Briefing on Colonial Economic Assets

On the whole, it is generally accepted that the industrial capacity of the colonies is dwarfed by several orders of magnitude by that of the Sol System. The majority of colonies has only light industry to service local consumer consumption and was dependent on Earth for heavy industrial goods. ***REDACTED***This economic imbalance was encouraged and effectively perpetuated by Earth as the colonies served as captive markets for its own corporations and businesses while feeding back raw materials and foot stuffs.***ENDREDACTION*** The sole exceptions with a large industrial capacity tended to be colony worlds that served as final assembly sites for products shipped from Earth that ultimately developed their baseline fabrication abilities to match the capabilities, but not the volumes, of Earth. The most prominent example of this was Akira, perhaps the most industrialized colony world and the most vocal opponent of Earth's economic dominance of the colonies.

With a population of only two hundred million, Akira was fairly undeveloped compared to Earth but stood well above its colonial peers. ***REDACTED***After its native industry was regarded as a threat to Earth based commercial interests, these same interests pressed the UNE to impose policies intended to stifle the economic development of Akira and similar worlds. The colonies reacted very negatively to this intrusion and soon began pressing for not just increased economic freedom but also political freedom.*** ENDREDACTION *** Faced with a growing insurrection, the UNE decided the best way to end the conflict quickly before it could spiral out of control was to eliminate the colonies' ability to field a fighting force. Akira was thus targeted by a small UNE taskforce with orders to destroy the system's industrial capacity. For reasons still unknown to this day, the commanding officer of the taskforce did not grant time to evacuate the Akira-5 industrial platform orbiting the planet and proceeded to destroy the station while its civilian population was still onboard. The resulting casualties of the Akira Incident became a rallying cry for the Colonials, who launched a revenge attack that killed the majority of the officers involved before they could be returned to Earth and debriefed.

Despite the collateral damage, the strategic objective set out was achieved. Akira was neutralized as a source of ships and weapons for the Colonials for many years and the loss of two frigates and a cruiser in the subsequent revenge attack prevented the Colonials from mounting a concentrated offensive against the UNE immediately after. The Colonial military strategy afterward involved operations to cordon the UNE from their own worlds to prevent further attacks while they rushed to industrialize. While the Colonial fleet was surprisingly effective in their efforts to stymie UNE fleet movements, further development of their industrial capacity yielded mixed results until the capture of Taranto.

The loss of Taranto ranks as one of the worst strategic defeats ever suffered by the UNE. The Taranto shipyards were the largest outside of Earth and had been set up by the UNE to service and repair ships on extended duty in the colonies. For many years Taranto's defenses were thought to be too strong for the Colonials to attempt any sort of assault, but the continuing raids on supply convoys and reinforcements drawn for duty elsewhere steadily drained the Taranto garrison. When the Colonials finally attacked, they came in force and unveiled the fruits of their labor, a large fleet of multiple cruisers, frigates, and an entirely new carrier design. To date the battle to take Taranto is one of only three instances where the Colonials committed more than one of their carriers to a single battle or campaign.

Current intelligence suggests that Taranto remains the heart of the Colonial shipbuilding effort with other worlds primarily supplying parts that are shipped for final assembly there. While the Colonials seem to have developed the capacity to build corvettes and even frigates at a few other more industrialized colonies, the construction of cruisers and carriers remains the sole purview of Taranto. This makes the seizure or destruction of Taranto a major strategic necessity if the UNE is to end the insurrection. Unfortunately, the very same natural barriers that made Taranto difficult to assault apply just as much now as they did when the shipyards were in UNE hands.

