Chapter 67: Chapter 67 Incoming.
After a few more weeks,It was clear that the invasion everyone was preparing for would not come anytime soon.
The council was happy with that, especially since this gave them time to prepare even more and build a fleet strong enough that it would destroy the enemy if they ever decided to show up.
The alert was canceled for now but the patrol fleets were strengthened and the scouts were under orders to maintain vigilance.
Humans even sent a scout ship to the Elani territory to launch some probes that could determine the location and strength of the enemy.
Also they contacted the merchants that were visiting earth and its colonies to try and identify the enemy and it partially succeeded.
Two out of the nine races were identified by the shape of their bodies that were discernible even under the armor,they were just too unique.
Unfortunately the identification of the possible hostels brought more questions than answers to the council.
The first race to be identified was the Chixari,a bird-like aliens that had their home world around a thousand light years away from the Elani empire.
The next race that was identified were Brunari,a centaur shaped species but they looked like a mix between a giant lizard and a frog with added sharp teeth and claves.
The main issue was that both of those races lived over a thousand light years from the empire and didn't have any reason to attack the Elani.
What added more questions was that the two races did not officially possess a fleet that would be able to pose a challenge to the Elani Navy and their technology level was way lower than what was shown in the invasion.
The most probable conclusion was that someone gave them the technology in exchange for the destruction of the Elani empire and maybe some of the other smaller star nations that they didn't know about.
The traders that identified the two races came from the Zendari which were one of the mid-sized star nations but their expansion was mostly peaceful and they focused on the trade with other races and thanks to their reputation of honest and fair traders they were welcomed by most known races with open arms.
Simon and his friends were speechless when the analysis of the video was complete and it turned out that they had missed four alien races when they were watching the feed and trying to figure out who attacked the Elani.
-Now we know at least two of the culprits but this whole thing doesn't make any sense.
Mikael said.
-What could they possibly gain by attacking the Elani empire other than getting themselves an enemy who will sooner or later come for them?
Simon asked,not understanding what the enemy was thinking.
-I think that someone really bribed them with technology to join the attack.
It's the only explanation that has any sense and also you have to remember that they were ready to exterminate the Elani so if their plan worked then they would not have anything to worry about as there would be no one to seek revenge on them.
Monica Sanders said and her explanation made a lot of sense.
Sanders was recently promoted to the rank of an admiral since she was the commander of the moon base which was one of the most important bases in Sol.
-This theory is the most likely scenario.
However, that doesn't tell us who bribed them and even if we went and destroyed them,we would still have another seven species to deal with and I sincerely doubt that they would just sit around and wait for us to come for them.
simon said.
-He is right, the moment we attack one of them they are likely to join forces in order to take us out.
Steuner said.
-And the moment they destroy our fleets,we become a nice target for anyone who wants to get rid of us.
Sanders stated the obvious.
-I wonder if this was the plan all along.
Simon said.
The more he thought about it the more it became obvious and all the pieces fell into place.
The Elani prime minister turned out to be a traitor so they had access to the information about him and Alesia.
If Irio won the duel then it would be alright and the invasion would be called off as they would have someone who owed them a lot close to the imperial family.
Simon's victory forced them to use their plan B which was the invasion of the Elani empire and its destruction.
Since they were supposed to ally themselves with humanity the Terran council would want revenge and if Alesia died in the assault Simon would do anything to avenge her death.
The next step would be to reveal the identity of the attackers to lure out the Terran fleets and destroy them or at least most of them in a battle by using a numerical advantage.
After their fleets were wiped out or severely weakened all they had to do was to attack the Terran space and their problems would be over in this sector of the galaxy.
-Thous clever bastards.
Was the only words Sanders said when Simon shared his thoughts.
After some thought they had to admit that this plan made a lot of sense and it eliminated the only two star nations opposed to the federation in this part of space.
The added bonus would be that the other systems would be terrified that they were next and beg to be admitted to the federation.
-Their plans worked partially but I bet that they didn't think that you would bring the Thanatos and the fleet with you to the empire or that our ships are so powerful.
Mikael said.
-We managed to surprise them this time but don't count on it working anymore.
The next time we meet in battle they will most likely be prepared for us.
Simon said with a grimm expression on his face.
They debated any and all scenarios and options for hours until their meeting came to an abrupt stop as the alarm blared throughout the base.
-Incoming unidentified fleet,no IFF ,at least two thousand ships,everyone to your battle stations,ETA of the fleet :one hour and seven minutes.
The A.I that liked it more to stay on the base then being the shipboard A.I said through the speakers.
At the same time everyone rushed to their ships and prepared for launch with the exception of Sanders who went to the command center on the base and ordered the defenses to full combat mode.
The incoming fleet was massive but humanity had a few aces up their sleeves.
Thanks to the sensor net all around the terran space they had an hour of time to prepare and they also knew where the enemy would jump in as the enormous fleet was using a standard FTL jump this time.
The fleets were mobilizing while the minelayer ships were preparing a warm welcome for the guests that were coming.
Humans also recalled all the patrol fleets so they would have some reinforcements coming in.
In less than half an hour most ships were ready to intercept the incoming fleet and the mine fields were almost ready as more and more ships started dropping mines.
If the enemy sent that fleet to attack Sol system then they would find out the hard way that the humans were not to be trifled with.
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