Days have passed since my final talk with the Inquisitor. After a short period of heightened security and worry, everything has fallen back into place. I allowed the scientists to return to the planet, but with four more marines than their usual escort, and they generally order a single attack drone hanging around nearby. However, aside from that, nothing seemed to have happened. Any dealings with the people of the Kingdom have been normal, even the few interactions with the Inquisitor. Everything seems calm for now.

My report sent back home was seemingly received poorly, but there was complete understanding that we are dealing with an alien power and cultural and political norms are quite different. We have no right to expect them to act in what we call reasonable ways, because to them we may be the unreasonable ones. I was simply told to wait and hope the next group of diplomats could be of more use, or the infrastructure projects we build are enough to convince them to come to the table.

During my lunch break, I sit at a table with the off-duty marines and chow down on today's tater-tot casserole. Phillia sits next to me, staring at her food and shying away from the gaze of the over 2-meter-tall marines. Their special trays are double the size of mine, and even their food has been extra fortified to feed their barely human bodies. They continually sprinkle what looks like seasonings on their food, but in reality, it's flavored protein powder meant to go on savory dishes.

I shoot the shit with the marine Lieutenant for a while, jokes of Gavy and crayon-eaters getting tossed around at each other in good faith. It doesn't help the jarheads that part of their meal is colorful sticks of highly condensed nutrients for dessert, looking scarily like the children's coloring implements made of wax.

Suddenly the Lieutenant's back straightens and he gets a distant look. A dangerous and predatory look. He drops his fork and nods at me which immediately connects me to whatever call is going on in his Neural implants. The deep and booming voice of a marine talking quietly fills my head,

"This is First Sargeant Kelly, we are escorting the science team in the designated research zone X-ray. We have alien forces attached today, multiple knights as they call themselves. More have arrived with transports, they have cut us off from the shuttle and have taken a defensive posture, and they're still acting casual. How to proceed Commodore?"

I lock eyes with the Lieutenant and respond,

"Do not act yet, keep us informed and prepare for breakthrough action. I will have the eyes in the sky take note of how many potential combatants there are. Act oblivious."

They respond,

"Aye Sir."

Then the line cuts.

Shoving the last of my meal down my throat I say to Phillia,

"Please return my dishes to the kitchen. I have to work."

I then quickly leave the galley and rush to the bridge, barking orders to the officers there and coordinating with the marine transports to prepare for an extraction mission. I also have another attack drone sent to the planet for extra overwatch. I am assuming the best that potentially there is another rebel group working in the area and these knights are just kinda stupid when it comes to creating a perimeter, but I will not take chances with my people.

By the time I get to the bridge, I have a nice display full of all important information and the drone is 30 minutes out. On the screens, I see no other potential enemies other than those from the Eternal Kingdom. I look into the fleet sensor network and make note the massive space castle thing is currently on the move, but its vector is only an adjustment to its orbit rather than an intercept. This calms me slightly, but still stay on alert.

For an hour there is little in the way of changes in circumstance. No further aggressive or strange actions were taken by the aliens and the science team decided it is time to leave. The main science vessel moves to a closer location to conserve shuttle fuel and still nothing more happens. The scientists pack their gear and finalize their readings and other such science activities.

Then without warning, there is a massive pulse of radiation right next to the science vessel and in a blink, the massive city-sized ship appears right next to it. The gravity and sudden displacement of the ship caused the comparatively small science vessel to reel away. The captain of the ship announces his plan of action to evade the big ship, believing it to be a poorly done jump. Then the first brilliant blue beam lances out.

Nearly all ships in space are quite sturdy and have some form of armor, even civilian and non-combat ones. This is due to how fast ships move at sublight speed, even with the artificial gravity and magnetic field there are bits of random debris that are not shoved away by the "wake" of a spaceship. This is why ships that are not constantly repaired are incredibly scarred or pocked by impacts from small objects at high speed.

Despite the reinforced hull the beam of blue easily shreds through the exterior of the ship, igniting the internal atmosphere as brilliant gouts of flame jet into space before quickly dying as the air is either consumed or the void takes it. Then comes a second, third, and fourth until the beams begin slamming into the ship, sending debris everywhere as flames begin to engulf the smaller, white vessel.

The captain screams orders of evacuation before I hear his voice become gargled screams as the local radiation practically melts him before the flames incinerate the entire bridge. Finally, the reactor containment is breached and a small sun rapidly goes supernova, a brilliant spot of light appears for a split second before disappearing in a multiple-megaton explosion. The ship becomes a devastating shrapnel bomb as the bits fly in the dozens of mach in all directions. I watch as in mere seconds the radiation field around the castle lights up like a laser show as the shards of the science vessel impact, and then continue through. Masonry is devastated in incomprehensible ways and multiple defensive structures crumble away.

