[Friday, October 1]

My birthday party last night was a complete bust. Usually, everyone has a great time, and it’s a huge party day systemwide, but with what happened, well, you can see how it would go.

I have an announcement to make today. I refused to do so last night as I was thinking, ‘Why not let the citizens have the night to party and have a lot of fun. Tomorrow is soon enough to tell them about the message.’

After we got home, I couldn’t sleep, and my mind wandered over many subjects, but for some reason, my thoughts kept coming back to one thing. The battle in Tau Ceti. It was very close to being a pyrrhic victory for us because so many ships were heavily damaged.

Which brought to mind how well our Archers and Makos did against them, though something like them with a heavier punch would be better. I.e. Smaller and more nimble than a frigate, but nearly the same firepower and defensive shielding. So, with that in mind, Freya and I sat down in my office and designed a new class of jump-capable strike fighters. Just imagine a flight of them jumping into a system right on top of their target, hitting them hard, and then jumping back out.

F-60 Ares class Heavy Strike Fighters.
65 m x 30 m.
Max acceleration: 1000 g
Jump Capable: Yes - 1.1627 light-years per day.
Crew complement: 1, plus AI.
Armaments:
1 10cm 3-barrel nose-mounted 10-gigawatt laser cannon.
1 25mm 6-barrel nose-mounted antimatter Gatling gun.
2 50mm 6-barrel wing-mounted antimatter Gatling gun.
2 CIWS 50mm turret-mounted Gatling gun/6-barrel 5 gigawatt pulse laser mounted dorsally and ventrally.
40 multi-role antimatter missiles and internally 100 1 kiloton bombs or 70 multi-role antimatter missiles.
Defensive shielding:
Primary: 40 Mark IV multi-layer phase-synchronized shield emitters.
Backup: 40 Mark IV multi-layer phase-synchronized shield emitters.

I think a few hundred wings of heavily armed and defended strike fighters could do massive amounts of damage and sow confusion behind their lines, in addition to helping to defend the Sol and Beta Hydri systems. And lest we forget, they have us beat hands down in tonnage of ships as well as in manpower, so this will go a long way to quickly offsetting that advantage of theirs.

Once we finish, I have Freya send the designs to Erica along with a note for her to have the ship design teams look over the plans, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, she’s to get them into production as fast as possible. Then I head off to bed to try to get a little rest before my announcement this afternoon.

　◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

Sitting behind my desk as Yui counts down to zero, she points to me.

Calmly, I begin, “Good afternoon, citizens of the Sol system.

“As many of you have probably already heard, we received a video from our enemy last night. The video is available online for anyone to see. We have no idea what they said in it, but I feel that it’s a declaration of war.

“I had hopes that we could neutralize their military, take down their government, and remove their ability to wage war, though it was a slim hope considering how aggressive they are. Yet, I held on to that hope that we could win this war without massive losses of life on both sides. As I watched that video last night, my gut feeling told me that wouldn’t be possible.

“As much as I detest the thought of this, this is now a war of extermination. I have no doubt in my mind that if we do not utterly defeat them, they will wipe out every man, woman, and child in the Sol system.

“I’m as horrified by the thought of that as I am sure you are. I had thought mankind was finally done with war. The Sol system was at peace for the first time in our history. I had a vision of humanity spreading out through the universe, always looking to meet other intelligent species and becoming friends, trading, and learning from each other.

“The mere thought that we may have to wipe them from the universe sickens me as much as it does you. However, I will do anything, let me repeat that again, I will do anything it takes to safeguard humanity. If that means me having to order their species to be exterminated and their planets to be burnt to cinders, I will do so, even though God may eternally damn my soul to Hell for doing it. Nevertheless, I’ll willingly make that decision, whatever it may cost me personally. I swore an oath to God to protect and defend humanity, and I will do just that to the best of my ability until I’ve drawn my last breath.

“May God bless each and every one of you during these trying times.”

Once the camera is off, I look at Yui as tears begin to fill my eyes. “After this war, Hitler is going to be considered a saint compared to me.”

[Wednesday, October 6]

It took DTI’s design team less than two days to go over our design, making only minor changes. Then Erica sent it off to a couple of hundred of the several hundred fighter factories with orders to finish the fighters they are working on, then begin producing the F-60’s.

I’m taking a day for myself, relaxing beside the pool with my family, Jenny, Mark, Anne, George, Yui, and Bob, when Freya announces, “Sora?”

“Yes, Freya?”

“Thanos contacted me just now, and he believes they’ve deciphered the aliens’ language.”

I sigh. “So much for relaxing,” I murmur. “Alright, Freya. Please, contact the cabinet members and have them meet me in the conference room in an hour.”

“Certainly, Sora.”

Standing up, I kiss Chinatsu and Ryu. “Duty calls. Love you.” Then I call out, “Anne, Jenny, you need to get changed as well.”

　◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

Anne and Jenny are waiting for me beside the stairs when I come down. We make our way to the conference room and find everyone already there.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” I say as I make my way to my chair. Once I seat myself, I continue. “Freya told me an hour ago that the alien language has been deciphered, so without further ado: Freya, play the video with translation, please.”

Freya mutes the audio and narrates while also providing a written translation of the text on the screen as the video begins.

“I am Shi-Da, the first priestess of Empress Kel-Hu of the Alkarin. I am speaking to the animals who call themselves Humans. You have violated our territory, yet again. This time killing many of our sisters, daughters, and mothers using dishonorable styles of combat.

