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AN: I’ve been asked about this in PM several times, so I suppose I should explain the coordinate system used for navigating. I’m sure that everyone is basically familiar with the X, Y, and Z coordinate system, also called a Cartesian coordinate system.

I’ve based my setup of this off galactic center for travel between systems. The galactic center is also used as the north point, and the system’s star, or main star, is the origin, or ‘O’, point for intrasystem travel.

As this shows you need a start point, or O point, which is the system star or galactic center.
X or -X, Y or -Y, and Z or -Z, otherwise known as octants, to get to any point in space. Said points are going to be shown as (x, y, z) or written out as X by Y by Z.

Coordinates are measured in parsecs, or AUs, which is about 150 million kilometers.

One other thing to note. Ships can also be used as an O point when they are changing direction of travel while in normal space. So if they are in system and the captain calls for a change of direction, then the X, Y, Z is still based off of galactic north, but the origin point is the ship itself.

Hope this helps.

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After Admiral Brown’s statement, I ask Ke-Vol, “Would you mind taking a seat in the waiting room? I’d like to have a conversation with you after this.”

“I’d be happy to, Your Majesty.”

Jason escorts Ambassador Ke-Vol out of the conference room and then returns. A half-hour later, Admiral Brown has orders to send supplies and a relief fleet to Albin, along with my promise that we’ll continue with the planning session tomorrow. The meeting breaks up after that, and I follow them out to collect Ke-Vol.

“Come with me, Ambassador.”

It sickens me that the Alkarin Empress has basically recreated the Alkarins as slaves, and I’d like to do something about it if I can.

Jason and another carry her chair out of the conference room to my office, and we take a seat.

“Ambassador, may I call you Ke-Vol?” She nods. “Excellent. May I offer you something to drink?”

“Thank you, My Queen. I’ve come to enjoy something you call black tea.”

“Certainly.” Leaning forward, I tap the coffee table and ask Akari, “Would you be kind enough to bring us a pot of black tea with two cups, please?”

She replies, “Of course.”

Returning my attention to Ke-Vol, I decide to make small talk while we wait for our tea, and ask, “So, how are you enjoying your time on Earth so far?”

“From what I’ve seen, Earth is lovely, and the people I’ve met treat me much better than I expected with a war going on.”

“Mmm~ True, but so far, all you’ve dealt with are my people. The general population might be frightened or angry if they met you right now.”

Akari brings in our tea, makes each of us a cup, and sets it on the coffee table in front of us.

“That… I can understand how they would react that way to me. I’d never hurt any of them, even in self-defense; we, the worker class, just don’t have the ability, or propensity, to do violence.”

“Humans are rather different from you. We, as a species, can be quite violent, suspicious of anything or anyone different, and as a general rule, are quick to anger.

“Warfare is something we’re quite good at since we’ve been fighting each other forever. It wasn’t until I took power that our world was finally at peace for the first time in our history. That changed with the Alkarin attack on our scout ship in Tau Ceti, your home system. We do not take being attacked lightly, and swift retribution is pretty much guaranteed.

“On the other hand, we can be generous, kind, and great friends to have on your side. This brings me to why I wanted to talk to you privately. I have one question for you, and be assured, no matter what you say, we’ll stand by you. Do you want our scientists to see if there is a way to reverse the genetic changes your Empress made?”

She looks at me thoughtfully for a minute and finally says, “First, she is no longer our Empress. When we surrendered to you, you became our ruler. You alone decide our fate, and we will carry out your wishes.

“Secondly, about your question. I don’t see how the genetic changes can be reversed since there is no longer any genetic baseline for the scientists to go by. Furthermore, we’re quite happy with how we are, whether it was the Empress’s doing or not.

“However, we do have samples of male Alkarin DNA that one of our physicians has had passed down to her, so if we could, we’d appreciate being able to use them to bring back the males of our species. We need your approval to do so, though.”

I don’t even have to think about the answer. “You have my permission, although I scarcely think you need it. You have every right to preserve your species.”

“Thank you, My Queen. You have no idea how much this will mean to us. I’ve said it before, but you are our ruler now, yes, we needed your permission.”

Sighing internally, I merely nod in response, then state, “Be that as it may, I expect your planet to create their own planetary government and conduct themselves in accordance with the Commonwealth charter, understood?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“I’m going to push for your admittance to the Commonwealth as a member state, but that may take some time, and I can guarantee that Congress will have a lot of very pointed questions for you before they call for a vote on your admission. Are you up to the task?”

She makes an odd gesture with her hands and head, which I take to be a shrug. We really need to appoint some Kinesicists to study Alkarin body language. Too much of what is said is nonverbal and usually tells someone more than words do. Plus, it’ll help us understand them better.

“We shall have to wait and see whether I am or not. Either way, it’s something that needs to be done for the good of Albin and our people.”

