A space station in orbit around Skillon T9-A, Alorian space, one standard week ago
At the very top of the space station there was a simple room with an elevator in the middle, some very nice tables and chairs around the edges with walls made of glass for an easy veiw into the black sky and the bustling planet below. The elevator opened slowly as it reached the top, allowing Raina to slowly walk out and over too Selene who was sitting comfortably on a chair, facing the outside. It seemed she was looking intently at the stars, and then down too Skillon. She turned her head, looking up and over her shoulder as Raina approached, before she pulled out a chair and sat next too her.
"The Delegates from the Commonwealth have arrived. The CSC Praetoria has docked, and an 'Admiral Volkov' is on his way to meet us. Along with a 'Genral Kyarguin' and Ribbentrop, who you met before". Raina spoke to Selene, as she nodded. "The Commonwealth Battlefleet have also been allowed too remain in the system, seeing as they are freindly". She finished, before letting out a breath.
Selene nodded, "Are the Commonwealth delegates coming straight up?" She asked, but as she did the elevator could be heard going back down, and they could be the only ones coming up. Both of the women stood up, moving a little closer to the elevator ready to greet their allies.
Adison Volkov was a trifle nervous as the lift brought him to the pinacle of the Skillon orbital facility. By coincidence or convenience, the facility vaguely resembled Dubrovnik station before its untimely destruction. Not that a repeat of that incident was likely; the entire 5th fleet was a breath away should anything catastrophic happen.
The lift was feeling a touch confining between Volkov, Anderson Ribbentrop, and General Kyarguin. This was largely due to Kyarguin; the szitzu man was bordering on 8 feet tall and built like a refridgerator. He had a distinctly brutish look to him that wasn't helped by some of the traditional szitzu paraphernalia he'd added to his uniform. Of course, Volkov knew personally that beneath that exterior was a razor sharp mind that effortlessly commanded the vast majority of the Commonwealth's soldiers.
"You're staring, Adison," Kyarguin grunted.
"Well was it really necessary to wear your vertebrae chains outside your uniform?"
"Yes."
Before Volkov could respond, the lift doors slid open. Selene stood about halfway between the tables and chairs and the exit of the lift, Raina standing just behind her on her left. They both smiled as they nodded to the delegates before Selene spoke. "Welcome too the Skillon T9-A's station. I believe I have only met one of you before". She said, before pausing and looking at Kyarguin and Volkov.
"I am Selene and this is Raina, both of us are Advisors to the Queen herself, and I am a General of the Alorian military". Raina nodded but didnt speak. She found herself looking at the szitzu man for a breif couple of seconds, wondering what that was on his uniform. She woudlnt say anything for she knew all different peoples had different customs, but still, it was strange.
"A pleasure to see you again, Ms. Raina," Ribbentrop said grandly. "May I present Admiral Adison Volkov, CO 5th Fleet and one of our foremost strategists. And this is General Kyarguin, Commander of the Foreign Legions and therefore the most senior General in the Commonwealth."
Volkov bowed formally, Kyarguin nodded curtly and thumped a fist against his chest. "Let's get down to business" the Szitzu general said bluntly. "We think Faust is going to attack Uther's new Core Imperium any day now. Uther is already dealling with a new xeno-barb threat, so he's the logical place to to start an attack. I wouldn't be surprised if the first shots are fired in orbit of Earth. Faust probably hopes if he hits hard and fast enough, he can knock Uther right out before his allies can get any help to him."
While Kyarguin paced thoughtfully, the two Vit'azny delegates had made their way to the conference table and taken seats. Volkov nodded in agreement, while Ribbentrop stayed quiet. "There was always the question of wether or not the Varangians would follow up on any offensive by the Dominion. With the fleet movements we've been seeing from them, it seems the Varangians are not only willing to follow up, but may well initiate an offensive of their own. Which is why we should launch a joint pre-emptive strike, immediately."
Ribbentrop winced. The two military men were being very straightforward, and the lone diplomat hoped the Alorians wouldn't take offense at their bluntness.
