Gabatrix: The Cipra Campaign

Hello everyone, my name is CMed. I will make it brief and quick about me. I was a college student who got a Major in History before going into the realm of the military. I am a Navy Veteran that has served for six years and wanted to become an author and book writer near the end of my military contract. 

Space….Outside, we stare at the endless infinite of stars. Using the light spectrum, we are surrounded by a sea of darkness. It’s a journey that takes us 355 light-years from the Sol sector. Up, down, left, right….it doesn’t matter. There is nothing here but that of the endless dots of burning balls of light. With nothing to constrain us, we simply float in the expanse of nothingness.

There is a solemn beauty to the environment. For those who call themselves humanity, it has been a source of wonder and spiritual enlightenment, but one that can provide loneliness. Many simply see it as an obstacle. There is so much of this nothingness that it makes simple trips on Earth appallingly forever when trying to reach new locations far beyond their solar system. The humans who have created their technology to survive in it are gifted with both a profound moment of glee and excitement and one of fear and trepidation. As we free float in the endless vacuum of space, we have every aspect of view available to us. It is one that is easily distinguishable as a four-dimensional plane.

Of course, such a system has to have four dimensions in order to exist properly, at least to how humans view things. We have depth. We have length. We have breadth, and…..we have time. Even in the vast blackness of space, we have a pleasant view of the cosmos. In the Milky Way Galaxy, we are bombarded with endless amounts of cosmic radiation. The darkness isn’t infinite as the millions of stars glow and radiate to us.

As we stand here floating in the expanse of nothingness, we look at the different glowing orbs. Some are stars. Some are pulsars. The ongoing reactions are the only sign to us that there is an activity in this ever-expanding realm. Billions of years ago, such a concept was unheard of. Everything was much closer together. Space travel was so much easier, but it was more than evident that things were far more dangerous to contend with. In our evolution, we were more than fortunate that we managed to escape this location and go beyond this universe.

However, to leave this plane of existence means leaving behind anything that we may miss out on. Trillions upon trillions of stars leave countless opportunities to learn the intricate forms of life that can exist. It is why you are here, aren’t you? Even now, we have the chance to go anywhere in the universe. But, you decide to be close to a place that you seem to focus much attention towards. No doubt there are profound reasons as to why. Humanity has a unique opportunity for the many species that operate like them. Their ability to adapt and survive against hardships is a story of triumph. Like many of the few, they just might make it. Countless other species have not. Whether by choice, the actions of others, or cosmic events, the few of the species that manage to survive to reach the next realm have their own stories to tell.

Instead, it’s my goal to help you in learning more about how the universe works. Whether it is fate or simple natural progression, this universe cannot survive forever. Even if time is graciously on our side, the evolving species here will have to learn to adapt to these changes. Time is a flickering concept. It’s always moving, unending, and never ceases. Without it, the laws of this universe collapse on itself. One can bend and manipulate it if one eventually reaches such an ability. However, the ability to do such a thing usually requires elements beyond this universe or a far greater power than most ever imagine. Cosmic phenomena can affect time, however. Large massed objects can distort time. What the humans call “Time Dilation” is real. Gravity can warp time. Events that happen near a black hole operate much differently than objects that exist far from it.

Thankfully, such an ability is something we treasure having. The ability to witness past events is a gift. It’s something that can’t be abused but allows us to do just enough that the species we observe may get their second chance at survival. Maybe it can be a third chance as well.         

As this is said, our view is focused on a brightening light in the vastness of space. It’s time to witness an event that happens throughout the entire universe. The past has finally caught up to us as the glowing dot begins to get brighter. It’s still so far away that it’s impossible to illuminate the entire scene, but our vision has been used to seeing this sort of change for some time. It started as nothing, originating from a distant, tiny dot. The brightening is enough that one would think that a new star appeared out of nowhere.

We will not travel to this location. It isn’t necessary to go there. Instead, we hold out our hands. Before us, the tiny glowing white dot is enhanced in size image. We magnify what it is that holds our attention. Such ways of manipulating our sight are one that is often less appealing to me. The joy of traveling to vast locations of the cosmos is one that is often relaxing, but I know you well enough. You wish to be here because you want to be close to the humans…..and perhaps the Itreans.

As the image gets bigger and bigger, we can see that this glowing dot originates from a distant galaxy. The humans have called this galaxy NGC 4526. It is a lenticular galaxy over 55 million light-years away. It serves as the intermediate between the elliptical and spiral-type galaxies. In the center of this formation is a bright glowing yellow and reddish glow. Outside of this is a large dark disk that revolves around its illuminating parent central mass. Unlike the Milky Way Galaxy, the disk carries almost no revolving “arms” to them. The bright center only reveals the illumination of the revolving mass. It’s quite unique to look upon. One can easily say that there are no stars there, but that is far from the truth. We know better because one of these galaxies was our home….perhaps more.

Our attention, however, is not the galaxy itself but the glowing dot of light that continues to get brighter. It sits outside of the revolving disc, most likely in the far edge of the orbital pattern. Possibly, it has been knocked out of the galaxy or is going to get swallowed up by the stellar mass. This provides us a wonderfully unique opportunity to see the entire length of this cosmic phenomenon. We continue to magnify this image. Eventually, our sights reveal the cause of this brightening light.

As our eyes automatically adjust to the great intensity, we can see that it is a pair of binary stars. The common dancing stars are ones that twirl around one another. The sibling partners are ones that are often sung in the universe. Brothers….sisters….they will remain together for as long as they can until some other massive object tears them apart. Of course, that is only a minor chance of happening. Instead, the greatest threat to binary stars is themselves. Their natural age is revealed to us as we look upon it. One of the stars has aged faster than its counterpart. Both of them were G-type stars locked together. One of them had long turned into a white dwarf, expending almost all of its matter into the universe. The other star is that of a red giant, the younger sibling of the two.

Even if its glory days are long gone, the white dwarf star is hungry. It’s playing a slow role in the demise of its companion. The intense gravity of the dying star is pulling the matter from the red giant. The trail of glowing dust and hydrogen is being swallowed up, but the mouth can only feed on so much. The small dot has instead consumed too much. The white dwarf instead has a massive overload. The mass that it draws in builds up on the surface until the star can handle it no more. An enormous explosion of light has occurred. It fills the spectrum and continues to glow brightly. We have witnessed a carbon detonation. The humans tend to call these types of explosions as a Type 1a supernova, although they have many categories to narrow this down. The white dwarf has sent a shockwave of cosmic radiation and intense light. Essentially, in so many words, the star is throwing up.

The regrettable fact is one of astounding beauty. One can view the white dwarf star as a vampire. It loved its sibling, but it must survive at whatever cost. It must consume to continue its life. The exploding matter is instead jettisoned far from them. Many of the beautiful nebulas that we have seen so far are these types of perpetrators. It is possible that this star that orbits near NGC 4526 may desire more in the future. It might stay as it is as it continues to draw more matter from its other star. It’s even possible for it to become a brand-new star as it eats the life from the other. If the orbit between them decays, drawing them in closer, it may easily result in an explosion far greater than we are seeing now.

All of what you are seeing now is important because what we are seeing is the past. It took 55 million years for this light to reach us. The tale of these two simple stars had been witnessed by others far sooner than we have. Even from where we are observing, the humans have already seen it as far back as 1994 of their calendars. Now it is our turn to see the famed event. Everything that we see is history. Light is a fast-moving process but is still limited by the sheer size of the universe. It is easy to surmise that many of these stars that we see right now have long been dead or have become something else. At the same time, new stars have long but formed. It is a prevalent life cycle that is reflected in the history of humans and Itreans.