I nod. “Don’t worry, I plan to be with you during your hearings throughout the process as much as my duties permit. Hopefully, my presence will forestall the, uh, shall we say, more belligerent members of Congress… Now, what do you say we take a tour of my island?”

“I’d be delighted, My Queen.”

“Good.” I look at Jason. “Make the arrangements, please. We’ll head out after lunch.” He nods, and I return my attention to Ke-Vol. “I assume you have no issue with joining me for lunch?”

[Tuesday, August 18]

A fleet of 25 supercarrier battle groups along with 20 medical ships, 50 supply ships, and 10 transport ships of food and construction supplies, and several construction battalions bound for Epsilon Eridani have assembled at Mars L5, and jumped out for the system.

Their orders are to relieve the supercarrier groups currently on station in the system, to assist in rebuilding the cities, and defend Albin. By proclamation, Albin is now a Commonwealth protectorate.

[Saturday, August 28]

The crews report back on board their ships to begin their pre-deployment workup between Jupiter and Saturn while the ground troops train on Mars.

[Saturday, November 11]
07:00 UTC

The commanders of the HMS Colossus and Goliath, along with the Captains of the battle fleets, supercarrier groups, and the commander of the ground forces are all seated in a large conference room in HighPoint Station.

Everyone present stands up and comes to attention as Admiral Melanie Brown walks on stage heading to the podium.

She smiles at everyone and states, “Good morning. You may be seated.

“First off, I’m sure that most of you are aware that the redesign of the scout ships has been completed. They’ve been designated as Phantom class stealth reconnaissance ships, and we’ve deployed 16 of them to Sigma Draconis to gather intel on what the Alkarin have in the system. The amount of ships they have in the system is intimidating, to say the least. The people in this room represent the greatest collection of firepower ever deployed in human history. Even with that, you are facing a daunting task.”

She taps the podium, and a screen comes to life behind her, showing a list of ship classes and numbers of them that far outstrips that of the Commonwealth fleet being deployed.

“As you can see, you will be outclassed in tonnage and amount of ships, fighters, and troops. However, we still outclass them in offensive and defensive capabilities, but that doesn’t mean that this will be a walkover. As the saying goes, quantity has a quality of its own. You’ll be facing odds of 7 to 1.”

A murmur flows throughout the room, and she nods. “I understand your concerns. What they have in the system makes this seem to be a herculean task, maybe even bordering on suicide, but the Queen and command are not in the habit of sending people on unwinnable missions. Persephone’s simulations of the engagements show that it’s going to be a costly battle for the system, both in ships and in troops. Yet, in every single one of the simulations, the commonwealth comes out on top.

“In most of her simulations, the best course of action has been splitting our forces and making them divide theirs to respond to us. People, we will be taking the initiative, and we will not relinquish it to the Alkarins.”

She again taps the podium, and the image changes to a tactical system map of Sigma Draconis with two points highlighted in green.

“After innumerable simulations, Persephone and I have come up with a basic plan for deployment. The Goliath will jump into the system at 0° North and Colossus at 180° system South, both at 100 AUs. This should give them quite a surprise since all reports from the Phantoms indicate that the Alkarin are deployed in several points around the system along the plane of the ecliptic.”

She taps the podium again, this displaying many red icons on the screen as well.

“The bulk of their fleet seems to be stationed in and around the habitable planet they’ve named, A’Noth. There are also several mining colonies and bases around the system.

“The basic plan is to whittle them down with hit and run attacks. People, listen, we aren’t in any hurry here. Preserving our forces is the primary goal rather than taking the system quickly. The Alkarin forces are tied up in Tau Ceti, so reinforcements are highly unlikely. In addition to the 500 strike fighter divisions already assigned to your PAG’s, we’ve decided to send another 250 divisions.

“Admiral Abrams will be in overall command of the PAG’s since she has experience in fighting the Alkarin. Finally, we’re sure you’ll have to adjust your tactics once there. The Alkarin have proven to be quite resilient, so don’t expect them to react the same way every single time. Any questions, or comments?” She looks around the room. “Then, you’re dismissed. The jump is scheduled for 21:00 hours. That will give you and your people time to wrap things up and get into position. Good hunting, and good luck, people.”

[21:01 UTC]
[Mars L5]

2 planetary assault ships, 40 supercarriers, 1,800 carriers, 1,800 dreadnoughts, 4,500 battleships, 9,000 assault carriers, 4,500 troop carriers, 9,000 battlecruisers, 18,000 cruisers, 45,000 destroyers, 90,000 frigates, 150,000 strike fighters, 412,000 fighters, 336,000 fighter/bombers, 7,428,000 dropships, 14,000 heavy bombers, 2,708,000 gunships, 4,000 transports and 230,640,000 armored troops and Marines, along with 150 attached rescue/medical ships and an additional 75,000 strike fighters jump out of Sol system for the 23 day trip to Sigma Draconis.