Once more, I welcome you to The Will of Revenge! Previously, we witnessed the meeting between two groups of UTDF soldiers that were trapped behind enemy lines and decided to get themselves a ride to faster reach allied territory. While it started silently, it got explosive in the end. Fortunately, they achieved their goal and are now on their merry way. Now, what will happen down the line? Read on and find out.

But before we get into that, long missing reviews corner.

To Supreme Supra: As always, thank you. And it's good to see you back.

Alright, with that done, let's move in.

Chapter 6

August 19, 2166

21:04

Presidential Command Bunker, 20km from Laconia City, Laconia

Built by the order of Tekrionis shortly after his coming to power, the PCB was his refuge in harder times. This is where he would retreat to, in case of planetary invasion. It was also one of the most secure places on all of Laconia. Even though it was completely underground and it's only entrance was well hidden, there were still sporadic patrols traversing the local area, making sure nobody tried to sneak in. In case someone or something was spotted too close, without authorization, they would eliminated without questions asked. No risks could be taken on Laconia itself.

There was no imminent danger to Laconia itself, at least for now, and yet, Tekrionis was currently sitting in the meeting room of the PCB, at the end of the large table. There was also a screen hanging opposite to him on the wall, as well as a row of screens to his left, showing the view from outside cameras, to make an illusion of windows. Only night could be seen, together with some of the local wildlife, which so happened to come across the field. They were feline and were similar to lions of Earth, but were confirmed to be relatively passive. In fact, they were prey for bigger predators. They were also bioluminescent, which made it easier to spot them.
"Evolution worked in weird ways."Tekrionis thought

Honestly, he didn't know the reason for this meeting, as he was not the one who called it. It was Lioni who called everyone here, yet for now, only Tekrionis was present, but he knew it would not last for long.
"Do you need anything, sir?"one of soldiers in the room asked.

President of the Laconian Republic shook his head.
"No, there is nothing I need."he replied.
"Understood, sir."

There were four soldiers, each standing at each corner of the room. Not like such security was needed, but paranoia was really hanging over the President.

Right then, the door to the room opened and his adviser peeked inside.
"Sir?"he spoke.

"What is it?"Tekrionis asked.
"Others are here."

Tekrionis nodded.
"Tell them to come in."
This time, adviser nodded and backed off. Soon, Liliana, Timos, Nils and Jason entered. Commanders-in-chief of all branches of Laconian military all approached free seats and sat down. Next, they all looked at Tekrionis.
"What?"he asked.
"Excuse us, sir, but we've been wondering."Nils said."What is it all about? This meeting, I mean?"

"I have no clue, actually."Tekrionis replied."It was Lioni who called it. He didn't say anything else."

"And any idea why would he want us to meet here?"Liliana asked."We could as well have this meeting in the city."
"You know Zack."Jason shrugged."He got his weird quirks."
"I guess you're right."Timos said, putting his hands behind his head."So I guess we can just chill out and wait for him?"

"Actually…"Tekrionis said."We could use this time for you to give me reports on workings of our and allied armies."

Hearing this, commanders looked at each other.
"Why? They should be ready and on your desk in a day or two."head of the air force said.

"But I would rather hear them in full, from you. As commanders of the branches."President stated firmly."And I want to hear only the truth. No lies."

They shot each other. Some of them additionally bit their lips. Tekrionis already knew he wasn't going to like it.
"So maybe I will start."Timos said.

As he was the commander-in-chief of Laconian Army, he was in charge of mainly the invasion of Earth, due to how big was the involvement of the ground forces in there. All reports about that were going straight to him.
"According to latest reports, our forces on Earth are constantly making progress. Not as big of a progress as we would want, but progress nonetheless."he said."As you probably know, the harshest fighting is taking place in Tokyo, where we're been trying to force Japanese forces out of the city, but as of yet, we're still engaged in there. We're close to finally taking it, though."

"Like that would change anything."Liliana murmured.

Everyone knew, that situation on Earth was starting to deteriorate. While Laconian forces had the advantage on all fields, armies of Earth, supported by whatever UNSA troops stayed on the planet and in Sol, were putting resistance strong enough to sometimes stall their forces for weeks. Even bringing in some components of other Concordance's armies didn't help to change the situation.
"There is also situation in Beijing…"Timos continued.
"What's going on in there?"Nils risen an eyebrow.
"Situation is similar to Tokyo. Chinese are holding on with their hair. But there is also that one bunch…"
"Go on."
"Apparently, students from Beijing Academy of Magic are keeping out forces at bay and stall their progress. They somehow organized into a cohesive and powerful force to be reckoned with."

Jason whistled.
"Now that I think about it, you're right."he said."Some of my Marines are fighting in the city as well. They did report about how hard it is to break through in that section."

"But how did they do it?"Liliana asked.
"Apparently, some well known mage was visiting at the time our invasion started and she took charge…"Timos replied.

"Problems everywhere…"Nils shook his head.

