Commonscape
By: Griffin
Copyright notice: All characters belong to their respective owners, all
original characters and plot elements belong to me.
Note: Most of the Andromeda crew is current as far as about a month ago. Farscape crew is a bit older.
Summary: As the Alliance prepares to strike the Coalition, the Scarrens assemble to make their move on the Peacekeepers.
Rolling Thunder.
Admiral Lira Rashi slammed her fist into the table as she threw the data board across the room.
"Frell them and their games," she shouted. "If they want to play those games, I will not oblige them. They are trying to spread our forces thin so they can strike us here. I will not allow it."
"Then what are your plans?" Lira's Operations Officer asked.
"I want couriers sent to all of the outlying systems. I want all ships, except for a small skeleton picket, brought here and formed up. We are going to strike them at their heart, and this time the Peacekeeper High Command will succeed!" * * * * * *
Admiral Elir watched as his ships prepared to make their strike on the outpost system of Grenid.
The system had a respectable picket and was the location of one of the forward outposts. The plan was to eliminate everything in the system and hope that the Peacekeepers blamed it on their new 'threat.'
But even if they didn't, the fleet would was going to make an almost instant strike at the Fredis system to eliminate a majority of the Coalition fleet.
"Sir, we are approaching the system's edge. Strikers are launching and our lighter elements are moving out to probe the enemy defenses," Elir's second reported.
"Good. Inform me of their findings as soon as they are available."
Elir stalked into his command briefing room to review his attack plan and smiled as the holo-graphic image of the system appeared before him.
According to intelligence reports, there were a number of foreign vessels calling the Grenid system home for the time being. Nebari, Scorvian and Hynerian ships were supposedly supporting the Peacekeepers that were already positioned in the system.
He had divided his force into two prongs. One would be focusing on the removal of the outpost while the other, heavier, group tore apart the picket that would be defending the system.
He knew that his ships would be able to take care of anything the Peacekeepers cared to put in the Grenid system, all he was worried about was taking damage that would slow down his attack on Fredis.
"Sir, first Striker ships are approaching the outer edges of the patrol zone. They are reporting minimal contact with enemy fighters."
"What about the light probes?"
"They are reporting similar results in their quadrants. It seems like the Peacekeepers evacuated this system. Numbers are still weak, but it looks like five frigates and two destroyers are all that are left," Elir's second reported.
"And what of the outpost?"
"No contact whatsoever."
"All right," Elir said with a frown. "Destroy all enemy ships and establish a temporary space anchor while I converse with my division commanders."
Elir paced in his briefing room as the holo-grid displayed the destruction of the surprisingly light defense forces. He closed his eyes for a moment and then stepped back out onto the command deck. * * * * * *
Fleet Marshall Leo Tiral, of the Sabra-Jaguar Third Fleet; Admiral Rachel Vash, of the Castilian Sixth Task Group; Commodore Ethan York, of the Third Mobius Expeditionary Task Force; General Li'Taran, of the Luxon Fifth Luxon Battlegroup; General Ki'Tisan, of the Fourth Ilanic Expeditionary Force and Admiral Si Kinas, of the Independent Planet Unified Command were all present as Dylan, Crais and John briefed them on the operational plan before the group.
The plan had been worked out by the leading planners from each of the groups and was being brought before the fleet commanders more as an overview of a decided action than as a vote on possible moves.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Restored Commonwealth Navy and her Allies," Dylan began nodding to each of the members. "The leading planners in our Joint Command Center here in the Alleghany system were asked by me and Captain Crais to write up an attack plan on the local Peacekeeper command center, Fredis. After three days of work they have assembled an operational plan for a joint assault on the base."
The holo-grid popped to life over the table and each person lifted their flexi to read the overview.
"The first part of the operation will be lead by the forces from Mobius. Because they are fewest in number, they have drawn scout duty. Their ships are more than well suited for this type of operation. They will scout out the system as the larger force advances, watching for any traps or tricks the Peacekeepers might have up their sleeves." Dylan pressed a key and the holo-vid began playing the planned battle attack.
