The silent shadows played on the building walls in the afternoon
sun, the people walking around the busy streets seemed ignorant of the incoming
danger. The Colony seemed silent, calm before the storm. On the main street
of the capital city, was a large office building, hundreds of meters tall. It
was the Headquarters of the Vekcorp. Inc., a medium sized company of the Gigerdian
territories. Most of its employees were from Hertlon, Tydis IV, or Tardan, but
the Headquarters were situated in the meaningless colony world of Hephaestus.
The corporate heads were rarely on-site, leaving power to the "Small-Bosses".
In one of the huge tower-building's offices, a simple working day had paused,
to the most important scene in the whole universe, Coffee break. One of the
many Employees in the company, a Gigerdian male called Gren Vayne, enjoyed the
break he had from the frustrating and pointless jobs that the Bosses kept ordering
him to do, this was the very core of frustration. On the same small room with
a few tables, a couch and a pair of chairs were situated six people, all of
them co-workers of Vayne. Currently, the Holo-TV was on, and Vayne was listening
to the current news broadcast:
"The Person calling himself as "Karellen" has convinced several
IHSF carrier groups to join his cause of wide rebellion against the Hemmoian
Government, there has been reports of heavy riots in the Hemmoian colony world
of Dayglow, President Dalleer has commented these actions against the Hemmoians
as a good example of wide-spread terrorism and identified several threats to
interplanetary security to the GA senate…"
"Wow, Seems like the Hemmoians will get it this time," one of the
employees grunted, "Yeah, Just who is this Karellen?" another replied.
Vayne quietly sipped down the Verlian Spice coffee and stared at the TV. "I
hope they catch that guy, the Hemmoians should," another one said, all
the others agreeing.
Vayne Left work early that day. He decided to go home, and meet some of his
friends. The life in Hephaestus was about to change. As Vayne walked trough
the main hall, past the security desk and the guard, he spotted Military forces
in the streets. It seemed that the GA government decided to re-enforce its assets
in the colony worlds, this way. Vayne took a hover-bus to the eastern part of
the city.
The Bus wasn't full of people at all. Most of them were either working or deciding to stay inside. The Hephaestus's real atmosphere could be seen trough the Bio-dome, it was Yellow, Green even….
As the Hover-Bus's automated computer voice informed: "Now
entering Sector 5," Vayne looked up and pulled out a small transmitter
from his coat pocket. The Transmitter was a standard one, black little object
with red lights glowing in it. Vayne pressed a button on it, and it did a small
beeping sound. The Bus kept on going trough small and large houses in Sector
5, very few people seen, even here. As the Bus moved to a small corner stop,
Vayne sat up and decided to leave. He pressed the stop-button, and in a few
moments the bus did a complete stop. Vayne stepped out and begun to walked in
front of a large building looking like an embassy. Vayne looked at it for a
while, but turned away instead and continued to walk. Vayne liked to pass-time
before a major decision, that's why he walked around looking nervous. Finally,
Vayne walked to a small Shop-like house on the opposite street. The walls were
covered with posters yelling out revolution and independence of Hephaestus.
Vayne walked in, seeing a couple of men reading magazines. He continued past
them and walked to another room where a man in a suit was reviewing papers:
"Ah, Vayne, you're here," the man begun with his low voice. "Yeah,
left work early" Vayne replied. "Oh well, you've heard the news?"
The Man asked in awe and Vayne nodded in approval. Three people walked to the
same room, all of them were members of the same "Club" as Vayne. "Good,
then we can begin," the man approved.
As the three others sat down on benches and chairs scattered around the room,
the two men from the other room joined also. The man begun to speak: "It's
good that you all are here, we have important news, to you all." "Unfortunately,
many of our members have not been able to join the meeting today because of
the planetary governor's decision to shut down all traffic in sectors 1 to 6
for now," the People in the back row murmured something quietly, Vayne
looked around the desk were he was sitting.
