From the Begining New Chapter Added (9/12/06)

[Starhawk]

OT: Oh btw I am starting college on the 12th of this month so I'll try to keep up with story chapters but lord only knows how much free time I'll have.

[El_Phil]

Nice chapter, lets face it boarding was never going to be easy with the other side rolling over like most SEIV boarding has it. Keep up the good work fella.

OK I am right that US college is much like UK university? If not skip the rest of this post.

So you'll have loads of free time, which is all spent in pubs, bars, clubs and various other non-SEIV things. Especially at the start, really don't miss any of those events, the stuff that happends then is the basis of jokes that will last your entire time their.

[Starhawk]

Actually the college I'm using is online and is year round the only free time i'll be getting as in no work at all is either if I work my royal butt off and get lucky enough to finish a unit early, or if I manage my time right i'll also get the weekends off.

The only real time off will be the winter holidays where i get ten weeks off.

[Starhawk]

2433.6 Cataclysm in Sadalmelek
A tearful face appeared on the vid screens as Janet Cranston put the flexi down on her desk.
“Citizens of the Empire, ladies and gentlemen it is my terrible news to report to you that this day is one of the darkest in Icaran history, the Sadalmelek system suffered a Catastrophe the increasing solar flare activity that has had Icaran State scientists worried for the last few months took a sudden turn for the worst last month as the flare activity spiked, evacuation ships were sent to retrieve the former Earth Corps citizens but it was too late…..” she paused and wiped her eyes as she cleared her throat “The Sadalmelek system went nova at 06:30 AM Imperial Standard, on the 3rd of March, estimated casualties are currently at one point six billion, and rising, but worse then these deaths….if there can be such is that the Praetor himself was on an inspection tour of the newest provinces of the Empire……” Cranston’s voice went cold and tears began flowing again “I’m sorry it’s just…..” she broke down into tears and someone came from behind the camera and ran over to embrace the young woman.
An older man with gray hair stepped in front of the camera, his face set in stone yet his eyes also smoldering with tears “Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of the Empire it is my terrible duty this day to tell you that Praetor Leonidas the sixteenth chosen by God, was killed in Sadalmelek along with his senior aid and Duke Cromwell….by noon today Crown Prince Rodrick will become Rodrick the 2nd Praetor chosen by God…..please bow your heads and pray for the sake of our Empire in the coming days……” the screen went blank for a moment as the sound of many sobbing people could be heard over the holocam’s audio pickup.

The loss of Sadalmelek would have been but a small tragedy within the Empire had it not been for the fact that Praetor Leonidas had insisted on touring the newest provinces of the Empire, to establish the true power and glory of the Empire to it’s newest citizens, instead now he was dead and his eldest son whom was presently only seventeen was now taking his place as the Praetor of the entire Icaran Empire.

Crowning a Praetor:
The Praetor’s Own regiment was turned out in full on the 3rd day of Solaris in the year, 6433 IY (Imperial Year, 2433.10 AD) in the courtyard of the Imperial Palace on Icara. Millions of Icarans were also present forming a seemingly endless sea of people around the Palace perimeter, banners waved and flapped in the wind as well as people showed their support for their new Praetor.
Inside the perimeter of the Palace a thousand nobles formed two great columns on either side of a long scarlet carpet which ran the length of the courtyard, from the outer gates of the palace to the traditional throne of the Praetor. Each column of nobles had a line of the Praetor’s Own in front of it, the soldiers wore the formal scarlet and gold armor their kind had for centuries whenever carrying out the formal responsibilities their duties required.

As trumpets blared the lines of soldiers drew their long sabers and held them high in salute, the massive palace doors opened loudly as their armored locks unsealed and their mechanisms hummed. The sound of drums beating turned the heads of the nobles toward the doors, it had been seven Praetors since anyone had heard those drums beat, seven Praetors since anyone had seen the regalia of the two drummers who marched in step through the armored doors, followed closely by the Praetor, Rodrick the 2nd himself, he was wearing the golden and engraved armor of an ancient Lord Marshall except in that the Praetor’s helmet bore the crown of his office. The Praetor was flanked by eight guards all dressed in the crimson and gold of the Praetor’s own, and all marching in a smart lockstep.
As the Praetor passed nobles dropped down upon one knee and bowed their heads in salute, the soldiers flanking the carpet all held their sabers high with pride as the new ruler of the Empire passed by them.

Rodrick though only seventeen was already the height of his father, he was well muscled and toned with years of physical exercise in the training yards of the Praetor’s Regiment, he kept his hair close cut much like the male soldiers he enjoyed training with so much, and his right cheek bore a deep scar from where a saber had cut into his face when he was twelve, despite the requests of his father he had refused to have the scar removed and said he would wear it with pride as the soldier who had given him the scar was one of the best commanders and swordsmen in the Praetorian Regiment before his unfortunate death in the latter stages of the Phong crusades.
Rodrick was almost the antithesis of his father and brothers where they were so concerned with politics and statecraft Rodrick was concerned with practicalities and martial training, where his father had been an excellent “tap dancer” of politics, Rodrick was a blunt straight forward young man who would take no disrespect from his peers. But perhaps more importantly Rodrick was unlike his father in that he was a man who would not settle for anything less then absolute victory, though it had never been publicly discussed Praetor Leonidas had actually considered pulling the Icaran military forces out of the new provinces and ordering them sealed off from the Empire for all time.
Rodrick was ambitious yet also cool headed, he knew it may take a century or more but he would not rest until Icara ruled the galaxy, there would be no giving their enemies the chance to eventually build warp point starships and invade Icara it’s self, for if the peace movement had their way Icara would seal it’s self off from the universe and dismantle it’s military.