"And the rest of the planet?"President asked.
"We're storming Moscow right now."commander of the Army said."If we take it, we will have a free way to enter the rest of Europe. Except Japan and India, almost entire Asia is ours. Australia and Oceania have fallen weeks ago. The biggest progress we currently have is in both Americas and Africa. We're still pushing there on all axes. Although Amazon is in our way. Both rainforest and the river. South Americans set up a good defensive line in both the rainforest and along the river. Bombing them from orbit is also hard, due to how thick the trees are. We simply can't spot them."
"And how about Mars? Anything there?"

Timos shook his head.
"Situation without changes. Martians stopped us completely. It's a complete stalemate."

"How are they still willing to fight?"Liliana asked."We eliminated most of their leadership. They should have surrendered long ago."

Army general went silent for a second.
"What?"Tekrionis asked."Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Sir…"Timos said."…apparently…the Martian Prime Minister is still alive…and she's in charge of leading the forces on the planet…"

Everyone widened their eyes.
"Felinainen?"Jason asked.
"That nymphomaniac whore?"Liliana added.
"Didn't we get her at the start of this whole thing?"Tekrionis asked.

"I wish I could explain how she made it out…but I can't."general admitted.
"Maybe it's true what they're saying about her?"Nils wondered."That she's got nine lives, like a cat?"

"I mean, she is married to a cat person."Liliana noticed.

Tekrionis shook his head.
"Thank you, Timos."he said."And how about you all?"

"Our fleets are still trying to turn the situation around."admiral said."However, ever since our attempt of taking over Shakaya and Chakdria, we've been in either defense or retreat. Being in contact with our allies, I know that the situation there is similar."

"Do you have any successes?"Nils asked.

Liliana sent him a meaningful, fiery look, but the head of the air force didn't even flinch. He was already used to it. Considering how often Laconian Navy and Air Force worked together, they were used to constant bickering and arguing.

"It so happens, that yes."Liliana stated proudly."Our Stealth ships are constantly attacking enemy supply and refugee convoys. And they're good at it…"
Tekrionis and everyone else felt 'but' incoming.

"…but they are too few of them to do any difference."she continued."Most of our Stealth ships were lost in our attempts to pave way to enemy capital worlds. And since UNSA and it's allies started fielding ships equipped with devices capable of tracking down Stealth-capable vessels, our losses are only mounting. Fortunately, it's a relatively new and expensive technology, so these ships can't be anywhere."

"Always something."Jason stated.
"And how are Marines doing?"
Commander of the Laconian Marines Corps sighed.
"My Marines are supporting the army in their operations, mostly. Even though we had numerous successes in the early stages of the war, and even now, some units still have successes and take over either outposts or bases, it's only a matter of time before we'll have to retreat."

"Why?"Timos asked.
"Supplies."Takua replied."Our logistics are not working as good as expected. Some units report losses because they lack basic supplies. Not to mention, that in areas where we're winning, enemy is constantly giving us losses, which we can't replenish quickly enough. At this pace, we will run out of soldiers, weapons and everything else."
"And we will run out of ships."Liliana added.
"And we will run out of air- and spacecraft."Nils chimed in."Even though we're not having so much problems, enemy resistance is so ferocious, that according to reports, we're losing from 75 to 130 craft and pilots a day."

"Seems like our plan with HO Remnant didn't really work."Timos stated.

While Nakatan, Varian, Laconian and other allied armies were mostly self sufficient and were capable of keeping large standing armies, they were more than happy to bolster themselves up with former HO soldiers and equipment. After all, with still millions of soldiers and hundreds of warships still in their possession, with their support, they hoped it would be enough to actually break UNSA and their allies. While there were some troubles, many groups joined them.

But now, it seemed, that even with these reserves, UNSA and others had enough military power to not only stop their offensive, but also start counterattacking themselves. Even the plan with sudden attack from Unknown Regions didn't quite work out. Fleets of the Treaty were ultimately halted by Hadadrian efforts and there was no way for them to break through.

Tekrionis and his subordinates sat in silence for a few seconds. Finally, President took a deep breath.

"Sir?"Timos asked.

He though of a way to break it to them in a way that wouldn't cause their outrage. But ultimately, he decided, that it was best to just be as blunt as possible.

"I've been thinking for a little now."Tekrionis said."And I made a decision."

He made a pause, waiting for everyone's reaction. They waited for his words in anticipation.
"I decided to ask for a cease fire with UNSA and their allies and start preparing ground for peace talks."

Silence. Tekrionis looked at his commanders, waiting for what they had to say. Out of all present, only Liliana seemed to show any kind of disgust for this idea. Others just sat there, thinking.
"At this point, it seems like a logical choice."Nils finally said.

Timos nodded, agreeing with him. Jason hesitated for a little, but soon followed.
"And what about you?"Timos asked Liliana.

Admiral sat there, her face showing obvious anger for this idea. However, even she could not argue with them all and simply nodded.
"I agree."she said."But don't think I like it."
"None of us do."Tekrionis stated."Let's be honest, we overestimated our abilities and underestimated our enemies. We though them weak, and thought that their awareness was weakened by nearly two decades of peace. Even managing to get people on the inside of some of their highest positions didn't help. Not to mention, that as planned with our allies in Andromeda, everything had to be over in no more than a month. Meanwhile, neither us, and probably neither them, achieved our goals. We simply were not ready for a long war."
"So, I guess you're suggesting…?"Jason guessed.
"That we will satisfy ourselves with what we currently have."President finished for him."It's not much, but it's still something."
"Besides, the fact that we basically control two of the most important systems in UNSA, Sol and Angier, can help us in negotiations."Nils said."We can use it as bargaining chip to strengthen our position."

