Prologue: Seeds of War
The planet Tamaran was one of the most beautiful and prosperous planets in the Vega star cluster. All was calm and quiet; the people were content, the land pristine. The unbridled joy necessary for Tamaranian flight was felt by all save one.
Komand'r, better known as Blackfire, the disinherited elder princess of Tamaran, and now the Chief Ambassador of Dreknath IV, still held the ambition of the crown within her. King Gigrrisklechhh had given her an excellent post in the Dreknathian royal court, and it satisfied her mostly; but she continued to harbor the desire for revenge against her people.
Ambassador Blackfire's ungranted throne wish would soon return to haunt Tamaran and its people.
While Tamaran enjoyed its peace and prosperity, the Dreknath IV swamp moons, at Blackfire's urging, were arming for war. Despite this, King Gigrrisklechhh had initially been unwilling to start a war with Tamaran; since they were on equal footing, he felt that the risk of defeat was too much. A lower-ranking Dreknathian palace official recalled the decision:
"At the time we seemed to be all for fighting a war, as long as we could be sure to win. That was the thing a lot of us were worried about—we knew that Tamaranian technology was far better than our own and we thought we'd lose if we went to war. We thought, if we could get assistance from a technologically proficient race, like the Gordanians, then we'd be all set. That was the safest route for a war so we went that way."
On June 21, 2007, Blackfire spoke for the first time to a high-ranking Gordanian official, who has requested that we not name him. As a result, official diplomatic ties were established between the Gordanian and Dreknathian governments. The decision to ally was made shortly thereafter, and around July 1 (the exact date is not known) a formal alliance treaty was signed. Shortly thereafter, military planners from both sides began meeting to plan a campaign against Tamaran.
General Qrqxcran, the highest-ranking Dreknathian official to survive the war, offered some crucial insights into the Dreknathian war planning process:
"I think the date was July 17 or 18 when we first tried to figure the details. We thought a coalition between Karma (the Gordanian homeworld) and Dreknath would be perfect for a planetary occupation. When you subdue and occupy a hostile planet, actually when you fight any war, there are three things you need to ensure victory: technological superiority over your enemy, greater numbers, and a firm commitment to the cause. We Dreknathians had the numbers; as an insectoid race, we always have extra population, but the problem is that we have limited technology. Well, the Gordanians had the technology. So that problem was solved; the Gordanians could subdue the high-tech Tamaranian units while we Dreknathians did the grunt work patrolling and holding down the fort."
From a tactical standpoint, the partnership between Gordanians and Dreknathians worked perfectly. Occupying and holding enemy territory is, after all, very demanding in terms of manpower (or insectpower, in the case of the Dreknathians). However, the Dreknathian war planners also knew the importance of winning the "hearts and minds" of the Tamaranian people. Qrqxcran's men (insects?) did not neglect this:
"Then that left another problem—what pretext would we use to invade Tamaran? Our propagandists met with the Gordanians' to figure out the excuse. We initially thought of claiming that Tamaran was a threat because of its large arsenal, but Tamaranians have always been the most peaceful and undeserving of attack among all the races we know. We considered fabricating a border dispute to justify a war. Ambassador Komand'r (Blackfire)came up with the idea to democratize the Tamaranian monarchy. We could not think of a higher-sounding pretext than that, so we chose to go with her idea."
Unfortunately, neither civilization could claim to be a paragon of democracy. Everyone knew that an invasion to spread democracy would have no credibility unless a full-fledged democratic government joined the invasion. With this in mind, Blackfire contacted a high-level official in the United States government (the official has requested that we not use her name in this documentary) to propose an alliance. On July 22, 2007, the United States signed the alliance treaty.
This leads to an interesting question: Why was the United States, already beset with problems within its own empire, willing to take part in a war so far from Earth? American officials refused to speak to us regarding this matter, but widespread speculation falls on the Tamaranians' possession of highly advanced solar power technology, a renewable energy resource that the United States sorely needed, due to dwindling sources of fossil fuels on Earth. It may also be no coincidence that Tamaran, due to a long history of energy conservation, has the largest known petroleum reserves of any planet in the sector.
Thus, the Dreknathian and Gordanian governments began a massive propaganda campaign. For the next four months, flyers and brochures went out with gruesome pictures of Tamaranian torture chambers. Public broadcasts through satellite television and subspace radio described the excesses of the Emperor Galifore's royal court and the abject suffering of Tamaranian commoners. The American government began to lend official diplomatic support to Tamaranian citizens who had been convicted of sedition or slander. Dreknathian flyers were secretly dispersed in Tamaranian cities and especially in prisons offered the promise of a better life under Dreknathian rule. The war effort became officially known as Operation Tamaranian Freedom, and the alliance soon received the nickname of "Coalition of the Willing."
Upon learning of the Coalition propaganda campaign, the Tamaranian ruler, Emperor Galifore, immediately ordered an opposite campaign on the Tamaranian side, in the hopes of persuading the Dreknathian and Gordanian citizens to turn away from war. It is generally accepted that the Tamaranian propaganda failed for three reasons: First, the Gordanian and American governments went to great lengths to keep the Tamaranian propaganda from being seen by their people. Second, the Dreknathians lacked the technology to receive Tamaranian broadcasts and mostly were not intelligent enough to understand the Tamaranian flyers and brochures. Finally, the Coalition governments were completely confident of a quick victory.
It became more and more apparent that the two sides would come to blows. Throughout the month of November, an ever-growing fleet of Gordanian warships began to orbit the outskirts of the Tamaran star system. Aboard them was an army that by November 30 numbered 800,000 Dreknathians, 110,000 Gordanians, 25,000 humans, and 45,000 human-controlled Slade-bots. It all went together; as in General Qrqxcran's oration to the army the night before the invasion:
"Tomorrow we will set out on a cause more righteous than any that moved us to war before. Three sovereign nations have combined for the cause of democracy. We are about to war with the Tamaranian regime, but let us remember that our eventual purpose is the liberation of the Tamaranian people.
"Bringing freedom to Tamaran will be a monumental task, one which none of our peoples can accomplish alone. That is why we have joined our three peoples into a coalition of the willing. Each of us has a contribution to make. With the numbers of Dreknath, the technology of Gordania, and the ideals of America, we can prevail. Tomorrow we will begin our crusade for freedom at the doorstep of the most powerful bastion of tyranny in our sector. Soon liberty will be at hand for the long-suffering people of Tamaran!"
General Qrqxcran later said of his speech that night:
"My voice was shaking when I made that speech. To this day I am still shocked how many Gordanian troops seemed to believe me when I didn't even believe my own words. I was carrying out the orders of my sovereign, to whom I am irrevocably bound by duty. It was necessary to inspire the troops; Blackfire wrote that speech for me and I delivered it. They weren't my own words; certainly not my conviction, and I almost wonder how a war got started on anything like that. I guess the basic instinct to seek resources is really very powerful for every species in the universe."
When the Coalition declaration of war was delivered to the Tamaranian Embassy on Dreknath on December 1, no one expected the war to last beyond the end of the year. The public mood on Dreknath and Karma was quite jubilant and excited. No one was prepared for the next eleven years of death and destruction.