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【Vision of an Alternate Future】

Arc 1: Ascendance

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【VAF】Chapter║: 17 ─ Duty

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The plan was for Naole's advance group to jump into the Enthea System and draw some 2000 Frigates away from the main Curmallion force, and then the rest of the Enthea Intervention Taskforce would jump into the Enthea System and engage the remaining Curmallion fleet. This was a risky manoeuvre, but the humans were relatively confident that they still held the upper hand, and that was because the human ships are larger, with significantly more power in their weapon systems

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General Bahinra, the current Curmallion Supreme Commander stood firm as the EIT advance group jumped into the Enthea system some 1.5 Billion km from his fleet. 【 C-Officer = Curmallion Officer and H-Officer = Human Officer 】

C-Officer 1 : " Reading 181 Galaxy class Warships and 1700 Gunships!"

Gen-Bahinra : " A scouting party or an advance force!" Trying to discern strategy “No doubt trying to draw our forces into a trap"

C-Officer 2 : " Picking up a Communications Channel"

Gen-Bahinra : " On screen!"

Admr-Brown: " This is the Enthea Intervention Taskforce, Invited to Enthea by the Enthori people. The United Atlantic Federation, the African Federation of City States and the United Indian Federation have declared Enthea to be under their protection! Please leave now or we will have to use force!"

The Communications Channel originates from Hyperspace, and relayed by the UAS Dublin, then broadcast via the internet to earth media allowing all humans on earth and all colonies to view the events in the Enthea Solar system.

Gen-Bahinra : " This is a restricted Curmallion Communion garrison; You have no business in this area! I'm ordering you to leave this area at once."

Admr-Brown: " There’s still time for you to reconsider! Leave the Enthori in peace and return to you own worlds!"

Gen-Bahinra : " You have no right to give us any instruction" with anger in his voice "Withdraw your forces and leave this region!"

Admr-Brown : " Regrettable; Brown out!"

C-Officer 2 : " Communications Channel terminated sir."

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Onboard the UAS Moscow B2239

Admr-Brown : " I gave him a way out!" shaking his head "Go to red con One!"

H-Officer 1 : " Aye Admiral!"

Admr-Nkuna: " It's time!" a Communications Channel is opened with Naole “Looks like they're not taking the bait!"

Naole : " Then we'll just have to give them an incentive" Guardian Naole then activates ships to ship Communications "Crystalorb Detachment! Attack pattern Nalen 015 Gamma! Indigo target Destroyers!"

Indigo : " Targeting"

Naole : " On my Command"

The Crystalorb Ships and the Crystalan Ships position themselves behind the Indigo and synchronize energy modulation for energy transfer.

Indigo : " Aye!" After a brief pause "230 ships locked on"

Naole : " Admiral?"

Admr-Nkuna : " Fire at will!"

Naole : " Activate Attack pattern Nalen 015 Gamma!"

The 10 Intrepid Class Ships and the 30 Casara Class Cruisers feed the energy into the Indigo's back Energy Weapons Crystals increasing the Indigo's energy output by 658%, and the Electrolaser Particle Beams produced by the Indigo cause critical damage to all the ships they hit.

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Onboard the Curmallion Jinlion Class Command BattleCruiser the activities became heightened as high energy Electrolaser Particle Beams impacted 230 Destroyers causing massive damage.

C-Officer 1 : " Sir 230 Destroyers hit, massive damage, internal explosions, explosive decompression!"

Gen-Bahinra : " Who's firing at Us?"

C-Officer 1 : " It's the Bioships sir!"

Gen-Bahinra : " What?" surprised at the range of the Crystalan Ship's weaponry, the general then goes to ship to ship command systems "Company 6! Engage the enemy." the Company 6 commander answers in the affirmative "Damage reports!"

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Onboard the Crystalan Ship Indigo.

Indigo : " Picking up 80 Destroyers and 400 Frigates on approach."

