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Thanks everyone for your reviews. I'm glad you liked the last chapter.

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USM Osawa, flagship of the Shanxi naval district. In orbit around Shanxi

Rear-admiral Johan van Buren looked up from the message he had just received.

"I assume that this is not some kind of elaborate joke?" He asked captain Xia Shen, his chief of staff, who had brought him the message.

"Not as far as I know, sir. It came through Auriga's FTL buoys. And I cannot image that anyone would-"

"Never mind, I believe you. It's just that... This is a little much to take in." The admiral was silent for a moment, then he said. "I don't like this, Shen. I don't like this at all. Our people are outnumbered two to one. Auriga is basically just a big, fat target, and Gallipoli and Bomarsund are primarily troop transports. They're not designed or equipped for ship to ship combat."

"You believe these aliens are hostile, admiral?"

"I don't think we can afford to believe otherwise, Shen. At least not until we know more. Whoever they are, they're flying around in an empty star system with half a dozen warships. You don't do that just because you're bored; and the fact that they can spare that many ships for such a task shows they must have a lot more of them. They may not be actively hostile, but they are at least prepared to be, and we have a lot of people at risk. Auriga alone has a complement of more than two thousand, No, we cannot take that risk. How long before the squadron can get underway?"

"Surcouf and Themistocles are undergoing maintenance, sir. They will not be ready for at least twelfth hours. The other four are ready to go within the hour."

"Then we go with what we have. It's bad enough that Jankowski will be out on his own there for another forty-eight hours. There is no way I'm going to make that period any longer. We'll leave Surcouf and Themistocles here as a reserve. Draft a message for USM command at Arcturus station. We'll need reinforcements in case the aliens are hostile. And get me a connection to general Williams, ground-side. We have a lot to discuss."

As the chief of staff left the admiral's cabin, van Buren turned back to the message. Six alien warships, four destroyers and two frigates from the looks of it, all of them within striking distance of Shanxi and god only knew how many more to back them up if it came to open conflict. In itself, it was not a comforting thought, but perhaps this particular cloud just might have a silver lining.

Rear-admiral van Buren had known for a while that his career was coming to an end. That was partially due to politics. His open criticism of the recent cutbacks in the military budget had not won him any friends, especially among the representatives of Earth's United Nations which still formed the largest single power block within the Assembly. However, there was a deeper underlying reason for his stalled career: van Buren loved destroyers. Always had, always would. He loved everything about them: the sheer raw power of the spinal mass accelerators that set them apart from all other naval vessels, their banks of ASAT missiles, the massive engines that provided them with an acceleration and manoeuvrability far in excess of anything their size. Most of all, van Buren loved the fact that destroyers were warships, pure and simple. Every other ship type in the United Systems Military was some kind of multitasker, which inherently led to design compromises. Frigates were designed for short patrols, law enforcement tasks, and reconnaissance. Rapid Deployment Vessels had to perform both long range patrols and planetary assaults. Carriers were more mobile spacestations than actual ships and had to perform a host of other functions besides deploying fighters, ranging from command and control to deploying marine dropships. Destroyers were the exception. They were ship killers, no more no less, and every aspect of their design was focussed on that single task. To van Buren that purety of design had a beauty all by itself.
Unfortunately, that same design philosophy was also the destroyer's greatest handicap. They were designed for the sole purpose of destroying ships, but what ships were they supposed to destroy? Mankind's exploration of space had generally been a peaceful affair and what little military action had taken place, had always focussed on ground combat. Even in the chaotic years following the LV-426 incident, when the colonies rose up against the corporations and the various military services had seized the opportunity to throw off the joke of corporate control, there had been very little real naval combat. Opposition in space, if it occurred at all, had usually been in the form of small, lightly armed frigates operated by corporate security, or hastily modified freighters pressed into service by colonists and equipped with a few outdated weapons. Not a single one of them was worth the firepower of a destroyer's main battery. Since then, things had only gotten worse. These days the only opposition in space came from smugglers and the occasional pirate, none of them capable of mounting even the slightest defence against a warship, and that left the navy's destroyers without a single purpose.
As a result, the navy's destroyer strength had decreased steadily over the last two decades, with more and more of them being parked at some dock with only skeleton crews on board, or abandoned completely in orbit around a convenient planet. The six-ship squadron guarding Shanxi was about as big a concentration of destroyers as you would find anywhere in known space these days. For a man like van Buren, who had spent most of his career aboard such ships, there were very few opportunities for command, let alone advancement. Still, things could change. If there truly were aliens out there, aliens with a significant navy, then humanity would have a need for a strong naval presence of its own, even if it was only to serve as a peacetime deterrent.

Arcturus station, USM general headquarters

In a small conference room, three senior officers were studying the messages that had just arrived from the human colony at Shanxi.

"Well, this is certainly something new. I'm glad I was here when this message arrived," General Thomas Spears commented. It had indeed been a rare case of good luck that he'd been at Arcturus. As the United Systems Military chief of staff, he spent more time than he liked on Earth playing politics. "I suppose it isn't completely unexpected. Still to have it actually happen..." He shook his head in amazement. "It seems that we live in interesting times, with all that that phrase implies. So, what do you think our response should be? Can we afford to wait for further news, or do we have to be proactive on this?