The trumpets stopped blaring and the drums fell silent as the Praetor and his guards reached the dais that held the thrown of the Praetor, Rodrick swallowed hard as he stepped between the two drummers and took the short walk up the three steps that would forever change his life.
A man wearing white and gold robes stood next to the thrown, Rodrick recognized him as the highest priest of the Church of the Path on Icara and stared for a moment at the short old man who somehow held a calm sort of dignity that required no trumpets, no thunderous roar to be powerful. The young soon to be Praetor Rodrick the 2nd felt as if he should smile or bow to show the old man respect but he forced himself to keep the stone face and rigid back this specific duty required of him. The priest stepped forward and lifted the coronation crown high in the air as he said something in the ancient language that Rodrick couldn’t quite understand.
Then the old priest cleared his throat and looked Rodrick straight in the eyes “Lord Rodrick the second, son of Leonidas the sixteenth, Praetor chosen by God and ruler of the most holy empire of Icara, you stand now before the nobility and people of your Empire, you stand before the eyes of your God and you stand before the eyes of his church, your duty is clear by your blood, you are to be ruler of these people and of your Empire in the service of the almighty.” the Priest lowered the crown and Rodrick removed his helmet with respect.
“Do you swear to fulfill this duty with all your heart and soul, may you be damned if you lie before the eyes of church and empire?” the Priest’s voice had taken on the tone of a challenge as he stared into the eyes of the future Praetor as if he were trying to tear Rodrick’s soul out and examine it.
“I do so swear it before the church and Empire.” Rodrick said, managing to keep his voice calm.
The priests voice rose again “Do you swear to protect and rule your people with mercy and justice, to lead them against their enemies and guard them against treason may you be damned if you lie before the eyes of church and empire?”
“I do so sweat it before the church and empire” Rodrick replied
“And do you swear in turn to answer to the justice of the empire and people should you lead them astray, may you be damned if you lie before the eyes of church and empire?”
Rodrick swallowed hard again, that last sentence had resulted in the execution of three Praetors throughout history and he knew all too well that when they said “may you be damned” they meant it.
“I do so swear it before church and empire.” he managed to keep his voice strong, though his heart raced slightly as the priests gaze once again returned to the coronation crown.
“Then I say to the people of Icara as leader of the most holy church of the path on this world that you are fit to rule, all hail Praetor Rodrick the second, may he rule with wisdom and may his reign be long and glorious!” the Priest’s face wrinkled with a brilliant smile as he placed the coronation crown on the bowed head of Rodrick the second, and ushered in a new era for the Empire of Icara…..

[Starhawk]

The other side of the Wall:

President Sajumi sipped his Terran whisky and shook his head with a grimmace, he had led the Anderman Empire and now was a senior partner the Mantisoran Mutual Defense League but today he felt like a child who had been given a gun and thrown into a warzone.
No one had expected those damned Icarans to spread so fast or be so furocious in battle, or so merciless, seven billion people were already dead and hundreds of millions were assumed lost, evacuation ships fled in all directions and unfortunately for them most of them had ended up either warping into the Icaran sector or had run into one of those light raiders of theirs and been destroyed.

Whole worlds were simply gone, it was as if there was a curtain in space, where the Icarans struck successfuly everything just went so quiet, and still no one knew what these Icarans wanted, for years they had remained in their own silent little sector of space until suddenly two Icaran battle fleets invaded the Andermanian empire from galactic North and Galactic south, it seemed so long ago now, by time the messenger sloops had arrived in the Capital city four entire star systems had vanished behind the shadow of Icaran war.

A gentle buzz jerked Sajumi's thoughts back to the present, his granddaughter was on one of those "gone" worlds and two of his three sons were in the Navy which was still trying to recover from their earlier defeats.
Sajumi tabbed a button on his desk that brought a security camera around to face the man at the door, it was General Harold Moore flanked by two Presidential guards and Sajumi felt his throat tighten as he tabbed another key that opened the door.

General Moore walked up to the other end of the desk and snapped a formal salute, the two presidential guards in their pale blue uniforms braced to attention as well but Sajumi waved them off and offered his hand to the General, who clasped firmly in return and smiled glumly.
"I'm afraid I don't come with good news Mister President." Moore's voice sounded haggared and weak but his eyes burned with the same strength and confidence that Sajumi had come to depend on.
"It seems there is very little of that to go around these days Harry, what is it this time?" Sajumi seated himself and offered a glass of whiskey to Moore who accepted gratefully.

"Well sir the confirmed allied casualty list has just gone up to 8 billion, it seems the Icarans dispatched on occupation force to bring an end to the rioting in the former Corian commonwealth and in the process took out four Mantisoran and one Sol Coalition world, the death tole was just over a billion souls, apparently they decided that their StateSec forces are inadequite for taking a planet." Moore downed the whiskey with a sour expression as he muttered the last sentence, from what allied intelligence sugjested the Icaran StateSec or SS was inadequite for taking over planetary targets but the thought of exterminating just over a billion people as if they were nothing of consequence made him sick.
"Were there any survivors Harry?" Sajumi kept his voice from sounding depressed somehow but when the General gave only a half nod Sajumi's heart sank.