Humanity has long been recovering from the shock of the events of finding out another alien species. The Itreans have been a sense of wonder; both fear invoking and inspirational at the same time. Their history is that of hardship in the Milky Way Galaxy. At the same time, however, we have never truly lost hope in them. It is only a hope to us that they don’t turn out to be that white dwarf star, consuming and obliterating humanity in the process.

The reality of the Itreans, more specifically, the Aksren clan, is that of momentum. The subspecies of the Itrean race are one that is easily reflected by the beliefs of the other clan species. The humans view the Aksren clan as holistically evil. The Shal’rein clan view them as a powerful but dangerous nuisance. The T’rintar clan is probably the most unique. Most of them tend to view them as dangerous adversaries, confounding, and almost unstoppable. The truth, however, is only revealed in their history because the Aksren clan initially controlled the galaxy and the entire fate of the Itrean species. Only one species successfully managed to accomplish that task but slowly lost it in time.

A simple wave of the hand and the image of the binary stars are gone. Instead, the darkness of space reflects that of a single picture image that appears before us. It is that of a single Aksren. The anthro oviraptor is shorter than the typical human being. He is sitting on a lavish throne adorned by gems from every planet that belongs to the former Empire of Yol’ikren. His smooth scale skin is red and brown. He generally looks the same as many of the Aksren of his kind, but the clothing and persona that he gives off are that of royalty. From the brief but controllable smile that he has, it is easy to deduce that he knows that he has the respect of the crowds. He knows that people like him and worship him and that he tends to their needs as well. The clothing is that of a long cloak of white fur. From his torso, he has that of a ruby shirt and brown silk pants.

When one compares this image to other emperors of the Aksren clan, one can only find a few that reflect this attitude. This leader that we view upon is that of a commoner. He does not want the others to view him as the luxurious elite, even if he was born of nobility. He was raised to treat others as second-class citizens, but that isn’t what he desires. In the four-digit left-hand of this leader is that of a small scepter. On the top portion of this icon is that of a holographic display that shows that of warship schematics. His face is almost drawn to this image as if he desires it more than anything else. His long brown tail flows off the throne and down to the ground. His posture is that of assurance.

There is much more to this picture and image. While drawn to the image on his scepter, his view is that of others that are seemingly around him. A small amount of light that reflects off his gold-plated, adorned protruding nose crest shows that of other Itrean hands. According to many of the Itrean historians, this was how the emperor wanted his picture to be taken. There are two pairs of Itrean hands or arms. One is that of red and brown similar to his. The famed mated woman who would become empress is care, concern, and pride towards the emperor. The other one is grayish in color and has fins protruding from near the elbow. A purple gold-plated ring could be seen from one of the four-digit fingers. The hand is much bigger than his and possibly from a fellow mistress's. These hands and posture show that of outright love, desire, and caring. Despite the leader's view of the image, his view seems to be pulled towards this Shal’rein woman that was rumored to be a lover. His other free hand is drawn towards her as a form of lingering desire to have her.

This image that we are looking at is that of Emperor Jalgren the Great, one of the most famous Itreans to exist in the last fifty thousand years of current Itrean history. Many of the humans that are learning about Itrean history have nothing but incredible reports about this singular individual. No doubt, Jalgren is one of the pinnacle characters that would shape the destiny of the Itreans. His reputation is interestingly respected by all of the Itrean subspecies, even if he was a warlord and powerful ruler.

Jalgren the Great was, by many, the most idealistic and successful of future rulers. He had access to one of the best shipyards in the most powerful Aksren empire of the long-deceased Yol’ikren the Great. Jalgren was speculated to be a family descendant of Yol’ikren even if the bloodline had long but faded into obscurity. Instead, he treasured and valued things that he enjoyed the most during his childhood. He loved spaceships. Humans often compare Jalgren to that of an Itrean Peter the Great mixed with attributes from Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. If anything, he managed to succeed and survive far greater than those previous examples. It was widely spoken that a few Yutilians and Shal’rein that lived in the brutally racist conditions of the Aksren empire had taught and introduced ideals into the young future leader. He became sympathetic but realistic to the environment that the Itreans lived under.

What makes Jalgren a renowned individual is that he got his wish. When he wasn’t delegating the tedious orders of leadership, he was at the orbital shipyards working with fellow construction workers or designers. His love and passion were never-ending, and he picked up on every little detail on how to make the best spaceships that could ever operate.

In time, Jalgren realized that Renlar, his planet, and the Empire of Yol’ikren could very well seize upon the critical assets of other worlds. To control space was to control the destiny of future civilizations. He used his skills to begin designing brand new warships that he felt would change the tide of future warfare. With the immense resources, technical innovation, and careful negotiation, Jalgren would begin to spread his influence. One by one, solar system after solar system would fall to his fleets. Other Aksren empires had no choice but to agree to his actions. Yutilians, Shal’rein, Palierans, and the Alara’jal clans would watch as their fleet assets would succumb to Jalgren’s ingenuity and power-hungry maneuvering to conquer the galaxy.

Jalgren was never the sort of individual that believed in exterminating the other. He was the first emperor to wipe out all opposition successfully, but many viewed him as a gracious victor. To him, he was “liberating” the clan species from the atrocities and decadence that the clan’s internal governments, warlords, and leaders had brought towards their own people. Even other clan species can further later acclaim that in some respects, the Aksren emperor was that of a hero. The Alara’jal and Shal’rein were just the prime examples of a people that focused on fighting amongst themselves to the point of barbaric brutality. When Jalgren rode through, the devastated Shal’rein and Alara’jal fleets were obliterated. When the emperor announced his victory, the defeated populations feared the worst. They believed that the nuclear bombs were to fall upon their world, but the Aksren wanted none of it.

It was here that many viewed Jalgren the Great as an Itrean uniter. Cohesion was his main goal as he continued to fight the Yutilians and the remaining Aksren empires that resisted him. His promise was fulfilled when he passed reform after reform. Even if parts of the population were against him, his word was law. He wanted equality for the defeated subspecies. Their cultural views, various beliefs, traditions, and aspects would slowly bleed into Renlar culture and outward in all directions. Now named the Empire of Jalgren, it would spread outward and control all of Itrean space. By the end point of his life, he watched as the final Aksren empire would surrender to his growing superpower. Within 200 years, Jalgren controlled a quarter of the Milky Way Galaxy. As the humans were still in their most infantile of pre-civilizations, the Aksren clan ruled and dominated everything.

A single Aksren was all it took for the lives of trillions to be affected. Jalgren’s legacy was profound. It was known as 20,000 years of peace, and relative prosperity as more and more of the other non-Aksren would adjust to living the life among the Aksren clan. To this day, all the Itreans at least understand the U’ck’ck language, the words that can be spoken from planet to planet. Many often compare the Empire of Jalgren to that of the Roman Empire on Earth, both in personality, cultural, and economic prosperity. Slavery was all but nonexistent.

However, Jalgren’s empire was never to last. Not everyone cherished his idealism and openness to others. Some in the Aksren clan were raised in a cloud of elitism, bigotry, and racism. Within 10,000 years ago, the empire was no more. The clans would splinter off to fight one another once again. Determination to eradicate the other was paramount. Violence would return as the few Itreans dreamed of the former glory days of Jalgren. By the time we are talking, five of the Aksren empires are united under economic and partnership treaties. The Empire of Itsis, is the remnant of Jalgren’s glory and desired dominance to create a united galaxy and maintain it by any means necessary.

Why is all of this important? You already have that answer. The knowledge of the Itreans is now bleeding into the human race. Like the two binary stars that we just witnessed, there is the possibility that one star will consume the other. However, it’s also possible that the two stars can combine to become a new star that will burn brighter than anyone can ever imagine. The human race has essential choices to make in its long future. There are consequences with every action or inaction that it makes. The only way to help answer those questions is to analyze the past thoroughly. The interactions and sacrifices of a single individual can influence billions to trillions. Even if there are far fewer humans than Itreans, the single impact of their discovery can become beneficial. Each of the clan species also has its own choices to make if they are going to survive indefinitely.