Admiral Kastanie Drescher, the only naval officer in the room, studied the data again. As commanding officer of Second Fleet, which was responsible for the sector surrounding Arcturus, including Shanxi, she would be the one who had to clean up the mess if things went wrong. General Perez, the third person in the room, and her marine counterpart, would of course be involved as well, but it seemed likely that any conflict would start as a naval engagement. Unfortunately, it seemed as though the deck was very much stacked in favour of just such a situation.

"I'm afraid we have to take this very seriously, general," she said. "I have to agree with admiral van Buren's assessment. A naval force that strong, just patrolling an empty system, suggests that they have a powerful fleet. Any species that maintains that much firepower is a threat, at least a potential one. Until we know otherwise we have to make preparations to defend ourselves."

"And the chances of a successful first contact?"

"Honestly, I don't know, general. It's not as though we have any precedent to base ourselves on. And to be frank, I'm not entirely happy about the person on the spot either."

"Captain Jankowski, admiral? I only met him briefly, while Auriga was still in dock here at Arcturus. He seemed impressive enough. Is there something I should be aware of?"

Admiral Drescher hesitated. She didn't like the idea of criticising one officer in front of another, especially one from a different branch of the service. Still, there were some things that needed to be said, no matter how distasteful.

"Captain Jankowski is not a bad officer, general. Unfortunately, he, too, is quite impressed with himself, perhaps more than is warranted. On top of that, he is impatient. Likes to take shortcuts. As a subordinate he functioned quite well, but as a commander on the scene... I don't think he's the right man to handle this kind of situation, and he doesn't have the necessary humility to listen to the advice of others." She sighed. "Then we have rear-admiral van Buren..."

Spears smirked. "Ah, yes, mr. 'you can never have enough firepower' himself. Him I do know. I'm amazed he's still in the service after all his tirades against our esteemed political leadership. Not that he is wrong exactly, but he has an unfortunate tendency to say things out loud that should be treated with a little circumspection."

"I couldn't say, general." Admiral Drescher carefully kept all emotion out of her voice. She had her own opinions on the most recent military policies laid down by the Assembly, but it wouldn't do to air those in public, even among fellow officers. That was precisely the sort of thing that had gotten a man like van Buren side-lined, and she wasn't going to fall into the same trap. "To be honest, general. Van Buren is absolutely the worst man to back up Jankowski. You can see it from his message. To him, this is the vindication of all his speeches in favour of naval expansion."

"Admiral, do you seriously think that he would provoke hostilities, just to prove his point?"

"Not deliberately perhaps, general. But he'll go in looking for trouble and if he looks hard enough... Even if he moves at maximum speed, then by the time he arrives Jankowski will have been in contact with these aliens for about forty eight hours. That's a lot of time for things to go wrong, and if anything has gone wrong, van Buren won't stop to ask questions. He'll come in guns blazing."

"Great!" General Spears leaned back in his seat. "A captain who won't listen and an admiral who likes to shoot things. Humanity is going to make a lovely first impression. Alright, it's too late to fix that. General Perez, what is the situation on Shanxi. If things go wrong, can the planet hold against an attack?"

Perez, a short, stocky man in his early fifties shrugged. "The problem is, that Shanxi is such a new colony, so it has a lot of uninhabited land. There are less than ten million people and they are mostly concentrated in one place. Most of the planetary surface is empty, or has just a few small settlements. That gives an invader plenty of landing opportunities. General Williams has one brigade group of colonial marines down there. Approximately 4000 man infantry with their support elements: light armour, artillery, and a squadron of Super-Cheyennes to provide limited air mobility and close air support. Nominally, he also commands two brigades worth of local militia, but they don't count for much. Some local boys and girls looking to play soldiers with a smattering of veterans to give them some backbone. No heavy weapons, and no real logistics, so they cannot be moved around quickly. All in all, it is enough to cover the capital, but not much more than that. If someone wants to invade, they can easily find an undefended spot and once they are on the ground Williams cannot move against them without leaving vital areas undefended. As to defence in space, that is the navy's job."

"Admiral Drescher?"

"In-system naval presence is limited too, general. With van Buren and four of his ships gone, we have only two destroyers left to provide ship-to-ship capability. There are two RDVs in system and a few frigates, but none of them will contribute much to a space battle."

"What about planetary defences?"

"Shanxi has a single space station in orbit, general. Right now it has two squadrons of fighters embarked, one of SA-23Es for space superiority and one of F-302s for strike duties. That's all we have in system."

"What, no ASAT missiles?"

Drescher shook her head. "We have the missiles, but only for deployment on the destroyers. We never got the budget for planetary launchers. Not as long as we maintained a destroyer squadron in system."