"Maybe they'll even allow us to keep them?"Liliana hoped.
"Who knows? They know we gathered a lot of troops in Solar Corridor. They've tried to retake it through the whole war and still weren't able to."Timos said."I think this could work. We just need to approach it the right way."

Tekrionis nodded. This war was supposed to be a game changer, when it came to galactic politics. It had to be the fall of UNSA-led order and instead, turn Laconia into what every citizen wanted: a new seat of Human power, with all of Human race united under Laconian flag. In this new world, Earth would still be allowed to keep it's autonomy, as a planetary state, due to it's historical meaning. This was Laconia's goal since the end of Great Galactic War.

Original plan, which he made with Sons of Sadera, was a bit different: Zorzal would become an Emperor of Milky Way, with Tekrionis and his successors acting as kind of governors for the galaxy, while Emperor sat in his palace in Andromeda. Of course, this was something only Tekrionis and Zorzal knew about. Only after victory over UNSA would President tell the others about it. Of course, not everyone, including the rest of the Concordance, would follow, but that wasn't something several additional wars and murdering couldn't take care of. But now, it seemed, that this plan would not come to fruition.

Maybe in a few decades, when galaxy rebuilds from the fires of this war, they could try again, after more preparation? This was something Tekrionis couldn't tell. They just had to wait and see.

Liliana looked at her watch.

"Where the hell is that Lioni?"she asked.
"Yeah."Timos said."First he calls for a meeting and then he doesn't show up."

"I will make sure to talk about it with him."Tekrionis said."I will…"

The reactor of the bunker finally overloaded and exploded. The released energy started expanding, slowly but surely devouring and evaporating everything and everyone it met on it's way. Panic erupted across the bunker, as this unexpected event occurred. Engineers were the first to die, as they were the closest and failed to notice something was not right. Room after room, chamber after chamber, one by one, everything was being destroyed. Soon, the briefing room itself, with most of Laconian leadership in it, was devoured by the expanding ball of energy, alongside everyone in it. The energy grew so large, that it even broke through to the outside.

After nearly five minutes, it finally disappeared, leaving behind a massive, kilometers wide crater. Terrified guards, who were lucky to not get caught in the blast, quickly started reporting everything to whatever authorities or superiors they had, causing panic and chaos to erupt across Laconian command structures.

"Seems like it worked."

"Yes. Yes it did."

Zack Lioni, commander of Laconian Intelligence Service, stood on a hill several kilometers away from the area where the PCB was and lowered his binoculars, through which he observed everything. Everything went according to plan. President and commanders came to the meeting and as he expected, didn't suspect a thing. Rest was just easy. His men hacked the reactor of the base, overloaded it and set it off. In a quick swoop, Lioni cut off the heads of Laconia and it's military.

The reason for this was simple. Lioni's spies reported to him, that Tekrionis was thinking about signing the peace with UNSA. When the news reached his ears, he was furious and quickly executed the messenger for daring to report something like that to him. Not that he wasn't thankful for it, he just needed to do something to release all the anger. The more angering was the fact, that his spies in staffs of all branches reported, that situation there started to look similar, with commanders of branches starting to show doubts about if it was good choice to continue this conflict.

For Lioni, the answer was simple. Continuing the war was the ONLY choice the Concordance had. He couldn't let this old fart Tekrionis simply end it. Concordance was going to win this war, even if it meant scorching the entire galaxy. He was going to make sure of it.

"Let's go back to Laconia City."Lioni ordered."We have stuff to take care of there."

His aide quickly nodded and went to the car standing behind them and opened the back door. Lioni stepped in and the aide sat behind the driving wheel. He turned on the engine and the car started driving.

Now, chaos would erupt in all echelons of command of Laconia. That was expected and part of the plan. After all, it's easier to take over something that was in chaos, that organized. Fortunately, head of LIS had everything covered already. Laconia didn't have a clearly designated succession structure, maybe except elections. While Vice President existed, he was more of an adviser to the President, than an actual replacement.

But he was Zack's trusted subordinate. Same as numerous people in the parliament. And in the military. Nearly all of ministers were secretly puppets of LIS for years now. Lioni couldn't stop himself from smiling viciously. Tekrionis was so sure of his loyalty to him, that he didn't even notice how bit by bit, Lioni took over large parts of most of administration so there would be no problem for him to reach for power. Old man was just another obstacle on the way to Lioni taking over Laconia. And war only accelerated this whole process. And now, he was about to finally fulfill his plans and be remembered as the greatest leader in laconian history.

Time for him to shine was finally here.

August 20

12:04

Uioron, New Terta, Teuron System, Tertan Protectorate

Aquexymeva Nequxorop sat in her office, reading reports coming from the frontlines. And all of them were actually pretty good. For once.

