A DarkSpace 'Fan Fiction' Short Story
© Copyright David Pitts 2003, reproduction permitted
with credit to the author.

Prologue
-------------------------------

The deck resounded with the unified thundering of boots. The Elite Shock Troopers were storming their way towards the dropship pods.
As they poured into the pods, the cargo bay doors began to open, revealing the orange-tinted haze of the atmosphere below. As soon as each pods' door was sealed, its jets fired, launching the craft out through the magnetically-sealed aperture, and towards the arid desert world below. The UGTO transport sat in geo-synchronous orbit of the gigantic sand-planet, releasing pod after pod of troops.
As each pod descended through the outer atmosphere, flames began to appear on the underside of them, friction caused by the tremendous speed they were cutting through the air was generated into
unbelievable heat, which was in turn absorbed by the re-entry panels on the bottom of each ship.
The troopers sat inside each pod, sweaty in their hyper-dense armour. Once sat with his arms crossed, (as much as he could in the excessive protective shell he was wearing), and the constant buffeting of the air currents hitting the ship relaxed him as he nodded off to sleep.

Desert. Peaks of sand dunes lead off into the horizon. Thin winds blow the peaks of sand from the tops of the dunes, making waves across an ocean of dust. The sun is high, and because of the haze,
the coronas are fuzzy and blurred.
The boy peeked over the dune closest to him. He could see the doogle-rat now. It was scurrying around, trying to find some moisture beneath a dry, lone bush it had found. The boy crawled
slowly over the top of the dune, quietly, carefully so as not to disturb too much sand and warn the rodent of his approach.
The rat suddenly stopped and its ears began to twitch. The boy stopped moving - had the rat noticed his approach? A sudden rumbling disproved that theory. The doogle-rat scurried under the bush, digging and scrabbling into the harder dirt beneath. The boy felt the loose sand underneath him begin to vibrate, he stood up to steady the feeling of nausea that suddenly came over him.
In the sky ahead of him, far off in the distance, two small dots could be made out growing larger by the second. As they approached, the rumbling became louder. The boy shielded his eyes from the sun
as he looked upwards to the strange objects.
As they came closer the boy suddenly became afraid, they were hurtling towards him, flames all around them. Were these comets from the stars? Come to punish his Father's outpost for its poor
harvest? He turned and ran. But not fast enough.
The dropship pods sped threw the lower atmosphere now, the thin desert air aiding their decent, and accelerating the ships further.
The boy looked behind him; one of the 'punishers' seemed to be coming straight for him. He ran faster, as fast as his legs would go. As he scrambled up one of the soft sand dunes, he tumbled into
it, falling onto his front.
As he turned round and spat dust from his mouth, he saw the sun- bright flames upon him.

The pod smashed into the ground, the heat from its entry instantly melting the surrounding sand into liquid glass, and reducing the boy to atoms. As the particles around the craft settled, coolant was
flushed from vents in the sides and around the underside of it, cooling the ship enough to avoid burns if a crew member 'accidentally' touched the hull on evacuation. A long panel on the pod lifted up, and slid to the side to enable the crew egress hatch to blow. As soon as the hatch was partially open, UGTO troopers began pouring forth, weapons at the ready.

Janson sat in his study; the late afternoon sun illuminating the room in lines of deep red through the blinds; watching reports of similar attacks all across the Luyten 726 system. The UGTO were
getting confident in their attacks now, capturing multiple planets simultaneously to divide the system defences. By the next night on Exathra, the system would have fallen to the Imperials.

Chapter One - A Welcome Return
-------------------------------

Three months later - Exathran time.
Automated worker drones buzz around the contoured exterior of the ICC Assault Cruiser 'Vindicator', sparks flash here and there as they pause to spot-las imperfections on the armour. Tiny figures can be
seen floating around the ship, giving it a final going-over before being classed Ready for Duty.
Vice Admiral Derno Janson stood in the turbolift as it sped along, looking out of the viewport at his starship with pride. Upon return from his last mission, the cruiser had required extensive repairs, and
Janson had used this time to refit the ship with the latest technology.
The ships' heavy laser beam cannon had been upgraded with one of the new 'CL-two thousand' range, and the two light beams had been replaced with 'CL-five fifties' which Janson's Chief Engineer, Captain Grogan Fields, had wrangled from a Combat Dreadnaught about to be retired and stripped.
The shield emitters had been removed to make space for extra heavy armour, and it had also been applied to the exterior of the ship. This meant an extra million tonnes had been added to the ships' mass, but Janson felt the armour was necessary until a more efficient deflector shield system could be developed for close-range combat. Especially since his encounter in Delta Pavonis a few months back,
shields were just not strong enough to withstand close-range attacks from K'luth ships, their beam arrays could break through them in mere minutes on the smaller ships.
Janson recalled the Delta Pavonis incident with regret. He pushed the memories to the back of his mind. Painful, unwanted burdens, but useful in the long term. They had provided advanced intelligence on the K'luth's whereabouts and caused an inconvenience to the enemy by having one of their troop training camps discovered, necessitating a relocation and scourge of the system.
The Vice Admiral brought his mind back to the present. He began to mull over the further modifications to his ship. The ion-emission sublight engines had been refitted with the new prototype atomic fusion drives. They used a little more power to accelerate, but they did so faster and smoother than the old ion drives, and additionally provided a higher energy output when fully warmed up and running.

Janson smiled. He could remember when he was back in basic training, when they were shown the old pioneers of the Interstellar Cultural Confederation. Back when they were considered rebels and
pirates, and flew under the banner of the 'FarStars', separatists from the UGTO imperials.
He let slip a small laugh, how things had changed in the past few years. His smile tightened, the UGTO would discover just how much these 'rebels' had changed.