"A destroyer squadron of which only two will be left once van Buren leaves the system. Wonderful!" Spears took a deep breath to calm himself. This was not a good time for a rant against pacifist politicians, penny-pinching bureaucrats , or overly enthusiastic admirals. "It is what it is. In any case, van Buren may be a cowboy, but he has a good point about the need for an increased presence at Shanxi. The Shanxi relay gives anyone who holds it a straight shot at Arcturus as well as several of our mining colonies. If we lose it, the strategic situation goes straight to hell. Even if these aliens aren't spoiling for a fight, we cannot afford to have it look like an inviting target. No matter how this works out, it looks like Shanxi is going to be our new border with these people, at least for the foreseeable future. That means that we have to reinforce it in a hurry. So, what can we send there right away?"

There was a moment of silence.

"It depends, general," Admiral Drescher finally said. "I'm afraid the cupboard is pretty empty these days. Second fleet is at about half its official strength. The rest of my ships are in reserve and it will take days, perhaps even weeks, to activate those ships and gather the crews. If I deploy to Shanxi, I'll have to take everything available, just to screen my carriers. That would leave Arcturus dangerously exposed. Your nearest source for reinforcements would be First Fleet; and they'd take three days to get here."

Spears snorted. "The Assembly would never let them leave earth orbit anyway. No, that's not an option. We have to keep your carriers here, until we can mobilize the reserve. So, given those conditions, what can you spare?"

"I can send more light units to shore up our naval presence, but they would be frigates and RDVs. I have only one destroyer squadron on active duty and I need to keep it as a screening force. As for deploying more marines, we have the lift capacity, but I'm not sure-"

"There is no point in deploying more troops, unless we have a reasonable chance of keeping a foothold in Shanxi space," General Perez interrupted. "That would only increase the number of people cut off from support if the navy has to pull out."

"I agree," Spears said. "Still, it's always good to be prepared. "What do you have available?"

"Well, I have a brigade group of marines here at Arcturus. They're supposed to be our quick reaction force, so they're ready to go at a moment's notice. There are two more brigades scattered over nearby colonies. Those can be concentrated here and redeployed within two weeks. Anything more will take at least a month."

Spears seemed lost in thought for a moment, then he said, "Alright, we'll have to work with what we have, at least for the moment. So, we're going to do three things. First of all, admiral Drescher, I want you to send as many light units to Shanxi as you can spare. Doesn't matter what kind they are. At the very least, they'll give van Buren a proper scouting force. We'll keep the RDVs at Shanxi to maintain at least the pretence of a naval force. The frigates will move out into the surrounding systems. I want to know where these aliens came from. If they're from the other side of the dormant relay, fine, that'll simplify things, but if they have some sort of base anywhere nearby, I want to know about it. I also want you to send Shanxi as many fighters as we can spare from Arcturus. At the very least bring the orbital station up to full strength. Is that doable within a reasonable time?"

Admiral Drescher nodded. "I can send several frigates right away. The RDVs will follow within two days. The fighters will take longer, because we have to redeploy their support personnel as well, but that is something we've practised a lot. If necessary I can use my carriers to ferry them. They'll be fully operational in Shanxi within a week."

"Good. Second point: the marines. General Perez, I want those two brigades of yours concentrated at Arcturus as soon as possible; and I want the navy to have the necessary tonnage ready to deploy them to Shanxi, if necessary as a combat drop. Start looking into additional ground forces and their support groups as well." Spears looked at his fellow officers. "That brings me to point three. My position allows me some leeway for unilateral action and I think it's time that I put it to use. As of now, I'm declaring a local state of emergency. That gives me the authority to activate all reserve forces at Arcturus. I'll depart for Earth on the first courier ship I can get my hands on to brief the Assembly. While I'm gone, you two will reactivate as much of our local forces as you can. That includes calling up reservists to fill in personnel gaps. However, do not send anything to Shanxi, other than the ships we just discussed. I would prefer to have the official approval of the Assembly before we make such a move. If the aliens have peaceful intentions, those measures should suffice. If not... well, then we're going to need a bigger hammer, so I want you to coordinate with headquarters staff to make ready for a full mobilization. I cannot order that without government approval, but I want to be able to implement the mobilization plan on a moment's notice if it becomes necessary."

He looked at his fellow officers.

"Don't get me wrong people, I'm not looking for a war. But if we're going to have a war, we're going to make damn sure, that we'll be the ones to come out on top."

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Next time: the first battle at Relay 314

The fighters are a mixed batch. The SA-23 Starfury is from Babylon 5. It's a very sensible design for a space-based fighter. The F-302 I borrowed from Stargate SG1. I intend it as a multi-role fighter with atmospheric capability. I think both have a look that fits the alien universe better than the ME style human fighters

The term ASAT missiles for anti-ship missiles comes from the Alien franchise. They were part of the armament of the Sulaco. The name is a bit weird, because they're not actually for anti-satelite duties but I decided to keep it, though as will be seen in the next chapter, my ASAT missiles will carry a different warhead, after all it's 50 years later.

I'm borrowing people's names from both franchises. Drescher is, of course, a canon ME character. Perez and Spears are both Alien characters. Perez was the name of the general in Alien Resurrection. General Spears was a character in Steve Perry's book Nightmare Asylum. My version won't have the same insanity, though some of his messiah complex may eventually appear.