"Each group will have a different operation role as we close with the enemy ships and once within range, the entire formation will act as one. The positions within this formation were selected to take full advantage of the various strengths, and provide as much protection against the various weaknesses as we were able to accommodate."
"Now as we close with the enemy forces." * * * * * *
"They either knew we were coming to this particular system or they knew that we had plans against Fredis and have pulled their forces back to that location," Captain Licar, Commander of Admiral Elir's Second Division, announced simply.
"Neither of those options is very appealing," Elir said with a growl. "They indicate that we have a spy within our very upper ranks that is feeding the Peacekeepers information."
"There is another option, Admiral," Captain Rena, Commander of the Fourth Division and the most junior officer present, interjected.
"And what is that, Captain?" Elir asked as he turned his attention to one of the few female Captains in his fleet.
"That their new threat attacked them here and they pulled their forces back to their base at Fredis for preparations for a counter-strike," she said with confidence.
"Why would this 'Alliance' attack the Peacekeepers? From what our scouts have gathered they are trying to avoid a conflict with Peacekeeper High Command and their Coalition," Captain Roka of Third Division argued.
"Perhaps they have brought more ships and have the confidence to strike at the Peacekeepers. Perhaps they see the same opportunity that we see. To destroy a large portion of the Coalition naval power before they have a chance to use it. Perhaps they feel that gutting the Peacekeeper frontier forces will give them a position of strength in the negotiation of a non- aggression pact."
The other captains nodded their head and Elir grinned.
"What would you propose that we do then?" Elir asked.
"We need to find out if they are indeed preparing to attack the Peacekeepers at Fredis. If they are, then we can simply go into the system, watch them destroy the Coalition forces there, and then return to our own territory without any losses," Rena proposed but the other two Division Captains hissed.
"And be seen as cowards!" Licar said with a deep growl. "If the Alliance indeed plans to strike Fredis, I say we let them do it. And then we attack while they are weak. Take out two threats at once."
"But the Alliance has posed no threat to us yet," Rena argued. "They pose a threat only to the Peacekeepers because the High Command has already tried to destroy them once. We have made no strikes against this new Alliance. Perhaps if we play our hand well, we can enlist them in our war against the Peacekeepers. And when that war is over, we will know their weaknesses and we will be able to attack them then, with the full of our fleet."
"An alliance with those."
"ENOUGH!" Elir shouted. "Captain Rena, your strategic foresight is impressive, but we have specific orders. WE are to take out the base at Fredis. We will, however, not make any hostile movements toward the Alliance should they appear in the system." He stood. "I want you to return to your divisions and prepare to make our attack on Fredis within two solar days."
* * * * * *
Dylan, Crais, John, Fleet Marshall Tiral and General Li'Taran sat in Dylan's office reviewing the latest reports from the Luxon probes.
"It has been confirmed all over the frontier," Li'Taran said with a frown as he flipped the holo-grid off. "They have pulled all of their forces back to Fredis and left only light pickets in each of the border systems."
"Damn it," Tiral said with a growl. "Your new Allies are not as smart as they thought themselves to be, Hunt."
"Our new Allies, Tiral?" Dylan asked with a growl. "They are yours also according to the alliance your Alpha signed. So you will treat them with the same respect that you treat your own troops. Is that understood?"
"Perfectly," Tiral said with a growl.
"This changes nothing," Crais interjected. "We must still strike while they are reforming in Fredis. If we hit them now they will be disorganized and unprepared."
"And they are focused in one place," John said in return. "Their own system with their own defense systems, what a beautiful idea: let's fight their entire task group right at their front door. And who is to say that they haven't laid a trap? They obviously see that we were trying to spread their forces thin by hitting Grenid, what is to say that they didn't see the next logical step of us targeting Fredis and prepared for it?"
