The prime commander walked to his personal ship, not sure he wanted to board the vessel and contemplating staying aboard the station to avoid the shame of the humiliating defeat he was experiencing. Duty did not allow such selfish behavior, though, and the Chzek left the station musing what his next assignment would be.
For hours waves of the human’s missiles launched their payloads at extreme range. After the first three waves, the planetary defenses were utterly destroyed and no anti-missile fire remained to destroy the nuclear weapons targeting the planet’s upper atmosphere. High altitude EMP bursts detonated above the planetside facing the attack; over time adding areas previously obscured as the planet rotated on its axis. Kinetic darts with nothing left to target continued on their current path, often in line with the planet where they penetrated the atmosphere and created multi-megaton non-nuclear explosions upon impact with the ground or oceans.
The surface of the moon, similar to Earth’s moon, was tidal locked. The same side of the Chzek-kin moon faced the planet at all times and the inhabitants were intimately familiar with the craters and vast plains of the lunar maria, or volcanic flows covering the surface. Their equivalent of the Man in the Moon was obliterated by billions of tons of moon dirt and rock thrown into space by the impacts of the depleted uranium slugs.
The surface was churned like a farmer’s fields from over thirty thousand multi-megaton impacts spread across its surface. The newly formed craters pocked the surface of the moon, creating a new identity for the people of the planet to get to know. The annihilation of the Chzek-kin’s moon face would serve as a lasting warning to the inhabitants going to war with Humans could only end with their own destruction.
The Heavy Cruiser, UEAF Hamilton, disengaged its Epson drive as did the other ships in the human task force. The ships were still traveling at three tenths the speed of light even while coasting. Commodore Galorio and Captain Geto were in direct communication from the moment the ships re-entered normal space.
“Congratulations, Commodore,” said the Rool, sounding impressed. “Operation Stone Age appears to be a success.” The results of the attack were clear as the ships picked up the feed from several drones placed to trail the attack. The images of a massive debris field orbiting the planet and periodic high altitude nuclear detonations were now flowing in real time as they destroyed the Chzek-kin’s infrastructure.
The commodore was extensively trained in the effects of a nuclear EMP attack and what it could do to a technologically advanced race. She understood the potential for massive starvation and hardship for the planet’s inhabitants. Still, the alternative to having their civilization set back technologically was nuclear winter and extermination. She was satisfied she made the right decision in the method of attack on the enemy homeworld.
Standing on her virtual bridge, the commodore verified the incoming data from the drone was recorded. She would need a record of the attack to prove they had not committed xenocide. The Chzek already made one false accusation against humans and it was only the documented records of the Cousteau that provided proof of their innocence.
Five minutes passed in which the task force traveled over sixteen million miles closer to the planet. It was possible they still had operational defensive systems and ships in the area, so the commodore ordered all ships to go to maximum acceleration and engage their Epson drives for a quick exit from the system; once again traveling at twenty-five times the speed of light. Her fleet had not experienced a single casualty and she wanted to keep it that way.
Just prior to engaging its own advanced version of an Epson drive, Captain Geto deployed a drone. Upon deployment, the drone began maximum deceleration and broadcasting a message the system inhabitants and their overlords could clearly understand; the Chzek-kin must surrender according to custom or be annihilated.
Chapter 34: XSS Nautilus, Three Light Days from the Chzek-kin Home System
Twelve days after the battle in the Chzek-kin Home System, the crew of the Nautilus continued to receive the data feed recordings of the events in the system during and after the attack from its drone monitoring the planet. The results of the lopsided victory stunned the captain and crew. Who could have ever thought such a victory was possible?
Captain Mary Kree decided to remain on station to see the aftermath of the battle and Chzek-kin efforts to recover. The Chzek-kin communications, what there were, were mostly military transmissions: encrypted and unreadable. However, there were still a number of transmissions by civilian ships conducting rescue operations that were providing information on Chzek-kin attempts to conduct rescue operations and recover and restore their infrastructure.
A state of emergency had initially been declared, but it was replaced with martial law within a day as the immensity of the damage to their homeworld became apparent.
The focus for the inhabitants was in reestablishing water distribution and purification and food transportation. What military and limited civilian transportation they were able to put back in operation were loaded with foodstuffs and emergency water supplies and sent into the cities while the people in the cities flowed out into the countryside; hundreds of millions of inhabitants were walking out as inadequate reserves of food and water were quickly consumed. Vehicles returned from the cities loaded people being transported to smaller communities closer to food supplies and water. The skies all around the world darkened from dust in the atmosphere caused by hundreds of kinetic strikes.