Both Alorians had made their way back to the table, wasting no time as they both sat opposite the others. Once again, Selene took the lead as Raina kept quiet. "If you hadn't proposed such an invasion we would have done the exact same thing". She said, "This is very good news. We have been monitoring the Varangian fleets for some time, and it seems if we do not strike first they will have the upper hand". She stopped.
Raina spoke finally, "When can your fleets be ready for an full scale invasion? We have been mobilising for weeks, and due to our recent... problems within Alorian borders ships have been ready for combat for some time".
Ribentrop breathed a small sigh of relief, Kyarguin grinned, but Volkov's face remained carefully composed as he considered the question. "The mobilization order was given shortly before we departed, so the fleets should be ready in just a few days."
"We would naturally have to formally declare war, though the Lord Chancellor and the Cabinet can get that done very quickly." Ribbentrop added.
"That leaves the question of how to strike," Volkov continued, fiddling with the table's holo-controls until a map of the galaxy appeared. The Commonwealth's objective in this attack is to remove the Varangians from the larger conflict with the Dominion as quickly as possible. We are less concerned about tying down ressources occupying and defending non-crucial worlds. The strategy we advocate is a simple, overwhelming push to the Varangian capital at Agartha and force them to surrender." On the holoprojector, a yellow cone pushed through Varangian space, its tip culminating at Agartha
Kyarguin paused his pacing to reset the projector and produce another diagram. "A more complex approach could also work. Multiple points of attack all aimed at different strategic targets. Big forces, enough to crush your average local defence picket but not enough to commit to serious battles. This strategy would be devised to stretch the Varangians thin; their Empress class Hyperdreadnoughts can't be everywhere at once, so we use our superior numbers and flexibility to push them into an unfavorable position." He looked up at Selene and Raina, inviting input.
Selene thought for a moment as she went over both plans in her head again, as did Raina. It didn't take long for Selene to speak again, she looked over at Volkov, then Kyraguin. "Our main priority is removing the Varangians from the war. With that in mind, I think that the first strategy of going straight for Agartha and forcing a Varangian surrender is the most effective way to carry out our strikes". She looked over at Raina to see if she had any opposing ideas, but thankfully there were none.
"What about after the war?" Raina asked. "We aren't interested in annexing major territories from them. However, strategic resources that could be used for fighting the Dominion of Man will be taken and diverted towards our two Nations. We would also like too set up a demilitarized zone in Varangian territory along the border with us and you". She paused, took in a breath and spoke again. "We don't imagine that you will, but do you think the Commonwealth will have any problems with that?"
Ribbentrop frowned thoughtfully. "No, I don't see any problems with that. There'd been talk at home of trying to annex some Varangian territory, but your proposal has the main benefit of being easy to accept. The terms of surrender are most generous, and the Dominus can't possibly justify throwing his people's lives away by refusing them. And if our main objective is to keep them out of the war with the Dominion, this seems like the best way."
"We may also want to consider forcing them to decomission some of their warfleets, just in case they get trigger happy while our backs are turned."Volkov added. "But otherwise I agree."
"Great," Kyarguin grunted. "Let's start positioning our fleets in this system," he pointed to a place on the map on the Alorian-Varangian border. "We might as well take some time to conduct joint drills and training. Once war is officially declared, we move."
"I agree". Selene spoke. "And then as soon as it is official, we head straight for the capital". The woman reached across the table, pulling towards her some kind of alcoholic drink. "Would any of you like a drink?" She smiled as if they had won the war already.
"Oh, yes please," Volkov said enthusiastically. "We'll get into specific ops plans tomorrow."
Theta Tauri System, on the edge of Alorian-Varangian borders
Ten Commonwealth Star Carriers. Ten full battlefleets. Adison had never seen so many warships in one place. He wasn't sure any Vit'azny ever had. It was by far the largest collection of ships the Commonwealth had ever massed together. The 5th fleet and CSC Praetoria had arrived first, and spent considerable time training with the Alorians, learning eachothers strengths and weaknesses, and how best to support eachother in combat. As days went by, more and more ships both Alorian and Commonwealth had arrived, learning from their peers and eachother. And they were all pointed directly at Varangian space.