Since their failure at Chakdria, Galactic Concordance were barely holding on on what they still had. The Solar Corridor was still in their hands, but it was basically the only thing where they still had any kind of advantage. Well, there was also Nashinian System, with the still ongoing Siege of Nashina, but instead of these two places, it was the allies who were dominating. Everyday, reports of liberated worlds and systems appeared. Some forces even crossed original borders and started occupying worlds in Nakatan, Varian, Maraqs and many others spaces. Their forces tried putting up resistance, but it didn't really help them.

In one report, she saw that a Maraqs world surrendered to a single Tertan Battleship because they had no ammo to fight. At this pace, Concordance's forces were going to collapse. Which was good for the allies.

But allies were not free from problems either. While on the frontline, everything was going on as planned, behind them, people started to get…tired, to say the very least. This actually made Aqi burst out laughing for several minutes. Not because she didn't care for the people. It was just kinda ironic that they were able to stand strong for twenty years of Great Galactic War, yet now, they had enough after only three months. But it was understandable. After twenty years of war, Milky Way deserved twice as much time of peace. But it was not given.

Suddenly, she heard knocking at the door.
"Come in!"she said.

The door opened and her secretary looked inside.
"My lady, General Secretary is here to see you."she said.

Aqi nodded. Harika rarely visited her, mainly calling, because she had to deal with stuff the UN government in exile had to do. But every time she came over, even though they were talking about serious, geopolitical stuff, Harika always found a way to slip a joke or two in there. Being a comedian before getting into politics will do that to you, she supposed.

"Let her in."she said.
"Of course."

Secretary stepped back and a few seconds later, General Secretary Harika stepped in. She was wearing a special breathing mask that all Humans had to wear on planets with tertrit dominating in the atmosphere. The mask was meant to filter oxygen from the air, so they could breath it.

Harika approached the desk and took a sit.
"If you don't mind."she said, her voice distorted by the mask.

"Of course not."

General Secretary nodded.
"So, how is everything going?"Aqi asked.

Harika sighed.
"I'm tired."she said."I know I sound like a child, but I just don't wanna deal with it anymore."

"And yet you still do your job?"Aqi risen an eyebrow on all of her left eyes.
"Yeah."General Secretary nodded."Someone has to keep composure to show that we will not be broken."

Aqi nodded.
"Well said."She leaned back in her chair."So? What brings you here today?"

Tertan noticed a small change on Human's face. So she was already ready for what was coming.
"I needed to take a break and talk to someone smart for a change."she said.

"Can't argue with that."Tertan leader said, giggling a bit."It's always good to talk with people who think like you."
"Even though when it comes to wartime leaders, you're much better than me. You're a veteran of the GGW, after all."
"You know, maybe don't say something like this out-loud. There might be someone listening to us."

Harika looked at her and nodded.
"Sorry. I just think I'm slowly getting burned out by it…"she admitted.
"Everyone is. But you're doing good job so far and that's what matters."Aqi said, smiling."Don't worry. At this pace, the war will be over in a few months."

"I do believe that, as everyone is saying it. But still, if we really want to have any chances of ending this war, we need to retake the Earth and Intergalactic Gate."General Secretary stated."If Lacos and Concordance keep their grip on them, their position in any negotiations will be much stronger than we'd like."

Aquexymeva nodded with a serious expression.
"I can't argue with that."she stated."Unfortunately, as you know, our forces are tied in other regions. Reports say that some of the Concordance members are willing to start negotiations. But everyone on our side agrees, that as long as we won't retake Sol and Angier, or they won't retreat, there will be no negotiations. And they still refuse to retreat, so…"
"We have much more fighting ahead of us."
"Indeed."
Harika looked past Aqi, through the window, on the city. There were signs of war visible here, too, even though Tertan Protectorate didn't have any fighting taking place in it's space. Even no sabotage or terrorist actions were partaken by the Concordance against Tertans. AA guns were standing on top of buildings, looking into the sky. Soldiers and military vehicles were visible on the streets, keeping the peace and ensuring no civil unrest will turn into a full on riot.

"Sometimes I wonder, how my predecessors would fair in these situations."Harika wondered."Probably better than me, considering that both Volgradov or Orcan led in the times of GGW."
"Yeah. I met them both and it's a shame that they're both not among us anymore."Aqi said.

"True. So, the best we have is me."

"It's still better than some people…"
"Don't even remind me."

Following the retreat from Sol, there's been a growing anti-Harika movement among the higher echelons of UNSA command. Especially prominent was the part led by general Władysław Moskwiak. Previously, he was commander of the Unified Detection Grid, but following the attack on Sol and the need to, for the time being, abandon the UDG, he was made one of the commanders in the main staff of the UNSA here, on New Terta. While many also blamed him for the current situation with Sol and Angier, he was still one of those commanders, which simply could not be denied skills when it came to the battlefield.

Unfortunately, he was also mostly focusing on blaming Harika for everything. And he already declared, that he will be trying to get the position of General Secretary in the upcoming elections after the war.
"Don't care about that prick."Aquexymeva stated."If he did his job better, we wouldn't even end in this situation."

"I know. But he also has some points…"Harika stated.
"For now, focus on leading the UN to victory. You can worry about him later."