Naole : " They aren't taking us seriously! Target all incoming ships! Activate Attack pattern Nalen 015 Gamma. Fire!"

With the increased number of ships the Attack pattern Nalen 015 Gamma could not destroy the incoming, but caused significant damage.

Indigo : " Targets damaged, but not destroyed! Enemy ships still mobile!"

Naole : " How soon will they be at their optimal firing range"

Indigo : " 5 minutes! Attack pattern Nalen 015 Gamma needs 5 minutes for energy rebuild!"

Naole : " The energy spread will leave us vulnerable!" Now on ship to ship in order to speak to the rest of his group "All ships Fire at will!"

The 110 Valiant Class Corvettes, 11 Crystalan Ships, 30 Casara Class Cruisers,10 Nubia Class Destroyers, 20 Apollo Class Destroyers and 1700 Gunships open fire at long range on the damaged 80 Destroyers and 400 Frigates Company 6 Curmallion ships that were approaching the group at high velocity. The destruction is near absolute.

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Onboard the Curmallion Jinlion Class Command BattleCruiser they watch in horror as the entire Company 6 is destroyed

Gen-Bahinra : " No!"

C-Officer 1 : " The entire company is destroyed sir!"

Gen-Bahinra : " Okay!" with outrage in his voice "Frigate Companies 9 to 16! Attack enemy ships! Destroy everything!"

The 7 Frigate Companies of 450 Frigates each accelerate towards the advance force of the Enthea Intervention Taskforce. The 3150 Frigates come under a barrage of long range attacks from the 110 Valiant Class Corvettes, 11 Crystalan Ships, 30 Casara Class Cruisers,10 Nubia Class Destroyers and 20 Apollo Class Destroyers

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Naole : " Here they come!" Broadcasting on the Enthea Intervention Taskforce Communications Channels "Casara Class Cruisers take point! All Gunships take cover behind capital ships!"

The Gunships move behind the Crystalan Ships, Destroyers and Casara Class Cruisers which are now in a battle line formation. The Enthea Intervention Taskforce advance force Capital ships fire continuously, and at every moment at least 40% of a ships weapons are firing while the other guns are cooling and rebuilding.

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Admr-Brown : " Its time!" after a brief pause "Jump!"

The rest of the Enthea Intervention Taskforce jumps into Enthea space and immediately open fire, but the Curmallion fleet also returns long range fire. The Curmallion Jinlion Class Command BattleCruiser fires its Fusion Beam Cannons destroying 2 Valiant Class Corvettes and an Apollo Class Destroyer.

Admr-Suresh : " All UIF elements Take the right flank!"

Admr-Brown : " All UAF elements Take the Left flank!"

Admr-Nkuna : " Point ships Target main BattleCruiser! Fusion Beams; Fire!"

35 Nubia Class Destroyers concentrate their Fusion Beams on the Curmallion Jinlion Class Command BattleCruiser while their Crystalorb Electrolaser Energy Crystals, 5 Plasma Cannons, 30 Standard Multidirectional Particle Beam Cannons and 120 Multidirectional Electrolaser Particle Beam Cannons Of the Enhanced Weapons Array continued to target other ships.

The Curmallion Jinlion Class Command BattleCruiser was destroyed, killing the Curmallion Supreme Commander and all the Curmallion Command staff

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In the Confusion Captain Icran assumes command of the Curmallion fleet

Capt. Icran : " All ships fire your missile load into Enthea; Punish them!"

All the Curmallion Ships still capable of launching their nuclear missiles fire them into the planet

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Admr-Brown : " Where are those missiles going?"

Admr-Suresh : " To Enthea!"

Admr-Brown : " My God!" with a horrified look on his face "Can we intercept?"

Admr-Nkuna : " Negative! Our forces are heavily engaged!"

