The War to End All Wars

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

Human Time Line 999 901 - 999 950

Cathartic Age

The War to End All Wars

999 901 Amongst the celebrations for the Von Braun classic 2001: A Space Odyssey series, a UPX time mission, sponsored by the Von Braun Society, finally confirmed that it was Von Braun & not Arthur C Clarke that had written the four classic works. This debate had continued over the eons. Now at last, the UPX time mission finally put an end to it.

It was a pity that all disputes could not be handled in a similar manner, Admiral Lysindon thought. Before him was the latest report from the spy probes in Sassnorah territory. Again it appeared that the Sassnorah had suffered a major defeat. Not only had another one of their fleets been destroyed, but one of their outer civilian colonies had suffered the same fate.

Although Sassnorah territory was some way off from the FGCP, such events could not be ignored. As per last year, the Admiral expressed his concerns & warnings to the Joint Chiefs. But like last year, the Joint Chiefs were more concerned with the Mardon than the hardships of the Sassnorah. There was even the feeling that the Sassnorah were only getting what they deserved.

President Zonder was informed of the Sassnorah situation, but under the advice from the Joint Chiefs, did nothing. Instead he concentrated on the Mardon, who for the most part kept within their borders. For their part, the Sassnorah helped bring on their own problems by keeping quiet over their defeats. Even when Admiral Lysindon made some unofficial quiet approaches to the Sassnorah, they returned these in total ignorance.

9902 The Mardon began their long expected advance. As before, they moved towards the NTF border. The Nazzdorra station on Quence counted over 1 600 ships in the massive Mardon fleet. Further analysis of the Mardon ships indicated that they were mostly new designs.

The UDF 10th fleet likewise tracked the incoming Mardon fleet using their own Nazzdorra sets. This data was shared with the NTF fleet which had grown in size to equal the 218 ships of the UDF 10th fleet. Yet, although the NTF fleet was equal in numbers, they were behind in technology. Having said that, the NTF ships were still more advanced than anything that the Mardon remotely had.

Nevertheless, the first battle came down to numbers. It came as a rude shock to the UDF 10th, when the weapons systems of the new Mardon ships could actually do major damage. Although the Mardon fleet suffered 398 casualties, the NTF & UDF 10th fleet also suffered their own share. In doing so, the NTF & UDF 10th fleet withdrew giving the battlefield to the Mardon. It was the Mardon's only victory.

Enthused by their victory, the Mardon decided to pursue. The combined NTF/UDF fleet reorganised themselves at the nearest NTF colony, which incidentally they decided to defend. After recovering from the shock, the UDF decided to change tactics. The Catharsis species from both the NTF & UDF ships transformed into their non-corporeal forms & laid in wait for the Mardon fleet.

The Mardon, now over confident, arrived at the NTF colony & formed up to attack the combined NTF/UDF fleet. None of the Mardon ships took any notice of the white mist heading towards them. Then it was too late. Still in their non-corporeal form, the Catharsis species attacked with no warning. Although the close quarters fighting was long, the Mardon had no chance. Thousands of them were killed: just as many were taken prisoner. The few Mardon ships that tried to escape were easily intercepted by the NTF/UDF combined fleet. Thus not one Mardon escaped.

The FGCP Presidential elections were a rather quiet affair. President Zonder had proven to be a very good President. He had brought stability & above all confidence back to the Commonwealth. Many citizens opening stated that he would be truly missed. These same citizens also wanted these blessings that Zonder had brought to the Commonwealth to remain. Few were surprised then, come the elections, that the Vice-President Marg Seezic, also a Zargah, became President with a comfortable majority.

9903 The new President immediately stated that she would continue with the policies of the previous government. Considering President Seezic was the Vice-President to the previous government, this was to be expected.

Behind the scenes, however, debate quickly erupted over what to do with the Mardon. Having had their massive fleet destroyed, the Mardon had few assets with which to defend themselves. UDF spy probes observed that the Mardon only had a handful of their new ships left. If an invasion of Mardon was to take place, now would be the time to do it.

The Mardon, however, were well aware of their dangerous position. Although they had gained little detailed data on the defeat of their fleet, they knew enough to assume that a massive defeat took place. Ship construction thus took on maniacal proportions as war ships were desperately needed.

As all attention was kept on the Mardon front, Admiral Lysindon continued to issue warnings to the Joint Chiefs about the continuing situation in Sassnorah territory. The Joint Chiefs, however, paid little interest. This was besides the fact that another Sassnorah fleet had been smashed & another colony destroyed.

9904 Debate of the Mardon was, more or less, settled by the NTF. Not having the massive resources of the FGCP, they informed the UDF that they would only conduct a defensive mission in respect to the Mardon. If the UDF wanted to take the war to the Mardon, then it was up to them.

Although President Seezic was disappointed by the NTF announcement, she fully understood their position. Privately, she thought it was the correct decision, even for the FGCP. The Joint Chiefs, however, wanted to finish the job on the Mardon, but the President was in no mood for a war of conquest.

The President was also concerned about what the Galactic League & the Ancients Council might do over the Mardon issue. It was one thing for the FGCP to help out the NTF in defending itself, but it was another matter going over to the offensive without the support of the NTF.

Then there was the Sassnorah. Admiral Lysindon sent a personal report to the President by-passing the Joint Chiefs. Although the Joint Chiefs were unimpressed by Lysindon’s action, they could do little against him, considering the President was now clearly worried about any possible treat to the FGCP. Although the Joint Chiefs pointed out that there were no threats, President Seezic was not so sure.

9905 It was the Phillis who brought attention to the Sassnorah situation. All of a sudden, thousands of Sassnorah refuges began arriving along their borders. At first the Phillis government wanted nothing to do with them, but that did not stop them coming.

Out of annoyance more than anything, the Phillis government demanded to know from the Sassnorah government what was going on. As with FGCP inquiries, the Sassnorah government would not comment on the matter.

Due to frustration then, the Phillis approached the Galactic League over the matter. Their motives, however, were not based upon humanitarian concerns, but rather selfish ones. They had no intention of taking in the refuges. They wanted someone else to look after them. Furthermore, they wanted to know, like the FGCP, what the hell was going on.

Seeing an opportunity, President Seezic announced that they would happily take in the refuges. This announcement surprised many, both in & outside of the FGCP. What the President did not announce was that all refuges would be debriefed upon arrival at the refugee camps by UDF personnel.

The Phillis gladly accepted the FGCP offer. Soon FGCP passenger ships began ferrying the refugees from Phillis holding camps to FGCP refugee centres. The Sassnorah government objected to the deal struck between the two powers, but could do nothing. In fact when the deal became common knowledge within the Sassnorah Empire, thousands more turned up at the Phillis border.

9906 Debriefing of the Sassnorah refugees was a long & painful process. Many did not want to discuss anything. Many considered it to be interrogation, which was really the case. Nonetheless, UDF personnel managed to get a good idea of what was occurring.

As the UDF spy probes had suggested, an unknown alien force had begun offensive action against the Sassnorah. At first it was only along the border regions, but lately the aliens had invaded deep into Sassnorah territory. UDF estimated that about 40 percent of the Sassnorah had been overrun. Refugees stated time & again, that nothing stopped the powerful aliens.

Some refugees stated that when the aliens attacked, they killed & destroyed everything. Not only had small colonies been treated thus, but also major planets. Among the doom & gloom of the refugees, a picture emerged wherein at least 6 billion Sassnorah had been killed so far. Some predicted that their capital planet Sass, would soon suffer the same fate. These same Sassnorah also predicted the same awaited the FGCP.

Although many in the UDF were sceptical over the reports from the refugees, Admiral Lysindon believed otherwise. He gave orders for a spy probe to monitor planet Sass just in case. The first data that came back from this spy probe indicated that the Sassnorah capital looked like a fortress. Hundreds of ships & battle satellites surrounded the planet. Clearly the Sassnorah were ready for a battle.

9907 More Sassnorah refugees arrived on the Phillis border. Again they talked about massive defeats. Now even the Phillis were becoming concerned, not for the plight of the refugees, but whether they might be attacked next.

The UDF's attention, however, was elsewhere. The Mardon had built up the numbers of their navy & had begun to conduct patrols outside of their territory. Again this appeared as a prelude to another attack upon the NTF. Although an eye was kept on the Sassnorah situation, the politics of the FGCP, particularly in the Quence sector, meant that the UDF had to keep four of its fleets patrolling that sector & supporting the NTF.

Having said that, President Seezic officially approached the Phillis in regards to joint military cooperation. Considering the Phillis had publicly expressed concern as to their security, the President was hopeful that some defence treaty may be possible. This, though, came to nothing when the Wellous openly objected. Considering their Ancients benefactor had objected to sny deal with the FGCP, the Phillis went very cold on the idea.