"Yeah five light cruiser colony ships made it out with about five hundred million Mantisorans, mainly women and children of course, unfortunately they proceeded through the warp point that we now beleive leads to the Icaran staging system, possibly even one of their home systems, we know for sure two of the colony ships were destroyed because an Empire of Man dreadnought passed the word to the Mantis that they discovered the wreckage, then we lost contact with the dreadnought...." Harold Moore downed another glass of whiskey as he stood and began pacing.
"Sir.....the other three were captured by Icaran raiders, officially we don't know that for sure but those 5 colony ships were hanging pretty close together when they ran from the Icaran occupation fleet and if they were captured by raiders there is hope that at least some of them are still alive." The General suddenly looked years older then he actually was as he continue to pace.

"Anything else troubling you Harry?" Sajumi asked, half dreading the reply as the other man's back streigtened and he clasped his hands behind him.

"Mister President I'm afraid allied military losses are also increasing, we've lost 23 Sol Coalition cruisers, 8 Mantisoran super dreadnoughts, 3 EOM dreadnoughts plus one missing and presumed lost, and the entire 16th allied fleet which consisted of 5 Andermanian superdreadnoughts and a monitor.....that's not including the loss of over 20 allied swift colony ships.....taken into account that the Icaran Empire's population is larger then that of the entire Mantisoran Mutual Defense League and we are talking some bad numbers." The General just about collapsed onto a big sofa and covered his face with his hands in thought.

"It sounds like you say we're losing this war Harry, is it really that bad on the front?" Sajumi folded his hands and rested his elbows on his desk.

"Sir the only reason Icara hasn' totally destroyed Andermanian space is because we hurt them, not as bad as they've hurt the allies but they are operating hundreds of light years away from their shipyards and population centers, we can hold them at bay right now, prevent them from advancing and destroy their combat assets but in the end if they gain enough of a foothold here....we couldn't beat them, they have more warships and more experienced crews, not to mention the fact that those bastard Dark Star alliance people keep raiding Allied worlds which means we have to dispatch warships to retake or protect those worlds." The General's eyes watered as his voice cracked slightly, no military leader ever wanted to admit the possibility of defeat, especially not when it meant the fall of not only his nation but of an entire alliance of nations.

"The war is not all bad news sir, at least as far as the alliance goes, in some sick twisted way it's actually benefiting the other nations that we are the ones under attack so heavily...." Moore cocked an eyebrow at his President's baffled expression.
"It's simple sir, we, the Andermanians have lost five systems to the Icaran advance, the Earth Corps alliance has lost three and the Mantisorans have lost one, they've lost a lot of ships and a lot of people but nothing they haven't been able to rebuild in the past year." Harry frowned again for a moment and pulled out a peice of paper.
"Well because of the Icaran's focusing on us the Mantisoran Navy has taken over five Icaran occupied systems, and is in the process of taking out the Nian system which is only a small advance but still it's something, and they've promised to send battlefleets to aid our navy when they've finished of the Icaran presence down there." Moore winked as Sajumi shook his head with an almost amused chuckle

"Of Course when Mantisoran ground troops retake our fallen worlds they'll be more then happy to protect and add to their own territories." Sajumi shook his head again.

The two men talked for hours and when General Moore left both men had to figure out how to keep the Andermanian people from collapsing into a depressed and fatalistic mindset, even though neither of them saw any hope for their nation to win the war their only hope seemed to be that they may be able to keep the Icarans at bay for at least a few years more which would hopefully give the damned Mantisorans time to actually come to the aid of the rest of their "allies".

[Starhawk]

2435.9 Changes in Policy
Admiral Tyson Babcock woke in the middle of the night as the com unit howled an emergency code, he became alert almost instantly as he recognized the sound and rolled out of bed.
As he fastened his robe he tabbed the controls and a very concerned looking Commodore Carla Sanchez appeared on the screen.
“What is it Commodore?” Babcock asked, slightly startled by the disheveled appearance of the normally vein Commodore.
“Admiral somehow the Andermanians slipped a strike fleet past our pickets and attacked Ulda Frey XII, the planetary garrison was overwhelmed in a matter of hours and the governor barely managed to get a distress call off before the Anderman shock troops broke through his villa’s security forces.” her voice was almost as unkempt as her appearance but Babcock barely took note of it as his mind raced over where the enemy could have come from, of course the 3rd fleet was supposed to have been deployed months ago but the new Praetor had chosen to hold them in reserve “for the time being” which meant that the entire crusade had come to a blazing and inglorious halt, sure the 1st and 2nd fleets could drive into enemy space but they’d leave their newly conquered worlds open to being retaken as the Alliance forces came up from behind, the 3rd fleet and Fleet Admiral Ross were supposed to engage the enemy at another point, so that the other 2 fleets could advance but Praetor Rodrick had instead deployed a farce of a ramshackle fleet called “The 4th fleet” with nothing but shiploads of State Sec troopers to put down the rioting Coria systems…..and now Babcock had to pay for that, his exposed rear had just been attacked and now he had to turn around and strike back or let the entire system fall.
“Alright Carla, this could be a good thing, they were able to capture the planet so they didn’t glass it which means we can retake it, how big is the enemy fleet from our best assessments?” Babcock folded his arms in thought, intel flights had located a 95 ship fleet in Andermanian space, and Babcock just hoped to God that this wasn’t that fleet.
“Sir it looks like seventeen ships of the line, including two monitors as well as a single assault carrier.”
“Alright then the only thing that worries me are those monitors, they’re a lot bigger then anything we’ve got, but we can deal with this, order all of our repair and troop ships left behind, I don’t want to risk exposing them to any fire if it’s not necessary I’ll pass out the orders for the fleet to get moving in fifteen minutes.” The woman on the other end of the screen saluted, Babcock returned the salute and cut the circuit as he rushed to get his uniform and vac suit on.