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Naole's group is heavily engaged with a force that heavily out numbers Naole's group and the biggest damage is taken by the group's Gunships. 700 Gunships were destroyed and the Curmallion fleet had caused significant damage to 50 Valiant Class Corvettes, 16 Casara Class Cruisers, 8 Nubia Class Destroyers and 19 Apollo Class Destroyers. The advanced Crystalan Ships were able to withstand much more than the other ships.

Indigo : " They are going to ram us!"

Naole : " Evasive manoeuvres!"

Indigo : " They're coming in too quickly! Brace for impact!"

The Crystalan Ship Indigo was impacted by 5 Curmallion Frigates and 2 Curmallion Destroyers causing massive damage to the 15km long Crystalan Ship.

Naole : " Damage report!"

Indigo : " I...! I...!"

Naole : " What's wrong?"

Indigo : " I...! I...!"

Naole : " Indigo? Indigo?"

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Capt. Icran : " All ships retreat; I repeat retreat!"

With that order the remaining 321 Curmallion Destroyers, 863 Curmallion Frigates and 400 fighters jump into Hyperspace. The damaged Curmallion ships had some survivors, but they were abandoned on the battlefield

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Meanwhile Naole was franticly trying to re-establish his link with indigo.

Naole : " Come on Indigo! I can feel you in my mind"

Guardian Armoured Naole then receives a Communications Channel through his Guardian Armour from the Intrepid Class Crystalan Ship Hurano. Vanglead Timola urgently wants to speak to Naole.

Timola : " Guardian! Is Indigo alive?"

Naole : " I think so, I'm moving to the Brain Chamber to confirm it! He's suffered massive damage to his internal systems, and internal transit systems are offline. What's the status of the group?"

Timola : " The Crystalan Ships Pali, Ditano, Aminda and Siralo are dead! We lost 40 Valiant Class Corvettes, 7 Casara Class Cruisers, 4 Nubia Class Destroyers, 9 Apollo Class Destroyers and 1036 Gunships."

Naole : " By the Source!"

Timola : " Be advised that Indigo's forward section is gone! About a quarter of the Indigo is gone! The forward section is gone! That's what happened to the other 4 Crystalan Ships!"

Naole : " What?" Naole is shocked, and after a while “Entering the Brain Chamber" a brief silence "Indigo!"

Indigo : " Naole! I lost contact with you, I can't feel my Skin; Confused! Nothing makes any sense! Glad to see you though; I feared you were dead! Happy that you're alive!"

Naole : " Me too!"

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When the 700 missiles hit the planet's surface they delivered their Nuclear payload reducing major Enthori cities to rubble, and killing an estimated 2.3 Billion Enthori. The Humans had also suffered casualties.

1〙 Before the Battle

Original Intervention Taskforce : 110 BattleCruisers, 150 Nubia Class Destroyers, 420 Apollo Class Destroyers, 110 Juggernaut Class Frigates, 110 Valiant Class Corvettes, 11 Crystalan Ships, 30 Casara Class Cruisers, 40 Supply Ships and carried on the Capital Ships: 5700 Gunship Class StarShips and 3645 Drone Fighters

460+260+261 = 981 Galaxy Class StarShips

2〙 After the Battle

Surviving Intervention Taskforce : 110 BattleCruisers, 130 Nubia Class Destroyers, 363 Apollo Class Destroyers, 80 Juggernaut Class Frigates, 70 Valiant Class Corvettes, 7 Crystalan Ships, 23 Casara Class Cruisers, 40 Supply Ships and carried on the Capital Ships: 3125 Gunship Class StarShips and 1049 Drone Fighters

110+493+150+40+30 = 823 Galaxy Class StarShips

The Intervention Taskforce had lost a total of: 158 Galaxy Class StarShips, 2575 Gunship Class StarShips and 2596 Drone Fighters.

The wrecks of the Galaxy Class StarShips could be salvaged and restored into warships, and this was due to the Block Construction method developed by Crystal Valley Industries 〘CVI〙. The Curmallion Communion Had suffered incredible losses to their Space Navy, but the true victims in this scenario were the Enthori. With their population reduced to 37.641% the Enthori would have the long and arduous task of rebuilding their world.

