“They didn’t send a comm drone… FTL comms? You are telling us that Sowir have FTL comms?” Jack asked.
Laura nodded grimly. “Yes. It is the only thing that makes sense. They are still using comm drones, which suggests that this is a new find. But this still complicates things for us.”
“No kidding. If their fleet has FTL comms it shortens the time we have to attack their territory before they recall the fleet from Nelus. It shortens it by half.” Jack said.
“True, but it will still take them months to get back. And with our trans-drives we will be able to strike at systems faster than they can respond. We will only need to work faster and make their fleet split up so that we can take it apart when it is weaker.” Laura said.
“And what about Nelus?” Seo-yun asked. “It will take us a few more months at the least to get ready for our invasion, by that time the Sowir will have surely attacked Nelus. If we commit most of our forces to attacking the Dominion will we have enough to defend Nelus? I doubt that Sowir will recall all of their forces and leave Nelus alone after they have already started an invasion.”
“You are right, they will most likely leave a force to either finish Nelus or to blockade it. Our response is fluid at the moment, if we commit our forces to defending Nelus we will be met with force that outnumbers ours, and even with our technological advantage we will be forced to follow the tempo that the Sowir set. We will take much more casualties than we would if we manage to split their forces and take them on when we have the advantage. Nelus’ defense is another factor, we know that their ships are inferior, but they have a good enough fortified system, and we did warn them. They might be able to cut down Sowir numbers a bit more as well.” Laura said. “That is why our plan at the moment is for Adrian’s fleet to provide aid for Nelus, while our main fleet invades the Dominion.”
“My fleet will be ready by the end of the year. But my original plan was to have the fleet supported by a fleet of drones, at least one hundred. And Warpath sadly doesn’t have the capability yet to build the drones and finish the fleet in time.” Adrian said then shook his head. “I think that we need to change our plans a bit. If Sowir have FTL comms our advantage will be countered, we might be able to outmaneuver them, but we won’t have the element of surprise anymore, after our first attack every Sowir system will know about us.”
“What do you suggest?” Tomas asked.
“I suggest that we take on the Sowir fleet at Nelus.” Adrian answered.
“If we send our fleet there, it will just give the Sowir a warning about us and time to do something about it. Not to mention that if we engage in a fight where they have an advantage in numbers, we will take more casualties.” Laura said.
Again Adrian shook his head and smiled softly. “I think that you are greatly underestimating how much more advanced our ships are. The Sowir ships are the same as they were thirty years ago, their new class is bigger, but it is nothing new. We on the other hand have built an entirely new fleet that is upgraded by the combined knowledge of the Consortium, Earth, and us. The Earth had more than sixty years to develop its technologies after we left, and they did. Our ships are superior, and they aren’t even equipped with the latest technological advancements we have. My ships on the other hand are. I am not suggesting that we send the Empire’s fleet to Nelus. My ships will go as planned, what I want is that you give me all of your battleships to come with me.”
“Our battleships?” Laura asked.
“Yes. My ships are powerful, but you are right, the numerical advantage of the Sowir is something I am not yet prepared to pit them against. That is why I want the battleships to serve as support. As soon as the Sowir fleet arrives at Nelus, my fleet can come in and catch them between the defenders and us. While your fleet invades their territory. If we eliminate the Sowir fleet before they can recall it, our invading fleets will have an easier job.” Adrian said.
“If we give you the battleships our invading fleet will be only dreadnoughts and support ships.” Laura stated.
Adrian nodded, “The Kraken class will fill the role of battleships, and it will have more of the advanced tech.”
Laura thought about it for a minute then nodded. “It could work. If you are sure that you can take care of the Sowir fleet.”
“Yes, with the help of Nelus fleet.” Adrian said.
“Well then, I guess that we need to start developing a new plan.” Tomas said.
Chapter Ten
February; Year 31 – Trivax
A flash of blue light announced a ship dropping out of hyperspace. A moment later, several more flashes appeared and even more ships arrived, the rate of new arrivals increased until dozens started arriving every few seconds. But soon enough the flashes of light stopped and eighty six ships stood silently at the hyperspace barrier of Trivax system. Then a few minutes later all of the ships started moving together towards Rofvax, the fifth planet in the Trivax system.
Quvor raced through the halls of the Space Exploration Center on Trivax, the headquarters for the entirety of Trivaxian’s space affairs. He was woken not twenty minutes ago by news that their satellites detected visitors to their system. Quvor had immediately dressed and left his temporary quarters, he was visiting the headquarters for his annual brief and assessment, which was mandatory for all who served in the Space Exploration Fleet (SEF). Quvor was the Commander of all SEF ships, after his encounter with the first alien life, his career path changed, he became the most famous Trivaxian, and with the gift that the aliens gave him his people changed. It wasn’t easy, there was a lot of strife, but eventually they united and created the Space Exploration Institute to study and develop the technologies that the aliens gifted them with.
Of course the aliens didn’t really give them the plans for any of their technologies, instead they gave them knowledge of concepts and ideas. That allowed Quvor’s people to learn and discover things on their own. Some on Trivax were very suspicious of that, citing nefarious purposes, because they didn’t give them everything. But Quvor knew that the aliens didn’t have bad intentions, they helped his ship when they didn’t need to, and they had no reason to give them the gift they did other than their good will.
That was why Quvor was feeling elated, visitors to their system meant that the people that had saved him might be back. Quvor had waited a long time for this, he was barely thirty cycles old when they came, and now he was entering the middle age of his life. He had all but abandoned hope that he will get the chance to thank his rescuers in person.
Finally, Quvor arrived at the control room.
“Quvor!” The Director Tofor yelled out and waved as soon as Quvor entered the room. Quvor made his way through the people running around from one station to another. The room was in complete chaos.
“Director, did they establish contact?” Quvor asked as soon as he was closer.
The Director exchanged looks with people around him before turning back and answering.
“Not yet. That is why I wanted you here. We have a monitoring satellite close enough to get a good look at them. Here, take a look at this.” Director Tofor said, and one of his people gestured for the Quvor to look at one of the monitors. Quvor leaned down and looked at the images of the visitors. Immediately he realized that the ships on the monitor looked nothing like the ships that helped him thirty years ago. All of the ships had the same general shape, that of a hexagonal prism, with a few slight differences.