Flashback, February 27, 11,958 CE (about three weeks before 9S and 2B arrived at Pallatinos Fault)
Edge of an asteroid field near planet Silva, Euler System, Arcturus Sector, Arcturus Stream…
As Union Diligence-class destroyer, UEASN Ruby Red, along with the rest of Naval Squadron Arcturus-5 emerged out of FTL travel, Captain Ulrich addressed the squadron's crews.
"As you well know, the Navy has spent the past two years hunting down the slippery-ass Red Druid scum. Those cowards attack under-defended transports and civilian settlements, then flee before the Navy can come down on them. Well, no more! No more wild goose chases! This time, we bring the battle to them! All ships, assume formation!"
The various ships of the squadron- mostly nimble but relatively small warships- frigates, corvettes, gunships- quickly fanned out, creating a half-sphere formation.
"Deploy mines!" Captain Ulrich ordered. A bunch of remote-controlled mines exited each ship's cargo bay and quickly spread out like a dozen nets, spanning the area between ships.
Before long, as planned, a transport ship soon came into view, on fire and apparently in distress, rapidly pursued by a motley swarm of aggressive Red Druid pirate vessels.
However, the Union crew knew that was a farce. Although disguised as a lucrative freighter, the Emerald Green was actually a heavily-armored ship with concealed defenses, a complement of well-armed Android Marines, and even a Goliath-class Machine lifeform on board. And now it was luring the Red Druids into a trap.
The Red Druids frequently hid near asteroid fields to ambush their targets- the large number of asteroids made it more difficult for ships to detect Druid vessels until it was too late, and it limited escape options.
However, it was a double-edged sword. The asteroids had helped concealed what otherwise would have been a noticeable array of Union warships, and likewise now limited the Druids' escape options.
By the time, the Red Druids noticed their predicament, it was too late- with mines to their front and their backs against an asteroid field, any attempt at FTL jumps would be extremely hazardous, a foolhardy gamble. They could come back the way they came, navigating through the asteroids, but it would also give the Union vessels a chance to hunt them down before they could make it out the other side.
However, Captain Ulrich fully expected them to make that gamble- after all, it gave them the best chance of survival, as far as he could see.
They didn't.
"Sir, the Druid forces are engaging! They have a frigate amongst them!" The sensors officer, Lieutenant Guterres, reported.
"Ah…" Ulrich smirked. The two frigates that the Red Druids purportedly owned were the vaunted prize of the pirate fleet, and notorious elusive. The Navy had spent huge resources trying to track them down- to little avail- and now one was delivering itself right into Ulrich's hands.
"They're dumber than I thought! Crush them!"
The motley pirate vessels were little match for the well-armed Union warships, and it wasn't long before the first pirate ships began breaking up.
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On board the Red Druid frigate Zumwalt...
Red Druid Chieftain Vandor gritted his teeth as the Union flotilla pounded his outgunned forces. 'Damn it... I didn't come here to die! The Organization… better deliver on his promises...!' He winced as the Druid raider ship Atlantic Conveyor burst into flames and vented gas.
Putting on a front for his crew, he ordered, "Pull back into the asteroid field! I have a plan! Make sure your collision warnings are online! I'm not losing more ships that way!"
No sooner had he finished speaking, the sensors blared briefly.
"What was that?"
"The Blackbeard is lost to enemy fire, boss! Queen Anne and Manhattan are pulling back!"
'Damn, one of the corvettes- that wouldn't come cheaply,' Vandor thought. "Yes, well- tell them to keep in formation! Withdraw the Eisenhower and Whydah, and have the Royal Fortune and Moscow University cover their retreat! Use Squadron 7 to fill the gap!" He set in a number of coordinates in the central computer. "Navigator, take us to this position!"
He turned to his first mate. "Millet, you're in charge of the bridge until I return. I have to make a very important call that may determine the fate of our fleet!"
Vandor then retreated back into his quarters and hastily activated his QEC. "This is Vandor to the Organization, you better damn pick up!"
