Existential Threat: Chapter 7 Part 1 of 1 (Patreon)

Chapter 7:

09/07/2242

Admiral Haver stepped down from his shuttle, saluting the guard and crossing the wind-swept landing pad for the stone-carved building, built in the boxy-imperial style of the eighteen-hundreds.

Manicured gardens extended from the building.

He took the stairs up quickly, a butler waiting for him.

“This way Admiral, the President is in the Yellow room.” He waved him forth through the open doors, the chill of the day disappearing.

All of the culture, and the technology.

His boots rang out on the wooden floors. Art pieces decorating the hall, painted and holograms of famed battles, suits of armor, from that of steel plate to the servo enabled marine armor.

The butler stopped at two doors, twin marines, entombed in their armor opened the doors and saluted.

He tapped his hand to his foreheard, marching into the room.

The doors sealed and a buzzing noise flared and then disappeared, a sound cancellation field.

The room was filled with books, clean, sharp-unread. A man sat at the double-doors, a cigar smoking beside him as he drank from a tumbler.

“President Maranos,” Haver came to attention and saluted.

“Haver,” Maranos indicated to the chair beside him. “This Free Alliance is becoming a problem.”

“Sir.”

“They’re making us look like we’re chasing our own damn tail in our systems.” Maranos’ gaze bored into him, before he took a drink and looked out the windows. “I don’t like it.”

“Yes sir.”

“How long until we are ready to take the Sphere Worlds?.”

“Just a few more weeks sir.”

Maranos grumbled, putting down the tumbler, grabbing his cigar and standing, he puffed on it several times, smoke wreathing around him, invisible and unheard air-exchangers pulling it away.

“Orion Belt Enterprises has been selling hunreds of factories to their allies in secret. Its bolstered their economies and given them all a huge jump forward. Intelligence reports that the Coalition procurement and manufacturing has become a black box, no information going in or coming out. The only known is the material increase has nearly tripled.”

He puffed on his cigar.

“The independents are even more opaque, most of our information coming from spy buoys outside of their systems. Eighty percent of their trading fleets have changed to using bots to increase their shipping speeds. Shipyards have quadrupled their production speed, creating more freighters. Mining claims are being filed every hour. Junkyards have become hot commodities requiring picket craft to supervise them.”

“You heard the reports on Sphere World warships being sold to the independents?” Haver asked.

“The opposition loved to put my face into it as if I was the reason that they were arming themselves at such a prodigious rate. They say it is due to the Adraxi threat and we can’t do anything to push that. What worries me more is that they’ve declared their neutrality again. Doing so solidifies their position separated from others. Though most are still bound to OBE and the Coalition through their alliance.”

“What about Sol and the corporations what are their thoughts? Surely they don’t want OBE to rise in power.”

“Sol is still cowed by the whole mess with kidnapping Brad and Stuart’s families. Wei Li that witch has snapped up deals with the corporations and Sol, fueling Orion Belt Enterprises. They have the largest network of trade. Corporations like working with them, they have shares there are repercussions to their actions. They can cut off or change their ties at any time. They’ve created a faction without becoming a faction.”

It was more dire than Haver thought.

“Should we assume that the Coalition and the Independents all have bot capable warships?”

“Yes, though if they were to come to the OBE’s aid remains to be seen. We need to strike hard, fast and capture their Sphere Worlds. The fate of our Federation rests upon it.”

“It is that bad?”

Maranos exhaled forcefully, the muscles in his jaw flexing.

“This Victor Ramirez is no small threat. With his strikes he’s flaunting that we don’t have ships that can move as fast as his own. He’s hit supply ships and convoys across our space, coming right into our systems to do so with impunity. He targeted food, water and air shipments, to naval bases and stations, all that shipping will now have to be routed through lagrange points that we can watch with military craft. Worse than the loss of ships, is how it makes us look weak.”

Maranos took in a heavy draw, letting it out slowly. “In the military it was easy to know who your enemies were, where the dangers lay. Politics is wrestling in a pit of snakes. You might fight one, only for a small greenstick to shed its skin and reveal it is a cobra to strike you. It doesn’t matter the number of ships that we have, in politics if someone can argue that you’re weak then you must be, logic that your fleet sizes haven’t changed, be damned.”

“Seemed a lot easier when I was just a captain,” Haver muttered.

“Too right, and you proved yourself loyal, capable and able to keep a secret,” Maranos turned to face him. “We have to show that we’re strong, we need those factories so that we can maintain our advantage over the other factions. To be weak is to invite defeat.”

Haver nodded.

Maranos took a long draw from his cigar. “With a Sphere World under our control, we can sweep the other fleets, change their leadership to be more amenable, get the planetary governors in-line. We can bring purpose and determination back into the spines of our people.”

Haver’s heart beat faster, seeing that fire in his old commanding officer’s eyes.

“These other factions disregard us, think us nothing but a backwater. We have shown them before and we will show them again. This Free Alliance must be destroyed totally.”

“Yes sir. What do you want me to do. Their ships are faster than ours. If we want to catch them, we would have to use our bots. Otherwise we would have to place defensive platforms at every lagrange, or split the fleets.”

“Thankfully, some things can be solved with the right words. After all, those that are using their wormholes instead of the gates are just trying to circumvent our customs. Looking to escape the fees that good Federation citizens pay. Almost like smugglers. If they were to have taken our gate routes then they would have been protected?” Maranos raised an eyebrow.

It would place the blame on the freighters instead of on the Federation. “What about shifting it onto Orion Belt? They are the only known ones with Sphere World Warships.”

“That’s in the works as well. We’re also pushing the AI mandates. Polls have it at twenty seven percent thinking that we should go to war with Orion Belt Enterprises. We just need to boost that number a little higher.” Maranos smiled, smoking and turning back to the doors. “Its interesting how numbers can change. I have several news networks to push the war talks, to present the true numbers of what the people believe. If the people call for it, well we are but their servants and we must carry out their will.”

“How far do you want me to go?”

“Take the Sphere World, establish complete control. You’ll have the entire support of the Federation Navy. They have but two systems, we will have five. Hunt down the Free Alliance and then we will build up our forces once again, and then we will unite the independent systems and remove the Orion Belt Enterprises from the playing board.”

“Yes President Maranos.”