The Alexanderov Federation

#2 - Growing Pains

By Robert Huntingdon

Chapter Three - Meltdown!

"What have you found, Dimitry?" replied Captain Rosetovsky.

Lieutenant Dimitry Godovsto pulled up a summary on the main screen. "It's an unusual system, sir. There's only one planet here in our habitability circle, and, well, it's rather odd, sir. A second would be marginal for the Grendarl, and is also rather nice, and there are two Gas Giants that are also interesting. The first planet, however, shows signs it was once a desert planet that was terreformed quite extensively, and even thousands of years later is still has absolutely ideal habitability. It's also incredibly biodiverse, probably the reason it maintained such an excellent ecosystem through the millennia. But strangely enough, it is very low in minerals."

"Then it's pretty worthless."

"Not really sir. Because it also has a moon that is almost as large as it is, and this moon, while very volcanic and nearly uninhabitable, has such incredible mineral richness as to beggar the entire Tamarian system!"

"Summarize."

"We've got a size 11 world here between the planet and moon, incredible biodiversity and extreme mineral richness. The only problem is setting up the mines will take some terreforming at first to make the regions more habitable to the workers."

"Dispatch the report to fleet command immediately with our recommendations on Alpha and Beta Centauri as well." Rosetovsky fell silent and mused the situation. An interesting back corner to the galaxy here. Not many planets that are habitable, but those that are are incredibly valuable. And if we ever get some of the gasbags long rumored to exist to join the Federation, they become even more valuable.

"Ambassador, please, be reasonable! We know there are other planets in your territory that are decent and worth settling, and if you take the time to build them up perhaps Maetrillin will deal with you as an equal."

Chaa Txetokt clicked her mandibles angrily. "We should be treated as an equal already! We are not children to be pushed around by others!"

"Ambassador, he doesn't see it that way. As long as you continue rattling your saber at him when you lack the power to defeat him, he won't take you seriously. Please reconsider. Our offer is quite generous here. New mining and farming technologies will allow your people to be fed and productive, and the Planetary Commodities Market will allow your economy to grow faster too."

"You offer us nothing. We have sufficient food and minerals already. We need expansion room!"

"But there are no planets unclaimed in either of the two systems next to your border at Xengara. Beta Celtsi has only one Gas Giant uninhabited, and Mu Delphi is completely filled up. What do you want them to do, move their people off so you can move in?"

"Yes."

"That was a rhetorical question, Ambassador."

"Tell them to move, and there will be peace. No move, no peace."

"They won't do it."

"Then the war begins now."

"I ask you again, Ambassador, please reconsider. This is not going to be a good move for your people."

"No more games. No move, no peace."

In the Alpha Omicron system, the workers stopped building system ships and defensive platforms. They had more than enough now, especially considering the new Graviton Beam weapons. Instead, they switched production now to build more of the still valuable Sharktooth-class PD destroyers (with Graviton beams instead of the original Hard Beams, however) for escort duty in the counterattack that would surely occur as soon as the Raas attacked. If the Raas attacked here, they would get their tails handed to them. In another two or three months, when they arrived here from Mahktoz, the Ninth Fleet would have enough ships to launch a counterattack immediately that would shortly make the Raas wish they had never started the fight.

Or so all the workers and military strategists there thought. There was only one problem with that theory. The Raas weren't going to attack Alpha Omicron.

"Commodore! I'm picking up a huge Raas armada pouring out of the wormhole!"

"Scramble all system ships, alert all planetary defense installations. Correlation of forces?" Commodore Natovski asked her science officer.

"Not good, Commodore. They outnumber us 25 to one!"

"How far away is Goodman and the Seventh?"

"ETA is just over four hours."

"Send him a Mayday. Put me on with the troops."

Her communications officer, Lieutenant Shawn Hunt, quickly worked his panel. "Go, sir."

"Attention all Federation vessels. It appears we have been caught insufficiently prepared for an invasion here. We expected the Raas to go the other way. I must now order you to defend this system at any cost. You deserve to know the truth, many of you will probably not make it. But for every one of their ships you destroy, you make it that much harder for them to take the colony and kill the civilians. Reinforcements are on the way. For every hour you keep them occupied, you make it that much more likely they will arrive in time. Fight with courage, discipline, and honor, and send the Raas all straight to hell!"

Lewis tapped the intercom button on her panel. "Lewis to Admiral Goodman, we are receiving a automatic Mayday from Natovski at Wasilkoff II."

Goodman looked up from his battle simulation on his computer. "On screen," Goodman ordered the communications grille. The screen to his right lit up at once.

"Attention all Federation vessels in range. We are under attack and require assistance. Further details will follow on a subchannel. If you can aid us, please head for the Wasilkoff system at maximum speed. This message now repeats."

"Off. What's the subchannel package say?"

"It looks like just a sensor dump sir. I'm feeding it to Turley's station now, sir."

Commander Turley's voice broke into the channel. "Sounds like they're too busy to fill out a real report, sir. Let's see... ouch. Sir, we've got over 5,000 Raas ships approaching Wasilkoff IV. They only have about 200 system ships to defend with and a few planetary defense installations."