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Admr-Suresh : " All ships report In!"

Admr-Brown: " I've just received a Communiqué from our Governments! They want us to secure Enthea and prepare to move against the Curmallion Communion! Reinforcing BattleGroups are on the way!"

Admr-Nkuna : " What?"

Admr-Brown: " Our Governments want the Curmallion Communion to pay reparations to the Enthori for the damage to Enthea!"

Admr-Suresh : " My God!" almost gasping "And if they refuse?"

Admr-Brown : " Then it’s all out war!"

Admr-Nkuna : " The Curmallion Communion has powerful friends!"

Admr-Suresh : " Many powerful friends!"

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Naole is flying outside Indigo in his Guardian Armour surveying the damage to Indigo and the other Crystalan Ships.

Indigo : " How does it look?"

Naole : " The damage is extensive; about a quarter of your length is missing"

Indigo : " Can you locate the debris? My Bio-Organic Bio-Nanomachines could reattach it!"

Naole : " That's the strange part of this whole thing! There is no debris! It's as though the section was removed surgically and taken away, the cuts are smooth."

Indigo : " What about the other Crystalan Ships?"

Naole : " No debris either, and they seem to have lost about 31.456% of their length from the front which is why they are dead. The damage to their brains is extensive!"

Indigo : " What will happen to them?"

Naole : " What remains of their brains will be transported to Crystalorb, and a commitment ceremony will be held as their brains are absorbed by the Spirit Stone. At the centre of a Crystalan Ship's Brain is a Crystalan Ship's version of the Chest Crystal. The fallen Crystalan Ships will forever form part of the Spirit Stone"

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A few days later the Intrepid and 20 other Intrepid Class Ships arrived and escorted the Indigo and the other ships to the Space Port bays on the moon Crystalorb. The Crystalorb Leadership was very concerned that there might be a weakness to the Intrepid Class Ships and the Indigo Class Ships, therefore they instructed the Crystalorb Research Division and the Crystalorb Engineering Division to find out the cause of the deaths of the 4 Crystalan Ships and the damage to Indigo.

The 4 Intrepid Class Crystalan Ships weren't the only Crystalans that died in the Enthea system, 300 Crystalans died onboard the 7 critically damaged Casara Class Cruisers and onboard the 4 Crystalan Ships, many more Crystalans were seriously injured. Fortunately Crystalan’s Crystal Armour gave them a measure of protection, and were it not for their Armours thousands of Crystalans would have been killed.

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The Humans were horrified by the bombing of Enthea, and drew parallels between the actions of the Curmallion Communion and that of the Hakum. Perhaps it was that the Enthori are astatically appealing to most humans, or that the Enthori have relatively similar physical characteristics to humans, but the end result was that most humans reacted as though the Curmallion Communion had attacked a distant colony.

The humans had shed blood to liberate the Enthori, only to watch their Civilisation crumble at the hand of the Curmallion Communion. The fear was that Nuclear Radiation could wipe out the remaining Enthori, and to prevent that the humans brought in their workers, engineers and medical personnel in an attempt to assure the survival of the Enthori. This was the kind of efforts usually reserved for their own.

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A few days after the battle of Enthea General Damira the new Curmallion Communion Supreme Commander and warship Captain Icran arrived at the Curmallion Communion Council Chambers on their Homeworld Curvani to give the Chancellors their account. Chancellors Giloni, Btzani and Kyino represent the Security, Economic and External Relations committees respectively.

Giloni : " Captain Icran! Since you were there perhaps you can tell us what happened!"

Icran : " It was a bloodbath my Lord! The humans are not what we expected; what we were told to expect! Their ships are immensely superior to our ships! Power Beyond Reason!"