"But, now to the Main news. You must have heard about the Uprising in the
Hemmoian colonies, it seems that they are being led by a man named Karellen,
and that they are very competent Hackers, they've been able to get whole fleets
of ships under their control," the man continued to tell the story. Some
of the people from the group continued to speak quietly. "So, If we could
contact this Karellen and his forces, we might be able to break away from this
corrupted system." "I see, But we don't really have anything concrete
to fight against the GA, we might be the biggest political party in this system,
but….", one of the men from the back row begun to protest. Vayne thought
for a moment, then begun to speak: "I think we could pull this one out,
the GA is obviously in a fragile condition due to their allies political upheaval,
with the Government shaken up, we could quickly overthrown the governor."
There was a small pause in the room, the party chairman in a suit, Geston Lavrek
looked at Vayne with a confident smile. One of the men sitting near the window,
Becks Noder eyed Vayne in disbelief and asked sarcastically: "Do you realize
what kind of fire power would come down on us if they find out that we are holding
the Planetary governor as a prisoner?" "I understand that, but if
Karellen's force could help, then we might be able to make the GA sue for peace,"
Vayne continued his speech. "Too much of a risk," replied Becks Noder.
"We understand your concern, but the plan has already been set into motion,"
Lavrek replied to the group. "We have sent several messages to Karellen's
forces, they are constantly on the move, and so it might take some time to work."
"Well, just tell me one more thing, what makes you think that this attempt
is going to work, others have tried it before you know," Becks Noder said
grudgingly. "I read about this small group of planets, out on the rim,
they tried it and almost succeeded, I believe that they called themselves as
the Interplanetary Alliance or something…." Vayne told the story that
he had heard from his contacts, but it seemed that the group of planets were
taken back eventually. "So what happened to them?" A woman asked from
the left side. Vayne rolled his eyes and looked grim. "Well, they were
all destroyed in the end, the GA of course covered it all up, but still we might
make it, turn out better," Most of the people didn't believe a word that
Vayne said, but they decided to go with it, after all, they were on the same
side. "We are the only Political Group in this system, and we have wide-spread
support on all the provisional government branches, even the GA military forces
give us small support," Vayne continued to organize his troops, in a manner
of great respect to the party's chairman. "If we can use the small assets
on this system to first drive the GA presence away, then we might be able to
build defenses to protect our holdings," Vayne continued to tell the few
party members about his ideas, he was the man who had put all this resistance
activity up with the party chairman and a few others. "We need to organize
Protests against the Governor, then attempt to recruit more members to our plan,
and finally take control of the systems Garrison fleet," There was a silence
in the room once again. The few people that believed in Vayne decided to go
with it, and the ones that didn't, backed it up as well. They were now fighting
for their independence. "Tomorrow we begin," Lavrek decided.
The main street of the colony was now full of GA ground force's
soldiers guarding the flank. Most of the people were inside, only a few were
minding their own business. Some of the soldiers walked to other checkpoints,
some came back to their original formations, but it sure was quiet.
Suddenly, the silent voices of rioting were heard. As a large group of Civilians,
waving flags with symbols and slogans in them ran up the street, it had begun.
"What the hell is that?" asked one of the Security troopers, "Seems
like they're trying to come trough the defences, better use tranquillizers."
As the first group of citizens walked up the street, waving their flags of revolution,
the GA security forces were positioning themselves for attack.
"Free Hephaestus from Dictatorship!" "Hephaestus will remain
free. President Dalleer is a Murderer!" the crowd yelled. In a few moments,
the first shots of riot gas and baton rounds were fired. Meanwhile, Vayne and
few of his comrades watched the first attack reveal itself; "Good, that
should keep the Security out of our way for a while," Vayne stated. "Now,
over there is a small GA armory, we might be able to secure it now that they
have to worry about the Rioters." "Let's go," one of the men
ordered the other group. As large parts of the Blocks were now completely without
any security; Vayne and his group of men advanced trough the streets to the
large steel building with a GA insignia and a flag on the top of it. The riot
was still going on in the main street.
The Group reached the building; there were no guards and no security of any
kind. "Strange, where's the party?" one of the men wondered, Vayne
motioned his men to follow. The rest of the men took cover behind a corner,
as Vayne and four others advanced into the gate. As Vayne took out his communicator,
the armory door behind the fence suddenly opened. Vayne took action immediately,
grabbing his plasma pistol from the holster on his jacket and watched the being
that walked from the building.
