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【Vision of an Alternate Future】

Arc 1: Ascendance

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【VAF】Chapter║: 11 ─ Tactics

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As the time for Battle neared the Ships expected to take part in the military operations began to arrive at secret locations, and on the agreed upon date the ships would jump to the staging area. While the other races were feeling confident, the Humans were slightly on edge, and this was to be their first major offensive campaign. The Entire Galaxy would no doubt be watching, and the humans could not falter if they expected to be taken seriously as a major space ferrying Civilisation.

The United Atlantic Federation contingent would include their 2 Atlantis Class BattleCruisers; the UAS Atlantis B2187 and the UAS New York A2187. The Asian Consortium contingent would include their Asia Class BattleCruiser the ACS Asia A-101. As Earth's two major Governments the United Atlantic Federation and the Asian Consortium would jointly lead the Earth Fleet, and they were the most experienced of the 5 Earth Governments relative to combat with the Hakum.

At the military planning conferences it was agreed that the Crystalorb Ships would provide point defence against Hakum plasma Balls and this meant that the Intrepid Class Ships would take the lead in the formation until the fleet closes the distance on the Hakum Ships. The plan held the prospect of the Crystalorb Ships suffering significant damage, and that would mean that the Crystalorb Ships may not be available when close combat operations began.

This was an acceptable scenario to the Military planners because it guaranteed that enough ships would survive to deliver maximum power. Crystalorb Commanders conferred with the Crystalan Ships and the Crystalan Ships being Sentient-Sapient beings agreed to be used as a shield for the rest of the Human ships and O'con Federation BattleGroups. The Crystalan Ships saw the logic in the planning, and they understood that Crystalorb Commanders would not let them take more damage than they can bear.

For operational purposes Earth Military Commanders wanted to designate the Crystalan Ships as BattleCruisers, but Crystalorb insisted that Crystalan Ships must not be given any designation that would classify them as tools, objects or warships. To the Crystalans the Crystalan Ships are living feeling individuals, Crystalans like any human being, and Crystalorb wanted all the Crystalan Ships to always be treated as such.

It was often difficult for most Humans to perceive something the size of a BattleCruiser as a living feeling individual, and therefore deserving of the rights of any Sentient-Sapient being. It usually took a trip onboard an Intrepid Class or an Indigo Class Ship for humans to begin to see the Crystalorb Ship as more than just a highly Advanced Vessel. Most Humans needed to have direct interaction with the Crystalan Ship, have a conversation with the Crystalan Ship before they could begin to perceive the Crystalan Ship as a Sapient being.

The Crystalan Ships were not Warships, but more like Guardian entities, and they were created to protect Crystalans, not to serve Crystalans. Any form of service to Crystalorb was as a result of their obligations as Crystalans and members of Crystalorb's population or society. There is genuine affection between the Crystalan Ships and their crew, and genuine love between an Indigo Class Ship and the person who seeded it, a true biological bond, and true affection with the individual it accepts as its Commander.

For the Galactic Alliance operations Guardian Isara Commanded the Intrepid Class Ship Eltra, but as the Expeditionary Guardian Isara is the official commander of the 15km long Intrepid, the Flagship of the Expeditionary Fleet, and the oldest Intrepid Class Ship. Since so many Earth ships were leaving for Galactic Alliance operations Crystalorb wanted to have the Intrepid and the A'ltana in Earth space for additional security.

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On 02-05-2188 the entire Galactic Alliance Taskforce Jumped into the United Atlantic Federation colony System YZ Ceti. The YZ Ceti System was the Galactic Alliance Taskforce Staging Area, and the from this area they would make their way to Sector 05H15 at Galactic Radius 3000 LightYears. The travel required a long series of formation jumps with the bigger ships opening the wormholes for the smaller ships.

This was the first time Humans actually saw a 19.6km long Jiquam Federation StarCruiser and a 18.8km long Folong Empire StarCruiser, but what was of huge interest were the two 32km long O'con Federation Elmak Class SkyCruisers. The Jiquam Federation StarCruiser and the Folong Empire StarCruiser are impressive vessels, but the size of the O'con Federation Elmak Class SkyCruisers simply takes your breath away.

Only the Crystalans had seen the weapon systems of the O'con Federation, and the Elmak Class SkyCruisers was expected to have even more powerful weapons. From Azleck records the Older races used a weapon system called a Fusion Beam, and as the name suggests the weapons were different from standard Particle Beams. Advanced Fusion Beam technology with Fusion Beam Convergence technology required a firm understanding of shield technology, and it relied on the same containment principles as Nuclear Propulsion.

