Confederate Rising

Part 1: The Enemy Within

It has been a full ten years since the rise of the Confederates in the UED Sector. Ten years of peace and tranquility in the entire Directorate. All of the Confederate mines were shut down, their ships and shipyards decommissioned and moved to the scrap heap and their planets under never-ending surveillance from UED probes. It was a fact that the Confederates were broken and would never rise again. Yet somehow, deep inside me, I know that they will rise under a new leader. All their previous leaders were brought on trial before each jury of the World Court and their sentences were the same:

'The jury of the American Continents finds the defendant guilty and sentences him to life imprisonment without parole,' condemned the jury of the American Continents.

'We find the defendant, guilty,' yelled the jury of the European Continent.

'Guilty,' followed the jury of the Asian and African Continents.

Ten years…ten full years. I can still hear, in my head, the echoes of shells exploding across the entire UED Sector, 582 planets all locked in a deadly battle against one another. Thousands upon thousands of ships commissioned by UED to bombard all Confederate positions whilst they did the same to the UED. In the end, the Confederates made a fatal flaw: they attacked Earth, the heart of the Directorate. The Confederacy believed that they could win, but how gravely wrong they were; 4 billion men were enlisted and 30,000 ships were produced for that single battle against the Confederacy. Needless to say, the Confederates were destroyed ruthlessly. Yet…that feeling of imminent war was brooding inside of me.

I sat at my large desk inside the Directorate HQ glancing through the numerous reports on my desk. Just then, the door opened and in swept Alexei Stukov, my most trusted friend and Vice Admiral of the UED Armada. He was in his full military attire, as usual, from the general's suit and pinned stars down to the saber tied to his belt and the combat boots. I was wearing a mere business suit seeing no need to dress in military attire as those days were gone.

'Evening Gerard,' greeted Alexei.

I responded with a casual nod and returned to reading a report regarding Confederate movements and happenings. Being the curious cat he is, Alexei snatched the report from my hands and began reading it whilst sitting on the edge of the table. He chortled slightly at reading the report and then gave me a 'you gotta be joking' look.

'I do not understand why you waste your time over such trivial things Gerard," began Alexei…boy, here we go again. 'The Confederacy is no more, Gerard. We've shut down their mines on all one hundred and fifty-five planets and whatever they produce, we take seventy percent of it all. We've shut down their shipyards, occupied all of their planets with Directorate Forces, cut down their troops by over seventy percent, destroyed their will to fight and on top of it all, we deny them access to the UED Sector.'

I swiped quickly at the report and caught it. 'I know that Alexei…but…I just have this feeling, like…its going to happen, ahhhh never mind, forget it.'

The Russian gave an all-knowing look to me. 'You know what I think, Gerard?'

'No, but I bet you're going to tell me,' I retorted.

He ignored my comment and continued talking. 'I think you just miss the glory days…the days when people looked up to us for help and guidance. Yes, I think you just miss the responsibility of having the lives of several billion people in your hands. These days, no one gives a damn about us, we might as well be living in their homes and they couldn't care less…I miss those days too Gerard, but you must know that they're gone and that there's nothing that you nor I can do about it.' He stood up and began walking towards the exit.

Could it be what he said was right? Was I truly just missing those days? No, it can't be…those were the days that caused me so much pain…how could I possibly miss them? But still...

'Go home to your wife Gerard, I'm sure she misses you more than the Confederates,' called Alexei as he walked out of the room.

I looked towards the empty exit still trying to grasp at the idea of my possible longing for those days. No, it was impossible. I couldn't believe it. I looked back at the report and saw something peculiar in the section under Confederate Planet 046…absolutely nothing in the report whatsoever. Not even the slight mention of 'peace' or some sort of tranquility in the sector. That was strange.

It was 6 o'clock in the afternoon, ample time to visit CP 046. I picked up my intercom and dialed 036, the number to my Captain, Zypher.

'Yes Admiral?' responded the Captain after a few tones from the intercom. "How may I be of service?"

'Captain, are you busy at all today?' I asked.

'Well Admiral, I have to walk a few dogs around once I get home but other than that, nothing really high on my agenda.'

'Very well. I need you to fuel up the Aleksander and gather the crew.'

'Very good Admiral, I will have it ready in twenty minutes.'