As the turbolift slowed to a stop, the doors opened with a hiss of compressed air. Janson stepped out onto the observation deck of the orbital shipyard. The corridor was a ring of transparent plas-steel.
Only the edges where the panels met broke the illusion of standing in open space. Stepping out into the seeming nothingness was a little disorientating at first, but after a few times you could really
appreciate the feeling of freedom it allowed.
To the left was a beautiful view of the planet Lilly, slowly spinning beneath the shipyard. On the right was a view of the spacecraft currently docked and under repairs or in for refit.
Janson looked out towards deep space. He saw the smooth outline of an ICC Missile Dreadnaught emerge from a brilliant flash, as a wave of tachyon particles expanded from the end of a faster than light tunnel.
The ship was badly damaged, it must have only just made the jump to Lilly. Janson watched the rescue tugs approach the dreadnaught and lock tractor beams onto it. The vast ship slowly started to move towards the shipyards.
As Janson turned to walk down the corridor, two more ships jumped in behind the missile boat. A heavy cruiser and heavy supply ship limped up to follow the crippled dreadnaught into the safety of the orbital platform.

The Vice Admiral placed his hand onto the ident-panel, and a line of red light-emitting diodes to the right of it slowly lit green. As the topmost of them did so, the door in front of him slid open
to reveal the security officer sat at his desk. He was a large man, obviously a gen-tank from Ghadjwero, his large muscular frame was barely concealed beneath his armour.
"State your business." Came the expected greeting.
"Vice Admiral Derno Janson; Officer ID number six-three-two-seven-eight-seven. Commanding officer of GDC M-two-four-five-A class Assault Cruiser designation 'Vindicator'." Janson's exhaustive
reply was demanded by a recent overhaul of protocol within the navy ranks.
"Don't move." The security officer leaned across to his desk, typed in Janson's credentials, and waited for the reply to be displayed - all without taking his eyes off the ship commander.
"All seems in order, proceed Vice Admiral." There was no attempt at courtesy by the man, his department answered only to the Security Council on each governed planet, the navy had no authority over them.
Janson felt the need to lighten the mood, "Why thank you kind sir. You have a good day now!" He nodded to the guard as he passed, and threw a sloppy salute. The guard blinked once, this was the only
indication he'd even noticed Janson as he walked past.

The walk down the docking arm was a long one. At least it felt that way to Janson as he watched the Missile Dread being towed to a vacant bay in the vast station. He marvelled at the accomplishments his fellow man had reached in only the past few decades. When in deep space it was hard to really judge the size of objects due to the lack of references, but when you were up this close to these pinnacles of technology it was hard not to gasp in awe of their size.
The airlock doors at the far end of the docking arm parted with a hiss at Janson's approach. His own, more familiar security officers snapped to attention at his presence. He made his way quickly to the
bridge, there would be time for a deck-by-deck shakedown later. He always liked to walk his ship before taking her back out into service.
He knew this cruiser better than the streets around his apartment back on Exathra, if anything wasn't right - he'd know.

The turbolift sped him up to the bridge, on the topmost deck of the ship. As the door slid open, his tactical officer, Lieutenant Commander Terri Ulians sprang from her chair, "Vice Admiral on the
bridge!"
The rest of the bridge crew jumped from their stations and stood to attention.
"Stand easy people, as you were."
They all sat back down, and continued the pre-flight checks on their systems. Janson walked over to his command-chair, another familiar sight. The tight leather of it freshly buffed, the smell of it
detectable as he came closer. As he sat down, the chair seemed to conform around him, moulding itself to his shape, then becoming firm as it asserted itself into its new form. Janson was glad his chair
hadn't been damaged during the refit - he had won it in a game of poker during a shore-leave visit on Atlantis in the Tau Ceti system.
It was made from very rare mogable-hide. The mogable was a large, elephant-like creature, with very elastic skin, and minor morphic control over its epidermis.
This enabled the animal to camouflage itself very effectively, as if it rested upon a rock, its skin became like the surface of the rock.
Ulians came over to Janson once he seemed comfortable.
"Sir, the ships' repair and refit is almost complete, the crew are aboard and the station personnel have departed. The 'Vindicator' is all yours again, Sir."
"Thank you Terri, as you were." She walked back to her post, and resumed her diagnostics of the ships tactical systems.
Janson tapped a key on the arm of his chair, "Engineering, status?"
His chief engineer, Captain Grogan Fields answered the request with his usual tact and politeness.
"The Tachyon Drive is refuelled and ready to bring on-line, the systems are all operating within normal parameters and these AFE drives are giving me one hell of a head-ache warming up."
"Thank you Engineering." He clicked-off the comm. "Navigation, power on the jump drive. Tactical, power up the. . ." He almost said:
Power up the shields, but recalled at the last second there were none on his ship anymore. Ulians looked up from her console and met him with a smile, "Power up the integrity field and activate ships' gravity, aye Sir."
Janson almost laughed, "Thank you tactical."
The ship was surrounded with an audible hum for several seconds, as the on-board gravity generators spun up and the external hull integrity fields were generated.
As the hum died down, Janson looked to the communications station.
His previous Comms Officer had been killed in the Delta Pavonis incident, a power surge to his station overloading the circuit breakers and blowing the front of his display screen off, burning and mangling his face. The new officer was a man originally from Jocasta, a planet in the Epsilon Caranie Aa star system. A system which had only recently been re-liberated from the K'luth. He was a good man, a Lieutenant Commander who was previously stationed on the 'Carpathian', one of the
most recent designs of cruiser-class ships, and also the only class which could successfully house a Tachyon Interdiction field generator.

Several designs of the Interdictor Generator had been tried out in the field. Unfortunately due to the relatively new technology of the Tachyon Jump Drive, some of the designs had failed miserably.
Janson recalled a particularly bad test, where the gravity-based design had been tested out. It worked on the principle of creating a 'gravity-well' - basically emulating the spatial mass of a small moon. In theory, this would cause the Tachyon Drive to fail a jump due to planetary approach, typically dropping into sub-light approximately two hundred and fifty galactic units from the target.
That however was the problem. Because of the interaction method between the navigational computers and the jump drive, unless the Interdictor was selected as the target itself, the Tachyon Drive
could not register the gravity-well as existing. The ship in question carried on straight at the Interdictor and collided with the ship, resulting in a catastrophic explosion, destroying both ships and causing the loss of all hands aboard.
The newest method created a 'disruption field' approximately nine-hundred to one thousand gu's around the interdiction vessel. This caused any ship entering the field to immediately drop out of
faster-than-light speed, as the jump drive's positively-charged Tachyon particles reacted with the negatively-charged ones created in the field shutting down the drive.