Behind the scenes, however, the Phillis Prime Minister quietly approached the FGCP Ambassador about some emergency arrangement just in case something drastic was needed in the future. Since the Wellous had been defeated by the FGCP a number of years ago, the Wellous had stopped all defence support. The Prime Minister admitted that, in the event of an attack by the unknown aliens upon Phillis territory, he highly doubted that any help would come from the Wellous.

Against this backdrop of tension, the FGCP held their Presidential elections. The President thought that she would have little problem being returned to office. She had not, though, counted on the refugee factor. The Humans in particular thought not enough was being done. What was even more frustrating was the fact that it appeared that the Sassnorah were being exterminated. Amongst cries of "Stop the genocide", the Human candidate Omar Telchin took the election down to literately the last vote. With a majority of just one vote, the President was returned to office.

9908 It did not take long before the genocide of the Sassnorah was confirmed. Although most eyes were still watching the Mardon, the UDF spy probe continued to monitor the planet Sass. It was not long before frantic activity by the Sassnorah defenders got everyone's attention. Curiously though, what came next surprised everyone. Ships that were clearly Sassnorah in origin, began arriving in large numbers. These were challenged by the defenders of Sass & soon both fleets of Sassnorah ships began firing at each other.

As the UDF personnel began to conclude that there was a dreadful civil war going on in the Sassnorah Empire, something began to leave the "enemy" Sassnorah ships. It was hard to view, even with computer enhancement, but it appeared that black clouds were leaving the Sassnorah ships that had just arrived & advanced towards the ships defending the planet.

Soon energy beams were shooting out from the black clouds. These beams hit the defending ships, destroying them in one burst. Other black clouds appeared to enter other defending ships which then stopped all actions. Few of the UDF really knew what to make of it, but then the realisation came that here was the mysterious black cloud.

UPX was immediately consulted & quickly analysed the data with the little they had from the UPX Homer. UPX then quickly confirmed, that the black cloud that the Homer had mentioned in their final report, matched that which was seen by the spy probe. This was furthermore confirmed, when the damage to the Sassnorah ships just witnessed matched that of earlier investigations.

Within a few hours of UPX's confirmation, all resistance on the planet Sass had ceased. The black clouds, after defeating the defenders in space, had headed for the planet's surface were battle could be seen by the spy probe. Eventually, even the spy probe became a casualty when a black cloud discovered its presence & destroyed it. The UDF staff hoped that the unknown aliens had not tracked its signal back to them.

9909 It came too late. After their defeat at Sass, the surviving Sassnorah forces appealed for help. But now with no government, arranging anything officially was difficult to say the least. Furthermore, no one was willing to help the Sassnorah against an extremely powerful enemy. The Phillis were more than happy to hid behind their borders, while the FGCP were occupied elsewhere.

And this elsewhere was in Mardon territory. The UDF time monitors reported several time-space disturbances that had originated from Mardon space. Although no ships had jumped into the time stream, clearly the Mardon were experimenting with time travel. Needless to say this was a very disturbing development in the Mardon conflict.

The Joint Chiefs saw only one avenue of action available to them: it was to invade Mardon & destroy their attempts at time travel. If not, without doubt, the Mardon would go back in time & cause unrepairable damage to the time line continuum. Not only could the NTF be destroyed as a result, but so could the FGCP.

President Seezic agreed. There appeared to be no other alternative. Thus three UDF fleets from Quence Sector attacked. The Mardon put up a tough fight, but no where were they victorious. Instead of invading planets & the like, though, the three UDF fleets had only one objective - destroy the Mardon's time technology. This proved an easy task, as the location of the Mardon time research base was plotted from their experiments. This the UDF fleets destroyed leaving no trace. Afterwards, as per their orders, the UDF fleets returned to FGCP territory.

9910 The last survivors of the Sassnorah Empire crossed as refugees into Phillis space. Among these survivors were a handful of Sassnorah warships who had to surrender to the Phillis navy. Interrogation of the Sassnorah crews commenced. The stories that they told was horrific. It was as if a giant poisonous cloud had descended on the Sassnorah Empire. Nothing was left alive.

Upon hearing of the end of the Sassnorah Empire, President Seezic addressed the Ancients Council with what information that the UDF had developed over the last few years. Although a few of the Ancients, particularly the Wellous, went on about the latest attack on the Mardon, few kept on about it when the Sassnorah briefing had completed.

Shortly afterwards, at the Galactic League, the Phillis requested military help against the Black Cloud Aliens. Everyone was surprised, even the Phillis, when the Wellous jumped to the occasion & agreed at once to send the necessary forces.

When President Seezic announced that they too would send military forces to help the Phillis, this was politely rejected. This was due, apparently, to some obscure clause in the Wellous-Phillis Defence Treaty that limited such military assistance. Nonetheless, the treaty said nothing about humanitarian aid, & the Phillis continued to permit the FGCP to take the Sassnorah refugees.

9911 As the last of the Sassnorah refugees arrived at the FGCP refugee centres, a great depression came down upon them. hearing of the destruction of their civilisation, none knew what would become of them.

Billions of their once proud race had been slaughtered. Now about 75 million were scattered around the FGCP. Sassnorah who once had millions in assets, now had nothing. The elites were now mix in with those who had very little. All of them only lived thanks to a Commonwealth which had been considered their enemy. Now they realised now wrong they were.

For the moment all was quiet with the Phillis. True to their word, about 350 ships of the Wellous navy had arrived to prop up the Phillis defences. The UDF watched the situation with concern, but their main attention was elsewhere.

To everyone’s surprise, the Mardon, not only stayed well behind their borders, but began sending out discreet communications to the NTF. Enigma2 intercepted these & they were easily decoded. Put simply, the Mardon wished for a cease-fire & the beginnings of an armistice. The NTF were rather suspicious, but President Seezic ordered the UDF to agree to it. Although the NTF were not overly happy, they nevertheless went along with the President. As far as she was concerned, there was a bigger conflict approaching & the last thing that the FGCP wanted was a war on two fronts.

9912 Negotiations between the NTF & FGCP on one side & the Mardon began with much tension. It was very clear from the start that the Mardon had little respect for anyone else. This attitude was quickly put in its place after the FGCP delegates clearly showed how large & powerful the Commonwealth was. To further reinforce the reality of the situation, the Catharsis species present, from both the FGCP & NTF revert to their non-corporeal form that literally terrorised the Mardon delegates.

It was around this time that the Mardon virtually agreed to most of the conditions of the armistice treaty. Clearly they were out of their league & recognised their situation. This acceptance of their position actually impressed the FGCP delegation members. Maybe the Mardon were not a total loss after all.

The Presidential election was a rather heated affair. Although there was the usual debates over the corporeal / non-corporeal species, the pending war was the leading issue. Many citizens were also glad to see an end to the Mardon Conflict, but many were annoyed that the Mardon had been left alone to do as they wished. There had been no reforms or attempts to liberate the Mardon slaves or anything else within Mardon society.

Thus in such an atmosphere, a pragmatic candidate from Vargary, Bens Vh'Vixdar was heard demanding major concessions from the Mardon, while leaving the Phillis to the protection of the Wellous. In a further gesture, he offered citizenship to the Sassnorah survivors.

Needless to say, Vh'Vixdar polarised the vote. Many support him while others supported Telchin who had decided to run again for the Presidency. Telchin, wanted revenge against the genocidal Black Cloud Aliens. As far as Telchin was concerned, the Mardon could wait for later. About the only thing both leading candidates agreed on was offering the Sassnorah citizenship. The results were close, although not like in the previous election. Once again Telchin missed out. Vh'Vixdar was narrowly elected the next President of the FGCP.

9913 The new President, true to his word, demanded that the FGCP negotiators tell their Mardon counterparts that new conditions must be added to the peace treaty recently agreed to. The negotiators could not believe it. They refused outright knowing that the current peace would be destroyed.

President Vh'Vixdar was furious & threatened to sack the negotiators. The UDF Joint Chiefs, however, sided with the negotiators & stated that the negotiators concerns were very valid. The President replied with threats of sacking them too, but backed down when they pointed out that the President's policies should be at least attempted through peaceful means first. If these fail, then he could be morally justified in then using cohesive methods.

The Wellous, out of curiosity & concern of activities of the Black Cloud Aliens, began conducting limited patrols beyond the Phillis border. The Phillis for their part were livid. They wanted no action that may alert the Black Cloud Aliens as to their location. If these genocidal aliens missed then that was fine by them.

Behind the scenes, the new Admiral of the 3rd Fleet, Mark Roberts, inherited the contacts that Admiral Lysindon had developed with the Phillis. The result was that Roberts continued to supply to the Phillis any information that the UDF spy probes found within Sassnorah territory.