GS nodded.
"Great. Now, on more positive note, Hadadrians are regaining the initiative."Tertan chancellor said.
Harika nodded. Everyone watched the unstopped raid of ships from Unknown Regions into Hadadrian space while holding their breath. Everyone had suspicions about why did they pick this exact time for attack, but they were confirmed, when diplomatic notes reached all UNSA aligned leaders, saying that Treaty of Hurgura, displeased with corruption and xenophobic policies of UN and it's allies, decided to intervene. Even though it was clear, that they were allied with Laconia and just doing their bidding. Still, when they invaded Hadadria and started punching their way through system after system, leaving behind only death and destruction, thanks to the Super Carriers armed with Super Battleship destroying lasers, everyone started thinking, that their plan will actually work.

For the time being.

Specialists started noticing problems of this Great Armada, as the invading ToH force called themselves, around two weeks after they invaded. It was then, when the first of the five Super Carriers was destroyed in battle. Then, a week later, another one. Still, with these two losses, their firepower was still big enough to give Hadadrian Navy significant losses. But what was the true problem everyone noticed, was that while Great Armada was pushing forward relentlessly, they were literally outpacing the Treaty's supply chain. And while people thought they would fix this issue, they didn't.

Situation repeated itself time after time. Great Armada advanced for several systems, until they had to pause and wait for ships carrying supplies for them. Hadadrians, of course, would use this opportunity to strike. Slowly, they chipped away on the fleet, destroying numerous ships before being destroyed themselves or retreating. This kind of guerilla warfare seemed to work surprisingly well. Great Armada was getting reinforcements, yes, but none of them were Super Carriers. However, the vessels were spotted, performing policing duties across the Treaty-occupied Hadadrian territories. It seemed that the loss of the two vessels in such a quick succession scared the enemy command, although three of the five Supper Carriers that went in with the first wave of Great Armada were still leading the charge.

Well. One of the five. During the Battle of Hadl'um System two weeks ago, which was the biggest engagement of this theater of the war, with nearly two hundred ships on both sides, two more Super Carriers were destroyed, leaving only one, the supposed flagship of the Great Armada, still operational and on the frontline.

Now, for weeks, Hadadrians were speaking of prepared counter offensive. And it seemed, that two days ago, it has finally begun, already achieving some successes.
"Honestly, I don't know what would we do without Hadadrians."Harika admitted."They took that on themselves, even though it was aimed at us."
"It was those Treaty guys mistake."chancellor stated."In their place, I would try negotiating a right of passage to move forces through their space. Or even try asking, if they didn't want to join in. They knew what they were getting into."

Right then, the phone in Aqi's pocket rung. She pulled it out and looked at the screen. It was Sitiet.
"Excuse me for a moment."she said.
"Of course."Harika replied, nodding.

Aqi accepted the call and put the phone to her hearing hole.

"Chancellor Nequxorop here, what is it?"she asked and listened, nodding a few times."Yeah, she's here, we…What do you mean 'turn on the TV'? What…? Okay, okay. Alright. Signing off."She ended the call and hid the device in her pocket.

"What was it?"General Secretary asked.

"Let's find out."

Aquexymeva opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a black TV remote. Next, she pressed a button and a hatch in the ceiling opened, with TV screen slowly descending from it. When it stopped, she turned it on and changed the channel to a national news TV station, just as the Commissar for Foreign Affairs told her.

There, they saw a worried presenter looking at her datapad.

"Got your translator on?"chancellor asked.

General Secretary quickly reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a small translating device. Next, she put it in her ear and activated. Aqi nodded and the two looked at the screen.

The presenter cleared her throat and started talking:

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. We've got breaking news coming to us from Laconia itself. Apparently, head of Laconian Intelligence Service, Zack Lioni, has made an address the people. In it, he made accusations towards the allied forces regarding the fate of President Tekrionis and majority of Laconian military higher ups."

The screen then changed and showed a rostrum with Laconian coat-of-arms on it, as well as several microphones and two black-purple Laconian flags hanging on both sides, in front of a purple background. And standing at the rostrum, was no one other, than head of LIS in person.

"People of Laconian Republic!"Lioni declared."Today, I bring you sad and grim news. President Nikslaus Tekrionis, as well as general Timos Fortis, admiral Liliana McBurn, general Nils Halinis and commander Jason Takua have lost their lives in a terrorist attack performed by UNSA and it's allies."

Both chancellor and General Secretary widened their eyes hearing this.

"A catastrophic generator explosion in the Presidential Command Bunker destroyed the entire facility. It so happened, that at the time, a meeting was called there. Due to the fact that I was late, I was the only survivor, while our great leader and military commanders died. But it is clear, that because it happened while they were all there, that it wasn't a mere coincidence. It was an attack performed by our enemies."

He made a pause for effect.
"Our enemies refuse our proposals of peace and now, they strike at our most important people. They are willing to show, that they are willing to escalate this conflict as much as possible and make the peace loving people of the Galactic Concordance suffer. This cannot stand!"He slammed his fist into the rostrum."Parliament was already informed about this event and already held a meeting about what to do. And during that meeting, they decided to make me the temporary leader of our great nation until the end of war."
Lioni's face became more stern.
"People of Laconian Republic and Galactic Concordance."he said firmly."As the acting President of the Laconian Republic, I promise, that this crime will not go unpunished. Our forces will now double, triple or even tenfold their efforts to end this war and bring people responsible for all of this to justice!"

