He looked at his watch and nodded approvingly. "Division 15 must have done their job already. Those bastards are quick" He shook his head, clearing it of distractions. Striding across the large bridge, which had a crew of one-hundred, he sat down in his personal chair, which quickly was surrounded by 360-degrees of glowing holograms. Pressing a single button, he spoke.

"101st Fleet, this Admiral Kohlhammer. The Jixian defenses are all down. We're making a beeline for their planet and moon stopping. You've all beens split up into four task-groups. Our initial assault will be broad-spectrum; TA ships, hold back and wait for us to clear their orbital defense grid and any resistance. Once that is done, Group 4 is clear to land. From there, we split into the groups. My group, Group 1, and Group will be maintaing overwatch over the initial landing site. Group 3 will circle around to the moon and take out any military installations that are found. They probably will have reinforcements coming in from other areas, so everyone stay alert. Now initiate dark-slip drives and move out."

One by one, the ships of the 101st began to vanish into the black of space, seemingly collapsing into a tiny white sphere. These spheres then vanished.

Outside Of Luna Rasa Orbit

The black of space was all quiet. Silent, dark and alone.

Suddenly, a hundred tiny white dots, mistakable for stars appeared in the sky. Suddenly, the white dots exploded, the ships of the 101st streaming out of them. The fleet was in a battle formation; troop ships at the back, battleships and cruises in the front and the dreadnaught in the center.

Kohlhammer surveyed the scene.

"All ships charge weapons and TD shields. Begin moving in. Expect resistance. Battle formation gamma."

The ships began to divided up so that they would be able to come at the planet from three different directions. The moon could wait; it wasn't as important.

Kohlhammer brought up a link with the weapons officers. "Lock anti-matter missiles onto their orbital defense platforms. Flood dark-matter guns and charge the dark energy. We'll blow these bastards to smithereens."

He smiled. It was only a matter of time before the attack begun. Five minutes, and the ships would be in position to rain down hell upon the planet and it's defenses. It was only a matter of time....

[Jixia]

JSS Archon Command Bridge, Heavy Cruiser, Jixian Defense Network Command:
The command chair spun as Admiral Harrison floated past it. "Status report on the defenses?"
"Not good Sir. Ten light cruisers have minimal weapons without shields or engine. Only three Heavy cruisers including the Archon have weapons. Only the Archon's FTL drive works. Only three orbital defense platforms are operational" Said the Engineer holding onto a console. "All space fighters report operational. The army, territorial guard, and air defense were unaffected and are being mobilized untill defenses are back online."
"What about the---"
The helmsman interrupts. "My god!!! Admiral an entire feet has just appeared, possibly out of FTL. They are head straight for us."
"Alert the defenses! Scramble all fighters. Then open a frequency to the incoming fleet."
Unidentified fleet. This is Admiral Harrison of the Jixian Imperial Navy. Hold you position and state you intentions NOW. We will defend ourselves if you move any closer.

The some twelve hundred space fighters emptied out of the ships and got into formation facing the unidentified fleet. On the surface of Terra Rasa the ground defenses began preparing to fend off an attack. The territorial air defense was readying to scramble all of their fighters. They would take several minutes minutes to takeoff.

[Unified Western States]

UWSN Allegiance

The bridge of the massive dreadnought was buzzing with activity. Holograms were whizzing back and forth, and the reports from scanners and all sorts of recorders was flooding in.

"Sir, we have at least twelve-hundred small craft, definitely fighters. Planetary scanners show that their attempting to scramble more fighters"

Admiral Kohlhammer rubbed a hand across his chin and swiped at the 3D hologram of the area. "Planetary defenses?"

"Only three of their stations are showing activity. Highlighting them on the map now"

Three stations lit up like Christmas trees. Kohlhammer double tapped on them and the station filled the space. "Structural scans?"

"Negative sir. Still attempting to compile that info."

And new voice broke in, this one from the 1st-Mate, Griffin Archer.