I recover from my shock suddenly and say,

"Tubes 1 through 6 fire."

A weapons officer confirms my order with the targeting AI as on the side of the Catfish multiple hatches blast open with compressed air and six missiles are launched free with explosive force. Small thrusters lining their sides blast to life, orienting the missiles toward their target. Then a stream of superheated gasses is expelled as they burn forward, accelerating fast enough to liquefy a human if they were riding on it. They each reach hypersonic speeds in less than three seconds without the atmosphere slowing them down and continue to accelerate faster and faster.

With the Catfish in a high orbit, the travel time to the large vessel is only a few seconds. The Catfish is hailed and I answer it to hear the voice of the Shipmaster, he demands in an unsure voice,

"Lay down your arms and submit to the Eternal Kingdom. Your advanced vanguard vessel was destroyed, now give in."

I speak quickly,

"That was an unarmed civilian vessel. Three... Two... One..."

He asks,

"What? Why are you?"

The radiation field barely lights up as all six missiles detonate a meter away from spots the targeting systems had designated as most structurally important after weeks of scans and research.

The small atmosphere the ship has around it immediately is engulfed in flame as all six 10MT detonate in unison.

The radiation field appears to be kept in the atmosphere which seems to keep the expanding fireball trapped filling the entire field with flame as all the air trapped inside through their magical means is burned in nuclear hellfire. The cameras on the Catfish dim the brilliant light of the explosion and the optics are overlayed with other sensors so we can all get a good picture of the city-sized vessel being shattered.

Shattered is almost the wrong word, atomized is a better one. The areas directly impacted are immediately turned into atoms not even leaving ash, further in the masonry is turned into ashes, and even further it shatters into microscopic shards, in the center entire sections slough off as all structure is shaken by impossible forces, and finally, the far side of the vessel has much of its broken form sent hurdling into the void as the shockwave finishes making its way through all of the stone.

The radiation field breaks and the dust and debris expand out from the remaining shattered bits of the vessel. The smaller vessels contained inside are either burning as their remaining atmosphere cooks off, but two of them limp back toward the planet, the majority of their frames bent, cracked, or even sections missing. The large vessel is only a smoldering debris field as the remaining atmosphere escapes into the void, rapidly cooling the molten stone and other materials. There are large sections still intact, but they slowly spiral off into space, kilometer-large sections taking the screaming ghosts of the crew with them.

I have the targeting AI log that the sections struck by the nuclear weapons are the correct locations for the shockwaves to cause the most immediate structural damage. Due to the captive atmosphere the vessel had the cameras were unable to catch every second of the ship being shattered as the dust kicked up by the vaporizing masonry could not be penetrated by any visual sensor, but what was captured is memorized for future engagements, especially since the cat is now out of the bag.

The line is still open with the Shipmaster and he asks with a shaky shout,

"What in the name of his Eternal Majesty was that?"

I respond,

"A proportional response. Stand down if you value your life alongside your crew. We have hundreds of those weapons ready and we can strike at a moment's notice. Be gone now."

I turn off our receiver and watch on sensors as his ship turns tail and begins running to a low orbit. I don't have time to let the situation weigh on me as an emergency communication comes in from the science shuttle. It's the pilot,

"Come in Commodore!"

I respond,

"I am here, what is the situation?"

She responds,

"Sir, we have evacuated from the planet, the local forces who surrounded us tried to arrest the entire science team."

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I ask,

"What is the status of the evacuation?"

She answers quickly,

"We are on our way to orbit with two-thirds of the science team and all the marines. Where is our mothership?"

I respond with a dark tone,

"The science vessel has been destroyed by local forces, please dock at the USS Catfish, docking port three..."

There is silence for a while and she asks,

"Any survivors?"

I respond apologetically,

"They hit them out of nowhere and their reactor breached containment."

That was enough of an answer and the line drops as on sensors the shuttle rises from the planet flanked by the two attack drones...

"Tell me what happened out there?"

I growl at the line of six marines who are standing in one of the Catfish's hangars. I pace in front of the monstrous men and women who are still wearing their powered armor aside from their helmets. Each one wearing the gaze only an enlisted getting chewed out by a superior can have. The First Sargeant steps forward and answers,

"Permission to speak sir?"

I nod and they continue,

"Sir, we did what we could but due to the parameters of our mission, focusing on the lives of the science team first and foremost we were unable to guarantee the safety of those captured by the foe.

When the parameters of the situation reached hostile levels it was too late and they had seized multiple scientists and we could not justify attempting to fire upon the enemy without severe bodily harm to the civilians. Once the enemy had brought them to their transports we had no idea where the civilians were sitting so we could not justify firing into them, and especially could not risk destroying the transports.