A shrouded figure soon emerged on the other side, and spoke with a gruff female voice. "Ah, Vandor. I am Captain K-T- if you're looking for the Deputy Director, I'm afraid she's not in today."
"Damn it, just tell me if your plan is going as you said it would! You better not have double-crossed me, you assholes!" Vandor vented angrily.
Truth be told, in years past, Vandor had quite eagerly served the Organization, using Organization intrigue to rise through the ranks of the Red Druids, despite his frequent incompetence. Two years ago, he discovered that Red Druid Chieftain Judas planned to betray the Organization by cutting a deal with the Artemis Republic, so he gladly sold out Judas to the Organization, and eagerly took the position of new Chieftain.
However, his own incompetence would come to eventually catch up to him- a number of failed strategies, botched raids, saw the Druids lose ships and Androids, with relatively paltry gains in return.
The Organization did send some ships as a replacement, but the damage to his reputation was done. Pirates are usually far from trustworthy individuals, and several of his prominent lieutenants turned on him, breaking away to form their own pirate bands, and balkanizing a number of splinter groups- Crimson Command, the Black Druids, the Vengeance Group, the Red Fleet... to name the major ones.
What remained of the Red Druids were now on their last legs- and this battle was supposed to turn their fortunes, or so the Organization claimed… but it did not look good so far.
"If you play your part, as we have instructed, there should be no problems," Agent K-T replied smoothly.
"Smoothly? I've lost a raider and a corvette, and who knows how many small ships!"
"The coordinates, Vandor. Did you input them?"
"Yes-"
"And your FFIs are on like we asked?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then, it should be fine. I'm sure the… Deputy Director will be glad to compensate you for your… losses when she returns. K-T out."
The QEC signal disappeared unceremoniously. Vandor growled, seeing no chance but to return to the bridge.
"What's the situation, Millet?"
"We lost the Moscow University, and enemy Marines have begun boarding the crippled Royal Fortune! Also, Solzhenitsyn is calling for you!"
"Put him on!" Solzhenitsyn, skipper of the heavy corvette Eisenhower, was one of the few lieutenants who'd remained loyal, and had quickly become Deputy Chieftain due to the rapid hemorrhaging of top Druid leaders.
"Boss, the Eisenhower can't take much more damage! We'll be accelerating our retreat to the specified coordinates! Are you sure this is the way to go?"
"Yes! I have a plan!" Vandor asserted with as much confidence as he could, well aware that the previous times he'd said that had worked out really badly for the Druids. 'Let's hope you Organization bastards can really deliver…'
Vandor did in fact have his own plan, but it was a largely suicidal one and he knew it. He'd planted a number of explosives on a number of asteroids, some of them drilled fairly deep. Should he trigger them, the multitude of explosions would send fragmenting asteroid debris ricocheting about, inflicting great destruction on any ships caught in the middle, be they Union or Druid. But Vandor wasn't about to go down without a fight, and if he was going to die, he might as well do it with a bang, and take as many Union forces with him as he could.
The Druids continued their fighting retreat into the asteroid field.
"Lost contact with Squadron 3! Heavy losses in Squadron 6!"
"Boss, KH-7 is lost!"
And then, everything changed.
"Uh, Boss, it's hard to confirm, there's a lot of sensor noise but…"
"Spit it out, Tetsuya!"
"We're getting a huge number of small, unidentified contacts in the asteroid field, we thought they just might be debris, but their number is growing, and they're all headed toward us!"
Vandor felt his heart leap. 'Could it be? Had the Organization come through after all?' "Can you get a visual? Anything?"
"I think…" The sensor officer magnified one image. "I think… it's a drone?"
A huge cloud of small drones, smaller than fighters, but numbering in the thousands swarmed out of the asteroid field, and flew past the Zumwalt and the other Druid vessels, and save for dodging collisions, completely ignored them… and swarming the Union ships with a vengeance.
"Wait…" Vandor gaped as the realization hit him. "Locusts?" 'The Organization controls the Locusts?'
