Elbrus, Ygral System, Neutral Zone, 2928UE
"Captain, the Wormhole is opening!" said the tactical officer of the Liezett, an Imperial Xeddefex-class Battleship, "Collectivist ships coming through, at least a hundred!"
"Ready weapons, raise shields," Captain Xeren Derifex said, leaning forwards in his chair, "Comms, send a priority one message to the Admiral, tell him we're outnumbered and require immediate assistance, Epsilon flight can hold them for twenty minutes until we'll be forced to retreat."
"Yes, sir, I'm hailing the Admiral now," the communications officer said.
"Neutrino Disruptors online, sir," Weapons Officer D'ven Mexet said, "Enemy will be within engagement range in twelve seconds, locking targets,"
"Contact the rest of Epsilon flight, I want all 18 ships ready for combat, if we want to live to see another day we need to hold them at the wormhole until the fleet can dispatch reinforcements, tell the destroyers to call their targets and focus their fire on those capital ships, the Liezett and Ydan will engage the smaller ships"
"Enemy are within engagement range, sir," Mexet said.
"We are being hailed by the lead Collectivist ship," Communications officer Zara Rendor said.
Derifex stood up straight, "Main Viewscreen," he said as a Human face appeared on the main screen of the bridge.
"Privyet, Captain, I am Counter Admiral Artyom Bruyevich. As I am sure you can notice, this is a fight you can't win, save the lives of your crews, surrender, you'll be escorted back to a penal colony until this war is over, it's better than death for you and your men," the Collectivist said.
"Kill the feed," Derifex said, before sitting back down in the captains chair, "Fire disruptor banks, prep CIWS to intercept oncoming projectiles, tell the rest of the ships they have their orders."
"Aye Sir"
"Captain, the Wormhole is opening!" said the tactical officer of the Liezett, an Imperial Xeddefex-class Battleship, "Collectivist ships coming through, at least a hundred!"
"Ready weapons, raise shields," Captain Xeren Derifex said, leaning forwards in his chair, "Comms, send a priority one message to the Admiral, tell him we're outnumbered and require immediate assistance, Epsilon flight can hold them for twenty minutes until we'll be forced to retreat."
"Yes, sir, I'm hailing the Admiral now," the communications officer said.
"Neutrino Disruptors online, sir," Weapons Officer D'ven Mexet said, "Enemy will be within engagement range in twelve seconds, locking targets,"
"Contact the rest of Epsilon flight, I want all 18 ships ready for combat, if we want to live to see another day we need to hold them at the wormhole until the fleet can dispatch reinforcements, tell the destroyers to call their targets and focus their fire on those capital ships, the Liezett and Ydan will engage the smaller ships"
"Enemy are within engagement range, sir," Mexet said.
"We are being hailed by the lead Collectivist ship," Communications officer Zara Rendor said.
Derifex stood up straight, "Main Viewscreen," he said as a Human face appeared on the main screen of the bridge.
"Privyet, Captain, I am Counter Admiral Artyom Bruyevich. As I am sure you can notice, this is a fight you can't win, save the lives of your crews, surrender, you'll be escorted back to a penal colony until this war is over, it's better than death for you and your men," the Collectivist said.
"Kill the feed," Derifex said, before sitting back down in the captains chair, "Fire disruptor banks, prep CIWS to intercept oncoming projectiles, tell the rest of the ships they have their orders."
"Aye Sir"
New Vaald, Vaadwek System, Imperial Duumverate, 2958UE
The War is over now, for thirty years the IDVD and URCS had been at peace. It was an uneasy peace, and as the Duumvir of the Vaadwek, Xeren Derifex tried his best to suppress his memories of those days past. While he had no love in his heart for the Collectivists, and barely trusted them to maintain cordial relations, he was the last person to pursue another war. In that fateful day, three decades ago, his decisions had led to the destruction of all Imperial ships except his own, saved only by the signing of a ceasefire between the Imperials and Collectivists.
Returning to New Vaald he was hailed as a great war hero, he and his crew had single handedly destroyed 50 or more Collectivist ships, or so the legends went. Truth was, Derifex had no recollection of how many lives he had ended that day, and had no desire to recall it. Nowadays the memories of that war were beginning to fade from memory, Collectivist activity across the neutral zone had increased, ships on both sides had made illegal violations into Neutral Zone space.
Most of the Neutral Zone worlds were fighting again, cut off from both the Duumverate and Union, citizens of each side took up arms against one another. They were but echoes of past wars, like time in a bottle it seemed like a lasting peace was not what they had found 30 years ago, without an official peace treaty ever signed, the ceasefire looked more and more tenuous by the day.
Elbrus, Ygral System, Neutral Zone, 2958UE
The War on Elbrus, borne of the Third Collectivist War, raged on yet. Both sides were remarkably well-equipped for partisan forces, everyone knew the Collectivist Government continually ferried arms and ammo to their supporters, while the Imperial Government did the same. Technically a former Collectivist colony conquered by the Dra'almarr some time before the Third War, it was never truly recaptured by the URCS, most of the citizens of Elbrus had known little but Imperial occupation and near anarchy when jurisdiction was handed from the Dra'almarr government to the local planetary council.
The ineptitude of the Council was just exacerbated by its attempts to keep both its Human and its Dra'almarr citizens content. Constant brawls, riots, and seemingly ubiquitous crime was rife throughout the planet for years, which by now was essentially an interstellar slum, the Dra'almarr blamed much of the problems their world faced on the Humans, they remembered the time that came before, of order and prosperity. Some five years ago armed Dra'al forces stormed the government and launched a successful coup d'etat. Shortly after, their efforts to subjugate the Human populations resulted in an armed insurrection against the already fragile balance of power.
Most of the citizens who could leave already have by now, leaving only the most desperate, wretched and impoverished behind. It was Imperial policy to leave the Neutral Zone to their own devices, but the Dra'almarr government had other priorities, and had for years been supporting the Dra'almarr 'Elbrus Provisional Government' on the planet, using their famous cloaking devices to slip out from under the noses of both the Imperial Starfleet and Collectivist Navy. The 'Elbrus Freedom Movement' as they styled themselves were elements of the old government and Human militants, a democratic rebel group with no official ties to the URCS or desire to be a part of the Union. Despite that, EPG forces regularly accused Collectivist naval vessels of ferrying materiel to the EFM.
Kha'zel, an EPG trooper in command of a small squad, waited on the planets surface by a landing pad.
"Where are they, it's not like Captain Zan'koz to be late," Kha'zel said to nobody in particular.
A vague shuttle-shaped figure shimmered in the light as the cloak disengaged, the exact specifications of the cloak was classified, but Kha'zel knew it would bend light, radar, and essentially any wave-form sensors around the vessel, rendering it largely invisible to the majority (but not all) sensors, as well as the naked eye from a distance of 20 metres.
A stairway descended from the shuttle, and three men stepped out, in official Dra'almarr Fleet uniform. The shuttle's cargo bay doors opened moments later, and partisans made their way to the cargo bay to begin unloading supplies such as food, ammunition, weapons and explosives.
"Those new cloaks are amazing, I was under the impression they couldn't be used in atmospheric conditions," Kha'zel said as Zan'koz approached. "It's good to see you again, my friend, things here have been stagnant. We've made no gains in Gardanskh, the Urks don't seem to want to go anywhere."
"It's good to see you too, Kha'zel, I wish I could get a whole damn fleet and blockade this planet from getting any more supplies from home. But as you know, this is not an officially sanctioned program by either the Dra'almarr government or Imperial government. Unfortunately you're on your own for now, but I may have good news for you next time I come, you may have to wait until next month."
