"Where do we start?" Jesper asked eagerly as they turned around and walked back into the station.
"Terra's diplomatic offices. I want an answer to my request for our military ally to aid us, and I want it now! it is an outrage that they have stalled for over a week!" Eirik spat out and increased his walking pace.
They arrived back within the minute and the door was already open, Jensen sitting at his desk, two aides standing behind him, one holding a tray of glasses and a crystal decanter, the other holding a datapad.
"Eirik, I have been expecting you ever since your arrival back at the station. I take it you went to be with your family first?" The question was friendly enough and Jensen was speaking in a respectful tone, but Eirik's mouth become a thin line as he was reminded of what he no longer had.
"Terra is being called upon, Jensen. Will you join us in the new war that is being brought, unprovoked, to my nation, as we rushed to your aid?" He asked, his voice friendly, but sharp as steel.
"May I offer you a drink while we talk, Eirik? I took the liberty of having your favorite mead brought up from my storage." At the words, the aide on his left started putting glasses on the table but Eirik held up a hand to stop him.
"You may offer me an answer, Jensen. The enemy is approaching and the frontline is calling. I am leaving within the day to confront the Plyxii fleet when it arrives." Eirik said impatiently.
"Plyxii fleet?" Jensen exclaimed, seemingly shocked to his core.
"Cut the bullshit, Jensen, I do not have the time to deal with it. I may be your friend, but the Emperor is standing in front of you right now, and I demand an answer!" Eirik could no longer contain his anger and let a tiny amount of it spill out. Both of Jensen's aides took a step back in shock, but Jensen just tilted his head and started smiling before he replied.
"It's funny Eirik, the first time I met you, you were performing life-saving first aid on yourself after almost losing your life to a wild boar, and back then you still had enough sass in you to make my blood boil. So to see you like this tells me that the Plyxii fleet is larger than our spies reported. It would seem you have a better intelligence network, congratulations.
But to answer your question, Terra will not answer the call. The last war with the Plyxii, we only won because of your grandfather," Eirik snorted at that, but Jensen kept talking, "AND if you have not forgotten, we are already involved in a war with the Kloxna. Opening another front would be idiotic, bordering on suicide. I am sorry my friend, but there is nothing I can do." He added the last words as a gesture of apology, to let Eirik know that he had fought for him on the diplomatic battlefield. Eirik was not having it.
"Then you will of course understand why I must insist on prematurely ending the defense contracts with Terra, as I will need every Libertalian citizen to do their duty if we are to weather this storm. Ships and crews will return once their current assignment is at an end, meaning. I expect the last crew returned no more than 2 weeks from now. Any longer and I will consider them hostages, taken by Terra in an act of bad faith. Trading of weapons will be stopped for the same reasons, as well as labor contracts. The war factories will need skilled labor as well. To prevent any chance of starvation among my people, I must also insist that all food trade is stopped, effective immediately, so we can create a stockpile for when food shortages become a thing.
Finally, all contractors licensed by Libertalia to haul cargo will have to return as well, to create a supply chain to bind my empire together. Good day to you, ambassador Jensen." With that, Eirik nodded and turned on his to walk away. Jensen had been sitting in stunned silence as Eirik spoke, but when Eirik turned around, he reacted, "Eirik, you cannot do that! That would cripple the Terran supply lines in our war with the Kloxna!"
"So you would have me cripple my empire, to save one that does not honor their pledge of military allegiance?" Eirik had stopped when Jensen had his outburst but he had not turned back around. His question was asked over his shoulder and he caught Jensen's stupified and begging stare with a single eye. "Tell the council that if they wish to negotiate new contracts, they can find me where the fighting is the hardest!" With that, he walked out of the poor ambassador's office. He could hear Jensen cry out behind him "THEY ARE GOING TO EAT ME ALIVE IF I DELIVER THAT MESSAGE!"
"TELL THEM IT WAS THEIR ACTION TO IGNORE TO CALL FOR AID THAT BROUGHT THIS ALONG! NEW CONTRACTS WILL ONLY BE NEGOTIATED BY ME AND A COUNCIL MEMBER!" He shouted back over his shoulder. He looked over to Jesper, who was shaking with pent-up excitement, and it struck him how much the man had aged. His hair had become grey on the sides and there were wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. Had Eirik aged that much as well? "To the ships. we leave in 4 hours!" He told Jesper who issued orders to the nearest of his soldiers immediately before he ran off to make his preparations.
Three hours later, Eirik walked up the ramp to his ship and was surprised to see Knud, Signe, David, Las'Tai, Trasti, David, and even Old Pan, standing there. There was also a young man that could have been Old pan 50 years in the past, and Eirik suspected a family member turned protege.