Janson called to the Comms Officer, "Caymans, patch me through to Station Command."
"Aye Sir." His fingers moved over his console.
"Station Command here, ready to leave already Derno?" The woman on the comm was a friend of Janson's.
"Definitely Termel. If I have to attend one more 'motivational' summit I think I'll defect! I hear some of the Uggy fleet leaders are handing out free dental for higher ranks!"
"Very funny. You'd better watch the joking though, I don't think some of my superiors would take too kindly to a sympathiser!"
The bridge crew began to laugh. The comment was a joke, but they all knew too well of the recent stories of a ship full of supposed 'defectors' that had been destroyed in the Epsilon Ind system, apparently en-route to meet with UGTO traitors.
"Roger that Termel. I'll watch my chatter on open channels from now on. We good to go?"
"Yeah, that damaged M-three hundred is docked and the crew are now debarking. The two ships which came in after have been towed around to the depots on Lilly's surface, so the skies are clear at the moment. You are clear to undock and leave the no-weapon zone."
"Roger that Command, we will leave as soon as the AFE's are hot."

Not very long later, the Assault Cruiser 'Vindicator' had undocked from the orbital shipyard and was turning around. As the ship began to point towards open space the sub-light engines began to glow, and the ship started to move forwards.
Light reflected from the surface of the ship as it left the inside of the vast station. The navigation officer, Temula, suddenly announced,
"We are clear of the 'Safe Haven' and have clearance to power-up weapons."
"Thank you navigation. Tactical, you heard the woman."
The laser batteries and torpedo launchers resonated with the sub-sonic hum of energy charging their systems.
Ulians reported, "All weapons charged and ready, Sir."
"Thank you tactical. Temula, take us out. Set a course for the Cygnus Jump Gate and jump when ready."
The ship slowed to a standstill as the navigational computer lined up with the set coordinates for the inter-system gate.
A flash brighter than a sun surrounded the 'Vindicator' for an instant as it broke the light barrier, and darted towards its destination.

Janson sat back into his chair. It felt good to be back.

Chapter Two - Unexpected Results
---------------------------------

The small ship darted left and right, zigzagging it's' way through space. The ion-tracker missile kept on its' course, following the ionised particle trail left from the sub-light engines of the UGTO
fighter.
The pilot glanced at his sensor display, the missile was gaining on him, he broke a hard left - felt the inertial dampeners cushioning the G-forces so as to protect his body from being crushed into his
flight-seat.
The missile arced after the fighter, cutting through the yellowish -orange glow left from the ion drives of it's' target.
As the pilot looked up he saw his intended destination ahead. The Carrier Dreadnaught 'Treguardia' loomed in front of him, its' laser batteries coming to bear. But the pilot had nothing to fear,
this was his base-ship, a second home to him and many of his fellow pilots. Indeed, to most it was their first home.
As the tiny ship sped on, shafts of light lanced out from the mighty dreadnaught, detonating the IT missile before it could get any closer.
"This is STK-four-two-twenty, requesting permission to land."
"Roger that STK-four-two-twenty, you are cleared to enter the hanger. Please use port seven for entry, and next time try not to attract so much attention."
"Thank you Control. I'll bear that in mind."
As the fighter approached port seven, one of the entrances to the Ships' main hanger, an iris opened in front of him, the shimmer of a force-field indicating that the hanger was pressurised.
As the ship passed through the entrance, the carrier began to turn. Heading away from the rebel-liberated planet it was orbiting.
A rebel missile cruiser in the distance could be seen fleeing from the battle-scene, the ship commander satisfied he had covered the escape of the transports who had attempted the re-capture of the planet.

A lone UGTO engineering ship emerges from a Tachyon jump in orbit of the planet. A second later two more ships appear behind it, torpedo cruisers, and assume defensive positions around the vessel.
As the engineer assumes orbit, large bay doors open in its' sides, and hundreds of construction drones begin pouring from the ship.
They head down towards the planets' surface, each tasked with rebuilding the damage caused by the rebels' attack. Structures are on fire, the remains of families' homes lie in ruins and the dark
shadows from MiRV detonations can be seen all over the surface of the world.
Troops lie dead all around, Two hundred thousand Farstar units had been dropped onto the planet, and now almost all lie dead.
Vast piles of corpses can be seen being taken to incinerators, the government not wanting any memories of this event.
UGTO shock troops patrol the streets of the remaining cities, on the look-out for rebel sympathisers. Many of them wanting to find some, just to take out their anger and frustration on a foe that cannot fight back.
The world had been retained by the United Galactic Trade Organisation, had been rescued from the evil rebels and their untrustworthy regimes. The world would remain a part of the great empire of humanity.
But at what cost.

Janson turned to his communications officer, "Caymans, patch me into the fleet-wide comms."
"Roger that, Sir."
"This is Vice Admiral Janson, commanding the Assault Cruiser 'Vindicator'. What's the situation, and where are we needed?"
He waited for the reply. A large round-faced Admiral came on-screen. "'Vindicator', this is the 'Raven'. We're currently in orbit of Azchu and are awaiting some stragglers to come through
from Cygnus. When they arrive, we will be heading into Epsilon Ind to assist with the systems' defence. There is a major K'luth force invading the system. There are also some ships heading back from Luyten."
Janson thought for a moment, "What about the UGTO still present in Luyten?"
The Admiral seemed bored, "The imperialist presence has been deemed minimal. They will not attempt anything stupid. We both know they aren't inclined to assault systems any further than
Luyten, they haven't tried so for quite some time. And now they also have the K'luth to deal with, I think we'll be quite safe from those self-righteous gas-bags for now, 'Vice' Admiral." The officer emphasised the word 'Vice'.
Janson used the same expression in reply, "Thanks for the heads-up, 'Admiral'." He signalled to end the transmission, and thought to himself, "Hmm. With such a diversion in Epsilon the time would be perfect for an UGTO assault of the home systems, but he was right. They very rarely attack any further inwards than Luyten."
The Vice Admiral spoke up, "Tactical, what do the long-range sensor buoys in Luyten report?"
Ulians, his Tacts-Officer, replied: "There are currently seven detected ships within the Luyten system, Sir."
"How many are we expecting back from there?"
"According to the 'Raven', there is one missile cruiser and two heavy troop transports returning from a failed mission."
"Navigation, take us to the Luyten jump-gate. We'll sit and watch their backs when they come through, don't want any surprises sneaking in behind them."
"Yes Sir."
The ship slowed to a halt and turned towards the coordinates laid into the navigational computer. As the Tachyon Drive began to charge, the ship hummed with a sub-sonic tone and then was
thrown forwards into a Tachyon tunnel, faster than the speed of light, leaving a wave of charged particles in it's' wake.