I walked over to my closet, which was located behind my desk. Inside it housed the me of long past. I opened the closet and stared in wonderment at my Admiral's uniform. It was a familiar yet a strange sight at the same time. Could I still be the man of 10 years past? Could I still be the famed Gerard DuGalle of the United Earth Directorate?

I shook away my fears and put on the uniform. I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror. This was me, the real me.

By the time I reached the hangar, Captain Zypher was standing by the door. You could tell by his face that he had a quick shave and tried to make himself more presentable.

Despite us working in the same building, I barely saw him at all and it was not until here that I realized how much he had changed. He had grown older and one could see the strands of white hair that began to dominate his scalp but his eyes was still filled with that sparkle and confidence that promoted him so high into the ranks in such a short time during the Confederate Wars. He was my most trusted Captain and loyal friend.

'Well Admiral,' said Zypher, 'What is so very important that you must stop me from going home to my family reunion and spending the day with them?'

'But I thought you said you didn't have anything to do!' I retorted.

'Well, call me curious then, but I was certain you would not let me go on this mission if you knew that I had a family agenda.'

I smiled, resilient and determined as ever Zypher was. 'Well Captain,' I said as we entered the Aleksander, the largest destroyer ever built by the UED capable of having a complete crew of up to 10,000 men at a time and equipped with the latest technologies and weapons, 'All you have to do is set a course for CP 046.'

I sat at the Admiral's seat in the bridge while Zypher was busy giving out coordinates and relaying orders to all aboard. Before long, we left Earth and were already in space on our way to Confederate Planet 046 also known as 'New Earth'. CP 046 was always recognized as the home base of the Confederates. It was the sign of their struggle and hopes. It was one of their radical ideas that New Earth would triumph over Earth itself and become the center world of the humans who roam the Universe. Of course, that never happened.

By the time we reached CP 046, Zypher ordered an orbit of the planet rather than risking a full touch down at the planet itself. He was a wary Captain and knew that the situation was grave.

All of a sudden, many transmissions were received on the Aleksander, one after the other. Some were over 2 days old.

'What is the meaning of this?' I asked as all the transmissions were played one by one.

'I am not sure Admiral,' said a Lieutenant. 'A full scan of the planet indicates that the planet itself is giving out a jamming signal that is preventing all transmissions from leaving the planet within a set distance.'

'The planet itself?' I asked intrigued, 'But how is that possible? No core in these cosmos could possibly emanate a strong enough magnetic field that could possibly jam radio waves. Are you sure it is not a jamming device placed on the planet instead?'

'Not according to these diagnostics,' explained the Lieutenant as he showed the diagnostics on the front panel which showed CP 046 as a whole in 3-D. 'As you can see here sir,' as he highlighted the core of the planet itself which sent out concave waves from the center. 'The jamming signals are indeed coming from the planet itself.'

As we all pondered about it, a very intriguing transmission played. The transmission was very fuzzy and had plenty of interference, it was a voice of a man who said, 'Mayday mayday, requesting help from all outlying planets in the Tri Sector. The Confederates have risen on this planet. Repeat, the Confederates have begun rebelling on this planet. Requesting immediate evac and reinforcements!'

'When was the transmission beamed?' I demanded.

'An hour ago sir,' answered one of the Ensigns.

'Locate the transmission and bring our ship to those coordinates immediately!' I ordered.

The Aleksander moved to the coordinates and when we reached it, it was a complete warzone. What was left of UED forces were slowly fighting a losing battle against the Confederate militia on the planet dressed in normal attire but branding plasma firearms which were strictly prohibited on all Confederate planets. Not even the UED Armed Forces were armed with plasma weapons.

'Open fire on all Confederate positions!' ordered Zypher. 'Get all our boys back on this ship immediately and prepare to retreat to the fall back positions.'

The small plasma firearms of the Confederate militia all fired on the Aleksander but her shield and hull withstood as she dished out plasma torpedoes and high-powered lasers onto the Confederate positions. It was only a full minute before all of the UED forces on the planet were evacuated and the Aleksander began to retreat.

All of a sudden, the Aleksander slowed to a halt.

'What's going on? Impulse engines to full!' demanded Zypher.

'Sir its no use, it seems like a tractor beam is holding us back,' said the Ensign.

'Tractor beam? Well locate it and destroy it!' ordered Zypher.

'Something is jamming our search probes!'

'A strong energy reading!' yelled one of the Commanders.

