Chapter VII: Conspiracy Brewing

*****PICTURE OF MEETING PLACE WHERE THE THREE STARBASES ARE

The meeting itself never officially took place.

Derek Ohio, party leader of the Federalists, was officially on his campaign tour and was to make a scheduled stop at Alexandria Starbase... in six hours. That left plenty of time for this unofficial visit to Midway Naval Station where Oberkommander Klaus Muckler just so happened to be.

"This consolidation of power is dangerous. I do not speak for the military establishement but for the freedom of the people."

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely" replied Derek Ohio "Even Bradshaw knew this."

Muckler gave Ohio a grave look. Where was the Commodore when he needed him most. His trusted friend Alan Bradshaw. Muckler could not stop but feeling as if he was failing him. No one had expected him to go MIA with the awakening of the rogue Helios AI. Da Souza, meanwhile, had no problems labeling him as dead. He had left such a vacuum in his wake. No one could hold all the pieces together like him, and his Federation was slowly falling apart.

The organized structure he had built was fracturing as different power groups attempted to gain more affluence with the central government. Muckler had lost FISA, Echelon, and half his fleet to boot.

The polls for the upcoming election were not favourable to the Federalists. Da Souza had done enough to maintain and elevate the standard of living across most worlds of the Federation. The latest knews of the Carinoids "threat" simply rallied people to the flag and the incumbent.

"Do you ask yourself how the Carinoids built three fully operatinal starbasses in so little time, and right under our noses?" Asked Ohio.

"Every day." replied Muckler "I simply just don't understand how military intelligence missed it. FISA might be the most complete and able information agency but there is no way S4 could miss the construction of a foreign starbase in Earth's sector." Muckler looked dejected.

An aide walked in and leaned in to whisper something in Muckler's ear. Mcukler nodded "Go ahead turn it on."
The aide pushed a buton on the table and the far wall opened up to reveal a large flatviewer. A GNN special bulletin was airing.

"Once again the Navy seems incapable to protect the citizens of the Terran Galactic Federated Republic because of incompetent leadership. The Prime Magistrate and his cabinet, with the exception of Defense Magistrate Klaus Muckler, met in an emergency session of the central council to determine the best course of action to take regarding the latest Carinoids affront. There are also rumours on whether or not the Oberkommander should remain at his post. The Prime Magistrate has been clear that his initial position regarding the Carinoids was largely influenced by Muckler who continues to state that the Carinoids are not a threat to the security of Mankind. Surely this latest development can finally put the nail in the coffin of that dangerous theory. So Once again GNN can confirm that Federation scout vessels have discovered another Carinoids starbase in Federation space. The Starbase, designated Charlie Sierra four, is located in close proximity to precisou ressources legally owned by the Federation. This comes after multiple protests lodged against the Carinoids at the United Planets Assembly by the Federation. Furthermore GNN can also confirm that Carhile Sierra four is built to withstand attacks with extensive defensive systems and sophisticated weaponry. There is no doubt the Prime Magistrate will not tolerate the building of a weapons platform inside Federation space by any race other than Humans, stating that this was the first step towards open war. The situation is tense. This is John Carl Denton reporting live from New Johanesburgh."

A picture of the latest starbase built by the Carinodis appeared on the screen.

Muckler slammed his fist down. He looked at Ohio. The party leader had a knowing look on his face.
"What?" asked Muckler.

"What was the budget for the Navy back when Bradshaw was Commodore?"

"Upwards of a third of the full federation budget when the war was in full swing. Now I get less than half of that."

"How much money does that represent?"

Muckler let out a short laugh "Are you serious? hundreds of trillions my friend"

"And now that money goes where?"

"That's a question you'll have to ask Da Souza during the debate."

Now it was Ohio's turn to let out a short laugh "I already know the answer he'll give me is bullshit." With that he handed over a holofolder to Muckler. "In fact the money they have taken out of your budget more or less corresponds to the funds needed to built a couple of starbases quickly."

