Enemy - Part II: Galactic Empire

This is the 2nd part of Enemy. Every story has 2 sides...

by Matthew "Dra'Gon" Stohler

 

    It was the year 2021 when the visitors came the first time. Humanity was just reaching out and a habitat was being built on the moon. The single alien ship easily passed through the inferior sensors to Earth itself. No one knows for certain how long it had remained in orbit, nor what its purpose was. What was noticed was a smaller vessel coming down to land on the White House lawn in the United States of America. Response was immediate and the small craft was destroyed. Only then was the orbiting ship discovered as it suddenly left orbit and the system.
    Nothing could be gained from the wreckage except a look at the aliens’ physiology. Thoughts of possible retaliation by an alien civilization caused all of Earth to make drastic preparations for the most likely event. However, fifty-three years went by and those preparations had become slack.
    Then, in 2074, a fleet of twenty alien ships approached the system cautiously, calling out on all frequencies in Earth’s major languages that they came in peace. Earth’s best ships – built for fighting – were sent to escort the visitors. These five ships were slow and lumbering in comparison but the aliens made no move against them. After parking the fleet in orbit around Mars, one alien craft was allowed to approach Earth and talks got underway between the major nations’ leaders and the aliens.
    They called themselves a Federation of Races and proclaimed that they wished only friendship with the infant race. Religious factions the world over protested the discussions but were ignored for the most part. Information about this Federation was given and Earth’s leaders had decided to ask for technological help. Despite the odds of such a request being granted, it was.
    Over the next thirty years, humanity came to a time of unsurpassed knowledge. Marvels undreamt were given to them freely and they grew to trust their alien friends. By 2114, Earth had built 200 ships, had flown to Alpha Centari and had mock battles staged by the Federation delegates. After another five years, the delegates announced that Earth was ready for a journey to the Federation’s headquarters. The delegation would send three ships to escort Earth’s 130 selected ships. There was a worldwide celebration as the fleet prepared to leave.
    Going by the course set by the delegation, the fleet was on its way, quickly settling into routine for the estimated – and unheard of – seven-year journey. However, five years later, disaster struck. Without warning, the fleet was attacked. The Fleet Captain attempted to get information from their escort, only to discover the three alien ships had left them. With firm resolve, the human fleet fought back.
    The battle was not quick, it lasted for fifteen days. The attacking fleet had a hundred ships and fought with ferociousness unknown in human history. For most of the battle, they were destroying two ships for every one the humans took out. But the tide finally turned and the humans fought harder than before. When the attackers were down to five ships, they fled, followed by the ten least damaged of the human vessels. Only when all five had been destroyed, did the ten return to their damaged friends. For the next two months, they made what repairs they could and attempted to find survivors among the destroyed ships. Very few were found.
    It took seven years for the nineteen ships to return home. Upon entering the solar system, the captain of the lead ship – not the original fleet commander for that ship had been destroyed – transmitted the entire report. Once the ships were docked, all of the crews were fully debriefed over the next three weeks. A decision was made to bring the three alien captains of the escort up on charges of desertion and treason.
    The delegation refused to turn over the captains, explaining that theirs was a peaceful mission and could not be accountable for war-like engagements. But the human governments were adamant and even threatened to go to war with the Federation over the matter. Though the humans had only a few hundred ships, the alien delegation obviously did not want this so reluctantly turned over those captains.
    It took less than a month to find the defendants guilty and, over the protests of the delegation, executed by a firing squad armed with laser rifles. After the execution, the world leaders deliberated on what to do about the delegation itself. These talks took four months. Finally it was decided to get them out of the system. The humans did not really want to disrupt the chance to join the Federation of Races, but they were deeply disturbed by the battle.
    The humans wanted to find the home world of their attackers, and possibly discover the reason for the attack, so they sent out 200 ships without informing the delegation of their intentions. They also decided to redesign the way their ships were made. Every design the delegation had given them was thrown out and engineers worked day and night to make optimum use of the technology in the new designs.
    Over the next six years, the humans built a hundred new ships. It was during this period that they studied the battle and noticed a suspicious similarity between that battle and the mock battles the delegation had set up. When this was discovered, there was outrage and contempt for the Federation. The humans knew they had been used and didn’t like that at all.
    The world leaders made plans and their high-ranking military and five ships were sent to escort the delegation to a “border” of no less than a hundred light years around Sol. All the Federation’s delegation was told, was that no Federation ship was to approach closer than that and a small fleet would visit the Federation of Races’ headquarters in due time. They watched as the delegation left, noting that the direction was different from what they had told the humans before.
    More ships were built over the years and fleets of fifty were sent out to find new races not within the Federation. Each time a race was discovered, whether already exploring the space around them or pre-space, the humans made contact and explained what had happened with the Federation. Many wanted nothing to do with the humans and their vendetta, some attacked without even replying to that first communication – and were subsequently destroyed militarily, though those worlds were left alone after such battles. But the humans did gain allies and the Galactic Empire was born.
    Meanwhile, the home world of the attackers in that first battle was found. The fleet remained well outside the system and transmitted all they knew of the Federation and the events of the battle toward that lone world. This was done on all frequencies and in all known languages, both human and Federation. This took several days to accomplish and the fleet waited patiently for some form of reply. That reply finally came seven months after the fleet had arrived in the form of an equal amount of ships.
    Both sides were wary of each other and the humans assured the mengowie – a translation of the alien’s name for themselves – that they wanted no further hostilities with them. The mengowie informed the humans that they only wished to be left alone. The only reason they had started a campaign against the Federation was to make certain no one else approached their world for any reason. The humans promised that they would not approach this system for any reason in the future. Without any physical contact, the humans helped the mengowie to design a system of satellites to warn off other ships and destroy those who did not heed those warnings – which would be transmitted in the known languages and forms of communication. The humans even sent out squadrons to a nearby asteroid field to bring back asteroids, which would be made into weapons platforms.
    The entire project took forty-four months to complete and during that time, the mengowie told the humans all they knew of the Federation of Races – whom the mengowie simply referred to as the Enemy. The human fleet returned home to find preparations for war against the Federation of Races underway and added their own findings against the Enemy to what had already been known.
    Years passed and the fleets of the Galactic Empire grew at an extraordinary rate. All allies within the Empire contributed to this growth with the goal of breaking the Enemy and bringing its leaders to ultimate justice. After 190 standard years, the Empire felt itself ready.
    Faster-than-light communication allowed for precise coordination between fleets. The largest – a thousand strong and crewed by a dozen races – approached the Enemy’s headquarters in a six-planet, double-star system. They waited patiently – containing the Enemy’s leadership without transmitting their intent – while thirty-two Empire fleets of a hundred ships each approached the home worlds of the Federation. Only then were their intentions and demands communicated to the Federation. And so the war between Galactic Empire and the Federation of Races began.
    Resistance within the headquarters system was met with total destruction. The home worlds were also destroyed as the Enemy’s fleets retaliated. But they lacked the Empire’s numbers and fled. The Prime fleet separated into smaller fleets of 200 ships and sought out the remnants of the Federation fleets. The war had just begun but those of the Galactic Empire knew they would not stop until they destroyed every ship of the Enemy.