Authors note
here is the fleet configurations of Andromeda colonies and their respective importance
1. New Concordia Defence Fleet (Administrative Capital)
Total Ships: 11 ships
1 Athena-class Command Cruiser
2 Marathon class heavy cruiser
3 Paris class heavy frigates
2 Ferrus class heavy destroyers
1 Argo class assault carrier
2 Keyes class battlecruisers
2. Eridani's Reach Defence Fleet
Total Ships: 10 ships
1 Athena-class Command Cruiser
2 Marathon class Heavy Cruisers
4 Paris class heavy Frigates
2 Ferrus class heavy Destroyers
3. Argo Station Defence Fleet
Total: 7 ships
1 Marathon class Heavy Cruiser
4 Paris class heavy Frigate
2 Ferrus class heavy destroyer
4. Vantage Point Defence Fleet
Total: 7 ships
4 Paris class heavy Frigate
1 Marathon class Heavy Cruiser
2 Ferrus class heavy Destroyer
5. Caelestis Defence Fleet
Total: 5 ships
1 Marathon class Heavy Cruiser
3 Paris class heavy Frigate
1 Ferrus class heavy destroyer
6. Gladsheim Defence Fleet
Total: 6 ships
1 Marathon class heavy cruiser
3 Paris class heavy frigates
2 Ferrus class heavy destroyer
7. Haven's Wake Defence Fleet
Total: 5 ships
1 Marathon class heavy cruiser
3 Paris class heavy frigates
1 Ferrus class heavy destroyers
8. Halcyon Veil Defence Fleet
Total: 5 ships
1 Marathon class Heavy Cruiser
4 Paris class heavy Frigate
9. Kovos Defence Fleet
Total: 9 ships
2 Marathon class heavy cruisers
4 Paris class heavy frigates
3 Ferrus class heavy destroyers
10. Eirene Defence Fleet
Total: 4 ships
1 Marathon class heavy cruiser
2 Paris class heavy Frigates
1 Ferrus class heavy Destroyers
1. New Concordia – Primary (Critical)
Role: Sector administrative capital; political, logistical, and military command center.
Importance: Highest. Acts as the UNSC's seat of power in the Andromeda sector.\
Key Features: Command infrastructure, AI coordination networks, fleet headquarters, major spaceport.
2. Eridani's Reach – Primary
Role: Industrial and shipyard hub.
Importance: Very high. Supports fleet production, repair, and logistics.
Key Features: Large-scale orbital shipyards, resource refineries, high-density supply depots.
3. Kovos – High
Role: Resource extraction and environmental engineering.
Importance: High. Supplies materials for colony maintenance and manufacturing. heavy industry
Key Features: Mining operations, geothermal plants, terraforming projects. industrial plants
4. Argo Station – High
Role: Space fortress and transit chokepoint.
Importance: High. Controls regional movement and serves as a forward military base.
Key Features: Heavy orbital defenses, staging area for fleet actions, surveillance systems.
5. Vantage Point – High
Role: Surveillance and early warning colony.
Importance: High. Positioned near potential threat vectors and jump routes.
Key Features: Advanced sensor arrays, rapid response facilities, recon coordination.
6. Caelestis – Medium
Role: Scientific research and experimental technology.
Importance: Medium. Valuable for technological advancement and AI research.
Key Features: Research institutions, black labs, AI think tanks.
7. Gladsheim – Medium-High
Role: Ground forces command and training.
Importance: Medium-High. Crucial for Spartan and ODST deployment and readiness.
Key Features: Training facilities, urban combat simulators, barracks, vehicle yards.
8. Haven's Wake – Medium
Role: Civilian resettlement and agricultural hub.
Importance: Medium. Supports food production and housing for Terran settlers.
Key Features: Biosphere domes, agro-industrial complexes, low orbital traffic.
9. Halcyon Veil – Medium
Role: Strategic fallback location and black site storage.
Importance: Medium. Designed for contingency planning and hidden operations.
Key Features: Stealth facilities, deep bunkers, hidden hangars, ONI presence.
10. Eirene – Medium-Low
Role: Cultural outreach and diplomatic hub.
Importance: Medium-Low. Useful for soft power projection and interactions with locals.
Key Features: Embassies, educational centers, trade fairs, low-intensity defense.