"Admiral. all ships are in position. Missiles are locked for the orbital defense platforms. All weapon systems are online across the board"

Kohlhammer smiled and folded his fingers. Then, he noticed the hail. He quickly read it and laughed.

"Sir?"

"They want us to halt."

"Should we respond?"

"Negative." Kohlhammer hit the fleet-wide communication button, "All vessels, target either the orbital defense grids or the fighters. Either one, it doesn't matter. This is our day of victory. Now, Operation Avalanche is in effect. I repeat, all ships are clear to fire"

With those simple words, the ships opened fire. The opening shots were from the Dawn-Class battleships, which fired on the orbital defense platforms with their twin dark-particle cannons. The cannons, upon impact with the target, would cause the very molecules of the target to collapse in on themselves and then explode, releasing massive amounts of energy.

The second shots to come were the thousands of 200mm gausse cannons that opened fire, hurling their HE shells towards everything in front of them. Then, the missiles flew out. Tens of thousands of tiny missiles, a literal cloud of them that would swarm towards the enemy with erratic, unpredictable movements.

But the biggest show came from the Allegience. It fired its twin dark-matter cannons, which propelled beams of solid black energy towards the enemies. Upon impact, the beams would cause a blackhole to form for but a second; long enough to tear apart whatever it struck, but not long enough to damage anything further.

Admiral Kohlhammer watched as the wave of missiles, shells and particle beams flew towards the hostiles. If he hadn't been watching the targeting data, it would have appeared that the shots were all random.

But everything was calculated. Everything was coldly, rationally calculated, designed to kill as many enemies as possible. That was their goal.

[Jixia]

The orbital defense platforms were hit first. Shredded like meat they were destroyed almost all at once. Only two of the platforms were able to get off a few shells. After which they too were finally destroyed.

The space fighters took a beating but almost half were able to evade the incoming rounds. They then opened fire, Letting loose all of their missiles and then beginning to unload their Vulcan Cannons. The shells the Vulcan cannon shot was an ion charged ballistic round that was designed to attempt to reduce shield power. The ships then split up to charge the fleet.

What was operating of the Jixian fleet (13 ships) began to fire all of the weapons. It was too late because most of them were disabled or destroyed when the first rounds hit them. Several of the disabled ships were able to send off escape pods before being hit.

The Archon possibly had the best luck of the entire fleet. It took rounds directly to the bridge, destroying the command center, but a quick thinking engineer activated the emergency FTL jump once he lost contact with the bridge. Most of the crew would be able to survive, even if it meant that they abandoned the rest of the fleet.

The five hundred space fighters of the territorial air defense just began to leave the atmosphere on their way towards the battle. The high orbit combat jets were also all scrambled and waiting within the atmosphere. The anti-air outposts were also at full power. The territorial air defense was as ready as they could be, hopefully it would be enough to stave off the onslaught, but that was highly unlikely. The territorial guard and army had also been mobilized and were ready to fend off a landing.

[Unified Western States]

UWSN Allegiance

Cheers went up and yells of "Victory" rang out. Kohlhammer would have joined in the bridge-crews momentary celebration, but he instead squashed it.

"Everyone, back to work. This isn't over. No break until this planet us crushed under our boots" He said it with a stern tone, and the crew complied. Officers filed back to their terminals, and once again the tense atmosphere appeared on the bridge.

As if to reinforce Kohlhammer's words, battle and damage reports began pouring onto his console.

"Sir, all vessels except TA ships are reporting attacks. Shields appear to be holding on all vessels, but the enemy appears to be using ion-charged bullets." The voice of the Battle And Command Officer said in his calm, almost lifeless voice.

Kohlhammer smirked, studying the live-action 3D hologram of the battlespace that hovered before him. "What is that doing to our shield strength?"

"Well, our shields are holding fine. The ion-charge is slightly weakening the shields, but nothing serious. We'll have wiped these guys out before any serious damage is taken. Now the good news. All orbital defense platforms are neutralized. They've scrambled their fighters into and random attack formation. Ground-based AA guns are also active, and we're detecting numerous fighters in the atmosphere, most likely to try and hold off any sort of invasion."