With that, the screen once more changed to show the presenter.
"This address was made two hours ago and not long after, new commanders of Laconian Armed Forces branches were appointed by President Zack Lioni in place of allegedly dead ones. Specialists already are making assumptions, that this whole event might have actually been an inside job, as all new branch commanders all have a history of working at or with Laconian Intelligence Service. And now, in other news…"

Aquexymeva grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. Next, she looked at Harika, who was as speechless as she was.

"What. The. Fuck."chancellor finally said.
"My thoughts exactly."General Secretary agreed.

Tertan leader started massaging her head. She was well aware of the type of man Lioni was, Tertan intelligence was good at it's job. Ambitious, ruthless and would reach his goal at any cost, even if it meant killing billions. Which meant, that now, the war might have turn even more brutal than before.
"Please tell me he wasn't telling the truth."she said.

"What?"Harika asked, a bit caught off guard.
"Tell me you didn't assassinate these fuckers."

"Even if we had such plans, I would never approve of it."General Secretary said firmly and with a stern face."We wanted to bring all Laconian war criminals to justice. This included Tekrionis and his buddies."

"And now they are dead and we have a power-hungry maniac in charge of main hostile nation."Aqi growled."What if ICTA went for it without your approval?"
"Director Sanjrani shares the same ideals as most of current UN and UNSA leadership. He wouldn't approve of it either. And before you ask, he's got sleeper agents placed everywhere in ICTA, which would immediately inform him if anyone decided to perform such actions."
Aqi still had some doubts about Harika's explanation, but she knew the Human woman enough to know, that she wouldn't lie to her in such a matter. Or at least she hoped so.
"Either way, I don't think his puts us in a favorable position."chancellor stated."Lioni is a man that doesn't care about losses. He will do anything to achieve what he wants. Apparently this is how he reached his position as the head of LIS. And with him in charge, Laconia and the rest of the GC might turn even more aggressive than they were now."
"Which will only make our situation even more complicated."General Secretary."I guess there goes our hope of ending the war soon…"

She sighed. Aquexymeva had to share her concern and sighed again. She started banging her fingers on the desk, thinking about what to do.

And then, she remembered something.
"Maybe not so much."she said.

"What do you mean?"Harika asked, tilting her head.

Aqi quickly reached into the drawer where she held more important documents, which she preferred to have immediate access to. She quickly searched through them, until she found the one envelope, which she needed.

"Check this out."she said, holding the envelope for Harika to take.

"What is this?"Harika asked, placing her hand on it.

Chancellor smiled.

"You said we don't have hope of ending this war quickly anymore?"she asked."Then what will you say about this?"
General Secretary looked at her for a few seconds, before looking down at the envelope. It was a standard, beige envelope many would keep important documents in. On it, she could see red inscriptions in both Tertan and English, reading: 'TOP SECRET: PLAN OF ACTION IN CASE OF POLITICAL CRISIS IN LACONIAN REPUBLIC'.

August 20

22:43

Vidio System, Hadadrian space

Last news from home came two weeks ago. And they were not good.

Situation across Treaty of Hurgura was becoming less and less stable. Economy of entire Unknown Regions, nearly two billion star systems, was fully converted into war time economy, forcing most of industries and businesses to prioritize production for military use. Of course, this immediately impacted the civilian well-being, as prices went higher, inflation sky-rocketed and most goods became less accessible.

Not to mention the frontline situation. Hadadrians started gaining initiative. They forced the Great Armada to go to the defensive. Instead of a quick victory, as planned, ToH was now engaged in a grinding war of attrition against an enemy, which turned out to not be as vulnerable as previously thought. This caused most of the soldiers and sailors to get more and more demoralized, as they saw ships being destroyed, their companions killed and billions upon trillions of cash that was put into production of new equipment go up in flames. Large, pro-peace protests started erupting across the worlds of the Treaty and while at first police and other services were dutifully quelling them with force, now, on many worlds, full-blown rebellions erupted, which engaged some parts of the Treaty's armed forces, which could be better used on the frontlines.

Population was starting to riot and Treaty slowly started breaking apart and yet, leadership still pushed forth the idea of continuing the war, which was now slowly becoming a complete failure.

A reality, which admiral Chandugwo didn't want to believe, but was slowly learning to accept.

Mails and letters from his family, seven wives and seven children, were all telling the same. It was more and more dangerous to come out of home at night. Apparently, soldiers returning from the frontlines resulted in rise of armed robberies, rapes and murders. In one letter, his youngest daughter wrote how someone broke to the house of her friend and killed all of her family. Suspect was later confirmed to be an officer that survived the destruction of one of Great Armada's Destroyers.

Great Armada. Admiral scoffed. This name could not fit anymore. From one hundred thirty warships he started with, he had only seventy one left. A little more than a half, but it didn't make him feel any better. They were receiving reinforcements, yes, but it was not enough to rebuild the strength of the fleet.