Now that it had been established that the Black Cloud Aliens were using Sassnorah warships, tracking them using Nazzdorra was a simple. For them moment, it appeared that the Aliens appeared to be consolidating their conquests. Even though the Wellous were informed of this intelligence, they contemptuously ignored it.

9914 The Wellous patrols into old Sassnorah territory became more common. These patrols also resembled large task forces rather than a two or three ship scouting mission. Even though the Phillis protested these tactics by the Wellous, they were ignored.

The Wellous, however, were interested in other things. Not only were they wanting to see what they could salvage from the remains of the Sassnorah Empire, but if First Contact with the Black Cloud Aliens was successful, then they could have an extremely powerful ally to use against the FGCP.

Wellous security, though, was rather bad. Enigma2 began to intercept various Wellous communications that, although never stated it outright, gave the impression that First Contact was essential. Admiral Roberts, reading these reports from his intelligence personnel, could not believe that the Wellous were prepared to sell out, not only the Sassnorah, but also the Phillis whom they had announced they were here to protect.

President Vh'Vixdar was informed of the current situation, but refused to act. After all, what could the FGCP do anyway - start another war against the Wellous,, Phillis & the Black Cloud Aliens? Surely one enemy at a time was enough, but not all three at once.

9915 The worst fears of the Phillis were realised when the Wellous stumbled across the location of a group of the Black Cloud Aliens. The Wellous immediately tried to make First Contact, but the Aliens had no interest in establishing friendly communications.

Instead the Black Cloud Aliens message was anything but friendly. Without warning, they opened fire on the Wellous ships. Considering the Wellous ships were much more advanced that the captured Sassnorah ships, little damage was done at first. But then the now familiar black cloud descended upon the Wellous ships. Before they knew it, the Wellous had lost well over half their ships in close quarters fighting.

The other Wellous ships tried as best as they could to disengage from the battle & escape back to Phillis territory. Many were destroyed in the attempt, but a few got away.

To the Phillis, it appeared that they had been betrayed. Now the Wellous, thanks to their own vanity, had alerted the Black Cloud Aliens of their location. The Wellous sent reinforcements, but this did little to placate the Phillis.

The FGCP, meanwhile, had opened new negotiations with the Mardon. As per President Vh'Vixdar's orders, the Mardon had to radically change their society or find themselves at war with the Commonwealth. The President made it clear: free the slaves yourselves or the FGCP would do it for you.

9916 During their negotiations with the FGCP, the Mardon were introduced to the Galactic League. This they applied for & were accepted into to the chagrin of the Commonwealth. Soon, other Galactic League members began inquiring into the negotiations between the Mardon & the FGCP.

Noting that the Commonwealth demands & threats were particularly harsh, President Vh'Vixdar came into much criticism. This external criticism began to be matched by internal criticism, especially when it became common knowledge that the President had threatened a massive war with the Mardon. The President, however, would not back down from his position regardless.

After the defeat of the Wellous, the Black Cloud Aliens appeared to be content to remain within their conquered territory. UDF spy probes, due to the fact that the Aliens now travelled around in captured ships, had little trouble tracking their movements. All appeared for the moment.

The Phillis, on the other hand, had been frantic. After the defeat of the Wellous fleet, it was rather obvious to them that the forthcoming struggle would be a mammoth undertaking if they were going to survive. They also had little faith in the abilities of the Wellous to save them.

Unofficially, & very quietly, the Phillis military established direct communications with the UDF 3rd fleet & in particular Admiral Roberts. Noting that an opportunity had opened wherein the Phillis may side with the FGCP, rather than the Wellous, Roberts forwarded to the Phillis military the real motives behind the resent actions by the Wellous. Although the Phillis were not overly surprised, it did ensure that a major rift, albeit a secret one, had become permanent between the Wellous & the Phillis.

9917 In the election year, President Vh'Vixdar eventually gave FGCP citizenship to the Sassnorah refugees. Although they were grateful, many FGCP citizens saw it as nothing more than an election gimmick.

Since the Galactic League had become involved with the FGCP & Mardon relations, criticism of President Vh'Vixdar had grown & grown. Now he was behind in the poles. And it appeared that his promises of five years ago were very hollow. Once again the popular Telchin came on the scene. It was third time lucky for Telchin. Still wanting to take on the Black Cloud Aliens, Telchin won the election thanks, ironically, to the Sassnorah voters.

9918 President Telchin immediately changed the priorities of the FGCP. The negotiations with the Mardon continued, but became more low key. Threats of war were dropped in favour of peaceful persuasion. FGCP policy towards the Mardon, however, was still the same: making the Mardon free their slaves.

Preparing for war with the Black Cloud Aliens now became the central policy for the FGCP. The first steps of this policy saw the 4th & 7th Fleets leave the Quence Sector to take station along the FGCP border with the 3rd Fleet. Although complaints came from citizens of the Quence Sector, the UDF reassured them that the 10th & 14th fleets were more than enough to keep an eye on the Mardon.

These movements did not go unnoticed. The Wellous were quick to remind the FGCP that their help was not wanted. This was besides the fact that the Wellous had suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Black Cloud Aliens. The Phillis, on the other hand, remained quiet over the issue. Behind the scenes, Admiral Roberts & the Phillis military had began to develop the necessary plans that would see UDF deployment within Phillis territory if required.

9919 As the various parties prepared themselves for the up coming war, life continued to go on in the FGCP. UPX had continued to study the Homo neo-luminous on Earth. Since the discovery of the new species, debate had begun with what to do with them. Clearly they could not be moved, but sooner or later they would stumble across the current civilisation that inhabited Earth.

In some respects, this was not too much of a problem. Since the transformation of the Humans, only 1 billion corporeal beings lived on the planet. Yet, 7 billion Homo spiritous still called Earth home. Still, the current idea floating around UPX was to declare Earth a Planetary Park. In doing so, the 1 billion corporeal beings currently living on Earth would be moved to either Venus or Mars. Similarly the 7 billion Homo spiritous still living on Earth would also be moved elsewhere.

Although UPX was keen on the idea, few others were. In particular were Earth's corporeal population. They could not see why they should move. Many of them had lived on Earth all their lives, not to mention generations of their family's ancestors. These people considered Earth to be as much their home planet as the Humans did.

For different reasons, the President was also against UPX's proposal. He did not want to foot the bill for what would be the beginning of a massive undertaking. Obviously, the huge infrastructure on the planet would need to be removed & the Earth returned to its natural state resembling the planet of 2 million years ago. All this would be required for a new species that currently numbered about 25 000.

The Homo neo-luminous were blissfully unaware of the galactic politics being waged over their planet. All they knew was the National Parks around them that was their home. They went about their lives gathering food, making homes & having families. They had developed their own unique language, customs & culture. Amazingly, trade was conducted between villages of each "nation" (there were three such "nations"). No evidence, however, suggested that the three "nations" were aware of each other.

9920 While the UDF continued to monitor the Black Cloud Aliens, the FGCP announced at the Galactic League that it wished to begin negotiations with the Wellous & Phillis over possible future cooperation against the Aliens. It was a deliberate ploy to test the Wellous. As previously, the Wellous rejected the offer.

Unknown to the Wellous, however, the FGCP & the Phillis had reached a secret understanding. This was thanks to the unofficial contacts between Admiral Roberts & his Phillis counterparts. Publicly, this of cause was kept secret, but the Phillis did state at the Galactic League that, unlike the Wellous, they would entertain the idea of commencing some negotiations on the topic.

This the Wellous were not impressed by & warned that any defence arrangement that the Phillis would have with the FGCP would be in violation of their defence relationship. Even though the Phillis had little faith in the Wellous these days, they still did not want to break these fragile ties publicly.

Nonetheless, preliminary talks did commence, which the Wellous demanded to be at. Naturally the talks got no where, but it was more of a public display by the Phillis & the FGCP to keep the Wellous from guessing the two groups real relationship. If & when the Black Cloud Aliens attacked, both the Phillis & the FGCP could point to meetings like these that established a relationship & not their clandestine meetings. It all seemed rather ridiculous, but such was the ways of galactic politics.

9921 UPX reported that the intelligent & very capable specie on Neptune Prime had for the first time left their oceans. This was done through the use of a water plane. Analysis of the water plane showed that the plane's interior was filled with water. It was like a submarine in reverse.

As previously, there was little warning. It was the Terran's turn this time. Within a few days of the first reports, the entire Terran race had gone through the Catharsis of Existence.

Since the last race had undergone this transformation, debate over the vast differences in FGCP species had faded away. Many hoped for good. But the latest Catharsis event rekindled the old debates. President Telchin ignored these debates as best he could. As far as he was concerned, the Black Cloud Aliens were the real issue.