As the missile cruiser flew through an FTL tunnel towards the jump-gate into the Ross 248 system, the heavy transports emerged from Tach-space before it. As the Tachyon particles dissipated, the sensors came on-line on each of the two ships. They immediately registered the Elite Assault Dreadnaught to their port sides.
The massive ship, the most powerful the UGTO had to offer, was feared by all but the most brave, or foolish. Bright, thick, yellow lines were instantly drawn between the dreadnaught and the nearest transport as flux cannons were unleashed into its' shields. As the shields to the side of the ship failed, power was shifted from the other emitters to compensate, but it was not enough. Proton torpedoes detonated against the weakened energy field, and more ripped through the unprotected ship, exploding
inside the hull and tearing the superstructure apart from within.
The transport turned away from the attacker, and shifted all its' available power to shields and propulsion. The second ships' ion engines flared as it sped on towards the jump-gate, attempting to
escape certain destruction. The dreadnaughts' commander was no fool however, he had already begun to move away from the path of the transport, making a line for the gate itself and hoping to
intercept the other fleeing ship. Another wave of flux particles slammed into the smaller craft, blowing apart the internal systems, and rendering the ship inoperable. Small explosions ripped across the rear of the craft, and it sped on. Another volley of torpedoes help speed the ship on it's' way, as they
exploded against the back of it, accelerating the transport further, just before it broke apart into a growing fireball, which quickly faded into the blackness of space.
The second transports' engines were straining now, pushed to their limits, and quickly draining the energy reserves, but the UGTO ship was too close, and began firing on the small, almost defenceless craft. As torpedoes impacted against the transports' shields, the missile cruiser appeared in a flash of light.
Instantly assessing the situation, the cruiser launched all its' missiles at the dread, and powered up its' own sub-light drives, hoping to get between the two ships. As the larger ICC ship closed on the friendly, another flash registered off to the right.
An UGTO Battle Dreadnaught loomed into view, and fired all its' weapons on the cruiser. Unable to return fire, its' beam cannons not yet in range, the cruiser could only divert power to the shields and await the impact. Just as the projectiles approached the ship, a pulse-wave emanated from the cruiser, destroying them before they could come within a dangerous range.
The transport was almost at the gate now, the EAD closing on it from the left, holding fire until a clean shot was available. Just as the transport got within range of the inter-system jump-gate, a spread of EMP mines were detected around the gate.
The electro-magnetic mines spread around the perimeter of the gate exploded as the craft hit one, and detonated them all around it. Crippled, the ship flew into the gate, and was catapulted towards the Ross 248 system.

Janson walked from Sick-Bay towards the turbolift which would take him back up to the bridge. He rubbed his arm where the ships' doctor had given him another dose of anti-biotics. That excursion to Thypho in Kapteyn's Star had been a bad idea. He'd contracted some kind of virus from one of the botanical garden spheres on the surface. He kept getting a recurring rash on his chest that was
really getting irritating.
The ship-wide comm crackled into life. "Janson to the bridge."
He pressed a button located on a panel on the wall. "Affirmative, I'm on my way."

As soon as the lift doors 'whooshed' open, Janson started with: "Report!"
"Sir, the heavy transport 'Jezebelle' has come through the gate, or at least what's left of her."
"What? Put her on-screen." Jason sat into his command chair.
The wreckage of the transport came into view. The frame of the ship was visible, but the entire outer-covering of the hull had been blown away. The ship had literally been torn apart from the inside out. Debris surrounded the ship, as the smaller parts floated away, inertia carrying them farther from the explosion.
Ulians continued, "As soon as it came through the gate, a catastrophic drive explosion destroyed the ship, Sir."
Janson sank further into his seat. "Damn. Have any further ships come through?"
"Negative, Sir."
No sooner had Ulians spoke, than a blip indicated another vessel coming through the gates' massive transfer generators. The missile cruiser, seriously damaged appeared; smoke pluming from its' interior, fires flaring then going out as they were exposed to vacuum, sparks jumping around the nose of the ship.
Janson leapt forward, "The crew, what is their status?"
Ulians looked dejected, "Minimal life signs, Sir. The life-support has failed, and the internal hull has been breached. The crew will be dead within minutes. There's nothing we can do."
The ship commander looked at the viewscreen, the cruiser floating slowly away from the gate, dead in space.
Janson spoke to the Tacts-Officer, "Ulians, record this, I want a high-definition playback for the Fleet Admirals." He spun to his navigation officer, "Temula, plot us a course back to Exathra,
I'm taking this to Central Command."

