(Flag Bridge, CNV Spear of Tagrun, Interstellar Space)
Admiral Gifol Warhelm was glad to be finally underway. Coldana was the primary naval base in the Grathdan Sector, so when Coldana went out of contact, gathering relief forces that could be sent was a problem. Sending individual ships was pointless, as it would just leave them to be destroyed individually. So, he had been forced to wait and concentrate the relief forces.
His Tenth Fleet had been stationed in the Helfan Sector, on the edge of the Ihm Imperium. The word of Coldana’s silence had spread rapidly through the Fleet, and orders were quickly cut for him to reinforce and relieve the fleet base, since relations between the Consortium and the Imperium were as good as they typically got for the time being. Getting from one side of the Consortium to another quickly was a minor logistical nightmare, but that is why all fleet commands trained for rapid redeployment, in the case of invasion. He had to leave much of his fleet train behind to make the best time, but he had arrived in the Grathdan Sector a mere three weeks after Coldana was first reported as going dark.
Fortunately, the Consortium was not so foolish as to place all their forces in a sector at a single fleet base, but Ekyinos was only a secondary base, little more than a supply depot, really. Originally intended as a base for forces tasked to antipiracy efforts, Warhelm knew it was completely unsuited to the task of being the launching point for his forces. Further, it was also on the other side of the Sector from Coldana. Which is why, when he brought his fleet through the Gateway at Dagon, he had the remaining sector forces rally with him at the Cadra System, along with every logistics freighter they could manage bringing supplies from Ekyinos. This would shave two weeks off the time necessary to rally the combined fleet, and an entire month off the time to relieve Coldana.
His only worry, when devising this plan of action, was the fact that stripping the Sector of every warship he could get his hands on would leave the trade fleets vulnerable to pirates who would try to take advantage of the situation. But a Fleet Base does not simply drop off the face of the universe for a lark. Something was desperately wrong at Coldana, and that meant he needed all the guns he could get, and he needed them sooner, rather than later.
The lack of information was disturbing, in more ways than one. He had the feeling of flying off into the void, without charts or instruments to guide him. Preparing for an adversary you did not know the capabilities of was a near impossibility. But if they were able to silence an entire system so completely, then they needed to be able to predict and prepare, so that he didn’t end up wasting his fleet, rather than saving Coldana.
The only good news in all of this was that the Sector Administrator had not been idle. When the Fleet Base went dark, she clearly recognized the need for relief forces, and knew where they would have to come from. Even before he had departed from his base in the Helfan Sector, the Sector Administrator had commandeered a Navy cruiser, and had gotten a mercenary group to patrol the spacelanes in the sector and keep pirates in check. They even had capitol ships that could help defend the sector capitol, if needed.
Such quick action was to be commended, and Warhelm had already sent messages publicly supporting the Sector Administrator’s actions to both Fleet Command and the Trade Council. Far too many of the Sector Administrators would be too afraid of harming their precious bottom line to make the hard choices that were required when it came time to actually defend the people and territory under their command. They would have spent a month or more negotiating the terms of the agreement to get the mercenaries to do the most work for the least amount of money and the fewest billable expenses. While that may be useful for normal situations, a crisis demanded swift action. One did not become a Sector Administrator by being wasteful with capitol, of course, but Sector Administrator Yutreda Woldmane was clearly able to tell the difference between ‘business as usual’ and a crisis.
Even better, from his point of view, was the fact that she had not insisted on coming with him and the Tenth Fleet to relieve Coldana. Too many Administrators would feel the need to put their fingers in the confection to ensure that they got credit for any successes, and could be there to forcefully lay the blame on someone else if there were failures. It always resulted in a dramatic drop in efficiency and often became the source of adverse results. She had remained on Cadra, and he was extremely thankful for that.
His ruminations were disrupted by the sound of a chime, indicating that someone was approaching the Flag Bridge’s doors. He tapped a command into his screen, and saw the scene outside, with a lowly Ensign being stopped by the marines outside the door. Normally, no ensign would ever be allowed onto a flag bridge on a Consortium Navy flagship, but the guards checked the ensign’s identification against a list, and then allowed him in.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Frowning, Warhelm brought up the Ensign’s file, to find out what would cause the marines to allow him onto the flag bridge. Ah, there it was. A Nomad, just recently graduated from the Consortium Naval Scholarium. That gave a possible reason for the Ensign to be on his flag bridge. Once news of the Nomad communication networks was verified by Naval Intelligence, he had issued a standing order that Nomads wearing the uniform be allowed access to command staff if they had received mission critical information via their networks. The same order also stated that wasting their commanders’ time would be harshly punished.
He heard the Ensign come to a halt behind him, the telltale sounds of someone coming to attention. “Sir! Ensign Hassot Alebraids reporting according to standing orders, sir!”
Warhelm turned, and viewed the Ensign. A Gauz male, he wore the uniform well, and didn’t have any of the silly affectations that most Nomads appeared to have. Discipline was important in the Navy, and this Ensign was clearly taking the lessons to heart. He would have to examine his file in more detail later on. Nomads had been at the center of several major changes recently, so keeping one on good terms would serve him well.