Out of the door came a GA lieutenant, with a couple of other ensigns. They raised
their hands; "Don't shoot, we're here to help!" one of the lieutenants
yelled. " Uh, you are?" Vayne asked clumsily. "Yes, we've decided
to join up to this revolution," the lieutenant stated, "Alright, hand
over your key cards," Vayne ordered. The Officers quickly took small blue
card like things out of their pockets and handed them to one of Vayne's men.
"Seems like this is our first batch of defectors, excellent," Vayne
said and patted the former GA lieutenant on the back, the Lieutenant smiled
hastily. "Alright, I need you to help us to transport these weapons out
of the storage," One of Vayne's men ordered the lieutenants. " This
is Group 1, you are clear to proceed," Vayne gasped to his communicator;
all of his men begun to quickly move inside the bunker, time was not an ally.
As the elite code-breakers of the Hephaestus forces begun to crack the old codes
to the bunker's security systems, a Hover-buss suddenly pulled near the armory.
A group of rebels begun to move portable power generators out of the Supply
storage, as others carried packs of ammunition to the front yard. Vayne took
part in the generator scavenging, carrying a large generator out of a supply
closet. The first floor of the Armory was quickly cleaned of almost all useful
items; the others then carried the equipment into the Hover-Buss. "I wish
we would get those damn transporters back online again," one of the men
grunted to Vayne who was sitting near one of the Hackers on the control room.
"Let's see… the locking mechanisms on this storage have not been changed
for years," the hacker stated, he looked like one of those pesky strangers
who just happened to know something about the art of hacking. "Can you
break the seals to the second and third floors?" Vayne asked, "No
way, we ain't got the time," the Hacker stated. "Pull out then, fast,"
Vayne ordered. "Sir, it seems that our rioters have been contained, they
just had an alarm about a theft in this armory!" one of the rebels yelled
to Vayne. Vayne left his seat at once, and ran away from the armory, followed
by the rest of the men. The Hover-buss left with haste, taking a few of the
rebels inside it. "Alright, let's split!" Vayne yelled and the group
disintegrated to all directions, the GA ground patrol vehicles drove trough
the streets and into the Armory, but with no luck of catching anyone. The first
strike was a success to the rebels.
A group of small weather observation stations in the northern
continent were now the base complex of the rebels. There had been several small
riots in the Hephaestus cities today, the rebels had secured three weapon storages
and received a handful of defectors. The governor had responded in kind, he
had ordered the free Hephaestus political party members to be arrested and declared
the party illegal. Several arrests had been made, but still the Governor knew
that the odds would be against him sooner or later. The weather observation
stations were now being used for weapon and equipment storage. As the former
party headquarters were shutdown, the weather observation stations were to be
the new home for the Hephaestus freedom fighters.
Vayne was sitting behind a table in the command "room", where all
the stolen communication equipment was stored and was operated by several hackers,
communication experts and rebel sub-commanders. "Has there been any word
from Karellen yet?" Vayne asked, "No, they might have tried to sent
a burst transmission, though," one of the men reported. "Hmm, we can
only send short burst transmissions to the other cities in the planet, but not
to the orbiting ships or the other planets in the system," Vayne specified
what people had told him, this communication equipment was very old and that's
why they were using it. "Yes, you are correct, if any other sort of transmissions
are used, the GA satellites might pick them up," Den Orindan, one of the
comm. officers, said. "Damn, makes waiting a whole new concept now,"
Vayne replied. It was good to pick the Weather outposts as bases, they were
marked as an automated in the GA patrol lists, so no one bothered to check them
up anymore. The cities had smaller groups of rebels in them; mostly their job
was to report any GA activity in the area, the other planets in the system had
rebel groups in them, but they had to act as much alone as they could, since
inter-system communication was extremely risky.
"Sir, what's our next operation?" one of the rebel commanders asked,
he just entered the room. Vayne was alone at the table, so he guessed that he
had to improvise in the objectives, Vayne sighed. "Well, our next operation
might be something between the securing of more equipment or an attack to a
city." "Yes, sir!" the commander responded.