Chapter Three - The Edge of the Storm
--------------------------------------

The missile cruiser slowly drifts away from the jump gate. Fires visible within the vessel fade and die out as the air inside the ship is sucked out into the vacuum of space. Sparks jump around the hull, indicating electrical shorts all across the crafts' systems.
Looking in closer, twisted metal can be seen, melted plas-steel and reinforced outer-hull armour fused into one indecipherable mass. The image pauses on the screen.
Janson turned to address the people seated behind him. Across from the immense display sat the Central Command of the Interstellar Cultural Confederation. Leaders from all of the leading worlds within the CD36 star system sat nearer the front rows of the vast auditorium, ambassadors from each of the worlds within the Home Systems sat further back. To the front of the congregation were seated some of the most venerated of the Fleet Admirals of the Stellar Navy. Alongside them sat the Grand Admirals with their aides. All were silent, waiting for Janson to speak.
"You see before you the remains of a combat support starship. The M-247M class Missile Cruiser 'Inferno'." He paused.
"This vessel came through the inter-system jump gate between the Luyten 726 and Ross 248 star systems. It was returning from an attempted escort mission. There were two troop transport ships in
the process of recapturing the system who came under attack from an UGTO defence force. The missile cruiser was providing cover fire for those transports to enable escape after the unsuccessful troop drop. The drop was unsuccessful because the UGTO had many more troops on the planet than was first anticipated. It was later discovered from the cruisers' computer core that upon return to the
jump gate, all three ships were ambushed by a force of dreadnaughts.
It has been a long time since the UGTO have been so bold as to strike so close to ICC space. They are becoming more confident in their attacks also, as a recent report from Ross indicates."
The display screen behind him changed from the paused cruiser shot to a tactical display of the known universe. ICC owned space was illustrated by each star having a blue hue to it. The systems to the
right of Epsilon Ind were glowing red, to indicate K'luth ownership. The systems to the bottom of the display, below Ross 248 were lit white, the colour of the UGTO.
Janson continued. "As many of you will realise, the UGTO have just recently made a foothold in the Lalande system, one which has been in contention with the K'luth for many months. If we look closer at Ross 248. . ."
The Ross 248 star blinked for a second and the display seemed to zoom in rapidly towards it. In a moment the screen was filled with a simplistic view of the system. One of the planets was displayed
as UGTO occupied.
"The system came under direct attack earlier this week from an assault force the likes of which we have not seen for a very long time. Immediately after the long-range sensors detected a hostile
incursion, Re was surrounded by a fleet of UGTO ST-211 Heavy-class troop transport ships. These came under fire from planetary defences, but were quickly joined by a strike force of ST-10
Gunboat destroyers, who provided ample point defence for the invading ships. When system defence forces responded to the attack, many were destroyed before arrival at the planet, due to an ST-75
Interdictor cruiser positioned in-system, accompanied by a large force of ST-76 Battle cruisers and several ST-111 Elite Assault Dreadnaughts."
Several gasps were audible in the acoustic hall. Janson ploughed on. "Something else of note is that immediately before the fall of Re, the remaining planetary sensors detected a small group of ST-80
Bomber-class Cruisers accompanied by ST-106 Command Dreadnaughts. It is clear that this is no strike and burn raid, Re would have simply been bombed if that was the case. The UGTO are planning on making a base of operation in the system to allow for further raids as soon as possible. They are attempting an assault of the system."
The ambassadors in the room were visibly shaken now. The naval officers began talking to their aides, and the FAs amongst themselves. The UGTO had not struck so close to the Home Systems
for almost a year now, the hope was that the unspoken 'truce' between the rival human factions would hold true, and they could combine to destroy the alien K'luth.
Janson waited for the room to quieten slightly before going on. "We cannot let this invasion stand. It has been too long since we last demonstrated our power to the imperialists. They still believe us rebels and wayward traitors." He raised his voice, "They have waited, ignorant of us for too long. The attack by the K'luth in Epsilon Ind was the catalyst for them. They have seen this as the sign to finally rid the thorn from their side!"
He watched the reactions around the room. The ambassadors were mumbling to each other, clearly not wanting to advocate any violent actions, the look in the Admirals' eyes were the ones he was looking for. Fire was stirring there.
"We have sat too long in our complacency. The unspoken truce with the UGTO could not last, of this we were ALL clear! They have declared their intentions, now we must show ours!"
Some of the naval officers were on their feet now, some of them cheering, others applauding the young Vice Admirals' tenacity.
He lowered his tone before he continued. "The main bulk of our fleets are still in Epsilon Ind, holding the K'luth at bay."
He took a breath. "I call for a full-scale attack on the invading UGTO force. All available ships should be recalled to CD36, and all combat-ready vessels equipped. Ambassadors, Admirals. I leave it
in your hands." The Vice Admiral saluted the officers present before turning sharply and marching quickly from the room.
All Hell broke loose behind him.

Janson tapped his glass on the counter, indicating to the barman he wanted another whisky. The vendor poured him another double then slid it down the bar towards him. Janson caught the glass in one hand and downed the double. His hands were shaking. He'd never been granted an audience before the Central Command before. The way he'd laid down the law, he didn't expect to get another anytime soon. Another navy officer came into the bar, the doors' opening causing fresh air to waft in from outside, and make shafts of daylight cut through the thick smoke. The officer walked over to
Janson, and sat beside him at the counter.
"Naixian ale, barman." The barkeep nodded and reached for a large glass.
"Heard the latest, Janson?"
He lifted hid head slightly, "Nope."
"The Navy's been authorised for a full-scale attack. Everything we've got is gonna be thrown at those bastards. I don't know how you managed it, some of those station-hugging Fleet Admirals must
still have some balls after all, but it looks like we're going to show those Uggies just how much us 'rebels' have moved up in the ranks!"
The jug of ale thudded onto the counter in front of him, some of it slopping out over the rim. The officer looked up to the server, the large, hairy barman looked displeased.
"Fantastic. You guys go get yourselves killed why don't ya? Wars are very bad for business, I'll have you know."
Janson smiled, then got up from his stool and walked towards the exit. He looked back, and said over his shoulder, "They aren't too much fun for us either. . ."

Around the same time, in the Sol system. An UGTO Fleet Admiral, in full dress uniform, stands looking out of an observation port on a command deck. Technicians and other officers are busy all around him, doing final checks and double-checks. The FA looks out of the port, glances at each ship as they pull into formation.
As the view follows the Admiral's gaze through the transparent plas-steel, an interceptor fighter buzzes past, revealing the size of the vessel he's in.
The full picture of the UGTO fleet comes into view now, Scouts and Frigates; Destroyers and Cruisers. The massive Dreadnaughts are dwarfed only by the enormous Support Station the Fleet Admiral is stood on the command deck of. He smiles to himself. "Finally," he thinks. "The self-proclaimed 'free' terrans will pay for their insolence. They will pay for the long years of conflict they have caused with their separatist attitude. They will pay. With blood."

Chapter Four - A Surprise from Afar
------------------------------------

Barnard's Star system. Two days after the ICC Central Commands' decision to assemble the remaining Stellar Navy for the defence of Ross 248, currently under attack from an UGTO fleet.