Captain Lorenzo Kraft

Director, Economic Analysis

Office of Naval Intelligence, United Nations of Earth

Chapter 1: In Sorrow Forged

The plot was deceptive in the way it represented the state of explored space, Kosygin thought bitterly. Vast swathes of it were colored in the blue of the Colonial Liberation Movement, easily outstripping the red of the United Nations of Earth. Yet that relatively small splotch of red represented a disproportionate share of humanity's industrial and economic resources. The unwillingness of Earth to allow her colonies to reach such heights had been only one of many grievances that ignited the rebellion. Now the colonies were forced to dedicate much of their resources to fighting an economically superior enemy instead of investing in themselves to give their own citizens the standards of living they had been denied by the UNE originally. It was a painfully unfair situation and it would not change unless the war was won, one way or another.

"With Admiral Lancreast assigned to defend Taranto, we need to decide where to post Admirals Ackers and Manning," Taylor said. "We could actually have one of them reinforce Lancreast at Taranto. He is senior to either and would retain overall command."

The two were on the flag bridge, huddled over a pair of consoles by Kosygin's seat. The admiral was lucky in that she actually had a chair on the cramped bridge as most of the other officers were forced to stand at their stations. Despite being her chief of staff Taylor was no exception, though in this instance Kosygin was standing with him as they hashed out the assignment details.

"No," Kosygin said. "No, Gregor won't need the reinforcements. Hydra however could."

Nodding in understanding, Taylor tapped the console and instructed the plot to zoom in to a specific system. "Hydra currently has only a wing of light craft and static defenses in place. A cruiser should help significantly in deterring any Unie raiding forces."

"And the last thing we need is for the Unies to hit our main forward supply base," Kosygin added. "We'll definitely need to resupply before making the final push against Earth, if only because we'll have expended so much munitions taking out their combined fleet."

"Then should we send Ackers or Manning, Admiral?"

"Ackers. I don't expect the Unies will have time to even worry about Hydra and Ackers should be able to deal with any surprises they're desperate enough to pull."

"Yes ma'am," Taylor acknowledged as he punched in the orders. "And Manning?"

When several seconds passed without a response, Taylor looked up to see Kosygin standing there with her arms crossed. He had seen this stance before many a times when the admiral's instincts kicked in and Taylor remained silent to let her think.

"What is the current composition of Prometheus' defenses?" Kosygin asked.

A pause. "Last update indicates a pair of frigates and a cruiser along with half a wing of fighters, ma'am."

Kosygin rubbed her palms together. "Send Manning to reinforce Prometheus."

"Are you concerned about something, ma'am?"

"A bad feeling," Kosygin said. "It could be nothing, but if worse comes to worst, I want Prometheus' security as tight as possible. The last thing we need is for the Unies to find our research on the Relic."

"I'm not sure how they could, ma'am, but I agree it's better to be safe than sorry."

Kosygin chuckled wirily. "I've been wrong as many times as I've been right, Vincent. It's just the times where I've been right, I've been very right. Anyway, pass the orders on to the admirals once you finish drafting them. I want you there for the staff conference."

"Yes ma'am."

Efficient as ever, Taylor finished the orders with enough time to prepare for the second conference of the day. The flag officers that had remained had been busy with their own preparations, helping sort details of how to deploy perhaps the largest fleet the CIN had ever assembled. Numerous colonies and other assets had been uncovered to field the fleet and the longer the operation took the longer they remained vulnerable. As such, there was little time to waste in hammering out the proper formation and distribution of ships.

The assembled officers were all prepared and waiting as Kosygin and Taylor entered the conference room once more. The room felt considerably less cramped than before and there were actually enough chairs for everyone present, including the flag lieutenants.

"Let's get started," Kosygin said as she took a seat. "Vincent, if you would please."

"Of course admiral." Walking to the front, the commodore activated the projector and brought up the fleet data. "The projected strength for this operation, minus the independent detachment of the Black Fleet, is three carriers, twenty-six cruisers, forty-nine frigates, and one hundred twenty-two corvettes, along with the light craft attached to each capital ship. Independence, SerĂ¡ Victoriosa, and Wilhelm will be placed into Taskforce Alpha along with six cruisers and seven frigates to act as screen. Vice Admirals Soren and Radek will be transferring their flags off of the Wilhelm and SerĂ¡ Victoriosa and onto the cruisers Kusanagi and Indomitable respectively. These ships and Admiral Gennai's Izanagi will act as the centerpieces for Taskforce Beta, Delta, and Gamma, which will each have six cruisers and eight frigates."