Especially when out of five Super Carriers he started with, all of former Duchy of Seiun Navy's most powerful vessels, he now had one left and command refused to deliver more ships of the same class, which were produced since the start of the invasion, under the excuse of 'insufficient military assets' and 'high risk of equipment loss'. All of this, his ass. Before they didn't have a problem. Now, they lost four of their most powerful vessels and they started to feel their asses burning. Instead, they handed him Zandikat-class Super Carriers, a class which could not match Seiunian ships in power in no way. And they gave him only two. It was always like that. It was surprising, that HQ didn't blame him for everything yet. It was a natural assumption, considering he was the one in charge of the Great Armada.

But it wasn't his fault, that SOMEONE decided to remove Seiunian captains from the Super Carriers and replace them with people from other Treaty's species 'as a symbol of old divisions disappearing and new era of cooperation beginning'. Good slogan, execution worse. Just because all of races were united under the Treaty, didn't mean that old rivalries vanished. Chandugwo himself had to solve several cases of fighting between interracial crews, because one engineer got mad for something an ancestor of another one did to his ancestor. Admiral's head literally started aching more and more because of that.

Honestly, he was certain that if he won't be killed by an overzealous Marine because his great-great grandfather was killed by Chandugwo's uncle from mother's side in third generation during some war several decades ago, he would be surprised.

"Admiral?"his First Officer asked.

Chandugwo growled and looked at him.
"What is it?"admiral asked.

Good that at least his crew was made up completely of Seiunians. High admiral Junerokio, now High Admiral of the Treaties Navies, which by the way Chandugwo thought was a too complicated title, said that it was to make the command of the fleet easier. That certainly didn't work.

"Your drink, as you asked."First Officer handed him mug.

Admiral grabbed it quickly and chugged it down. He could feel the warm, pleasing burning going down his throat, as the beverage, made of a toxic plant native to Seiun, made it's way to one of his five stomachs, the one responsible for toxic substances. This drink would kill anyone else, but for Seiunians, it was a very popular type of alcoholic drink.

"Now this is funny."admiral thought to himself."I remember how at the beginning of all of this, I was so confident, composed and sure of everything we were doing. And now? I'm literally drinking in the middle of duty, thinking about how everything would be better without the Generals of Treaty and wishing to finally end all this. How low have I fallen…"

He looked at the holographic map projected in the air above in front of him. It showed the whole galaxy, presenting the current situation, at least according to all the news coming from various sources they had access to. It certainly wasn't looking good for the concordance and their allies. His eyes then moved more to the Western part of the galaxy, where Hadadria and Unknown Regions were located.

A bright, nearly acidic green stain covered around 1/3 of Hadadrian dark green territory. Chandugwo could clearly see Hadadrian System itself, with Hadadrian homeworld just around twenty star systems away from where he was now. It was hard to believe, that their whole plan fell apart when they were so close to their target. Now, they were in defense. Who knew how long will it take until they find themselves in retreat?
He didn't need to wait long for that answer.

Whole bridge turned red as alarms started blaring across all ships of the fleet. Crew immediately went to work, preparing the ship for the inevitable.

"Report."admiral ordered to the radar operator.

"Numerous hyperspace signals detected."he replied."Confirmed to be Hadadrian vessels. Nearly…"He went silent.

Suddenly, the air on the bridge became colder.

"Spit it out."Chandugwo ordered.
"Nearly…"Radar operator swallowed."Nearly twice the number of ours."

A loud gasp was heard. Even to them, veterans of the biggest space battle of their Invasion of Hadadria, were still shocked to hear that the enemy had so much ships coming their way. It never meant anything good. Especially now.

"Admiral, what do we do?"First Officer asked.
Chandugwo thought for a moment. There was still time. They could simply turn around and flee. Leave this place for Hadadrians to be taken without a fight. But then, it would be against the orders of HQ which were clear: no step back. And when command would learn about this, there was no doubt what would happen. Arrests. Show trials. Executions. And no doubt, he would be the first one to suffer such a fate.

There was also the second option, which was pretty much clear. They could stay and fight to the bitter end, knowing damn well, that they could not come out of it alive. Fighting for a cause, which might have already been lost. Slight correction, which was lost. He might have been remembered as a hero or a war criminal. Which he earned, there was no doubt about it. He ordered to bomb unprotected worlds. He didn't even know, how many people he killed though the weapons of his ships. Millions? Billions?

Trillions? Then maybe death in battle, with no justice served, was the best way to go?

Or, there was a third option. One which he never expected to consider for real. And yet…

And right then, admiral Chandugwo, first and last commander of the Great Armada of Treaty of Hurgura, made a decision, as first space distortions started changing into Hadadrian Super Battleships.

"Order to all ships: deactivate their weapon systems."he ordered to the communications officer.
All bridge crew looked at him, surprised.
"Admiral…?"First Officer asked.
"Execute the order!"Chandugwo exclaimed.
"Yes, sir!"comms officer said, turning to his console.
"And hail the enemy flagship."

Comms officer nodded and did as he was told. Soon, order was relayed to all ships of what remained of the Great Armada and, fortunately, Hadadrian commander accepted the hail and now, his hologram appeared over the holo-table.