"How are you all here?? Don't you have different assignments? And you, Knud, what about your medical practice?" He asked in wonder. It was a pleasant surprise, but still a surprise.
"You are going to need experienced, competent people to do whatever insane thing you have cooked up in your mind, Eirik. We are here to make sure you see it through alive, as usual." Knud remarked dryly with a small smile. He getting truly old, his face a map of wrinkles and his hair thinning and balding. But his eyes were as sharp and intelligent as ever.
"My crew can handle themselves. I have assigned them to patrol the void between the evacuated planets and the next civilized system under our control. If they try to sneak past, we will know." Las'Tai chimed in with Trasti, solemn and quiet as usual, agreeing next to her. Were they standing closer than the last time they had worked together? Eirik suddenly realized how much he had neglected his friends. Family DID have a prize, it seemed.
"When Eirik takes charge, he usually finds trouble. You know I can't let you walk out there without someone covering your back" David said.
"You always find the best fights" Jesper grinned, his wounds from the last fight he was in, still not healed.
"The spirits told me it was time to come back to your ship," Jeanette said from the shadows. She looked different. she dressed in a simple long dress, like the ones she and Eirik's ancestors used to wear. Along her belt were several pouches and bags, and the air around her was heavy with herbs. Her eyes looked dreamy and only half present.
"I can't argue against any of that. Butt I think, before you make a final choice, you should know the facts. The reason for the rapid change in the deployment of the vast majority of our combat troops, and the reason I am jumping back into the fray, is because the Plyxii has betrayed us. They have a fleet approaching that is growing by the day. When it left the Plyxii system it was between 200-250 ships. When they reach us, they will have grown to almost 500 ships filled with oversized, sentient, badgers looking to take revenge for stopping them during their last war with Terra. Furthermore, Terra is not coming to help. We are on our own. If you wish to retreat to some of the safer systems and help the war effort from there, I will understand and respect your choice." Eirik said, overwhelmed by the support of his friends, but also well aware of what he was asking of them.
"There is a fairly good chance we will not return since they are throwing everything at us. Not only do they sense a chance to subjugate a smaller and weaker empire, but this is also a chance for them to get revenge for me leading the team that killed their council during their war with Terra. If you would rather help from the fallback systems, I understand and respect that. I cannot ask you to fight for my dream." It was not easy to say, but Eirik needed to say it. They deserved to hear the truth.
"Then let it be so," David said as he took a step toward Eirik. "We all know the stakes and yet, here we stand. You are not getting rid of us. Besides, I don't want Freja to get worried about you." He had intended to lighten Eirik's mood, but his words had the opposite effect as Eirik's expression grew dark.
"We leave immediately. Get us underway!" Eirik growled as he made his way toward the ship's bridge.
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The trip to the systems in question was not a long one, but more than enough time for Eirik tor to send out orders. He ordered a third of all soldiers from the 3 habitable planets in the system to withdraw to the ships, who in turn were to withdraw to the outer rim of the system, ready to jump out in case of an emergency. He then ordered the second third of soldiers to leave their posts until told otherwise. He needed people ready to rotate out, once the fighting had started. The most likely landing zones for the Plyxii were identified and filled with traps. Hidden explosives, simple pitfalls with improvised stakes at the bottom, mines, poisoned rations, anything that could present a deadly gift for any curious or reckless invader.
When Eirik's ship arrived, the Plyxii fleet was still 2 days out and most of his orders had been carried out. As soon as he landed on the planet in the middle of the three habitable It was calculated that this would be the main target of the Plyxii fleet. It had the environment that suited them best, had great defensive terrain, and produced plenty of food, making it a perfect staging point for an invading army to launch attacks further into his empire. But it was not defenseless. Five long years of constant fortification and expansion of said fortifications had turned Eirik's empire into a deathtrap for anyone trying to invade. Massive ground-to-orbit cannons, hidden in bunkers and ready to be deployed at a minute's notice. Large bunker complexes, fully equipped with large anti-infantry gun emplacements and anti-armor cannons, crenulations for soldiers to fire from, several layers of barbed wire blockades, and sniper positions on the roof of the bunkers, also crenulated. Anti-ait guns. large-caliber machine guns, trench systems, and more.
The bunkers themselves were a genius of military efficiency, with every angle being calculated for optimal firing potential, every step the invaders took inside would leave them fully exposed to the defenders' weapons, choke points defended by heavy machineguns, and the final ace, in case a bunker should fall. The 'panic' house, is a room designed with a weak outer wall on the back of the bunker that can be broken down with a small explosive charge.