9922 The Wellous rushed reinforcements to Phillis space. Although the Black Could Aliens remained in Sassnorah space, consolidating their gains, they were identified moving towards the border with the Phillis. Like the Wellous, the Phillis went on maximum alert. As part of the alert, the Wellous took overall command of the two forces. The UDF covert relationship with the Phillis was cut as a result. Whether the Wellous suspect this relationship was not known.

As a consequence of the alert status of the Wellous/Phillis forces, the three UDF fleets patrolling the FGCP border with the Phillis likewise went on full alert. Although most contact with the Phillis had stoped, the UDF fleets deployed as had been arranged earlier with the secret arrangement with the Phillis. The Wellous virtually ignored these deployments, even though they did deploy a few patrols to cover the border facing the FGCP.

Intelligence data on the Black Cloud Aliens was becoming hard to get. In the only aggressive action shown lately, the Black Could Aliens began sweeping patrols deliberately seeking out the UDF spy probes. Since these probes had been introduced into the UDF they had been undetectable thanks to advanced cloaking & electronic jamming equipment. But now the probes were being discovered with ease. It is as if the Aliens could sense their very existence.

Much speculation began in UDF as to how the detection of their spy probes occurred. Clearly the probes were not relaying back any clues. The main theory was some detection devise that the Aliens had. It was noted that only probes within 50 light years of the location of any Black Cloud Aliens were attacked. The others were left alone. A larger concern, however, was the tracking the probes back to the FGCP. This was unknown.

The Presidential elections were, surprisingly, a quiet affair. The economy had settled down & concerns about the Mardon had almost vanished. Concerns over the Black Cloud Aliens were voiced, especially by the new Sassnorah citizens, but to most President Telchin had things well in control. He had been an extremely successful President for the Commonwealth & it became clear that no opposition leader could really threaten his second term. The President was re-elected with a comfortable majority.

9923 A large Wellous fleet once more advanced into old Sassnorah territory & headed for the nearest known location of the Black Cloud Aliens. The Phillis, for their part, continued to patrol the border in force while other Wellous fleets were deployed in the supporting role. This was besides the fact that the Phillis protested this latest action as provocative & placed the bulk of their navy in peril.

The Wellous ignored these protests. Above all they stupidly, as before, tried to contact the Black Cloud Aliens. Even though the Wellous said they came in peace, the Aliens replied as last time. As the captured ships manoeuvred into position, the Black Could Aliens attacked the Wellous fleet. Frantic & gallant efforts by the Wellous to defend themselves came to naught, as many Wellous ships were attacked. A few of the captured ships used as transport were destroy in the debacle, but most of the Wellous ships were either destroyed & inturn captured.

The Phillis were furious as the surviving Wellous escaped back over the border. Still the Phillis held their ground as ordered. Alas, unlike the last such encounter, large numbers of the Black Cloud Aliens followed the Wellous. The Wellous one saving grace was their ships were faster than those captured Sassnorah ones used by the Aliens.

Still that did not help the Phillis as they intercepted the leading ships of the Black Cloud Aliens. Having the benefit of hindsight though, the Phillis launched high speed attacks upon the Aliens ships. This reduced significantly the ability for the Aliens to board their ships. Furthermore, there was no waiting around for peace talks. Waves of Phillis ships would simply attack then flee. Thus the first Black Cloud Aliens invasion of Phillis territory was stopped. But all knew it was only temporary.

9924 The UDF watched on in morbid fascination. So too did President Telchin who was rather surprised at the successful defence displayed by the Phillis. Unlike the Wellous, it appeared that the Phillis had certainly done their homework on the Aliens. But it was anticipated within the UDF that the Phillis success was temporary. Although the Joint Chiefs advised caution, the President again offered full military cooperation with the Phillis & even the Wellous.

Alas the Wellous, speaking on behalf of their ally as well, turned down the offer. They were confident that their defensive plans would be successful. The Phillis, for their part, were not at all impressed by the actions of the Wellous so far, but they had little choice. Wellous forces had no occupied much of the rear area of the Phillis Union & held the government more or less captive.

On the front line, the Phillis faced a growing Black Cloud Aliens fleet. At first out numbered five to one, the Black Cloud Aliens had grown theirs dramatically since their first defeat. Now almost equal in number, the Aliens recommenced their advance. Among the new members of the Black Cloud Aliens fleet were about 100 captured Wellous battleships. These were more than enough to compete with the waves of Phillis ships.

Again the Phillis attacked as before. It had worked before & appeared like the only successful tactic available. But as mentioned, the captured Wellous ships were superior to anything the Phillis had & casualties soon mounted. Although the Phillis had their individual victories & fought bravely, slowly their numbers fell. And if any attacking wave was disrupted or slowed down, the Black Cloud Aliens would quickly board the Phillis ships killing the crew.

Thus after suffering 50 percent casualties, the Phillis withdrew as fast as they could. At first the plan was to rendezvous with the Wellous, but upon hearing of the Phillis withdrawal, the Wellous retreated deeper into Phillis territory. By the time the Phillis had heard of the Wellous retreat, the Black Cloud Aliens had caught up with them at the rendezvous location & another battle commenced.

Phillis Prime, the capital was quickly fortified with everything the Phillis had left. What remained of the Phillis fleet after the second battle withdrew as fast as they could to also help defend their home planet. Even a Wellous fleet arrived to help out. Meanwhile the Black Could Aliens consolidated their latest conquests.

9925 Even though news from Phillis territory was limited within the FGCP, the media played it up all the same. Although nothing was made public about the Black Cloud Aliens, Sassnorah citizens wee more than happy to elaborate fantastic stories about the attackers. Public discussion thus exploded based upon pure ignorance & speculation. This quickly turned into fear as the corporeal species everywhere claimed the that Black Cloud Aliens were non-corporeal beings like those living in the FGCP.

Although the wild claims by the public were based on ignorance, NGW, UXP & UDF had come to the same conclusion themselves. Unlike the public, however, theirs was based upon long years of research & analysis. This had all begun when the investigation into the UPX Homer commenced. Although at first thought to have been a dreadful accident, the destruction of the Homer was later blamed on the mysterious black cloud.

Although this discovery was amazing, it was also a terrifying one as the results of contact has shown. Furthermore, nothing was really known about the Black Cloud Aliens - not even their name. More importantly, especially as far as UDF was concerned, it appeared that nothing could kill them. Considering the UDF may have to go into battle shortly with the Aliens, this was a paramount factor.

While the FGCP carried on thus, the Black Cloud Aliens recommenced their invasion. Already about 40 percent of Phillis territory had been captured along with eight inhabited worlds. Now Phillis Prime was the Aliens target. It was not long before the planet was under attack. The Phillis fought bravely. So too, to their credit, did their Wellous allies. In the end, however, nothing stopped the Aliens.

Just prior to the invasion of the planet’s surface, the Phillis Government officially requested help from the FGCP. This, President Telchin, quickly acknowledged. But before the Phillis Government received the good news, they had lost communication. The various Phillis commands along the FGCP border, however, were witness to the request for help & the President’s reply. As per the secret plans of a few years back, the Phillis allowed & guided the three UDF fleets, the 3rd, 4th & 14th fleets, to their pre arranged positions.

At first the surviving Phillis military groups demanded that the UDF join them on a relieving attack on Phillis Prime. Admiral Roberts, the Commander of the UDF Phillis Expeditionary Force (PEF), refused. He had seen all too often the results of a planetary attack by the Black Cloud Aliens. Spy probes from Sassnorah always returned data clearly showing total destruction of any planet. To prove his point, he sent spy probes to Phillis Prime. Only one got through & survived a mere 10 minutes, but it was enough.

Still the Phillis wanted to counterattack & retake their home planet. Millions of refuges had stirred up the Phillis military to near hysterical levels. UDF officials decided to interview as many as they could. A similar pattern emerged as that with the Sassnorah. All was destroyed. Nothing survived. It was useless to counterattack. Finally the Phillis military conceded the point. They would try to defend, along with the PEF the three remaining planets along the border area.

Meanwhile the Wellous, after the fall of Phillis Prime withdrew completely from all Phillis territory. The Phillis with them at the time were disgusted by their departure. Now a few task forces had to try to defend three more planets isolated on the other side of what was the Phillis Union. They had no hope of gaining help from the UDF or anyone else.

9926 As the PEF & Phillis readied their defences, the final refugees trickled in. 100 million Phillis survived a region of space that used to be home to 7 billion. Another 2 billion were totally isolated with an unknown future. The handful of Phillis battleships available for their defence had little help if the Black Cloud Aliens attacked.