The Jiquam Federation StarCruisers and the Folong Empire StarCruisers each carried 10 Advanced Fusion Beam Cannons and 6 High Energy Particle Beams Polyhedron Prisms. Each Particle Beam Prism is comparable to an O'con Federation Hemisphere or Crystalorb's Energy/Weapons Crystals, capable of simultaneously attacking Hundreds of targets. The High Energy Particle Beam Prism are an extremely powerful weapon system on their own, and the energy of their Particle Beams is indicative of their level of technology.

Advanced Fusion Beam weapons require significant time periods between firing, and time periods between successive firing were estimated at between 15-25 seconds, therefore a secondary weapons system is essential. However the Advanced Fusion Beam with Fusion Beam Convergence technology is their primary weapon, and the fact that the Jiquam Federation and the Folong Empire weapons are similar is proof of the close relationships of the Older Civilisations.

The Galactic Alliance Older Civilisation's Advanced Fusion Beam cannon delivers over 500 megatons of energy per second, and there's virtually no defence against such a weapon. The Older Civilisations had more Advanced shield technology capable of offering a measure of defence against such weaponry, but complete defence was none existent. The Older Civilisations have stealth capabilities similar to Crystalorb's stealth systems, and they used powerful spatial warping Deflector Shields.

Azleck records indicate that Migon BattleSpheres carry 50 Advanced Fusion Beam Cannons and 300 Advanced Particle Beam Cannons. Though the Migon Fusion Beams are not as powerful as those of the 5 Older Galactic Alliance Civilisations. Each of the 50 Migon Advanced Fusion Beam is said to deliver 200 megatons of energy per second.

Migon BattleSpheres have 350 spikes, and each spike stands 237m from the surface of the sphere. Each Spike is a weapon: 300 Spikes are Advanced Multidirectional Particle Beam Cannons and 50 Spikes are Advanced Fusion Beam Cannons. This format makes it difficult for their enemies to distinguish between Particle Beam Cannons Spikes and Advanced Fusion Beam Cannons Spikes.

Galactic Alliance Taskforce consisted of 2 groups: 1〙 The ships from the Galactic Alliance Nations led by the 3 Jiquam Galaxy Class StarShips and Designated Jiquam Division. 2〙 The Ships from O'con Federation and Ships from Earth led by the 2 Folong Galaxy Class StarShips and Designated Folong Division.

The two groups that formed the Galactic Alliance Taskforce were ready to move, but before they could move they needed to Deploy a scouting force that would make sure that the solar systems the Fleet is jumping into is clear of any Hakum mines and Hakum ships.

The Folong Division and the Jiquam Division each selected 10 Ships from their respective Contingents to act as each Division's scouting force. The Jiquam Division selected 3 Solte Federation StarShips, 4 Azleck Republic StarShips and 3 Nabi Federated Kingdom StarShips for the scouting role. The Folong Division selected 4 O'con Federation Guardian Class StarShips and 6 Intrepid Class StarShips for the scouting role.

The Scouting force would always be 3 jumps ahead of its Division, and the Division would only jump in once the Scouting force cleared the jump locations. Galactic Alliance intelligence reports indicated that the Hakum defensive lines began some 120 LightYears from their base, and that meant at 200 LightYears the Folong Division and the Jiquam Division would begin to encounter Hakum long range patrol Ships.

It was clear that the Scouting force would have to deal with any Hakum long range patrol Ships they encountered. At 300 LightYears from target the Folong Division Scouting force changed their status to Red-Con-One indicating that they were ready for battle. The 2 Divisions used integrated targeting networks and transponders, and this was to make sure that ships don't select the same targets, so that when a ships selected by one target system the data is reflected on the Taskforce network.

When the Scouting force jumped into an area they paired up and jumped into several sections of the solar system. The Folong Division Scouting force had 2 pairs of O'con Federation Guardian Class StarShips and 3 pairs of Intrepid Class StarShips. The Jiquam Division Scouting force had 5 pairs that each included a mix of ships. These format was to maximize the system scanning ability of the Scouting forces.

At about 250 LightYears from target 2 O'con Federation Guardian Class StarShips jumped into a location to discover 2 Hakum sky Daggers 2.648 million kilometres from their position, and the O'con Federation Guardian Class StarShips immediately opened fire with their maximum power Thunder Force Strikes instantly destroying the Hakum ships with a single hit. This was the first indication of the true potential the O'con Federation.

In that little skirmish the Folong and the Jiquam understood that the O'con Federation weapon systems were comparable to Advanced Fusion Beam Cannons, and that they had underestimated the Galactic Alliance Taskforce strength. The O'con Federation were the true power of the Galactic Alliance Taskforce, and their 22 ships would make all the difference in the larger battle with the Hakum.

