Part 17

The harsh buzzer of status update disrupted the calm atmosphere and the command deck. The OOD quickly silenced it, and looked at the new info. Pausing, he looked around, and with a carefully neutral tone said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I want confirmation of this ten minutes ago. I'll let the admiral know." He walked through a nearby hatch, and dogged it shut behind him. Turning around, he saw a very special com system. He quickly flipped through its command menus and buzzed Admiral Kane's quarters. Getting no response, he queried the central computer for the admiral's location. Grimacing, he buzzed the officer's mess hall, where the victory party was being held. An ensign quickly picked up, and at the barked command got the admiral. "Sir, we have a problem."

Kane sighed and rolled his eyes. "Of course we have a problem. Why else would you be interrupting me in the middle of this celebration? Now, why don't you tell me what the problem is."

The OOD gulped, and glanced away from the screen. "Sir, the Ithkul..."

"Yes." Kane's voice had lost all semblance of humor.

"They sent some more forces. Big time sir." The OOD still refused to meet Kane's gaze.

"What are we talking about? Same as last time? Twice as large?"

"Worse sir. Light forces are weaker by maybe thirty percent... but they have more big ones." The OOD was so uncomfortable he almost didn't add the last part.

"Get to the point, now." Kane snapped.

The OOD met Kane's gaze, imploring him to understand. "Sir, we have at least forty-eight of the larger ships incoming."

"Get a confirmation. I'll be on the bridge soon. ETA?"

"None yet."

Back on the bridge, Kane took a long look at the peaceful view of the planet below. Sitting down in his chair, he activated the emergency overrides for all com units in the system. Harsh, gyrating tones grated on the ears of almost every person in the system until they turned their units on. Waiting thirty seconds, Kane began. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a- . No. I'll be plain. We're screwed. We have incoming Ithkul forces, and this system will have to be abandoned. Its not the only one we're going to be yielding either. I can only promise this - we'll make them bleed. We still don't have an ETA, but it looks like we may have almost six months. I intend to evacuate all non-combatants, and convert all stationary defenses to automated systems. Anything not strictly needed for combat will be destroyed before they get here. I'm operating on a scorched earth policy. Anyone who refuses evacuation will die at Ithkul hands... so we won't wait for them to get around to it. It's my intention to plant bombs to irradiate the planets in this system once we're gone. Evacuation will begin immediately. As in right now. Get your things together, and activate the emergency plans. I hope to God you practiced them religiously." Kane cut the com system. At the shocked glares of his crewmembers, he bellowed. "What else do you expect me to do? Short of a miracle, there is no fucking way we can hold! Not even the New Orions could handle this kind of firepower!" Breathing deeply, he calmed down. "Communications, I need an emergency connection to the President."

Pacing the bridge, Kane kept on looking at the planet below. When the connection finally went through, Kane informed her of his plans. At her shocked gaze, he explained. "Ma'am, we're in way over our heads. I lost well over half my fleet dealing with three of those monsters. That fleet represented a third of the total firepower available to us, and currently the majority of that firepower is not mobile. Even if all our allies were to send all their starships, we couldn't do jack squat. I don't like it anymore than you do, but for now we're just going to have to give them ground. Specifically, we evacuate Yevon and New Sol systems. In addition, we have to evacuate all systems with a direct connection to those systems. I'd recommend going at least three lanes out, but that's your decision. We have to bleed them, slowly. If I'm allowed full room to maneuver, I should be able to take out twice the tonnage they take out. Otherwise, they'll wipe us out in an hour or less." The animation went out of Kane's body, and he stared her in the face. "God help us if that happens."

Glancing at her console, the president sobbed. "God help us if your wrong, Admiral. Do as you think best. I'll inform our allies, get what help I can. It's in their best interest, and by now they know it."

"Ma'am?" Kane asked.

"One of the Eoladi planets was hit an hour ago captain. Their defenses fell in seconds. We've gotten a hold of some of the video footage from the ground. The Ithkul razed the planet. They landed a few battalions of marines. That's all. The marine's ate everyone there. There are almost five billion dead."