"What are you saying exactly?" asked Muckler

"I've tracked the funds as best as I could but they all end up in different scattered accounts. They all, however, are owned by the combine corporations. You see the government promised the Combine funds after the dissolution of the Guild to build up a transport fleet. Well as you well know freight transport continues to be innadequate even after the large cash injections by the government. Cash that was effectively taken from your military budget, and yet the money is there I've tracked it with my closest advisors."

Muckler stared hard at Ohio who continued, "What if Da Souza's central government paid for those starbases? What if this whole scare is nothing but a veil in order to conceal something much more dangerous than just the Carinoids."

Ohio had Muckler's full attention now. "Like what?"

"That's the million credit question isn't it?"

*****************************************************

hey guys, obviously I've been having some problems with imageshack (right after I tell people I've never had anyproblems with it. go figure lol) its eems imageshack doens't feel like hosting any of my pics right now. Iw ill trya gain later so you guys cans see the pic that was meant to be at the start of the post.

great post Admiral-not sure what Imageshack are playing at-my pics are still ok  

Hey guys.

managed to edit the last post with pics.

next post to hopefully go up before the end of the week though I won't make a promise on that. Work is crazy this week.

Cheers

Looking forward to it admiral.  

Ditto  

Chapter VIII: The World's a stage

Kora
Ra'nagoh system
Capital World of House Korath
Forbidden Imperial City of Vajik'Dur


His Imperial Highness, Skik'da of House Korath, and the true guardian of Drengin honour; Krindar Korath, leaned over a holoprojector. The giant three dimensional map spun around according to his whims. When he wanted a zoom view of a certain section he got it without hesitation. Next to him was his protege, perhaps his groomed successor one day, Kir'Ith Vire.

"The Republicans are cowards. We provoke them openly and they still hide behind a wall of meaningless words." said Kir'Ith.

"And what does your father think of all this?" asked Korath. It was a well known issue that there were minor frictions between the Imperial House and that rule by Kir'Ith's father.

"He believes your course of actions to be erroneous and dangerous. He is even more of a coward." Spat the younger Vire.

Korath let out a low chuckle. He smiled and loudly said "What we need is a new spark, something to liven things up again." He pointed to a specific spot within the map, smiled and then said "There"

The map expanded outward to bring the specific point into focus. "I wonder how our little friends are doing?"

Kir'ith laughed. The point was none other than the Carinoids System. Months ago the Empire and the small insignificant race had concluded a mutual research treaty whereby both sides promised to share information on different technological advancements. Of course the Empire had nothing to learn from the pathetic Carinoids, but nevertherless Lord Korath saw the subtle ingenuity to it. He had become the thorn in the Federation's side by handing over valuable data to the Carinoids. When the Terrans realized that a minor race was receiving scientific data from the Drengin they wasted no time.  Lord Korath was marked by the rapidity of the Navy deployments. Though Korath was surprised to see the emergence of so many starbases within Terran space, he was all the more surprised the Carinoids were even able to build starbases in the first place. Most of their tech came from him. He knew what they could and could not do. Perhaps they were fast learners and could do something right after all, though he had trouble believing that.

"Tonight will be decisive for this I believe." replied Kir'ith.

"Indeed" mumbled Korath.

This was the night of the Federation elections. The issue of the Carinoids had taken a large role in the election campaign. people were divided on whether this mionor race actually posed a threat. The central government seemed to think so at least, though Korath had heard through certain sources that there seemed to be a row between the central government's position and the Navy's. Besides, this was the Federation that beat the first unified Empire of the Drengin. Their military might, though weakened of late was still a formidable and capable asset. Still, the incumbent used this suposed threat as a way to get people onboard.

"Perhaps we can offer to guarantee their independence. We can see how the Humans react to that." said Kir'Ith.

Korath grumbled "You still have much learning to do. I do not wish to openly provoke the Humans just yet. Only by successfully annexing the Republic cowards can we defeat the treasonous Terrans. No my young friend, by simply observing them now we can have a good sense of their worth. Unfortunately nowadays there are many more factors at hand. Not like the old times of the skik'daI wars when all that mattered were the notches on the hilt of your blade."

