Memory transcription subject: Captain Recel, 7th Resolute Kith
Date [standardized Aurigan time]: 27th Day of the Month of Braying, Year 1 After Auriga
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After Nikonus's confession, many more prey flocked into the arms of the Aurigans, donating ships and crew for the war effort against the Second Coalition. The newcomers were quick to organize strikes against military targets, thawing thousands of naval officers and giving them crash courses on the intricacies of space combat.
These thousands were quickly put in charge of equally numbered ex-Federation vessels, with millions of prey serving under them. It was a boon that the newcomers adapted so quickly to new technology, and I was beginning to wonder if they were somehow genetically engineered for it, especially after discovering that 'pureblood mezari' like Queen Zolya can live to be thousands of years old.
With fleets and officers ready, the Aurigans began a coordinated offensive against Coalition worlds, striking at as many military targets at once as they could, seeking to put a quick and decisive end to the war, minimizing civilian casualties.
In response, the Coalition was starting to attack ally worlds, trying to cut off both the Aurigan's material support and any political support they may have built with the prey species. The mazics were their first targets. We were being diverted towards the Mazic homeworld of Khoa, while the other Resolute Kith divisions were being diverted to mazic colonies.
The ships tributed to Aurigans by their allies and neutral states weren't very easy to retrofit in time, so we had to split up our forces. Kata took the wing of fifty odd mezari ships ahead of our division, to reconnoiter the system from the edges, while the core of the division went after her the old fashioned way, through hyperspace.
While replacing every ship's engine was too much of an undertaking, the Aurigans were quick to retrofit ion warheads onto any vessel carrying any sort of missile, as well as swarm missiles for countering interceptors. The variety in their arsenal was rather frightening, and I was starting to feel much better about my life's choices. Had things gone differently, I might've ended up on the opposite side of this conflict.
"Helm, drop us out of hyperspace." I ordered, since FTL disruptors were still active around the system. It'd take around thirty minutes, give or take, to reach the edge of the system, which gave us enough time to co-ordinate with Kata.
As sook as we dropped out of hyperspace, Kata hailed the fleet-wide channel. "Bout time you got here. Those eugenicist bastards have set up a trap. There's two divisions poking at the mazic defenses, while another eight divisions are hidden behind one of the barren planetoids, waiting for someone to show up."
"Captain Kata, this is Captain Recel. Where is your wing now?" I asked over the fleet comms, before ordering the fleet to slowly move towards the edge of the system.
"Hiding in the outer asteroid belt. Once you get close I want you to divert directly towards the planetoid they're hiding behind and draw them out. We'll then fold into their flank and attack them. They have us outnumbered four to one, so you need to make every ion torpedo count. That goes for every one of you. The mazics are counting on us."
Replies of 'Yes ma'am.', 'Aye captain.', and similar filled the comm channel, before it all went silent again. I ordered my wing of ships to do as planned, banking with the rest of our division towards the Coalition fleet's hiding spot. Hopefully it would take them a while to realize what was going on, and we'd be able to get in range before that.
Sadly, it wasn't going to be that easy, and as soon as we changed our heading, the Coalition fleet sprang into action, turning towards us and beginning their approach.
"They've spotted us, everyone get ready. Ready torpedoes and kinetics, like the mezari taught you. Once they're in range, destabilize their shields, then unleash the volleys." I ordered.
As our two fleets coasted towards each other, the Coalition ships growing larger in our viewports. First appearing as sparkling specks, then as circles of light, and finally, as dark shapes faintly illuminated from their afts, as the coronas of their engines outlined them against the black void of space.
"Fire!" I then shouted as soon as we were in range, the entire wing unleashing torpedoes on select targets, depleting their shields, before unleashing our kinetic volley, tearing through those shieldless ships' hulls. Immediately after our first, successful strike, the remaining Coalition ships facing our direction opened fire with plasma railguns, and I gave the order to bank away from their projectiles.
Despite the danger, the gojid crew under my command were relatively calm, and managed to execute the evasive maneuver in time. But not all of my wing were so lucky, their ships getting rattled by the plasma hitting their shields, getting slowed down and nearly veering into each other. Then another salvo from more ships took down their shields, making them vulnerable to Coalition kinetics.
"Escorts, cover the unshielded corvettes, before they're torn to shreds!" I reminded the panicking crews of their duties and training. The tactic that kept ships alive at Venlil Prime was hopefully going to help us here as well. Thankfully, it seemed that the Coalition was too haughty to implement the tactic themselves, relying on sheer numbers advantage instead.
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"Damn it, Kata, where are you?..." I mused out loud, before noticing the all-clear from the missile bay, and issuing the order to send another salvo of ion torpedoes down into the Coalition's zenith, followed by aurigan-designed and venlil-produced Titanium Shredder rounds.
As if listening to my prayers, the mezari wing of our division suddenly materialized directly in the wake of the Coalition forces, deploying hundreds of torpedoes at once, disabling and then shredding dozens of ships in one fell swoop, their titanium slugs ripping through engines and reactors alike. Those ships that were too close to each other found themselves caught in the antimatter containment breach of nearby ships, getting rocked by the explosion's impact on their shields.