The 2 Hakum Sky Daggers never had time to report the presence of Taskforce ships to their fleet command, but Galactic Alliance Taskforce knew that the Hakum would soon detect their arrival. At 203 LightYears from target Jiquam Division Scouting force came into contact with 2 Hakum long range patrol Ships, however in the ensuing battle the Hakum were able to report the arrival of the Galactic Alliance Taskforce.

The element of surprise was now gone, and the Hakum were withdrawing their Hakum long range patrol Ships and fortifying their Forward Defensive lines. The Galactic Alliance Taskforce had prepared to fight their way through Hakum Forward Defensive lines, but Sky Commander Khilag of the O'con Federation was developing a revised strategy for dealing with the Hakum Forward Defensive lines.

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Sky Commander Khilag opens a Communications Channel with General Onlec the Folong Division Commander.

Khilag : " The Hakum know we are here General. I suggest we revise our Tactics."

Onlec : " What do you suggest?"

Khilag : " Analysis indicates that their secondary lines are standing to reinforce Forward lines at a moment's notice. I want to send a strike force behind the Forward Hakum lines and deal with their secondary lines. This will force their defensive lines to collapse to their Primary."

Onlec : " What will you need?"

Khilag : " One O'con Federation Battle group and 20 Intrepid Class escort Ships."

Onlec : " Then Execute!"

Khilag : " Will do General."

Commander Khilag then opens a Communications Channel with Isara.

Khilag : " Are you with me Isara?"

Isara : " Always Commander!"

Khilag : " Standby to jump to Grid 2167. Sending attack pattern Data."

Isara : " On your Command!"

General Onlec opens a Communications Channel with Admiral Quanite to inform him of Commander Khilag's Strike force.

Onlec : " Admiral; I've authorised Commander Khilag's Strike force to jump behind the Hakum Forward lines and deal with their reinforcing secondary lines. They should make contact with the Hakum in 2 minutes. This should thin their Forward lines in your section..."

General Onlec receives a Communications Channel from Admiral Bruce Smith of the United Atlantic Federation and this interrupts General Onlec's link with Admiral Quanite.

Smith : " General; We are within range! Gunships deployed! Missiles active! "

Onlec : " I have to go Admiral. See you on the other side."

Quanite: " Quanite Out."

Onlec : " Lock in coordinates! Weapons prepare to fire! Intrepid Class on point! Admiral Smith; follow them in! Select targets as and when they appear! Prepare for Jump sequence!"

Deputy Guardian Maole is in command of the remaining Crystalorb Ships in Isara's absence.

Maole : " We await your Command!"

Netabu : " Aye General. All AF elements standby for jump sequence!"

General Lee : " Aye General! All AC standby for jump!"

Molohtra : " All UIF elements Ready!"

Aziz : " Standing Ready!"

Smith : " Aye General! Standing Ready!"

Onlec : " Execute!"

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Just as the Folong Division was beginning their Jump sequence Commander Khilag's Strike force was jumping into a system 80 Light-years from target that contained Hakum reinforcing lines, and the Strike force immediately engaged the 15 Hakum ships quickly destroying them and jumping to the next Hakum reinforcing group at 82 LightYears from target. Commander Khilag's Strike force would move through the Hakum secondary lines and destroy any Hakum ship they came across.

As expected this created disruptions to Hakum defensive planning forcing the abandonment of their Forward defensive line in an attempt to regroup at their primary base. When the Folong Division jumped into the Hakum forward lines they were able to destroy a significant number of Hakum ships because their expected reinforcements never arrived, and all the Hakum ships that moved in from the rest of the line were knocked off as they appeared. Advanced Fusion Beam Cannons destroyed Hakum Sky Dagger ships with a single hit.

The initial battles were limited in scope and the two divisions suffered minimal damage, but the loss in lives was considerable. The Jiquam Division suffered significant damage to 6 Azleck Ships and 5 Nabi Ships, the damaged ships had to be withdrawn from Taskforce operations and reassigned to support operations. The Folong Division had been largely shielded from damage by the Crystalorb Ships, but the price was that 24 of the Crystalorb Ships had taken major hits, and there was debate amongst the Folong Division about whether the Crystalorb Ships could continue in their force protection role.

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As Commander Khilag's Strike force moved through the Hakum defensive lines Khilag receives information about Hakum movements on the Taskforce Communications Channel.

Smith : " This is Fleet command! We have enemy forces retreating through vicinity of grid 2184 to grid 2197!"

Khilag : " Moving to intercept!"

Isara : " Locking in coordinates grid 2206!”

Smith : " Be advised that we are reading large numbers; There might be more than 40 Hakum Ships."

Khilag : " Acknowledged Admiral!"

Isara : " Coordinates locked in! Weapon systems ready!"

Quanite: " Activate!"