Now let us get into it
Over the span of five years, the United Nations Space Command has slowly entrenched itself in the Andromeda galaxy. Ten fortified colony worlds, each strategically chosen, serve as the backbone of a Terran presence that is both cautious and ambitious. The colonies hum with activity—mining, construction, trade, military drills, and cultural adaptation. With Rear Admiral Lasky and the Infinity recalled to the Milky Way to respond to escalating Banished and Covenant Remnant threats, command now falls to a council of senior officers spread among the colony fleets.
The Galactic Empire watches this quiet growth with growing unease. Though early interactions had the veneer of diplomacy, each Imperial intelligence update brings more questions. Why are Terran ships patrolling deeper into neutral zones? Why do UNSC supply convoys now reach beyond originally agreed-upon boundaries? Are the Terrans truly here to coexist—or are they preparing for something else?
Behind closed doors, Admiral Thrawn orders surveillance on key colonies, using probe droids, informants, and cloaked ships. His conclusions are deeply logical, as always: the UNSC is expanding with patience, discipline, and long-term intent. That alone makes them dangerous.
Skirmishes begin small—too small to make headlines. An Imperial customs vessel goes missing near a trade corridor. A UNSC cargo convoy reports "phantom sensor contacts" and jammed comms near Eirene. A smuggling ring trafficking spice and Terran-manufactured tech is uncovered on Eventide, tied to both Imperial black market groups and ONI sleeper agents.
While both sides issue public reassurances, privately, they are mobilizing.
The UNSC Mobile Response Fleet—twenty handpicked ships of Heimdalls, Thermopalayes, and destroyers—moves on a rotational patrol schedule between the colonies. The Empire dispatches three detached Imperial Star Destroyers under the guise of "anti-piracy operations" in the neutral zones. They remain just outside Terran space… for now.
Each side waits for the other to make a mistake.
The spark arrives not from New Concordia or Kovos—but from Haven's Wake, the farthest Terran colony.
A convoy of Terran civilian ships heading to a nearby mining outpost drifts into a contested zone previously unmarked on the UNSC's frontier maps. An Imperial patrol ship hails the convoy, ordering them to turn back. The convoy's captain, a veteran colonist, insists on the right to continue. Words turn heated. A warning shot is fired. One of the civilian ships panics and jumps away—straight into the path of a patrolling Imperial light cruiser. Collision. Catastrophic loss of life.
The Empire claims UNSC recklessness.
The UNSC accuses the Empire of unjustified aggression.
Both militaries activate heightened alert protocols.
As reports flood back to the command centers on New Concordia and Coruscant, both sides double down. The UNSC dispatches Thermopalayes and destroyers to reinforce Haven's Wake. The Empire responds by moving in a full Star Destroyer battlegroup near the edge of neutral space—ostensibly to "secure the peace."
With UNSC and Imperial warships now in visible standoff positions near multiple colonies—including Eridani's Reach, Halcyon Veil, and Vantage Point—the Andromeda frontier becomes a powder keg.
ONI initiates counter-intelligence sweeps, uncovering multiple Imperial probes disguised as Terran maintenance drones.
Imperial Intelligence begins turning local traders and low-level officials, seeking insights into UNSC fleet movements.
Neutral worlds nearby begin voicing concern, caught between two rising powers.
The Rebel Alliance, scattered and cautious, quietly dispatches scouts of their own to monitor the escalating situation.
In an encrypted transmission, Thrawn sends a stark advisory to Coruscant: "We are no longer dealing with explorers. We are dealing with settlers. Prepare accordingly."
And within ONI's deepest layers, a quiet directive is circulated: "All assets prioritize containment and deniability. The next move must be theirs… but we will be ready."
In orbit around Vantage Point, a UNSC patrol led by a Thermopylae-class cruiser intercepts a cloaked Imperial drone. Rather than destroy it, they transmit a deliberate burst of misinformation—bait for a trap.
And in the black void beyond Eventide, an Imperial reconnaissance vessel goes dark. No signal. No wreckage. Only silence.
The war hasn't begun. But the galaxy is holding its breath.
Location: The Great Nebula, Near Halcyon Veil
The Great Nebula, a vast and unpredictable region of gas, dust, and cosmic debris, had become a critical zone for all sides in the Andromeda conflict. While its beauty was undeniable, its strategic importance could not be understated. The hyperspace lanes running through the nebula were vital for both military and commercial travel. Whoever controlled this sector held the key to vital routes in and out of the Andromeda galaxy.
In recent months, tensions had escalated. The Imperial Empire, with its extensive fleet and overwhelming firepower, had begun making increasingly aggressive moves, seeking to dominate the sector. The UNSC, with its growing military presence and expanding colonies, had shown a defiant resolve to protect its assets and sovereignty. Now, the time for diplomacy was over. This would be the moment when everything changed.