"Apologies for kicking you off of your flagships," Kosygin said with a slight grin, "but it does make more sense to keep the carriers concentrated in a single force."

"So long as you don't scratch the paint before returning her ma'am," Soren said with a wider grin.

"The others cruisers will be deployed as a pair accompanied by eight frigates," Taylor continued. "The remaining frigates will act as a roving force as the situation requires. Corvettes will be distributed amongst the various groups with an emphasis on supplementing groups with fewer heavy capital ships."

"For the most part I expect to be able to keep the bulk of the fleet concentrated as a single force," Kosygin said. "On the other hand, plans start falling apart the moment battle is joined and the current division of ships should allow for detachments to be stripped off as the situation develops."

"The Black Fleet will remain as an independent force as its units are already used to working as a unit," said Taylor. "The other units will have to work up along the way to Earth."

"Not a lot of time for that ma'am," Radek noted.

Kosygin nodded. "I really would have liked to conduct some combined exercises, but we caught wind of the Taranto operation far too late."

Grim nods of agreement came from around the room.

Taylor typed in a few more commands and the display shifted to a star map. "After the fleet rendezvous with the Relic, we will move to intercept the Unie fleet in the Sybille System. Sybille has a planet that is approximately the same mass as Earth, though its orbital radius makes it too cold to support life. It is however a suitable test target for the Relic."

"Test target?" Rear Admiral Toshi Gennai said. "I'm afraid the briefings I've seen for the Relic have been a bit sparse, Commodore, but how certain are we the Relic actually works?"

"The Relic's active offensive abilities have been tested on a small scale," Taylor replied, "on asteroids and the like. Its passive offensive ability, namely disabling the fold drives of ships, has been more thoroughly tested as part of the effort to develop the countermeasures we are applying to the fleet."

Gennai nodded, his uncertainty obviously not entirely satisfied.

"Once the Unie fleet is defeated at Sybille, our projected course will take us through three additional Unie naval bases. We expect those bases to have skeleton garrisons so they should not present much of a challenge even without the Relic. Based on the projected force disparity, it is likely the Unie defenders will run instead of trying to fight."

"Would be a nice change of pace," Soren muttered.

Mumbles of agreement rippled around the table. Despite the resources they were entitled to as the senior most officers in the CIN, no encounter between their own forces and the UNE fleet proper had ever seen them outnumber their opponent. The UNE simply had too many ships and could concentrate more of them when organizing taskforces. That all of them had survived this long was a testament of their skill as tacticians.

"The state of Earth's defenses is more of a wildcard," Taylor continued. "We've been conducting probing raids for some time now and the results have been mixed. While our raiders have been able to penetrate fairly deeply into the UNE's secured sectors, they've generally met heavy resistance and been unable to inflict any appreciable damage. We should be getting reports of the last wave of raids once at the rendezvous point. The greatest risk we currently face is if the Unies decided to hold back part of their strength to protect Earth, and that fleet decides to scatter instead of engaging us when we arrive and instead head out to hit the colonies. This outcome currently has a fairly low probability, but it's one that we should keep in mind."

More nods of agreement. The plan's success hinged on their ability to neutralize both the majority of the UNE's naval assets and Earth itself. Taking out only one could theoretically leave the other to cause trouble elsewhere.

"Vincent has assured me that all of you have put together detailed ops plans for your respective responsibilities. I will review them while we make our way to the rendezvous point and provide any feedback necessary, though I trust I will find nothing too egregious?"

A few amused smiles answered her crack and Kosygin found herself smiling back.

"Then I won't keep you any longer. The sooner you get back to your ships, the sooner we can depart. Dismissed."