Giloni : " Analysis indicated that their ships would be heavy and slow, and the superior manoeuvrability of our ships would give us an advantage."

Icran : " We thought that would be the case, but they've traded manoeuvrability for Multidirectional Particle Beams. Their ships almost never stop Firing! An endless barrage of Particle Beams, plasma balls and Fusion Beams! "

Giloni : " By the Gods!"

Icran : " Their main warships are heavily Armoured; reinforced Armour that has perhaps 20 to 30 meters thick Hulls! They've got massive energy generation systems to operate such a large mass! Each of their destroyers carries over a hundred high energy Particle Beams"

Giloni : " How could we have missed this?" As if asking himself "It just doesn't seem possible!"

Btzani : " What I would like to understand is; How did a race that's only been an Interstellar Civilisation for 150 years become so powerful?"

Kyino : " We all want to know the answer to that question." He then activates a screen, and then Looking at General Damira "The Humans have sent us a Communiqué" with a frown on his face "Three of the 5 Human Governments are demanding that we pay reparations to the Enthori; reparations that amount to 30% of our budget."

Btzani : " For 20 Earth years! This could cripple our economy"

Giloni : " What are your recommendations Supreme Commander?"

Damira : " The simplest option would be to pay them!"

Kyino : " Unthinkable!"

Damira: " Listen to me! You and my predecessor refused to heed the Kulnet's warning! All of you refused to see the truth, and hundreds of thousands of our people paid the price for your Pride. If you can not listen to the truth, then millions of our people will pay the price!"

Giloni : " We have tens of thousands of star fighters defending our colonies"

Damira: " You just don't get it!" The general laughs "Or maybe you refuse to see the truth!"

Giloni : " What do you find amusing General?"

Kyino : " You will show us the respect we deserve."

Damira: " General Bahinra refused to listen to General Dapil of the Kulnet! By ordering the bombing of Enthea you sealed our fate! What did you think would happen? Did you truly believe that the humans would accept it and move on? I warned you about acting in a way that could force the humans into a political corner. I believe they don't want an all out war with us, but the genocide on Enthea has left them little choice."

Kyino : " Genocide?" his face showing his anger "It was just retribution!"

Damira: " Retribution for what? Wanting their freedom?" another laugh "This whole idea that the humans are just a recent Interstellar Civilisation is misleading, it gives us a false sense of security. You've all read the Kulnet reports on the humans, and yet you continue with this rhetoric! In their current evolutionary form they are some 300000 years old, and their current Civilisation goes back some 10000 years. Compared to all the other races in the region that is significant. Most Civilisations in this region are in close proximity to each other, and the consequence of this is that we've known about each other for much longer, and those with Interstellar travel visited other worlds, exploring the region, spreading advanced technology. Knowing about other Interstellar Civilisations brings a Civilisation together, it ends internal conflict, and in some cases begins the Civilisation process. The Humans have only been aware of other Interstellar Civilisations for 150 years, and before that they were in what we call their dark age. For ten thousand years the Humans have been constantly fighting each other, endless wars for land, for power, for domination, for Empire and worst of all for Glory. Glory!"

Btzani : " Why is Glory the worst?"

Damira: " Glory! It’s a human concept! We have parallels, but nothing quite explains it thoroughly. It's war for the sake of war! Killing for the sake of killing! This bloodlust is now replaced by their sports, but the instinct remains. For all their talk of love, kindness and what they call Humanitarianism they can't help being what they are."

Giloni : " Which is what?"

Damira: " A warrior race!" The room goes silent "Unfortunately for them they can't see that about themselves! They have a saying; Duty, Honour, Country! Their Governments don’t have to convince or entice them to serve, and that's because humans consider it their duty to serve their Country. All their Governments have to do is find a legitimate reason to call them to Arms, and every human will answer the call. If they believe the cause to be worthy of their lives they will gladly sacrifice themselves. By bombing Enthea we've created such a worthy cause, and even as we speak the other 2 Human Governments are preparing to join the fight against us. Kulnet spies have reported some 700 Galaxy Class Warships arriving in Silenia 5 as part of reinforcements." the room goes silent "We stand at the twilight of the Curmallion Communion!"