Few hours passed, Vayne spend his time reading the tactical maps and computer
scans of the nearby settlements. As the Tactical officers finished their meeting,
all the commanders were called in.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached an agreement on our next plan,"
Geston Lavrek said, "This time, we're going to secure these small communication
outposts that are located 7 kilometers east." "What good is that going
to do?" one of the Sub-commanders asked. "Well, as it appears, these
outposts are also automated and with them in our hands, we will be able to communicate
with our allies on the other planets, the other groups will attack a pair of
GA supply depots." "We have notified our allies in the cities and
they will also start a series of riots in the cities, this time we won't escape,
we'll stay in to fight."
The plan sounded great, perhaps the success of these two missions might be the
needed ones so that the rest of the neutral citizens might see the light and
understand the meaning of a free Hephaestus. Actually, most of the citizens
were with the freedom fighters, so a neutral minority was very rare.
A group of six planetary vehicles rolled trough the rocky and
sandy ground of Hephaestus. These older vehicles moved slowly, but surely. They
were always closer to the complex of communication arrays in the horizon. Vayne
sat quietly inside the interior of one of the vehicles, he was wearing pale
space-suit armor and so were the eight others who sat opposite of him. Some
of them carried small plasma weapons and few had stolen a plasma rifle. If this
operation would work, they might be a little closer to victory.
The GA strategic command had not been notified of the "recent civil uprisings"
in Hephaestus, the planetary governor thought that he knew better what to do,
and besides, the problems had not reached a problematic point, yet.
The group of vehicles reached the small worn hangar at the middle of the complex.
The freedom fighters disembarked from the vehicles and walked into the airlock,
leading inside the communication complex. The electronic lock was easy to pick,
because the rebels had the right codes; all provided by the defectors. The group
entered the complex, finding the computer core and plugging their equipment
inside it. Vayne ordered his men: "Alright, get those transmitters up and
running, then prepare the computers ready for a large download of information."
All of the rebels begun to quickly act, all having their own jobs to complete.
"Sir, we're receiving information from the Garrison fleet, they're saying
that the governor has asked for them to proceed to a new position in the orbit."
"Alright, tell them that we have gained access to a comm. station, and
that the we are staging several assaults on the GA forces at the same time."
"Sending transmission now, sir," the comm. officer reported. Another
Officer then replied: "Sir, the fleet is transmitting us a tactical map
of all GA infantry and security movements in the planet," Vayne nodded
in approval. The other hour was spend on monitoring GA infantry movements and
relaying it back to the freedom fighters infantry units. Vayne was now commanding
the AI-operated rebel mechas and droid infantry to take the first city.
"Send the second battalion into position six-zero," Vayne ordered,
while a hologram tactical map was laid in front of him. "Alright, sir,"
the Lieutenant assisting him replied. Theholographic "units" moved
in the map, making the commanding of infantry seem like a twisted war game of
some sort, luckily the units were real, but had no crew in them. Only the few
rebel infantry groups were real Gigerdians, before they could secure the clone
infantry divisions from their barracks. As the battle raged on, a loud voice
of engines roared in the sky, pair of atmospheric bombers was now "affliated"
with the freedom fighters. The freedom fighters didn't have many Spave units
yet, so these atmospheric fighter-bombers were going to help a lot, especially
as the GA anti-space defense guns were disabled around the city. The large bio-dome
that was Hephaestus city II was gleaming with small explosions that were bright
as the sun. The battle was quickly turning into a rebel victory, as many GA
forces had either defected to the rebel side or had been caught off guard at
the beginning of the attack. Few random shots were fired, then a complete silence…
Vayne and his staff were overjoyed to hear of their victory, they all were happy
that the rebel forces made their first "real" victory. The captured
GA equipment was now being painted with the new "flag" of the soon,
hopefully, free Hephaestus. All GA flags were torn from their poles in Hephaestus
city II, and new flags of green and purple were inserted instead!
The flow of GA Prisoners out of the city was large, as many defected, many decided
not to defect or give up the commands of their security battalions and groups.