"There is nothing to say that they haven't prepared a trap," Li'Taran agreed. "But we must not take the chance of letting them collect their forces and organize an attack plan. If they attack us here, in the Alleghany territory, we will only know they are coming when our pickets make their way through the nebula to warn us. We will be trapped here to wait for them. Yes, we could set a trap of our own, but we would be on the defensive, and that is not something Luxons, nor Ilanics for that matter, like to be on."
"Perhaps we could formulate a plan that would trick the Peacekeepers into believing that we are falling for a trap? They don't know that you have summoned your allies," Crais said to Dylan. "We could launch an attack from the most likely assault vector and when they commit to their trap; your allies could arrive behind them and strike from there."
"That is an idea," Dylan said as he rubbed his chin. "We could have the Sabra-Jaguar, Castilians and the Mobius forces slipstream to the opposite side of the system. We would have to time it right and hope."
An alarm sounded, cutting Dylan off from what he was about to say.
The five leaders rose from around the table and stepped through the hatch onto the command deck.
"Report," Dylan ordered as he passed through the hatch toward the Command Console.
"Luxon probes make it to be a Scarren cruiser, with a full squadron of Strikers in escort," Tyr announced from the weapons console. "She is currently holding at the edge of the system, out of weapons range. We ordered our probes to remain just outside of weapons range."
"Have we received any communication from them?" Dylan asked as he looked over reports on the console.
"Negative."
"All right," Dylan said with a frown. "Have a pair of Luxon destroyers, a Mobius light cruiser and three of the Nietzschean cruisers move closer and hail them. I want to know what they are doing here. And have the Mobians do it. No offense to the Luxons or the Nietzscheans but I think they are better suited for delicate political situations." "No offense taken," Li'Taran said with a nod as the assigned ships began moving closer to the Scarrens. * * * * * *
"They are moving a small picket group toward us," Lieutenant Undin announced on the Scarren cruiser Renid's bridge announced as the ship sat at the edge of the Alleghany system.
"They have gathered quit the fleet," Captain Likas said to no one in particular.
"What are you orders?" Likas' second asked.
"Destroy the first ship to enter weapons range and then pull back. They seem to be bringing quit the force out if they were intent on diplomacy. And have all of our sensor data locked down so no one can tamper with it. I want our leaders to see what this 'Alliance' is up to." * * * * * *
Captain Jamie Alestas watched from the Command deck of the Mobian Light Cruiser Pride and Freedom as the ship slowly edged toward the Scarren warship and her squadron of fighters.
All main weapons systems were on standby, the missile tubes closed and the AP turrets set to defensive only. They were trying to avoid looking like an attack force.
On the holo-grid before her, Jamie saw the Scarren ship surrounded by a thin crimson sphere, marking the observed effective weapons range of that ship. And her ship was about to cross that line.
"All hands, standby for battle-stations," Jamie said into the ship-wide com.
But the crew would never have a chance to go to battle-stations. Every weapon mount on the Scarren cruiser opened fire and the energy storm that ship released tore the Mobian cruiser apart.
The Nietzschean cruisers and Luxon destroyers immediately went into battle- mode, their weapons on-line within moments and their engines to full to get within range of that cruiser before it ran into the sensor-dampening nebula.
But the five Alliance ships never had a chance to open fire. They ran toward the Scarren but were unable to fire a single volley as the ship slipped away into the Nebula and ran from the overwhelming force. * * * * * *
"So the Scarrens wish to make enemies of us also then?" Fleet Admiral Tiral asked rhetorically. "It seems like no one in the part of the universe wants to be your friends, Dylan."
"So it seems," Dylan conceded with a nod. "This doesn't change our plans. If what I understand is correct, the Scarrens and the Peacekeepers are locked in a vicious war on the opposite side of Peacekeeper space. I doubt the Scarrens would want to wage a war on us also. I think that the Cruiser was merely a scout, sent to gather information on us and our intentions. The captain saw our fleet and knew that we may pose a threat to the Scarren empire and so he attacked one of our ships, did all the damage he could do without being destroyed, and then fled back to report his findings to Fleet Command."
The fleet commanders nodded in agreement.
