In the areas controlled by those still loyal to the dream of the United Galactic Nations, a certain sense of hubris was building. Arcadia, whose fleets had once patrolled its territories and systematically destroyed any attempt made to cause chaos, was now pulling every asset it could from every part of itself to fight some unknown threat. If the Free Galactic Resistance had even the slightest semblance of common sense, it would have realized that a threat big enough to cause their great enemy to pull literally everything away from its normal duties would be a threat to them as well. However, the old ‘holier than thou’ mindset still remained within the upper echelons of the group’s leadership, and unlike the failure of an economic policy it had indeed trickled down.

They realized that Arcadia simply could not spare the resources needed to police its territories with the same level of intensity that it had done before. This was, in their eyes, a sign that the giant was dying and that they could ramp up their attempts to sow discord and strife within the nation. A mix of guerrilla raids and propaganda would quickly cause the massive behemoth to crumple to its knees and submit to them, or so they believed.

However, Arcadia and its leadership were not as dumb as the FGR believed. While every military asset available was being sent to deal with the threat of the extragalactic invaders, private groups were given temporary privileges to help deal with any nuisances such as the FGR. It was akin to giving a privateer a letter of marque and giving them (nearly) free reign to run wild, so long as they didn’t break the law or act in ways that would make them into criminals.

The police and planetary defense forces were given temporary privileges as well. According to their beloved ruler, it was not out of the question for the invaders to potentially have infiltrators that would lead the way for the ravenous hordes. As such, any dissenters or rabble rousers were considered potential agents, if not for the FGR than for the invading monsters. The temporary increase in security at the cost of a small loss of freedom was something Arkhan had hoped to avoid, but his knowledge about things such as the Fl**d, T*ranids and Z*rg and seeing as how these invaders were so eerily similar led him to the conclusion that it was better to be safe than sorry.

When the whole galaxy was under the threat of such a monster, dissent can be as dangerous as the enemy itself.

All of this led to what would hopefully be a temporary thing. The police forces were now being issued military equipment and the PDFs were being given greater leeway about how to defend their worlds. Add in that restrictions on weapon ownership had temporarily loosened so that more people could own weapons (something that would hopefully help the PDF and Police to hold the planet in the event of an invasion) and it was clear to see how desperate Arcadia was getting. More than ten systems had already fallen completely to the invading swarm, and it seemed that more were to follow.

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As the Arcadian Galactic Commonwealth threw everything into its fight with the ever-increasing numbers of invaders, the Free Galactic Resistance geared up for a second major strike against their hated foe. The giant was busy and had its attention focused elsewhere, so now was the time to strike a blow for freedom and justice! The disastrous failed attack on the Arcadian flagship had already left their minds, and the backers of the rebellion called in as many favors as possible and spent far more than they had ever expected to all in the hope of rebuilding the fleet that had been destroyed in that far off system.

Now, after what felt like an eternity filled with backroom deals and shady transactions, they were ready to face their foe once again. They would have to be both carful and bold in their attack. If they struck someplace relatively safe, there would be less impact than if they took someplace far more heavily defended. However, if they did hit someplace hard, they would likely lose far too much to hold it and the retribution leveled against them would once again send them back to square one.

They had to strike someplace both important and lightly defended, and there were few places that fit that description better than the system known as El’gan Alpha. The system had, originally, been a mining site. Comprised of little more than a single star surrounded by nothing but a massive asteroid belt and a single gas giant, the system was formerly owned by the Grek’sah Mining Conglomerate in the days when the UGN still reigned supreme over that section of the galaxy. Now, however, Arcadia’s mining companies had taken over and it was one of the few places where a certain extremely rare mineral could be obtained in (relatively) large quantities.

Arcanium was a mineral known for its absurd ability to amplify any energy sent through it. Not only did it break the laws of physics, but it also was fabulously eye-pleasing in appearance. In fact, due to the latter of these properties it was usually not used at all, at least by the UGN, as anything other than decoration. Who would want to use such a beautiful gem as an amplifier when it would inevitably burn out after centuries of use? Better to let it adorn people, places and things and bathe in its dazzling appearance, no?

Anyways.

If they could retake the system, or at least do some potent damage, then they would have dealt a massive morale victory against the Arcadians. No doubt the well-off in Arcadia were paying top credit for such lovely jewels, and of course the military would not dare use such precious baubles as materials in weapons, shields, and other such things, right? This target would anger the rich in Arcadia to such a degree that surely there would be anarchy. During that chaos, they could further sow dissent and strife by attacking other places.

Nothing could go wrong with this plan! It’s not like the system was heavily defended, after all. Who in their right mind would risk the destruction of warships via asteroid collision in such a place? There were probably a few hundred large mining ships, likely armed with point defense at most, and there were certainly no defenses in place for any kind of threat. Their scouts had sent back pictures to prove that there were no large stations there aside from ones built into asteroids, and who in their right mind would build a battle station into an asteroid? No one, that’s who!

Yes, the assault would succeed, or they (the grunts sent to fight in the system and not the leadership) would die trying.