There were smaller holes to the Bio-dome in Hephaestus city II, but the repair
bots quickly repaired them. Now, the rebels had the change of seeing the local
news channel, they could now know the next moves of the Governor. Vayne was
watching local news feed from the captured comm. station: "Good day fellow
citizens, we interrupt this program due to terrible news. The group of separatists
that have been looting the GA military armories in our capital, have now taken
control of Hephaestus city II, they begun their attack early in the morning,
it seems that most of the GA units based in the city have defected to the rebel
side, their demands are not yet known. The governor has declared the state of
martial law in the main planet and ordered the other planets in the system under
strict GA military control for now." Vayne seemed confident, the freedom
fighters had secured several smaller outposts in the planet too, but they were
not mentioned in the news broadcast, by the governors orders, of course.
The Hephaestus forces had now secured several clone infantry platoons,
and positioned them near the next city, Hephaestus city III. Vayne was busy
of leading the rebellion for the next target, it was said that someone from
the fleet would come to assess the situation today. The other sub-commanders
however, were worried. "So far, we've secured two large cities, seven r
outposts, six bases, and five storage areas, the rebels on the other planets
have done almost the same" "That's all great, but what are we going
to do when the GA gets reinforcements?" "Yeah, the Governor must have
asked for help, no way he could handle us by himself now." "Hmm, If
we could just take control of the fleet."
The commanders were debating over the pPossibility of a GA counter-attack. Admiral
corzeer, the commander of the Hephaestus garrison forces had defected into the
Hephaestus freedom fighters, he had been a long time supporter of the cause,
so now was time to give concrete help: "Gentlemen, you have the control
of the fleet now!" Corzeer yelled from the door, he stepped inside to the
briefing room where the Hephaestus commanders were discussing the event. "We
do?" one of the commanders asked, "Yes, we had to destroy one of the
smaller corvettes, the captain of that vessel still though that the Following
of the governor's orders were better," Corzeer nodded with respect to the
freedom fighters in his voice. "I see, about these reinforcements…"
Vayne said, "I suggest that we find a way to shut down comm. feeds between
the capital and the GA strategic command, that way they do not know what are
they going to be up against," Vayne suggested to the Group. "Yes,
well we should then attack the sub-space relay station in orbit and start to
listen the GA comm. feeds coming from the capital," another one of the
commanders stated, Corzeer nodded. "Admiral Corzeer, perhaps you could
take just one of your ships and use it to either capture or destroy the relay
station," Vayne asked with a firm look, Corzeer pondered the idea for a
while. "Very well, I'll take my own flagship, a heavy cruiser," Corzeer
replied. "Good, try to find a way to take the station intact, we might
find a use for it."
The heavy cruiser of Admiral Corzeer was now changing course,
the new course was a sure job. Corzeer did not inform the governor of his new
position, he decided to give the governor the impression that the fleet was
still under his control. As the heavy cruiser slowly changed course and maneuvered
slightly with its huge engines, the other ships in the garrison fleet remained
in orbit.
"Alright, move us to that subspace relay station," Corzeer commanded
his crew on the Bridge. "Yes, sir," the helmsman replied. "Here
we go," Corzeer said to himself. "Sir, there is something interesting
on the local news feed, perhaps we should listen to it?" Corzeer's second
in command, commander Jadel suggested. "Alright, on screen." "Good
day citizens, just a few Hours ago a threatening situation erupted on the senate
meeting in Gigerdi Prime. Senator Cerel Ulwenius, a member of the Democratic
league party held a threatening speech in, which he clearly stated that the
GA is a friend to the DHR, and openly invited the DHR forces to seek refuge
in the GA territories, President Dalleer condemned this speech to be an act
of insurrection and ordered the Section 18 forces to place all Democratic league
senators under arrest, the party chairman is currently put into house arrest
in his home located in Station Prime, secretary of defense Veduk Marlin has
stated that this will not cause problems with our good relations with the Hemmoian
federation." "What the hell was that?" Corzeer thought out loud,
all of the crewmen in the bridge were quite amazed.
It didn't take long for the cruiser to reach the subspace station, The station
seemed to be manned at this time. "Sir, the station control asks us about
our business here?" "Tell them that we have a bunch of personnel who
want to come aboard, including me." "Yes sir."
This one was a first class trick, Corzeer didn't yet know about the chances
of pulling trick up. This might just work. "Tactical, contact the security
chief and tell him to prep an away team, fully armed," Corzeer turned to
see the tactical officer who nodded in approval, "And I'm going with them."
