[sachmo]

A New Front

2408.0

Ambassador Mulatti was not pleased with the look on the Chairman’s face. Even thru the vid phone, he could feel the exasperation.
“Explain the situation to me again, ambassador. How did this happen?”
The ambassador took a deep breath. “Mr. Chairman, we were met at the mouth of the Devonshire wormhole by two Ukra-Tal destroyers. They immediately ordered us to heave to, and they boarded us. It was a very crude show of force, but an effective one. We had no choice but to comply. A diplomat came on board with a squad of heavily armed soldiers. They demanded to see me immediately, which I did. The diplomat hardly looked at me as he tossed down what looked like an ancient scroll case. He then told me to take this message back to my superior, and to leave the Devonshire system at once. I tried to inquire about the diplomatic meeting we had arranged on Devonshire IV, but he cut me off with a wave of his tentacles. He told me that there would be no meeting, and that we could return from where we came, and to take our gifts with us.”
The Chairman looked into the vid screen, not quite believing what he was hearing.
“Ambassador, what the hell happened? Could we have misinterpreted the initial contact so badly?”
“Chairman, here is what I believe happened. When the Hawk first warped into the system, and broadcast the hails in galactic standard, the Ukra-Tal was friendly enough. It seems that the especially reserved Lieutenant Commander Douglass displayed the type of demeanor that they found pleasant. It appears that the Ukra-Tal are a race of scientists and merchants, and not prone to displaying emotion. Hence, they believed that this was the way of all of the Remorhaz people. So when they learned that we a much more emotional race, they were taken aback. Our xenologist Dr. Hartman believes that it may have been more than a shock to them, and that they may have actually felt betrayed by this revelation. He thinks that they may have believed that we tried to deceive them.”
The Chairman’s face seemed to sag. He was a professional politician, and knew how a bad start to a relationship could often ruin any chance of future harmony.
“That can’t be everything, though. There has to be something else, ambassador. Tell me everything.”
Ambassador Mulatti wiped his brow. He had tried to think of a delicate way to put this, but there was just no way around it. He would have to read the message to the Chairman in its entirety, and let him judge for himself.
“Chairman, I think you need to hear the message delivered by the ambassador.” He opened the scroll case, and unwrapped the message, and began to read. It read as follows:

From the Enlightened One, Imperator Weshra-Tal of the Ukra-Tal Collective,

Ourselves, the glorious race of the Ukra-Tal, were disturbed to learn of the war being raged by the Remorhaz Society against the Rage Collective and the Norak Continuum.
Ourselves have learned of the tragedies wrought by this war. What is most disturbing to ourselves is that in this war, yourselves of the Remorhaz Society have repeatedly and purposely destroyed colonies belonging to both the Norak and the Rage. Ourselves find this shocking, and cannot understand how a race as barbaric as yourselves could have survived even this long without destroying yourselves. This disregard for the innocent lives of other beings, whom it should be noted are different from yourselves, will make it impossible for the Ukra-Tal to ever have any type of relationship with the Remorhaz Society. Ourselves present this message as a warning…if yourselves attempt to enter any system populated by the Ukra-Tal, it will be considered an act of war against ourselves and will result in the swift and total destruction of yourselves. Further, if yourselves continue this barbaric behavior and destroy any more colonies of any race, ourselves cannot be held responsible for the result. This is something that ourselves will not stand for, and it will be the will of our people to cleanse the galaxy of such a barbaric people. May the Most Knowledgeable One take pity on your heathen souls.