Less then three hours later the 1st fleet, minus is transports, minesweepers and repair ships, was closing the range with the enemy strike group, to the amazement of Babcock and every other senior officer in the fleet the vastly outnumbered enemy force continued to close the range, everyone had expected them to turn about and flee yet whoever was in command of that fleet was determined to fight, apparently even if it meant his or her death as well as those of tens of thousands of others.
“Enemy fleet is going to get into firing position first Admiral.” the tactical officer of the watch announced as the main plot showed the enemy formation and his own fleet closing in on one another.
“Fighter launch, I count one zero six enemy star fighters.” Another voice sang out from the tactical section.
Babcock tensed, balling his hands into fists around the arm rests of his chair as the two fleets closed, there was really no tactics involved in an engagement like this it was going to be quick and bloody, with two monitors in their fleet the Andermanians would take out some of the Icaran warships but the return strike would be all it took to end the battle just because of the sheer weight of numbers the Icarans held.

The opening volley was devastating, the Andermanian monitors unleashed a broadside more powerful then that of any Icaran warship on scene and did so with devastating effect, two Icaran super dreadnoughts vanished in fire and wreckage as the broadsides sliced through their shields and armor like a sword through paper, the Wildcat was wrecked and drifting after the remaining guns of one of the monitors sliced through her with incredible ease reducing the massive once proud super dreadnought to a flaming hulk as she slowly drifted away.
The Icaran super dreadnought Typhoon vanished in fire as enemy capital ships unleashed hell into them, fortunately for the Icarans the Anderman navy lacked the “talisman” project’s technology and because of the extreme range they were firing from a great deal of their energy beams lashed out into space harmlessly.
Unfortunately for HMS Renown two enemy super dreadnoughts focused their fire on her, and though most of their shots missed her enough struck home to render her a nearly crippled hulk as energy ripped at her with terrible fury.
The super dreadnought Hades was less fortunate and exploded as her reactor core breached.

“Admiral we are in optimal firing range!” the tactical officer blurted as the Icaran battle fleet finally had their chance to strike back.
“Open Fire all ships, and make sure you kill those damned fighters!” Babcock spat the word fighters like it was a curse as he watched an enemy fighter squadron cripple HMS Dreadnought.

Space it’s self seemed to freeze for a moment as every Icaran starship in range fired their broadsides at the Anderman fleet, it was a moment that made the blood run cold as nearly a hundred energy beams all guided by “talisman” technology stabbed into the Anderman fleet, wreaking death and havoc among the Anderman with such ease that the previous moment of devastating fire brought down by the Anderman seemed like a mere spark of fire.
Not a single Anderman ship or fighter survived the multiple broadsides brought to bear upon them and in barely six minutes of actual fighting the entire battle had ended along with tens of thousands of lives.

The battle did not end there however as it took two Icaran regiments to retake Ulda Frey seven, and the losses on the ground added hundreds of Icaran dead and nearly three thousand Anderman dead to the total losses suffered.

The Imperial Palace:
Praetor Rodrick was nothing like his father, where his father was slow and methodical Rodrick was daring and quick to act, where his father had let the wars brew for decades Rodrick intended to finish them in ten years or less, though he knew that goal may be too much even under his more military oriented mind. And there had already been controversy, such as his holding the 3rd fleet back from the assault on the Andermanian alliance, and the Praetor himself knew that many said it was because he was afraid.

Whatever the rumormongers said he had held the 3rd fleet back not because he was afraid but because he had another plan for them, for too long his father had allowed worlds controlled by the enemy to remain free within the borders of the Empire, and now was the perfect time to bring an end to that and at the moment the only force available for this particular goal was the 3rd fleet. When the five swords storm trooper divisions were formed the 3rd fleet would be released to cleanse the Anderman territories with the 1st and 2nd fleets.

An older looking woman sat across the table from Rodrick, a grim expression upon her face as she read the newest report from the battle of Ulda Frey,
“We lost over thirty thousand soldiers my Praetor, and had that been a larger fleet the enemy had employed we may have lost thousands more, perhaps even the entire first fleet.” Grand Admiral Tanya Bright.
Rear Admiral Liza Adair sat next to Bright, her expression equally as grim yet she did not speak as she watched the young Praetor steeple his hands.
“How soon will the 3rd fleet be needed at the front Grand Admiral?” Praetor Rodrick spoke very softly and respectfully whenever he spoke to his advisors, and unlike his father they knew that his quiet respect was sincere, no matter what the previous Praetor’s positive sides were he had a serious lack of respect for his underlings unless they were born nobles, which very few military officers were. And though he spoke softly everyone who met Praetor Rodrick knew that he had an intellect and whit that almost spoke for it’s self.
“Highness to be honest I would have liked to deploy the 3rd fleet two months ago instead of just deploying individual superdread squadrons to reinforce the 1st and 2nd fleets. However I understand why you kept the 3rd fleet back, the storm troopers are finished with their training now and I think we should send them to take over the worlds in our space occupied by the enemy and dispatch the third fleet.” Bright looked over at Adair and quirked her eyebrow as if she expected the young woman to say something, however the intelligence officer simply glanced back at the Grand Admiral silently.