With a simple wave of the hand, the image of Jalgren fades into obscurity, replaced by the great field of stars. We say goodbye to this location as we must return to a time and place that you already know. We begin to move, watching as the burning balls of gas rush past us. We don’t have far to go. Occasional small nebula, cosmic phenomena, and natural space debris rush past us as we go beyond the speed of light.

You know this time if you have been paying close attention, then again, your fascination with the human race is showing. This is all too understandable. This was the day that the humans learned about the creation of Minerva. There was far more that happened, but not just on one ship. Our destination takes us to that same time, but at a different location, one where our story will begin and possibly end, depending on the outcome of the choices and actions made. We must view the past if we are to learn of future events.

The stream of stars begins to slow down drastically as we approach a singular star system. This star is much like that of Sol. It is a G-Type with a bright yellow hue to it. Located in the Tucana constellation back on Earth, it is known as HD 4308. It is 72 light-years from Earth and is simple but elegant. Unlike the crowded nature of the Sol system, this solar system only consists of four planets. The furthest planet of Dakra is a gas giant that we almost can’t see until we fly past it. It consists of light-absorbing gases that almost make it appear as a reddish-black world. Even the orbiting moons reveal more than what the planet shows.

We get closer and closer to the star until we can see the transpiring events. We are nearing our destination. A single orbiting planet is seen, but there are flashes that can also be depicted. These are not natural and consist of a variety of explosions. We get closer and closer to the point where we can define what the planet looks like. It has a mostly yellow color, with hints of white clouds, brown mountaintops, and very faint signs of green. The green is isolated in a large crevice and canyon valley. There are hints of ice that have developed in the high canyon walls with slightly small amounts of water that is on the top north pole. The enormous flat terrain of hot arid sand consists of 85% of the world’s environment. It is easy for others to see that this is a desert world but a habitable one.

Ah….you do know of this place. Yes, this is the colony of Cipra, and we are about to witness an event that is going to transpire. Nothing more needs to be said as we are close enough to see that the explosions are coming from orbit. It is a battle consisting of two sides. The UHN battleships are taking losses. On the other side in the great distance is that of an Itrean fleet of the Aksren clan. Hundreds of tiny red dots can be depicted as they fire salvos of hypervelocity rounds and guided missiles at the beleaguered defense force that is in place. Humanity is outnumbered and outgunned.

We are close enough to see one of the UHN warships, a Magellan class Battleship named the UHN Champlain. It is a cylindrical vessel with a series of eight missile tubes in the front bow. On the mid-dorsal and ventral sides is a railgun turret with AIO turrets dotting the front mid-section of the vessel. The centripetal rotating ring persists near the rear engine and reactor module. The Champlain is a survivor from the defeat at Eutera, but you know of her fate. The warship is fighting for its very life. Much like every UHN vessel that is present, the men and women will fight to the bitter end if need be. The act of courage and defiance isn’t enough. The Aksren clan simply have sheer numbers on their side. The only hope that the UHN can offer is to stop the waves of missiles from impacting their targets.

Cipra is losing this fight. The Itreans have struck the humans with simplicity but as a powerful crushing force. The warship captains decide to either protect themselves or save the escaping ships from the planet. A series of boxlike transports can be seen leaving Cipra. Their destination is that of a tethered ring in orbit. The gate array is still functioning, but its array of defense weapons is not enough to protect the escaping ships that are fleeing to it.

The intercept missiles and flak fire from the UHN warships litter the region of space, but it’s barely enough. The Aksren clan have resorted to a simple move of a slow siege. More and more of their ships have been appearing to the point that the UHN can’t do anything to counter it. The Itrean missiles flutter and move around with unending speed and ferocity. For every two missiles that are shot down, another one simply gets through. The results are unfavorable to the escaping civilian vessels. We watch as the Cortes, another UHN battleship, closes near the gate array. It isn’t trying to flee from the battle as a folding wormhole opens in the array ring. It seems that the Cortes is trying to protect these four boxy-looking transports. Their engines are working as hard as possible. The blue flames radiate from the thruster nodules propelling them to greater and greater speeds.

Nothing can be done as two large anti-ship Itrean torpedoes near one of the transports. The Cortes manages to shoot down one of the torpedoes as another missile strikes into the mid-section of the vessel. The battleship crews know that they can handle some of the damage, but the escaping Cipran population transports cannot. The AIO turrets rotate and try to target the last incoming torpedo, but it is too late. The Aksren warhead is a cluster missile designed to separate into four smaller homing munitions. Each one of these missiles zips past at incredible speeds flying towards their intended targets.

One by one, each of the transports is struck by one of these smaller missiles. The results are devastating. While the missiles are not nuclear-tipped, they carry enough explosives to penetrate and obliterate everything from within the transports. The hulls explode into tiny debris that shower towards the direction of the gate array. Meanwhile, the Cortes resumes firing at the incoming munitions that come raining down towards her and the planet below.

A large explosion erupts in the UHN fleet formation. The Champlain, one of the battleships, has taken multiple hits from incoming missiles. The last of these munitions was a nuclear warhead. They slam in tandem to the weakened hull of the battleship. Inside the interior of the vessel, the enclosed atmosphere is a proper environment for a nuclear explosion to do its worst. A cataclysmic shockwave explodes in all directions as the Champlain is turned into a burning bright ball of orange and blue light. With no atmosphere in the confounds of space, the explosion quickly dissipates. The Champlain is no more, another victim of the ongoing Aksren assault.

Meanwhile, the UHN fleet is numbered in the fifties. Every effort is made to defend Cipra. The human warships continue to fire volleys of missiles towards their distant targets. Again, it almost seems pointless. Many of these warheads are getting targeted and destroyed before they impact the Itrean vessels. The overwhelming numbers are proving to be an overwhelming defense for the red alien warships. The humans have no reinforcements available. Everything is being poured in to save the colony. Cipra cannot fall as Eutera did.

One of the UHN stealth cruisers, named the UHN Korea, tries to break off from the defense fleet in place. It is hard to see the vessel being very flat and having a black color to blend in with the background. The crew seems adamant in taking the fight directly to the Itrean siege. Perhaps they hope that they remain undetected, but perhaps the alien invaders don’t consider them an adequate threat. The one thing that can be more clearly seen is the volley of eight missiles that fly out of the bow section of the vessel. The stealth vessel then makes a turn to change its position. The black material then begins to shimmer as the Itrean warships have fired an array of tracking missile probes. It begins to illuminate the scenery, revealing the stealth ship's full profile. The fate of the Korea is unknown. Much like many of the UHN ships, hope and morale are crumbling.

As the UHN Korea turns, new light can be seen from the ventral side of its hull. It is a reflecting light coming from the Itrean fleet. Three swirling vortexes can be seen. The folded space reveals that the Aksren fleet is receiving additional reinforcements. Within a minute of the ongoing battle, three large Aksren warships come through it and enter the scene. One is a super-dreadnought, possibly a command ship. It is much larger than the typical dreadnoughts of the Aksren fleet. The two supporting vessels consist of a large bow-mounted cannon strapped into the frame of the warship. The forward section of the hull is pointed directly at the desert planet.

We move towards the planet of Cipra. The space battle is a seemingly lost cause for the human military forces. As we fly into the atmosphere of the world, we can see as the few missiles and fast-moving projectiles are en route towards where we are heading, almost as if they are following us. But, of course, their goal is to target whatever is present on the planet.