The panic house itself was stocked with extra food, medical supplies, ammunition, a backup radio system, and 2 explosive charges to remove the back wall and let the defenders escape back to friendly lines, leaving the bunker and its supplies devastated and useless. Furthermore, there was only a single entrance to the panic house, located at the end of a long hallway riddled with firing positions and concrete barricades. In short, any attack on said bunkers would require either ludicrous amounts of firepower to level them from orbit, making the invasion a mood point since it would ruin the entire area surrounding the bunkers, leaving precious little cover to advance behind and destroying the value of the planet. Being able to feed an army on the move. Or it would require an unsustainable loss of life to take every bunker.
And five years of preparation time was a long time to build defenses such as these. They had become the standard template for defensive fortifications in Eirik's empire. The Terran dignitaries had called him paranoid, the spending insane and unneeded. Eirik knew better. Life as a soldier had taught him a very simple truth about life among sentient beings. As long as you had something better than someone else, there would be someone who wanted to take what you had. Sooner or later, the fight would come to you no matter how hard you worked to avoid it. All you could do was prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
There were small problems of course. Ammunition not being stocked at some points, food missing at other points, soldiers getting lost and found again, weapons malfunctions, fights, and an alarmingly high number of reports of disorderly conduct. Eirik pawned that problem off to Jesper who furrowed his brow in a most concerning way. At least those that knew him grew concerned. Jesper was not a stickler for rules, and more often than not he saw them as annoying and in the way of completing his given objective. But he had a special aversion to disorderly conduct when in uniform. Outside of work hours, he insisted that his time was his own and that no matter who he worked for, his actions were his own at that time. But when on the clock, he was always well-behaved, if a bit bad-mouthed and sassy, which had only grown worse with age.
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Eirik barely slept. If he was not leading and directing the defenses, he was eating, working out to stay in shape, or going over the proposed strategies by the varying commanders. He ended up deciding on leaving a large area of the planet undefended, aside from the automated guns which were turned off for the moment but could be activated with a keystroke. When pressed for an explanation, he called a meeting with the division commanders. After the initial meet and greet, the cramped room fell silent and the fifteen commanders, each commanding close to 16.000 troops, looked to Eirik.
"To cut to the chase, you all want to know why I ordered everything but the automated guns away from a significant portion of the planet. The answer is simple. I want our enemy to play to our tune, not the other way around. This way, we know where they will land, where they will operate from, and their approximate effective operating range, we can zero our artillery on the area before they land, and more. We are getting every tactical advantage possible, including the element of surprise. The enemy knows they have been found out, but they know nothing of how well we have prepared.
In the years since I formed this empire, I have been heavily criticized by anyone outside of the armed forces for my rather exorbitant spending on defense and military, but now it will have to prove its worth. You receive better training, better equipment, more freedom, and generous pay in my service, and now comes the time to prove to all those voices of criticism that my trust in growing our military might was well placed.
One last thing. When the enemy starts landing, the guns will not start operating until I give the signal. Is that understood?"
The division commanders all confirmed and filed away to give their orders. A few of them still seemed unhappy, but they did as directed. All that was left now was to wait out the final hours before the Plyxii came.
_______________________________________
Eirik rubbed his neck as he waited for the call to go through. He had checked the time on Terra and it would still be a few hours before his sons went to bed and he wanted to talk to them before he went to join the fighting. It had been five good years of relative peace. Sure, there was the war with the Kloxna, but they lacked the firepower and tactics to gain any ground without losing an unsustainable number of troops in every engagement.
But now he was face to face with an enemy that did not pretend to be honorable or fair. The Plyxii fought to win and whatever means were taken, were fully justified by the end goal. The call went through and Freja smiled back at him. "I was wondering if you would call us before you reached the frontline." She said, "The boys have not stopped asking where you are since we arrived, even if your grandfather is doing a good job of distracting them."
"Yeah, we are still a few hours out from our destination and I wanted to make sure I at least spoke to them one last time before the battle begins. " Eirik answered. Both of them dutifully avoided putting words to the unthinkable, but Eirik getting killed in this war was not unlikely.
Their conversation was cut short by the 2 boys entering the room Freja was in, with all the grace and silence of a drunk elephant rampaging through a shop of delicate glass wares, and it didn't take long for them to figure out that Eirik was calling. Freja gathered them and made them quiet down so they could talk with their father. Typical for boys their age, they were completely oblivious to anything other than the adventures they had been on that day and Eirik did his best to dedicate every word and movement to his memory. It would be a long while before he saw them again.