Vandor had heard of the Locusts and their attacks that had plagued the Union colonies and shipping lanes for the past two months or so, but this was his first time actually seeing them.
His first mate, Millet, was similarly confused. "When you said you were making a call earlier…" But he trailed off, when he saw Vandor angrily gesturing for him to be quiet.
"Just take the helm and keep your trap shut, alright?" Then Vandor left for his own quarters once more.
And again, Captain K-T answered once more. "How was it?"
"Why didn't you tell me you controlled the Locusts?" Vandor hissed, miffed that he'd been kept out of the loop, but also somewhat awed.
"Because you didn't need to know," The Organization Captain replied simply.
"Well, what now, for us?"
"Just do-" K-T began, but was cut off, apparently by someone on her end. "Damn it, Corona, not again… Right, right, fine… K-C2, you go finish explaining to our fine Chieftain here. I'll go take care of Corona…"
Another figure appeared before the QEC. "Well, well, if it isn't the famed Vandor?" A sinister feminine voice hissed.
Vandor felt his oil run cold at the sound, for reasons he couldn't quite explain, but he suppressed that emotion. "Right… so, what now for me and the Druids?"
"Why not do what you do best?" K-C2 replied. "Steal and plunder! Soon, the Union colonies will have a lot more to worry about than you Druids. Locust invasion forces are already inbound to two Union colonies. And the Locusts won't attack your ships anyway, so long as you activate the FFIs we gave you… little one."
Although Vandor couldn't see the Agent's face, he could've sworn she was leering at him, somehow. "Right… I see..."
"Excellent then. K-C2 out."
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On board the Union destroyer UEASN Ruby Red...
"Captain, we can't hit these things! They're too fast!" The weapons officer, Lieutenant Minos, exclaimed panickedly. "Our point-defense cannons weren't designed for drones this size!"
"Squadron A2 is lost, A3 has suffered heavy losses!"
"The Van Ecyk has multiple hull breaches and engine damage!"
"Main power offline!"
"Locusts have breached the hangar!"
"There's too many of them!"
"Enemy is jamming our long-range distress calls!"
Captain Ulrich gaped, unable to take in all the chaos. Finally, he gasped hoarsely, "Retreat, retreat! This is Captain Ulrich to Squadron Arcturus-5, all ships retreat!" He turned on communications officer, Lieutenant Jennings-Bryan. "Use line-of-sight laser to inform the other ships!"
Soon, the ravaged Union squadron began a pell-mell retreat, still being mauled by thousands of persistent, mindless drones.
"As soon as we're clear of enemy jamming, signal Arcturus Sector Flotilla Command, tell Commodore Herschel-"
"Captain! Three unidentified capital ships inbound!"
"What? Friendly or-" The Captain's words froze in his mouth.
Of the three ships that had just dropped out of FTL warp, two were about the size of destroyers, and one about the size of a frigate. All bore a stark resemblance to the limited images taken of Locust command ships.
And if that wasn't evidence enough, the swarms of Locusts pouring out of the ships' hatches, and the heavy weapons now firing on the Ruby Red certainly proved their affiliation.
"Well, shit…" That was all Captain Ulrich managed to say before a fusillade of explosions tore through the bridge, destroying him and the entire bridge crew.
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February 27, 11,958 CE
Headquarters of the Union of Earth and Artemis (UEA) in Tokyo Settlement, island of Honshu, former Old World Nation of Japan, Earth, Sol System, Earth Cluster…
Union Chairman Anemone finished listening to Admiral Laika give her report on the Silva Incident, and turned to Admiral Victoria and Intelligence Director Serov.
"Admiral, Director- are you confident in your Borderland Defense Plan?"
"Chairman, this is our best plan," Director Serov asserted. "We need total militarization of the colonies- perhaps on an even bigger scale than what we had on Earth during the Machine Wars."