The PEF now, not only had the refugees to defend, but a further three planets housing 4 billion Phillis. Fortunately for the Phillis military, all three planets had good space docks & the building of warships quickly commenced. Admiral Roberts had little hope in these efforts, but it certainly did display a fighting spirit in the Phillis that he admired.

NGW Oracle, in part anticipating a future war, tried to accelerate their Vale & Beyond program as fast as possible. The latest prototype was hoped to be the successful one, but after computer simulations conducted on their new MICC supercomputer, the results appeared disappointing. Some of the results, however, suggested that with some modification a Vale Gateway sensor could be developed at least permitting NGW to have a peek at the Vale Dimension. Work immediately, thus, got under way on the LookingGlass project.

In trying to unravel the secrets of the Black Cloud Aliens, the NGW Enigma Catharsis Acceleration team started applying all they knew to that already known about the Aliens. They confirmed that they were non-corporeal immediately, but that was not anything new. Their first finding, however, was. After careful atomic analysis of the data collected, it was confirmed that they were not of the Milky Way Galaxy. As far as could be calculated, their atomic signature could not be identified with any system. They came from elsewhere. The thing was - where?

9927 PEF Nazzdorra stations saw it what everyone dreaded. The Black Cloud Fleet moved on the isolated pocket of the Phillis. Calls for help went unanswered, especially from the Wellous. The PEF/Phillis groups watched on in horror as 2 billion of their citizens & allies perished thanks to the unmerciful Aliens.

As a consequence, the surviving Phillis demanded more help from the FGCP. In response, the Gallant 2nd Fleet was sent to join the PEF. President Telchin also sent various legislation to Congress demanding more help. Top of the list was a massive increase in the UDF budget. If others did not see it coming the President certainly did: the FGCP was going to be in for one hell of a war. In order to ensure that the next president could not pull out of this war, President Telchin signed the Phillis Defence Treaty.

The latest Galactic League Convention was disgraceful. President Telchin personally attended demanding help in defeating this enemy. He stated that the Black Cloud Aliens would continue to attack everyone until all were dead. Little if no help, though, was offered by anyone. For their part the Wellous did not even show. Even the Nazzer remained silent on the issue.

In this light, then the Presidential elections were held. No one wanted to talk about the situation in the Phillis Union. Many wanted to pull out arguing it was a lost cause. Clearly everyone was concerned about what these all powerful Black Cloud Aliens could do to the entire FGCP if & more importantly when they attacked.

The "peace" camp, however, was split among several candidates. The "war" camp was only lead by the Vice-President Lawrence Bradley. Bradley had gained a good reputation as President Telchin’s number two man & he certainly gained the President’s endorsement. That, & being a Human from Earth, ensure that he gained considerable support. Furthermore, it would ensure the continuation of stable government that the FGCP had clearly enjoyed under the current President. Although the election results were very close, requiring preferences & recounts, Bradley was elected President.

9928 President Bradley’s first action was to go to the Ancients Council to demand action. The President, backed by the other Catharsis FGCP species, stirred up the other Ancients like never before. Describing them as "… the most inhumane, barbaric & useless pathetic beings that I have ever had the displeasure of meeting", interstellar war almost erupted before the President had finished the sentence. Yet he had not finished. AI consider you all guilty of mass genocide for not lifting a finger to help these peoples [Sassnorah & Phillis]. And as for those cowards the Wellous, don’t you ever play games with the lives of entire species again or you will know our true wroth."

It was said that you could hear the responding outrage from orbit. That did not matter, however, to President Bradley. After making his statement, all the Catharsis FGCP species left the Ancients Council in protest. The Zargah ambassador before leaving, & the last to do so, briefly announced that after the Black Cloud Aliens were dealt with, they would be back. But "We won’t be back to rejoin the Ancients Council: We will return to smash it to a million pieces".

All the Ancients were stunned. Their outrage quickly went quiet. This was what they had all feared. These upstart beings, juniors at best, had dared to threaten them all. Normally they would be destroyed for their behaviour. But there were two major problems. The Humans were right. The Black Could Aliens could & probably would destroy them all if they were not stopped. The other problem was that the Catharsis FGCP species were far too powerful now than any of the Ancients. Only the Delquin were their equals & they were no where to be found. If the Humans wanted to, they could indeed smash the Ancients Council to a million pieces.

9929 As President Bradley had expected, little help came from the Junior or Ancient civilisations. The NTF, now stronger than ever, did offer to relieve UDF forces in their & Quence regions. This the President accepted in part. UDF would still keep a presence in Quence region, but it meant that the 10th Fleet could be moved to support the PEF. For their part, the Mardon remained quiet & offered assurances to the FGCP & NTF that they had no hostile intentions. That did not stop the NTF beginning construction on another 100 warships.

NGW Oracle successful developed the first model of LookingGlass. Although the results were not as promising as at first hoped, it did include one important function. It could sense, over a vast distance of space, when a Vale Gateway was opened. Importantly, if coupled with Nazzdorra, an ships exiting the Gateway into space-time could be accordingly tracked. It was unknown if ships entering the Gateway to the Vale Dimension could likewise be tracked outside of this one.

UDF immediately accepted & installed LookingGlass everywhere Nazzdorra was. Considering the sudden break off of relations with the Ancients caused by the President, UDF was concerned about possible surprise attacks upon the FGCP. The Vale Dimension permitted undetectable travel within any point in the universe, it was claimed, making the Commonwealth extremely vulnerable to attack. Although it was thought that the Wellous did not have this technology, nor many other Ancients, some did. And none of the Ancients were on friendly terms with the FGCP currently.

9930 They moved with little warning, but Nazzdorra saw them coming all the same. The PEF & Phillis had thought that the Black Cloud Aliens may have stopped their invasion. But as things became complacent, then Aliens once again attacked. As planned, the PEF advanced to engage the Aliens while the Phillis conducted a supporting role. This was considered logical as the UDF battleships were far more advanced than anything the Phillis had.

Like the PEF, the Black Cloud Aliens had deployed their forces in three fleets. It was as if the Aliens were mirroring the three UDF fleets. But that is were the comparison ended. The Aliens fleets were a mix of Sassnorah, Phillis & Wellous designs, while the UDF deployed much superior warships. Even the average Wellous battleship was no match for the average UDF counterpart. What they did not have in technology, the Aliens made up for in numbers & of cause their non-corporeal abilities.

Admiral Roberts was well aware of all of these factors. Few counter tactics, however, had come to hand. Either he could simply deploy the non-corporeal members of the UDF as the Black Cloud Aliens do & have a slug-fest between the ships or take advantage of the UDF superior weaponry & keep their distance. The main problem remained, how do kill the Aliens. Of all the data so far collected, none seemed to indicate how the Black Cloud Aliens die.

Roberts decided to take the safer approach. His ships would fire at maximum distance causing as much damage as possible to the enemy. Although such a battle could take hours with few victories, it would ensure that the risk to any hostile boarding from the enemy would be avoided. If a mass attack by boarding parties was attempted, the UDF fleet could simply withdraw at warp speed a light year & begin the battle again on their terms.

It was this battle plane that precisely occurred at the three encounters. It was like an orchestrated waltz. The UDF ships would open fire at long distance, a few ships thus being destroyed, but on the whole making little impact. When the Black Cloud Aliens realised the tactics, & the enormous firepower of this new enemy, they attempted a mass boarding attack. When this occurred, the UDF ships would quickly withdraw, reorganise their line & await the next attack.

After some days of this never ending group of engagements, the Black Could Aliens stopped their advance. Almost 200 of their ships had been lost for none of the UDF. Although they had lost none of their number, it became clear to them that they were dealing with an extremely powerful & intelligent civilisation. And there was some feeling about this new enemy that they could not pick. It was if they knew them, but not exactly who. Ironically, the Humans had the same feeling about the Black Cloud Aliens for some years now.

9931 As the final LookingGlass unit came online, the LookingGlass station on Millennium reported that a Vale Gateway had opened somewhere beyond the border. Not long after, two other LookingGlass stations within the Zargah Sector also reported that Vale Gateways had been detected. After long analysis it appeared that within a few days, three such Vale Gateways had been had been in operation for a least a week each.

The exact locations, however, of this activity was still unknown. The only basic, & also vague, location suggested somewhere in the Cordah Empire. The UDF, of cause, knew this to be impossible due to the Cordah’s technological stagnation. The "living museum" as the Cordah were now known, had not even developed time travel yet. Thus any chance of the Cordah developing Vale technology was zero. Although the UDF was stretched to the limit with the Black Could Aliens, they sent several spy probes to seek out whoever was using the Vale Gateways.