Btzani : " What are you saying?"

Damira: " The only positive thing about our situation is that the Humans won't target civilian structures, but we can expect to lose all our primary infrastructure. The Curmallion Communion will be reduced to as series of planets with no central Government. They'll destroy all military, industrial and economic infrastructure, and after their campaign we will once again be reduced to Planetary Civilisations. If we want our Civilisation to survive we have to negotiate!"

Kyino : " Our allies don't want us to negotiate with the Humans, and they say that its time to make a stand against human encroachment. The Vilnavi Federated Kingdom, the Wantigua Republic, the Elmachi Empire and the Seatim Empire are sending ships to support us. The Galactic Alliance members the Kulnet Dominion and the Qua Federation have agreed to send ships to protect the Curmallion Communion."

Damira: " The Humans have access to some of the most advanced technology in the galaxy; O'con Federation Technology! Their ships carry advanced technology we can't duplicate, unique technology that is impossible to steal. None of the regional powers have been able to duplicate Human technology, and this is the reason many began to view the humans as a possible threat, because they know that the humans will always have something they don't have. It would take an incredible force to stop them" Now almost frustrated "Why can't you understand that?"

Giloni : " We are putting together the largest fleet the region has ever seen. We want you to share your extensive knowledge of the humans with our allies."

Kyino : " War with the Humans is at hand General; Prepare your forces!"

Damira : " This is a mistake!"

Giloni : " I'm sorry General, but that decision has already been made."

Damira: " I hope you have a plan to stop O'con Federation Technology! I have reports that say that the Human fleet will have 500 Casara Class Cruisers. Do you have a plan to stop 700 BattleCruisers? Until our last battle we thought that the Casara Class Cruisers were Cargo Freighters, but imagine our surprise to discover that they are in fact BattleCruisers belonging to the African Federation's Crystalorb Elite Guard. Do you have a plan to stop advanced O'con Federation Technology?"

Giloni : " We will just have to find out how advanced their technology really is? Our larger numbers will make all the difference"

Kyino : " Our allies believe that we need a symbolic military victory against the humans to Holt the advance of their influence. If we surrender or fail the whole region will consider human technology to be superior, which means that products from our worlds will continuously loose market share, leading to economic stagnation."

Icran : " This is insane!"

Btzani : " It may very well be insane, but there is more here than just Pride."

Damira : " Commerce?"

Giloni : " Unfortunately our security is dependent on our Commerce"

Damira: " I will do my Duty! Even if it’s in the name of Commerce! I only hope that when all this is over our Curmallion Communion can reform and be a better Civilisation."

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After all damaged ships were returned to base and the reinforcing BattleGroups arrived the Expeditionary Taskforce destined for the Curmallion Communion expanded in size to meet the expected challenges

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The Expeditionary Taskforce

1〙 United Atlantic Federation Contingent:

75 of the 8 Ship Formation BattleGroups 【Each 8 Ship BattleGroup consists of: 1 Atlantis Class BattleCruiser, 4 Apollo Class Destroyers, 2 Juggernaut Class Frigates and 1 Valiant Class Corvette.

20 Supply ships

UAF total = 75 BattleCruisers, 300 Apollo Class Destroyers, 150 Juggernaut Class Frigates, 75 Valiant Class Corvettes, 20 Supply ships and 6300 Gunship Class StarShips carried on the Capital Ships.

【600 Galaxy Class StarShips】

2〙 Asian Consortium Contingent:

70 of the 7 Ship Formation BattleGroups 【Each 7 Ship BattleGroup consists of: 1 Asia Class BattleCruiser, 4 Apollo Class Destroyer and 2 Valiant Class Corvette.