The small outline of a scout ship streaked past, the system stars' light reflecting from its' smooth panels. As it approached the K'luth ship the stealth scout slowed to a crawl. Although the energy
signature of the craft was minimal, and its' size alone was tiny in comparison to the mighty Mandible-class ship before it, the Captain was still cautious.
The Mandible seemed inert. There was no activity around the exterior of the ship, even though it was severely damaged, and more importantly: the ship was not cloaked. The scout ships' commander had seen K'luth ships decloak in the heat of battle to conserve energy, but this was out in deep space. It seemed. . . Pointless for one thing. A trap was the other possibility niggling at the back of his mind.
The scout stopped within one hundred galactic units of the dread, and fired a high-powered locator beacon at the enemy craft. The small transmitter sped towards the ship, the end of it blossoming out into an ultra-dense corrosive-tipped point. The beacon slammed home, instantly piercing the outer carapace-like shell the K'luth used for hull armour.
As the beacon became lodged, the corrosive tip ate into the hull plating, and once firmly in place, latches erupted perpendicular to the tip; (these contained powerful magnets, but since the discovery of the organic nature of K'luth spacecraft, other latching methods had been devised.) The latches' covering quickly became super-heated, and began to melt the carapace beneath them. As soon as the beacon detected the latches sinking into the pliable carapace, the heating stopped.
The cold vacuum of space almost instantly froze the armour around the securing latches, creating a very secure attachment to the enemy ship.
The scout began receiving the return signal from the beacon. At least if the scout was destroyed, the Mandible would still be detectable within the system to friendlies. The small recon ship turned away from the dreadnaught and jumped to a safe distance from it. Boarding craft and combat support ships would be here soon enough.

Janson sat back on the bridge of his Assault Cruiser, the 'Vindicator'. The ship was in orbit of Exathra, in the CD36 star system - the Home of the ICC. Joining the cruiser in low orbit of the planet were a medley of other craft. Other cruisers were nearby, different loadouts to the 'Vindicator's Assault class though. Some were Missile Cruisers, some Heavy Cruisers, refitted with heavy armour to assist in close-range firefights. Even some of the Interdictor class cruisers were present, accompanied by a few of the less popular Fighter Carrier Cruisers. Destroyers and Frigates buzzed all around the larger craft, Minelayers and Bombers; Sensor ships, and Assault craft. Further out, in high orbit of the Capital planet were the support ships. Heavy resupply craft, and Transports were joined by Engineering craft, and resource Extractors; (the latter of which some were refitted with ECM emitters. Recent testing proved modified Extractors to be excellent additions to planet capping tactics.)
It was the ships farthest out which interested Janson, though.
The Dreadnaughts. The largest spaceships built by man. Only stations could make these mighty vessels seem insignificant. The vast silhouettes cast shadows over the planet, some of them visible from the surface with the naked eye. The massive craft sat in high orbit, supply drones dancing over them, making final preparations before leaving for duty. The curved, almost aquiline shapes of the Missile Dreadnaughts and Command Carriers were a stark contrast to the more angular, vicious seeming Combat and Bomber dreads. Janson had his eye on some of the ships in particular, though. They looked almost identical to the Bomber and Combat dreads, but they were the most powerful ships at the ICCs disposal.
The Assault Dreadnaughts. At close to mid-ranges, these ships were almost unmatched for continuous firepower. The UGTOs Elite Assault Dreadnaughts were formidable, and the K'luths Ganglia class Mantis dreadnaught, as recently discovered, were almost unbeatable at close range. The array of heavy beam weapons mounted on the front of the craft could decimate fleets in minutes, if given the chance. (More intelligent ship commanders had quickly learned to stay out of the
frontal firing arc of K'luth dreadnaughts. Unfortunately, due to the cloaking device all of their ships carry, until they have fired it's usually quite difficult to determine their facing direction.)
The ICC Assault Dreadnaught though, was in a class of its own. The mixture between medium and close range weapons, coupled with the array of beam weapon mounts led to a well-rounded combat ship that could sustain fire on enemy craft for prolonged periods. In groups, this type of ship was almost unstoppable. On its' own however, the ship could be quite quickly disabled by several smaller craft.
Destroyers were the bane of the ICC dreadnaughts. Cruisers could be given a pounding, but destroyers were simply to fast for a dread to deal with successfully. The dreadnaught was truly a Fleet weapon. Without support, the ship was a prime target.
The fleet began breaking orbit, the frigates and scouts heading out to the front of the group. The combat cruisers followed next, heading out behind the smaller ships. Once they were clear, the
dreadnaughts and support craft moved away from Exathra, flanked by the remaining destroyers and support cruisers, and prepared to jump to the Cygnus transfer gate. As each ship aligned for the short tachyon jump, 'Ready' affirmations came across the fleet-wide comm.
In an instant, almost a hundred tachyon waves rippled through the blackness of space, and they were gone, leaving nothing but streaks of blue flame through the void.

The boarding hatch smashed into the side of the K'luth dreadnaught. Cutting lasers immediately slicing through the thick carapace of the outer hull. The intense power of those lasers enabled only one use before the emitters and focus lenses were completely shot. This usually meant that boarding parties were one-way missions. Specially bred Suicide Squads were normally loaded onto the boarding skiffs,
intensely trained for one purpose: To cause as much damage to hostile spacecraft as possible before detection and elimination. Not on this particular excursion though. This time the ramship was packed with Elite Troops. The best of the best when it came to infantry combat.
The lasers stopped cutting, and a loud blast followed by a resounding thud indicated that the hull on the dreadnaught had been breached by the directional fusion pack launchers at the so-called 'mouth' of the skiff. The large door at one end of the troop-bay slid open, revealing the interior of the K'luth vessel. The troopers immediately began to pour out of the boarding craft, and into the enemy bio-ship.

As the fleet of ships hurtled through the Cygnus system, Janson headed down towards the ships' infirmary. He was due for another dose of the ointment that was keeping his viral rash at bay. He could do without something like that distracting him in the middle of a firefight. He stepped into the turbolift as the doors parted for him, and pressed the appropriate button for his required deck. The doors closed smoothly again, and the lift began to descend.
Janson thought to himself, "Things had changed so much in the past few years."
Ever since the appearance of the K'luth, the two warring human factions had toned down their attacks tremendously. It was many peoples' hope; (mainly the politicians, polls had discovered); that the
UGTO and ICC could put aside their differences, and unite once again for the common good of humanity. Indeed, many temporary alliances had been formed - most during intense battles in contested systems - which had succeeded in driving the aliens back. But these never lasted.
Janson had seen first-hand what one trigger-happy Captain could do to wreck a cease-fire. Each common alliance which had been made had been broken just as quickly. Their ideals were just too different to set aside. Years of training and indoctrination aimed at developing a healthy hatred of the opposing faction proved too strong to simply ignore for prolonged periods of time. No, the UGTO would never simply allow the Farstars to come back into the fold. They were too elitist to just let rebels and traitors come home. Also, the ICC were to idealistic to accept the rules and constraints of the imperialists, many had been born and lived free, and they weren't about to give that up.
Janson knew all to well, just as the others who had seen serious action, the United Galactic Trade Organisation would never let them come home; just as the Interstellar Cultural Confederation would never lay down arms and be dominated as they once were.