Even though the PEF had been successful in stopping the Black Cloud Aliens, an aging Admiral Roberts knew they had not been defeated. It was one thing to have stopped their advance because of attrition, but defeating them was another issue entirely. President Bradley was also concerned, particularly when it became well known that it was the Aliens themselves who took the initiative to stop, & not because of any major defeat. As a result, the President ordered the 9th Fleet to join up with the Gallant 2nd to act as a massive reserve for the PEF & Phillis forces.

For their part, the Black Cloud Aliens continued to remain where they had stopped the year before. Nazzdorra detected no movement to or from the front. Away from the front lines, however, some Aliens activity was still continuing, mostly towards inward & away from the FGCP. Although the FGCP was not on good terms currently with many other civilisations, the latest information on Black Cloud Aliens activity was forwarded on. Even the Wellous were informed on the Aliens movements.

9932 Without warning, the Black Cloud Aliens began major fleet movements. At first Admiral Roberts thought that a major attack was about to be launch upon the PEF. But Nazzdorra quick dispelled this concern as it was clear that this movements were directed away from the PEF & towards the inward border. Enigma2 tried to intercept Aliens communication, but that which it could not be decoded.

It was a UDF spy probe, using its Nazzdorra, that identified the reason. A large Wellous fleet, including some of their allies, had crossed into occupied Phillis space. Black Cloud Aliens were rushing all that they could spare in order to intercept them. And it did not take long before a major battle took place.

Stupidly, the Wellous once again sent out peace communiques prior to the engagement. As before, the Aliens ignored these & attacked. The Wellous allies fled in terror due to the dreadful assault, not having experienced anything like it before. The Wellous stood firm & tried to fight it out, but as before they had little change. Those ships from the combined fleet that were not destroyed were captured. Only a handful of the allies managed to escape.

While this battle was going on, the Phillis wanted to counter attack. It was a sound tactic in theory. The Aliens had weakened their front in order to attack the Wellous combined fleet & in doing so invited them to attack. Admiral Roberts, however, was against any move. Not only would such an attack mean dreadful losses for the PEF & the Phillis, but there was no guarantee of successful. Furthermore, no one really knew yet how to kill the invaders.

The Presidential election was a hotly contested one. The main issue was the Aliens War. Although no FGCP territory had been invaded yet, the simple fact that five UDF fleets were committed to the conflict clearly indicated that the Commonwealth was fully involved. The biggest debating point was, however, defending someone else’s territory. Relations with both the Sassnorah & Phillis had never been great, in fact they had been down right hostile, but here was the FGCP fighting with & for them.

Nonetheless, President Bradley took on all comers. Citing the numerous times that the FGCP had stood up against the evil in the galaxy, the FGCP had always come through. He was also quick to point out that some of these enemies had become good friends. When queried by a Braggah reporter about the "... Black Cloud Aliens becoming good friends", the President laughed then replied, A... they are pure evil - can’t you feel it?". Obviously the corrporeal Braggah could not, but it was all that was needed as a message to the Catharsis non-corporeal citizens. The President was returned to office with a small majority.

9933 After their victory over the Wellous fleets, the Black Cloud Aliens concentrated their forces on their front lines with the PEF & Phillis. Admiral Roberts issued immediate alert anticipating a major assault at any second. He was not to be disappointed.

The Black Could Aliens came forth. Their three fleets larger than before. Importantly they were stronger than ever before. The PEF continued with their tactics of firing at maximum distance, but few Aliens ships were disabled or destroyed. The Phillis attacked as previously, but lost more of their ships in the attacks that those of the enemy. Importantly, nothing stopped this new advance.

The Phillis were furious & demanded that the UDF attack in fully, rather than shoot at long distance & run away. Clearly they were deeply concerned that their last three planets were doomed like the rest of their once grand civilisation. Admiral Roberts refused. Not only would it mean that he would have ships destroyed, but many would be captured. The last thing he wanted to do is fight a UDF Guardian class battleship.

This he explained to the Phillis Joint Chiefs who were reluctant to accept his position. Roberts, to his credit, knew that billions of Phillis lives were in peril & offered to evacuate all who wanted to go to FGCP space. Considering the Black Could Aliens advance, the Phillis really could not say no.

Soon hundreds of transport ships of all sizes began shuttling millions of Phillis to the FGCP. It would be the largest such program in history. About 4 billion Phillis would survive thanks to this operation. President Bradley was rather annoyed at first when he found out about the refugee movements, but had little choice other than support Admiral Roberts initiative.

9934 Still the Black Cloud Aliens came on. The tactics of the PEF annoyed them immensely, but there was little they could do about it. Yet thanks to the large number of captured Wellous ships in their ranks, the PEF tactics only slowed them down. Little damage or loss of ships had taken place. In fact the Phillis attacks damaged & destroyed more Aliens ships than the PEF had done, but the Phillis had lost 50 percent of their strength doing so.

Soon, however, the Black Cloud Aliens reached the remaining Phillis worlds. All were deserted apart from military personnel. Considering these planets could not be successful defended, Admiral Roberts gave the withdrawal order to the Phillis border. The surviving Phillis forces, however, refused to move. They were going to stay until the last. Although Roberts demanded they withdraw, reminding them how pointless such a defence was, the Phillis still refused.

As far as the Phillis were concerned they had failed in their efforts to defend their people. But they were adamant that they would not be remembered as such. They would all die a warrior’s death & become gods in the process. Furthermore, their sacrifice would ensure that the withdrawing PEF would be successful & that the next defence line along the border would be ready without any hindrance. The war must continue onto victory & the Phillis knew that only the FGCP could achieve that victory.

As Admiral Roberts predicted, the Phillis fleet was smashed to pieces. Keeping to their old tactics, the Phillis ships would attack in large numbers, which lowered as casualties mounted. Numerous Black Cloud Aliens ships were also destroyed, but in the end it came down to numbers. Not long after the destruction of the Phillis fleet, the invasion of the three planets commenced. The Phillis ground forces had little luck. They too were overwhelmed. Then the death of all three planets commenced.

Admiral Roberts was saddened by these last events. He issued an official statement praising the efforts & sacrifice of the Phillis military. President Bradley likewise did the same & awarded the fallen Phillis heroes various medals, posthumously, to all the Phillis. The refugees, although thankful for what the FGCP had tried to do, were still upset. Partly due to the massive losses to their people & because the FGCP did not stand with their forces. All the medal in the galaxy would not bring their loved ones back.

9935 Admiral Roberts, still saddened by the recent events, retired to private life. His achievements had been mixed. Although the PEF had not really been defeat, they had been pushed almost out of Phillis space. Only a small patrol zone along the border was still in PEF hands. Furthermore, the three remaining Phillis planets had been captured, & like the rest, destroyed. Yet he had saved the lives of 4 billion Phillis & all of the ships involved with the PEF.

Replacing Roberts was the Zargah Sonx Zend. Admiral Zend was aggressive, but not foolish. He, however, like the Phillis thought that Roberts should have made a stand at the same time as the Phillis military had. But that was the past. What was more important was that the FGCP was on the verge of being invaded by a ruthless enemy. President Bradley, although having full confidence in Roberts, likewise agreed with Admiral Zend that more aggressive action could have been conducted by the PEF.

No one, however, really knew what that aggressive action might included. NGW Enigma Catharsis Acceleration team still had not come up with a way to kill the Black Cloud Aliens. Data had been pouring into their analysis from the recent battles, but even though their captured ships could be destroyed, it appeared most, if not all, of the Aliens survived the destruction of their ships. The Aliens would simply catch a ride on one of the surviving ships neighbouring them. There were a few theories going around, but these were either improbable or practically impossible.

In response to all the FGCP activity, the Black Cloud Aliens kept relatively quiet. They appeared to be satisfied with consolidating their latest conquests before moving on. Admiral Zend was positive that meant heading towards the FGCP. Although he was confident that the three fleets under his direct command in the PEF could do the job, he nevertheless requested more support. President Bradley agreed to this & the 12th Fleet was ordered to the border. Here it joined up with the other two UDF fleets currently patrolling there.

9936 With little warning the Black Cloud Aliens advanced. Nazzdorra sets started going off everywhere ensuring that the PEF would not be surprised. In a change of tactics, the Black Could Aliens had combined their forces into one Grand fleet. Admiral Zend saw this as an opportunity to attack in force, but from three directions.

The 3rd UDF fleet would attack from the front. Its job would be to keep the Grand fleet occupied & gain their full attention. They would use their previous tactics & withdraw as before. But this time to a prearranged location. Here the 4th & 14th UDF fleet would lay in wait on the flanks. As the Grand fleet came through cashing the UDF 3rd Fleet, the 4th & 14th Fleets would attack the flanks. It was a good plan.