The officers stood and saluted Kosygin once more before filing out. The fleet admiral herself made her way back to the flag bridge and was immediately approached by Captain Rebecca Summers, her staff navigations, communications, and intelligence officer. Wearing multiple hats was the norm for Colonial staff officers and fortunately Summers had proven more than up to the varied duties she was responsible for.

"Admiral, Admiral Lancreast wishes to speak with you."

Kosygin blinked but nodded. "Put it on my private terminal."

"Yes ma'am."

Summers punched a few keys on her own pad and Lancreast appeared on a small screen as Kosygin arrived at her own station.

"Admiral."

"Gregor."

"We're about ready to get underway," Lancreast said. "I just wanted to say thank you before we left. And good luck."

Kosygin smiled gently. "Keep safe, Gregor. The colonies will need you after I am gone."

Lancreast started to say something but closed his mouth after a few moments of silence. Instead, he simply saluted once more before closing the link. Kosygin looked out the window as Lancreast's flagship and two other cruisers veered away from the fleet and folded out. Their departure represented a substantial loss in combat power, but if the Relic worked as expected the rest of the fleet would have little trouble mopping up the disabled UNE ships. If the Relic failed, their presence would not likely have made much difference in the overwhelming numbers they were about to face.

"You're doing the right thing ma'am," Taylor said quietly behind her.

"I don't think there is a right thing here," Kosygin replied. "A lot of people will be dead before all this is over. If there is a less wrong thing, it would be to try to keep the butcher's bill from growing too large."

Taylor said nothing in response and Kosygin shook her head. There would be time to reflect later. Right now, she had a job to do.


When the fleet emerged at the rendezvous point, more than a few officers gasped at the sight that awaited. At first glance it appeared as if a terrestrial thunder storm had somehow spawned in space. Upon closer examination one could make out a massive skeletal construct bathed in the storm. At the very center, a massive hole like a gaping mouth crackled with lightning.

"Massive fold energy fluctuations detected," an officer reported. "I've never seen anything like this, admiral."

Kosygin nodded. "Any sign of the escorts?"

A pause. "Yes ma'am, IFFs receipted from twelve corvettes, CIN confirmed."

That last part was a bit unnecessary as the last time the UNE actually had corvettes in service was over a decade ago. They had no need to after all thanks to their ability to build large numbers of actual capital ships.

"Good," Kosygin said.

"Ma'am, we're receiving a data dump from the lead corvette. It's tagged as reports from the deep penetration raids."

"Forward it to me and Vincent."

"Yes ma'am."

Though the rest of the bridge crew continued to sneak bewildered glances at the Relic, Kosygin was focused solely on the new data. The reports were unpacked and spread out across hers and Taylor's terminals and she glanced over them quickly but intently.

"Looks like the Unies tried to make sure the forces they kept in reserve are highly competent," Taylor remarked.

Kosygin nodded. The raids actually managed to reach Earth itself and hit one of the orbital platforms but the UNE response had thoroughly routed the attackers. If these defenders showed as sound strategic judgment as their demonstrated piloting skills, they may well decide to run instead of trying to fight when her fleet arrived.

"At least our estimates of how many of their ships they've pulled for the Taranto operation seems to be accurate," Kosygin observed. "That's something."

"No change to the schedule then ma'am?"

Kosygin shook her head. "Everything seems to indicate the Unies are right on time themselves. Oh we might miss a few stragglers, but I'd prefer catching most of their ships and missing a few than waiting too long and letting them advance on Taranto."

"Very well ma'am."

"Then again, getting the Relic to Sybille is going to be, interesting."

Taylor grimaced and nodded in agreement. The CIN's ability to control the Relic was incomplete and the reports made quite clear the fold engines it possessed were operating at a fraction of their theoretical efficiency. More than one Colonial researcher had suggested the possibility that the Relic was the source of the fold technology that underpinned the faster than light capabilities employed by humanity. If that was the case, humanity's understanding of fold physics was truly primitive and in its infancy. The thought was both promising and frightening as something had obviously built the Relic. Whoever it was certainly possessed far greater understanding of fields of science beyond fold physics and there was no telling how they might react to the CIN making use of their technology in such destructive fashion.