Korath made a gesture with his hand and the map zoomed completely out. "There" he said.

The map zoomed in somewhat on the upper right portion of the galaxy. "There's our wild card." said Kir'Ith.

The Emperor mumbled an agreement and said "Their appeance is unexpected, and I fear it will shatter the balance of power in this galaxy. We must be careful with them."

"They do not seem to understand politics too well. Their Hive structure forbids even minor freedom of thoughts. I doubt the lower casts are even bred for it." Kir'Ith said "Plus they're disgusting".

"Disgusting is hardly a political term Kir'Ith"

The Prince of Vire smirked "Perhaps not sire, but they just make me uncomfortable. I visited one of their colony planets. I've seen them with my own eyes. They just go about like nothing else matters." Then he sarcastically added "I just never figured the damned bugs I used to squish for fun as a child would come back full size" he then burst out laughing.

Korath allowed himself to laugh as well before saying seriously "What do you suggest we do with them?"

Kir'Ith was surprised. Never had them Emperor asked for his direct opinion before. Though Kir'ith was almost always at his side Korath simply expected him to absorb and learn.

"We must not approach them. I don't claim to be an expert on Thalan sociology but I can affirm that if we do not go to them they will not come to us, and it is perhaps better that way. Though the Terrans seem to be actively seeking partnership I do not think this to be the right course of action. Thalan behaviour does not allow for honour, they are bugs and that is all that matters. They will not attempt to invade us unless provoked to do so, they have no expasionist ideals, simply to matain the hive. Leave them be, we have much on our plate as it is."

Korath nodded slowly "A wise course of action."

The rest of the meeting was spent on talk about Imperial fleet movements. The My'lioth system was now the most heavily guarded site in the Empire. Korath loved taunting and provoking the Republic. Furthermore another goal was quietly being accomplished at the same time.

"How does your father feel about all of these thigns?" He asked Kir'Ith.

"He hardly has time for anything other than the accentuating tensions with the Republic. Afterall they did attack what he believes are his colonies." He laughed.

Korath turned to his young acolyte and put his hand on his shoulder. "You did outstanding work my young friend. You pulled off the entire operation without so much as a hitch and certain things would not now be in motion if it wasn't for you." he then turned back towards the map.

Kir'ith stood frozen for a bit with hard look on his face "It is my duty and honour to serve my Emperor, Sire."

A attendant entered the map room and walked brsikly towards Lord Korath. He whispered something in his ear. "Lights" bellowed the Emperor. At this the map disappeared and the lights came on revealing a large flatviewer on the far side of the wall.

It lit up.

Amidst a scene of celebration and joyous humans a man stood with a headmicrophone talking "...by a mojority of seats. Once again Carlos Da Souza is elected Prime Magistrate of the Terran Glactic Federated Republic."


Midway NS
Asgard system


Klaus Muckler stared at the screen in front of him and picked up his holomessenger. It rang. He pushed receive and a small holograph of Derek Ohio appeared before him.

"It seems we now have no choice." said Ohio

"Just so we're clear. We can be shot if this does not end our way. Are you ready to face that?"

"It's one more reason for us to do it right in my opinion."

Muckler nodded gravely. "Get everything ready on your side then." and he hung up.

aah the game seems to be a foot..most excellent admiral.well done.

Awesome stuff. Can't wait for the next chapter.

Lovely jubbly mon admiral-bring on the next installment  

Gentlemen.

I regret to infor you that my laptop has undergone serious irrepareble damage.

Since I am a man who takes precautions rest assured that I have a backup of my savegame folders for my different games installed. I cannot, however, play the game as there is nothing to play it on. I am currenty looking to buy a new computer. As you can obviously guess this will not happen in a couple of days. I need ot find the time and money to do it. Rest assured though that I will continue to post as often as i could. I am currently writing on my better half's laptop that she needs for work. I will attempt to update as best as possible. I already have a good idea of where I'm going for the next couple of posts but I may not be able to post regularly. My most sincere apologies for again having to postpone my postings. It angers me as much as you I assure you.