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The 2 Galactic Alliance Taskforce Divisions then begin to regroup in Hyperspace in preparation for the final jump to the Hakum base which is in designated grid 2219 on the military planning charts. The Taskforce had full expectations of a long and protracted battle to dislodge the Hakum from what had clearly been their base for decades. The Hakum Warlords would not give up their base of operations in the region without a fight.

The Galactic Alliance Taskforce Divisions would need about 45 minutes to regroup and conduct battle damage assessments. This meant that they would now recalculate their force strength, and built a picture of Hakum strength relative to Taskforce strength. The Hakum had lost more than 59 Sky Daggers, and their force was severely weakened, furthermore their ships were outclassed by the Galactic Alliance Taskforce Ships.

The question on the minds of the military analyst then became "Why don't the Hakum make a full retreat?". Earth military analyst began to think that the Hakum had an ace up their sleeve, something that would help equalize the battle. The fear became the prospect of Migon BattleSpheres, and because of this fear Taskforce Commanders needed to rework their Strategy and come up with better tactics.

As Commander Khilag's Strike force jumps into grid 2206 Isara is taken aback by the sight of nearly 85 Sky Daggers.

Isara : " By the Source!"

Khilag : " It’s a trap!"

Isara : " All Ships Fire!"

The Crystalorb Ships open fire, and this slows down the Hakum advance.

Khilag : " Thunder Force Strikes! Maximum power! Full Dispersion Pattern!"

This knocks a number of Hakum aside but main Hakum force open fire, and this forces the Crystalorb Ships to form a wall in front of the O'con Federation Ships preventing the Hakum Particle Beams and plasma balls from hitting the O'con Ships. The O'con Federation Ships emerge from behind the Crystalorb Ships to fire, and with the Crystalorb Ships protection fire at the Hakum Ships as an when they appear.

The battle is intense, and the Crystalorb Ships are taking enormous strain while also continuing to fire their weapons at the Hakum ships.

The 31 ship Strike force slam into the much larger Hakum group and a titanic battle ensues.

Isara : " Brace for Impact!"

This as a Hakum Sky Dagger slams into the Eltra causing massive damage to the Intrepid Class Ship. Onboard Commander Khilag's Elmak Class ship Khilag tries to open a Coms Channel with Isara.

Khilag : " Isara! Do you receive? Do you receive?"

Isara : " I read you Commander! Enemy ships coming about! They going to Ram you!" now on Crystalorb joint Coms "Ipalo, Fatole, Intura intercept!"

The three Intrepid Class Ships the Ipalo, the Fatole and the Intura use themselves as shields and the 5 Hakum ships impact them at high speed. This causes critical damage to the Crystalorb ships leaving them immobile. Isara's Ship the Eltra only has slight propulsion, but the ships are severely damaged and no longer battle capable

Khilag : " All ships Fire!"

Isara : " That's it!" clearly angered "All ships! Attack pattern Esara 021 Gamma! Single point Strike! Convergence! Thunder Force Strikes! Maximum power!"

The remaining 16 Intrepid Class Ships abandon their protection of O'con Federation Ships and engage themselves in a spherical formation. Then they begin to Converge Thunder Force Strikes on a single point on the surface of a Hakum ship, then they attack another, then another, and another. Within a few seconds 23 Hakum Sky Daggers were reduced to space debris. The rapid fire Crystalorb Energy Weapons Crystal was more efficient than the O'con Federation Polyhedron Pyramids that took 5-7 seconds to fire.

The Crystalorb Energy Weapons Crystal could deliver Rapid multiple strikes at multiple targets in one second. The Hakum decided that they had suffered enough damage, and the remaining 57 Hakum Ships Jumped into hyperspace and escaped. The Hakum did not know that the Crystalorb Convergence Attack sequence would only last until the Crystalorb Ships exhausted their energy reserves.

The Strike force receives Communications Channel from General Onlec.

Onlec : " Monitoring your situation; Report status!"

Isara : " Situation under control General."

Khilag : " Minor damage to 4 Guardian Class ships. O'con Federation Battle group intact."

Isara : " Significant damage to 18 Intrepid Class Ship! We have to withdraw them from Taskforce!"

Onlec : " We have 5 other Intrepid Class Ship that have Significant damage. Can the remaining 22 Intrepid Class Ships provide adequate force protection?"

Isara : " Negative! But I've called in for Crystalorb reinforcements."

Onlec : " When do you Expect them?"

Isara : " The four 11 Ship BattleGroups will arrive within the hour."

Onlec : " Fleet Command indicates that we have to jump into the Hakum base within 35 minutes if we are to catch them before they can reorganize."

Isara : " General; Something isn't right here!"

Onlec : " What is it?"

Isara : " The Hakum have had little success against the Taskforce. They are outnumbered and Outgunned. But we're not detecting a full scale withdrawal from the region. Logic says that they are staying or digging in for other reasons. There is something that we're not seeing?"