This almost made Kohlhammer laugh. A few atmospheric fighters would be nothing against the 101st fleet. But first, he had to deal with the hostile fleet, if you could call it that, and the fighters. His computer-like mind figured out a strategy within thirty-seconds. He brought up a map of the fleet and tapped the two ships closest to the planet. The two ships, both of them Dawn-Class battleships, one by the name of Misfit and the other called Hammer Of Thorbegan to flash, signifying that Kohlhammer was now com-linked to them.

"Misfit and Hammer Of Thor, this is Admiral Kohlhammer. I have a mission for you both. Break off from the main fleet and move to the coordinates I'm sending you now. Once you are there, target the planet-based AA guns and use the MPCs to take them out."

"Roger that. Moving to position"

"Got it. Heading out"

The two captains responded quickly, as their their ships. Under the covering fire of the main fleet, which was still bombarding the Jixian fleet with cannons and particle weapons and missiles, the two battleships moved to the side, targeting the planetary AA guns with their MPCs. The MPC, or Magnetic Projectile Cannon, was one of the most ingenious space-to-planet weapons ever developed by the UWS. It was essentially a massive gauss cannon, capable of firing an 800mm tungsten projectile at close to Mach 15. The projectile, upon hitting its target, would release kinetic energy equal to that of a small nuclear bomb.

Both battleships moved into position, targeted four AA gun sights, and fired. Huge shockwaves erupted from either side of their rectangular frames and the shells blasted out, faster than the eye could see. They impacted the atmosphere, becoming bright flares moving at hypersonic speed towards their target....

[Jixia]

Four AA outposts were instantly incinerated. They were completely defenseless against the rounds.

With most of the Jixian fleet destroyed or on the run, along with a large portion of the marine corps stationed on those ships, there was no stopping the invasion. The only option that the government had left was to try to prevent any catastrophic civilian casualties. All of the space fighters, several hundred still fighting helplessly, and the rest of the fleet received a grim and surprising message, "This is Emperor Karn of the Jixian Empire. This war is lost. We must prevent any more needless deaths. All fighters are ordered to jump to the nearest deep space outpost and await word from me. The fleet ships are ordered to cease fire and and transmit messages recognizing unconditional surrender. Thank you..."
The message ended and the fleet complied. The fighters began to jump into FTL to reach safety. The ships stopped firing and and confirmed their surrender.

Message to the invading fleet commander: "This is Emperor Karn of the Jixian Empire. Our military has ceased resistance against your fleet. We surrender. We have no viable defense left and must forfeit to you our fate. I plead with you, as an Emperor of the Jixian Empire and as a Jixian citizen, spare us any more loss of life. State you objectives and demands so that we may end this war."

[Unified Western States]

UWSN Allegiance

There was an odd silence on the bridge. Everyone was staring at the view screens, where the enemy fleet had stopped firing, and the hostile fighters had jumped to FTL. The scanners were clean; the entire Jixian armed forces were standing down.

Somewhat unnecessarily, and with a tone of utter disbelief, the Battle And Command Officer managed to say, "Uh....all hostile forces are standing down. Enemy fighters have jumped out of system.....no casualties on our side, unknown on theirs. Wait...receiving a transmission. Patching it through to you"

Kohlhammer, with some amusement, read the message and nodded. He glanced at his watch. "Well, we just subdued a planet and its entire armed forces in forty-five minutes. Good job everyone."

The bridge and the com-lines from the rest of the fleet burst into applause. In the midst of the party, Kohlhammer began typing a response.

Code: Select all

This is Admiral Kohlhammer of the 101st Strike Fleet. Our objectives and demands are simple. Your planet is needed for its natural resources, to fuel our Federation's industry. As such, your planet and its people are now under the jurisdiction of the Grand Citizens Federation. If you cooperate, we will not harm you further. If you resist us in any way, my fleet is capable of turning the surface of your planet into plate glass. We will be landing soldiers and land units to occupy your major cities. Any resistance will be met with lethal force. For now, that is all.