On another note. If anyof you have dogs... do NOT leave alone in the house for more than four hours when there is food on the table next to your laptop beacuse they will inevitably chuck it on the floor and proceed to eat the screen.

cheers guys.

Next post to go up this week I promise.

Ooops  

Shame to hear that, Admiral. I too have a laptop and damage to it is my greatest fear.

I'm currently reading "From the Ashes" and it's quite good. I haven't even made it to the sequel here yet, but I thought I'd post to let you know there are definitely still AAR readers on the forums here. Keep up the good work!

(Speaking of which... a 'week' consists of seven days. It's been 18...)

i know i check every day... but still nothing, this story was quite a read, please let us know when/if a new chapter is coming.

Agreed this forum seems so quiet these days-bring back the good old days when there were a whole legion of us posting every day-I just wonder where everyone has gone?

Then again, maybe we're being a little impatient here. The Admiral once took almost a month to update, and that was before the untimely demise of his laptop.

And as someone who's too lazy even to start an AAR, I've got to respect anyone who does.

ive got the same problem...

just wish there were more great AARs

Have you read mine?

mambaman: I have now. With Admiral Maximus apparently MIA,  it seems you are the last, best hope for the AAR forum (I'm too lazy to write one, myself).

Grr... Stupid double posts.

ola from cuba muchachos.

Two new updates are done and ready to post. I jsut need to get back home and post. stay tuned folks.

cheers

First update as promised.

Will post the second one as soon as possible.

criticism is always appreciated.

cheers and my apologies for the delay.

Vigilant OVerwatch

Oberkommander Klaus Muckler had conceived Operation Vigilant Overwatch the moment the first military reforms were made by Carlos Da Souza. As budget cuts took away more of their financing, the Navy had to reduce effectives. Many seasoned veterans cashed in on their well deserved pensions and retired to live comfortably on land given to them as a reward on different worlds throughout the Federation. The size of the Navy, and all branches of the Armed Forces, shrunk. As power and control of the Navy went to the Prime Magistrate the size of his bureaucracy expanded. Power was centralized in the hands of the ‘people’ Da Souza had proclaimed.

It was the perfect time for Muckler to infiltrate his people into the central council political machine, or as close as possible anyway. Though he held a seat on the council no one listened to him, regarding him rather like a piece of old furniture from the Bradshaw era. They had attacked the Commodore freely since his disappearance on Marshall IV in the final days of the Drengin War, taking his death as a welcome change. They held others in contempt as they held together the whole machination of the Federated Terran Galactic Republic.

The election had been closer than they thought it would have been. Derek Ohio had run a brilliant campaign but still it was not enough to get the needed seats. Things would have been easier if he had won. They had considered cheating the election, but the task of assuring the security of the election had been passed to the Civil Defence Force. 'We don't need to roll out the goddamned tanks for an election!' Muckler recalled Da Souza saying. As it was; Muckler no longer had any connections at the CDF, none worthy of trust anyways. Of course the other side of the coin was that the Prime Magistrate fully controlled that organization.

Operation Vigilant Overwatch called for the new recruitments in low level administrative posts to be infiltrated with people from the Naval Counter Intelligence Service. These highly trained operatives would gain access to valuable information and direct contact with useful people in high places. As such it would make the job of directing naval policy easier as the said policy differed ever more from that of the central council.

Vigilant was the duty of every soldier of Mankind. To dutifully watch over the defense of its people. Overwatch was the infiltration of government posts…encouraging people to see the right path.

Muckler had spent months with his closest admirals and land army generals hammering out the details. A coup was not to be taken lightly, especially if you were the one leading it. Though he had lost many of his most experienced Admirals after the Drengin War due to the forced retirements of the military reforms, he had full confidence in his command staff.

The forced retirements affected the pool of soldiers somewhat. Enrollment decreased quite dramatically and all volunteer units were disbanded. What remained, much to the Oberkommander’s satisfaction, was the concentration of soldiers with actual combat experience. This kept the Navy in a position where it would always be able to deploy these highly efficient shock troops with minimal delay. Furthermore these troops were usually commanded by loyal commissioned officers.