"Because we have the resources," Admiral Victoria added. "We absolutely cannot let these… things reach Earth. I've already deployed the First Expeditionary Fleet, the First Defense Fleet, the Central Union Fleet, and the Home Fleet at the Charon Relay. We're also scrambling what ships we can from the Earth Defense Force."
"Trust us," Admiral Eleanor assured. "The Borderland Defense Plan will protect us."
"I hear Director Jackass has already laid the groundwork for it already," Night Kingdom Representative Accord mentioned conversationally.
"But if it was, as you speculate, Serov, produced by the same race that created us," Machine Council Chairman Pascal mused. "Why now, after thousands of years? And why there, lurking in asteroid fields and dust clouds?"
"Who knows?" Director Serov shrugged, looking a bit irritated. "Perhaps it isn't even in the aliens' hands now. You Machines, after all, killed your masters. Perhaps these Locusts did the same."
"Is there no way to negotiate?"
"They won't negotiate unless the Union has a position of strength!" Admiral Victoria hit her left palm with her right fist. "Besides, all we've seen so far are mindless drones. Nothing so much we can talk with."
"The esteemed Machine Chairman has a point," Diplomatic Minister Kavar concurred with Pascal. "It would do us well to at least consider it. The Diplomatic Corps could send out messenger drones to areas with high Locust sightings. Perhaps one will eventually find its way to whatever intelligence commands these Locusts."
"Our security- the security of the Union- is still paramount!" Director Serov asserted. "Your diplomatic games can come later…"
"Enough!" Anemone declared gruffly. "Admiral, Director, carry out your Borderland Security Plan."
"A wise decision, Chairman," Director Serov smiled.
"I'm glad you always listen to sense," Admiral Victoria nodded.
"But, Minister Kavar, Chairman Pascal, any attempt to bring about a peaceful resolution to this conflict is welcome. I will support you in any reasonable diplomatic proposals you can present."
"Thank you, Chairman," Minister Kavar lowered his head.
"Now, about the provisions for a total media blackout across the Charon Relay," Director Serov pushed. "The last thing we can afford now is public panic!"
Director Lovelace of the Space Colonial Administration, who'd been sitting quietly up until now spoke up. "No way! Silence will cause panic!"
"And allowing rumors and uncertain facts rule the day?" Admiral Victoria retorted. "And if rumor goes around that the Locusts might be created by the same race that created the Machines- without a shred of evidence, I might add- don't you think that would lead to discrimination against Machines? Race riots or violence?"
"I didn't think you cared much for Machine rights," Chairman Pascal said dryly, in a deliberate jab.
"But they have a point," Representative Accord piped up. "I find that sometimes false or skewed information is much worse than no information at all."
"Let's put it to a vote then," Anemone suggested.
"Good idea," Admiral Victoria nodded.
Admiral Victoria, Director Serov, and Representative Accord all voted in favor of restricting all information across the Charon Relay from public hands. Chairman Pascal and Director Lovelace voted against, while Anemone and Minister Kavar abstained.
"Very well, the measure is passed three-to-two," Anemone stated, somewhat reluctantly. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have to go meet with URC leaders," Anemone got up and moved to leave the Council room.
Once she was out of earshot of everyone save her secretary Olivia, she thought about something. "Hmmm…" She took out the file recording of her meeting with various Council and Admiralty leaders. "Olivia, send this to Commander White. I want her to look at it."
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Appendical Material:
Characters:
-Corona- Observer for the -[redacted]- at Organization ?