The Chairman looked about as shocked as the ambassador thought he would. Best to let him collect his thoughts before I offer my opinions, the ambassador thought. The Chairman sat, obviously gathering his thoughts. Suddenly his face turned angry.
“How in the bloody hell did they find out about the war? Are they in contact with the Rage or the Norak?”
The ambassador shook his head. “Sir, we cannot be sure how they learned about it. Lieutenant Commander Douglass made mention of the war, but only in passing. He has assured me that at no point did he elaborate on any of the operational details. Our best guess is that they did some investigating of their own about the war and were passed some very biased information. For all we know, this could have been supplied to them be a third party.”
The Chairman looked absolutely defeated. “Ambassador, I need your honest assessment. Is there any hope of normal relations with the Ukra-Tal?”
“I think the best course of action right now, Sir, would be to back off and give them time to observe us. I think if we slowly put out diplomatic feelers and don’t do anything to alarm them, there is always hope. From the information they have given to us, they seem to be a peaceful race. They love to trade, and hopefully we will be able to exploit this in the future. Interracial trade would be a great boon to the economy.” Mulatti smiled.
The Chairman looked back at him. “Yes, it would ambassador. Now if only we could keep from getting into wars, we might get a chance to enjoy the benefits.” With that he ended the transmission.

Over Norak, the RSS Mongoose loaded up the Last of the Space Marines called up for the assault on Regotha II. Their strength was roughly 2600 Marines, and about 130 Blazer Assault Craft. The ships were loaded with supplies, and the fleet made for Regotha II.

RSS Peregrine warped into the Wanduk system. One planet appeared to be idea for colonization. Wanduk IV was a Medium rock planet with an oxygen atmosphere. Of interest was a reading coming from the surface of Wanduk II. The sensors showed what appeared to be a derelict spacecraft, but no other details were known. Their findings were reported back to Naval Headquarters, and Peregrine made for another wormhole, and another system.

2408.1

Grand Admiral Urian sent out the emergency action message to the fleet. This morning, the ground station on Timerron received a terse communication from Ukra-Tal space. The communication read as follows:
Although ourselves are not a violent species, you have left us no choice. Ourselves declare war on yourselves.
Urian was not really surprised that this happened, after all, the Ukra-Tal had made it pretty clear what they thought about the Remorhaz Society. Still, the news concerned him. He had hoped that once the Norak were out of the war, the Rage might reconsider continuing the war one-on-one. Now, the Remorhaz Society was right back where it had started. It was only a matter of a couple of months before the Norak were eliminated from the war, but Timerron was not very well protected. The Ukra-Tal fleet strength, Last time it had been seen, had been significant in the Devonshire system. If they came thru the wormhole, Hawk and a few defense satellites were all that stood in their way. The destroyer Virtue was a few months from the planet. Hopefully she would get there in time to make a difference.
There was good news on the research front. The scientists at the Research Guild had made a breakthrough in Applied Physics, and had the theories in place that would allow advanced sensors, shields, energy stream weapon, and energy pulse weapons to be designed. Hopefully, this would put the Remorhaz fleet on a bit more equal footing with the Rage fleet. Of course, right now the priority was the final design of the Urban Pacification Centers. If all went well, they would be able to be constructed on Regotha III after the Space Marines captured it, and they would begin attempting to integrate the Norak into the Society. If they captured it, he thought. The entire concept was still a theory. He hoped and prayed that everything worked the way it was supposed to.

Gamma Fleet took up orbit around Norak. Commodore Lu spent two weeks consulting with his officers and Navy Staff about their options for an offensive against the Rage. It was known that they possessed a substantial fleet strength in the Fezzran system, and possibly the asteroid-filled wasteland that was the Lundra system. The first objective was to recon in force both of these systems. First, Gamma Fleet move in force into the Lundra system, with RSS Loxias attached to deploy satellites. This would give them an eye in the system to observe possible Rage fleet movements. Meanwhile, a belt of defensive satellites would be laid on the Lapzooli side of the Lundra wormhole. It was hoped that Gamma Fleet could draw a Rage fleet into a trap this way, but so far no one felt that they could rely on the Rage to act in any certain way. Since the recon was the main objective, along with laying the spy satellites, it was a risk they were willing to take. Once the Marine Assault Fleet was finished in the Regotha system, the Artemis and Furious would remain in the system to protect the wormhole, and possibly conduct some assaults on the known Rage colony in the Lezzari system. This might succeed in drawing some of the Rage fleet strength away from the Fezzran system. Their next course decided, Gamma Fleet left Norak orbit in the third week of the month. They would reach the wormhole, and find out what the Rage had waiting for them, by the beginning of the next month.

To be continued...