"Sir, just what are you going to do?" cmmander Jadel asked in amazement.
"We're going to crash the party, literally," Corzeer replied mystically.
"This seems more like a boarding operation to me."
There were only a pair of lieutenants waiting for Corzeer in the small transporter room; they were quite amazed to see a large group of security troopers with the Admiral. "Gentlemen, I think that you should drop all weapons, big or small," Corzeer ordered while the troopers moved in to clear the area. The troopers quickly tied the lieutenants with energy handcuffs, then they walked trough the small corridor and into the "bridge area". Only three officers were inside the room, Corzeer walked inside and said: "I think that it would be wise for you to raise your hands and walk away with these gentlemen." "What is this, admiral?" one of the officers asked. "This, is a rebellion," he replied quickly. As the troopers escorted the officers away, only Corzeer and an older Gigerdian major were left in the bridge, not to mention three security officers dressed in Armor. "Now, We need you to shut down all communications." "Alright, I was thinking about joining already," the major replied grudgingly, Corzeer nodded. "So, I'll use the emergency override so that it'll shut down the whole comm. network." "Well, alright then," Corzeer replied, a bit unsure of the action. "Actually, we thought that you could just shut down the communications between the GA military network and the Hephaestus capital." "Yes well, I could do that but it's too risky, since the satellites might be running on their own power." "Look, just give us a log of all messages that the governor's office has sent within the few days, then shut down the comm. systems." The Major worked quickly, he took the comm. logs and put them on a holo-disk which he handed to Corzeer, "Here's the data," Corzeer took the disk and gave it to one of his troopers who immediately ferried it to the transporter room, there another officer put it into his computer pad, It took three seconds for the officer to find the info, he notified the Hephaestus forces planet side. "Sir, we found a pair of Communication that might be the right one," One of the Troopers then reported, "Let's See it."
From: Hephaestus Governors office
To: GA Strat. Comm. (FU66321199CVB)
Situation is very dangerous, rebels have taken control of Hephaestus city II, request additional reinforcements to be sent A.S.A.P. rebel equipment level is currently very high, garrison fleet still in my hands.
Authorization: (677/GCSSW90)
Governor Fedus K. Roomel
"Seems like we're going to get some company here," Corzeer said sadly,
this meant war. An hour later, Corzeer was discussing the current events with
Vayne, who had decided along with the other commanders that a final assault
to free the capital city would be taken soon. Corzeer was ordered to resolve
the matter of defending from an assault from space. The governor now knew that
the fleet was at the hands of the enemy. He still controlled the planetary defence
grids, though.
Captain Tanner had been ordered on a standard patrol two days
ago, now he was on a secret mission. Tanner's battlegroup, consisting of his
Merr-Sonn class destroyer, and a troop transport, a Geffron class cruiser.
Orders had come in from the fleet command; Tanner was supposed to meet up with
a group of GA transports. As Tanner moved his battle group over, the Transports
had immediately begun to transport Ground attack missiles inside the destroyer.
These missiles had Neutron warheads; they were usually used in bombing a planets
surface clean of enemies.
"Sir, the transport's captain informs us that all warheads have been loaded
inside our cargo bay, they're loading up the launchers soon," one of the
bridge lieutenants informed the captain, Tanner nodded. "I wonder, where
are we headed this time?" "Sir, the transports captain just informed
us of a new plan, they're giving a Transport with us, their saying it's full
of Clone infantry," the lieutenant reported the latest message, "Why?"
Tanner replied. "They said that we are to immediately proceed to Hephaestus
colony, sir." "I see, lets get going then." As the Battle group
departed from the group of Transports, Tanner thought about these new changes
in mission. Hephaestus was in the middle of nowhere, nothing important was located
there, he remembered. Was it a rebellion? He wondered.
It would take a few hours to reach Hephaestus with the old jump engines, so
Tanner would have plenty of time to think things over. "Sir, we have captain
Verlins hailing us?" "Put him on screen." "Captain Tanner,
it's good to see you here, now we have a mission up ahead," Captain Verlins
begun to talk with his usual manner of hard planning. "Yes, but why Hephaestus,
there's nothing there?" Tanner replied, Verlins didn't look happy when
somebody decided to questions his instructions, "Captain, The Fleet command
gave me the upper rank here, so you'll do what they tell you to do." "Yes
captain, but why are we bringing clone infantry divisions with us?" "That
is information that I am not allowed to tell you, yet captain." "When
will you brief us?" "As soon as we get to Hephaestus."