The point-man signalled back to the troopers behind him that the corridor was clear up ahead, then kept an eye out for anything as they moved up ahead of him. They were all still wary, due to the lack of resistance so far. They had not encountered one live K'luth all the way up to the bridge. The bio-ship seemed dead itself, and the crew had either all abandoned ship, or been vented from inside along with most of the internal flesh covering the walls. Two troops each took positions beside the door(/mouth/orifice/hatch?) to, what was according to reports, the nerve-centre of the ship; basically the bridge. One more troop stood opposite the door, while a fourth withdrew a nerve-impulse generator from a pouch in his armour, and a fifth readied a stun-grenade. The commander spoke into his mouthpiece, "Breach, bang and clear!"
The troop with the nerve-gen slapped it onto the side of the door and, gripping a special dampening clasp, depressed a large button on it. The muscles surrounding it immediately convulsed and caused the sphincter to retract the fleshy hatch enough for the trooper with the flash-bang to lob it into the bridge area. As the grenade detonated, each troopers' visor dimmed to almost black to compensate for the blast, and each armour-suits' aural signal processor cut out the intense white-noise generated from the sound wave.
As the flash dimmed, the troopers burst forth onto the nerve-centre of the ship, las-rifles flashing every which way, searching targets. In the centre of the room, a lone man lay in a crumpled ball,
unconscious from the grenade, a K'luth hand-held psi-weapon lying at his side. He was surrounded by dead K'luth warriors.

Chapter Five - The Hammer Falls
--------------------------------

Immediately after the fleet emerged from the inter-system gate from the Cygnus to Ross 248 star systems, the comms system came alive with confirmations of successful arrival, and status reports. As the chatter died down, the Assault Dreadnaught 'Leviathan'; commanded by the Fleet Admiral James Cortega, Head of the ICC Stellar Fleet charged with the defence of Ross 248; transmitted a status request to the ICC colonies in the system. The last report they had received from Ross 248 was before the fleet had jumped into Cygnus.
The UGTO had begun tentative assaults on the other planets. Re had already fallen, and must now be the staging post for the enemy. Gofbag and Quinin were now under mild and erratic bombardment; Azchu obviously their final aim. The ice planet was an easy choice for ship repairs and would enable the imperials to refit their ships with the vast resources it would provide. After Gofbag and Quinin, only Hadabba and Anklo would slow their progress, the two planetoids being heavily fortified with defences and shield generators.
If Azchu fell, the rest of the system would be taken easily, and then Cygnus would be just a short jump away, which would give access to CD36.
Janson studied the reports now as they came streaming in. As they scrolled across his display, he couldn't help but feel a little wary. Unless the rest of the UGTO fleets were engaged with the K'luth, (which no reports had indicated), there was indeed a mighty array of ships present, but nothing like what was available to them. He had expected more reinforcements for the imperials by now.
All accounts held to the appearance of several more support ships, but no further combat craft had arrived through the Luyten gate. He shifted uneasily in his command chair. Something wasn't right.

The large guard once again prodded the man in the chair with the butt-end of his las-rifle. He opened is eyes to the bright lights above his head. The thin, almost skeletal man sat across from him over the surgical-looking desk smiled with thin, bloodless lips.
"So let's just go over this one last time." The skeleton man tilted a folder on the desk towards him and began to read.
"Three days ago, you were found in the Barnard's Star system aboard a derelict enemy bio-ship. You have no recollection of how you got there, or what you were doing there. Is that correct?" He looked
over the folder at the tired, slightly ill-looking man secured to the chair. The man nodded.
"Upon cursory inspection, you were found to have been injured from K'luth psi-weapon burns. You were also found with one of these weapons beside you. Can you explain to me how you actually used one of these bio-weapons? Our best engineers have been unable to operate one of the creatures successfully. As far as we have been able to ascertain, they function at a sub-conscious level with the K'luth they were mentally bonded to at birth. So, the question remains: 'How did you use this device?'" The skeletal interviewer slammed the folder down onto the desk. The ill man did not even flinch.
"I do not know, Doctor. I have told you this. I do not remember how I got onto the alien vessel. Neither do I know what I was doing there. Please Doctor, I do not even know my name, attempting to recall where I was a few days ago, and what I was doing is not at the top of my list, I want to know who I am!" He pulled against the straps binding him to the steel chair, his muscles bulging with the strain.
The guard took half a step forward, lowered his rifle from his shoulder. The doctor held up a hand, shook his head at the eager guard.
"Very well. We will continue this later, after you have rested." The doctor stood up and walked to the door, leaving a wide berth around the strapped man, and held his palm against the reader-panel on the wall.
Once the doctor had gone, the guard removed the man's straps and also left. The now unrestrained man rolled from the chair onto the floor, and the security door slammed home behind the guard, several locks were heard sliding into place inside it.
DeathScythe stood up straight, the tight muscles popping in his back, and shoulders as he rolled them to relieve the tension. He clenched his fists, the thick sinew of his forearms crackling with the power
of genetically-enhanced K'luth technology. Soon they would begin to believe him. Once he had gained their trust, he could begin his plan. The K'luth warriors he had killed on board his Mandible
Dreadnaught were unfortunate, but necessary. His ship had been detected by a passing ICC sensor frigate on a routine mapping mission, in the BD43 star system. Unfortunately (for the frigate) an over-
zealous weapons operator drone had opened fire on the enemy, further confirming the K'luths' presence, and causing DeathScythe to 'discipline' the drone. The resulting battle between his Mandible
and the systems' defence ships had meant his retreat into the Barnard's star system, the closest jumpgate available. DeathScythe had considered the act of the drone a direct violation of his authority and proceeded to tear the drones' upper limbs from their sockets. Regrettably, the drone was one of many from a particular brood on his ship and took their brothers' death quite badly. The damage to the Mantis-class dreadnaught and the internal fighting eventually caused an anti-matter explosion within the main propulsion systems. (This was actually caused by the Manipulator drone, the equivalent of a human Chief Engineer, throwing one of the more mentally-undeveloped brothers of the weapons operator into the bionic housing for one of the anti-matter sublight drives. His thick head caused a crack in the housing, which with the drives already damaged from the battle in BD43, caused the drive to go critical.)
The following explosion tore a hole through the propulsion deck, and the sudden decompression evacuated the crew more quickly than they would have liked. If he had not sealed himself into the Nexus; (the K'luth version of a bridge, the Nexus housed the main neural centre of their bio-ships, or the crafts' brain basically); with the remainder of the rebelling warrior drones, he would surely have been overrun and killed.
He looked around his 'cell'. Surrounded by metals and plastics, he felt disgusted to be trapped within this mechanical box. He remembered what it was like before he had become 'enlightened'. Before the K'luth had successfully 'shaped' him into what he had become.
The doctor looked through the one-way plas-steel at the strange man, watched him stand in the centre of the room, seemingly deep in thought. He looked down to the report sheet in his hands. The mental evaluation had been conclusive, the rescued man was in perfect mental health, other than his amnesia which was most likely brought on from: 'the trauma of his treatment by the aliens' according to the analyst. His medical and physical evaluations were much more interesting however. His muscles
were several times more dense than a man of his size should have been, and some kind of growths were present in his skull - attached to his brain by nerve couplings and neuron receptors which should not even exist in a human body. They were not cancerous, or even harmful as far as they could ascertain, they were made from hyper-dense brain matter.
The doctor looked up again, straight into the face of the stranger. He jumped back, suddenly afraid. But then the doctor calmed; the plas was one-way, he could not be seen. He settled back down into his seat, shuffled it away from the view-port a little, and began to re-read the report.

