[Ruatha]

Weyrling Empire 2406.3
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The Weyrling fleet was preparing for the Worm-hole jump between the Lasat and Kuat systems. They would soon be in enemy territory for the first time and the fleet was set to full alert.
The Draven fleet was following a couple of days behind.

Aboard the Destroyer "Responder":

Thurya pressed the alarm button and spoke into the internal communication channel.
"-All hands prepare for wormhole jump.
Our intel says that we will meet light opposition on the other side of the wormhole. Our fleet will win but as to the individual ships no predictions can be made, so stay alert. Be sure that it's the enemy you are targeting. No one fires before my command to do so.
I have orders from fleet command to fire at all enemy targets, so today we might become warriors, make me proud.
Here we go!"
While Thurya saw the other ships in the fleet start to disappear into the wormhole she couldn't help herself from thinking of her dead sister, maybe I'll see you tonight Ari, she thought and gave the command to jump. The ship moved into the wormhole and was finally in enemy territory. The war had truly begun.

When they came out in the Kuat system the battle indicators started blinking. On the tactic screen they could see the fleet gathered after the jump and a single Terran Strike carrier class destroyer heading away from the fleet while at the same time launching fighters.
One has to admire the courage of those fighter pilots, Thurya thought as she saw the fighters go straight against the fleet and immediatly turn into debris as they came into range of the Weyrling main guns. After awhile a few fighters managed to come in closer but was then swiftly disposed of by the point defence cannons. From the tactic screen Thurya could make out that it wasn't inferior piloting skills that made the Terrans die. They managed to avoid most of the beams and guns directed against them but the sheer number of projectiles and energy beams heading towards them created an impenetrable net killing the fighters in the deadly web.
The fight was cleary going in one way only. It was only a matter of time before the fleet caught up to the destroyer and finished it off.
Another thing that was clear was that Thurya wouldn't get her sword blooded today, the Responder would never be able to reach the enemies before the battle was over. They could only watch and learn.

It took less than 30 minutes and then the battle indicators went limp and the tactic screen only showed friendly objects.
Thurya gave the order to the crew to stand down and leave the battle stations, those who where on the routine shift went back to their ordinary tasks, the rest of the crew gathered in the dormatory talking about what they had just witnessed.
The atmosphere in the ship was tense. In the same time as they felt joy of the victory they also felt disappointment that they hadn't been able to participate and prove themselfs as warriors, and also some shame over the overwhelming odds that the Terrans had faced, it didn't feel as any great heroic task that the fleet had delivered, more like being the school yard bully kicking the little kid around. There wasn't much glory in that.

The comm screen in the command bridge flared to life,
"-Destroyer Responder. Keep position in the fleet. Combat status Beta. New course is downloaded to your navigational array now."
The screen turned black again. There hadn't been much joy in that voice either Thurya thought to herself.
"-Anselm Jugg, you have the bridge". She got up from her seat and started walking to her cabin feeling somewhat tired after the battle tension.

Aboard the Battlecruiser Indestructible,
Flagship of fleet Sledge;

Elyssandra had sat up long past her sleeping period with the rest of her staff analyzing the short battle.
It didn't look good.
Inside the Kuat system was a large Terran fleet. Numerical it was outnumbered by the Weyrling fleet alone, not to talk about the Draven fleet.
The Terrans had about 30 ships, the Weyrling fleet was over 50 ships and the Draven fleet well over 70 ships strong.
With the current positions the Weyrling fleet would face that Terran fleet alone, the Dravens was too far behind to catch up to the faster Weyrling fleet that was heading on a straight course towards the Sladden wormhole, where the Terran fleet had took position.
Numbers aren't everything they had agreed upon during their analysis. In the Terran fleet they where facing they had spotted a deployed fighter group consisting of over 150 fighters. The rest of the fleet was made up of battleships, large carriers and some destroyers. The Weyrling fleet might be greater in numbers but in tonnage they where about equal.
They had faced 34 fighters in this first battle, and most of the fleet didn't understand how hard it had been to hit those fighters! They had been forced to use an overwhelming amount of weapons to defeat a single destroyer with it's fighter escort.
Those Terrans know how to fight, and we don't! Elyssandra thought to herself.

They now had several options.
They could continue as was originally planned and go for the Sladden wormhole. Elyssandra thought that they might succed against that Terran fleet but the cost would be great. After that battle, win or loose, the Weyrling fleet would be a beaten force. They couldn't continue as an effective fleet after such a battle.
Another option was to use the newly constructed worm-hole opener the empire had. Now they could open worm-holes between any systems in the known universe.

They could use that to send in a replacement fleet, better equipped and better trained. The Sledgehammer fleet had been assembled over years and many of the ships where really obsolete and had crews that hadn't trained at any of the new war academys.
But to open a worm-hole and send in a new fleet and bring out the current fleet would still take months to coordinate.
Months that the Terrans would use to strenghten their fleet.
Elyssandra looked out over the tired staff and spoke;
"-There is no use in making any decision now. Let's all sleep on this and continue our planning tomorrow.
You are dismissed."
She got up and walked to her cabin.
During the day she had also been given the news that the Empire had established contact with a new race. The Zax society.
They had received a very strange message from them, being what the analysts called "psychotic in it's nature".
It had been directed to the late emperor Ruatha. How the Zax society had heard that name she didn't know, but rumours would travel far she thought.

She remembered some lines in the message:
"May anyone who has said the slightest ill-word against you (Ruatha) or your descendants in the next ten thousand years suffer the worst possible torments.
May you be able to exact your revenge in full measure against anyone who expresses any criticism of you or your reign.
May you and your descendants rule the Weyrling Empire for the next 10,000 years and beyond.
If anybody should rule instead of or in place of your descendants, may they suffer the worst possible torments in this life and in hell, forevermore. May their bones ache to their core. May the fleas of 10,000 camels infest their armpits."

Well. They had been wrong hadn't they Elyssandra thought, ruathas reign hadn't Lasted any 10,000 years. And my armpits don't itch yet!
She had turned the issue over to the diplomatic corps to ponder, How do one respond to such a strange message?
She didn't really care about that now, it wasn't important in these circumstances.
We need bigger ships and more of them. I'd better contact Alliance headquarter and see if the Dravens have any funds ready for transfer, so far they hadn't payed all they had promised. Granted their contribution to the fleet cost was greater than the Weyrlings but the Weyrlings didn't expect to make any profit from this war. Secretly Elyssandra thought that maybe that was the Dravens main reason for participating in the war, to take over Terran territory and increase their already large production of resources. It didn't feel good to depend upon aliens to finance the fleet but what to do? The Weyrlings must keep forces in the empire territory ready to defend against unexpected threats, we can't send all our ships to this war. The dravens must understand this, or I must make them understand, again.
I hope I can talk to prince Dravel. He is a much more civilized alien than that Yalare character. Still it couldn't be easy for Yalare. To rule after the popular King Dravel. I had it easy, anything I did was far better than what Ruatha ever did. She smiled a little as she opened the door to her cabin.

She undressed and slid into her bed and when the head hit the pillow she was already asleep.

[ March 06, 2003, 14:06: Message edited by: Ruatha ]