[Jixia]

The Emperor received the message... He couldn't handle the requirement to entirely give up Jixian sovereignty. There had to be an acceptable alternative that would leave Jixia independent. He sent an appeal message to the enemy admiral.
"I ask that you hear my proposal. For Jixia to remain independent I offer to your government a percentage of the natural resources that we collect. We also offer a trade agreement between our two countries free of tariffs. For you to occupy and manage excavation of resources would cost large amounts of wealth. Having us send you a portion and trade with you has no cost on your part. We also ask you to agree to a non-aggression pact so that would would not go to war again even if on opposing sides of a conflict. I ask you to give us our sovereignty so that we may put this conflict behind us."

[Unified Western States]

UWSN Allegiance

Admiral Kohlhammer nearly laughed when he read the message from the "Emperor". It was laughable to think that a now totally subdued and defenseless planet had any right to make a deal, very much less demands. So instead of immediately replying, he opened up fleet-wide communications.

"I am initiating Operation Thunderstorm. Groups one and two, spread out to cover us. Group three, move with my ship closer in. TA Ships, you are cleared for landing at pre-designated spots."

A chorus of "yes Admirals" came back, and the ships began to act as ordered. While he waited, Kohlhammer sent a message back to the enemy leader.

Code: Select all

Such a deal would hardly benefit the Citizens Federation. Money is of no concern to us, and neither is the cost of this operation. Hence, my earlier comments still stand. As we speak, my ships are landing on your planet to deploy our forces. Resistance forces will be killed on site. I myself will be down to your capital to meet with you personally. Perhaps I will feel more giving then

Planet Jixia
Through the atmosphere, the massive TA ships began to arrive. They were big, heavily armored, and slow. Each one engaged its descent thrusters, which blasted huge flames towards the ground. Landing legs emerged from the ships and they each touch down, scorching the ground beneath them into ash. They sat there for a few moments, located outside of every major city on the planet.

Then, the ramps opened. Two on each side, allowing the military forces contained within to emerge. The first thing to emerge from the TA ships were the ACWs, Armored Combat Walkers. They were the workhorse of the invasion force, and, with their twin 20mm Gatling Guns, twin 75mm autocannons and twin 105mm cannons, would be used to clear out any pockets of military forces still left. Next out were the M193 "Titan" MBTs, designed to back up the ACWs and provide more pointed fire.

Finally, the actual soldiers came out. While each TA carried about twenty ACWs and fifty M193s, they could carry thousands of soldiers. They were dressed in pitch-black power armor and brand new NI-92 Gauss Assault Rifles.

The forces quickly organized and began rolling into the cities. They cleared the streets of civilians, and in the capital, surrounded the Royal Palace.

Speakers were quickly set up and soon a message was repeating on a 5-minute loop.

"This planet is now under the control of the Citizens Federation. A 7:00 PM curfew is now in effect for this city. Anyone caught out after curfew will be shot. Do not resist.

In less than a day, Jixia had been subdued into a colony of the Federation. But this wasn't surprising.

[Jixia]

There was a grim feeling over the entire planet as the ground forces of the jixian military surrendered. All over the planet troops lined up at the nearest military installation and left their weapons and ammunition, then went home. Remaining ships in orbit disabled their weapons and waited to be boarded. Ships with high casualty rates sent requests to the occupational fleet to land on the planet for further medical relief. The moon defenses also stood down.

The Imperial Palace was surrounded by the occupation force. Within the large complex was the Imperial family, the Imperial Council, fifty Imperial guardsmen and ten or so cabinet members and their assistants. The main door to the palace opened and out marched ten unarmed Imperial guardsmen all surrounding one man in an a very expensive business suit. He was the Jixian Minister of Defense, and he was meaning to act as the go between between the two governments. The entourage approached the front gate and stopped several meters away. The guardsmen in the front of the group shouted out a message, "Attention leaders of the Citizens Federation. This man, Minister Wrukag, is the Minister of Defense of the Jixian Empire. He wishes to meet with you in person as a representative of the Emperor of Jixia. We will await your response."