After flying through the clear but seemingly dusty atmosphere, the incredible canyons are revealed. We are heading towards the central location of the Cipran colony of New Hong Kong. For a world that is struck with heavy dust storms. The great wall of rocks protects and shelters the small flourishing green environment from the intense heat and sunlight of the Cipran sun. At the same time, melted water from the canyon mountains naturally drain down into the valley below. It is easy to conclude why the main colony of Cipra is located in this area. The temperatures aren’t as hot and relatively comfortable.

The capital of New Hong Kong can be clearly seen. The buildings can be large but well-spaced apart. Even for a population of 100 million, there is plenty of room to spread around. Perhaps they also want to care for the environment. This is the only location where this sort of plant life flourishes. However, for a place that is peaceful, it is far from that. Instead, the area has become a warzone. Numerous weapon emplacements dot the edges of the great city. Large stationary mounted railguns are attempting to fire upward in the direction of the Itrean invasion, but there is little hope to hit such targets from such extreme distances. Missile silos open and fire large guided torpedoes that take off and leave the surface. All in one, defense turrets spray flak and intercept missiles at the incoming munitions that fall upon the planet. At the same time, some of these railgun rounds from the Itreans smash into the dirt. Chunks of debris, sand, and matter are spewed about, leaving small craters. The planetary defenses are doing their best, but it seems hopeless. The sounds of constant gunfire and powerful shockwaves radiate the entire landscape.

We continue to zoom in as we fly past one of the large administration buildings. It is shaped like a pagoda reminiscent of the towering buildings used in former Japan or China. Beautifully constructed, its existence is in danger if the planetary bombardment persists. We watch as one of the alien missiles strikes a city block. Chunks of concrete are blown about. Periodic fires are shown as the city alarms are in full swing. We are close enough to see the pandemonium that is going on. We can hear the screaming of men, women, and children that are fleeing for their very lives. A planetary evacuation is in place. Landing ports are working overtime as every freighter, gate jumper, or transport is readied for departure. An occasional ship tries to take off from one of these ports, but the odds don’t seem to be on their side. We can hear the overhead speakers radiate the words, “Planetary Evacuation is in effect. Vacate Cipra via transport ship immediately. This is not a drill. Do not take your personal belongings with you. This is an emergency evacuation in progress.” The same words are then spoken in Chinese to the crowd to ensure that the broadcast is well understood.

We finally reach the final destination of where our journey ends. We fly past to the large airport of Sun Yat-sen, which consists of several launching platforms in the far northwestern edge of the city. The grand canyon walls serve as a viable background that leads to the clear valley of the unoccupied barren north. The overhead sunlight properly shows the whole scenery. It is the hottest time of the day, even for a suitable location such as this. It beats down upon the population hard, but the people seem well adjusted to it. There is an adequate amount of breathable air as the people hurry forth to their emergency planned location. A boxy CC-4 transport was prepping for launch from the northernmost launching platform. Flows of men, women, and children were heading into the open hatches at a steady rate. Outside of the launch platform is a platoon of UHN marines and vehicles.

The sergeant only had a few seconds to reminisce about the scene as he turned his attention briefly to the sky. He could hear something or some things that were coming. As he looked up, he could see the brief outlines of several approaching ships. There was a series of glowing dots in orbit. The Itreans had surrounded the planet. They were in a perfect orbital pattern if they wanted to continue their bombardment with a better position.

“Damn…,” Yuchen said to himself as he tapped the sentry drone turret that was on his side. He made sure to grab several essential items with him while he began his move towards the building. He tapped a few buttons to access control of the M30 vehicle. It was now set to drone controls so that he could operate manually from a distance if need be. He readjusted his M18 machine gun and continued his approach.

The computer core facility looked pretty much like many of the buildings consisting of a curved rectangular structure. It was about three stories tall and had numerous windows on each floor. It had blue and gray colors with the words “Genisen Cipran Networks,” written in both English and Chinese. Yuchen noted that this building was one of the surviving taller structures of the city. It might prove as an advantageous point assuming that the Itreans didn’t blow it up with him in it. Of course, at this time, it simply didn’t matter to him.

When he reached the cracked transparent glass doors, they refused to open up. Finally, a lone woman saw the armored marine and tapped the button to open it up. Yuchen marched into the door and into the reception area. The former Chinese-looking woman seemed nervous but steady when she approached Yuchen.

“Hello?” she asked him.

“I’m Sergeant Yuchen of UHN marine Detachment 3,” he told her. “I’m here to speak to whoever is here in scuttling the computer core.”

“Of course, this way!” she replied.

She led him to an elevator that wasn’t that far from the reception location. Yuchen noted that the woman was the only person that was present.

“How many of you stayed?” he asked her.

“Just me and the supervisor,” she calmly replied.

“That was brave of you. I’m assuming that everyone else has safely evacuated?”

“I don’t know. I heard some are heading north, some south,….others…..I….”

“It’s alright,” he said as the elevator door opened up. They stepped inside, but the elevator was barely able to hold the immense weight and size of the armored marine. These were designed to handle small amounts of civilian traffic. The woman’s fingers gripped her dress uniform somewhat hard, showing the tension that she had.

“Are……are you going to stop them?” she asked him.

He almost debated about telling her the truth. Finally, after a brief pause, he relented. “I don’t think so. Their forces are too strong, but….I think that people like you are going to make a difference.”

It was the only way that he could at least comfort her. The elevator ride conversation was brief, but she seemed to acknowledge everything that was happening. Then, as the elevator door opened up, the woman finally said something.

“My name is Qingge…..,” she said. “Just…..in case you outlive me.”

October 23rd, 2350, would see a dramatic change in the overall spectrum. The red planet of Mars stands in the background as the vestiges of space are construed about. An amassing fleet of seven warships is gathering far from the gate array of Fort Prisidia. Six of these warships are of the Magellan class Battleships. Their centripetal rings spin at a slow continuous rate. Their formation indicates that of a guard formation protecting the single most crucial ship in the center.

This UHN warship is that of a fleet carrier design. It is much larger being over 400 meters in length. As we get closer, the full detail comes into view. Unlike the battleships, this vessel carries a limited armament. There is only one small light railgun mounted on the starboard section of the hull and only a few AIO turrets and four torpedo tubes. While the vessel follows a cylindrical design similar to the other warships, the ship seems to have a series of connecting modules. The shuttle and hangar facility is mounted behind two spinning centripetal rings. A series of small antennas could be seen jutting from portions of the hull. In the forward section of the vessel are two large jutting box-like structures. A series of tiny tubes line these sections. There is much activity that is going on with this central vessel. Shuttles are making continuous trips to the facility. Personnel is getting transferred back and forth.

As we get closer and closer, we can finally see that this is some sort of command ship. The name “UHN Ark Royal” is painted on the forward section near the four torpedo tubes. It is written in both English and Chinese with the registry of MCD-9. We eventually fly deep within the gray hulls as a series of habitable hallways line the interior section of the vessel. The ship is quite spacious, but there is some activity that is going on. Maintenance personnel seems to be double-checking each other’s work. Great care is being put in to make sure that the carrier is in full operational readiness. We eventually reach a central room near the centripetal ring as we move through these hallways. Two marine guards are posted by this door. Their fully laden power armor shimmers in the overhead lights. The bottom deck is painted with the red, white, and blue symbol of the UHN.

Many high-ranking officers seem to be gathering in this room as the guards remain in place. Only the magnetic boots keep everyone floating around in the zero-gravity environment. Most of the female and occasional male crews have most of their hair cut or tied down to avoid having it float around in the air. In total, there are about fifty officers. All of them seem to come from respected ships in the gathering fleet. Their red and blue jumpsuit uniforms and black magnetic boots are their respectable form of uniformity. Many of the enlisted are staying clear of the hallway even if their maintenance duties may require them to cross the respected area. The severity of the situation alone was enough to make people more tense than usual. Of course, everyone seemed to have some form of apprehension in some form or manner.