Khilag : " I agree! If I were them I would make a tactical retreat. This base isn’t their home, and there is no reason to die to protect it."

Onlec : " Unless there is more than there appears to be."

Admiral Quanite Joins in.

Quanite: " Nevertheless we have to meet our objectives. Isara, Is there no way for your ships to assist until your reinforcing BattleGroups arrive?"

Isara : " No! Analysis indicates that the 23 Intrepid Class Ships have suffered Critical damage to the Shield projectors, and they need time to heal. Sending them into battle would be sending them to their death! No Crystalan can ever be sacrificed on an offensive manoeuvre! Our ships are protectors. Not destroyers. No Crystalan can ever ask this of them! Crystalan Commanders should never ask this of them! Please understand that we cannot sacrifice our Ships, because to do so would be to sacrifice the ones we love in an offensive manoeuvre, and that can never be acceptable."

Onlec : " Then the remaining 22 Ships will have to be enough. Commander Khilag; Rejoin the fleet! Isara; move the damaged ships to Grid 2143."

Isara : " On your Command!"

Khilag : " Will do General!"

The functional Crystalorb Ships attach grappling hooks onto the immobile Crystalorb Ships and drag them into a series of wormholes that will take the 23 ships to Grid 2143, where the Crystalorb Ships will rendezvous with the Crystalorb Reinforcing BattleGroups. Maole's Expeditionary ship was one of the heavily damaged Crystalorb Ships, and that meant that he would also leave the battle theatre until his ship the Encarta.

The Indigo Class Encarta, is one the most powerful of its class. Offspring of the Crimson, and seeded by Naole, with Blue, Red and Clear Crystal skin and Energy Weapons Crystals. The Indigo Class Ships are part of Naole's bloodline, and only a descendent of Naole can operate the Indigo Class Ship's weapon systems. Of all the Indigo Class Ships, the Indigo is the most powerful, with larger energy reserves than any Crystalorb Ship of its size.

The Indigo was the only surviving Crystalorb Ship to have been built and not born, and because of this the ship can be more easily modified or changed to incorporate advances in technology. As the Crystalorb Reinforcing BattleGroups approached their rendezvous with Isara the 2 Galactic Alliance Taskforce Divisions prepared to make their jump to Grid 2234 where adjusted battle strength models predicted the possibility of Migon presence.

The behaviour of the Hakum convinced the military analysts that there might be something very powerful at their base, and that the reason the Hakum weren't running was that they were convinced that they had what it took to defeat the Galactic Alliance Taskforce. Many of the Earth commanders were disappointed that Isara had to withdraw a large portion of the Crystalorb Contingent, but they understood that this was their fight, and it was unfair to ask the Crystalans to give more than they could afford to give.

The hope was that the Crystalorb Reinforcing BattleGroups would arrive in time to help in the battle. As the Galactic Alliance Taskforce Divisions prepared to make their jump to Grid 2234 the Earth commanders made sure their people understood that they would not have Crystalorb Ships to protect them from Hakum Plasma balls, and that they needed to be ready to fight against an enemy a hundred times more deadly than the Hakum.

Analysis indicated that the Hakum had something up their sleeve, and the Galactic Alliance Taskforce Divisions were about to find out. The battle had gone well for the Galactic Alliance, and the Fleet Captains were confident, but this did not erode the worry from the military analysts. They. more than anyone understood how the dynamics could radically shift against the Galactic Alliance Taskforce, and they were determined not to fall victims to over-confidence.

The time to Jump had arrived and the Galactic Alliance Division Commanders prepared their respective Divisions from the jump sequence.

Quanite: " Are you Ready Onlec?"

Onlec : " Ready Admiral!"

Quanite: " All Jiquam Elements this is Jiquam one! Prepare for Jump Sequence!"

Onlec : " All Folong Elements this is Folong one! Prepare for Jump Sequence!"

Quanite: " Jump!"

Onlec : " Execute!"

The ships open Wormholes to Grid 2234, but before they move into the wormholes the Nuclear armed ships fire Nuclear Missiles into the wormholes and remotely detonate them on the other side of the wormholes wile simultaneously closing the wormholes. This manoeuvre is to clear the target area of Hakum Nuclear Minefields. The ships then reopened the wormholes and enter Grid 2234 at the designated long range approach pattern.

Once the 2 Galactic Alliance Taskforce Divisions jump in their ships launch Fighters and Gunships, and they made their oblique angle vector approach to the Hakum base. The Hakum had been expecting them, and had made preparations to confront the Galactic Alliance Taskforce. As soon as the Hakum ships came into weapons range both parties open fire with long range weapons.