Elsewhere exact details of the casualties started to circulate. Of the forty-five ships in the original orbital defense fleet only 14 remained, and only one of those was a heavy cruiser. There was only one ship missing and that was the Archon which had had fled during the battle. Of the entire navy there was still ten light cruisers, which were on deep space patrols, and the fleets new destroyer missing, as well as the countless space fighters that had also fled. The estimate number of dead were 120,000 navy personnel and 35,000 marine soldiers. The death toll for ground forces was under 5,000. There were believed to be no civilian deaths.

[Unified Western States]

Planet Jixia

The shuttle craft slowly passed down through the atmosphere, gliding down towards the capital city. Inside the cockpit, the pilot was expertly working the controls.

In the transport section, Admiral Kohlhammer sat patiently, his uniform tight and slightly hot. It had twin flaps held together at the front by golden buttons, and the color was high and stiff. A large number of medals and symbols hung from the right breast of the suit, and they jingled slightly as the shuttle touch down in front of the Imperial Palace.

The door of the button slid open and Kohlhammer stepped out. It was hot, but acceptable. He strode over the the large 18-Wheeled command vehicle that had parked in front of the Palace gates and got the situation from the new commander of the area. Then, he made his way to the gate, flanked by three heavily-armed soldiers.

Seeing the well dressed man, he saluted; not so much a sign as respect as pure protocol. "I am Admiral Kohlhammer of the 101st Strike Fleet. I am the official and highest-ranking representative of the Citizens Federation on this planet. You may take me to the Emperor"

[Jixia]

Minister Wrukag was shocked when he heard the admiral introduce himself. He had expected to be taken to see the admiral. Nonetheless the admiral was here and there was no point in arguing against his demand. The minister left the group of guards and walked forward to greet the admiral. He stuck out his hand and introduced himself, "I am Minister of Defense Wrukag. I ask that your bodyguards not be permitted in the room with the emperor while armed."




At a deep space outpost:
When the JSS Dante had received word of the battle, and quick defeat, it jumped to a new deep space outpost which was the furthest outpost the Empire had constructed. Several ship began to follow. After a time there had amassed eight of the ten light cruisers on patrol, the JSS Dante and the crippled JSS Archon. About 600 space fighters, a large portion, damaged also arrived. They began to land in the ships to get refited and refueled.

An emergency meeting was called by the commander of the JSS Dante, Admiral Washington, aboard the outpost. The meeting consisted of him, the eight captains of the light cruisers, and the acting-captain of the Archon, lieutenant commander Martin.
The ten men squeezed into the small conference room, and took their seats. There was a small oval table with just enough seats for everyone.

Admiral Washington stood up and addressed the group. "After viewing reports it seems as though the Empire has surrendered over to the enemy.
The reason I called this meeting is to determine our next course of action. Being the highest ranking official of the Empire and the Military present I will assume the command of the remaining fleet and act as temporary governor of the Empire. Any suggestions are welcome."

Captain Tanner of the JSS Honor spoke up, "The only thing we can do is either surrender, or leave the system, fighting would be a useless and would only kill more Jixian people..."

Acting-Captain Martin interrupted him, "You can't be serious! we cannot give in to these monsters. We must try to fight them or die tryi---"

"This coming from the man who abandoned the fleet in the middle of the battle?" Tanner shot back.

"It was the only choice I had. it was either sit and die or save the lives of my crew."

The admiral shouted out loudly, "Shut the hell up, the both of you! None of that is important, what is important is what to do NOW! This is going to go to a vote. I will abstain to keep the votes uneven. The choice is either continue to fight, or to surrender. I'll give you all some time to come up with your decisions..."

