[sachmo]

Plans

Chairman Sachmo raised a hand as he entered the room, beckoning the others to take their seats. He needed to get down to business as soon as possible, and he didn’t have the time to stand on ceremony.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. It seems events are moving faster than we anticipated. Let’s get to it, alright?”
He sat down heavily in the chair at the head of the table. Before he could look up, Yarboro had powered up the data terminal and dimmed the lights. Floating in the middle of the large table was a hologram of the Remorhaz Society. Remorhaz military forces showed up in the Regotha system, Lundra, Fezzran, Organtrix, and Iolo, roughly outlining the “front”. Beyond those points lay enemy space.
Sachmo frowned as he studied the image. Wanduk drew his eye first, recently lost to the Ukra-Tal. Lost wasn’t exactly a precise word for what had happened there. The Remorhaz colonists in that system had been butchered. 40 million people burned to cinders by acid projectors and other horrors wielded by the Ukra-Tal. It was as good a place to start the discussion.
“Grand Admiral Urian, is there anything we can do in Wanduk to regain the system from the Ukra-Tal?”
From the darkness, Urian’s voice was grim. “No sir. Wanduk is lost.”
The Chairman took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “How about Iolo? If the Ukra-Tal come calling, can we stop them at Correlia?”
“No sir. Currently, the Iolo defense fleet consists of two Glory class destroyers and one Nemesis class frigate. The weapons platforms on the surface consist of one Viper 5 and one Defender. At this time, the Correlians are trying to mine the space lanes around the planet, and once that is done they will try to build more weapons platforms. Enroute to Iolo are the light cruiser Orion and the frigate Midguard, however they won’t reach Iolo for about four months. If the Ukra-Tal come knocking before that, it will be a slaughter.”
Some of those gathered for the meeting gasped in utter astonishment. Many knew bits and pieces of what was happening on the Ukra-Tal front, but not many had seen the big picture. Once they did, the direness of the situation was apparent.
The Chairman tapped a button on the data term, highlighting Iolo.
“If Iolo falls, then there is nothing stopping the Ukra-Tal from pushing into the core systems, or even right on to Remorhaz itself? Is that what I’m seeing, Grand Admiral?”
Urian nodded. “Yes, Chairman. If we lose the fleet at Iolo, there is nothing to stop them. We could move one of the fleets from either Fezzran or Lundra, but they might not reach us in time. Also, such a move would present other complications.”
The Chairman stood up.
“Then we can’t lose the fleet. If the Ukra-Tal come into Iolo before we have gathered sufficient strength, we will fall back, system by system, until we have enough firepower to stop them. Then we can take back what is ours. If we lose the core systems, then we lose the war.” The Chairman considered the map for a moment.
“I want a transport moved to Correlia as soon as possible. If the Ukra-Tal come for battle, I want that planet evacuated.”
The Grand Admiral was punching notes into his data term. “Yes, Chairman. Marne is on her way back to Correlia as we speak.”
The Chairman studied the hologram again. Between Remorhaz and Iolo were two barren systems. If the Navy could slow any Ukra-Tal attack down, there just might be time to move one of the fleets back to Remorhaz in case of an emergency. If they didn’t lose many ships, they should be able to take on the Ukra-Tal battle fleet on fairly even terms. Everything hinged on the Rage offensive.
“Grand Admiral, tell us about the Fezzran offensive.”
The admiral’s voice seemed to gain some life. At least he did have some good news to deliver.
“Sir, Fezzran was a much easier target than we expected. We aren’t sure why the Rage left the system practically undefended, but we were able to capture both Rage colonies in two months. We didn’t suffer a single casualty.”
A cheer welled up from the gathered officers. Sachmo smiled.
“Excellent, Grand Admiral. Very well done. Fezzran has some very rich worlds to colonize. We can return to Cirius, too. That will help offset the loss of Wanduk, and will boost the moral of the people.”
“Yes Chairman. We also suspect that the unexplored system west of Fezzran to be a Rage system. I was planning on sending the fleet ahead as soon as possible. It’s very important that we keep the Rage off balance.”
Field Marshal Gulman spoke up.
“I completely agree, Chairman. If we can quickly defeat the Rage, then we can concentrate on the Ukra-Tal.”
The Chairman nodded to him. He then turned to Commandant Hunter of the Space Marine Corps.
“Hunter, how are your Space Marines fairing?”
The Commandant looked up from his data term, where he had been furiously writing notes.
“Chairman, my Space Marines get better by the drop. 2nd Brigade accounted very well for itself in Fezzran, sir. They are ready for anything we throw at them.”
“Good to hear. Very good.”
The meeting continued for hours. The strategy for this pivotal time in Remorhaz history was set. The bulk of the forces were to concentrate on finishing off the Rage, while an intense effort would be made to build up fleet strength in the Iolo sector. Also, the wormholes would be mined from the core systems out, to provide defense belts for the fleets to fall back behind. They hoped that the Ukra-Tal offensive would slow after the quick capture of the Wanduk system, but they planned for the worst case. It was going to be touch and go here for a while.

