Chronicles of Sol: The Fall-Chapter 251 - Two Hundred and Nine The Brewing War

July 4th, 008; Port Qeritas, Raider Territory:

The Raider Admiral stepped closer to the viewport, watching the drones as they came into dock. In the months since raiding Cooperative space, he'd put his best engineers to work on the Raythil drone technology. The drones had a lot of potential, but the Raythil designs left something to be desired. The versions the Raythil had been using were best described as light fighter bombers. Two lightweight plasma cannons and a single torpedo launcher didn't really amount to much.

His engineers had been quite ecstatic for the opportunity, and based on the latest test flights they'd proved their worth. Footsteps got his attention and he turned to see his chief engineer, she seemed pretty pleased with herself, she grinned, "So what did you think?"

"Much more impressive than the Raythil version."

"Well unlike the Raythil we have an idea about our principal opponent. Phantom fighters are heavily armed and stealthy. So I designed two drone types, interceptors and bombers. The Bombers are equipped with twin Heavy Ion-Disruptors and dual plasma torpedo projectors. I replaced the Polycarbonate with a cheaper laminated steel plate armor and fitted a small shield generator on board."

"A shield? Interesting, that should compensate for the weaker armor."

"To a degree, but the idea with drones is you swarm with numbers. I chose the cheaper armor so we could build more of them."

"Good point, now about the interceptors?"

"Designed specifically to face Phantom Fighters, I fitted them with plasma missiles, and twin ion disruptors. Again I picked laminated steel armor, and a small shield generator. Given their fairly small and lightweight construction we should be able to field hundreds at any time."

"Wonderful, but a weapon is only useful if it can get to the battlefield. How are my drone carriers coming along?"

"The first few should be finished soon, we were able to save a lot of time by taking our existing cargo transport hull and making a few modifications. Same construction, laminated steel space frame with polycarbonate armor. Three medium shield generators, and two main sublight engines. Our primary point of divergence is with the cargo bays, I ripped most of the storage bays out of this version and replaced them with drone bays. Drones don't need all the space manned fighters do, so I was able to fit more of them to the frame. Each drone carrier should be able to deploy around three thousand drone fighters."

The Admiral was impressed. The cargo transports she was talking about were something they could build locally. They had a fairly cheap destroyer-sized hull with minimal armaments, decent protection, and reasonable speed. They used them primarily in two roles: trade between their outposts and ferrying loot back from a raid. Mounting three thousand fighters on a hull seven hundred meters long was an achievement. "Excellent, how many hulls will you have by the...

"Ten by the end of the week, with full drone complements, another 40 will be done by the end of the month and that's just here. Other bases have begun construction as well, but we will likely run into resource roadblocks soon. It's going to eat up a lot of steel and polycarbonate."

"That's fine, I plan to strike another blow against the Cooperative and take on the Drifters."

"And the Phantoms?"

He was about to reply, when his aide poked their head in, "Sir, the Dregari and Folian ambassadors have arrived."

He grinned, "Excellent, show them to the conference room. I'll be there shortly."

The conference room wasn't much of a place, but he stepped inside to find the Dregari and Folian ambassadors already settled. The Dregari ambassador was a brute of a man, easily two and half meters tall and weighing half a ton, most of that muscle. His gleaming red eyes were rather intense and he carried himself with the manner of a warrior.

In contrast, the Folian ambassador was a delicate flower, a young woman with pale blue skin, light purple eyes and a soft yet regal face framed by long silver hair. It gleamed in the light and seemed to flow like living metal. Two flowers bloomed on either side of her head with lovely purple petals, and they weren't mere decoration. She wore little, so much of her skin was on display, including her rather large bust. Down lower she wore a lovely white skirt that flowed towards the ground and concealed her legs. Not that she had them, the Folians were living plants, only humanoid from the waist up, down below that were their roots. He'd heard a bit about why.

"Ah welcome, I'm so glad you two could make it. I am Admiral Hikyo."

The Dregari stepped forward, "Ambassador Dreylar, I trust this meeting will be fruitful? The flower doesn't bring much confidence."

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He chuckled, "Careful, she's deadlier than she looks."

The pouting flower perked up, "Thank you Hikyo," she extended her hand, "I'm Tylisi. I was wondering what this is about."

"War, our factions have been suffocating for decades now. All the best resources are... monopolized by the Drifters and the Cooperative. I figure it's time to change that, and we have a little edge now."