"Can we increase fleet speed to get there sooner?"

Captain Riley spoke up now. "Only if we leave behind the Praetor-class carriers sir. But we can get there in only three hours if we do."

"Those are our oldest and smallest carriers. Tell them to push their engines to the wall and follow as fast as they can, and order all other ships to increase speed and leave them behind. They aren't likely to come under attack while still in hyperspace."

"No sir they aren't," replied Riley.

"Orders sent, Admiral. Any response to Commodore Natovski, sir?" added Lewis.

"No. We can't risk the Raas finding out we are coming and running before we can arrive to kick them in the teeth."

"Aye, sir."

Goodman closed the channel with a light punch, then sat back and reviewed his options. Three hours to get there. In that time, the system ships will probably all be destroyed, but if they fight well they should take a good portion of the Raas fleet with them. But the Raas will probably have troops on the ground already, so I'll have to land some Rhea units to support our defenders.

This is not the situation we expected or wanted.

A few minutes earlier...

Ambassador Babcock rose to greet her guests. "I'm sorry to bring you bad news, gentlemen, but Chaa Txetokt would not listen."

"We didn't expect he would. Still, we had to try. War may have been unavoidable all along, but we could not go to war with a clear conscience if we did not at least try to talk him out of it," replied Lalamara, as his clear pressure suit levitated into the room. It made for quite an interesting sight to say the least, an intelligent squid-whale crossbreed in a clear glass tank, but by now Babcock was quite used to it.

"We had hoped that perhaps we could at least forestall it. We offered him significant advances in technology, and still he would not budge. He wants you to vacate Mu Delphi and Beta Celtsi so his people can move in."

"That will happen only when the New Orions dry the oceans with orbital bombardment," replied Errilli, the Nommo Ambassador.

"I expected you would say that."

"What support can you offer us?" asked Lalmara.

"I'm not sure. Our spies report the Raas will attack us soon, and we must devote the bulk of our forces to that conflict or we will not be able to defeat them. But I expect the Sixth Fleet, under Admiral Gretskov, can be spared. I'll inform Mulkahey as soon as I can and ask him to get them underway. It's only 150 ships, but they are all top-of-the-line vessels."

"I believe they are in Kitjef now, correct?"

"Yes, they were sent there for refit a few months back and stayed there afterwards because we weren't sure where to send them."

"That should actually be enough ships. Please have them head to Beta Celtsi. They need to go through the wormhole from Beta Omicron to Alpha Celtsi," said Errilli.

"Will you be providing a map for our people to know which starlanes go where?"

"I believe that can be arranged. I will have to get permission from my government, of course."

"Of course."

"I have already received permission from my government to provide you with our starmap, Ambassador," added Lalamara. "Just in case you are able to spare any ships from the M'gewen area. Though we expect that the Tachidi will probably attack Beta Celtsi, since it is less well defended than Mu Delphi. Or it will be until your ships arrive, that is. Once that happens we will collapse on him from both sides and hopefully finish them off within a year or two."

"It is regrettable that things have come to this."

"Yes. But if we must fight, better than we should get a quick victory and return to the path of peace as soon as we can."

Two hours and 45 minutes later...

"Get clear! Withdraw and wait for reinforcements!"

"Our engines are damaged, Commodore. We are on back--hiss--er and losing that rapidly. Soon our shields will fall and that'll be it. Remember us with--hiss." Then the channel suddenly went dead.

"Commodore, that's it. That's the last of our system ships. The Raas are probably beginning to land troops even now. Inside of half a day they will probably have all their troops landed and begin seizing regions of the planet."

"Summarize the space fleet results."

"Considering how badly we were outnumbered, we did pretty good. We lost three orbitals and a planetary missile base in addition to the two hundred system ships, but we took out over 3,000 of their vessels."

"That leaves around 2,000."

"Correct."

"That was my count too." She sighed. "I wish they'd fallen for the feint I had the surviving Raleigh's try an hour ago. We would have destroyed a lot more of them if they had. I just hope Goodman gets here soon. Any response to our mayday?"

"None, Commodore."

"Was it received?"

"I'm not sure."

She sat back in her command chair. Where are you, Goodman?

Ambassador Babcock sat down at her desk as her communication terminal finally beeped. Finally! she thought. Mulkahey's face appeared on the screen. "Admiral, I've been calling you for two hours. Where have you been?"

"In conference with Alexanderov and the other Fleet Admirals. We just received news that the Raas fooled us. We though they were going to chip their teeth on Alpha Omicron, instead they attacked through the wormhole to Wasilkoff IV."

"How bad?"

"Not very, actually. We took out over half their fleet with a collection of Raleigh-class PD destroyers and a few Kunetzov-class beam light cruisers. And Goodman is not far away, he'll be able to clean up what's left. What worries me is that Ninth Fleet won't be ready to counterattack for two more months, and if Solatrix requests aid we're going to be sucking for air here."

"Especially since I just promised Sixth Fleet to Ambassador Errilli. They need to head through Beta Omicron ASAP. I'm transmitting the star maps they'll need now on an encrypted subchannel."

