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Chapter Nine
HNS Liberator
Somewhere in Hyperspace
21:47 New Daiamid AHL 06.15.21

The news from Hiigara had been less than good. Four of the hyperspace inhibitors that surrounded the Hiigara system had been destroyed, creating enough of a gap to let a huge fleet through at once. All of the ships that could be spared were being sent to Hiigara. The Republicans had sent twenty carrier battle groups to reinforce the Hiigaran fleet. But all knew that the Imperialists probably had even more ships than the Hiigaran and Republican Navies combined.

Only a few crewmen were awake on the ships in Lightning Fleet, as the men had been ordered to get as much rest as possible before the final battle. On Liberator, the corridors and weapons turrets were filled with the quiet humming of the ships drives. Only three crewmen were in the bridge, and four were overseeing the drives. They would be relieved after one and a half hour of duty by seven more people.

Commodore Edson was in his room drafting final reports before the Liberator exited hyperspace. He had already completed the recommendations for promotions that were due during the past three months of duty for his crew. Now Commodore Edson, and most of the other crewmen in Lightning Fleet, were drafting their will and last testament, in the likely event that they did not make it out of the battle alive. All of the documents would be transmitted to Hiigara’s surface when Lightning Fleet exited hyperspace.

LS Command Ship Revenge
Somewhere in Hyperspace
03:12 New Daiamid AHL 06.16.21

The clone of Emperor Riesstiu IV sat in a chair on the bridge of the Revenge. Unlike his predecessor, he was not one to remove himself from the people. Referring to himself as Riesstiu V, he actually spoke with Taiidani other than high ranking officers and other high government officials. And instead of basking in a sphere of nutrient fluid all of the time, he made speeches to the Taiidani people. Currently, he and his Grand Imperial Fleet were heading towards Hiigara. But few knew of the reason behind the Taiidan invasion of Hiigara three thousand years ago that had sparked the Homeworld War.

The cause of the Taiidan to keep on vying for control of Hiigara was simple. They once lived on Hiigara, as a species that had come from the stars. Their own world destroyed by a large storm of asteroids, the survivors had taken to the stars. They had come across a system with fairly primitive inhabitants, and had taken control. But they had not been harsh intruders; letting the native population coexist.

In time, the natives, who referred to themselves as the Kushan, acquired space faring technology from the Taiidan. Then, the undreamed happened. The Taiidan declared all Kushan inferior, and an infestation to be destroyed. The Kushan were taken by surprise, but fought back with determination. They annihilated an assembled Taiidan fleet in the orbit of Hiigara itself. The Kushan had led a crusade across the galaxy, and had the Taiidan besieged in two systems, when the Taiidan sued for peace.

The Kushan forgot the Taiidan after tens of generations, but the Taiidan never forgot the Kushan. Always dreaming of revenge, the Taiidan slowly amassed a large fleet from the meager resources in their small domain. They sacrificed one of their systems for the resources it contained, and soon created a large fleet, with every single member in their population except for the very young or very old in active service.

The Taiidan launched their invasion, and overwhelmed the Kushan Empire, which had virtually removed its military forces. In desperation, they constructed huge hyperspace inhibitors, but it was a mere waste of resources. The Taiidan fleet destroyed several inhibitors, and the fleet poured through the hole. The Kushan were sent into exile after a collective outcry of mercy by the entire galaxy. At least, this was the history preached by the Taiidani Imperials.

“How far are we from the Hiigaran system?” asked Riesstiu V.

“We have one day, thirteen hours, forty-one minutes, and twelve seconds standard time before hyperspace exit, my lord.”

“Good. We will teach the pathetic Exiles that they can never defeat us.”

HNS Liberator
Medium Hiigara Orbit
09:31 New Daiamid AHL 06.16.21

Lightning Fleet and the Kadesh had dropped out of hyperspace several hours ago, and were now orbiting Hiigara. All of the Kadesh were on a short visit to Hiigara, to give them a chance to enjoy their shared world before going off into battle.

Admiral Selquet commanded one of the Republican carrier groups sent to Hiigara. He and Commodore Edson had exchanged a brief communication, and both officers had gone back to readying their fleets.