Captain Jager looked at her orders with carefully concealed relief. Nemesis and Triumph had been ordered to proceed at best speed to Deniper in the Yullado system, where they were to await further orders. She wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to be doing, but being that much closer to Remorhaz was a step in the right direction. She had been away from home for almost ten years now with barely a month spent back home. A few weeks with her family would be paradise, but she didn’t want to get her, or her crews, hopes up. She knew everyone missed their loved ones terribly .At least at Yullado they would be off of the line for a few days. She hoped that they would be able to get in a little r&r.

2410.5

The scientists at Our Blessed Mother University on Remorhaz, with the help of millions of credits in aid from the Remorhaz Research Guild, made a breakthrough in the area of Astrophysics. By studying the interstellar phenomenon that Captain Jager and others like her had discovered in the early days of the Remorhaz exploration of space, they were able to unlock the keys to allow them to manipulate the energies of the very stars. This was only the tip of the iceberg with regards to the practical applications, but with a bit of work they believed that they could construct a repulsor beam for the Navy, discover how to manipulate spatial bodies, and also how to gather the energy of the stars and use it to supplement the power cores on ships. This research would begin, as all research had a habit of doing, when the funding came thru.

At Glory, the first Remorhaz minelayer was launched, the RSS Eos. She would immediately travel to Black Hills and Salvation to gather the mines that had already been constructed there, and begin mining the wormholes of the core systems. The first ring of defense was going up.

On Vengeance, one of the recently captured Rage worlds in the Fezzran system, an urban pacification center was created. They hoped that this one would be as successful as the one on Nova had been, but just in case, a battalion of Space Marines remained on planet.

Rear Admiral scanned the faces of his officers. Lord, did they look tired. Many of them had been fighting for almost nine years. They wanted to go home, and spend some real time with their loved ones. They knew that the way back was much further than the road ahead, and so were quite happy for a chance to finish off the Rage. It was time to press on.
“We don’t know what’s in the next system, folks, but intel believes that it should be crawling with Rage. Our orders are clear. We are to find, and destroy, the Rage homeworld. Remorhaz needs us to put an end to this war, and quickly. Any colony we can’t take with the Space Marines is to be destroyed,” a hand shot up from amongst his officers, “yes, that is a departure from SOP, but apparently when the Ukra-Tal glassed Cherek and Ymoria the Chairman had a change of heart.”
The hand was quickly lowered.
“If we can find the Rage homeworld and destroy the primary sequencer, we can finish this. We don’t really know what we will find, but I know we are ready for it. The Rage knocked us for a loop in Lezzari, and now we get to return the favor. Fezzran is our, and we won’t stop until every Rage planet is either under our control, or left behind as space debris. Questions?”
No one raised a hand. They were determined, and ready to get this bloody work done.
Sakazawa nodded. “Excellent. Get back to your ships, and good luck to us all. Dismissed.”
Xillantha Fleet sped thru space silently, powered by vengeance and deadly intent.

To be continued...