So Muckler had the military resources to pull this off, but this was hardly a guns blazing operation. Ousting a democratically elected government by military means would never be supported by the people. There needed to be an event in which the military was intervening in the name of the people and its laws; indeed protecting the people from the dangers of a sinister and corrupt government plan.

The evidence brought forth by Ohio was of a most revealing nature. As they dug into the numbers they foud a number of slush funds meant to finance the construction of the Carinoids' starbases. The military arming of these starbases with Korath Drengin weaponry was also part of the plan. Military funding may have been down and FISA passed on to the Magistrate of the Interior but Muckler had every confidence in his men at Naval Inteligence. There was no way the Carinoids and the Korath could have signed a treaty of mutual technological advancement without him knowing about it.

Confirmation then came in from some of his carefully placed moles within government circles. The central council had willingly hidden this information in an effort to lessen Muckler's credibility. Furthermore they had overseen the construction of the starbases which meant the installation of the Drengin weaponry as well.

This information brought Muckler to the ultimate conclusion; If the central concil had lied to its people and illegally funded the construction of foreign starbases, one of which was built within Earth's sector, and had purposefully allowed House Korath to arm the Carinoids... was Da Souza in league with the increasingly powerful Drengin House?

His holomessenger chirped, it was Ohio who surely wanted to report on his progress in getting his men ready to take over power.

"We have an issue worth looking at."

Klaus was taken aback "Mr. Ohio, I believe our own instructions to be expicitly clear. Once Operation Overwatch has been set in motion we cannot stop or hesitate for one moment. Our entire timetable depends on our..."

Ohio cut him off "Carlos Da Souza has just gone on a pan-galactic GNN broadcast. The Federation has declared war on the Carinoids."

Actually I just changed my mind. Since i left you guys hanging for so long I will give you both updates now. Hope you guys like it and again any constructive criticism is appreciated.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Swift Justice

Newly promoted Admiral Konev stood on the bridge of his flagship. His venerable Harvard class frigate Acadia had been through many trials during the Drengin War. The ship had been in many encounters and had yet to suffer defeat. She had been captained by knowledgeable and capable people who had seen her through dangerous perils. But Georgiy Vassilliyovich Konev had seen none of it.

At twenty three Konev was a fresh graduate from the Naval Academy finishing somewhere in the middle of his class. He had caught the eye of important people in the central council who had quickly played favoritism with his career. He had been catapulted up the echelons of military grade and at his age was the youngest theater commander in the history of the Navy. Oberkommander Klaus Muckler was not aware.

The war was a couple of hours old and CINC CTOP (commander in chief Carinoids theater of operations) was coordinating his forces into action. Konev disposed of two squadrons made up of three wings each. One of the squadrons was made up of older Helix-B fighters and the other made up of the newest Federation figther the SF-112 Thunderhawk. In addition to these forces the new Admiral also disposed of two other squadrons in reserve. Admiral Konev kept them far out of the anticipated action areas believing them to be completely unnecessary.

He had developed Operation Swift Justice in conjunction with Prime Magistrate Carlos Da Souza. It was a true honour for him to work with the leader of the Federation, a man who had displayed his unswerving trust in him by promoting him to admiral and putting him in direct command of an entire theather of war. Konev was anxious to do his job and rid mankind of the Carinoids threat.

"Deploy Camelot squadron, advise the wing comander that he is to seperate his forces in three."

"Aye Admiral"

The admiral watched his holodisplay as Camelot Squadron sped towards high orbit of the Carinoids' homeworld. The second war of the Terran Federation was about to fire its first shots

***

Muckler was in a rage. "What!?"

Ohio tried to calm the man. "He appointed a complete rookie to CINC CTOP and dismissed your prior commander. What info do you have about this Konev? Perhaps he's in on the conspiracy."