20 Supply ships

AC total = 70 BattleCruisers, 280 Apollo Class Destroyers, 140 Valiant Class Corvettes, 20 Supply ships and 4900 Gunship Class StarShips carried on the Capital Ships.

【490 Galaxy Class StarShips】

3〙 United Indian Federation Contingent:

50 of the 6 Ship Formation BattleGroups 【Each 6 Ship BattleGroup consists of: 1 Indus Class BattleCruiser, 4 Apollo Class Destroyer and 1 Valiant Class Corvette.

20 Supply ships

UIF total = 50 BattleCruisers, 200 Apollo Class Destroyers, 50 Valiant Class Corvettes, 20 Supply ships and 3400 Gunship Class StarShips carried on the Capital Ships.

【300 Galaxy Class StarShips】

4〙 Islamic Alliance Contingent:

42 of the 7 Ship Formation BattleGroups 【Each 7 Ship BattleGroup consists of: 1 Indus Class BattleCruiser, 4 Apollo Class Destroyers and 2 Valiant Class Corvette.

20 Supply ships

IA total = 42 BattleCruisers, 168 Apollo Class Destroyers, 84 Valiant Class Corvettes, 20 Supply ships and 2940 Gunship Class StarShips carried on the Capital Ships.

【294 Galaxy Class StarShips】

3〙 African Federation Contingent:

25 of the 11 Ship Formation BattleGroups 【Each 11 Ship BattleGroup consists of: 1 Vanguard Class BattleCruiser and 10 Nubia Class Destroyers】

40 Additional Apollo Class Destroyers

40 Valiant Class Corvettes

390 Casara Class Cruisers operating the Escort and Supply role

AF Total = 15 BattleCruisers, 250 Nubia Class Destroyers, 40 Apollo Class Destroyers, 40 Valiant Class Corvettes, 390 Casara Class Cruisers and carried on the Capital Ships: 1030 Gunship Class StarShips and 6120 Drone Fighters.

【745 Galaxy Class StarShips】

Bringing the Expeditionary Taskforce to: 262 BattleCruisers, 250 Nubia Class Destroyers, 988 Apollo Class Destroyers, 150 Juggernaut Class Frigates, 389 Valiant Class Corvettes, 390 Casara Class Cruisers, 80 Supply Ships and carried on the Capital Ships: 18570 Gunship Class StarShips and 6120 Drone Fighters

【Total】 600+490+300+294+745+80 = 2509 Galaxy Class StarShips

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The Expeditionary Taskforce represented the ability of the 5 Human Governments to project military power without compromising the security on their respective colonies. For the next few days the 5 Human Governments assigned themselves targets at the edge of Curmallion Communion space, moving incrementally deeper into Curmallion space. The Humans attacked and destroyed Curmallion Communion forward observation bases, and all targets were engaged from the edge of weapons range, this led to no human casualties.

Moving through the Curmallion Communion outer parameter defences served to confuse the Curmallion Space Navy and force them to regroup deeper into their territory, but it also stretched the resources of the 5 Human Governments. Fortunately the Curmallion Space Navy was outclassed by the warships of the Human StarNavy/StarForce/SpaceForce, and the human ships could operate with relative safety.

The 5 Human Governments were very aware that the Curmallion Communion would eventually receive help from their allies, and so the humans moved quickly to attack the Curmallion Space Navy in the hope that the Curmallion would be weakened before their allies could arrive. The 5 Human Governments were most concerned about the Kulnet Dominion and the Qua Federation who are armed with advance Galactic Alliance technology.

As the Elmachi Empire, the Kulnet Dominion, the Qua Federation, the Vilnavi Federated Kingdom, the Wantigua Republic and the Seatim Empire mobilized to come to the aid of the Curmallion Communion other Nations were also preparing to come to the Aid of the Humans. The Zlarfh Empire, the Pretovus Federation, the Zolak Kingdom, the Cromed Republic and the Antora Consortium were preparing to support the 5 Human Governments.