[Unified Western States]

Kohlhammer raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged and motioned to his guards. They both nodded and handed their weapons off to other soldiers. Then, Kohlhammer shook the Defense Minister's hand.

"I will respect that wish. Do lead on"

[Jixia]

The Defense Minister lead the Admiral and his guards into the palace, with the imperial guardsmen stopping outside the front doors and standing at attention. The minister lead the men down several hallways and into a conference room and showed them to there seats. The minister sat down on the other side of the table. Another door to the conference room opened and the emperor, wearing a black suit and small crown, sat down next to the minister.

"I am Emperor Karn of the Jixian Empire. We need to discuss details of this occupation so that we may avoid further confrontations. Our military forces have disbanded and have left their weapons at the military bases and outposts. The police forces have not been disbanded but are on leave until they are ordered to either disband or return to duty under your authority. The only military branch I have not disbanded is the Imperial Guard, which guards the imperial family, council, and the legislature. They have however handed over their weapons. What, in detail, is it that you demand of our people and our planet."

[Unified Western States]

Kohlhammer took out a small black square, the thickness of a deck of playing cards and the about three inches in width and length.

He tossed it on the floor in front of him, at which point the top unfolded into four sections. Revealed was a glowing blue dome, which flashed once. then, a holographic square burst into existence, the bottom of which was about three feet above the ground and the top of which was a foot above all the men's heads.

The inside the holographic cube swirled and changed, the particles coming together to show a transparent model of the planet Jixia.

Kohlhammer walked up to the cube and tapped a control panel that was floating inside it. The planet split in two and both halves faced the Emperor. Most of it was the same dull blue as the rest of the hologram, but there were many spots directly under the surface of the planet that glowed varying degrees of yellow through red.

"These are deposits of rare metals that our various probes have detected from orbit over the past five years of scanning. Now, these elements are extremely rare, hence their name, and exist in only small quantities throughout the galaxy. Your planet is an exception. You planet and moon alone contain enough of these metals to supply our Federation for a decade."

Kohlhammer spun the hologram with his hand.

"So this is why we have come. We will mine these resources from your planet, and deliver them back to our home. Once your planet is tapped out, we will leave. There will be no debate about this, and nothing you say will change my mind or my orders. You will remain in control of your planet, but for symbolic purposes only. Until our mission is complete, all orders will pass through me. Any violation of this will result in...strict punishment. Your police forces may return to work, but will be under the control of my soldiers. As for demands? Stay out of my people's way. We will be constructing mining facilities all over the planet, and any attempt to disrupt construction or eventual operation of the facilities will be considered as sabotage. Do I make myself clear?"

[Jixia]

The Emperor was visibly shaken, but under the circumstances it could have been worse. "I understand. I only ask what effect this will have on the environment of the planet, because we still need to be able to live here when you leave. I hope you understand where I'm coming from."




At a deep space outpost:
Admiral Washington walked back into the conference room and took his seat. The captains had decided. There were six in favor of fighting, and three in favor of surrendering. After the admiral tallied the votes he stood up. "This war isn't over yet. Prepare your ships and keep them ready to fight at a moments notice."
All of the captains then left to their ships to prepare for a war against countless odds.

[Unified Western States]

Kohlhammer nodded to the Emperor in legitimate understanding. "I do. Our mining procedures on minimally damaging to the environment, and the only lasting effect will be a large hole in the ground. We will not be refining the materials planet-side, so there will be no emissions or pollution. Your environment will be as pristine as when we arrived."

A holographic interface sprung into life around Kohlhammer's arm, and he tapped it. "Go ahead"

"Admiral, this is Katrina. I noticed something."

Kohlhammer held a finger up to the Emperor for him to wait a moment. "What would that be?"

"I logged which ships of the Jixian Navy we destroyed, which ones surrendered and how many there were total, according to the Naval Registry. There is a incongruity."

"What do you mean?" Kohlhammer said it with some urgency, if something was wrong, he needed to know.