When the call was drawing to a close, Eirik looked at his sons through the screen before he spoke, "Remember, Olaf and Torsten, D´that your dad will always love you, and will always be proud of you. I will not be home for a long time, but I WILL come back again. Alright?" Maybe it was the tone of his voice, or maybe they picked up on the mood of Freja, but for a moment the two boys were solemn as they confirmed their father's words, and then just as fast as it came, it was gone again and they were busy being children once more.
"I plan on returning for a week of rest, every two months. If you do not want me nearby, I will find somewhere else to stay for that period, but I wish to spend that week with my sons, whenever possible. Preferably all of you." He said to Freja who smiled sardonically.
"I took you up on the idea of going to your grandfather's estate. He installed us in a guest house, and as you said, uses most of his time in his office. Whatever spare time he has is used with the boys. Be it their combat training, teaching them new ways to cause mischief, or even just playing along with whatever game they got going, he seems to enjoy every second. It's like he became twenty years younger from one day to the other. But they miss Krisnu and her family. They haven't met the other kids in the area yet, but I am taking them out tomorrow to see if we can find a playground for them where they can meet new friends." Freja said with a smile. She had been worried about Eirik's offer, but He had been right, she had been treated very well, and not a hint of intrusion into her and Eirik's private life. And the old man did love spending time with the kids, making it a lot easier for them to get used to the new surroundings.
"That's good," Eirik said in response before falling silent. There was so much he wanted to say and so few ways to say it properly. He didn't know where to begin. "I better get ready as well. It's not likely, but just in case, I would like to be ready for a fight the moment I step off this ship."
"Good idea. But don't overwork yourself. Our boys need their father." Freja replied.
"They also need a place to grow up." Eirik retorted before ending the call. He stared at the datapad for a moment before he kicked himself mentally for the passive-aggressive comment in the end. Had he not agreed with Freja that this was for the best? That this was the best way to keep his children safe? So why was he so angry at the whole situation?
"Because your wife threatened to leave you, and with the new threat, you will never be able to stay within the timeline she has presented." He told himself. Rationalizing the situation helped him understand, but didn't do anything to help him accept it. He put the datapad back in its pocket and leaned back in his chair. If this was the thread he was destined to follow, then so be it. The gods wanted a new warrior hero among them, and to be entertained in the process. He would give them what they wanted and so much more. He had been trading with the Plyxii. Building bonds, setting up for a long-lasting peace that would have seen everyone allied with his nation enter a new golden age of prosperity.
And they thanked him by sending a fleet to take what he had made. To kill him and his family, enslave his people and use the resources to fuel a new galactic war to subjugate the other species out there. They spat in his face and laughed as they did so! He could feel the rage building inside of him, a rage he had not known for decades. Not since he was a young man, barely old enough to enroll in the armed forces. It was the same rage he had felt back then whenever he saw injustice or was beaten in combat training. That burning core of hatred inside of him that had flared so brightly and burned so fiercely in his youth, but which age and children had doused in a bath of patience and self-control.
This was getting old to him! Every time he started getting ahead, finding a place where he could relax and settle, the gods intervened, and he was getting tired of it. He would play their game for now, but eventually, be it through vision or death, he would come face to face with them again, and when that happened, they would have words!
They landed a few hours later, the small spaceport they had chosen was bustling with activity. Soldiers getting and receiving orders for transports leaving with supplies, trucks arriving with the last refugees to be shipped out, a booth was set up for those that wanted to sign up for militia duty rather than flee, and when Eirik passed it, he saw a once familiar face in the chair behind the booth.
"Jimmie? Are you recruiting for a militia, or do you dream of overthrowing me?" Eirik said loudly as he approached the booth, his guards moving closer to Eirik as they walked with him.
Jimmie jumped to his feet and saluted Eirik before he turned to the tent behind him and called out for someone called Anja. An average-looking woman poked her head out of the tent, then emerged fully as she saw Eirik standing in front of the booth. She walked over to Jimmie and stood next to him. Jimmie, who had kept silent up to this point, began speaking when she had positioned herself next to him.
"Eirik, I would like you to meet Anja, my wife. Anja, meet Eirik, the Emperor. Once the captain I betrayed and the sole reason I am here."
Anja, looked at Eirik, then back to Jimmie who nodded with a serious face, then back to Eirik before she extended both her hands and grabbed one of Eirik's.
"Thank you. I would never have met him or seen him become who he is today, if not for your choice to punish him with labor instead of death. I understand you had every right. Legally, personally, and culturally. Yet, you allowed him to live and the two of us to meet. Thank you!"