Muckler couldn't even think straight. Without even wanting to do so Da Souza had scrapped Operation Vigilant Overwatch. More importantly he had managed to start a war and gain a legitimate declaration of war against the Carinoids without the Oberkommander ever knowing about it. Muckler's grasp on his actual power was much diminished. He weighed the options in his mind. If he chose to go through with Vigilant Overwatch in the midst of a conflict it would show as a complete lack of organization within the Navy's ranks; exactly the opposite he was trying to achieve with his military coup.

He needed to show the people that the Navy was strong and united in the defense of mankind and that it was the government who was leading mankind down the wrong path. He had no choice. Besides, Da Souza's intentions were cristal clear at this point and he knew the perfect way to counter his move.

"I will back the war publicly."

***

The Prime Magistrate sat with his closest magistrates. Those who were in the know.

"I doubt the Oberkommander will take the news lightly."

"The people will support our action. They are completely convinced that the war against the Carinoids is a legitimate preemptive strike. Furthermore the removal of Muckler will be in the same category as the popular military reforms. His position is useless as I am already the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The general staff of the joint services is more than capable of taking up his work." replied Da Souza.

"Perhaps, but you musn't forget that there has always been one man at the head of the Navy. A military man. The people are used to this notion from the days of Bradshaw. Heck back then the Federation was run by the head of the Navy."

"And today it is the Navy that is run by the Head of the Federation, A much more appealing reality wouldn't you say?" countered Da Souza as he leaned back into his chair and folded his hands on his chest.

The magistrates chuckled.

"And now gentlemen let us wait for news on the front"

***

"Where the hell did they come from!?" yelled the wing commander of Camelot Squadron. Two explosions on his starboard side rocked his small Helix.

"These fighters are way too maneouverable for our Helixs sir!"

Camelot Squadron had just been ambushed. As they approached low orbit a squadron of Carinoid fighters, more advanced than the Helix-B, had jumped them from high atmoshpere where a dense storm was brewing. The storm had blocked all sensor pings of that area and now the Humans were in trouble. They were facing even numbers of faster and more agile craft boasting heavier weapons. The only option was a general retreat.

"A Wing I want you covering our rear. Fire all restrictor rockets if you have too!" there was a small ounce of panic in the Wing commander's voice.

"Sir I am actually engaged inc ombate myself trying to keep my wing in fighting condition. It will take some time for us to diseng......." The line cut off

"A Wing come in!"

There was no answer.

"Damnit!"

The Wing commander grasped his stick in both hands and attempted to follow a Carinoid fighter. His tactical computer attempted to get a lock but couldn't grasp the nimble craft in it's reticule. In frustration the commander let loose a volley of heat-seekers, and broke off.

***

"Sir Camelot squadron requests immediate assitance" said Acadia's first officer.

Konev stared at his holo-display in disbelief. The squadron in question was on the verge of getting completely obliterated. The Acadia was, however, not in a close enough position to offer any assitance of any kind. In an effort to complete a sort of blitzkrieg operation Konev had decided to take his ship, the heaviest in the sector, to take care of the two enemy starbases. With the Squadron of Thunderhawks taking care of the patrolling Carinoid fighters in-system all objectives would be met with minimal delay not allowing the Carinoids time to react.

Konev had not counted on any one of his assets to fail, the result of which left his forces completely unprepared to face an operational failure. In addition to this his forces were now too thinly spread. His mind raced to find a solution.

Acadia's communications officer faced his captain "Incoming transmission sir. Priority one message...from the office of the Prime Magistrate"

Konev took a deep breath and pulled his uniform tighter to look sharp. "How long to our objective."

"T-minus thiry-seven minutes sir" replied the first officer

"Alright then, patch the Prime Magistrate through"

The screen at the front of the bridge lit up with the official seal of the office of the Prime Magistrate of the Terran Federated Galactic Republic. It was quickly replaced by the face of Carlos Da Souza.

"Admiral!" the proud and smiling man said. "I assume our defensive conflict goes well."

