Hear the sound of the falling rain

Coming down like an Armageddon flame

The shame, the ones who died without a name

Hear the dogs howling out of key

To a hymn called "Faith and Misery"

And bleed, the company lost the war today

Green Day - “Holiday”

“This is TNN, the Tetrarchy News Network.”

“Today we debut our new documentary series, The Stars at War, an in-depth look at the ongoing struggle against the Khonhim Stratocracy. With archived footage of the actual battles as they took place, interviews with military and government leaders, and ordinary citizens, we hope to offer a fair and balanced examination of the largest conflict the Tetrarchy has ever faced.”

“The producers of this series wish to thank Minister Singh for allowing us unprecedented access to some of the oldest records held within the Archives. These recent revelations have shed new light on the seeds of this conflict, helping to place the brutality we have witnessed since the first attack in perspective.”

Chapter 1 - The Lion and the Lamb

“In the ancient mists of time, two thousand years before Humans had even discovered agriculture, the predatory Khonhim crossed paths with the Triumvirate, and filled their gentle souls with terror. A predatory species, bent on conquest even then, the Khonhim forced the peace-loving races to band together for survival…”

Dhyaksh Jiyazh Ghuuyaz stared at the world on his screen with confusion. “This is an accurate representation?” he asked his tactical officer.

“It is, Dhyaksh,” the officer replied.

“Then where, may I ask, is the planet’s shield?” he demanded. “They equip all their worlds with a defensive barrier...so where is it?”

The officer snapped to attention. “We do not know, Dhyaksh,” he said. “All of our scans have failed to turn up any sign of it.” He paused for a moment, and then shrugged. “Perhaps they decided that since we can defeat them, they were a drain of resources?”

“Perhaps,” Jiyazh, replied, unconvinced. There was no explanation he could think of for the planet to lower its shields...unless it was a sign of surrender. “Have there been any attempts at communication?”

“None, Dhyaksh,” the officer informed him.

Then not a surrender, he mused...but that still begged the question why.

Major Nadezhda Parisi watched the Khonhim fleet glide into attack formations and cursed her luck. Of all the planets for them to invade, why in Mithra’s name did it have to be this one? The Ronin world ϒ12 was a backwater, and the size of its military contingent reflected that.

Namely...one. Her.

She was a liaison, tasked with coordinating the planet’s resources towards the war effort…a glorified shipping clerk, and she had no business trying to stave off an invasion!

But when “Operation Kitchen Sink” landed on her desk, she could read between the lines. The Navy had had its ass handed to it, and now it was every planet for themselves...at least until they could rebuild their forces. So, like it or not, it was up to her to come up with some defense, in case the balloon went up. Only how does one do that, when they had nothing to fight with?

She’d spent days wracking her brain, consulting with the various government officials, technicians, scientists...anyone who might have some crazy idea they could use. Unfortunately, machines didn’t do crazy, not like humans at least. The few ideas they’d trotted out had been predictable...and useless.

Nadezhda had read somewhere that when you don’t know what to do, look at a map...as staring at a representation of your situation might just suggest something to you. So she’d pulled up a projection of the system, going through every world, every moon, and every satellite. What did they have, and what could they use?

It was when she stumbled across the massive shield generators that a manic grin appeared on her face.

They already knew the shield was useless against the Khonhim. Their ships would fire a brace of missiles, and minutes later the shield was down. They still weren’t sure how they’d pulled off that little trick, but since it served them no purpose in defending the planet, maybe there was a way to use them to their advantage. She’d hauled in every single Ronin that knew anything about the generators, and after several late-night sessions, the bare bones of a plan presented itself. It wasn’t much...in fact, it was practically nothing...but it was all they had.

They’d sent out a distress signal the moment the enemy fleet appeared on sensors and begun evacuations of the population centers, but without Naval support it was little more than pissing in the wind. Which meant that the only chance they had were the re-targeted generators.

Or as she liked to call them…her “Bubble Guns”.

