One day before the assault on Warehouse "Souley"
Isirus System (United Federation of Planets)—Primary system space station
A man in uniform strode forward through the corridor, accompanied by another man wearing bionic combat gear.
Around them, the walls were still scorched and smoking in the aftermath of laser cannon fire. Federation soldiers hurriedly moved all around, busy dragging away the corpses of Imperial soldiers who had fallen in battle during their desperate defense.
The Federation's captures of Isirus and Akor were considered important victories, and were a huge morale boost to their forces. The small remnant of the Federation now controlled two systems extremely rich in resources: Isirus was the primary system where the potent space fuel called Spice was extracted and refined, while Akor contained eleven agricultural planets that provided food for 30% of the former Federation's population. Control of these two systems meant control over a staggeringly huge infrastructure that the Imperium relied on to keep itself going!
Grand Admiral Oskiol entered the space station's command center, looking around him at the current state of things.
The space station of Isirus and Akor was known simply as "Strategic Station" in common usage. Quite simply, this single station was a vital relay point for the flow of information across the vast emptiness of space that separated these two key systems. Normally, it was overseen by an admiral, as well as a garrison of 10,000 warships. At the present time, however, there had been only a hundred warships defending Strategic Station, and they'd completely failed to prevent the Federation rebels from taking it over.
Seeing that the takeover had been completed and that the remaining station operators weren't going to rebel—the ordinary workers cared very little for who was in charge, after all, since their job was to make sure all the ordinary people had access to food and fuel—Grand Admiral Oskiol nodded to the communications officer. "Prepare for transmission."
The officer replied cautiously, "To what destination?"
Oskiol replied, "You will broadcast on all frequencies."
Everyone in the room looked at each other. This sort of universal transmission was normally only reserved for the retransmission of a message from the Chancellor. It seemed that this whole event was much more than just an ordinary political skirmish. Something very important was about to happen.
The communications officer thought for a moment, then answered, "Yes, Sir. Well… You're on the air in ten seconds."
Oskiol cleared his throat, then delivered a speech that was heard across every one of the thousands of planets on the network, whether they considered themselves Federation or Imperial worlds.
"This is Grand Admiral Oskiol, Acting Chancellor of the United Federation of Planets. We have just captured eleven systems, including the major systems of Isirus and Akor. The Imperial traitors crumpled before us at every step, and now their failure has cost them access to food and fuel. Listen, all you who have pledged allegiance to the false Imperium: Azerof's defeat is inevitable. Your empire will fall, and the true rule of law will rise again. Remember the glory of the Federation and turn away now from this road that will only lead you to death before it is too late."
Oskiol allowed a lingering pause, so that any Imperial listeners would have a moment to ponder his words. Then he continued, his voice now richer with encouragement. "To all who have faithfully upheld the true Federation, wherever you might be: I invite all the forces of the Resistance to join us here in the Isirus system.
"Here, we will regroup and then launch a united reconquest of Terra. We will utterly obliterate the evil of Azerof's Empire! But only through the courage and sacrifice of you, the Federation's most loyal sons and daughters. Long live the Federation of United Planets! For freedom! For equality! For humanity!"
Oskiol waved his hand, indicating that the transmission should be cut. Once it ended, he turned to leave, accompanied by his two bodyguards. But before he'd taken more than a dozen steps, he stopped in front of the entrance to a restroom. "Colonel Gezol," he said, "guard the entrance."
Gezol replied at once, "Yes, Sir, once I clear the room." He stepped forward and pressed the button to open the door.
Oskiol replied sharply, "I can't wait that long. Stay and guard the entrance."
Gezol turned in shock, replying, "Admiral, the Imperials could have planted a bomb in there once they knew that we were sure to board them! It's basic protocol that I—"
But Oskiol just gave him a cold, silent glare, and Gezol finally stepped aside and saluted.
Oskiol entered the bathroom and turned on the faucet, filling the air with the loud hiss and steam of hot water. He had just begun to wash his hands when a man stepped out of the stall directly behind him! "Nice speech, Number 21," said the newcomer in a smooth voice.
Oskiol looked at the man in the mirror which hung over the sink, giving him a grim smile. "Thank you, Number 36." With the loud noise of the faucet, nobody outside would be able to hear their conversation. Oskiol continued, "Any news about Number 27?"
Number 36 answered, "His mission is progressing as planned. He has defeated Lucifer and successfully infected him. Once he defeats Apophis, he will have the full power of a demigod and we will finally be able to fulfill our covenant with Hashut."
Oskiol's eyes shifted almost imperceptibly at the mention of the god's name. "Perfect. On my side, nobody suspects what we've truly done. The Federation resistance is too distracted by Azerof, and the Coalition of Eternals is still struggling with the idea that Apophis, a Worm without a SuperGuild or any real connections, has humiliated them."
He paused, then asked, "By the way, any news from our friends?"