Janson looked over the last transmission from Epsilon Ind. The K'luth had called reinforcements, it seemed. The main force had now been joined by a group of Ganglia dreadnaughts, and the planetary
assaults had been aided by a second Hive, the aliens' equivalent of a support station, only much more deadly.
The ICC forces were calling for more help, the K'luth were beginning to push them back across the system, and losses were high. The Fleet Admiral, Cortega, had ordered some of the supply ships and cruisers to head in to the system to help.
That was over twelve hours ago now. The fleet had been separated into three main groups. The main force was stationed around Azchu and Anklo, this comprised of the main combat ships: mainly close and medium-range ships were stationed there, as well as most of the Command ships. The second battle group was in orbit of Ebraham and Hathache: these were the long-range missile and fighter craft along with some combat destroyers, frigates and a few cruisers. The third group were stationed around the Luyten jumpgate. These were the close-range craft: Combat Dreadnaughts, and Assault Cruisers, Assault Frigates and Combat Destroyers. Minelayer ships laced the area with Thermo-Nuclear
mines - ready to detonate them when the UGTO fleet came through.
Janson was in this battle-group, sat in his personal quarters on the 'Vindicator'. He felt a little more reassured about the presence of the Interdictor Cruiser in his group, at least the enemy would not be able to run further into the system when they came through the gate, the interdiction field-generator would prevent tachyon jumps for almost one thousand gu's around itself. Janson was sat smack-bang right in the midst of the second largest fleet the ICC had available. He should have felt more secure. But he did not, something was still not right. Suddenly, the lights in the room dimmed and changed hue to a deep red. Klaxons sounded on all decks, the ship was on alert.

As the lift doors opened, Janson walked quickly over to his chair, and called: "Report!"
His tactical officer, Ulians answered. "Sir, the forward scout ships have returned from Luyten, a large fleet is approaching the gate."
Janson tapped a key on his chair-arm, "All stations, red alert. Prepare for battle."
Ulians leaned forward, her knuckles tense over the edge of her console.
"Sir! The Sensor Frigates have detected a lone UGTO anti-sensor scout attempting reconnaissance. It must have come through the gate a while ago, Sir it's around the rear of the fleet."
Janson sat up, pressed his back into the firmness of his command seat. "Bring us about, and line us up just ahead of the gate. The others can take care of that spy."
Caymans, the communications officer butted in just then, "Sir! A long-range message has been intercepted from the scout, the UGTO fleet are aware of our positions."
It was then that the heavens were filled with a blinding white light, as the front row of mines were detonated from an impact with ships emerging from the jumpgate. Several of the smaller UGTO ships that came through were destroyed instantly, their destruction damaging the larger cruisers as they appeared from Luyten. Once the smaller ships were clear of the gate, the larger dreadnaughts began coming through, first in ones then in greater numbers.
Janson was about to announce the attack, when Ulians interjected with: "Sir! Report from the 'Indomitable', a Carrier class dreadnaught has been caught in her interdiction field - at the extreme edge of it!"
Janson instantly understood the situation, "Communications, patch me into the Fleet comms! Cortega! This is Janson, we've caught a dread at the edge of the 'dictor field - the gate's a diversion, they're long-jumping from Luyten!"
Cortega came back straight away, "Roger that, Janson. This was not an unexpected eventuality. Remain at the gate, units will be despatched from group two to interce. . ." The Fleet Admiral broke off.
"Cortega?" Janson waited impatiently for the commanding officer to come back.
"Oh dear God. . ." Cortega trailed off again.
"Goddammit James! What's wrong?" Janson was almost shouting into the comm now.
"Janson, switch your comms to the Command Channel." His voice told the Vice Admiral the 'something' he had been waiting for had arrived.
He nodded at Caymans to switch over to the secure channel. Another FA Janson recognised came over the speakers, the picture was full of snow and interference. The audio was full of static; jamming signals attempting to cut off the powerful military transmitters.
"We couldn't hold them back. . . They came from nowhere. . . We weren't ready, we weren. . ." The signal cut off with a pop.
Cortega came on again, "Janson, that was from ICC Central Command on Exathra. The Uggies must have begun a long-jump from Luyten when our fleet set off. Exathra has fallen."

To be Continued. . .