'What? What do you mean by strong energy reading?' I asked.

'The power reading goes completely off the charts and it keeps rising!' answered the Commander.

Off the charts…even plasma readings would give at most a 95 energy reading…unless… 'Graviton,' I whispered.

'What?' said Zypher.

'Graviton!' I said out loud. 'That is a Graviton energy signal!'

Zypher finally realized the gravity of our situation. 'Red alert! All hands, battle stations! Scatter fire immediately and get this tractor beam off of us!' he hastily ordered.

'Yes sir!'

The Aleksander desperately fired a scatter of phaser shots and torpedoes attempting to hit the tractor beam. A minute later, a small explosion erupted from the side of the 'planet' and the tractor beam was shut down.

'Move to coordinates three-three-six-five-four-four mark eight-two!' I ordered.

The Aleksander made a quick swerve to the right, and just in time too as a bright green ray was fired from the planet, which grazed the hull plating of the Aleksander. The entire crew stared in wonderment at the bright green ray of destruction.

Graviton…the power to destroy planets.

'Ensign, set a course for Earth and make it quick…I believe the Board of Directors will want to hear this,' I said.

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It was early morning by the time we reached the hangars of Directorate HQ. Everyone was too shocked by what had happened to sleep. One could look upon their eyes and see bags of horror and fatigue under them.

When we landed and finally saw the damage caused by the Graviton shot, it was all too amazing: the beam cut directly through the primary shielding and 20 layers of thick reinforced alloy armor. The shot was so strong that it exposed the fine wiring underneath the armor; most of them were disintegrated. All that was left was hardened molten metal on top of the destroyed circuits.

'I'll remain here with the engineers and patch up the Aleksander,' said Zypher as I began walking towards the Directorate Council Chamber. 'This is the last time, I go with you on your missions…rather stay home with the family.'

I knew he was joking, but part of it was true: I had almost led a crew to their death. I pushed those thoughts out of my mind as I entered the Directorate Council Chambers.

The UED was run by 2 Directors: all hand chosen by the people to lead the entire UED. The 2 Directors were in charge of everything and each had a total of 100 systems under his/her control.

Of the two Directors, there was only one that was very old, in fact, he was the father of one of the other Director. His name was Enigma Dais. He was wise…once upon a time, now he just sits on the Directorate seat and drifts off to sleep every now and again. Anytime he wished to talk, he would whisper to his son who always sat on his right and the son would speak for the father. The son's name was Darius Dais, a spitting image of his father when he was younger. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was voted as the sexiest Director of the year. Of course…when you're up against an old man, there really is a high chance of winning.

As I came in, the Directors' voices came to a lull and everyone else in the room: Ambassadors, Consuls, Secretaries all quieted down as well. Alexei was present as well and he also had the curious look on his face again.

As I opened my mouth to talk, Darius cut me off, 'Admiral DuGalle, what is this I hear about an unauthorized mission into the Tri Sector? You know you have to clear it with us before you leave for a mission.'

'I am sorry, your Excellencies,' I replied with a taint of bitterness in my voice. Impending doom in the Tri Sector and all they can bother about is worrying about unauthorized missions? It was madness. They were severely inexperienced and inept Directors. For one, they did not get voted in by the people of the Directorate, rather they got in by bribing many of the high end positions of the Secretariat Council to make a new law where the Governors of the planets under the Directorate had the power to "view" the votes of the people in order to verify "security" and prevent "fraud". Of course, this was merely another way of knocking off plenty of voters who didn't vote for the current Directors.

With the Secretariat Council backing every single move of the Directors and many of the Secretaries who opposed the Directors getting fired and exiled to the remote systems of the Directorate, no one could oppose the wishes of the Directors politically and any who could, especially the military, were paid quite well to keep everything on the Directors' side and those who opposed them were immediately barred and in their place came very inept Admirals most of whom were family to the Directors. It is a wonder how long I have served these Directors. Of course, despite everything, I have to admit that the Directors have not done anything particularly wrong which would jeopardize the security of the common people. At least not yet…until now.

'Sorry doesn't cut it this time Admiral,' continued Darius. 'I am afraid that I will be forced to suspend you from your duties for the next month.'

I opened my mouth to protest but the Director simply cut me off as he rallied the Secretariat Council in the room to agree with him to suspend me from my duties and one by one they raised their hand in silent agreement. I could not believe it. At this time of dire need they would still condemn me for my actions?

