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The Nature of Predators 161
🕑 Added 2023-10-16 11:00:03 +0000 UTCMemory transcription subject: Onso, Yotul Technical Specialist
Date [standardized human time]: March 23, 2137
The march to Aafa defied expectations, with the lack of open confrontation we faced.
The Kolshian Commonwealth had a vast expanse of territory; as the original founder, their most storied colonies predated the Federation itself. Their population had necessitated spreading out across the stars, so even after a hypothetical conquest of Aafa, it would have to be seen whether the scattered billions would surrender. The tentacled bastards used every system of their official twenty light-year territory bubble, which was how their manufacturing power was so absurd. It was also why I expected us to be stopped by border outposts like the Gojids had…but those sat unguarded, with only automated turrets and lasers left behind. The stationary targets could be picked off at little risk to us.
Within inhabited systems, FTL disruptors were running, which impeded our journey. We chose the pathing that traveled by the fewest settlements, but were forced to burn days in sublight travel. Wary of the Kolshians using humanity’s tricks against us, we kept our own anti-FTL signals online; the last thing we needed was asteroids being warped atop us, or ships leaping right into the center of our ranks. It might’ve been possible to take the colony worlds, except that Kolshian bombers were clustered around their own planets. What was the point of that? I grasped that they only cared to defend Aafa, but this maneuver must’ve been with the intention to paint humanity as butchers.
Perhaps it’s a bluff, but even if we got the UN to agree to glass the colonies, it’d waste our munitions. Maybe it’s some cold-blooded sacrifice to tilt the scales at the main event. Taking the outpost worlds by foot isn’t viable, when we’ll be lucky to successfully occupy Aafa.
I couldn’t imagine how the Kolshians on the ground felt, seeing their own government using them as hostages. Several humans suspected a trap in the planet’s bounds, whether it be from planet-to-surface munitions, kamikaze bombers, or hidden orbital defenses. We opted to stick to the mission parameters, and limit our engagements before Aafa. I couldn’t help but notice the barebones defenses by the backwaters, with patrols seeming to be canceled. Was the Commonwealth planning to go out with a glorious last stand? Had the cutoff from over 200 allies caused them to conserve their numbers for their home system?
Whatever the reason for the quiet deployment, it felt like the calm before the storm. It was strange that they’d expended so much manpower on failed boarding ambushes, though as the galaxy’s most populous species, lives seemed to have little proportional value to them. The Kolshians knew we wanted to occupy their world, so targeting manned ships would mean those vessels needed repairs. What was the point of stalling our advance beforehand if they weren’t impeding us in surrounding systems now? I couldn’t figure out what their angle was, but they’d been buying time for something.
“Well, this is it.” I verified the sensor calibrations, as we dropped outside the FTL disruptors around Aafa’s system. “I’ll have a read on how many ships they have soon. Ralchi, I hope it’s not millions. They’ve always been hiding their true capacity.”
“What if it is millions? Carlos can’t exactly say ‘Shoot them all’ to that,” Sovlin grumbled.
Carlos scrunched his face in confusion. “Uh, why not?”
“Do we have the fucking ammunition for that? Even this atavist Yotul can count bullets.”
Samantha swept her auburn hair out of her eyes. “We’ve been planning to get these fuckers for a long time. Time to fix the galaxy’s crazy alien problem. I’ve got a bullet with Melbourne’s name on it for the first Kolshian to walk in my sights.”
“Likewise, I’m doing this for Leirn. We cleared those colonizers off our planet once,” I said. “There’s nothing you can do to these bastards that would match the thousand-year sum of their evil.”
Tyler snorted. “First, I don’t disagree, but it’s not the damn Olympics. Before ya aliens ask, that’s a big athlete contest with the shiny medals and the swimmers and the hurdles—”
“We didn’t ask.”
“Huh, that’s rich comin’ from the living geyser of fun facts. See, much better name for him than atavist, Sovlin.”
“Hmph. If I have to fight alongside a total barbarian, I’m glad it’s this one,” the Gojid admitted. “I never would’ve imagined how much I’d care about a Yotul and literal fucking predators when I turned myself in. Though you all leave much to be desired, you’re my crew.”
Samantha glowered at him. “I don’t know why I expect a racist war criminal to give proper compliments, but you’re making me glad we’re about to see action. Please dole out some ‘now shut the fuck up’ orders, Officer Cardona.”