This was the first inclinations of what the Hakum had up their sleeves, and it was something they did not expect. Each of the 30 Hakum Sky Spears was armed with 4 Fusion Beam Cannons, and there were 12 Hakum Sky Super-Spears. The Hakum Sky Super-Spears are 16km in length, and are armed with: 6 Fusion Beam Cannons, 50 Plasma Cannons and 80 Multidirectional Particle Beam Cannons. The Hakum Fusion Beam delivers 250 megatons of energy per second.

This type of Hakum Sky Super-Spears was clearly a recent development, and the Fusion Beam Cannons were a result of that process. Access to Advanced Migon technology had led to this new development, and the Hakum now had superior weapons technology. This changed the dynamics of the battle, and when one of the defensive Intrepid Class Ship took a direct Fusion Beam hit from a Hakum Sky Super-Spear it was rendered immobile.

This was an indication of the power of the Super-Spear's Fusion Beam, and the Taskforce Divisions were being decimated by the Fusion Beams. The Taskforce commanders knew that if the Galactic Alliance Taskforce was to survive they needed to take out the 12 Hakum Sky Super-Spears.

Quanite: " General we need to take out those Super-Spears!"

Onlec : " Each Super-Spear is protected by 2 Sky Spears and several Sky Daggers!"

Quanite: " Long range weapons not getting through. We need to get in closer."

Onlec : " How?"

When the commanders were trying to come up with targeting solutions on the Hakum Sky Super-Spears 12 Wormholes open into the middle of the Hakum fleet and the emerging ships begin to open fire at the nearby Hakum ships

Isara : " Perhaps we can be of assistance!"

Guardian Isara and deputy Guardian Maole had arrived with the Crystalorb Reinforcing BattleGroups.

Maole : " Activate Attack pattern Esara 021 Gamma! Target Sky Daggers only!" after a brief pause that allowed the ships to get into position "Fire!"

The Hakum reorganized the attack sequence and targeted the Crystalorb Ships with all available Fusion Beam Cannons, but because the Fusion Beam Cannons require significant time between firing the Crystalorb Ships were able to attack and destroy 73 Hakum Sky Daggers. The Attack pattern Esara 021 Gamma is one of the deadliest Attack sequences used by the Crystalorb Ships and was originally developed by Esara as a simpler version for expected atmospheric Airship battles on Earth, but it had proved even more useful in space battles.

Once the Crystalorb Ships had used 85% of their energy reserves Guardian Isara cam online

Isara : " Activate Jump Sequence 185!"

This was an order for the Crystalorb Reinforcing BattleGroups to jump behind the offensive lines, and in this case the offensive lines were those of the Galactic Alliance Taskforce. The Crystalorb Reinforcing BattleGroups did not escape their attack unscathed, 19 Intrepid Class Ship received heavy damage from Hakum Fusion Beams and could no longer participate in the battle, and another 13 Intrepid Class Ship had suffered enough damage to warrant them being pulled from the front.

This reduced the Crystalorb Reinforcing BattleGroups to just 12 Ships from an original 44 Ship BattleGroup composed of Four 11 Ship BattleGroups, and because and additional 7 Intrepid Class Ships were heavily damaged during beginning stages of the battle of Grid 2234 the total number of newly damaged Crystalorb Ships was now at 39. However even though the Crystalorb Ships were damaged they were still alive, and there was still 34 Crystalorb Ships that were fully operational.

With their Defensive Sky Daggers destroyed the Hakum Sky Spears and Hakum Sky Super-Spears were now vulnerable to long range attacks, and could now be targeted by Jiquam and Folong Fusion Beams. When the O'con Federation weapon systems came to range the Hakum were once again on the defensive, and before long 7 of the Hakum Sky Super-Spears along with 18 Hakum Sky Spears were destroyed.

At this point the Hakum decided to retreat, and many of their ships were destroyed as they made their hasty withdrawal from the battle. The escaping Hakum BattleGroups were pursued by the 2 O'con Federation BattleGroups and their escorting 21 Crystalorb Ships. Incidentally the 21 Crystalorb Ships were the remaining operational Crystalorb Ships, and the rest of the Intrepid Class Ships had taken too much damage to be useful.

Of the 89 Crystalorb Ships only 17 completed the Taskforce operations without significant damage, and because the Crystalorb Ships are heavily Armoured they were put in harms way more than any other class of ship in the Galactic Alliance Taskforce. The Crystalorb Ships took on average about Five times more hits than other Galactic Alliance Taskforce Ships, and this was proof of the effectiveness of the Crystalorb's Bio-Organic Crystalline Armour.