I looked to Alexei and his saw his face was filled with fury and anger against the Directors. He walked in front of me and looked up at the Directors. 'If you would suspend my Admiral…then I am afraid you would have to suspend me as well!' he yelled out.

'No, Alexei, don't to do this!' I whispered urgently. 'If anyone is to lead an attack against the Confederate weapon in the Tri Sector, it should be you. All these other Admirals barely have a years experience under their belt!'

As there were a flood of 'boos' and general disagreement to Alexei's statement, he looked at me with his curious eyes, 'Confederate weapon?'

'Powered by Graviton energy,' I continued. 'It has enough power to destroy a planet given time and resources. Its shielding is not up yet which means that its not ready. If we can strike at it now, we can disable it at the very least.'

But it was too late… 'Very well then Vice Admiral…if that is what you wish,' said Darius. 'You are hereby suspended along with the Admiral for a period of one month. What say you?'

I stood up before the Directors. 'My purpose here is to warn you about the new Confederate weapon in the Tri Sector. At 0900 hours, I met with General Nix in charge of defense on CP 046. His platoon was pinned down and we managed to save them, they are now in the medical bay recovering from plasma burns. Once we pulled out from the planet…CP 046 turned into a weapon.'

'First you go against our orders and now you lie to us? What blasphemy is this?' said the Director.

I continued on, 'This weapon, as you will see from these video footage was in fact the reason why I was in the Tri Sector.'

A large screen dropped down from one of the walls of the Directorate Council Chamber and played the footage of the battle against the Confederate weapon. It was irrefutable proof; no one could deny it. I didn't speak, letting all the information sink in. For once, even the Directors were speechless.

There was an awkward silence that followed the video footage. Seeking to gain glory for himself, Darius stood up and walked down to the floor, 'These Confederates never learn do they? I will take the entire UED fleet in this sector and meet with the fleet in the Tri Sector and together, we will take down this weapon!'

Massive applause followed this statement as the Secretariat Council gave Darius the power to control the fleets in the Primary Sector. Out of the many people that applauded for Darius, only three people didn't: Alexei, myself, and Captain Sheppard.

Captain Sheppard was Captain of TDS (The Directorate Ship) Liberty. He was one of the many captains under my fleet. Not much is really known about Sheppard. He just appeared on the recruitment doorstep ten years ago when the Confederates were attacking Earth. A quiet man, Sheppard, but a really good man to have covering your back. He was the first to volunteer for missions and always carried them out to perfection. It was not long before he was promoted to Captain of his own ship.

I began making my way to the exit but as I passed by Darius I said, 'Overconfidence will be the fall of you Darius…do not underestimate the Confederacy.' But he didn't hear me as he was swept away by his cronies who cheered only because the louder they did it, the more they would be paid.

As I walked out of the room with Alexei and Sheppard I heard the cries of 'Admiral wait! Admiral!' I turned around to see Louis Mattimeo running up to me. Louis Mattimeo was one of the few Secretaries in the Secretariat Council whom I respected out of all the others. He was a headstrong and opinionated individual and fought very hard to get into the Secretariat Council. He was also the only Secretary who didn't cheer at my dismissal. He was often called 'Lu' or 'Lucifer' because of his goatee, which would've shamed the devil himself hence the name. Lu was also known for having a fiery temper once angered, but most of the time, he was a kind individual.

I smiled, 'Secretary Louis, you needn't call me "Admiral" anymore. "Gerard" will do.'

'Well Gerard…I am here to relieve you of your firearm since you are erm…'

'Dismissed,' I finished for him.

I was the only one who was carrying a weapon since I was just on a mission. Alexei carried his saber around but it was pretty harmless next to conventional weapons and Sheppard preferred not to carry any weapons in the compound.

'Yes, don't worry Gerard, I will find a way to get you back as Admiral again. You can count on it.'

I unclipped my gun holster and removed my .40 caliber SIG P228. It was an outdated handgun, but a gun that I still preferred at my side. I removed the magazine and placed both the gun and the magazine into the plastic box that Lu was holding out. 'As always, thank you Secretary. Is there anything else?'

'No Gerard, you may go.'

We walked over to my office and I sat at my desk and massaged my temples trying to clear my thoughts. Sheppard asked for permission to be dismissed and left the room.

