บท 52: Left to Die Alone
Months had passed since the Germanic Star-Empire had first learned that the Ghimderi Trade Union was acting against them from behind the scenes and during this time, the Germanic Star-Empire had done their very best to fortify their worlds and raise their military strength so that the threat which loomed beyond their borders could be defeated.
During this time, they had also made use of their newly conscripted Dvrakian forces to act as a buffer to the Empire, and because of this, those members in the Dvrakian Republican guard now served on their own warships and on their own worlds.
Finally, after making all the preparations which they could manage, Terminus arrived...
Far away from the Imperial Capital of Germania, the 173rd Fleet was currently patrolling the furthest borders of the Empire. This fleet was composed of nearly one hundred warships of various types and sizes, and had a combined crew in the tens of thousands.
For those soldiers who bravely served aboard this fleet, today was just another day in the service of the Empire. And as they scanned the space beyond their borders, things appeared to be as calm as ever. However, suddenly things changed, as the capital ship's sensors immediately picked up something rather frightening in a nearby star system. So much so that he spat his coffee out onto the display while staring in terror at the results of his scan.
This act caught his fellow bridge officers by surprise, who quickly walked over and helped the man clean off the display. However, what awaited them was the sight of three thousand vessels of unknown origin and of a massive size that had just jumped into the nearby system. One which was only a few light-years away from the Imperial Fleet.
At first, the officers thought this was an error in the program, and were quick to run another scan, but after running a total of ten whole scans of the nearby system, there was no denying that a hostile fleet was inbound to the borders of the Germanic Star-Empire.
Almost immediately after confirming this shocking news was indeed accurate, the bridge officers quickly reported to the Admiral in command of their fleet that a hostile fleet of immense power was on a direct course to their current location.
As a member of the Admiralty, it was only natural that the man had long since been informed about the Hive Fleet Terminus. Because of this, he was already aware that with each passing day, this threat was coming closer and closer to the borders of the Germanic Star-Empire. Thus, he only spoke a single phrase before immediately alerting the Grand Admiral about the current crisis.
"So... they have finally arrived...."
---
Sitting in his office within the capital world of Germania, Grand Admiral Alaric au Emrys was busy reading over recent spending reports, particularly those which contained information about the advancements the Empire had made in their military prowess.
The Empire now had two hundred and fifty fleets, all of which carried a hundred warships within them. He was quite satisfied with the progress they had made over the last few years, and was beginning to feel quite confident in his people's chances of survival, at least until his assistant came running into the room, looking as pale as a ghost.
The man said nothing, and instead handed the Grand Admiral a message which had been transmitted to Imperial High Command, from the 173rd fleet which was currently patrolling the T'varen system.
"Hive Fleet Terminus has been spotted outside the T'varen System. Approximate enemy strength is 3,000 warships of immeasurable size. Requesting orders on how to proceed."
Though the Empire was filled with atheists, there were certain phrases that had endured from the years in which their people lived on Earth. Such as the words that Emrys had just spoken, as his hands began to tremble at the very idea that death was imminent.
"May God have mercy on us all...."
After taking several seconds to calm his nerves, the Grand Admiral's hands stopped shaking. Instead, a defiant expression appeared on his face, as if he utterly refused to be claimed by the reaper so soon in his life. He immediately gave an order to his assistant, one which would seal the fate of the Dvrakian race.
"Order the 173rd to Withdraw from Dvrakian space, and return to our frontier worlds to immediately bolster their defense. We have spent the last two years raising the Dvrakians to be our buffer, and now the time to prove their worth has come.
As for the Dvrakian Republican Guard, I believe they are now capable of fighting with their own equipment. Deploy them to the T'varen system and inform them that Germanic reinforcements are on the way. These red devils now have the honor of dying for Germania!"
----
News came in the middle of the night, and as a result Ensign S'aleth Tavarian had been awoken from her slumber, which took place aboard the old carrier which she now served upon. The sirens on board the vessel were going off with a frenzy, instantly making the Dvrakian beauty realize that something serious had occurred while she still slept.
A fellow pilot jumped out of his bunk, and was quick to holler at the woman, before dashing off towards the shi[s flight deck.
"Hurry up, Red, some serious shit has gone down!"
S'aleth took one last look at a holorecording which she had taken of her, and Erich, in what seemed like a lifetime ago, and sighed before turning it off. She did not know why the man had so suddenly broke up with her, especially after everything she had endured for his sake. But, after the man of her affections had so brutally abandoned her, S'aleth had made several attempts to contact him. Unfortunately, they had all ended in failure.