Thus forward the 3rd UDF fleet advanced to meet the oncoming Black Could Aliens. This advance by the 3rd Fleet at first made the Aliens cautious for it was a first for this enemy of theirs. Soon, however, the 3rd Fleet began firing at long range, & as before, when the Aliens got close, the 3rd Fleet withdrew. This all appeared to be the usual annoying routine whereupon the Black Cloud Aliens likewise followed.

As planned, the 3rd Fleet arrived & took up their position at the prearranged location. Both the 4th & 14th Fleets were ready to spring the trap. Then the Black Cloud Aliens fleet arrived & moved towards the location of the 3rd fleet. Without warning the 4th & 14th fleets attacked. The fighting was horrific as the Grand fleet realised that they had been brought into an ambush. The UDF fleets, however, did not retire as previously & suffered casualties. An interesting point was that most FGCP non-corporeal species, as previously, survived weaponry & the explosions around them. So too did the Aliens.

Numerous boarding parties from both sides attack each others ships, & for the most part these were repelled. On two UDF ships, however, the Aliens managed to almost overcome the defending crews, but the surviving crews self destructed their ships. The big shock, however, from these hand to hand engagements was for the Aliens. Not only did they have to retreat from the battlefield, but they had encountered other non-corporeal life forms.

Although Admiral Zend thought about a pursuit, the PEF was not really in any strength to do so. Casualties were higher than expected. A major concern was that a number, albeit small, of Catharsis species had been killed in the battle. Although death had been known to occur before, these were the first battle casualties recorded.

9937 The FGCP celebrated the news of its victory over the Black Cloud Aliens. Numerous leaders predicted a quick end to the war. The Phillis were now heard constantly demanding that an offensive campaign commence to drive the Aliens out of all Phillis territory. Soon, the Sassnorah added their voices to those of the Phillis, demanding that their territory be liberated as well.

The PEF, however, were rebuilding after their victory. Although they could defend against any Black Cloud Aliens attack, going over to the offensive would be crazy. Admiral Zend, when asked about this by President Bradley stood firm. He would need time, not only to build up the necessary numbers, but also to plan for any offensive action. He also added that he doubted that the Aliens would fall for another ambush battle.

And no the Black Cloud Aliens would not. After their defeat, they withdrew to their starting positions & awaited to be attacked themselves. The revelation that another non-corporeal civilisation was in conflict with them was a major surprise. So too was their defeat. They also noted that the other non-corporeal beings were almost impossible to kill. But what disturbed them the most was that these other non-corporeal beings were fighting with & willing to die with inferior corporeal life forms. The result was sheer blasphemy. These non-corporeal beings would have to be cleansed along with the inferior life forms. This, after all, was their unholy crusade.

For all the successes of his Administration, President Bradley was glad to be stepping down. The last decade had been a terrific strain upon the FGCP & upon him. The elections, though, were confusing. The "peace" camp gained little support, especially after Admiral Zend’s victory. Peace also seemed impossible with a race that was well known to be evil. Although the Phillis could not vote, their views on future policy were certainly heard.

Thus the election was between the defensive & offensive camps. Whether to continue to hold the borders against the evil Aliens, or do as the Phillis & Sassnorah wanted & liberate their territories. It certainly appeared that the UDF could handle the Aliens in a tough battle, & liberating those conquered had a very honourable theme to it. The results, not surprisingly, came down to the votes of the Sassnorah. It was their support to the Human candidate from Renaissance, Bruno Tortona, that tipped the scales in favour of the offensive camp. Hence Tortona became the next President of the FGCP.

9938 President Tortona came in with the sound & fury that had made him many years ago somewhat infamous within the UDF. Although he reached Major-General, many under his command often said they were glad that they never had to fight anyone. Notorious for making grandiose statements about how things should be done, he was quietly told, after a while, by the Joint Chiefs to resign quietly or get sacked very publicly. He chose the former.

Now, some twenty years later, his direct & aggressive approach to the Aliens War had seem him elected with a narrow majority. After settling in, he ordered the PEF to begin offensive operations. This the UDF Joint Chiefs, different from twenty years ago, objected stating that the PEF were not ready. Furthermore, very little was still known about who or what the Aliens were. Then there was the issue over how to kill them.

All this meant little to the President. Again he ordered the Joint Chiefs into action. This time, the President included threats of sackings if his orders were no carried out immediately. They reluctantly agreed & sent the necessary orders to Admiral Zend as the President gloated over his first victory over the Joint Chiefs somewhat satisfied with revenge.

Admiral Zend, although wanting to attack, also knew when he could. But when these orders came through he could not believe that he was being ordered to attack immediately regardless of circumstances. Not only were his offensive plans far from finalised, the PEF really needed another UDF fleet in order to ensure that the numbers were clearly on his side. Then there was the matter of what will be a dreadful battle. If a successful victory for the war was the true objective, Zend calculated that two fresh fleets would be required to pursue the Black Cloud Aliens to their final destruction.

All this Admiral Zend sent back to the Joint Chiefs stating his objections to any offensive campaign. Again President Tortona threatened to sack them all if something was not done soon. The President did, though, concede that another fleet may join the PEF. But he demanded action to commence immediately after its arrival. Before any of this could take place, however, the UDF reported other activity.

UDF LookingGlass stations along the Cordah border once again detected that three Vale Gateways were in operation. Unlike last time, the locations of the three Gateways was narrowed down. UDF spy probes were immediately dispatched to the three areas & commenced their searching. Although the first two locations were hard to find, the third revealed itself to the UDF probe.

Close analysis indicated that an enormous space station was a the located & based there were a large number of battleships of an advanced civilisation. Considering the style of design, let alone that advanced technology that was present, the Cordah were immediately dismissed as involved. Whether the Cordah knew anything about this base was unknown. Soon the other two locations were found & a similar sight was waiting for the UDF probes.

When President Tortona was informed of these mysterious bases, he immediately put all the UDF forces in the Zargah Sector on alert. Furthermore, the cancelled the reinforcements to the PEF & sent them to the Zargah Sector instead. Thus the UDF 6th Fleet headed for the Cordah border to meet up with the UDF 13th Fleet. The Joint Chiefs argued that this was all an over reaction & that they should concentrate on the Aliens War. The President disagreed, but reiterated that the PEF must attack & without the reinforcements.

9939 As per President Tortona orders, Admiral Zend began offensive action, but it was not what the President had in mind. Instead, Zend sent task forces into Phillis space to conduct several missions. These were called offensive actions, but in reality they were merely patrols to keep the Black Cloud Aliens guessing as to the PEF’s next moves.

President Tortona was not impressed by the actions of Admiral Zend, particularly considering there were no major news of the great victory that the President wanted. Zend, for his part, was, however, safe from being sacked because he was conducting offensive action. In all the orders so far to date, no one had particularly ordered him what kind of offensive action or what were his particular objectives. Furthermore, he continued to point out that he really needed three more UDF fleets in order to do the job required of him.

These reinforcements would not be coming soon. The President’s obsession with the three Vale Gateway bases ensured that the Zargah Sector was on full military alert. This included the dispatch of the 11th Guard fleet to protect Zargah Prime (previously called Capital). When Admiral Zend asked about the availability of the three UDF fleets that were supposedly to give him support if need be, the President replied that the Gallant 2nd, 9th & 12th Fleets could not leave FGCP territory.

The UDF continued to analyse who the Vale Gateway aliens were. Only their ships & bases had been scanned so far. Not one alien had been viewed, which was not surprising. But none of the ships correlated with any other currently known civilisation. That was until the Ancients database was searched by Peter Wilson a UDF historian. It was not long, especially on the UDF MICC supercomputer, before an answer arrived. It was the Essence Ancients.

This information, as well as the history of the Ancients War, was passed onto the Joint Chiefs. They were now in a quandary. They could tell the President who the Vale Gateway aliens were or deliberately keep him in the dark. If they told him, he was bound to order that the UDF attack the Essence Ancients. This, of cause, would severely disrupt the space-time continuum cause irreversible damage to the present. The Ancients War had brought together the FGCP in ways unimaginable. If the Essence do not attack, there would be no FGCP.

9940 Thankfully, the President was distracted elsewhere. After Admiral Zend refused to change his offensive tactics, President Tortona finally had him replace. Zend could not believe it, but accepted his orders as he would any other. In his place, however, the President appointed a young inexperienced Admiral who happened to be a supporter of the President’s. Soon, President Tortona would get his offensive.

The Joint Chiefs were horrified & immediately objected. Admiral Shell, Chief of the Navy, declared that the President was mad. For his outburst he was sacked on the spot. Then came the dreaded orders to attack. With little planning, the newly appointed Admiral Rivalta recalled the task forces patrolling the region. Not long after, the PEF now operating as a combined fleet, set off to the nearest Black Cloud Aliens fleet. The Aliens saw the combined fleet coming & prepared their defences.