Humans were not the only personnel that was heading to this singular room. A few of the alien officers were that of the T’rintar clan. These Itreans mostly consisted of the Yutilian variety being about four feet in height. Their shorter stature was reminiscent of an anthro Velociraptor. Their black, white, and green skintight uniforms had tiny dress rank insignias to them. They walked on their digitigrade legs and had red magnetic wrappings to their feet. They had feathers on their arms, head, and long tails. They would occasionally bump into others due to the amassing officers. Many of these humans didn’t even show a look at their new allies, even if such an alliance happened almost ten months ago. Much as everyone knew by now, all of these Itreans were women. Their breasts pressed against their uniforms. However, these individuals were a little more attuned to themselves than the taller humans that walked around them.

Among one of the many human officers is that of a bald-headed individual. He had a black mustache and facial features reminiscent of someone that came from former Mexico on Earth. The name tag of Ramírez could be seen before he reached the door. The other officers barely noticed him, even if he seemed like he was being prudish. He only knew enough of what was going to come on this briefing. At the same time, he was still partly apprehensive. He had only heard so much as to what was coming. The whole concept of this planned operation seemed…. ridiculous or foolish.

The door in the corridor opened up as Ramírez stepped in. There was already some commotion as the main stateroom lounge was getting filled to capacity. Many officers already had found seats to sit down with others that were standing. Most of them were talking with others about everything that was about to transpire. With zero gravity, such a problem was mostly mute. Those that sat down had to strap themselves in. However, even then, it almost seemed to Ramírez that many of these officers had been used to sitting down for most of their lives. He folded up his arms and got a fair distance from the doorway.

The room itself was typical for a lounge. It was widely decorated, consisting of a metal table and numerous displays of the Ark Royal, including pictures of an ancient aircraft carrier of the same name on former Earth. There had to be at least thirty chairs. Ramírez already knew that these carriers had the best accessories and equipment to appease the highest of rank. The stateroom also had two large projectors that could be displayed for crew members to watch movies or shows. A portion of the room also had a large allocated wall for various forms of theater or presentations to be delivered.

As Ramírez was about to fold up his arms and perch his back to the wall, he spotted somebody in the diverse crowd of officers and aliens. One of these aliens grabbed his attention. This one, in particular, was an Aksren of the T’rintar clan. Unlike the Aksren of the Aksren clan, these anthro oviraptors were much friendlier. He already had experience with such an interaction long ago, but he looked very closely at this one. She was dressed similarly among the other Yutilians. She had red and green colored scales along her skin, face, and sides. His jaw almost dropped as he wondered if it was really her. The meeting hadn’t started yet. He still had a few minutes to go and ask her. He walked up to her as her gaze went to him. Her reptilian eyes seemed to light up upon seeing him as if she had recognized him too.

“Tara’Talar?” Ramírez asked her.

“Commander Ramírez,” she replied back with a slight wisp in her voice. She seemed pleased as she gave a slight smile from her pointed beak. She even approached him and gave him a brief little hug. Her smaller stature naturally made her press into his side. He momentarily responded in kind with a light pat on her back before she quickly let go of him and retreated away a little bit. A few of the Itreans looked upon her briefly before they continued on with their conversations.

“It really is you. I’ll be damned,” he remarked with a slight smile on his face. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

The oviraptor gave a slight nod from her crested head. “I’m not so surprised. The T’rintar clan wanted me here.” Her accent reflected the similar Japanese, French, and Spanish inflections as she spoke. Her tone seemed calm but slightly severe.

“Agh…..I hope it isn’t because of the whole ‘token Aksren’ idea, right?” He was partially snippy but didn’t mean to be cruel in his words.

“I don’t understand that term…..,” she seemed to think about it for a brief few seconds.

“I am good. How about you?”

The officer nodded his head. “Well enough. Not looking forward to this whole shit.”

“You don’t wish to participate in this coming cam……cam…..,” she stuttered as she tried to find the word.

“Campaign?” he corrected. He folded up his hands as he gave a brief smirk. “Nothing but a bunch of officers talking about a situation that they have little prepared for. This is just a meeting of some half-assed op.”

She seemed to fidget her four-digit scaly fingers for a moment as her tail twitched. “I don’t think that you know everything.”

“Apparently so,” he commented and waved his hand to point at her. “They just grabbed you and threw you in this whole mess too?”

“No, but the T’rintar has interests in fighting the Aksren clan. I am ready to fight for both of our people.”

“You say that so easily. Don’t try to act like this is going to become some glorious campaign. I know better.”

“Then you know why you are going to be a part of this upcoming battle?”

Ramírez’s eyes seemed to show a hint of partial confusion. “No…..I don’t know enough, unfortunately. Pretty much like the rest of this upcoming op, they just clean up house on much of the resources and give half-assed answers. It isn’t being misleading to enemy intelligence. It’s only letting them know everything that is going to happen and become confusing to all of us, instead.”

Tara’talar tilted her head somewhat as she looked away. Perhaps he had made a point in his discussion, and she had nothing to say about it. He sighed as he tried to change topics.

“Ugh….anyways,” he said. “They didn’t give you a promotion after the whole peace treaty signing?”

She looked at her uniform and shook her crested head. “No….why do you think they would?”

“Because of how important of a role you played, or…..both of us.”

She shook her head quickly. “Fleet Adjunct is hard to achieve. Few become one.” Her sentence followed with a series of clicks.

He sighed. “Shame…. Finally, get the rank of Captain in a month.” He didn’t show any hint of true satisfaction in his voice.

“You’re being promoted. Good.” While her tone was generally somewhat serious, she continued to show a hint of happiness.

“Still surprised and all. All we did was escort a bunch of ambassadors around several months ago.”

“We did much more than that. You convinced the others to let us in your space. Without you, it would have been harder for the alliance to happen.”

“Hmm….perhaps.” He paused and changed the topic again. “Your English is much better than it was a year ago.”

“Thank you.”

“So the question arrives of why both of us have been assigned to this whole….shit storm. Still have the Atra?”

She did a couple of quick nods. “Have they given you a new ship?”

He shook his head. “Had desk jobs since after the peace treaty. Hated it, mostly. Apparently, the UHN wanted to keep me close…..complaints with the crews on the UHN Gabatrix before….well…..before it was destroyed. I’ve been asking for a new ship.”

“It would be their mistake not to have you command a ship of your own. Maybe that is why they want you to be a part of this.”

“Not so sure about that. I know who is in charge of this fleet action. Knowing him, he purposely wanted me to be a part of this. I don’t know if I should kick his ass or tell him ‘thanks.’” He shook his head.

There was a sense of comfort in Ramírez in being alongside Tara’Talar. Even if he had associated with her once ten months ago, it was like seeing an old friend. Even the Aksren woman appeared to have a similar feeling. He felt a little bit closer to her than most others were in the room. The last of the officers had entered the room. It was going to be a matter of time before the admiral was going to show up.

“Are you ready?” he asked her.

“For what?” she replied.

“This whole op….from the amount of personnel coming in, it’s going to be a big one.”

She seemed confused as if it was difficult to answer him. “My ship is ready. I will be one of many. My people don’t usually fight this way, but…..yes. My crew and I are ready to fight.”

“It’s been through a fight before. No doubt you can handle this.”

“Many fights. The Atra has survived three battles. Your former Captain, I can thank the last.”

William…..he was about to think about it when the door slid open. The Admiral stepped in as everyone unfasted their straps and started to stand up.

“Admiral on deck!” yelled one of the officers. Everyone stood in attention with the exception of the Itreans that clasped their hands together. A very slight bow came from their heads. Ramírez noted that this might have been how the Itreans paid respect to higher-ranking officers.