“I, in the name of Empress Kel-Hu, hereby declare war upon you animals. We shall not rest until all of you animals are wiped from the face of the universe. We so swear upon the blood of our peoples.”

The video ends, and I look around at their tight expressions. “Well… It’s just as we thought, and we have a name for our enemy now, Alkarins.” I focus on Jason. “Jason, as much as I don’t want to order this, I want all commanders to show this to their troops and inform them of what’s at stake. How long until Goliath is ready?”

“Most likely a couple of weeks, but no later than the end of the month. The engineers are performing the integration tests.”

“Good. We’re going to need her sooner rather than later. How are we doing regarding the defense upgrades for HPS, LSS, and the Arc?”

“The last report I saw stated that the crews were about 20% finished with the Arc. HPS and LSS have been refitted with the new armor, additional shields, and more weapons.”

“And Mars?”

“They’re behind schedule. They don’t have the manpower needed to perform the upgrades in a timely manner.”

“Then offer double wages to construction crews on Earth for them to go to Mars and perform the work. Jason, whatever it takes, do it. We need those defenses completed as soon as possible.” I look at Dave. “Dave, where are we with the antimatter collection stations?”

“All 20 existing stations have been retrofitted, and 9 of the 30 new stations are online.”

“Speed that up, if you can. We’re going to need all the antimatter we can get our hands on, figuratively speaking, that is.” I look at Zoya next. “Zoya, status on breaking the encryption on those data cores?”

“Polus is having a hard time with it, but maybe now that Thanos deciphered their language, it will speed things along.”

I nod. “Ladies and gentlemen, I realize these are stressful times, and it just got even more so. Keep up the good work, keep a brave face for the public, and keep your people working. We still have a long way to go before we can truly go on the offensive against the Alkarin. None of us wanted this, but here we are, and we have to deal with this as best we can. May God have mercy on us all.”

I immediately turn on my heel and leave the room as tears once again fill my eyes, threatening to spill over. Moments later, Jenny catches up with me, grabs my arm, and holds me close as she rubs my back. “Sora, you didn’t have a choice, the Alkarin didn’t give you one,” she murmurs.

“I know, but that doesn’t make it any easier to kill an entire species,” I quietly reply as I slip my arms around her.

[Thursday, October 7 - 0621 hrs]

Captain James Jameson, or JJ as he was known to his friends, was in high orbit of Jupiter onboard the supercarrier, HMS Bombay, sparring with another supercarrier group when the alert came through the defense satellite network.

JJ immediately ordered a hold on all ships as he looked at the relayed information being displayed. First 1 target emerged in the heliosphere, then 15, then 83, and over the next few minutes, they added up to 3,050 targets. According to the readings, they range in size from carriers all the way down to frigates.

Turning to his comm officer, Ens. Denise Shelby, he calmly says, “Announce battle stations and order the Archers and Makos to land immediately.”

“Aye, aye, Sir,” she replies.

“Rolands, set a course to intercept and prepare for a jump. Air Boss, have the flight deck arm the planes and ready to launch them within 15 minutes. Shelby, contact CMCC, and tell them we’re prepared to intercept on their order and order the troop and assault carriers to withdraw to Mars orbit.”

A few moments later, she says, “Sir, there’s no need. We just received orders to intercept with the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th, 22nd, 25th, 26th, 27th, 29th, and 33rd supercarrier groups. Last I counted, they are sending an additional 20 carrier groups and 90 fast-action groups.”

“Rolands, how long?”

“79 seconds until the jump capacitors are fully charged, Sir.”

“Good. Shelby, relay our jump coordinates to the other battlegroups. I don’t want any intersections.”

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

“Fischer, arm the weapons and shields.”

“Sir, the battlegroup reports ready to jump on your command,” announces Shelby.

“Serena, I want you to take over the CIWS if they try to board us.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” replies Serena, the Bombay’s AI.

“Captain, we’re ready to jump on your command,” reports Rolands.

“Shelby, announce that all crewmembers are to deploy their armor and be armed. Then report to jump stations. Rolands, 30-second countdown for the battle group.”

Around the bridge, they deploy their armor. Then Rolands taps his console. “Jumping on my mark, thirty… twenty… ten… five… four… three… two… one… Jump!”

The Bombay’s battlegroup disappears into dimensional space and emerges moments later in the heliosphere directly in front of the Alkarin group. Within seconds, the 3,050 Alkarin ships are faced with 12 supercarriers, 360 carriers, 360 dreadnoughts, 900 battleships, 1,800 battlecruisers, 3,600 cruisers, 9,000 destroyers, and 18,000 frigates, along with 75,600 Archers and 60,000 Makos.

“Air Boss, launch the Archers and Makos. Fischer, network the battlegroup if you please. Shelby, tell the battlegroup to join the tactical network, to go weapons-free, and to fire at designated targets. The Makos are to concentrate on their capital ships. Alright, people, time to show these bitches that they seriously screwed up by coming to visit. Let’s clear them out.”

A very large group of spacecraft much larger than his fighters and unlike any JJ has ever seen before suddenly appears, streaking through the battlegroup on a direct heading for the Alkarins. “Serena, who and what the hell are those?” he demands.

“Those are the F-60, jump capable strike fighters, Captain. IFF reports that it’s the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Strike Fighter Air Divisions.”