"I'll get them underway ASAP. But we need to increase our military spending. We need more ships and we need them right now."

"As much as I'd prefer to disagree, I can't. You have my support."

"I've convinced Alexanderov that we need to declare Holy War now, before we get dragged into another conflict. He's grudgingly agreed and will make the announcement tonight."

"Good. I --" There came a knock at her door. "Excuse me, Admiral." She looked up. "Enter!"

Her aide stepped in. "Ma'am, I have Sephia here. He says he must see you at once on a matter of the highest urgency."

"Send him in."

Her aide ducked out and Sephia floated in. "I'm sorry to bother you, Ambassador." He stopped to wheeze for a second and then caught his breath. "But we have just received a formal declaration of war from Satrag. Can you assist us?"

"Goodman to all ships. We are about to exit the jumplane in five minutes. Sensor drones report that the majority of their fleet has moved towards the jumplane in an attempt to blockade against any reinforcements arriving. However, they have made a tactical mistake, and have not allowed for the range of our new graviton beams. I want TF 71 to emerge first, and to fire the second your sensors confirm the targeting data. 77.1 should follow with a full burst of anti-fighter missiles, then 75 and 77 will follow in behind to finish off anything left. Once the fleet is destroyed, proceed to Wasilkoff IV and destroy any transports still in orbit. Goodman out."

Two minutes now. Goodman tapped his chair arm impatiently, eager to avenge the dead.

Oh boy, thought Babcock. She pasted a friendly smile on her face. "Well, let's see what we can do. What exactly do you face?"

"We don't know the exact size or composition of the Silicoid fleet yet. It was just detected at the edge of our most extreme early-warning sensor range, approaching Taros from Epsilon Zeta. Based on the mass readings, we estimate a fleet size of about 20,000 hull-classes. We do not yet know types of ships, however, or sizes. That particular starlane is rather long, so we will have to wait for about four months until they get close enough to do a more detailed scan with planetary scanners. ETA, seven months."

"That's quite a long time!"

"Yes, we suspect there are some very large and very slow ships in the armada that are slowing them down. Perhaps their engine quality is not what we thought it was, or maybe they are not pushing their engines hard for some reason."

"And your defenses?"

"We expect to have more than adequate defenses, especially once we start pulling all our available reserve vessels out into fleets and sending them to Taros to add to our fleets. But we do not think we will have the ability to strike back without aid. And if we do not strike back..."

"They'll just keep coming, and you fear they will wear you down over time."

"Precisely. As you well know, our people can't begin to keep up with theirs in a straight production battle. Fortunately, they can not remotely keep up with our technological prowess. But technology is not enough to win a defensive war indefinitely."

"Admiral, have you been following this?"

"Of course," replied Mulkahey.

"What can we do to help them?"

"Well, for starters I can have Goodman send his Praetor-class carriers and some Sharktooth-class escorts to Wernog to make sure to keep our lines clear. They'll be there in about four months. We have only a few reserve vessels left, but we can pull those out and group them with the new Nimitz-class Battleships under production in Tamarian. Those are a new experimental combination carrier / IF class of ship we have high hopes for, we'll have three of them out in another month. All told we can give you about a hundred ships to assist in striking back if you want. But aside from that, the cupboard is empty, Ambassador Sephia. Is there any way you can fight a defensive war for a couple of rounds and then go on the offensive after we've taken care of the Raas?"

"I don't know. My government would prefer to end this swiftly. Our empire could use the productivity of the Silicoid workers, but we simply cannot invade on our own, and without your help in space we are not even sure we can take out their planetary defenses."

"Even despite your technological advantages?"

"Even so, Admiral. Our crews are brave enough when defending, but often panic at the first sign of defeat when we go on the offensive. We need overwhelming forces to be successful. Or at least somebody else braver than we to lead us and shame the timid into continuing the fight."

"I see. Please talk to your Emperor for me then, and ask him to try to hold out on a defensive war for awhile. We are upping our military production drastically. Within a year, even if we haven't finished off the Raas yet, we will be in a much better position to assist you."

"Very well, I'll see what I can do."

Babcock spoke up again now. "We will not abandon you, Sephia, and we will aid you as much as we can. But it may be awhile before we can aid you as much as you would like."

"I understand. Thank you again for your friendship and support."

"Commodore, I'm receiving a signal from Goodman."

"About time! On screen," ordered Natovski.

"Commodore, this is Admiral Goodman. We've taken out the Raas space fleet and are even now approaching Wasilkoff IV to take out the troopships. Do you have any information on what the Raas have landed, or where?"

"I'm sorry, Admiral, I don't. They activated jammers 10 minutes ago and, wait a second, they just went dead!"

"My fighters are engaging the troopships as we speak. Already very few remain, in a minute or less, none will remain in orbit."

"I'm getting an encrypted communication from the planet surface. It appears the Raas managed to get fourteen of their transports landed and are currently assaulting the Government DEA. They can't hold out much longer, sir. Only two of the Grendarl militia units are left."

"We'll land four companies of Rhea and a command post then. I'll call you again when we have cleaned up the mess. Goodman out."

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