The admiral that entered was similarly dressed like everyone else but wore a red and blue fleet cap on his head to symbolize his place of importance. Ramírez recognized this man immediately, almost rolling his eyes. The nametag of Admiral Rex was displayed on his jumpsuit. He had a pale complexion and had a sizeable burly sideburn that ran down from his short curly brown hair. He looked at the others and waved his hand down.

“At ease,” the admiral said as he stepped toward the wall display. His accent already gave off a hint of Scottish to it.

“Rex….he’s going to command this….shit,” Ramírez quietly said under his breath. There was a mild sense of annoyance as he pretended to be content.

Rex went and tapped a few buttons on his wrist. His augmented hand easily looked like a real arm, as most augmentations were. A digital display screen popped up that he used to access a main menu file. He went and then grabbed the file and waved it towards the main display projectors in the room. They both started to power up for the officers to look at.

“Listen up, everyone,” the officer addressed everyone. “My name is Admiral Rex Colin of the UHN Ark Royal. This will be our final briefing before we initiate Operation Desert Shrike, the Op that will liberate Cipra from Aksren clan hands.”

A few officers in the room gave a subtle clap, but it was very brief. Then, it suddenly dawned on Ramírez what was going to happen with this operation. It was lightly rumored but never truly confirmed. Most of the officers seemed slightly tense about the situation. Rex seemed somewhat partially enthusiastic, but it might have been possible that he was faking it. Finally, the room’s lights began to darken to give a maximum viewpoint of the projected images. The projectors had started to display a holographic three-dimensional image of the UHN symbol and the T’rintar clan flag. The alien symbol consisted of a green background, a triangle, and a slash mark in the very center. A series of ship schematics also began to show up.

“As many of you know,” Rex explained. “Operation Desert Shrike has been a planned assault for over nine months. Our resources have never been on par with the Aksren. They beat us over a year ago. Now….we will take it back! Reclaim it!” His hand was barred up in a fist as he briefly raised it. “With the help of our new allies, a joint task force will be launched directly towards Cipra. There, we will launch a landing invasion where we will retake the capital of New Hong Kong.”

The display switched over to show the faces of individuals that will be in charge of the attack. Rex’s face was the first to appear as another person’s face appeared.

“This joint operation will be handled in a position where the UHN will command their forces and the T’rintar will command their own forces. As we speak, the T’rintar are doing their own briefings. Both of our acquired goals are the same. It is our job to reconquer Cipra. I will be placed in overall command of the entire operation. Captain Peizhi of the UHN battleship Bingham will be the XO of the Op in case me or my ship are incapacitated during the assault.”

Ramírez briefly looked over to the former Chinese-looking officer. He didn’t know this captain, but it distracted him long enough that he didn’t notice that his own portfolio picture appeared on display. The commander’s eyes momentarily widened in surprise before he regained his composure.

“Commander Ramírez will be given the tertiary command role in case Peizhi and I are both knocked out during this fight.” The admiral turned his head and looked at the commander. “Commander, Adjunct Tara’Talar, I will need to talk to you after this briefing to convene further on what needs to be done. Ramírez and Adjunct Tara’Talar, your goal is to also serve as the intermediary between our taskforces. Ramírez, you will be stationed onboard the T’rintar battleship Atra.”

Ramírez practically choked upon hearing everything that was just said. He was doing his best with the sudden shock of what his role was going to be. A few of the officers looked at him as he had no choice but to answer professionally and in a military bearing.

“Aye…..Aye Admiral,” he firmly said. His fingers gripped onto his uniform with a rigid stiffness.

“I understand, Admiral, and I give my word that I will follow it,” Tara’Talar responded in her words. Several more of the room looked upon her. She seemed to be handling it better, but then again, Ramírez already knew that she had way more time to understand this whole plan. This was at the very last minute for him. Needless to say, he was set back with everything as he had to make sense of what was going to happen next.

The display altered the image as it displayed the entire planet of Cipra. The desert world was seen in its full glory. The small green patch of land lined between two large canyon walls with the rest of the world mostly covered in sand. A series of tiny green and gray dots began to fill the far spectrum of the planet. A series of red dots also appeared but were much closer to the world. Tactical schematics of various warships were showing up that pointed out the multiple dots, including both allied and enemy vessels. The admiral pointed at the 3d image.

“Much planning has been established,” Rex explained. “Two months ago, the marines, assault carrier crews, and aircraft pilots went through Exercise Awakening Hawk in preparation for prolonged battles on most planetary surfaces. This was in preparation for Operation Desert Shrike, that is to transpire now. The entire siege of Operation Desert Shrike will be set in two different theaters. There will be the battle that will occur in space and the battle that will occur on the ground. While the COs of the assault carriers will be present for this meeting, they will also be conducting a separate meeting in how they will perform the ground invasion. Because of the critical nature of this operation, we will try to keep this short for those captains. The UHN Ark Royal, Bingham, Teixeire, Henson, Mawson, Posseulo, and Mikkelson will be a part of the main attack fleet that is going to lay siege to the planet. The T’rintar clan has assembled a fleet of 400 warships. Their fleet CO is Fleet Adjunct Yuio’larin.”

He gestured and pointed at a single Yutilian amongst the few. This Yutilian had two rows of long blue and green feathers that ran from her top head. Her uniform also had a single large white stripe that lined down the side of her shoulder to her chest. Her green scales reflected the common color of most Yutilians. Ramírez couldn’t make any further observations about this character as Rex resumed his briefing.

“In this joint operation,” Rex explained as he paced the room. “The T’rintar clan are going to place most of their assets towards pressing the attack against the Aksren clan fleet that is in place. Their goal isn’t necessarily to attack and engage on the ground but to wipe out the Aksren fleet orbiting the planet. Our seven warships will be a part of this fleet formation. Yuio’larin does not command our assets, but I will be listening to her advisement during the ongoing attack. Our objectives of this overall battle plan are as follows. One, we maintain the attack and draw the Aksren clan forces away from Cipra. Two, UHN battleships and the Ark Royal are to maintain defense in T’rintar squadron 29. We will be near the left-most portion of the entire formation in place and protect the Haltov Mark 2 Class Replenishment Vessels that are resupplying half of the entire offensive operation in place. Three, we are to provide combat support and provide assistance to our ground forces as we see fit. Objective three is of a paramount rule to this op. When the UHN marine assault carriers reach the planet, we are to break off and try to provide any fire support that the marine forces will need.”

The display image showed the dots as they moved in the projector layout. The red dots began to move away from the planet as the T’rintar and UHN dots started to surround the Aksren defense fleet that was in place. As the red dots got further away from the world, a large highlighted box appeared. Rex continued his briefing.

“It is expected,” Rex’s eye peaked. “That the Aksren fleet that is in position will begin to move further and further away from Cipra. When this happens, all of our assault carriers and transports that are available will jump in behind the Aksren fleet that is in position.”

The red dots began to slowly twinkle out as the T’rintar clan and UHN assets were taking out the Aksren defenses. Then, a new set of gray and green dots appeared as they headed straight to the planet. Some officers began to look at each other as they wandered about the idea and plan. In one aspect, some didn’t feel that the entire strategy was terrible, but others still felt uncomfortable about it. Ramírez himself had almost nothing to comment about it as he thought about it.

“It is our goal to retake Cipra,” Rex explained. “For this to happen, many things have to occur correctly. Every ship is vital to make it work. UHN assets are spread thin. If it weren’t for the T’rintar, then this very op wouldn’t even occur. We have a clear and present opportunity to take the fight to our enemy. Cipra has been in the possession for the Aksren one year starting today. Before any of you think that your jobs are too hard, look at the UHN marine corp captains that are going to make this assault. They have twice as much work to perform. It’s up to our fleet to protect them. The ground assault on Cipra is going to be the most important factor in the entire operation. If we don’t take the ground and recapture New Hong Kong, then the Aksren clan will continue to launch reinforcements after reinforcements onto Cipra till we can no longer maintain the siege. The entire operation will end in failure resulting in major losses for both of our forces. It’s not my goal to see that happen. The Aksren clan kicked our asses, and it's up to us to kick their ass in return. We’ve been hunted too long, and it’s up to us to become the hunters. We have the final go-ahead from UHN high command and T’rintar command to initiate this attack. Fleet Adjunct Yuio’larin, I’ll let you brief everyone present.”