She watched the Khonhim approach orbit, far more cautiously than their past efforts would suggest. Well, they weren’t stupid, and once they noticed the shield was down, they had to assume something they would not like was in the air. It was nerve-wracking, watching their great ships creep into position, considering how close she needed them to be to pull off her little surprise. But with nothing out of the ordinary on their sensors, they had no good reason to not move forward...and when the bulk of their fleet was in position she slapped the firing button, and crossed her fingers.

Dhyaksh Jiyazh Ghuuyaz stared in shock as a handful of shields, much smaller versions of the one normally surrounding the planet, appeared in space...each of them encasing one of his ships.

“What is this?” he demanded, as his Bridge crew struggled to make sense of the data that was just starting to come in.

“We are not sure,” his science officer announced, “but it appears the enemy has found a new purpose for their shields.”

“Suggestions?” Jiyazh asked them, with a calm he did not feel. Warriors were by nature conservative, and anything they had not seen before, no matter how minor or harmless they appeared, made them suspicious.

“Our missiles should still be effective,” his tactical officer pointed out. “In fact, we should require fewer of them, due to the smaller size.”

“And our ships caught within?” he asked. “What will be their fate, if we fire upon them?”

That gave his officers pause. “I am...unsure,” his science officer admitted.

“Then find whatever is creating these shields!” Jiyazh ordered, setting off a flurry of activity.

“At once, Dhyaksh!” his tactical officer acknowledged, as he began scanning the surrounding region of space.

Major Parisi grinned to herself as the enemy fleet came to a halt. That had got their attention! They’d start looking for the generators, but it would take time. They were heavily shielded, and while they wouldn’t stay hidden from a detailed search forever, all she needed was a few minutes to get her licks in.

Time for Phase 2, she thought to herself, as she tapped the second control.

Dhyaksh Jiyazh Ghuuyaz jumped to his feet in alarm, as the shields surrounding his ships began to shrink. “What is happening?” he demanded.

His science officer stared at the monitor in shock, before turning to face him. “It appears the enemy is attempting to crush our ships with the shields, Dhyaksh,” he replied. “Based on the speed of the shrinking field and its field strength, it is almost certain they will succeed,” he informed him.

Jiyazh gripped the knife at his waist. “Then we have little choice,” he growled. “Fire the Breakers!”

Major Parisi’s eyes gleamed as the missiles sped away from their ships, targeting her bubbles. Without more data how the enemy used them to break the shields, she did not know what their effect would be, but she was certain it wouldn’t be good news for their friends. Crushed like a beer can, or Friendly Fire. Not much of a choice.

In fact, it amazed her how well her mad plan was working, but she harbored no illusions she could stop the attack all by her little lonesome. Hurt them, maybe...but not stop them.

Take what you can get, she thought to herself, as the missiles impacted the bubbles.

The Breakers slammed into the shields surrounding each of the vessels, and one by one they vanished from their sensors…along with three of the trapped ships. Two more belched air and plasma, staggering out of position as their crews struggled to save them.

“Dhyaksh, we have located the generators powering the shields!” his tactical officer howled in triumph.

“Target those generators and FIRE!” Jiyazh shouted.

Major Parisi winced as the generators went offline, one after another. She’d shot her bolt, which meant the only thing left to do was try to survive what was coming next. Nadezhda grabbed her weapon and survival gear, dashing out of the command center and into the vehicle reserved for her personal use. In less than a minute she was racing out of the city, along with all the other refugees trying to get clear.

She’d included a download of her plans along with the distress signal, and maybe someone else could use her idea elsewhere...though she doubted it. Whatever else you could say about the Khonhim, they weren’t idiots. Odds were they wouldn’t get fooled by the same trick twice.

Not bad for a Shipping Clerk, she smirked.

“Dhyaksh, the shield generators are destroyed,” his tactical officer reported. “No other weapon systems appear to be in range.”

Jiyazh took his place once more, gazing out at his fleet. These humans were clever, he had to give them their due...but clever was not enough.

“Once our ships are in position, begin the bombardment,” he ordered. “Let us see how clever they feel now.”

“At once, Dhyaksh,” his tactical officer acknowledged.

Less than forty percent of ϒ12’s population survived the follow-on attack.

Major Nadezhda Parisi was not among them.