Admiral looked at the Hadadrian, who in return looked back at him with no emotions in his eyes.
"I, admiral Chandugwo of the Great Armada, officially declare our complete and unconditional surrender."

August 22

14:29

Unknown location

He was sitting in the dark room. Not that he couldn't let in some light, he just liked the atmosphere this was giving. Mysterious and dark. It also made it easier to look through the reports on his datapads, regarding the construction process. Would it hurt his eyes? Probably. But he could always allow himself to have a surgery to fix that.

Production itself was going smoothly. And it seemed, that after five years of designing and building, everything will be ready in no time. Right in time, too. Shame they couldn't manage before the war, but they also had to diverge some of their resources somewhere else, to help some other facilities in their production.

Still, maybe, the project was going to come out of the building face and make itself known in this conflict? He really hoped so. And he was really excited to find out.

The silence of the room was interrupted, when holographic screen suddenly turned on and appeared in the air with words 'INCOMING CALL' written on it. The man sighed, put down the datapad he was looking through currently and accepted the call, wondering, what was it this time HQ wanted from him.
General Secretary Harika appeared on the screen.

"Ma'am?"the man asked, saluting.
"Hello, admiral."Harika replied."I hope you're doing well."
Admiral murmured something.
"What was that?"General Secretary asked.
"Nothing important. I just wish I could be out there, knocking it into Lacos' heads, instead of sitting here, supervising."

"You're not the only one. Anyway, did you watch the news?"
"I have to stay informed somehow?"He shrugged.
"Then you're aware of the situation with the Concordance."

He was. He was aware, that Lioni made himself the President of Laconia. He was aware, that Galactic Concordance suddenly once more went into the offensive. He was aware, that the tactic of throwing men and equipment at the enemy started working for them and now, they forced all UNSA-aligned forces to stop their advance to dig in and wait for the onslaught, which nobody expected, except few people. Suddenly, within just a single day the whole road to victory was blocked. GC, now not caring about losses, suddenly again started tipping the scales. Not for a lot yet, but if they keep the current tempo, who knew what they will suddenly pull out of their asses.
"Looking at your face, I can tell that yes."Harika said.
"Yes, ma'am."admiral said, nodding."I'm still wondering, what is the reason you're calling me?"

"It's simple. How long before the Project Fusion is ready?"

Admiral risen an eyebrow.
"Just about a month."he replied."We have last touches to do, which will take two weeks. Then, we will have to run some tests and see how it fares. Then…"

"We want Project Fusion to enter service within the next week. No tests."

The man was so dumbfounded, that he was lost for words for a few seconds.
"What?"he asked finally.
"What you heard."

"But…we can't just let it enter service without proper testing. If we don't check everything, we…"
"Admiral."Harika's voice suddenly became firm."We are aware of the risks such an action poses. But Project Fusion is an essential part of our plan to end the war in nearby future."

"What plan?"he asked.
"I will send you all the essential data."GS assured."But first, we need your answer. Can you do it?"

Admiral sighed.
"Yes. If it survives long enough, we can put the last touches after everything's said and done. I guess it can operate with over eighty percent of all systems."
Harika nodded.

"I knew UNSA can always rely on Old Richards."she said.

Admiral Frederick Richards, head of UNSA Navy and hero of Great Galactic War, scoffed.

"'Old.'"he said."Who came up with that? I'm not that old. I'm barely 55!"
"Yeah…Still, good to know you're up for the task. You should also get ready to receive ships that will become Project Fusion's task force."

"Understood."Fred said, nodding.
"Also, the data regarding the mission is on the way. It's just a raw sketch right now, we're still working on the details. Make sure to get yourself acquainted with it. Harika, out."

With that, the call was ended. Immediately after, a ping signaled approaching message. Fred quickly looked into his mailbox and opened the documents attached to it. He started reading them one by one. And with each passing line of text, the more he understood what was it all about, the more he liked it.
"Well, well, well."he thought."Aren't they ambitious?"

When he ended the read, he closed the mail and pressed a button on his desk to make a call.

"Yes, sir?"a female voice asked from the other side.
"Get ready, Anna."he said."We're gonna set sail."
"Should I be concerned, sir?"Anna Derigin, Fred's former First Officer, asked.

"Quite the contrary. We're finally gonna see some action."
"About time."

"Indeed. Time for the Project Fusion to shine."

"Is it?"
"Command wants us to show Lacos our new toy. So I think it is."

"Understood. Hope out."

As the current captain of Fred's former Battleship disconnected, admiral stood up from his chair and approached the currently covered window. He pressed a button on it's side and the shutters were removed, revealing what was behind them.

There, sitting inside the cylinder of the shipyard, was an enormous, ten kilometer long warship. Smaller construction ships were flying around it, attaching last elements where needed. Sparks were flying, as parts were welded in right places. It was a marvelous machine to look at and terrifying opponent to face. Or so everyone hoped.

At one point, Fred's eyes were drawn to white letters painted on the gray hull, making the name of the ship:

UNSA Alvar Eriksson.

XXX

And here's where we're gonna end for now. As always, remember to leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!

Till the next one!