"We launch our assault on Fredis in six hours, people," Dylan said as he stood. "Let's get moving.
Note: Most of the Andromeda crew is current as far as about a month ago. Farscape crew is a bit older.
Summary: As the Alliance prepares to strike the Coalition, the Scarrens assemble to make their move on the Peacekeepers.
Rolling Thunder.
Admiral Lira Rashi slammed her fist into the table as she threw the data board across the room.
"Frell them and their games," she shouted. "If they want to play those games, I will not oblige them. They are trying to spread our forces thin so they can strike us here. I will not allow it."
"Then what are your plans?" Lira's Operations Officer asked.
"I want couriers sent to all of the outlying systems. I want all ships, except for a small skeleton picket, brought here and formed up. We are going to strike them at their heart, and this time the Peacekeeper High Command will succeed!" * * * * * *
Admiral Elir watched as his ships prepared to make their strike on the outpost system of Grenid.
The system had a respectable picket and was the location of one of the forward outposts. The plan was to eliminate everything in the system and hope that the Peacekeepers blamed it on their new 'threat.'
But even if they didn't, the fleet would was going to make an almost instant strike at the Fredis system to eliminate a majority of the Coalition fleet.
"Sir, we are approaching the system's edge. Strikers are launching and our lighter elements are moving out to probe the enemy defenses," Elir's second reported.
"Good. Inform me of their findings as soon as they are available."
Elir stalked into his command briefing room to review his attack plan and smiled as the holo-graphic image of the system appeared before him.
According to intelligence reports, there were a number of foreign vessels calling the Grenid system home for the time being. Nebari, Scorvian and Hynerian ships were supposedly supporting the Peacekeepers that were already positioned in the system.
He had divided his force into two prongs. One would be focusing on the removal of the outpost while the other, heavier, group tore apart the picket that would be defending the system.
He knew that his ships would be able to take care of anything the Peacekeepers cared to put in the Grenid system, all he was worried about was taking damage that would slow down his attack on Fredis.
"Sir, first Striker ships are approaching the outer edges of the patrol zone. They are reporting minimal contact with enemy fighters."
"What about the light probes?"
"They are reporting similar results in their quadrants. It seems like the Peacekeepers evacuated this system. Numbers are still weak, but it looks like five frigates and two destroyers are all that are left," Elir's second reported.
"And what of the outpost?"
"No contact whatsoever."
"All right," Elir said with a frown. "Destroy all enemy ships and establish a temporary space anchor while I converse with my division commanders."
Elir paced in his briefing room as the holo-grid displayed the destruction of the surprisingly light defense forces. He closed his eyes for a moment and then stepped back out onto the command deck. * * * * * *
Fleet Marshall Leo Tiral, of the Sabra-Jaguar Third Fleet; Admiral Rachel Vash, of the Castilian Sixth Task Group; Commodore Ethan York, of the Third Mobius Expeditionary Task Force; General Li'Taran, of the Luxon Fifth Luxon Battlegroup; General Ki'Tisan, of the Fourth Ilanic Expeditionary Force and Admiral Si Kinas, of the Independent Planet Unified Command were all present as Dylan, Crais and John briefed them on the operational plan before the group.
The plan had been worked out by the leading planners from each of the groups and was being brought before the fleet commanders more as an overview of a decided action than as a vote on possible moves.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Restored Commonwealth Navy and her Allies," Dylan began nodding to each of the members. "The leading planners in our Joint Command Center here in the Alleghany system were asked by me and Captain Crais to write up an attack plan on the local Peacekeeper command center, Fredis. After three days of work they have assembled an operational plan for a joint assault on the base."
The holo-grid popped to life over the table and each person lifted their flexi to read the overview.
"The first part of the operation will be lead by the forces from Mobius. Because they are fewest in number, they have drawn scout duty. Their ships are more than well suited for this type of operation. They will scout out the system as the larger force advances, watching for any traps or tricks the Peacekeepers might have up their sleeves." Dylan pressed a key and the holo-vid began playing the planned battle attack.