It begins with a single UNSC Marathon class heavy cruiser, the UNSC Harbinger, carrying out a routine patrol mission through the nebulous region near Halcyon Veil.
Two Imperial Star Destroyers, the ISD Fury and the ISD Vengeance, emerge from the nebula's cloud, like spectral warships of destruction. Their sensors lock onto the Harbinger as they approach, seemingly with no intention of communication. The UNSC cruiser, though well-equipped and capable, is at a disadvantage in terms of raw firepower. The Fury and Vengeance are simply too large and too powerful.
Despite the looming danger, Captain Graves takes an immediate, calculated approach. Her ship attempts to establish communications with the Imperial fleet, but the only response is an ominous silence, followed by a sudden shift in the Imperial ships' positioning. The tension is palpable as both sides watch for the first move
The Harbinger signals its intent to stand down and avoid unnecessary conflict, but the Imperials have other plans. Without warning, the ISD Fury opens fire, launching a series of turbolaser blasts that strike the Harbinger's shields. The explosion is deafening, sending shockwaves through the UNSC vessel. The Harbinger's shields shimmer under the intensity of the blast, but they hold.
The Vengeance quickly follows suit, releasing a barrage of concussion missiles aimed directly at the UNSC cruiser. what the imperials would soon find out however was that UNSC vessels were over equipped for such threats and when the slow moving concussion missiles enter the range of the point defence guns of the UNSC warships, they are shot down with pinpoint accuracy by the AI guided guns
The Magnetic Accelerator Cannons (MAC) aboard the Harbinger begin charging. These weapons, known for their ability to fire kinetic projectiles at near-relativistic speeds, are the UNSC's equaliser in space combat. As the turbolasers of the Star Destroyers continue their relentless barrage, the Harbinger responds.
The MAC guns roar.
A salvo from the ship's two MAC cannons roar out—a projectile weighing 900 tons traveling at speeds that defy the human eye. The shell smashes into the ISD Fury, directly hitting its starboard shields. The force of the impact sends the Star Destroyer reeling, momentarily staggering it in space as its shields flicker. and nearly fail
The shot is devastating but not enough to disable the Fury.
The starfighter battle
The moment the ISD Fury opened fire on the USS Harbinger, its launch bays screamed to life. Twin columns of light peeled back from the belly of both Imperial warships as 140 TIE Fighters surged into the dark like a swarm of mechanical hornets, filling the void with the screech of ion engines.
Inside the Harbinger, red alert klaxons blared as UNSC deck crews scrambled. Hangar control lit up with urgent calls for launch. On the flight line, Sabres and Longswords roared to life—sleek Terran strike craft, fewer in number but packed with armor, heavy cannons, and veteran pilots.
36 total craft launched from the Harbinger's internal bays and magnetic catapults:
18 Sabres (fast interceptors)
12 Longswords (heavy fighter-bombers)
6 broadsword-configured variants with electronic warfare and missile loadouts
The TIE swarm rushed forward in an overwhelming wave. The void between ships crackled with laser fire, green bolts dancing like wasps through starlight.
The Sabres, operating in pairs, angled for high-speed passes, their autocannons spitting in short, precise bursts.
Lieutenant Yara 'Vex' Sandoval (UNSC Sabre squadron leader) "They've got numbers. We've got armor and balls. Pick your lanes, break them in the center!"
The UNSC fighters split into tight formations, deliberately drawing the TIEs in. Then came the first kill—a Sabre's twin autocannons ripped through a TIE wing, sending its spherical cockpit spinning and erupting. But for every fighter brought down, ten more surged forward.
The Sabres danced between laser bursts, using their advanced shielding and high-gee maneuverability to full effect. But the real hammer fell when the Longswords entered range.
Two squadrons of Longswords swept in from below the Imperial formation, each fighter carrying a pair of high power fragmentation missiles and twin chin-mounted autocannons. They cut upward, unleashing missiles in clusters.
Three TIE squadrons were annihilated in seconds. Missile plumes exploded in brilliant, silent flares. Fragments of TIE solar wings spun like black petals through space.
But the Imperials countered with overwhelming numbers, flanking in a classic pincer. TIE Interceptors broke from the pack, sweeping toward the flanks of the Longswords while standard TIE Fighters boxed in the Sabres.