“At ease. I take it the Nomad communication networks have picked up something important, Ensign? Let us hear it, then.”
The Ensign shifted into the at ease position, and said, “As you know, Black Star ships have been patrolling the space lanes to curb piracy. According to chatter, they have encountered at least five X’thari raiding groups, each a third of scout ships. Survivors of one of the raiding groups appeared to jump out, heading towards Coldana. Black Star has sent out a general warning to all Nomads, letting them know the X’thari are on the hunt, and encouraging them to spread the word to local forces. Black Star has already used the planetary comms at Cadra Primaris to inform system governments across the sector.”
Admiral Warhelm nodded. “So, the Black Stars discovered the X’thari, and then moved to inform the sector as quickly as possible, via whatever means they had available. And you, hearing this, brought it straight to me. Very good. If we had more Nomads like you and the Black Stars, then we would have fewer problems. What is the disposition of the Black Star Fleet?”
“With a X’thari presence confirmed, Admiral Mollen is recalling all Black Star ships to Cadra Primaris. When he learned I was in Tenth Fleet, he specifically asked for me to pass along that the Black Stars would act as a backstop, should things goo poorly. The few Nomads in the Coldana system haven’t found any traces of the X’thari, but they’re standing ready to pass along information as it comes through.”
“Excellent. Anything else to report?”
“Yes, Admiral. A Nomad claiming to be part of the Shatterback Clan of pirates has come forward offering an ‘arrangement’ with the Black Stars. From what was discussed, the pirate clans have also been losing ships to the X’thari, and are discussing their options. Admiral Mollen told them that, if the clans did not engage in piracy during this crisis, then his contract with the Consortium would not require him to hunt them. If they took that time to engage in ‘less than legal’ shipping concerns between planets, or heading out of the Sector, then that was not part of his contract, and none of his concern.”
“And they knew you were listening to this?”
“Yes, sir. This happened after I had identified myself as a member of Tenth Fleet, and Admiral Mollen had discussed his plans.”
Warhelm nodded slowly. “So, even the pirate clans understand the gravity of the situation, and are looking for options. Ensign, I want you to get back on that communication network, and let that pirate know that, on authority of the Tenth Fleet, ships conducting legitimate rescue and relief missions during the crisis will not be hindered, regardless of whether they may have ‘lapsed’ on registrations or have been identified in illicit acts previously. Dismissed.”
The Ensign saluted, and then walked off the bridge, presumably to get in contact with the Nomads. Looking over to his aide, Captain Millbrew, he said, “Millbrew, fire up the mobile FTL comm, and transmit the Ensign’s report to the nearest buoy, and have it retransmit to all planets and fleet resources in the sector. And get that Ensign’s complete file for me. I want to see if he is in line for promotion.” He paused, and then added, “And pass to all ships in the fleet, ‘Expect X’thari involvement, formation Red Nine’. Not much else we can do until we find them.”
(Fleet Command Center, Coldana Prime, Coldana System)
The Fleet Command Center had been the site of barely controlled panic for the better part of a month, now, ever since whatever happened to plunge their system into a communication’s blackout had descended upon them. Fortunately, the Coldana System was relatively self-sufficient, and did not rely on imports of foodstuffs like some systems did to keep people from starving within days. Without imports, Coldana could support its colony and system infrastructure for months without hardship. Rationing had been put into effect, however, so that reserves could be established. Current estimates were that, with the rationing, they would be able to sustain Coldana’s population for a year, if nothing changed. That is when medicines and certain other non-food necessities would begin running out.
None of which made Admiral Fullstout happier about the situation. Whatever was keeping ships from getting in or out of the system was also keeping the FTL coms from connecting. He needed information on the outside world, and the threats his people faced. And the only source was… distasteful.
Chernikova Alevtina Vitalievna was a human. Worse, she was a Nomad. As if that wasn’t bad enough, her ship, the Fucking Bitch was a confirmed smuggler, dealing primarily in contraband psychoactive materials and slaves. However, Captain Chernikova was the only Nomad in the system, which meant she was the only way he had of getting news from the outside.
“So, it is confirmed that the X’thari are responsible, then? That is… unfortunate.”
Chernikova shrugged, and said in that heavy accent of hers, “I don’t see what is so bad about it. Yes, the bugs are nasty, but what can they really do if the people on the ground fight? The gravity outside is three times that of Earth. They would not last long once they left their ships. Hell, Gauz are the only ones that can walk around here without grav belts.”
Fullstout shook his head. “Oh, it is very bad. If the people from Shadowgate were responsible, I could at least see an occupation in the future. With this being the X’thari, then this would be the largest action since the last X’thari war. In that war, entire planets were consumed, down to the bedrock, and left as lifeless husks, stripped of all resources and biomatter to feed the swarm.”
Chernikova frowned. “Well, that will definitely suck for whoever’s on the planet when they get here.”