Ramírez watched as Tara’Talar stepped away from him and toward the Fleet Adjunct that also walked forward to address everyone that was in the room. Tara’Talar stood next to the Fleet Adjunct as she kept her hands and tail tightly together. Her reptilian eyes were partly lowered. Yuio’larin was composed and collected as she moved. Her feathery tail also displayed more of her authoritative power. The officer simply didn’t know enough about this individual but how she acted and behaved. Despite her small statures, like all the Yutilians and Aksren, she had much control and seemed to display it properly.

“My goal…..is your goal,” the fleet adjunct tried to say in English. Her accent consisted of a few clicks and warbles in it as if she was trying to maintain her speech. “The T’rintar don’t launch many….off…..offo….” She stopped and looked at Tara’Talar, said an unknown word, and clicked her mouth to verify it.

“Offense,” Tara’Talar politely corrected her. Ramírez understood enough that she was partially translating for her. He then noted that one of the officers in the room began to snicker at the voice and accent of the Yutilian commander. He knew that this man was unused to hearing such accents before. Regardless, it infuriated Ramírez as it was to him, a complete disregard of respect for another whether she was an alien or human.

“Hey!” Ramírez yelled at him. He walked up as the other officers looked at him. “You show the Fleet Adjunct some respect, dammit!” He gave a mean look at him as the officer felt somewhat dejected before showing a sign of embarrassment. Finally, he looked at the others and issued a light apology. The fleet adjunct gave a brief look at him. The severity in the room seemed to pick up as a result.

“Offense….,” the fleet adjunct continued to address the room. “My people are used to maintaining defense combat. We let the enemy come to us. We are used to letting……the enemy come to us. The Aksren clan took your world. We want to fight them. They are still weak here. They…..fight badly…..” she looked back at Tara’Talar. The Aksren woman gave her additional words before she looked back at the officers. “As result, the Aksren clan have less resources on Cipra. Our people want to fight the enemy and help you, but you must take your planet, yourselves. We…..can only do….much….so much.” She pointed at the display. “We have two reserve fleets ready to attack Cipra with what will be….there. The Aksren clan will have more…..many more. They know that they can win if they keep sending more ships to stop us. If you capture your world, they will…..lose…..want…….”

“Desire, Fleet Adjunct,” Tara’Talar politely added.

“Yes….desire to keep Cipra. The Aksren clan will leave…..their fleet will leave…..and you will have Cipra once again.” She respectfully looked at Ramírez. “I believe that the humans can fight. You are a brave people. Our…..alliance has you to thank and your people. We believe that we can win this. Let this happen.”

Her reptilian eyes scanned every individual in the room. Despite her valiant attempt at speaking English, the room had a small applause to it when she ended her speech. Morale seemed slightly upbeat, but Ramírez was only so swayed. The fleet adjunct stepped back a little bit as she gave a couple of quick nods to Tara’Talar. Finally, the Aksren woman stepped forward to address everyone.

“Hello, all of you,” the anthro oviraptor spoke. “My name is Adjunct Tara’Talar. I escorted your ambassadors to make the alliance between our people.” Her eyes looked at Ramírez with a mild sense of pride before looking at the others. “I want all of you to look at me closely.” She said this as she pointed at her head with her four-digit hand. “My family was born in Aksren clan space before they moved to T’rintar clan space. I choose to fight against my people because they are the enemy. Aksren clan people don’t care about you. They will kill you. They will kill everything. Don’t let the Aksren people scare you. Don’t try to negotiate with them, for they won’t listen to you. They only wish to conquer all. I want to see all of you survive and win.”

Ramírez noted that there was generally a mild acceptance from the officers that a T’rintar Aksren was saying such words. Even he felt a gentle sense of what Tara’Talar was. It reminded him of what he said so long ago on the UHN Gabatrix. He began to really think about it as he briefly looked away.

“Thank you,” Tara’Talar said as she stepped back. Admiral Rex stepped forward as he wasn’t far from the Fleet Adjunct. The lights in the room began to light up as the briefing was starting to reach a close. He resumed his briefing.

“I’m sure that you have questions,” Rex stated. “I would encourage you to ask them.”

“Admiral,” one of the female officers asked. “CO Edith of the UHN Mawson. How long can we maintain this attack?”

“The siege is expected to go as long as we can maintain it. The battleships are expected to maintain a defensive perimeter around the Ark Royal for as long as possible. General quarters will be kept indefinitely till we receive word from the marines on whatever is needed. T’rintar clan squadrons 1-11 will also be on standby to provide whatever fire support is needed for marine forces. If the marines fail to reach the planet or the T’rintar clan fleet withdraws, we will withdraw, although…..I’m not counting on such a thing to occur.”

There were a series of sighs as everyone knew a significant battle was coming. Maintaining such a long-term engagement was something that hadn’t been seen since a year ago, and that was a losing battle. Rex could see the tone that was in place.

“Look,” he clarified. “I believe that we can do this. Unlike the defeat of Cipra, we have a chance to win this.” His fist was balled up and displayed for everyone to see. “This time, we aren’t sitting by and waiting for the Aksren to bleed us to death. This time we come back swinging. The Mawson, Hensen, Bingham, and Teixeire were all in those battles. Some of those crews never left. I don’t know about you, but I feel like punching the Aksren in the nose. It’s even possible that we can save any prisoners that are on the planet.”

While the admiral’s words helped inspire some, Ramírez was not so easily convinced. Especially with the final sentence that he delivered. He remained silent as he waited for Rex to finish up his statement.

“Any other questions?” Rex asked.

“Yes, sir,” a male officer undid his seat straps and stood up. “CO of the UHN Legion, Commander Maninder. I speak on behalf of the other COs of the marine assault force vessels to the battleships and you overall, sir.” He looked at the other officers. “The assault carriers and transports that are heading into Cipra. I can’t emphasize enough of the dangers that we are expected to face. We are expecting 25% casualties before even touching the ground, and that is with almost our entire arsenal of 18 Phalanx Class Assault Carriers, not including everything else. This in addition to the more that will be fighting on the ground. Aksren clan orbital defenses…..ground defenses….they will use everything that they have against us. If we ask for support, then help us. I…..would prefer to see my family in the following days to come as many of us do. I want to see Cipra freed. I believe in our new allies and that they will give us. Make that happen…..for God’s sake.”

“You’ll have our word on that Commander Maninder and all the COs of the marine taskforces,” Rex assured them. “We wish you Godspeed to Cipra. Are there any other questions or comments?”

There weren’t any as everyone remained quiet. Finally, the admiral gave an affirmative nod and looked at the officers.

“Then I will remain here so I can convene with Fleet Adjunct Yuio’larin. Everyone else is dismissed unless you have questions that you wish to bring up with me privately.” He tapped the table hard with his knuckles. The other officers all began to get out of their chairs. The door slid open as the briefing room started to empty out of personnel.

Ramírez was finally able to reminisce a little bit, but he felt that he had a lot to say. Captain Peizhi also walked forward to stand beside the admiral. The former Chinese CO seemed very relaxed and calm with the planning stages, even congratulating Rex on his performance. The fleet adjunct and Tara’Talar noticed Ramírez as he stood by the whole group.

“That’s it then?” Ramírez asked Rex in an almost agitated tone. “Just like that? You make me the third in command of an entire invasion op!?”