After news came of Faust's incursions against the Imperium, Chancellor Metternich and his Cabinet had acted quickly. As the incarnation of the Government of the Commonwealth, they were not actually obligated to consult the Parliament of the Sovereign Reich when it came to declarations of war, but they had. A vote had been put to Parliament, and it had passed with flying colours. The opposition had no choice but to release their MP's to vote their conscious; anything else, and they would have seemed cowards and oathbreakers, given the clear nature of the Commonwealth's treaty with Uther's Imperium. In less than a day, the Imperial Systems Commonwealth declared war on both the Dominion of Man and the Varangian Remnants. The plan thought up back over Skillon had been approved, and Volkov had just received the final go ahead.
No vote was cast by the Alorian people before war was declared mere hours ago. The Varangian Remnants and the Dominion of Man were now officially enemies of the Empire. Battlefleets full of the militarys finest ships had been massing and readied for days now, waiting for the order to be given. With the mighty Commonwealth fleet stood three Alorian super-fortress class ships, surrounded by Goliath's and Dreadnaughts all interwoven with the ships of their new allies. There were numerous other types of ships all gathered and ready for the invasion, battleships and destroyers poised and ready. Star fighters darted and flew in between ships like birds in the sky. Bruisers roared in the depths of ships designated for ground invasion and
One super-fortress, the HRMS Tyrant was the lead ship on the Alorian side of things. In the control bridge of the ship stood the two in charge, General Takeer of the Krolm and General Selene. Both stood and looked out at the largest single collection of ships ready for war they had ever seen, and waited. A much younger girl stood in the middle of both of them. She was a mere fourteen years old but was still clad in the uniform of a General, albeit without any of decorations and medals that the other two had. She had light blue skin and soft, light purple hair. She was a lightblood, and by far the most intelligent and strong one that the Queen had trained. She showed real promise, but this was a real test. She would witness and be in the invasion of Varangian space.
"How are you feeling, Eva?" Selene turned too the young girl and she spoke.
"Confident". Eva replied, looking up at her. She did not want to disappoint, especially when there was a lot of expectation riding on her shoulders. "Honoured".
"Good. Today is going to be a very important day remembered for generations to come". Selene said, turning back to look towards the ships outside. An officer walked over too them and nodded too all of them before speaking. "All of the ships have finished preparations. Everything is complete. We are ready to go, on your say".
"Thank you officer". Takeer grunted as he walked over too a hologram projector in front of them and requested communications with the leaders of the invasion on the part of the Commonwealth.
On CSC Praetoria's flag bridge, Volkov sat in his command chair with his fingers tented contemplatively in front of him. He wasn't paying attention to anything in particular, but rather was partially listening to everything. His flag staff was hand selected and had been with him for years, so he trusted them to do their jobs properly, and he sat back and let the buzz of information wash over him, until his ears picked up the comm officer saying something with a slightly different tone of voice then usual. "Praetoria Flag Bridge....oh, yes, of course. One minute please." The comms officer wheeled his chair around to find Volkov gazing at him expectantly. "General Takeer of the Krolm for you, Admiral."
"Put him on the main projector," Volkov said serenely. The large holo-display flickered and assumed a high fidelity likeness of General Takeer, General Selene, and the young General Eva.. "Admiral Volkov speaking. Good to see you again Generals." He'd come to know all three somewhat over the past few days of excercises. "General Kyarguin says he's more comfortable down in marine country," he added "but my forces are ready for departure."
General Takeer nodded and managed somewhat of a smile. "You've answered my question before I even asked, Admiral. We are also ready to go immediately, if you wish". He said, looking at the projection of the Admiral in front of him. Over the past few days the unlikely allies had become quite close, the armies more synchronised and used to each other than any of the three generals had anticipated.
Volkov smiled wolfishly. "Well, if that's the case...Comms, give me fleetwide." Volkov took a deep breath. "Commence Operation Icarus!"
There was an absolutely blinding flash of light, and the assembled fleets disappeared into FTL.
@urukhai