"Thank the ancestors." I sighed. Like dominos, the Coalition's aft flank was sent bumping into each other, taking a few moments to readjust and recover from the attack, though they did so much faster than the First Coalition's fleet did.
As they the engaged with the aurigan vessels, they showed far more competence and courage than the krakotl. Not to mention their greater co-ordination and strategy. They were fighting in flight groups of four, similar to the aurigans' own corvette and escort squadrons, as well as co-ordinating fire just like the aurigans.
It was a troubling thought to think that my people were hiding such tactical acumen this entire time. Would I have been the same if I hadn't transferred to the gojid fleet of our navy? Or were the kolshians just inherently braver? I never really felt as much fear in space battles, the only thing that truly terrified me was seeing predators up close.
"Sir, torpedoes are ready." Natos, my XO informed, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Fire when ready, we need to keep dwindling their numbers faster than they can dwindle ours." I affirmed, before focusing back on the tactical readout.
I watched more and more of the Coalition fleet falling to ion torpedoes and salvos of slugs, feeling a deep sorrow at the ever growing loss of life. All this death because of some lie, because of some conspiracy. It wasn't long before our aurigan weaponry dealt too much damage to the fleet, and they started to panic and run.
After a few seconds of silence, Kata's voice cut through the comms, a predatory growl in her tone. "We need to secure the planet, the mazic forces are almost entirely gone." Her tone was clearly one of anger, incensed at being delayed from our true mission.
If Khoa fell, one of the aurigans earliest allies would be taken out of the war, and billions would die just for having seen the truth. With newfound determination to prevent another sin in my people's ledger, I turned to my XO and ordered the weapons to be readied again, before following Kata towards the planet.
As we got close, the Coalition tried to physically block our path, but the angular ships of the aurigans were able to cut through the blockade, carving us a path through their ranks.
Despite this, we weren't fast enough to prevent the Coalition from getting in bombing range of the emerald world below, and our entire division was brought to a halt, as a Coalition captain hailed our ships.
"Predator fleet, come in." The voice was unmistakably kolshian, and an unnerving feeling shot down my spine, my tentacles curling. "Change your vector now, or we will drop antimatter weapons on the planet. This is your only warning." The enemy captain ordered.
"Captain Kata, let me talk to them. I can't stand to watch more of my people throw sanity to the wind. I know you're a staunch orator from your days in the church, but maybe a kindred voice will assuage them."
Silence followed for a few seconds, before Kata's voice came back through. "Alright, Recel, I'm patching you in. Say what you have to say."
Turning my microphone on, I leaned close to the device, steeling my nerves before speaking. "This is Recel, formerly of the Federation Fleet Command. You may have heard of me, even seen the accusation that I've gone mad with predator disease, or that I've been brainwashed, or coerced into helping the predators. You may even know me, having briefly served with me on a ship, or even met me during my years of training before adulthood.
I ask you know, who the mad ones truly are in this situation. Is it me, who wants to save billions of innocents from antimatter bombs, or is it you, trying to kill those billions?"
"We all know that predators are heartless monsters. They don't actually care about the mazics, they're just here to kill us all." The Coalition captain appeared on a holoscreen, looking at me with a stern gaze.
"Who's the heartless one here? Look at yourself, at what you're doing. If I've learned anything about the aurigans is that they don't take kindly to those that harm their friends. They're here to protect their friends, just like they protected the Venlil before. If you bomb Khoa you'll not only make them angrier, you'll permanently stain your graspers with their blood.
Glass Khoa and all you'll do is make things worse for everyone. Every city you destroy, every life you take, every ounce of our blood that you spill, is another sin in your ledger, another crime for which you will be judge by future generations. Every planet attacked by your Coalition will be a monument to those sins, a reminder of how we, supposedly peaceful prey, decided to indiscriminately kill billions of sapients.
The Chiefdom calls this our moral imperative, a divine justice, they taught us that we wee above meat-eaters, yet here you were, lying in ambush like predators, and holding a prey species hostage, ready and willing to execute them. These were our friends and allies less than a month ago, and you're not even showing an ounce of empathy. You're a hypocrite if you think any of this is just."
The enemy captain waved a nervous tentacle, his face paler than before. "Damn it. We never wanted to kill them; it was just a ploy to draw the predators out into our ambush. None of this was supposed to happen." The captain then grabbed the sides of his head, massaging his cranium.
"Then leave. This is your chance to turn your back on the madness. Nobody else has to die today." I pleaded with him, and I could see his gaze turn to someone off-screen, before he muted his mic.
A few moments later, he finally responded. "Fine, but we're leaving a rear guard behind to cover our retreat. Any suspicious moves from you and they'll bomb the planet. You so much as scan one of our ships, or teleport one of yours around, and they all drop their payloads."
"More than acceptable, I'm sure." I turned to look at the comms officer, and she understood what I desired, immediately informing Kata on my behalf, before giving me a nod in confirmation.
"The aurigans accept your terms. You won't see a micron of movement from us." I then added after getting confirmation, and the Coalition fleets began slowly withdrawing from the planet, until just a few bombers were left, then they departed last, with much more worry than the rest, as if expecting us to turn on them once they were no longer aiming their payloads at the planet.
Now that the battle was over, I felt every muscle in my body deflate. Some much deserved rest awaited all of us.