"Well,there appears to be about ten ships missing, including something called the Archon. Also, the six hundred or so fighters that jumped from the system have yet to return."

A red flag went up in Kohlhammer's mind. Missing ships, even if they were inferior, were not a good thing. "Thank you Katrina." He closed the com-link and turned to the Emperor.

"It has just come to my attention that around ten of your ships, including one Archon, are missing. Would you care to explain that or should I be preparing from a counter-attack?" He leveled an icy stare right at the Emperor.

[Jixia]

The Emperor looked confused, "The JSS Archon was the flagship of the defense fleet, but I have no knowledge of what happened to any of those ships. We lost contact with them shortly after we surrendered. The just disappeared. I have no intentions of a counter-attack on my own planet that would put my citizens to harm. As Emperor my responsibility is to the health and well being of my people, a counter-attack would undermine that responsibility."






Aboard the JSS Dante, Destroyer:
Admiral Washington was speaking with acting-Captain Martin of the JSS Archon. "I have a mission, that will require a team of engineers and a few pilots. They must volunteer however, because this will be a suicide mission. The missions success will mean their death."
Martin was spoke up bravely, "I'll do it, and I know who will be willing to do so with me."
The Admiral smiled slightly, "Thank you. Have the Archon evacuated of all crew and useful cargo. Have your team assemble on the ship and have three fighter pilots who are willing sent to me for a briefing."
"Yes Sir!" the acting-captain turned and left to ready his team.

[Unified Western States]

Kohlhammer internally scowled, not believing a word the Emperor said. But he didn't show it; instead, he nodded slightly.

"Emperor, I have seen my country torn apart, reformed and then torn apart again. I have seen enough conflict to know that when it comes down to it, moral principles, rationale and sometimes even logic are tossed out the window. Now, there are at least ten armed ships out there, and many more fighters. Assuming they aren't dead, it means that they have their captains or admirals or commanders with them. And while I'm sure you will uphold your promise of peace, your naval officers may do differently. They are most likely seething with anger, and willing to do anything to get their revenge. In fact, I would be surprised if they didn't try and counter-attack." With that, he summoned the hologram around his arm and opened a com-link to the fleet

"Katrina, this is Kohlhammer"

"Go ahead Admiral"

"Those missing ships? Our friend the Emperor has no idea where they are, so we must assume they are planning something. Move the fleet to condition 1"

"Yes sir"

With that done, he opened another com-link with the Federation Ground Forces commander. "Commander Byrns, this is Admiral Kohlhammer. I want you to order your men to begin capturing the AA gun sites around the planet. Refit them as soon as possible for anti-orbit guns."

"Yes sir. How quickly do you need them?"

"Very. As soon as humanely possible, then faster" Kohlhammer hung up, feeling nothing more needed to be said. He turned back to the Emperor.

"Well, we'll see if my suspicions are correct or if your faith in your naval officers wins out."

[Jixia]

The Emperor was slightly upset, "I thank you for your time. If we are through here, the defense minister will show you out."











A private conference room aboard the JSS Dante:
Admiral Washington, Acting-Captain Martin, and three navy fighter pilots were assembled around the table. The admiral began the mission briefing. "After reviewing hundreds of reports and tons of Intel I've determined that our enemy is more technologically advanced than we are and their ships easily outgun ours. The however is not a reason to give up, but a reason to fight harder. The fighters in the battle were able to affect the shields of the enemy ships so they are not invincible, we just need something with enough of a punch to hit them strategically."
One of the pilots interrupted, "What are you suggesting, exactly?"
"The JSS Archon was critically damaged in the battle but its FTL drive is still functioning. Your mission is to jump into the system and locate their flagship. I've compiled a profile on it so it should be easy to spot. You will have thirty seconds to transmit the coordinate back to the Archon which at this point will be on its way into the system. The Archon will drive at full FTL into their flagship, hopefully crippling if not destroying it."
Acting-Captain Martin spoke up, "After you confirm a hit, you will then transmit an encoded message in all directions so as not to give away this outpost's coordinates. You will then have a choice. Either drive your fighters into the enemy ships, our make a run for the planet. You will however avoid capture at any cost. Understood?"
The three pilots responded, "Yes, Sir!"
The Admiral dismissed the meeting, "OK, report to you ships. We will begin shortly."
-------
Several minutes later:
The Admiral spoke with the Archon and three fighters over a secure signal. "Ready men?"
He received a 'yes, sir!' from all four. "Goodluck men. The fate of the Empire rests on you. Fighters will jump in 5...4...3...2...1...Jump! Archon you have 25 seconds untill you jump."
--------
The fighters appeared out of FTL and quickly scoured the enemy fleet for the flagship. There she was, just sitting there. The fighters were probably spotted by now, but that didn't matter. They all sent off the coordinates and flew towards the fleet full speed. The Archon would arrive in seconds. 9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...