None of the Crystalorb Ships were killed, and could therefore be healed, but the rest of the Galactic Alliance Taskforce suffered significant loss of life. The 22 O'con Federation Galaxy Class StarShips, the 3 Jiquam Galaxy Class StarShips and the 2 Folong Galaxy Class StarShips survived the battle with minimal damage. The Nabi Federated Kingdom lost 11 of its 30 Galaxy Class StarShips, the Solte Federation lost 23 of its 50 Galaxy Class StarShips, and the Azleck Republic lost 19 of its 50 Galaxy Class StarShips.

Significant protection from the Crystalorb Ships helped to minimise Earth loses, and even though many Earth Ships were damaged they survived the battle. The United Atlantic Federation lost 3 of its 22 Warships, African Federation of City States lost 2 of its 10 Warships, Islamic Alliance lost 4 of its 20 Warships, Asian Consortium lost 4 of its 21 Warships and the United Indian Federation lost 3 of its 20 Warships.

It was estimated that the Hakum had suffered an 83% loss of their ships in the region, and the loss of their base of operations would mean that they could no longer operate in the region. However long range Hakum raids would remain a distinct possibility, and the Galactic Alliance would have to pay close attention to make sure that the Hakum do not try to re-establish a base in the region.

As the Hakum left the planet Crill which they had been using as a base they activated a timer on a doomsday device at the bottom of the planet Crill's ocean, and about 5 hours after they left the device detonated. As the Crill celebrated their liberation from the Hakum a combination of 500 Hydrogen Bombs each with a yield of 150 Megatons detonated with a combined yield of 75000 Megatons. The explosion caused a massive tidal wave that covered the planets' 3 continents and killed 98% of the planets population and land life. About 2 Billion Sapient lives were lost.

The surviving Crill would have to survive the planetary devastation caused by the Hakum, and there was little the Galactic Alliance could do to mitigate the Crill's suffering. This was now their fate. That is the true nature of the Hakum and the Migon; Violent, Destructive and Genocidal! This ghastly act by the Hakum rendered the Galactic Alliance Victory hollow, proving that even victory has its price.

The 75 partially repaired Crystalorb Ships began to collect debris from destroyed Hakum ships while searching for components that formed the Hakum Fusion Beam Cannons. While members of the Galactic Alliance received Fusion Beam technology from the Alliance, Earth did not have access to such designs and would need to reverse engineer Hakum design in order to build Fusion Beam Cannons.

Of particular importance to Crystalorb was to use Fusion Beams they build to stimulate a biological defensive response on Crystal Armour, and this would allow the Crystalorb Ship's to better be able to react to Fusion Beams. The other members of the Taskforce were surprised at Crystalorb's scavenging on destroyed Hakum ships, and as most considered the Hakum as being evil, remnants of their ships were often propelled into nearby stars.

Admiral Quanite wanted to know what Isara's ships were doing collecting the Debris.

Quanite: " What are you doing?"

Isara : " Minerals are Minerals Admiral. They carry no Soul!"

Quanite: " Do you have any Idea how much suffering those materials have caused?"

Isara : " The Hakum caused the suffering. This material is simply atoms and molecules; No more!"

Quanite: " How can you make the distinction?"

Isara : " There is no correlation; Besides, we need to study their Fusion Beam Cannons. We must find ways to defend against it. I hope you can understand that we are not members of the Galactic Alliance, and as such we don't have to follow Galactic Alliance protocol on these matters."

Admiral Quanite understood that the humans would not listen to him on that matter, and the other human ships were also searching the debris for components that formed the Hakum Fusion Beam Cannons. Given the track record of the Humans it was clear to the Jiquam and the Folong that the humans would find a way to rapidly develop Fusion Beam Cannons, and even though they would not be as powerful as those of the Hakum or Migon the humans would carry these advanced weapons.

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The main problem with Fusion Beam weapons was the massive energy demands of the Cannons, and this was the reason why most Advanced Interstellar Civilisation did not carry such weapons on their ships. The Ship itself had to be shielded from its own Fusion Beam Cannons and any race wishing to use these weapons had to be extremely advanced. This was one of the reasons only a particular version of Hakum Sky Spears and Hakum Sky Super-Spears carried Fusion Beam Cannons.

Those Advanced Interstellar Civilisations that had Fusion Beam Cannons deployed them on Planetary Defence Stations and Moons. The fact that Hakum Sky Spears and Hakum Sky Super-Spears carried Fusion Beam Cannons was a new development, and a clear indication that the Migon were preparing to escalate their activities, the Migon never reveal their intent until they are ready to act.

Preliminary analysis of a Hakum Sky Spear's wreckage indicated that the Fusion reactor on the ship was built by the Migon themselves, and that indicated that they were now arming the Hakum with primary systems. In the past Hakum ships that carried Fusion Beam Cannons were designated Hakum Colonial Division, but there was another Hakum Division that also carried Fusion Beam Cannons, designated Migon Escort, and the Migon Escort ships were commonly used to support several Migon BattleSpheres.