"Each group will have a different operation role as we close with the enemy ships and once within range, the entire formation will act as one. The positions within this formation were selected to take full advantage of the various strengths, and provide as much protection against the various weaknesses as we were able to accommodate."
"Now as we close with the enemy forces." * * * * * *
"They either knew we were coming to this particular system or they knew that we had plans against Fredis and have pulled their forces back to that location," Captain Licar, Commander of Admiral Elir's Second Division, announced simply.
"Neither of those options is very appealing," Elir said with a growl. "They indicate that we have a spy within our very upper ranks that is feeding the Peacekeepers information."
"There is another option, Admiral," Captain Rena, Commander of the Fourth Division and the most junior officer present, interjected.
"And what is that, Captain?" Elir asked as he turned his attention to one of the few female Captains in his fleet.
"That their new threat attacked them here and they pulled their forces back to their base at Fredis for preparations for a counter-strike," she said with confidence.
"Why would this 'Alliance' attack the Peacekeepers? From what our scouts have gathered they are trying to avoid a conflict with Peacekeeper High Command and their Coalition," Captain Roka of Third Division argued.
"Perhaps they have brought more ships and have the confidence to strike at the Peacekeepers. Perhaps they see the same opportunity that we see. To destroy a large portion of the Coalition naval power before they have a chance to use it. Perhaps they feel that gutting the Peacekeeper frontier forces will give them a position of strength in the negotiation of a non- aggression pact."
The other captains nodded their head and Elir grinned.
"What would you propose that we do then?" Elir asked.
"We need to find out if they are indeed preparing to attack the Peacekeepers at Fredis. If they are, then we can simply go into the system, watch them destroy the Coalition forces there, and then return to our own territory without any losses," Rena proposed but the other two Division Captains hissed.
"And be seen as cowards!" Licar said with a deep growl. "If the Alliance indeed plans to strike Fredis, I say we let them do it. And then we attack while they are weak. Take out two threats at once."
"But the Alliance has posed no threat to us yet," Rena argued. "They pose a threat only to the Peacekeepers because the High Command has already tried to destroy them once. We have made no strikes against this new Alliance. Perhaps if we play our hand well, we can enlist them in our war against the Peacekeepers. And when that war is over, we will know their weaknesses and we will be able to attack them then, with the full of our fleet."
"An alliance with those."
"ENOUGH!" Elir shouted. "Captain Rena, your strategic foresight is impressive, but we have specific orders. WE are to take out the base at Fredis. We will, however, not make any hostile movements toward the Alliance should they appear in the system." He stood. "I want you to return to your divisions and prepare to make our attack on Fredis within two solar days."
* * * * * *
Dylan, Crais, John, Fleet Marshall Tiral and General Li'Taran sat in Dylan's office reviewing the latest reports from the Luxon probes.
"It has been confirmed all over the frontier," Li'Taran said with a frown as he flipped the holo-grid off. "They have pulled all of their forces back to Fredis and left only light pickets in each of the border systems."
"Damn it," Tiral said with a growl. "Your new Allies are not as smart as they thought themselves to be, Hunt."
"Our new Allies, Tiral?" Dylan asked with a growl. "They are yours also according to the alliance your Alpha signed. So you will treat them with the same respect that you treat your own troops. Is that understood?"
"Perfectly," Tiral said with a growl.
"This changes nothing," Crais interjected. "We must still strike while they are reforming in Fredis. If we hit them now they will be disorganized and unprepared."
"And they are focused in one place," John said in return. "Their own system with their own defense systems, what a beautiful idea: let's fight their entire task group right at their front door. And who is to say that they haven't laid a trap? They obviously see that we were trying to spread their forces thin by hitting Grenid, what is to say that they didn't see the next logical step of us targeting Fredis and prepared for it?"
"There is nothing to say that they haven't prepared a trap," Li'Taran agreed. "But we must not take the chance of letting them collect their forces and organize an attack plan. If they attack us here, in the Alleghany territory, we will only know they are coming when our pickets make their way through the nebula to warn us. We will be trapped here to wait for them. Yes, we could set a trap of our own, but we would be on the defensive, and that is not something Luxons, nor Ilanics for that matter, like to be on."