After a month, starvation was becoming common for the people who remained in the cities. The government and civilian population were working together; selflessly giving everything of themselves for others. There was no longer an economy beyond individual bartering for salvaged goods. The inhabitants slowly began to put in place a rudimentary transportation system for food stores. Military assets were seized and re-tasked by local governments as in most cases theirs was the only operational equipment available. Farm equipment was placed back into service as a priority to restore crop production as the cooling weather and reduced sunlight impacted yields. Water purification plants were coming back online and supplying enough fresh water that tight rationing was keeping the people in the towns and countryside alive.
All other manufacturing of goods and services were at a complete standstill. The world economy became a survival economy operating on a thread.
Chzek ships began entering the system and taking up station around the planet. None of the ships appeared to be made for cargo or transportation and the crew of the Nautilus was at a loss as to their purpose.
Chzek-kin space forces were on emergency rations in all systems. No food or supplies were coming from the planet to maintain the ships, stations, colonists, or military personnel.
At the end of the month of observing the aftermath of the attack, forty-two days later, Captain Kree had seen enough. She ordered her two remaining observation drones monitoring the system to self-destruct and set a course for the Rheas System that bypassed all other solar systems. They would be in deep space the entire trip to avoid contact with the enemy. The last images received from the drone were of what appeared to be a buildup of Chzek-kin ships that took up position on the backside of the same moon that was bombarded during the battle where they grounded their ships. It was hard to tell what they were doing, but the Nautilus had spent enough time here. It was time to go home.
As the Nautilus made its way to the Rheas System, Captain Kree slowed their approach and sent a message to the Rheas defense forces announcing their arrival while still several light days outside of the system. It would be unfortunate to be destroyed by a friendly missile after such a long mission. The crew of the exploration ship was anxious to learn the status of the war after the attack on the Chzek-kin Homeworld. And after a two-year mission, what was the status of our forces? Had we taken heavy losses from Chzek-kin attacks? Had they found and attacked Earth? The captain and crew of the Nautilus had a lot of questions after being away for so long.
“Captain, we’v
e received an acknowledgment from SysComm. Admiral Tomkin sends his regards and requests we dock with MBS Yukon in orbit around Duroshat,” reported communications.
“Very well,” replied Captain Kree, “Navigation, set course for the Rheas moon, Duroshat.” A personal ping announced the arrival of a message. Communications sent her a private message along with the report. Opening the message from Admiral Tomkin, the captain read it over before opening a communications channel with the crew.
“All hands, this is the captain. Stand by for a message from the admiral,” she began, “ ‘To XSS Nautilus’ captain and crew. Your two-year deployment deep into enemy space is the longest deployment of any ship in human history. You scouted over one hundred star systems and identified multiple Chzek-kin controlled systems essential to the prosecution of the war and taking the war to the enemy. You further discovered and reported in detail the location of the enemy’s home star system that resulted in a decisive victory over the Chzek-kin. XSS Nautilus and her crew have earned the eternal respect and gratitude of all humanity. The war is over. The Chzek-kin have surrendered. Welcome home.’”
Tears began to well up in the captain’s eyes, something that had never before happened to her in the virtual world. It was a stark contrast to the shouts of joy coming from the crew. The normally quiet crew on bridge watch was jumping around and hugging one another. Their emotional states were full of colors the captain had never seen before mixed with exotic blues and greens and even streaks of violet. It took the captain a moment to realize joy was not an emotion she recalled having seen before in the VR environment; not even when they discovered the Rheas.
Laughing, the captain minimized the emotional states of the crew and let them celebrate.
Epilogue: Vrene Battlecruiser, Magma, Unknown Location
Rool Ambassador Dek exited his shuttle into the landing bay of the Vrene Battlecruiser, Magma. Having seen the massive interiors of Vrene capital ships hundreds of times, the Rool was still impressed whenever he saw the engineering marvels that were Vrene combat ships; impractical as they may be. The consensus among the Rool was the Vrene built massive ships to impress the elder races that dominated control of the Seventh Consortium.
The Vrene’s own protector race, the Doorm, were also known to build massive ships. They must have learned the construction methods from building the ships they were required to manufacture for the Doorm as tribute early in their history. Ship hulls were the most common tribute for emerging species to their protectors.
Waiting for the ambassador was an android. A technological marvel of Vrene engineering; the android looked like an average Vrene. The light frame and physique indicated this was a non-combat model programmed for administrative duties.
Ambassador Dek gave no indication of how offended he was at the sight of his employer’s attempt at creating intelligent life. Sadly, many of the Rool’s clients used androids to one degree or another. Only two races had truly created intelligent life: the creators of the Rool, and their sworn enemies, the Parvo. It was not a coincidence the Parvo were the protectorate of the race served by the Chzek. Any more than it was a coincidence the Doorm were the protectorate of the creators of the Rool. Just as it was not a coincidence the humans were in conflict with the Chzek-kin.
Proxy wars. There comes a time when the price of going to war becomes too expensive to consider for the elder races. When that happens, it would be easy to think wars would become obsolete, but it was far from a thing of the past. As it was for millions of years for thousands of alien races, when war became too expensive to fight, the practical solution required someone else to fight their wars. There were even rules in place setting the terms for wars between species of each technological level.