In the meantime, humanity's ignorance was the root of more immediate concerns for Kosygin. The inability to more finely control the Relic meant the drive to Earth painfully slow, potentially giving the UNE time to react once they realized what was coming. Whether that was at all relevant Kosygin could not say, but the present issue was getting the Relic to Sybille in time to intercept the UNE fleet. For that the techs had come up with a rather clever solution, though not one Kosygin had any intention of repeating even if it worked perfectly this time.

"Fold engines will need another hour or so to cool down enough for us to attempt the harmonic fold," Taylor reported. "The corvettes however will be ready to fold out in twenty."

"On the clock then," said Kosygin. "At the very least they should be able to make it back to warn us if we're walking into an ambush."

"Ma'am, Admiral Radek would like to speak with you," a tech suddenly announced.

"Put him through."

The display changed to show a close up of Radek.

"What can I do for you, Henri?"

"A thought occurred to me, Admiral," Radek began. "You don't really need my taskforce to help with the harmonic fold and I'm supposed to be the cheese anyway. How about I join the corvettes and set up in Sybille with them?"

"Itching to get going?"

Radek chuckled. "Something to that."

"Well, you're right in that we won't need you for the fold, so permission granted. Good hunting."

"Thank you ma'am."

As Radek disappeared from her screen, Kosygin could not help but chuckle herself. "I suppose we should be so lucky the cheese is so eager."

Looking back at the plot, Kosygin watched as the remaining ships maneuvered around the Relic. With something of that size, the icons seemed to crawl. All of the corvettes were moving out of the way in preparation for their own jump right alongside the capital ships of Radek's taskforce.

Assured that no formations looked likely to crash into each other, Kosygin shifted her attention to the remaining cruisers. They had been divided as evenly as possible into six groups, each taking position to form a diamond formation around the Relic. Fold fluctuations streamed across Taylor's console as he monitored the tuning each ship was doing. Fold gates were a fairly well established technology for helping boost the range of ships. No fold gate existed that would support something the size of the Relic and the colonies did not have the resources or time to try to build one. The drives of individual ships however could act in a similar manner, helping a single ship increase its range for a single fold.

Making a jump also required proper plotting, a task that was thoroughly consuming the attention of Summers, Kosygin's staff navigations, communications, and intelligence officer. At present the captain was busy coordinating with the cruisers, carefully synchronizing the output of their fold engines to ensure the Relic would hit as close as possible to the target coordinates. It was almost guaranteed that a jump of this distance with a mass this large would be slightly off, but Summers was very good at her job and Kosygin had no concerns about the Relic emerging and crashing into something.

Assuming the plan worked, the synchronized fold operation would open an endpoint a few lightyears away from Sybille to allow for a single jump instead of the series of microjumps the Relic would have been forced to make. The cruisers would of course need to cycle their fold engines again before they could rejoin the Relic, but the carriers would be right along to make sure the Relic was not completely defenseless in the meantime. From there they would wait for Radek's signal before bringing in the Relic and hopefully catching the UNE flatfooted. If everything worked out, the fleet could take its time destroying the disabled UNE ships before moving on Earth. Somehow Kosygin felt that relying on such providence might not be the wisest course of action.

End of Chapter 1

My habit of doing opening snippets actually started with Victory and Honor. As you can all see, the original snippets were actually much, much longer than what I do these days. The snippets of each story actually are written from the perspective of the other side relative to the main characters. For Victory, that means we're getting UNE analysis. For Honor, colonial analysis. The idea was to present some additional background to further flesh out the world building, while also creating a sort of secondary duality to complement the primary that is the pair of two stories themselves. All in all I rather liked how the whole thing turned out. If nothing else the structure has served me well enough that I continue to use it to this day.