In the chaos, UNSC Broadswords launched countermeasures and decoys, jamming TIE targeting computers and launching missile salvos that caught squadrons in tight clusters. Several TIEs spiraled off course, confused, or collided mid-flight.
But attrition was mounting. One Sabre pilot took three hits to her shields and vanished in a plume of fire. A Longsword lost an engine, gliding helplessly before being torn apart.
UNSC Pilot 'Rook': "There's too many! We're losing birds, squad leader!"
Lt. Sandoval: "Then we take more of them with us."
The turning point came when the UNSC jets managed to bring the Ties into the effective range of the ship point defence guns once solutions had been established streams of tungsten rounds ripped into the imperial formations which were extremely dense
Twenty-nine fighters were shredded in under four seconds.
The TIEs faltered—momentarily—but that was all the UNSC needed. The Sabres ripped through the gaps, rolling and banking through the debris as Longswords punched clean holes in the formation.
Despite their skill and resilience, the UNSC had lost 25 fighters by the time reinforcements arrived. One Sabre squadron was wiped out to the last man, sacrificing themselves to protect the Longswords on an approach vector.
But now, the Imperials were bleeding. Of the 140 TIEs deployed, almost 120 were destroyed, and the rest were dispersed or retreating. A handful of Interceptors regrouped near the ISD Fury, only to be caught in the expanding blast wave as the destroyer took a MAC shell to its ventral engines.
Between the ships
The Harbinger followed up with a crossbow barrage and unlike the UNSC vessel, the star destroyers were woefully under equipped for such threats as the imperial point defences or lack thereof blasted away impotently as the missiles streaked across the void and impacted onto the hull of the Fury blasting Gaping holes into the hull of the once proud ship , . Sparks and fires begin to erupt from the breach, and the ship burned
As the Fury faltered, the vengeance retaliates. A full barrage of turbolasers lances across the gap, hitting the Harbinger in quick succession. The cruiser's shields crack, and the ship shudders violently under the barrage, but the thick Titanium armour of the heavy cruiser holds but a few turbolasers burned through the armour covering the MAC coils, damaging them and rendering them inoperable
The Harbinger's crew works in unison, powering up its secondary Batteries and fired, spitfires and renegaded peppered the Vengeance to little effect but... its a principle
the Harbinger begins to falter under the strain of the Imperial onslaught, metres of armour begins melting away entire sections of the hull are blasted open yet the ship remains operational due to the honeycombed structure that had been made mandatory on all UNSC ships
But surely, but slowly the Harbinger was losing, its gun turrets slagged by intense fire, more and more of its hull burned away
but as this happened, three burning holes appeared in the void as blocky shapes tear through them
UNSC reinforcements arrive—a squadron of three Paris class heavy Frigates, .
and they roar
three 600 ton Ferric Tungsten shells tear through space at a quarter of the speed of light impacting the Vengeance, for its part the shields of the Vengeance make already weakened make a valiant if futile attempt at stopping the slugs
The first round is stopped and bounces of into space, The second embeds itself deep into the armour of the destroyer, the third tears straight through the ship 'De-spining' it and leaving it to explode as the reactors went critical
At the end the Harbinger is left damaged badly it has lost almost all of its weapon systems and 75% of its armour is gone but in the first battle of a war that could change the galaxy, the UNSC has scored first blood
The Empire, having lost two of its Star Destroyers withdraws to reassess their strategy in the region. Their retreat is not a sign of defeat but a temporary regrouping, aware that the UNSC has proven capable of pushing back against their overwhelming might.
The UNSC, meanwhile, now faces the reality of what it has unleashed. The war is no longer a matter of skirmishes. It is an open conflict. The first shots of a broader war have been fired, and both sides now brace for the consequences of the skirmish.
On Caelestis, the embassies buzz with tension. The UNSC's resolve has been proven, but the Empire is not known for its mercy. In the wake of the battle, diplomatic negotiations have collapsed, leaving only the promise of more bloodshed.
The Rebel Alliance, emboldened by the UNSC's success, quietly begins to make plans for further collaboration with the Terrans. But it is clear that the balance of power in the Andromeda galaxy has shifted.
The skirmish has opened a new chapter. The UNSC and the Empire have crossed the point of no return, and war is now inevitable. The Rebels, sensing an opportunity to strike against the Empire, will play a dangerous game of diplomacy and subversion. The UNSC, now firmly entrenched in Andromeda, will make its own plans to solidify its presence—and perhaps become the ultimate power in the galaxy.
The next phase is uncertain. But the first shots have been fired, and the galaxy will never be the same.