The android guide led the Rool ambassador through a maze of passages until they entered a viewing deck. The entire forward section of the room was a clear observation window. The ambassador could see on either side the retracted blast doors that would be closed during combat. In the center of the room was a massive holo display showing on one side a yellow star representing the Sol System and on the other side a similar star representing the Chzek-kin’s Home System. Between the two were hundreds of star systems; many tagged to show populations, military, production, and mining assets
“Ambassador Dek, please attend,” one of the Vrene standing around the holo display directed.
“Yes, Chancellor,” the Rool replied and took up a position next to the Vrene.
Chancellor Sevairne was the senior governor in charge of prosecuting the war with the Chzek in the region of space Earth occupied and was the ambassador’s direct report.
“Ambassador, you will explain why the humans failed to eliminate the Chzek’s puppets. You do not have sufficient control of them. Why?”
The ambassador always knew the Vrene could be ruthless, but they were far better than the bloodthirsty Chzek. I may have to reconsider that conclusion, he thought. “Chancellor, the humans refused to fully eliminate the threat. They are a young race and have no experience in interstellar war. They have cultural taboos against committing xenocide.”
“In your report you claim Geto made it clear to them what could happen if they do not regress their enemies. You claim they understood what is at stake.”
The Vrene was unreadable to the Rool and Ambassador Dek was unable to tell where the questioning was going. “Yes, Chancellor. The humans were made aware of the stakes. However, they are not a rational species. Much of what they do cannot be easily quantified. They make decisions emotionally, and in this case, the human leaders made no decision. They delegated the decision to their commander in charge of the attack and it was they who decided to make a limited attack.”
“I see. Has this commander been relieved? Mistakes like that cannot be allowed to be repeated.”
It was highly unusual for the Vrene to participate in the management of one of their protectorates, except at a high level, and it was a surprise to the ambassador and provided insights to the level of concern the Vrene had for their defense in this region of space.
“No, Chancellor. I will see the officer is removed from command if that is your wish,” replied the ambassador with a mental apology to Commodore Galorio.
“See that you do. This war has only just begun. The humans will now have little time to prepare before the Chzek move another of their tributaries into position to continue the war,” said the Chancellor, “We need every moment of time from the humans they can provide before the Chzek villains destroy their world.”
The ambassador read the reports from other Rool serving the Vrene that they were not ready to engage in a war with the Chzek. Using the humans to buy time by forcing the Chzek into a proxy war seemed to have paid off with the human victory. But, that was not the way the Vrene chancellor was talking and it was unexpected. Confusion was one of the things the Rool do not handle well. It hit at the core of his intellect and created a very human-like emotion: anxiety.
“Chancellor, the Chzek-kin threat was neutralized. Their civilization was set back a hundred revolutions and they have lost their ability to operate in space.” The ambassador defended the Human’s victory, deciding a defense would be a more effective means of making the chancellor explain himself than openly asking. If he had asked, the Vrene would have questioned his intelligence and it would have been a waste of both of their time.
“The military capacity and economy has been destroyed, but not their ability to rebuild. Not their ability to provide skilled workers when the Chzek move another of their mutts in to take over the attack on the humans,” he chided. “The Chzek have at least two other Level 2 subject species capable of engaging the humans from a superior position. The human’s failure to annihilate their enemy has left a massive labor pool with an inhabitable planet in place to be used by whoever the Chzek deploy to take up the fight.”
The chancellor’s explanation made the Rool uncomfortable. The reality was the Vrene was correct. Having a workforce of billions close
to the front and available to provide logistical support to a new race moving in to the war would reduce the time it takes to prepare for a new war by decades. The enemy would not have to shift any assets other than an initial influx of warships and crews for the ships built by their defeated, but not exterminated, allies. The manufacturing facilities and logistics to support the new antagonist would be provided by the defeated Chzek-kin. The new enemy would only need to move a limited amount of equipment and resources in to act as a seed that could be rapidly grown to support hundreds, or even thousands of ships, within a couple decades. And the homeworld of the new enemy would be nearly impossible to find.
Looking at the Rool’s face, the Vrene said, “It appears you understand.”
“Yes, Chancellor.”
“The humans must prepare or they will be overrun before we are ready. Tell them what they face and when to expect them. Get them ready, Ambassador.”
“Yes, Chancellor,” the ambassador agreed, not wanting to extend the conversation any further than was necessary. Ambassador Geto had seriously miscalculated in letting the humans decide to spare the Chzek-kin. The Vrene would consider it a flaw in his programming, but the Rool understood the importance of morality more than most biologicals, even though it did sometimes get in the way of long-term survival.
“You’re dismissed, Ambassador. See that you do not fail again.”
THE END
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