Rex gave a condescending smirk. “Yeah, I did. I made you the third in command of one of the most important UHN fleet operations of the entire year.”

Ramírez put his hand to the back of his bald head. His look alone was enough for the admiral to read and observe. He pulled him to the side, away from the others to speak with him privately.

“I’ve only heard rumors about this operation a few times but didn’t know anything about it,” Ramírez explained. “This whole operation……it…..this is a lot.”

“I know it is a lot, my friend,” Rex told him. “It won’t take much for you to spend a few hours so you can get acquainted with everything. Plus, Tara’Talar gave her word that you would be well taken care of on her vessel.”

“It isn’t that…Rex,” he commented as he folded up his arms. “I don’t care of the Itreans, good or bad. I just know that this whole battle….it screams of a disaster in the waiting.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve had enough of a time in evaluating the Aksren and their tactics. This…” he pointed at the display image of the fleet positions. “You expect the Aksren fleet to just leave a perfect-sized hole for the marine landing ships to punch through? Let me guess….you had months of this whole thing in the works, and that is what you have?”

“Ramírez, Ramírez. It will work,” the admiral tried to console him. “The time to strike is now. The Aksren clan may have had a firm hold on Cipra for a year, but the T’rintar clan intelligence reports that the enemy doesn’t have as many defenses placed on the planet as your imagination may be telling you. Commander Maninder’s fears are present, but….just like D-Day on ancient Earth. The true casualties won’t be as bad as what will happen.”

“Are you just going to blatantly tell that to that to the marine assault ship Captains that are going to give their lives on this campaign?”

“No….I don’t plan on it. They know of the dangers that are coming…..everyone does.”

The commander shook his head while he kept his sights on the display image of Cipra. “I’ve had my chance to evaluate Cipra during these long months…..hell….almost an entire year. You expect the Aksren just to fold up and give up like it was nothing. Look, I’m not going to lambast the T’rintar clan. I’m glad we have them on our side, but even I know enough that they aren’t prepared for an all-out invasion on Cipra. They are used to fighting defensively. Waiting for the enemy to arrive is far different than going into somebody else’s backyard and expecting them to roll over, even if the Aksren aren’t the original owners of that world.”

Rex seemed to give a profound smile. “You know why I chose you then? Bloody hell, I choose you because of everything that happened to you after the destruction of the Gabatrix…..after what you did in helping Ambassador Kane and Ifra reach Earth, contacting New Olympia, and showing Admiral Simmons who’s the boss. Many officers don’t have the courage to do that sort of thing.”

“I did it because I had to,” Ramírez scoffed. “I had to do it because the UHN ordered me to carry out the whole damn mission.”

“And look at what it got us.” Rex gave a gesture towards the Itrean women. “New allies…”

Ramírez wasn’t convinced. “I shouldn’t have gotten such praise. Captain William deserves more. He was the one that gave his life to save us all.”

“I know. He’s a hero to the UHN, but you’re a survivor. It’s why you’re my friend and why he considered you to be a good friend as well.”

He shook his head. “William wasn’t the best friend that I would have had. You put too much credit on that part.”

“Somehow, I think that’s different. I offered you a position to help retake Cipra, what has been planned for at least nine months, what the T’rintar and UHN have been getting ready for a while now. I know the situation that the other command staff has put you through. They feel that a nice desk job is all you need…..what will ‘shut you up,’ as one of them had told me. I know better. I know you were one of the stricter officers in the chain of command on Mars during the short time that you were there, but you know what? You got the job done. I also know that in the long run….you can’t be kept there forever. Now ask yourself, what would William want if he heard that you were offered this position…..the opportunity to fight the Aksren clan….to engage in one of the first major offenses against the Itreans since we ever encountered them? Hmmm….?”

Ramírez sighed. “He would tell me to do it.”

“And?”

“That I shouldn’t….fine….,” he relented.

“Good….bloody good show. I know that you can do it. Besides….you might be right. Maybe the Aksren clan are expecting us. Maybe they’re going to give us a good fight. I think that we should be ready for everything.”

The way that the admiral had said it didn’t seem to be taken seriously. It was said in a remark that indicated to Ramírez that the admiral was overly confident that everything was going to work. The only action that seemed to counter that saying was employing him in the role that would put him in the position of leading the entire fleet operation. He could see that while the admiral had chosen him, it was almost as if it was a reflexive one made by others that criticized the high-ranking officer for not having enough contingencies installed in Operation Desert Shrike. Rex was a mixed character of flamboyant decision making, lackluster concepts, lucky achievements, and some successes here and there. Regardless, Ramírez did consider Rex as a friend and only made his arguments on point.

“I still think that this has problems,” Ramírez said. “You’re taking one of our fleet drone carriers into a battle…..a battle where the Aksren can clearly outnumber us. What is that, what? Two hundred….three hundred Aksren warships?”

“Numbers are expected to be about 300 maximum.”

“300…..just 300? The Aksren have like 100,000s of warships….maybe even close to a million depending on if they can spread out their crew complement to operate them. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist two seconds to know that Cipra is the closest base that the Aksren have to strike the UWA in every known sector that we own. Even if the T’rintar clan are defending us, if something crawls up our enemy’s ass and they decide to mount some big offense, then they will devote more resources to defending their newly acquired world.”

“Which is why the more in why we’ll retake it.”

“No….which is why they will defend it to the last ship…..”

Rex seemed unconvinced. It only seemed to give Ramírez more room in his argument.

“I’m just worried about everyone, sir, friend or not,” Ramírez continued. “The Ark Royal is a Clemenceau class Drone Carrier. It’s one of our best support vessels that’s in the UHN right now. I damn well wish that we had one of the new Emerald class Dreadnoughts or Czar Class Battleships, but they still need more time to get them fully ready. Even then, the UHN Clemenceau suffered in the battle against the Aksren over a year ago. We lost the UHN Shinano during the Cipran Siege….it won’t make a difference if the Ark Royal is going in or not. It’s going to be a fat target.”

“The Shinano was an older class carrier. Its days were numbered, as much as it was a tragedy for the captain and crew that operated it. We won’t fail with the T’rintar backing us up. Instead, we will be backing them up.”

“Hmmm…..” Ramírez still seemed unconvinced.

“You worry too much, Ramírez. As I recall, William’s report was rather…. explanatory but brief on your attempt to stop the meeting between us and the T’rintar on the UHN Gabatrix. Something about the fact that you were worried that a disease would be brought aboard, am I right?”

“That threat was warranted,” Ramírez quoted as he folded up his arms. “We had little information on all the Itreans at the time. For all we knew, they had a disease ready for us. I would disobey an order if it meant the lives of the ship crew. Even now, we still have to worry about it. I can only hope that all those marines are given the right immunities in case the Aksren deploy their diseases on us.”

“As I said,” Rex slapped his sides. “You worry too much. Now….if you don’t have any other concerns, I suggest that you talk with the Fleet Adjunct. I’ll need you to serve as an intermediary. Thee…..T’rintar have expressed a little bit of interest in having you a part of this operation….perhaps it’s because of one Itrean in particular.” The admiral’s eyes briefly gestured to Tara’Talar. “Of course, I think, in the end, it’s best to have you a part of it anyway.”

With that, the admiral stepped away from Ramírez while giving a short pat on the shoulder. The commander had to admit that complaining much further wouldn’t accomplish anything. It was best to fulfill his roles adequately whether he genuinely agreed with the idea or not. Instead, he turned and looked at the fleet adjunct and Tara’Talar, that was speaking with other T’rintar adjuncts. Needless to say, he already knew that they would have their hands full. It was best that he spoke with them and saw what sort of things they needed to have done. He could only hope that the upcoming battle would go as smoothly as it was intended…..