Konev smiled in an uncertain manner "Well sir Acadia is on its way to its first objective. We've encountered no enemy resistance as of yet and preliminary scans of the Carinoid Starbase reveals that its weaponry should be no match for our harpoon nuclear tipped missiles. Our squadron of Thunderhawks are in an active search of the system for the roving enemy squadron that has been reported." the young and unsure admiral then paused and looked down at the ground. "Camelot squadron... I must report that unfortunately Camelot squadron has failed in achieving its objective and has sustained heavy losses. It seems we overestimated the Helix's operational capabilities."

That's when Acadia's first officer leaned in to whisper something in Konev's ear. The Prime Magistrate didn't seem to be too conerned about the failure and didn't grasp what the failure would acutally mean. The Carinoids still held defensive positions around their homeworld making a dropship procedures impossible.

"Well so much for Camelot squadron. War is hell and one cannot be won without sacrifices. Call up your reserves to replace your losses. In the meantime I will order the take off of your troop transports from Outpost 007. You will have four Marine divisions plus an armored division and a Tir-Quan Battallion. Make good use of them Admiral."

"Yes sir Mr. Prime Magistrate. Who will be in command of the ground operations?"

The Prime Magistrate let out a small chuckle and wiped his brow, "I've had to convince General Saussabaski to relinquish his command. His health was unfit for an operation of this magnitude. Therefore, for the time being you will be in command of all ground troops. Everyone in the central council has full confidence in your abilities Admiral."

And before the overburdened commander could say a word the transmission cut off as the Prime Magistrate ended the conversation. The speechless admiral looked back at his holo-display. Camelot squadron had ceased to exist.

***

The Civil Defense Force Headquarters loomed high up imposingly on the hazy Martian sky. The CDF had an entire Arcology devoted to its headquarters. An immense structure rising 150 stories. Many years ago when the Drengin had given Mankind the technology required to cleanse Earth of its hazardous radioactivity, and the capital moved to the Homeworld of the human race, the capital Arcology on Mars had been converted to the headquarters for the CDF.

Originally created in the first days of Bradshaw's reign on the Federation while he was still colonel in charge of Gray Rock's security, the CDF's purpose was to police the whole of the Federation. Bradhsaw had initially given the CDF enough power to become a paramilitary group. First in order to help repel any attack on a Federation planet, and second; to ensure the continuity of government during any type of catastrophy.

While Bradhsaw was alive the CDF was kept under tight control and no one at the CDF ever dared individual action without the man's consent. With Bradshaw gone;however, the powerful CDF had become an important asset in determining who had true power in the Federation hierarchy. Da Souza had managed to keep the CDF loyal to the office of the Prime Magistrate securing the home front so to speak.

This is why General Rusnak Matco, commander of the Tir-Quan Brigade, was here. His orders were explicitely clear. As part of Operation Vigilant Overwatch he was to lead a company of troopers to storm and take control of the CDF headquarters and arrest high CDF officials. When the armoured troop carriers rooled down the streets towards the large building citizens hurried outof their way wondering jsut what exactly was going on. IT was rare to see the military out in the streets on safe planets like Mars or Earth, but to see truckloads of Tir Quan troopers was hardly beleiveable.

Matco, like any other member of the Brigade knew that the Federation was at war. Being a close ally of BRadhsaw's, and thus of the Oberkommander as well, he knew the importance of his mission here. If Vigilant Overwatch could succeed then perhaps the entire war could be avoided by taking down the government before there could be any significant casualties on either side.

The transports stopped in front of the structure and immediately, in the professionalism and discipline known only to the Tir -Quan BRigade, troopers filed out and began to move inside the structure weapons drawn. Ouside, General Matco stepped off his transport in his combat suit and directed his tropps to cordon off teh building and form a perimeter. The troops executed flawlessly. Because of Mars' difficult atmosphere citizens outside were rare; with all the Arcologies accessible underground. Those who were witness to the scene were quickly pushed aside and told not to intervene.

Matco's helmet comm chirped "Lobby secured, moving up the floors."

And then his helemt chirped something different. "Priority holo-message incoming. Oberkommander Klaus Muckler."