Though the forces that came to the aid of the humans were relatively small, mostly Corvettes and Frigates, but their purpose was more to lend moral support, and no Galactic Alliance members would risk a confrontation with the Kulnet Dominion and the Qua Federation who are also Galactic Alliance members. However the Corvettes and Frigates offered by the regional allies of the humans would help with enemy fighters.

Some Galactic Alliance members like the Bitori Conclave and the Nabi Federated Kingdom stationed Warships in the Silenia Solar System as a deterrence measure should the humans lose the fight, with the hope that the Kulnet Dominion and the Qua Federation would not risk violating Galactic Alliance rules by attacking Silenia 5 which is protected by other Galactic Alliance members.

Intelligence analysis indicated that the Curmallion Communion and its allies were regrouping in Bruvani colony some 90 LightYears from Curvani, and that would be the sight of the battle for the Curmallion Communion. The strategic planning of the 5 Human Governments was in accordance with the anticipated Curmallion strategy. The Humans could not bypass Bruvani because it would disrupt supply lines should the war become protracted.

Human Ships are built for extended deployments and the Apollo Class Destroyer is by design a long range warship; built for endurance, designed for extended long range deployments, and has a theoretical limit of 5 years. The Apollo Class Destroyer was the first true Galaxy Class warship built by the 5 Human Governments in that it could in theory go across the Galaxy and back without the need to re-supply, provided the Destroyer did not use its weapons.

The advanced weapon systems on the Apollo Class Destroyer consume an extraordinary amount of energy, and in the combat role the Destroyer requires significant supply of Reactor fuel and other components that are consumed by weapons use. In the BattleGroup formation the BattleCruiser helps to keep the escorting Apollo Class Destroyers adequately supplied. The African Federation's Nubia Class Destroyer has less range despite being larger than the Apollo Class Destroyer.

The Nubia Class Destroyer is Heavier, longer and larger in volume than the Apollo Class Destroyer, but the increased size and weight has come at a price. Unlike the largely favoured Apollo Class Destroyer the Nubia Class Destroyer was designed to deliver maximum power, and because of this they carry much more energy generation and storage systems. Equipped with the latest Crystalorb technology the Nubia Class Destroyer is in the same league as the Casara Class Cruiser and the Crystalan Ships.

The one weakness of both the Vanguard Class BattleCruiser and the Nubia Class Destroyer is that they are relatively limited in range, but this seemed to comply with the African Federation's requirements.

The African Federation had never been expansionist, and the African Federal Parliament would not support any long range exploration of space. However with a few supply ships added to the standard 11 ship African Federation BattleGroup the range of the Vanguard Class BattleCruiser and the Nubia Class Destroyer could be extended to match their counterparts from the other 4 Human Governments.

The Vanguard Class BattleCruisers and the Nubia Class Destroyers had proved themselves in the battle for Enthea and were expected to lead the assault on Curmallion Allied forces. The other 4 Human Governments were not surprised to learn that the African Federation had significantly better warships than their own because they also operated the smaller version of the Enhanced Weapons Array in the Valiant Class Corvettes.

The development of the Fusion Beam Cannons had brought the warships of the other 4 Human Governments closer to that of the African Federation, but the gap was still very significant. The rapid fire capabilities of the Enhanced Weapons Array made all ships that carried this type of system amongst the most powerful in the galaxy. Even the Valiant Class Corvettes could attack and destroy Frigates and Destroyers.

The Curmallion Space Navy had learned the hard way about the power of the Valiant Class Corvettes, and for the humans the Valiant Class Corvettes were quickly becoming an Ideal way to provide rapid response in the defence of colonies. The Valiant Class Corvettes were developing another role as long range patrol ships, but their main role was still as stealthy scouts. The 5 Human Governments were using Valiant Class Corvettes and Gunships to raid Curmallion Communion instillations in preparation for a large scale campaign.

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