The flower grinned, "Well that does sound interesting. What do you want from us?"

"Your forces would bring two more battleships to the fold, but more importantly I know you flowers took in a colony this cycle, the name escapes me but I heard they had many talented pilots in their number."

The Dregari blinked, "Pilots? What good are they, this storm kills them faster than you can train new ones."

He pressed a chip into the table, with a smile, "We managed to head off a game changer and acquire it for ourselves. The cooperative had been working on drones, we've made some changes ourselves and set them up for remote piloting. We've already started building drone carriers and drones, but we will need more pilots."

The Dregari grinned, "Impressive, I think this alliance might benefit us. I presume you are willing to share the drones?"

"Naturally, along with the spoils of conquest. I'm aware of how badly the storm hit your fleet, many of your cruisers are too wounded for battle and only two of your battleships can fight. Together we will be stronger, between us, your people and the Folians, we can muster sixteen battleships, throw in the drone carriers and we have a decisive edge." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"What about the Drifters and the Cooperative?"

"The Drifters have seven battleships, while the Cooperative has nine, however, our spies tell me the Cooperative recently had to dock three of those for extensive repairs. On the other hand, the Drifters recently signed a treaty with a new faction, we don't know their name, so we call them Phantoms. The Phantoms have a lot of stealth tech, they ain't easy to find, and we know they have at least one battleship. Worse, the Phantoms can deploy fighters of their own but only in limited numbers."

"So we will have a fighter and battleship advantage from the start, the only real unknown are these phantoms?"

The Folian girl blinked, "Didn't you have two more battleships? Couldn't we have had 18 battleships against an effective 14?

He sighed, "Unfortunately a couple of my captains made a grave tactical error which cost us two very valuable capital ships."

"Fools be fools, now why don't we discuss the terms of this new alliance? Then work out how we will approach this coming war?"

July 5th, 008 SDE; The Lodge:

Hylix looked up to see Felki walk into his office. "Let me guess, you came by to ask about the rumors?"

"Not really I'm pretty sure they are accurate, Raider movements have been increasingly aggressive. Nor can I ignore the fact that they raided us twice in the last month. It's clear to me that they are gearing up for war. What do you plan to do about it?"

"I have a few thoughts, but more importantly I'm glad you came. I've got a job for you."

"Oh? What do you have in mind?"

He sighed, "I want you to take the Stormwolf and escort three cargo ships into Refuge space. Last time the Refuge was here, they wanted titanium, I couldn't give them all they wanted at the time, but I was able to buy more. In addition to that, I threw in a few hundred thousand photon warheads. It should help cover our debt and then some."

"I take it there is more to this mission."

"Yup, I want you to alert the Refuge forces to the current situation. That way they can be prepared to mobilize at a moment's notice. We both know the Raiders are going to go on the offensive soon and if the rumors are right?"

She nodded, "I'll go tell my crew. We should be about done with the resupply. So we can leave as soon as the cargo ships are ready."

"They should be ready in three hours. I'll let them know, and remember this is a vital trade convoy. We can't let the raiders take it."

Felki did her best to look serious, "I'm aware. I won't let you down sir."

He saw her off, knowing full well she'd do her best. There was a reason he trusted her, she was one of their best captains. Now he had a potential war to plan for. With that in mind, he had another ambassador to send out.

Hylix was fully aware of the current disposition of forces. The Raiders had more battleships and heavy cruisers than any other faction, in a straight fight they'd be favored. Thankfully they had a potential ally in the form of the Cooperative, who was just as threatened by increased raider aggression. The Cooperative fleet was fairly large and more importantly well equipped. Hylix was counting on securing their support, between their large number of capital ships and their economy, the cooperative would be key to evening the odds. Without that support, the Drifter forces would be overrun.

The Refuge were a good ally. They had strong technology and a powerful battleship at their disposal. Yet he couldn't say how decisive a role they might play. Hylix was well aware of their stealth and fighter capabilities, both of which were likely to be a boon to their coalition. How much of a boon remained to be seen; the Refuge were new to the Storm.

Hylix stretched and moved out of his office. There was someone to find. He needed to get that ambassador ready, and he had a few things he wanted to prepare for such an important diplomatic mission. He stopped for a moment. What were they going to call this coalition? That might be just as important as putting it together.