“Alright two months and I’ll deploy them to the front, I’ll let you and Miss Adair select the best target for their deployment and what system would be best to deploy them from.” Rodrick smiled a moment until a he heard a Liza Adair clear her throat politely.
“Praetor if I may, intelligence has already selected a system, though it may cause certain nobles to become irritated.” Adair finally spoke as she looked back and forth between the Grand Admiral and her Praetor.
“Really, why is that miss Adair?” Rodrick said pleasantly.
“The Swift system is the best place to deploy the 3rd fleet to it’s target for many reasons, yet certain nobles in said system, excluding of course the Spartans who consider it an honor, have spoken out against opening a third unclose able warp point into enemy space….especially in their system.” She rolled her eyes at the last statement yet said nothing further.
“They’ll get over it, is there anything else ladies?” Rodrick winked at Adair as she turned bright red, realizing she said more then she meant to on the “certain nobles’
“No Highness that’s all.” the two women said as they both stood and saluted, Rodrick stood and returned the salute, before walking them both to the door and bidding them fare well.

4th battle of Ulda Frey Losses:
HMS Lunar (SD) Destroyed
HMS Typhoon (SD) Destroyed
HMS Behemoth (SD) Destroyed
HMS Hades (SD) Destroyed
HMS Wildcat (SD) 98% destroyed
HMS Renown (SD) 52% destroyed
HMS Dreadnought (DN) 38% destroyed
Imperial Casualties: 32,300 dead
Andermanian Losses: 15 (SD)2(monitor) and 1 Assault Carrier total losses 104,300 dead, prisoners taken 6,100.

Total Imperial Losses during Andermanian Crusade: 135,647 dead, 300,958 wounded




[i]Imperial Wall of the Fallen :Anderman Crusade:"
HMS Anasazi
HMS Blackbird
HMS Catherine
HMS Cairo
HMS Hawkwing
HMS Raven
HMS Samson
HMS Sumter
HMS Tyrant
HMS Warden
HMS Lunar
HMS Typhoon
HMS Behemoth
HMS Hades
HMS Justin
2 Superdreadnoughts who’s names have been lost to history

[Starhawk]

Something Wicked this way Comes:
It had been three months since the Andermanian Presidency had declared Marshall law in order to keep the rioting under control, despite the best efforts of the presidency the recent defeats suffered by the Andermanian navy, and the allies in general were leaked to the public and an all out panic was taking place on many worlds, especially on the frontiers where more and more people began to vanish behind the ever advancing Icaran wall. The Sol Coalition, EOM and Mantisoran governments had far better control over their people as they were repoting the numberous victories along their frontiers, however what none of them seemed to realize was that there were still many worlds left alone with no protection deep behind Icaran lines, this is the story of one of those worlds called simply Torque IX by the Icaran military planners it's citizens referred to it as New India, a small world with only two hundred and seventeen million people it was totally defenseless, and would swiftly find it's self on the receiving end of an Imperial invasion.

On “New India” hundreds of thousands flocked to the space port hoping against hope that the Cruisers that were headed for the newly opened warp point would stop off and pick at least some of them up before they left, other citizens prayed in the temples for their gods to protect them while still others raced to the armory to equip themselves with whatever weapons and armor they could.
Word had come in just yesterday that the Icaran 3rd fleet had entered system and that an Admiral William Jefferson Ross was demanding that the Sol Coalition worlds surrender unconditionally. Of course what Ross hadn’t realized was that it had been nearly twenty years since these people had ever even seen a hint of the Solarin government and unlike Icaran worlds which often went decades without seeing so much as an Imperial warship, the desperate citizens of the Torque worlds had been totally isolated from any signs of their government and any food stuffs and goods from the outside galaxy, effectively the citizens of Torque had broken down into their own planetary governments, each independent and some actively hostile towards one another. This state of affairs made surrender practically impossible, because even if one world surrendered it did not mean their neighbors did.
Unfortunately for Tarra Somenev and her family New India was the first world in system that could be reached by the 3rd fleet, Tarra had just celebrated her fourteenth birthday two days ago, and had just blown out the candles on her cake when the new warp point opened. Their first hopes were that a Sol coalition transport fleet would come through and give them food, but the civilian cutters which had approached the warp point were either boarded or destroyed as the Icaran war fleet came through like a hurricane.