Admiral Corzeer had deployed the whole fleet's resources on the
defenses. He had small fighter patrols scout the planets for any possible enemy
incursions, and moved the capital ships near the possible invasion points.
"Any word from the patrols?" Corzeer asked the tactical officer, "No
sir, they reported all clear," the tactical officer replied. The time was
short, so Corzeer took all the resources he could to the battle. They used small
anti-drone mines to block entrance to the subspace relay station where Hephaestus
had been broadcasting signals to Karellen, in case he might be able to help.
"Sir, We have a transmission coming from Hephaestus city II," the
comm. officer notified, Corzeer stood up and walked to the console. "Alright,
put it on." "Corzeer, this is Vayne, we are preparing our forces for
the assault now." "Good, Keep us informed of your progress."
"I will, but you keep the fleet of our backs, Vayne out." As the transmission
ended, so did the waiting. A blue sphere suddenly opened in real space, from
the vortex came out three ships. It seemed like the enemy had arrived.
"Sir, we detect three GA warships moving this way, they just jumped in."
"Can you detect the signal markings on those vessels?" "Yes sir,
one of them is the G.A.S. Cheyenne, they've got a transport with them."
"Alright, red alert!" Corzeer yelled as the warning lights and alert
sounds begun to haul trough the ship. "Hail the lead vessel," Corzeer
ordered.
Tanner had been briefed about the situation, several minutes before
they jumped in the system. It seemed that the colony had rebelled, but the governor
didn't have enough forces to handle the growing riots and mass defections going
on, the GA government had enough problems to worry about due to the Hfed civil
war going on, they weren't even briefed about the situation correctly. So, the
GA strategic command had ordered a strike force of ships to quickly take the
colony back. They also hoped, that the system's garrison fleet would still be
loyal to the GA, now was the time to strike.
"Captain, reading three vessels near the main planet." "The Command
vessel is hailing us." "On screen." The main screen blinked and
the worried, but stalwart picture of Admiral Corzeer appeared. Tanner didn't
know about the identity of this Officer, he wondered about his first question.
"I understand that you have a rebellion going on?" Tanner started,
still a bit unsure on what to say. "Well, we call this a simple liberation
of the people of Hephaestus, actually," Corzeer replied. "Listen,
if you are affiliated with the rebel forces, I ask you to lower your shields
and prepare to be boarded, or we'll open fire." "You are in violation
of Hephaestus Space, leave now or we'll defend ourselves too!" Corzeer
replied, he was getting angry at these GA "Know-it-all" types. "No,
You are just a group of damn rebels, we'll handle your kind now!" Captain
Verlins cut into the conversation, he seemed angry too. "No way, we have
declared ourselves independent from the GA, your leaders are wrong here,"
Corzeer Said. "You've committed insurrection, a man in a high rank such
as you yourself should know the consequences of this." Verlins continued.
"This is my last warning, lower your shields and prepare to be boarded!"
"Admiral Corzeer, You are clearly outnumbered here, we'll destroy you if
we have to," Tanner said with firmness in his voice, Corzeer was more interested
on battling it out with Captain Verlins. "You are in violation of the Gigerdi
Alliance constitution, rebellion is not permitted!" "Seems like the
people you work for are more violators than we are." "I've had enough,
Open fire," Verlins ordered, the small transport ship fired a pair of point
defense beams at the Triton, they didn't do much damage. The Triton replied
with a salvo of three plasma torpedoes, the Transport ships shields wavered.
"Captain Tanner, Open fire!" Verlins yelled at the Screen from his
transport, Tanner was hesitating about the motives of the mission. "Sir,
We shouldn't fire at them, we should find out about the reason to this Uprising."