“Fine, listen up, here’s what I need handled. Onso, numbers. Sovlin, tactical suggestions,” Tyler barked. “Good luck. Y’all know what we’re up against. The squiddies got home field advantage and they’re packing heat. We scrounged up over 100K of our own ships, so that’s the good shit. But it’s us, a smaller number of Yotul Technocracy ships we could bring in, and another bit of Sapient Coalition padding. There’s been calls to other powers, but…”
“We don’t have them now,” Carlos sighed. “It’ll be alright. Whatever they have waiting for us, I know tactics are on our side.”
“Well, we haven’t unlocked an infinite ammo glitch in reality, so tactics won’t matter if they’ve got us too outgunned. Plasma has to recharge, and the rest of our munitions ain’t gonna replenish on the fly. Onso, do you have the enemy’s numbers?”
I straightened my ears, waiting for the inconclusive blips to solidify into a proper count. Our glide had almost brought us within visual range of the nearest ships, but there was a larger formation scattered through the system. Orbital ring by orbital ring, it became clear the Kolshians hadn’t left any stop along the way uncovered. Pushing through to Aafa itself would mean vanquishing a brutal onslaught at every step, and I couldn’t imagine other surprises weren’t lurking for us. My readout sourced data from our vast array of vessels, running predictive analysis to fill in the gaps from vague, far-off points. My ears pinned back in unease, as I watched the total number of hostiles climb. Worst of all, a solid chunk of the foes in our vicinity couldn’t be matched to known shadow fleet markers.
There were an estimated ninety-six thousand vessels from the manned, public Kolshian armada, and over two hundred thousand that were shadow fleet: a jaw-dropping number that dwarfed our attack force. However, I was watching the full enemy tally climb past five hundred thousand before it leveled off; the computer didn’t buy that the rest were Commonwealth-made. It racked its data banks for other alternatives, including the simplest possibility that some of their two hundred allies had come, despite the catastrophic cyberattacks. Yet the homogeneity of the ships suggested it was a single entity, which led my brain to a startling possibility.
Which parties in the galaxy have that many ships? I’d assume it was the Arxur Dominion, except that I don’t see how the grays could’ve been persuaded to fight alongside Federation prey.
“Let’s start with the easy news, while it’s running a search for more comprehensive analysis,” I said. “We’re looking at about five hundred thousand hostiles in system.”
Tyler narrowed his eyes. “That’s the easy news?”
“Well, it’s not a million ships like Sovlin was afraid of.”
Sovlin waved his claws angrily. “Oh, half a million ships, that’s so much better. Wait, what if Onso applied sensor filters by mistake? Maybe he’s overselling it.”
“The very first time we worked together, you accused me of that same shit. My work is damn good, good as any human here. If you can’t see that, you’re the neverpouched primitive.”
“I’m sorry, who was the captain of a warship? Who’s trusted for tactical advice?”
“Captain Monahan?”
“Technically, that’s a correct answer, wiseass,” Samantha laughed. “I don’t see a problem. We beat ‘em with numerical odds against us many times over, ‘cause the best minds are on our team. How is this any different?”
Carlos scowled at his fellow guard. “This is it. Every trick they have up their sleeves, they’re going to use on us. We expect some of those plays to be dirty as fuck. They also have defensive fortifications to support their ships all across the system; there’s a reason the plan is to manually take over their moon’s orbital defenses. The brass must think we can’t get close enough with bombers.”
I flinched as my console flashed, confirming my suspicions. “I’ll tell you what else is different. Two hundred thousand of the ships are from the Arxur Dominion.”
“What?!” Tyler hissed.
Sovlin’s spines bristled with dangerous lividness. “Those fucking…the heartless grays do know who starved them, right? And after everything the Arxur did to us, to the herd, Aafa is working paw in paw with them? It wasn’t enough that this all started because of the Federation; they have to keep it going? I know our suffering means fuck all to them, but the grays and the Kolshians really are one and the same!”
“Keep your head, Captain Racism. We know there’s no bar that’s too low for them. I can’t say I expected this, but I also think the Dominion is less dangerous than the shadow fleet. We still have a mountain to climb…but it’s now or never. When the other two hundred species get back on their feet…”
“Those numbers would be a million plus,” I finished. “Insurmountable. Channel your anger, Sovlin, and use it to kill them all.”