That was two days ago now and Tarra’s parents had grabbed her and her six year old brother and run out the door with the other panicking masses and now they were all huddled together at the spaceport waiting, hoping and praying for the six Sol cruisers in system to pull at least some of them out before the Icarans arrived.
Tarra’s little brother was crying and huddled with her parents, Tarra too was huddled with her parents but she felt that she had to act brave for the sake of her brother and parents, she wanted to cry and throw her arms around her parents in fear but she held the tears back and kept from embracing her parents, though she did stay close both because of the cold and the freaks that would do anything to get aboard an evac ship.
“Mommy, Daddy why are they coming here, what did we do?” Jordan asked tearfully of his parents as his little six year old hand grabbed on to his favorite stuffed dog.
“I don’t know honey, they are just very bad people, they don’t want us to be happy and they want to take what we have.” His mother’s voice sounded brave but her eyes were tearful and her hands trembled uncontrollably as she watched her two children as if they would vanish any moment.
Tarra’s father smiled bravely at her when she looked up but he too was obviously terrified, Jordan’s soft voice spoke again, this time oddly optimistic sounding.
“Maybe if I give them Nara they’ll be happy, maybe they are just sad.” His little chin perked up and he smiled bravely as he looked up at his parents, they smiled back and nodded but Tarra only felt her heart sink as she realized no one knew what the Icarans were really like, there had been rumors that any world that fell into their hands was turned into a slave, some rumors had it that the Icarans weren’t even really human….not really but that they were aliens that ate human flesh.
Tarra was about to speak but a loud cry went up from a hundred people at once and the masses of people massed at the spaceport looked up into the royal blue night sky through the dome to see hundreds of lights streaking through the sky like a meteor shower.
“Oh Vishnu protect us they’re here!” Someone screamed, and almost on que tens of thousands of people began moving at once all, trying to get out of the space port and make it to the shelters, Tarra felt powerful hands grab her by the shoulders and screamed in protest until she realized that her family had been shoved away from her in the massive surge of movement.
“Tarra it’s me relax I’m not going to hurt you!” a voice screamed as she sank her teeth into his hand, the young girl whirled around to see Jason Hadrada clutching his bleeding hand and glaring at her, he was a boy from her school that had always joked with her about one day taking a trip around the galaxy with her.
“I’m sorry Jason….where’s my family!” She raised her voice so she could be heard over the throngs of screaming people.
“They were pushed toward the southern shelters, my family was shoved toward the east while I was trying to find medicine for my father, come on we’ve got to get out of here before we’re crushed to death by these idiots!” He grabbed her arm with his non-bloody hand and surprised her again with his strength as he guided her through the crowds, shoving his way through people that refused to yield, Tarra felt another pair of strong hands grab her other arm and screamed as she saw a big man with a strange look in his eyes, Jason whirled along her body with surprising speed and the strange looking man went down in a scream as Jason’s fist crushed his nose causing a geyser of blood to erupt and a nauseating crunch.
Without even pausing Jason began pulling her along again, until the air was suddenly split with an inhuman wail that caused hundreds of people to freeze in place, including Jason and Tarra, the two managed to turn around in time to see a small group of Icaran dropships come screaming in overhead, loudspeakers blaring in several languages
“This is the Icaran Royal Army, you are ordered to surrender, you can not win, surrender and live or fight and die.” the message repeated again even as Jason and Tarra ran for the shelters.
Another ear splitting noise followed moments later, but this time it was no loudspeaker, somewhere the dome had been breached by weapons fire and that meant even now Icaran dropships would be pouring into the city.
“Jason I see my family!” Tarra howled as she caught a glimpse of her father carrying her baby brother with one arm and guiding her mother with the other. Jason didn’t even turn around to look at her as he turned towards her family and started running even faster trying desperately to catch up and not be crushed by the stampeding people.
What seemed an eternity later Jason and Tarra managed to reach her parents and as one group they continued for the nearest shelter.
Meanwhile gunfire and artillery could be heard throughout the city as the Icaran soldiers advanced in a seemingly unstoppable wave, washing aside any planetary militiamen that tried to resist with incredible ease.

Tarra’s family and Jason were almost to the shelter when a deafening whistle split the air, someone screamed and a barely a second later a massive explosion cut into the crowd of people behind Tarra’s family, the shockwave pushed her down and she saw Jason go down with a spray of blood from his forehead. Tarra’s whole body ached and she heard the sounds of militia gunfire and some sort of strange whining weapons that she’d never heard before, the sounds of fighting were drawing closer and she expected at any second to hear another whistle and explosion that would end her life.
After a moment of panic the young girl forced herself to her feet and forced her eyes to focus again, she saw her mother picking up her little brother and her father heading for her, she shook her head and managed to squeak an “I’m alright.” she turned toward Jason and saw him lying very still, blood still gushing from an open cut in his forehead, her father quickly noted where her gaze had fallen and ran over to the young boy and gently picked him up to carry him to the shelter.

As Tarra’s family and a few others managed to claw their way toward the shelter the young girl had to force herself not to look behind her as the awful smell of burned flesh, and the groaning or screaming of the dying battered her senses.
When the shelter doors closed the young girl and her family felt as if they were entering a tomb, and to her sickening horror Tarra turned briefly to see the mangled blood soaked concrete where just moments ago hundreds of people had been, including some people that were just her age, the shock overwhelmed her and she felt her head swim as everything went dark and she passed into merciful blackness.