"What?! , are you disobeying orders too?" Verlins yelled back, "You
have got missiles aboard, launch them at the planet!", Tanner hesitated
but decided to act anyway. "Tactical, Launch one missile, target the hostile
cruiser," he ordered, the large grey object moved away from the ship slowly,
the launch sequence was fast. As the red glow of the missile begun to move away
from the ship, Tanner hoped not to hit the planet with it. He was very confused,
the GA strategic commands suddenly issues a mission with no background, then
tell their officers that the garrison fleet is friendly, but instead it's very
much hostile. Who knew what the GA had gotten themselves into now, probably
trying to cover a scandal or a failed operation of some sort.
"Hail Captain Verlins's ship, now." "Yes what is it?" "Sir,
there's something wrong here, those colonists could be telling the truth about
this." "What truth? There is no truth for the rebels, they want to
destroy the GA and you are ordered to stop them!" "Sir, under the
current situation I feel that the intelligence data that the Intel has provided
is inadequate and therefore we cannot act, suggest a retreat," Tanner spoke
with a low tone, he could see that the transport ship was taking damage fast,
it was no match for the heavy cruiser. Verlins made a strange face, composed
of anger and simple frustration. "Just launch those missiles or I'll relive
you of your duty…" As the final words of Captain Verlins echoed out,
the transmission was suddenly cut off. The heavy cruiser must have destroyed
the transports sensors and communications. "Alright, Launch two more missile,
do not target anyone." "Sir, Captain Verlins gave us specific orders
to fire them at the planet!" his second in command reported. "I know,
but we don't know about the real situation here, there could be something very
bad happening out here." "Captain, Fire those missiles," the
commander said slowly but surely, it almost seemed like he would be relieving
the captain himself. Another pair of missiles was fired from the Cheyenne; captain
Verlins saw it happen in his command screen. "Now you'll bite the dust,"
he whispered.
The Missiles sped closer to the heavy cruiser, which was intercepting enemy
fire as much as possible, for a moment it seemed that the projectiles would
hit, but they fleered past. Verlins was furious, it seemed that captain Tanner
had changed ship. Another cruiser, a Geffron class had been moving near Tanner's
ship, in that ship were a few more groups of Clone infantry. "Contact the
captain of that Geffron," Verlins ordered. "Sir, our comms are down,"
a mistake that Verlins did not plan for just happened.
Captain Tanner Contacted Corzeer, and told him about his idea. Corzeer agreed
that Tanner could join in; the Hephaestus forces boarded the transport and captured
captain Verlins. It was too late for Tanner to look up on GA anymore, as most
of his crew decided to stay with him, the others were given shuttles to leave
on. Vayne had taken the capital easily, the small resistance had been destroyed
and more defectors joined up. The message from Karellen finally arrived, The
message told that the DHR would continue their fight, and that Hephaestus would
remain a close ally. The independence war was at an end; the governor had fled
in a cargo transport.
A few days later, the constitution of the Free Republic of Hephaestus was signed.
The Hephaestus was now an independent state, free from the GA. Although, Vayne
knew that this was just the beginning of their battle, they would have time
to rally forces. The Hephaestus forces liberated the other planets within the
weel and raided several GA outposts in the system, establishing total control
over Hephaestus. Vayne was named a President of the new republic, a job he was
not quite ready for yet.
The people were celebrating as the rebel forces marched into the
city a few days ago; the Hephaestus government was officially established. Vayne
was watching the parade from his new office, the former governors office. Most
of the political party members had been promoted to administrator duties, the
little time they had left would be spend on preparing for a second round with
the GA. The reason for GA not to take Hephaestus back now was purely political,
due to Hephaestus's alliance with the DHR. The People really needed a revolution,
that's what all agreed. The people would be celebrating for days as great parades
and fireworks were being done all over the planets.
"They'll be back," Vayne said quietly, Looking out from the offices
window. "We won the battle, but not the war, unfortunately," one of
his Aides said, Vayne nodded. "The time that we have left, we'll spend
wisely." "Yes of course." "Sir, the last batch of GA prisoners
are being brought to the shuttles, we're ferrying them off to the closest GA
colonies, now," another aide reported. "Good, that's the last of them
we'll see around here for a while." "Tomorrow, you'll meet with secretary
of defense Corzeer and prime minister Dukin." "Yes, But today we'll
celebrate."