Eirik was, to put it mildly, confused by this turn of events, but Jimmie picked up where Anja stopped "We have been married for a year, met three years ago, six months after I bought land on a newly colonized system at the end of my punishment. I was angry at you, Eirik, and in many ways I still am, but now, I understand and respect your actions. A lot of my hate was based on jealousy and insecurity, and it took meeting Anja to make me understand that. I have always resented you. And I think I always will. But thank you for sparing my life when you did.
As for your question, I am not trying to do anything. My wife, on the other hand, is trying to gather people to support the army, and I fully support her wish to do so. I like my life here. It was quiet and fulfilling and now it is being disturbed. As much as I do not wish to fight for you again, I DO wish to fight for my right to live here in peace. I hope that is acceptable to you." Jimmie looked Eirik in the eye as he spoke, but there was no arrogance or spite, not a hint of the old Jimmie. This was a new man standing in front of Eirik. A changed man. Fate was not without Irony; it was staring Eirik in the face.
Back when Jimmie betrayed Eirik, he had been driven by anger and resentment, lacking the peace and joy of life that brought happiness. Now, after being found out and punished for what he did, he had found that peace and joy and was fighting to preserve it, while Eirik was fueling himself with anger and resentment for his situation, to fight off an invading enemy. "It is." Was all he could manage before he walked away from the booth without another word. He was shaken to his core, the realization hitting him like a sledgehammer. Jimmie looked confused but shrugged his shoulders and sat back down.
Eirik made his way to the commanding officer in the port and tried to piece together the larger puzzle that would paint the picture he needed to lead the defense of three planets. For the next twelve hours he acquired reports, readiness status of units, lists of stockpiled supplies and ammunition, numbers and locations of abandoned and trapped locations, plans for sustainable rationing of supplies, lists of estimated casualties during the first attack, comprehensive reports of possible diseases that may break out in a warzone, lists of supplies that would be in high demand a few months down the line which would need to be secured as soon as possible, whatever piece of information there was to sniff out, Eirik did his very best to accumulate it. He didn't process it beyond basic indexing, he merely wanted as much information on hand as possible. He had people that could do the hard work, but someone had to organize it all.
In a weird way, he had missed this. Admittedly, this kind of work was on a far larger scale than anything he had previously dabbled in, but much like the government economy was like a household economy with more zeroes, large-scale warfare was just small-scale warfare with more operating parts. A more delicate touch was needed but the difference was the same. After 12 hours and several pots of coffee, Jeanette found him and sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"You are working yourself to pieces, Eirik. You have been awake for more than twenty-four hours at this point. If you don't get some rest, I will tell Knud." She said with a small smile. She still seemed like she was only partly present as if her mind was busy with something else that no one else noticed.
"I need to prepare for the first attack, Jeanette. This is not the Kloxna. The Plyxii hit fast and hard, attempting to overwhelm any defense they face. It worked wonders against Terra, mostly because of the insistence on small bases with light defenses. Easy to abandon, cheap to replace. I should know, I fought in the last war with them. And every time we saw off the initial attack, we could hold them at bay in the future. It messes with their morale if you impede their momentum and I fully intend to capitalize on that fact. I can rest once the first attack wave has been faced. It's all or nothing with that initial attack." Eirik was tired but determined. He had not let slip just how much hinged on this defense holding. Many of the regular troopers would not hold up under that pressure, so it was better to let them think of it as another battle.
"Things are that dire?" Jeanette said, shock evident in her voice. She even seemed to come back to reality for a little bit as Eirik's information settled in her mind.
"It is. Jesper will know this. David as well. Maybe Bjørn. Other than that, only the veterans from the last war will know, and they will keep as quiet as possible so they do not spook anyone. I ask that you please do the same." Eirik turned tired eyes to Jeanette and she could see the deep exhaustion. This was more than a tired body. He was tired in mind and soul. Something had happened that had changed him, and maybe not for the better.
"Only if you go get a few hours of sleep. Don't forget, I am still your analyst, even if I am investing much more time in my spiritual studies. I will collect all the information you want while you sleep." She said with a small smile. He needed support right now and she would gladly give it to her friend.
Eirik couldn't find any counterargument and stretched his back after getting up from his seat. "Wake me up if anything happens!" He said firmly as he staggered out of the office to look for a couch to sleep on. He didn't want to bother with finding a proper place, the exhaustion that had been kept at bay while he was sitting down, now hit him full force. She was right, of course, he needed at least a few hours of sleep to function in the near future. He found a couch and plopped himself down, boots and everything. He was asleep almost the moment he laid his head down.