"Perhaps we could formulate a plan that would trick the Peacekeepers into believing that we are falling for a trap? They don't know that you have summoned your allies," Crais said to Dylan. "We could launch an attack from the most likely assault vector and when they commit to their trap; your allies could arrive behind them and strike from there."
"That is an idea," Dylan said as he rubbed his chin. "We could have the Sabra-Jaguar, Castilians and the Mobius forces slipstream to the opposite side of the system. We would have to time it right and hope."
An alarm sounded, cutting Dylan off from what he was about to say.
The five leaders rose from around the table and stepped through the hatch onto the command deck.
"Report," Dylan ordered as he passed through the hatch toward the Command Console.
"Luxon probes make it to be a Scarren cruiser, with a full squadron of Strikers in escort," Tyr announced from the weapons console. "She is currently holding at the edge of the system, out of weapons range. We ordered our probes to remain just outside of weapons range."
"Have we received any communication from them?" Dylan asked as he looked over reports on the console.
"Negative."
"All right," Dylan said with a frown. "Have a pair of Luxon destroyers, a Mobius light cruiser and three of the Nietzschean cruisers move closer and hail them. I want to know what they are doing here. And have the Mobians do it. No offense to the Luxons or the Nietzscheans but I think they are better suited for delicate political situations." "No offense taken," Li'Taran said with a nod as the assigned ships began moving closer to the Scarrens. * * * * * *
"They are moving a small picket group toward us," Lieutenant Undin announced on the Scarren cruiser Renid's bridge announced as the ship sat at the edge of the Alleghany system.
"They have gathered quit the fleet," Captain Likas said to no one in particular.
"What are you orders?" Likas' second asked.
"Destroy the first ship to enter weapons range and then pull back. They seem to be bringing quit the force out if they were intent on diplomacy. And have all of our sensor data locked down so no one can tamper with it. I want our leaders to see what this 'Alliance' is up to." * * * * * *
Captain Jamie Alestas watched from the Command deck of the Mobian Light Cruiser Pride and Freedom as the ship slowly edged toward the Scarren warship and her squadron of fighters.
All main weapons systems were on standby, the missile tubes closed and the AP turrets set to defensive only. They were trying to avoid looking like an attack force.
On the holo-grid before her, Jamie saw the Scarren ship surrounded by a thin crimson sphere, marking the observed effective weapons range of that ship. And her ship was about to cross that line.
"All hands, standby for battle-stations," Jamie said into the ship-wide com.
But the crew would never have a chance to go to battle-stations. Every weapon mount on the Scarren cruiser opened fire and the energy storm that ship released tore the Mobian cruiser apart.
The Nietzschean cruisers and Luxon destroyers immediately went into battle- mode, their weapons on-line within moments and their engines to full to get within range of that cruiser before it ran into the sensor-dampening nebula.
But the five Alliance ships never had a chance to open fire. They ran toward the Scarren but were unable to fire a single volley as the ship slipped away into the Nebula and ran from the overwhelming force. * * * * * *
"So the Scarrens wish to make enemies of us also then?" Fleet Admiral Tiral asked rhetorically. "It seems like no one in the part of the universe wants to be your friends, Dylan."
"So it seems," Dylan conceded with a nod. "This doesn't change our plans. If what I understand is correct, the Scarrens and the Peacekeepers are locked in a vicious war on the opposite side of Peacekeeper space. I doubt the Scarrens would want to wage a war on us also. I think that the Cruiser was merely a scout, sent to gather information on us and our intentions. The captain saw our fleet and knew that we may pose a threat to the Scarren empire and so he attacked one of our ships, did all the damage he could do without being destroyed, and then fled back to report his findings to Fleet Command."
The fleet commanders nodded in agreement.
"We launch our assault on Fredis in six hours, people," Dylan said as he stood. "Let's get moving.