The Gojid gritted his teeth. “With pleasure. It’s time to correct my final mistake: years of service to this lying, Sivkit-brained Federation.”
“What’s your tactical input?” Tyler questioned.
“Sir, I feel that we should target these Dominion ships. No, this isn’t solely due to my personal vendetta with those bastards. They’re manned ships, but ones that are more competent than the Kolshian crewed vessels; it’ll keep us clear of the lights-out drones too. Our weapons have the advantage, so we can cut the grays down to size.”
“Onso, do you agree?”
I masked my surprise at having my opinion solicited. “I do agree. I don’t know what these Dominion crews were told, but I’m sure several aren’t thrilled with their present alliance. There appears to be a group massing by the nearby gas giant, attempting to spring an ambush if we leave them be. We don’t want to lose their signatures, and have gravity fields muddy the waters.”
“Then I’ll advise the captain; she’ll handle coordination with our allies. Find us a prime target on sensors, Onso, and center the viewport on them.”
“Consider it done.”
As Tyler strolled over to Monahan’s post, I brewed in my unvoiced doubts over our numerical disadvantage. It seemed like we didn’t have enough ships to take the system, under the circumstances; the best option might’ve been to circle back, and avoid a confrontation that was slanted so heavily against us. However, another part of my brain knew this was the best that the odds were going to get. Now that the Federation wasn’t donning the guise of a peaceful organization, they could crank out more ships than humanity could with the sheer scale of their empire. If we let the Kolshians have time to get new manufacturing plants off the ground, there was no way for the Terrans to match it.
It's impressive how quickly humanity ramped up their shipmaking capacity, putting Earth’s entire industrial might into overdrive; going from zero battleworthy craft to thousands upon thousands, whether by slapping drives on donations from allies or by splicing drones together from scratch. That said, it’s now or never for taking Aafa…and hopefully, the Federation…down.
Tyler gave me a confident nod upon his return; my selection had been a Dominion bomber that was showing battle scars on its hull. Much like our own, the enemy craft had undergone repairs, but nothing could truly be put back to the same quality after it was broken. Other sections of our invading fleet were designated to separate tasks. Yotul Technocracy ships were joining Terran drone advances on shadow fleet hideouts, pushing deeper into the system. The meager assortment of Sapient Coalition forces were challenging Kolshian-crewed ships, pitting the two weakest links against each other. That last one seemed like a tossup of who stampeded first, though I supposed it was derisive to think that way.
“Small laser station powering up from within the ring debris,” I barked, spotting the warning on my screen.
Captain Monahan pursed her lips. “Don’t deviate from our present course. Lock plasma fire on the Dominion hostile, and prepare for evasive maneuvers if we’re fired upon.”
As our powerful railguns faced off against the Dominion’s pair, I trusted that we had the edge on range, while lacking recharge speed and anti-evasion measures. The true advantage was the shield-breaking missiles, which were dumped into the gas giant-adjacent enemies. Unless the Kolshians had done something so reckless as passing along their replicated technology to the Arxur, the grays wouldn’t have an answer. Unshielded foes were forced to pirouette behind cover of the planet’s rings, where ice particles and small rocks absorbed several beams. We didn’t have a clean shot, while they could pick their angle from a strategic location.
To make us feel more surrounded, station-based lasers torched a path through Terran ships; they had enough energy to cut through several of our craft, shields and all, with a single blow. Our advance turned to address the troublesome planetary defenses, chucking any high-yield bombs we had in the station’s direction. Its defenses were able to cause some premature detonations, though the indirect exposure was enough to clear its surrounding debris. That left a clean ticket for an antimatter munition to punch through, blowing the installation to Ralchi’s domain. While we’d been able to mop up that issue, I could see why larger versions around Aafa would be a major problem. The Kolshian homeworld must be a fortress.
The Arxur picked the perfect location to set up shop, and compensate for their weaknesses. They might be lazy in the present day, but they’re not stupid; there’s no question why they’ve been able to terrorize the galaxy for centuries.
“We still have a long way to go after this, sir,” Sovlin advised Tyler, amid nerve-wracked claw chewing. “They’ve been able to mitigate their losses, and we’ve taken some hits. If they whittle us down at this rate, all the way to Aafa…we won’t make it. We need to rethink our strategy; I don’t know, figure out why the Dominion is working with the Federation at all? I fucking hate the idea of working with them, but I don’t see how we can take them on; turning them might be the best tactical advice I can give.”