It was the sound of a breaching charge that woke Tarra, followed by the sound of screaming and crying as a second breaching charge blew the doors of the shelter apart, and figures in dark green armor carrying some sort of rifle Tarra didn’t recognize charged in with amazing speed.
Some of the startled inhabitants of the shelter stood up only to be clubbed down by a rifle butt, or dropped by a kick, an old man next to Tarra stood up and screamed something she didn’t quite understand but his scream was cut short by a gurgling choke as one of the Icaran energy weapons spat a green ball of light straight through the old man’s chest.
Tarra screamed as the body fell over her, her mother threw her body over Jordan and her dad threw himself over her mother, as her own body was protected by the dead old man lying on top of her.
“Everyone cease resistance or we will use deadly force!” one of the armored figures shouted.
“Alright alright for Vishnu’s sake don’t kill us please!”
“We won’t fight, I swear on my wife’s head we won’t fight!” people shouted and prostrated themselves before the Icaran soldiers.
Tarra felt a surge of terror as she saw two soldiers walk over to her and her family, but to her surprise one of them gently lifted the old man’s body off of her and pulled out what appeared to be some kind of medical device.
“Hold still young miss I just want to make sure your unhurt.” The soft masculine voice surprised her and she tried to rise only to have an armored hand gently push her back down.
“I’m not hurt please let me see my family.” the young girl felt tears swelling in her eyes and her tone was pleading and sobbing, the Icaran soldier nodded slightly and helped her to her feet.
The other soldier was standing over her family, trying to convince them to get off their son before they crushed him, Tarra ran past the Icaran and hugged her parents “It’s okay Ma’ dad please get up before you hurt Jordan.” she said tears flowing freely as she spoke.
After a moment of shock her parents did as the Icarans and their daughter pleaded and got off the squirming little six year old and rose to their feet.
“Name, age, and size of family.” The one soldier said as the man that had tried to check Tarra out knelt down to check out her little brother for any injuries.
Tarra absently heard her mother and father speaking as she desperately tried to find Jason Hadrada, the boy that had saved her life and reunited her with her family, when she saw him being carried off in a litter by two Icaran soldiers she broke down again and collapsed to her knees crying.
A female voice came from behind her “Hey your going to be alright young miss, no one here will hurt you.” Tarra turned and felt an odd sense of shock when she saw a girl that looked about sixteen standing over her in an Icaran uniform that had an emblem of a spaceship with an eagle clutching a wreath with a lion in it upon her left breast.
“Come on now you’ll be okay.” the girl said again and knelt down beside Tarra, somehow the young New Indian expected the other girl to turn into some kind of monster and devour her any moment now but instead the Icaran placed a gentle gloved hand on her shoulder and smiled solemnly.
“What are you going to do to us?” Tarra managed to get out through her shock and fear even though she dreaded the response.
“Well that’s up to high command, but we’ve been ordered to annex you folks into the Icaran empire, congratulations young miss your now an Icaran.” the navy girl answered jovially before standing and hurrying off to some other task.
Tarra walked over to her family as the two Icaran soldiers turned to walk away and stopped dead in her tracks as her little brother spoke
“Excuse me mister….”he blurted, causing the two Icarans to pause and turn around, young Jordan walked over cautiously yet bravely and looked up at the two soldiers bravely and reached out, his favorite stuffed dog Nara in his hands.
“If you want Nara you can have him…”his little voice was brave and he managed a ghost of a smile as one of the Icaran soldiers took the stuffed dog and knelt to be “face to face” with the young boy, even though the soldier’s face was not visible through the breather mask and visor.
“I tell you what young man, we aren’t allowed to keep pets on our ships but you can watch him for me okay.” the soldier handed Nara back gently and patted Jordan on his head before standing up to leave.
“What about food and water!” someone shouted and one of the Icaran Navy personnel stepped up and raised a mic to his mouth to amplify his voice over the crowds of crying and some shouting and angry people.
“You are all going to receive ninety day rations after that your should be responsible for yourselves as you have been for the past few years, you are now Icaran citizens and will be treated as such, a noble will be sent to rule over you in the name of the Praetor and you will be treated well, do not fight us and you will be treated as citizens, fight us and we’ll have no choice but to drop SS brigades on your world and have them enforce a Martial Law.” The Naval officer turned toward the shelter doors and nodded to another man wearing a Naval uniform.
“You will be processed and organized by our soldiers, after that you will be led out of the shelter to the city square for indoctrination before being permitted to return to your homes, those of you whom were wounded or are suffering illness will be taken to ai stations, please remain calm and orderly and you’ll be back home in a matter of hours.” this time the Naval officer spoke softly as if to fellow countrymen instead of conquered people, after that he began answering some of the questions that people shouted at him, but Tarra didn’t much care as she ran over to her parents and younger brother to hug them.

The Icaran occupation lasted only two weeks and the soldiers of the 3rd fleet were replaced by those of the Icaran “Home Fleet” and their storm trooper regiments, during that two week occupation Tarra found out that she and her family should be glad they did not make it onto the cruisers that were evacuating the system, apparently the fools had tried to engage Icaran starships at the other end of the warp point and were destroyed along with twenty four million people. Though she was surprised to admit it Tarra had also found that she liked these Icarans, she had gotten in touch with that girl from the shelter and found out her name was Jenna and that she was just a year older then Tarra, she had talked to Jenna a lot over that week and found that she and the other young girl had a lot in common.
Jason Hadrada had recovered from his injuries and been returned to school and his family the day after his injuries, his family and Tarras got together for dinner a few times after his recovery and spent hours talking and laughing with one another.
Tarra was a little depressed when she found out that by Icaran law ordinary citizens were not permitted space travel unless specifically ordered by the Noble, or unless enlisted in the Merchant fleet but after talking to Jenna for the two weeks she and Jason had decided they would join the Icaran navy when they were old enough and oddly though there was some bitterness and resentment on New India over the Icaran conquest and the four thousand people that had died for the most part the New Indian populace felt that not much in their lives had changed, after all they had been an independent state with no real allegiances for a long time and in some ways the Icaran conquest simply meant more access to food and interstellar trade once again.
Tarra did find the schooling system of the Icarans hard to get used to and figured it would still take her a few more months to adapt much less get into the physical condition that was required to be a “proper” Icaran student and that neural education net of theirs was just baffling to the New Indians and even though Icaran teachers were left behind to help the native teachers figure the technology out it would still take a while for the children to get used to doing “12 hours” of school in less then four hours of real time.
Though Tarra did hate one thing about the Icaran society, the uniforms that she had to wear to school were definitely not fashionable and even though Tarra was considered a beautiful girl by New Indian standards she still liked getting to wear makeup and pretty clothing, but no longer would she be able to wear any of that at school, and in fact she was stunned to hear that not many Icaran common women wore makeup at all much less every day.
The occupation was not all pleasant however as there were a lot of protesters and people who tried to start riots and free themselves from the “Icaran oppressors” though what they actually thought they would accomplish was beyond Tarra or her family, the Icaran empire was hundreds of worlds with hundreds of billions of people and had conquered their world in a single day and it seemed obvious even to a fourteen year old girl that even if these idiots drove the Icarans off New India they would be back and retake the world in a heartbeat, assuming of course they didn’t destroy the colony outright like she heard they had done to others who had rebelled or caused to many casualties to Icaran forces.
Even the young people at Tarra’s school knew that nothing in the Torque system would stop the march of Icara and that any who resisted would just end up being crushed, it was only a matter of time before the entire Torque system was Icara’s and no one on New India who had survived the battle and seen the speed and brutal efficiency of the Icarans doubted it.