Commodore Edson looked out of the bridge’s windows. Ships stretched out as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of frigates and super capital ships were in view. Yet this was merely par of the defensive force around Hiigara. His communications officer had informed him, by listening in on communications broadcasts between members of the New Daiamid, that there were around seven hundred ships from Hiigaran Navy units, two hundred fifty more from the Republican groups, and around one hundred fifty from the remaining Hiigaran Home Guard, along with a few dozen ships belonging to sympathetic mercenary and pirate groups. When added together, there were more than a thousand capital ships defending Hiigara. A thousand ships, thought Commodore Edson. The Imperialists would have a long and hard battle for Hiigara.

The civilian population was hunkered down in deep, underground bunkers. Volunteers from the civilians and regular ground forces were ready to oppose any land invasion that the Taiidan might attempt. Planetary defense cannons were poised to shoot down incoming landing barges, and atmospheric fighters patrolled Hiigara’s skies. And there were rumors of a secret defensive plan that would devastate any incoming fleet.

HNS Liberator
Medium Hiigaran Orbit
14:06 New Daiamid AHL 06.17.21

The crew of the Liberator was gathered in the mess hall, where a holographic image of the Kushan Sa was speaking.

“Our moment of glory is near. Some of us will give up their lives, not because they were forced to, but because they were willing. For the very survival of our race is at stake. And with the blessing of Holy Sajuuk, we shall prevail. We shall smite our enemy. Our forefathers look upon us to avenge them, and we shall not disappoint them! We will win!” With those words, the Kushan Sa concluded his daily speech to the soldiers both on the ground and in space. He could not have timed his speech any better, but this was unknown to him at the time.

New Daiamid
Hiigara
14:12 New Daiamid AHL 6.17.21

“Sir, we’re detecting a huge amount of hyperspace signatures in sphere-” began an officer.

“Commence Defense Plan Orange. We’ll show these fuckers what we can do,” replied the Kushan Sa.

Immediately, the word was transferred to the cloaked advanced gravity well generators positioned in a sphere around Hiigara. The advanced gravity well generators achieved a greater radius for their gravity well by increasing the size and the energy fed into the gravity generators. As expected, the Taiidan fleet emerged from the closest possible hyperspace entry point on all sides of Hiigara. The gravity well generators powered up, trapping the Imperialist fleet halfway in hyperspace. Both the cloak generators and the gravity well generators were remotely operated, thus allowing for the second part of the plan.

On Hiigara’s surface, Planetary Defense Siege Cannons were already raised from their underground silos. These were scaled up from the already powerful model used by the Inferno Siege Cannon Barge. Accompanying them was a large force of long-range missiles equipped with heavy plasma warheads, also mounted in underground silos. With the appropriate range entered, all of the Siege Cannons and missile silos opened fire. From space, Hiigara suddenly looked as if its crust was cracking open. Dozens of yellow fireballs and blue streaks rose through the atmosphere, and into the Imperialist fleet. The fleet above Hiigara had been ordered to stay clear of several vectors at all costs, so the Siege Cannons and missiles had a clear view of fire. As the rounds from the surface rose through the fleet, the Infernos around Hiigara also fired, adding their firepower to the rounds from the surface.

With the Trappers firmly holding the Imperialists in place, they had no chance to escape. The shots from the Siege Cannons exploded among the Imperialist fleet. Many frigates simply disintegrated, and super capital ships were badly damaged. But even with the multiple cannons and missiles, the Hiigarans were not able to destroy even half of the attacking ships. Now, with the cloak/gravity well generators destroyed, the surviving Imperialist ships were able to complete their transition from hyperspace.

Surviving Imperialist carriers launched their strike craft. Scouts, Interceptors, Attack Bombers, and Heavy Corvettes all moved down towards the advancing Hiigaran and Republican fleets. The frigates and super capital ships moved in behind with escorting Defenders and Multi-Gun Corvettes. The carriers also moved, but they made stayed behind the advancing Imperialist fleet with small guard forces, ready to provide support to the Imperialist strike craft.

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