We gathered all non-captured and denied the capture of any further civilians before breaking through the remaining forces and then we headed to orbit. It was my failure for not understanding that the situation was going to result in the capture of our own."

I nod and respond with a calmer voice,

"It's alright, but not alright. You are not at fault as you did follow mission parameters, none of us could foresee such a sudden act of aggression. You and your men will not face any disciplinary actions of course, but you will all be responsible moving forward in the rescue of our captured countrymen. Understood?"

In unison, they respond,

"Aye Sir!"

I nod and say,

"Alright, dismissed, but stay on standby and prepare for my orders."

I turn and head back to the bridge as my message back to command starts formulating. I don't mince words, or try to make the situation seem better than what it is. I say it how it is,

"Local forces hostile. Civilian research vessel destroyed, proportional response activated, enemy vessel destroyed. Multiple civilians were captured by local forces. Dr.Mengel, Dr.Kelly, and Diplo-Colonel Jamestown are all in the captured group. How to proceed?"

With my message sent I order the fleet to hide behind the moon and we wait for our answer...

The answer comes by the end of the 24-hour cycle, enough time for me to run through every emotion of panic and worry for my two friends trapped on the planet. The response is such,

" Engage in a rescue mission, you have full operation authority, presidential permission granted. Congress has been briefed, voting has commenced. Local forces and leadership are of no concern, do not concern yourself with sparing any who would stop your mission."

My orders now given I send a communication to the marines and to the other captains in the fleet. It orders all of them to join me in a video briefing in one hour as we will decide how this mission will happen. There have been no demands given by the locals, and the vitals for all those captured are still normal with only minor elevations in stress which is expected. I'm just thankful the aliens understand we cannot live without our suits so no one has been melted yet.

I stand on the bridge as all the officers sit at their consoles either plugged in or manually manipulating the controls. Every aline ship in the system, military or not has firing solutions created for them as small recon drones zoom all around taking in every single bit of data. We have multiple drones circling the city where the civilians were taken, using cross references with helmet cam footage, penetrating radar, and the location beacons of those captured a picture of the entire interior of the big central palace is being built. There are still many sections unavailable due to them being too far underground. I then remember that the aliens don't have the same communication equipment as us so I send a text to Shariah and Uriel to upload their helmet footage so we can figure out the layout of the dungeon they are being held.

Alongside the data, they also report that they are safe and while the cells are technically illegal for holding captives, they have been treated mostly okay aside from being forced around.

It takes a while for the camera footage of all those captured to upload due to all the dirt and stone in between them and the nearest receiver on the drone, but eventually, we have the interior 85% mapped based on the volume and construction of the palace and dungeon. It is assumed the remaining areas are lodging areas and possible armories. With the map done the meeting can happen. I sit in my chair and close my eyes as I enter the video meeting.

Every officer is represented by an avatar they chose, which looks mostly like themselves aside from the captain of the USS Snapper who looks to be some sort of bipedal furry creature. With a thought, his avatar is made into a black silhouette because I don't have time to deal with that. I make a note to correct him for that later. The room renders and it becomes a conference table with a holographic screen in the middle that accommodates everyone's individual view automatically based on each person's location. We all sit and I begin,

"Listen up. As you all know multiple of our civilians have been captured by local forces. The President has granted me near unlimited authority to rescue those captured. Here is the situation.

In the system, we believe there are only three military vessels, one of them being larger than a Kilometer in length, the other two appearing to be wooden sailing ships over 400 meters long. Based on our engagement with the large space city or whatever that was we are capable of destroying their vessels, no secret shields or anything so enemy naval assets in this system have been ruled negligible.

On the ground we have estimated enemy forces are in the thousands and based on data are no more powerful than the rebels we decimated at least in the majority. There may be a few heavy hitters among them, but they are rare it appears. You all have gone over the information so all individuals in fancy armor should be avoided. We do not believe there is any heavy armor on the ground, but there is most likely some form of artillery similar to the weapons on their naval assets, but this is speculation.

So here is my recommendation for this mission. This will be largely my strategic plan for the mission. Any tactical details will be left up to any of you who are participating.

I wish to avoid the unnecessary suffering of civilians, both ours and theirs. So this will not be a shock and awe mission. This will be a three-part mission.

The first part will be up to the Navy. The Terrapin, all four Teach-Class destroyers, and the Bullfrog. The Terrapin will be the main naval deterrent for the enemy naval assets, focusing on disabling enemy vessels rather than destroying, the same goes for the destroyers. These ships will form a defensive formation around the Bullfrog. From there the Terrapin will fire upon three designated locations with low-yield surface attack missiles. These locations have been observed to be major mustering points for local forces, believed to be armories or barracks. Following this multiple attack drones will perform surgical strikes on defensive towers protecting the palace as well as sweeping the exterior walls of enemy combatants. The final strike will be a single orbital shot from the secondary 5-inch from the Terrapin at a designated location creating an insertion point.