Even after nearly a year of being separated from Erich, the young Dvrakian beauty's heart stung with pain. After all, her species mated for life, and the idea of being separated from the one she loved was simply incomprehensible to her species. As far as she was concerned, it was as if she had lost a part of her soul.
Though she did not hate Erich for what he had done, in fact, she was fundamentally incapable of feeling such animosity toward her only partner no matter what he did. Instead, she longed to be in his arms once more, which created a special kind of hell for the woman, as she knew that was never going to happen.
However, S'aleth did not have time to think about this, and instead, she quickly dismissed her depressing thoughts before getting dressed in her flight suit. Once she was fully clothed, and ready for battle the young Dvrakian beauty rushed through the carrier towards the hangar bay where she was supposed to meet with the rest of her flight wing, who no doubt would inform her about just what the hell was going on.
The carrier which the Dvrakian Republican Guard used was an old and retrofitted design. Like all ships in the newly reformed Dvrakian fleet, it made use of more conventional weaponry, such as massive rail guns, kinetic point defense systems, and powerful missiles.
While these vessels had some energy shields, they were not nearly as advanced as those used by the Imperial Navy. Though these ships were a step up from the previous designs employed by the Dvrakian Consortium during their war with the Germanic Star-Empire, they were hardly enough to withstand the onslaught of a Naraku Hive Fleet.
Of course, the probability of encountering such a threat within their vicinity of space was practically non-existent. If such an invasion took place, then the Alfheim Dominion would have rushed to the defense of their space, and eliminated such a thing before they could have a chance to reach a civilization like the Dvrakian Social Republic.
However, when S'aleth step foot in the hangar bay and heard the words which her Wing Commander had spoken, she suddenly turned pale, or at least as much as her blood red skin could manage.
"I assure you, the threat is very real, and has already been detected by the 173rd Fleet of the Germanic Star-Empire. As of this moment, a Naraku Hive fleet is making its way towards the T'varen system, and perhaps we are already too late.
Our orders are to immediately deploy to the region, and to hold them off, until reinforcements from the Empire can arrive! This is it! If we fail here, then our entire civilization will be at the mercy of these bugs. So, stand tall, and stand firm, for we will make our last stand in T'varen!"
S'aleth could hardly believe her ears. How? How had a Naraku Hive Fleet advanced this far into Alfheim space without being eliminated, and how were they not aware of this threat sooner? It was at this moment that the young Dvrakian beauty realized that the government had deliberately kept this information hidden from the public in order to prevent a panic.
They had decided to fight until the last man and had refused to take into account the public's opinion on this suicidal mission. As S'aleth began to curse the politicians beneath her breath, she suddenly understood the reason why the Germanic Star-Empire had invaded her people's civilization in the first place.
The Empire was not sending reinforcements, like they had claimed. After all, why would a species renowned for its genocidal tendencies bother wasting their precious military resources for the sake of an alien race?
In fact, it was all so clear to her now. The Empire had spared her race, not because they had turned over a new leaf, but because they intended to use the Dvrakian race as a buffer against the Naraku Hive fleet. It was the Empire's hope that the demise of the Dvrakians would inflict enough damage on the bugs to give them a fighting chance.
After coming to this conclusion, S'aleth could not help but cry as she thought about a very real possibility. Was Erich aware of this dastardly plot the entire time? Had he only used her for her body and in doing so thrown her away the moment he realized that she was going to die for the sake of his people's survival?
No, she could not bring herself to believe this about her partner, the man she had chosen to be her mate. Erich would not do that! But the doubt began to gnaw away at S'aleth heart and mind, to the point where she needed to know the answer. And thus, in an act of desperation, she immediately grabbed hold of her communication device and desperately dialed Erich's number, just so she could ask him directly who she was to him, and why he had abandoned her.
However, no matter how many times she tried to call the man, it did not go through. It would simply dial, and dial until she was forced to hear his voice mail. In the end, S'aleth collapsed by the side of her fighter, and cried her eyes out. Believing that Erich had truly left her to die alone, so that he could save his own hide.
And as the Dvrakian Fleets made their way to reinforce T'varen in an attempt to stop the Naraku Hive Fleet, whose power was on the scale of a Galactic Power, the Germanic Star-Empire had begun to recall all its forces to their own borders, in an attempt to protect themselves against this imminent threat to their very survival.
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