2157, July 18th: Romulus system
They came out of nowhere, those gray ships. This may have appeared so, but it took them some time to get to this system from the far planet Earth. Some travelled for 4 months, some using the warp highways only 2. It was not the biggest fleet the universe has ever seen, perhaps not even the biggest the Romulans have, but still, it horrified them. Never in their history has an enemy appeared at their home – they were the hunters, never the hunted. And now those upstarts dared to attack the jewel of the universe.
The problem was that the humans had a clear numerical advantage. Although they did try to jam communications, just the sheer power of Kaur'el Tennahrex ("the High Fortress") made this impossible. The Romulans were not able to rise anyone from out of system, but those on the High Fortress still managed to give orders to the Romulan fleet, in whatever state it was.
The Earth fleet was well prepared; after all, they used those long months to train for this encounter. The ships maintained formation, never losing sight of their objective. The crews knew what was at stake; a defeat would jeopardize everything, not only lives of soldiers onboard the transport ships, which had yet to arrive, but also the possible danger to the safety of their homeland.
Such were their hearts when they went to battle, and what a battle it was. The most advanced ships were held back so they may catch up to all those that would try to escape, while the forward units ate away at the enemy.
After many long hours, the battle was over. Dead silence reigned, as if vacuum could be even more silent. What was once the proud Romulan High Fortress, was now only a lifeless husk.
Just one subspace message marked the end, as Admiral Gardner, from his flagship UESS Broadsword sent a simple subspace message to United Forces Command: "Space superiority over Romulus achieved."
This too was a signal, as Parises (NC-class) started to warp in-system, ready to deploy ground troops onto Romulus. Soon Vistas (J-class) and Fortunates (Y-class) followed them. Yes, everybody knew that the hard part starts tomorrow, when the soldiers in suspended animation recover and throw themselves into battle.
2157, July 19th: Romulus, Dartha City, The Hall of State, Office of the Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire
Praetor Karzan walks across the room in anger: "For fvheisns we stood unopposed. Neither the Andorsu nor the Thaessu stood a chance against us. We held the lives of the hevam in our hands. With the destruction of Earth, we would be declared the victors. So tell me! What went wrong? We attacked their homeworld and lost. Nevertheless, we did not lose our drive. We prepared the biggest and most modern fleet the galaxy has ever seen and what happens? The hevam sweep in and totally destroy it. And if that were not all, they then fly into our own territory and start their invasion. Explain to me, what are hevam soldiers doing on the eyhon of Romulus itself!"
Suddenly footsteps were heard at the door and finally a Romulan commander bursts into the room, accompanied by two Remans.
The soldier announced out-of-breath: "My Praetor, we have to evacuate you. Hevam vehicles are approaching the Hall of State; their soldiers will be here any siuren."
"Can we get off planet?" wondered Karzen.
"Fvillha, it wouldn't be safe! The hevam have a too strong presence in orbit, we need to hide you somewhere on Romulus," responded Talok.
"Good," commented Karzen. "At least I will not be known as the Praetor who ran away. Nevertheless, start a general evacuation, it will give the hevam some more targets and ought to slow them down. Let us go, I have to get to safety!"
2158, March 20th: Romulus system
Finally, the last of the transport fleet arrived. For some time, they were no longer the grey ships of Earth, but having many colors, there were some from Tellar, surprisingly even some from Orion, also a few from Vulcan. Simple merchants, but paid with Earth credit. They brought the last United Earth Forces equipment and personal assigned to conquer Romulus.
Yes, the planetary invasion is still ongoing, while many Romulan colonies were already under Earth control; the homeworld was still not pacified. Luckily, the siege fleet was extremely successful, as they also blockaded Remus. Therefore, rather than fighting hardened Reman shock troops, they only had to defeat basic Romulan troops.
Even Romulus' orbit is seeing action. The husk of the High Fortress has already been broken down for components, and in its place is a skeleton – only for now – of a new Sol-class battlestation. Once this station is completed, the majority of the siege fleet can move on, as just the station with its task force complement shall be able to hold the system. Not only that, it should also significantly increase the logistic and R&R capabilities necessary for ground warfare.