The Second part is the insertion and securing of civilians. With a great big new door in the roof of the palace we will send a drop-pod with a vanguard of marines. They will secure an LZ which is designated here on the maps we have made. The only entrance to that area is inside so that's why the pod will be inside the palace. The LZ is a terrace garden that should be able to hold a dropship on it. We cannot drop the marines there because of size constraints, there simply wouldn't be enough room for the pilots to land comfortably with a drop pod there. After the LZ is secure a dropship will come down and deploy a full squad of marines who will join the vanguard in securing the civilians and neutralizing any forces sent to intercept. From here the dropship will take off but loiter nearby and join the attack drones in denying any enemy reinforcements from the outside, and where possible putting more holes in the palace to support the interior force. This force will make a direct line to the civilians, blowing through walls and floors if needed to make the escape route easier to navigate. Helmet cameras revealed the cell doors are either metal bars or reinforced wood, both should be easy for a marine to tear off the hinges, if not there will be cutting tools provided.

The Last part is extraction, and this is where we can give... well what we call a proportional response. With all civilians secure the Marines will make their way back to the LZ where the dropship will land just as they arrive. This is to deny an easy target for any missed large weapons platforms. With civilians and marines loaded the ship will return to the Bullfrog and from there the civilians will be sent to the Catfish. Before leaving the Terrapin will fire 2 perfectly designated shots from its 12-inch batteries and a singular Configuration class Orbital attack missile. The first shot will be at a nearby mountain peak, the orbital reentry should be enough to take a good tenth off of the top. The second will be at what appears to be a heavily fortified fortress within eyesight of the city which should devastate it beyond repair. The missile will be detonated above the forest to set it alight simply as another sign we can do whatever we wish.

With these actions taken, the mission should be complete with a high chance of success. Any concerns?"

The officers all mumble and mutter among themselves, clearly pulling up calculators or running personal simulations based on our internal maps and cross-referencing with data gained in the 2 engagements we have had with alien forces. When the sound dies down there are very few questions, mostly asking why I chose the ships I did and the like. The rest of the questions were answered by the officers who I will utilize in the mission as they have more fine details available about their own forces.

With the breifing over I announce,

"Be ready for action at 0600 tomorrow. We will engage then."

A chorus of "Aye Sir" rings out and the virtual world ends. I am once more on my bridge, glaring forward at the video stream of the palace below....

End Operation Inquisition

Begin Operation Hellstorm

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End of Operation Force Composition

1 Viking Class Large-Cruiser- USS Catfish- Role: Flagship and Fire Support

3 SF-21 Fighters- 6 support wingmen each

2 UD-12 Dropships- Gunship Configuration

Marine compliment- 100

2 Preist Class Support and Fabrication Vessels- USS Shovelnose, USS Palid- Role: Auxillary

Marine Compliment- 50

2 MacArthur Class Heavy Cruisers- USS Terrapin, USS Snapper- Role: Battleline

2 UD-12 Dropship

Marine Compliment -100

4 Bowman Class Missile Cruisers- USS Quillback, USS Hognose, USS Redhorse, USS Buffalo-Role: Long Range Combat

Marine Compliment- 100

4 Cutter Class Destroyers- USS Bluegill, USS Longear, USS Redear, USS Shellcracker- Role: Escort

Marine Compliment- 80

4 Teach Class Destroyers- USS Largemouth, USS Smallmouth, USS Spotted, USS Neosho- Role: Backline Disruption

Marine Compliment- 100

2 Hellstorm Class Frigates- USS Eel, USS Lamprey- Role: Naval Raiding

Marine Compliment- 50

1 Arsenal Bird Class Drone Carrier- USS Heron- Role: Drone Carrier

400 MQ-25 "Parasite" attack Drones

20 MQ-30 "Plover" Bomber Drones

Marine Compliment-25

6 Boohag Class Marine Transports- USS Bullfrog, USS Peeper, USS Daddys Belt, USS Toad, USS Newt, USS Salamander- Role: Marines

8 UD-12 Dropships- Gunship Configuration

1200 Marines

800 Shipbreakers

4 M3A1 "Stonewall" MBT

24 M8A3 "Gavin" IFVs

8 M112 MRTWP (Multi-role Transport Weapons Platform)

12 M8 "Bunny" Fast Attack/Recon Vehicles

Total Force:

26 Capital Vessels

12 Dropships

3 Manned Fighters

420 Drone Fighters

2505 Marines (Including Shipbreakers)

48 Ground IFVs (Crews included)

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