Officer Cardona looked surprised by that suggestion. “Thank you for your objectivity, Sovlin. Intelligence back home has been apprised of the Dominion’s arrival, but we don’t have enough information to try any outreach yet. I’ll be candid with you all; we could use double the ships at our disposal to have a viable chance. Wish we’d got more than 38 fucking allies, ‘cause it’s real David vs Goliath.”
“Real…what?”
“Little guy vs big guy. We just have to keep fighting, and pray for a turnaround. We’ll take Aafa…or die trying. That might be bleak, but it's God's honest truth.”
With those ominous words hanging in the air, I felt inertial dampeners rushing to keep up as we zigzagged; dodging plasma required constant surveillance of target locks and inbound munitions. Interceptors deployed in front of us, as an enemy missile homed in on us. Weapons had only just gotten our plasma back online, having to rely on kinetic turrets in the downtime. We fired off another shot, and a glancing plasma response from the Dominion caused a slight dip in our shielding. Finding cover was the best way to hold our own. The Terran fleet had deployed a few barrier walls to replicate the gas giant ring’s advantage, but those could only absorb a few hits. It was nothing compared to millions of fragments, created by nature, to hide within.
I squinted at the sensor screen for any useful insights to pass along, and my tail drooped as I spotted ship activity from the edge of the system. The Kolshians had more vessels at the ready, warping in to encircle us? It had looked like they vacated every outpost or colony garrison in their possession, but I supposed that had been a trick as well. While our Terran comrades had left a rearguard, anticipating this strategy, we were already stretched thin against half a million defenders. The idea of juggling more combatants and flanks would put an even greater strain on our resources. As much as I’d been excited to take the fight to the Federation, I wasn’t sure this was a battle we could win, if the enemy still had more resources to summon.
“Onso, you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost,” Tyler growled.
I attempted to correct my downcast expression, but my body language stayed deflated. “I did: ours. I’m counting thirty thousand new Dominion signatures, freshly warped in at the edge of the FTL disruptor boundary. For every few we cut down, they could just bring in more. There’s no telling how many ships they really have.”
“That changes things. We have to win this fight, but no commander would advocate suicide for our fleet. If the other side’s true numbers are still in question, this battle is already lost. I’ll bring this to Monahan’s attention, and maybe, like Sovlin said, we do have to rethink our strategy. I hope we can find another way…I’ll keep you apprised.”
I ducked my head in acceptance, and watched the primate hustle over to the captain to impart the worrisome message. Optimism was becoming a colossal struggle, as we swerved across the battlefield to maintain our very lives. Once we found a path to cut through the Dominion’s ring fortress, I had faith that we could start pushing our momentum in this arena. The question was how many engagements we could survive before our fleet collapsed under the pressure; if tons of enemy reinforcements were sitting on the sidelines, getting to Aafa might be too much of a hurdle for even humanity to surpass.
A/N - The Battle of Aafa begins! The Kolshians pulled their forces away from colonies and territories, leading to a central confrontation at the heart of it all. The Arxur Dominion has brought in hundreds of thousands of ship to fight humanity, at the Federation's side no less, and Onso's ship tries to flush the first band out of gas giant ring cover. However, that's when more Dominion ships appear at the edge of the system...
With the enemy fleet already at half a million strong, do the new contacts mean these numbers are even higher? How can humanity have a fighting chance to break through to Aafa?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
Nul Atlas
I feel so our of touch since I stopped like right around this chapter
Kirkland Clark
One thing, I’d love to see humans use satellite war tech in a much more offensive manner. Hacking into Commonwealth and Dominion ship systems to be able to result in a reactor explosion as a frontline attack rather than a surgical strike… or, and I might be messed up for this, the hack releases the airlocks of entire battle groups, venting atmosphere and crew out into space to then, puppet the ship autonomously against the other vessels…
Space Paladin
I don’t think I ever thought about that to be honest!
extraintelligence
It was Japan's turn, but they were once again cancelled, a sure sign that Earth is about to experience a global conflict.
Hey, SP, now that you've brought it up in canon, here's a silly question that's been bugging me for a while: which city hosted the 2136 Summer Olympics?