Number 36 answered, "They will join the great feast, as agreed. It must be said that, since the humiliation on Cronos I, they have lost a lot of money through all the reparations they had to pay to their oppressors."
Oskiol rolled his eyes as he looked at himself in the mirror. "What a bunch of idiots… If they only knew what was about to happen to them."
Number 36 replied, "Before all of that, of course, we have to defeat Emperor Azerof. Do you think that the Federation fleet and the Coalition fleet will be enough to defeat the Imperial armada defending Terra?"
Oskiol replied at once, "No. It's all a distraction, and nothing more. That's why Number 27 must not fail. He must let Apophis find a weapon capable of attracting Azerof's attention while we enter hyperspace."
Number 36 replied, "How can you be sure that Apophis will find this weapon?"
Oskiol answered in a careful, monotone voice, as though he were reciting a detailed computer report. "This is one of Number 3's visions. I don't have the details beyond that. However, we have learned through them that Apophis has access to a considerable amount of information about Horus, information that no ordinary player should have! And thanks to our influence over the SuperGuilds, the whole Eclipse guild is now involved in this mission in the first place.
In other circumstances, we might expect that Apophis would hold back and not use his full potential. After all, he's such a pragmatic player that we predict a high likelihood of him sabotaging his allies in order to gain a further advantage in the long term. He has done this before, particularly in his dealings with the old Federation military structure.
Oskiol seemed to ponder something for a moment, then continued. "However, Eclipse seems to be an irrational weakness for Apophis. We have evidence that he has made decisions to aid his guild several times when other actions might have mathematically served him better in the long term. It seems likely that there are individuals in Eclipse which Apophis truly cares for on an emotional level which we had not anticipated from our previous analysis. Therefore, we have used this against him, manipulating events so that Eclipse itself will be at risk.
"Apophis must use all of his knowledge and resources to find a superweapon in that warehouse, or Eclipse will be destroyed. We can count on Azerof to ensure that's the only other outcome."
After letting the words of this long speech sink in, Number 36 nodded thoughtfully and replied, "It's a risky plan. Everything depends on one man. A man who, you said yourself, seems to be acting irrationally. That's the kind of situation you can't fully predict. I much prefer working with sociopathic geniuses who see a single path forward and never stray from it. You can predict what they'll do every time."
Oskiol replied with a grim smile, "No, it's not exactly ideal. But we're confident about the direction of that irrationality. If Eclipse is in danger, Apophis will stop at nothing to save it, even if he must destroy the universe to do so. That's our current analysis."
Number 36 answered, "Well… Then I'll tell Number 1 that we are going ahead with the plan."
Oskiol nodded, then finally shut off the water, dried his hands, and left the restroom. He turned to his bodyguard Akor, changing his manner back to that of an inspiring Federation officer. "We're going back to the Icarus!"
***
In the hangar, a shuttle and an escort squad of several starfighters were waiting. They boarded and then took off from Strategic Station and began their trip back to the Federation flagship.
While they were en route, Oskiol summoned Colonel Gezol to his private office and said, "I'm going to prepare the battle plan for tomorrow, and then—"
Suddenly, the emergency signal appeared on the door, indicating that there was a situation grave enough to interrupt a private meeting! Oskiol pressed the button on his desk to open the door, allowing a terrified-looked officer to enter.
"Grand Admiral!" he gasped, saluting. "We detect a large fleet approaching!"
Oskiol replied, "To the command bridge, immediately!"
***
On the huge bridge of the flagship,, the hundred or so officers were working hard trying to prepare the ship and fleet for battle. Oskiol burst onto the scene and demanded, "Did we get a hailing signature?"
The communications officer answered, "No, Grand Admiral! No signature!"
Oskiol replied, "An Imperial army detachment, then!? Maximum readiness at once!"
One officer called, "Exiting hyperspace in thirty seconds!"
Oskiol ordered, "Load the cannons and prepare to fire upon exiting!"
Everyone on the bridge put on a serious face, ready to face the unavoidable conflict at hand.
The communications officer spoke up again, his voice even more urgent. "We're detecting the basic signatures now! A… million ships!"
The chief navigation officer's voice cut through the noise of alarms that had filled the air when the sensors picked up all this information. "Hyperspace exit imminent! Ten seconds… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… Contact!"
On the bridge's primary monitor, a terrifying scene shimmered into view. In front of them loomed a huge fleet composed mostly of corvette-class starships. However, everyone was shocked to realize that they weren't facing a coherent fleet at all. The designs and colors of the corvettes, in fact, seemed to originate from all corners of the galaxy.
One officer shouted, "What is this?! These aren't the colors of the Imperial Army!"
Oskiol answered calmly and cautiously, "No, it's not the Imperial Army. It's the Eternals."
The officer's voice shook as he replied, "How is that possible?! How can there be so many of them?!"
Grand Admiral Oskiol ignored this petulant whining. He prepared himself for the interesting, precarious conversation he could tell he was about to have.
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