'Gerard, I do not know why you worry so much. Darius is leading over ten thousand ships from this sector and combining with five thousand more ships in the Tri Sector. It is a definitive victory for the UED. The combined power of that fleet has the strength to destroy a planet,' said Alexei reassuringly.

'Its not that Alexei, it is a sure fact that the UED fleet would prevail even under incompetent Admirals,' I answered.

'Then what is it?'

'Its just that I can't believe we did not see this earlier. Over ten years, we were blinded Alexei. Blinded by our own power. Confederate records dating all the way back till the break apart of the Confederates from the UED all stated that they would build a superweapon. A weapon capable of destroying anything. What would take any nanite factory a month to build took the Confederates over ten years. They piled every single scrap of metal and crystal they could to build it. That shows their undying resolve to destroy the UED. Maybe they were right in trying so…'

'Are you even listening to yourself Gerard? What are you talking about?' started Alexei.

'And what about it Alexei?!' I yelled. 'Open your eyes! The UED we fought for does not exist anymore! Democracy is dead! If hating UED politics makes me a Confederate then I am a Confederate!'

After an awkward silence as I slowly began to regain my composure, Alexei said, 'Then lets fight to bring the UED we know back into existence.'

Just before I was about to answer, Captain Sheppard burst into the room, 'Sorry to interrupt but I believe you should watch Hangar Cam 3'

I turned around to the monitors behind me and turned them on by pressing a button on my desk. I pressed another button, which made all of the monitors join together as one big screen to show the scene from "Hangar Cam 3".

On the monitor it showed 4 lines of 250 men each all standing to attention before Darius. Upon closer inspection, I realized that every single one of them were my captains. All of them stared blankly forward as Darius was yelling out something very animatedly.

I typed into the computer, "attach audio hangar cam 3" and at once the speakers in the room blared out what Darius was saying. '…Furthermore you are all a disgrace to your uniform! Since I am the Admiral In Command, I hereby strip you all of your rank and charge each and everyone of you with treason!'

As Darius was about to continue with more chastisement, one of the Admirals present in the room whispered something in his ear, which caused Darius to smile triumphantly. He looked back to the group, 'I will let you off lightly this time but I expect you all to turn up in Military Court to account for your actions once I have returned with victory.' With that, the Director swept out of the hangar with all of his Admirals.

I looked helplessly on the monitor as the Captains, though emotionless, I could still sense their pain inside at the loss of their job. They all were stuck in their "attention" position, shocked by the fact that they disobeyed a direct order from a Director. I turned off the monitor, unable to look anymore.

'This is my fault…' I said finally. 'It is my fault that these men lost their job.'

'Its not your fault Gerard,' said Alexei reassuringly. 'They lost their job because of the system we live in. They were willing to give up everything they lived for to support you Gerard and fight against the system.'

'I informed the captains of your dismissal, Admiral,' confessed Sheppard. 'Not a single captain was willing to go under the command of any other Admiral other than you.'

'You urged these men to lose their job over someone who is not an Admiral anymore?' I asked angrily. 'Don't you get it Sheppard! I am not an Admiral anymore! I don't have any power whatsoever! Why can't you all just get that into your heads?!'

Sheppard seemed to be paying more attention to the carpet fluffs as I was berating him for his actions. He looked up, but did not meet my eyes, 'Then we have truly lost everything,' he said in barely a whisper.

Even Alexei seemed disappointed with me and walked out of the room along with Sheppard without even saying another word.

As the doors shut behind them, I slammed fist angrily onto the table and revolving chair around, looking at the monitors. I turned on Hangar Cam 3 and saw that not a single captain was there anymore, each one probably going home to break the news to their family that they lost their job. I turned on the cameras that were located up in space, stuck to different satellites. I saw ship upon ship flying by to meet the Confederate Weapon located in the Tri Sector, support craft and capital ships by the thousands flying by. The sight was extremely calming and my eyes slowly drooped as I laid back in my chair and fell into a soft dreamless slumber.

When I woke up again, it was not by choice but rather because the doors behind me opened. I swiveled my chair around and saw Director Enigma Dais stagger slowly over towards me.

'Director?' I asked as I stood up from my chair. 'Director, are you ok?'

As I said that, a gunshot ripped the silence and Enigma grunted. The Director sank down on his knees first and then toppled over sideways. He was dead.