OT: Hey all I am proud to announce that the SE story has grown so large I've created a second MS word file to hold it so that i don't have the incredible lag factor caused by over 200 pages of text.

[Starhawk]

2436.4 The Alliance Fractures:
It was a bright sunny day on Icara when the shuttles carrying the Christiran and ECA ambassadors landed at the space port, a thousand army soldiers and two State Security brigades had been turned out to escort the two men and their entourages to the Imperial Palace.
The two ambassadors were loaded onto separate APCs and placed in the center of an armored brigade as the procession of troops and vehicles proceeded down the miles of streets from the spaceport.

The trip its self took only thirty minutes but once the APCs and their escorts had reached the sprawling palace grounds an armored column under the control of the Praetor’s own regiment took control of the APCs and their passengers and after thorough inspection continued on until they reached the very gates of the Palace.

Praetor Rodrick the second sat calmly at his desk as he watched the holo display on his desk as images of the two Ambassadors as they were led to separate waiting rooms, a moment later a quiet knock on the door pulled Rodrick’s attention away from the display. The young Praetor looked up with a smile as his assistant; Lieutenant Sally Reece walked in with a folder under one arm. She was a few years older then he and was absolutely stunning to the young man, even though he never saw her in anything but the drab green and gray army uniform. She smiled back and handed her Praetor the folder.
“The two ambassadors are here sir, they say they will only speak with you however, these are their files that the Shadow daggers were able to pull, would you like me to summarize highness?” she said sweetly.
“Sure Sally.” He said as he opened the folder and flipped casually through the flexis
“We believe the EAC has become disheartened with the rest of the alliance that we previously thought was dominated by the Andermanians, apparently it’s actually a Mantisoran alliance and though the Mantys have the largest military force of their alliance they have not provided aid for any of their fellow members against us. The ECA has suffered crushing losses against the 2nd fleet and apparently has had enough, they are probably here to try and negotiate a treaty, however the Intelligence service believes we should settle for nothing less then absolute surrender.” Sally smiled again as she saw the smirk on Rodrick’s face, the Shadow Dagger agents that had gotten into the Mantisoran Alliance members had suspected that the Earth Corps wouldn’t last much longer, their economy was collapsing because of the burden placed upon it by the military requirements of the allies.

“Okay so that’s what he’s here for what about the Christiran Republican, we haven’t had much contact with them at all and we know they aren’t members of the Manty alliance.” Rodrick asked as he tossed the ECA fleci aside.
“Sir the Mantisorans have been taking advantage of their war against us to annex territories within Christiran space, the Republic’s own military has been caving in under the pressure, odds are they’re coming here to seek Protectorate status, again the Shadow daggers believe we should force them into a complete absorption into the Empire thus bringing two Star Nations into the Empire without a shot being fired.
Reece briefed the Praetor on each of the ambassadors that was waiting in the palace and exactly what the Empire held over their respective nations, by the end of the day both the ECA and the Christiran Republic were forced to sign “treaties” that amounted to nothing less then absolute assimilation by and surrender to the Icaran Empire. That day over a hundred billion people and over a hundred new starships were added to the Empire.

[rdouglass]

The story is coming along nicely IMO. I like the characters and the development of them so far (although I've kinda' lost track of some of the earlier characters.)

[Starhawk]

"Where are they Now"

Okay Rdouglas here's where the "early" main characters are:

Sandra Fowler (killed in battle along with her entire SD division) I was actually very said to let her go but I promised myself that if a main character's ship is destroyed then I wouldn't always have them survive heroically.

William Jefferson Ross: He's in command of the 3rd fleet which combined with the 1st and 2nd fleets has gone on the offensive against the Andermanian Alliance, His fleet actually will have a chapter about a recent battle, for that matter so will the 1st and 2nd as since i've stepped up the offensives once again I've had quite a few battles.

Yu Lin Pe/Ross: She's currently in command of the home fleet which is tasked with retaking the worlds posessed by other nations within the Icaran Empire's borders, she's also in command of the 3 Stormtrooper regiments assigned to the Home Fleet.

Praetor Leonidas: He's dead, killed in a nova in the Sadalmelek system while on an inspection tour of the conquered provinces. His son Rodrick is now in charge of the Empire.

Tyson Babcoock, still in command of 1st fleet you'll be seeing him again very soon as the 1st fleet had a space battle that i'm going to post up.