-Guterres, Lieutenant- Sensors officer on board the Diligence-class destroyer UEASN Ruby Red, named after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (1949-), former Prime Minister of Portugal (1995-2002) for the Socialist Party, and President of Socialist International (1999-2005)
-Herschel, Commodore- Commodore of the Arcturus Sector Flotilla of the Union of Earth and Artemis Space Navy, named after English astronomer John Herschel (1792-1871), who proposed the Herschel Calendar to correct the inaccuracies of the Gregorian Calendar
-Jennings-Bryan, Lieutenant- Communications officer on board the Diligence-class destroyer UEASN Ruby Red, named after United States presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) for the Democratic Party and Populist Party, and Secretary of State 1913-1915
-Judas, Former Chieftain of the Red Druids, assassinated by Organization ? Templar Paladin P-F in Chapter 14, Templar, named after the traitorous member of the original Twelve Disciples of Jesus in the Bible, Judas Iscariot
-K-C2, Agent and Templar Knight of Organization ? (Code Name)
-K-T, Captain and Templar Knight in Organization ? (Code Name)
-Millet, First Mate of the Red Druids frigate Zumwalt under Chieftain Vandor, named after French sculptor Aime Millet (1819-1891)
-Minos, Weapons Officer on board the Diligence-class destroyer UEASN Ruby Red, named after the legendary King of Crete, King Minos (son of Zeus and Europa) in Greek mythology
-Tetsuya- Sensor Officer on board the Red Druid frigate Zumwalt, named after Japanese video game artist and director Tetsuya Nomura (1970-) who helped design characters for the Final Fantasy series and developed the Kingdom Hearts series
-Solzhenitsyn- Deputy Chieftain of the Red Druids, Captain of the Red Druid heavy corvette Eisenhower, named after Soviet anti-communist dissident and Russian nationalist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008)
-Ulrich- Captain of the Diligence-class destroyer UEASN Ruby Red, Squadron Arcturus-5, Union of Earth and Artemis Space Navy (UEASN), common German name
Ships:
-Atlantic Conveyor- Red Druids raider ship, destroyed by Union forces- named after the British (English) container ship SS Atlantic Conveyor that was launched in 1969 and sunk by Argentine AM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles during the Malvinas War (Falklands War) in 1982, killing 12 sailros
-Blackbeard- Red Druids corvette, destroyed by Union forces- named after infamous English pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach) 1680-1718
-Eisenhower- Red Druids heavy corvette, survived Battle of Silva, named after United States President (and General) Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) for the Republican Party
-UEASN Emerald Green- Armed transport of the Union of the Earth and Artemis Space Navy (UEASN), destroyed by Locust forces, a reference to the character Emerald Sustrai from the RWBY show
-KH-7- Red Druids gunship, destroyed by Union forces, named after United States reconnaissance spy satellite KH-7 that operated 1963-1967
-Manhattan- Red Druids raider ship, survived Battle of Silva, named after the borough of Manhattan in central New York City, New York
-Moscow University- Red Druids armed transport, destroyed by Union forces, named after the Russian crude oil tanker MV Moscow University that was launched in 1998 and hijacked briefly by Somali pirates in 2010 before being rescued by Russian naval forces
-Queen Anne- Red Druids corvette, survived Battle of Silva, named after the pirate ship Queen's Anne Revenge used by infamous English pirate Blackbeard until it ran aground in North Carolina in 1718
-Royal Fortune- Red Druids raider ship Royal Fortune, boarded by Union forces during Battle of Silva but later recaptured by Red Druid forces, named after the Royal Fortune, one of several pirate ships of the same name used by infamous Welsh pirate Bartholomew Roberts in the early 1700s
-UEASN Ruby Red- Diligence-class destroyer, flagship of Squadron Arcturus-5, Union of Earth and Artemis Space Navy (UEASN), destroyed by Locust forces, a reference to the character Ruby Rose or "Little Red" from the RWBY show
-UEASN Van Ecyk- Frigate in Squadron Arcturus-5, Union of Earth and Artemis Space Navy (UEASN), destroyed by Locust forces, named after famous Flemish (County of Loon) painter Jan van Eyck (1390 or 1395-1441)
-Whydah- Red Druids corvette, survived Battle of Silva, named after the British, later pirate ship Whydah Gally launched in 1716 and later used by pirate "Black Sam" Bellamy until it was wrecked in 1717
-Zumwalt- Red Druids frigate, flagship of Red Druids Chieftain Vandor, named after the United States Navy Zumwalt-class destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) launched in 2013