This was an unexpected development, and once the Galactic Alliance learnt of this they began to prepare for the possibility of a future Migon Campaign. However for the time being the Galactic Alliance Taskforce was retreating to the staging area for repairs before they returned to their respective Homeworlds.

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The 5 Earth Governments publicly announced that Earth was now a Developed Interstellar Civilisation, and the proof of this was that they had suffered less losses than the Developed Interstellar Civilisation of the Galactic Alliance.

The 5 Earth Governments were technically correct in terms of technology, but because they operated a fleet of some 427 Galaxy Class Warships 〘excluding Crystalorb Ships〙, they were some 573 short of the standard Developed Interstellar Civilisation. The other measure of that status was the number of colonies, and the 5 Earth Governments only had 52 Colonies and 153 outposts.

However the level of human technology had become sufficiently advanced for some races to perceive the humans as a Developed Interstellar Civilisation. The fractious nature of Human society meant that most humans had the freedom to choose their own religion, their own culture and how they use technology. This is the kind of freedoms most Interstellar Civilisations do not have, and the result meant that their Civilisations were largely inflexible.

The 5 Earth Governments are largely democratic, although they differ on the type of Democracy each Governments operates. The United Atlantic Federation, the United Indian Federation and the African Federation of City States have a Liberal Circular Democracy. The Islamic Alliance has a Religious Democracy, and the Asian Consortium has a Socialist Democracy.

The 3 Liberal Circular Democratic Governments view the other 2 forms of Democracy as limited Democracies, and constantly decry their human rights policies. On the main the humans get to choose their leaders, and this happens at all levels of Government. Whatever their differences the 5 Earth Governments stand together in the defence of humans from the Hakum, the Migon and other threats.

When the Earth ships returned to Earth Space they received a hero’s welcome, and the crews of the ships were given Medals by their respective Governments. The Crystalorb Ships did not arrive with the Earth ships, and this was partly because they were still collecting debris from Hakum ships, but the other reason was the Crystalans wanted this to be a military moment and did not wish to take the spotlight from soldiers who fought with great Discipline.

The Crystalans wanted Humanity to remember this as a Human achievement and not a Crystalorb achievement. However Earth military officials were keenly aware that were it not for the Crystalans the situation could've been drastically different for their Earth Ships, and the fact that Crystalorb had sent 89 Ships the size of BattleCruisers was the key to the success of the Galactic Alliance Taskforce.

When the Crystalorb Ships finally arrived in the Earth system a week had passed since the other ships arrived, and they could quietly make their way to the moon where their crews could take Crystalorb baby ships to Earth. Onboard the Intrepid and Indigo Class Ships the crew stays in a Heavily shielded section of the Ship, and this is the primary reason why few humanoid Crystalans were injured during the battles despite the damage received by the Ships.

The Crystalan Ships are Atmosphere capable, but because of the Disruption they cause to Air traffic the Adult Ships didn't normally enter Earth's atmosphere, but the baby ships and smaller Juveniles would routinely travel to mount Crystalorb. With the Galactic Alliance Taskforce operations Crystalorb now had a massive task of healing its Ships, and the 5 Earth Governments would also have to repair their damaged Ships.

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The Humans had to respond to the threat posed by Fusion Beam Armed Hakum Sky Spears and Hakum Sky Super-Spears. The Humans had made the climb from a Planetary Civilisation to a Developed Interstellar Civilisation in record time, and achieved the impossible. No Civilisation had ever developed as rapidly as the Humans, and many of the region's Developing Interstellar Civilisations expressed a desire to emulate the Humans.

The Humans were very popular amongst the Developing Interstellar Civilisations, and this created tensions with some Developed Interstellar Civilisations who did not want to be eclipsed by Human influence. These Developed and Advanced Interstellar Civilisations had for a long period of time cultivated relations with most of the Developing Interstellar Civilisations, and were unnerved by the ease at which the Humans formed relations with the Developing Interstellar Civilisations.

The Humans would have to navigate the minefield that is Interstellar Relations, and avoid conflicts with Advanced Interstellar Civilisations that were significantly more Developed than Humans. There were extremely powerful regional Empires that did not like Human encroachment on what were traditionally their markets, and as more Developing Interstellar Civilisations began to trade with Humans their revenue streams began to weaken.

The Galactic Alliance is a military or defence Alliance, not a trade or political Alliance, and the there was often political and economic tensions between many of their members, but this rarely escalated into military hostilities. On the other hand members of the Galactic Alliance often came into conflict with non-members, and these conflicts would often escalate to military confrontations, but the Galactic Alliance would usually only come in and help in mediation.

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