[Unified Western States]

101st Strike Fleet

As the fighters came out of FTL, they were met by a hail of tungsten gauss rounds and tracking-missiles. The fleet was on condition-1; the highest it could be, and this condition turned over control of the hundreds of anti-fighter guns to the ship's on board Tactical Auto-Intelligence.

Katrin Steir, 2nd-In Command of the Allegiance, nodded to Kohlhammer's floating head, which was hovering right in front of her.

"We have engaged....three fighters. They won't last more than second or two." She said in confidently; three fighters, no matter how fast, couldn't dodge the fire of nearly 50 warships.

But then, the red lights began flashing. The ship alerted her to the fact that a much large object was coming out of FTL, but it wasn't. Something was coming in at full FTL speed, and with dawning horror, realized what was going to happen. Without consulting Kohlhammer, who was looking distressed at her distressed look, tried to get her attention.

"Katrina? Katrina, what the hell is going on?" He demanded, but she paid no mind. No time. Bringing up the ship's internal mechanism map, she double tapped the Dark-Matter Reactor. Taking a deep breath, she engaged the ship's most devastating, and most un-tested weapon. A Quantum-Space Collapse Cannon. She watched as the power was rerouted to a large sphere held deep within the ship, which began to glow. An automated alert was sent too all the other ships, and they began to move away from the flagship.

As the Archon breached the light-alert perimeter, with impact imminent in mere seconds, the QSCP fired, a massive sphere of energy pulsing away in all directions from the Allegiance. Then, in a nanosecond, it collapsed into a single beam to the side and engaged, a huge "tidal-wave" of space-time energy blasting away from the 101st Fleet and towards the Archon at a speed which was not computable by known computers.

The idea behind it was simple. The QSCP filled the space around the ship with raw dark energy, then collapsed it into a single beam. This beam literally impacted the fabric of space, and caused it to fold and then release, causing the "tidal wave". When this tidal wave impacted anything, moving or not, it would tear and distort the very atomic-structure of the object and cause it to implode in on itself.

There was no time to move. Sure, the Allegiance was moving, but nowhere near fast enough to avoid an FTL-suicide run. The QSCP had to work. It just had to.

Katrina watched on the screen, now lit by emergency power, as the QSCP drained the entire-ships power supply. It showed, in slow-motion, the wave streaking towards the incoming ship. Two seconds to impact.....

[Jixia]

The QSCP struck the Archon. It was too late, however the weapon only destroyed two thirds of the ship. This left a third of a heavy cruiser and countless debris still traveling above light speed, directly towards the Allegiance. The lest few moments of the Archon crew's live seemed like forever. The speed was so great that the ones that survived the QSCP shot wouldn't even feel the impact.



The fighters didn't last long. Two of them ended their own lives with the emergency injection system built into the fighters before shots hit them. The lead fighter unloaded his missiles and was obliterated by enemy fire. The didn't survive long enough to complete their last objective; to confirm a hit on the enemy flagship. Admiral Washington wouldn't be able to tell if the mission was a success or not.