Matco paused and extended his right hand palm up. with his left hand he pushed a button on the side of his helemt and his visor slid open. A holo-image sprung up fomr his right palm; Muckler.

"General. Abortion of Vigilant Overwatch. Effective immediately." said the Oberkommander.

"Sir, I have already begun to carry out my instructions. My men have invested the headquarters of the ..."

"Then for God's sake call them back now! call it an excercise if you must but get them out now before its too late. Think of something!" Muckler nervously exclaimed.

***

The call came through to the Prime Magistrate's office as he was enjoying a fine cigar with those same close advisors. Blindly confident of Swift Justice they exchanged small talk.

"Commissaioner Hughes on one sir" called an aide through a wall speaker.

"Put him on the central viewer." said Da Souza with an inquiring frown.

The large flatviewer on the far side of the wall lit up with the head of the CDF's leader. Commissioner Hughes was not part of the people in the know.

"Sir" began the commissioner "It appears the Carinoids are even more of a threat than we had thought. They have multiple agents infiltrated throughout several key points of our Federation; right beneath our nose."

The Prime Magistrate had a look of complete surprise on his face. The Carinoids were only as much of a threat as he made them up to be. What was Hughes talkign about?

The commissioner continued "An entire company of Tir-Quan troopers lead by General Matco himself disembarked less than an hour ago in front of our headquarters. Troopers stormed my office and assured me that they were here to protect the CDF headquarters from a suspected Carinoid terrorist attack. Apparently our very own headquarters were the sight of a planned attack along with other targets in the Federation."

Da Souza's mind was reeling. What was this talk of a guerrila type attack from the Carinoids, and other planned attacks? He didn't know what question to ask first.

"The general was forced to keep his list of targets secret but after a scan of the headquarters in whihc CDF agents were also involved it was decided that the Arcologyh was safe from any type of bomb threat or other type of attack possible from the Carinoids. I have looked over the relevant data myself and determined this to be true. You may consider this my preliminary report. I am just now completing my full written report which you should receive before the end of the standard day."

Da Souza's inquiring frown had darkened "Thank you commissioner Hughes, were there any GNN reporters on site to see this?"

"Cameras eventually showed up sir, but I kept them at bay with the help of the Tir-Quan troopers. A truly valuable force they are sir." the commissioner remarked.

"Yes...indeed. Thank you Mr. Hughes"

Just what the hell was going on? thought Da Souza.

Most excellent admiral, its very good to have you back, sorry to hear about your old PC going bust. I re-read the whold story again and just like the first time it was a pleasure.

Are there going to be more Thalan related plot lines and what about Nolan?will he make a come back?.

Look forward to the next post.

Very good questions chancellor

1)There will be a thalan related post soon. I am simply trying to decide in what way is best to incorporate them. I also have to take into account where I think the game will go in order to make sure my story continues to make sense. I debated a long time on how best to introduce them and in the end I am not sure if the whole hive oriented, bugs with no individualism way was really the best.

2)Though it does not seem like it at the moment the Nolan plot line is actually the most important to date. This little conflict with the carinoids minor race will not tax the Federation's war machine to an extreme like a war with a major race would. I declared war on the carinoids just as they were starting to really build up their military. In previous experiences I've foud that if you leave a little minor race unattended to during the whole game it can have quite a powerful fleet near the end. I once played a game where there was only me and another enemy left and it was coming down to the wire. When i first declared war on them I was notified that a minor race had declared war on me. I thought nothing of it. I continued my war of attrition with my enemy until the minor race fleets arrived (a year later lol). He had approximately twenty ships of large or bigger scale and it eventually tipped the balance into my enemy's favour making me lose the game. Since then I am wary of minor races, as is Da Souza .

There is still one race to make its entrance on the AAR stage and I am intentionally pushing it back.

The title of the AAR "Ascension and evolution" will hopefully start to make sense when that time comes.

I am still waiting on the purchase of a new laptop however. Tax refund is due soon though so I should have enough cash to dish out what is needed. Two weeks in Cuba may have pushed back that date however lol.

cheers and thanks for continuing the read.