Regardless of the warnings being issued by Nazzdorra, Admiral Rivalta pressed on regardless. His tactics would be simple - a frontal attack with large numbers to overwhelm the enemy. Because the Aliens Grand fleet had split back up into three fleets as previously, Rivalta was confident that his combined fleet would crush each individual fleet with little effort.

The Black Cloud Aliens, on the other hand, saw an opportunity to conduct an ambush of their own. So as the PEF combined fleet arrived to give battle to the first Aliens fleet, the other two smashed into the flanks of the PEF. All this occurred, despite the warnings constantly being issued by Nazzdorra. Rivalta refused to withdraw, even though his command was being surrounded.

The UDF personnel fought valiantly & were butchered valiantly. It was a dreadful defeat. Most of the corporeal crews were killed. Even a large number of non-corporeal personnel were also killed in the horrifying hand to hand combat between the Black Cloud Aliens & the Catharsis FGCP personnel. The Aliens suffered too, but their better tactics ensured victory. The PEF, however, were almost wiped out. Only 159 ships survived a combined fleet of 641. These survivors raced to the protection of their support fleet group within FGCP space.

9941 The recriminations over the PEF debacle did not take long to begin. Admiral Rivalta missed facing a court martial due to the fact that he had been killed, it was assumed, near the end of the battle. President Tortona, however, did not get off lightly. On the contrary, Congress was not in a forgiving mood. Before the President could begin explaining to the People of the FGCP, Congress indited him.

At first President Tortona refused to have anything to do with the inditement proceedings against him until Congress threatened him with arrest. It was truly a constitutional crisis made worse by the recent defeat. Three UDF fleets are virtually been destroyed. Now the FGCP faced invasion. All this fuelled on Congress to near hysterical levels. The President soon discovered he had few friends or allies.

It did not take long before Congress reached a majority decision. With 75 percent of the vote against him, Congress removed President Tortona from office. In his place, Vice-President Tellera became President. Few had little faith in his abilities either, but Congress warned they would tolerate none of the mistakes from the Tortona Administration.

President Tellera thus was in a bind. Having seen the plans of the previous President & his close friend become a disaster, Tellera had little choice but to agree to the wishes of the Joint Chiefs & Congress. A massive order was placed to build new warships fast due to the recent losses. Furthermore, it now appeared that the war would go on for a lot longer than which Tortona & everyone else had hoped.

The Black Cloud Aliens had celebrated their massive victory over the PEF. Although they pursued the survivors, they did not cross into FGCP territory. Furthermore, the three fleets on the border covered the retreat of the surviving PEF ships & ensured that the Aliens would have to stop in order to reform. This they did, but they took no offensive action.

The UDF, however, was all action. The PEF survivors were reorganised into the 3rd Fleet. A new 4th & 14th Fleets would be reconstituted when the new warships would start coming out of the dockyards. In the mean time, the 6th Fleet was moved from the Zargah Sector while the 15th Fleet joined them heading for the border area to rendezvous with the other UDF fleets operating there.

Meanwhile, along the Cordah border, the UDF 11th & 13th fleets continued to monitor the Essence Ancients activity at their so called secret bases. Enigma2 station constantly monitored Cordah communications, but nothing was ever intercepted that even suggested that they were aware that the Essence were violating their territory. For their part, the Essence Ancients continued to construct their bases & ships. A few jumps into the time stream were recorded, but there was no major activity. President Tellera was never informed as to the true identity of the Essence Ancients.

9942 The Black Cloud Aliens began harassing along the border. Their tactics had dramatically changed as small task forces would conduct hit & run missions testing out the defenses of the FGCP. Clearly the Aliens had become aware of the power of the FGCP & in particular that of the UDF. Whether captured prisoners had informed them of the FGCP was unknown, but this was suspected.

The UDF, however, now had six fleets facing the enemy. Even though the 3rd Fleet had been knocked around from The Debacle, that did not mean that they did not want to get back into the fight. In fact The Debacle had woken the UDF up. They now knew that this enemy was just as capable as themselves & not to be taken lightly. If they were, more defeats would certainly await them.

The Presidential elections resembled a bloodbath. The citizens, still reeling from the massive UDF defeat wanted blood. No one, except President Tellera, tried to defend what happened except a rather dishonoured Tortona. But even President Tellera distanced himself from Tortona & tried to convince the public that his Administration was not that of Tortona’s. The people, however, did not believe him.

A retired Admiral Roberts, who incidentally really did not have to retire due to his non-corporeal background (the age limit remained regardless of the reality), stepped forward to lead the main opposition to President Tellera. Knowing what should have been done, rather than the stupidity pursued by Tortona’s war policy, Roberts easily put forward a competent & comprehensive policy of his own. Although other opposition candidates question Roberts economic & social policies, he countered by stated that the war must be won, otherwise the FGCP would not have to worry about any policies. They would be as what had happened in both Sassnorah & Phillis territories. A majority of voters agreed. Roberts became President with a small majority.

9943 President Roberts was immediately brought up to speed on the affairs of the FGCP. This included a full report on the activities of the Essence. This surprised the President as he, or anyone else for that matter, had not hard much about what was happening with the Vale Gateway aliens. He was further surprised to discover that the previous two presidents had not been informed. "Anything else I should know that you haven’t told me?" the President asked. "I don’t know what you don’t know Mr President", his Chief of Staff Michelle Conway replied. Both laughed. Clearly the FGCP had a workable government.

The Black Cloud Aliens continued with their task force tactics of hit & run. Now, however, they expanded their raids into FGCP territory with the UDF forces trying to intercept. A major target for these raids was often UDF convoys. Although Nazzdorra would alert both the convoys & the interceptor forces of the Aliens movements, sometimes a convoy was hit. Destruction was total. Importantly, the Aliens would avoid contact with UDF task forces & fleet movements whenever possible. Only on a few occasions, when numbers were clearly on their side, would they attack UDF forces.

These tactics slowly reduced the effectiveness of the six UDF fleets along the border. President Roberts was, however, reluctant to order an offensive against the Black Cloud Aliens. Noting that his own tactics against them had proven to be somewhat successful, & that Admiral Zend’s adaptation of these even more so, such was the Presidential orders to the UDF fleets.

And as far as the President was concerned, the defensive posture of the UDF would remain until NGW came up with some answers. One of the fundamental lessons learnt from The Debacle was that the Black Cloud Aliens had discovered a way to kill non-corporeal life forms. This process was unknown, & although the Advanced Acceleration team had come up with some ideas, none of them appeared to work when tested. Needless to say, testing was a problem. Only computer simulators could be used in the testing for obvious reasons.

9944 Homo neo-luminous had continued to grow in both numbers & civilisation. Although still primitive, it became clear that, barring some planetary catastrophe, Homo neo-luminous would one day, like Homo Sapiens, become the dominant species on Earth. UPX calculated that the Homo neo-luminous "nations" would expand to the point where the National Parks housing them would be too same. Contact with the current Earth civilisation would certainly occur within fifty year. The 25 000 Homo neo-luminous had grown to over 250 000 since the last major population study. One thing Homo neo-luminous were very good at was they reproduced faster than Homo Sapiens.

Elsewhere within the FGCP UXP had continued with their research into the new emerging species. Those on Neptune Prime continued to advance their technological capabilities. As their "water planes" had become common place, technology had made them go higher & faster. Being a specie that were naturally curious, the Neptunians wondered what the stars in the night sky were. Optical & radio telescopes had thus been established on the surface. UPX was impressed by these scientific endeavours & was not surprised when the Neptunians made their first attempts at space rockets.

Similarly, the Europans also continued to develop. Like with Homo neo-luminous, the Europans had developed into "nations" that were expanding. Importantly, this expansion spread across Europa much faster than Homo neo-luminous had on Earth, thanks to the very nature of the water "planet". Contact had been made between the various Europan "nations" & trade had been established. UPX furthermore reported that no territorial disputes, or any other war-like behaviour, had been reported on Europa. It was a similar pattern with the Neptunians & Homo neo-luminous.

9945 Although the research by UPX was very important, few took much notice considering the current situation faced by the Commonwealth. For two years now the Black Cloud Aliens had been testing out the defences of the FGCP. The UDF had massed a major presence along the border & this had ensured that the Black Cloud Aliens had stopped their advance.

That now all changed. Nazzdorra saw them coming. As per his orders, Admiral Zend ordered his fleets to withdraw, albeit after a quick engagement. The Black Cloud Aliens had expected this & where possible would rush to the flanks to try & envelop the withdrawing UDF forces. Thanks to Nazzdorra, such manoeuvres were tracked & the necessary counter moves conducted.

Thankfully along the border, the FGCP had no major planets, save for a few small colonies & UDF bases. Needless to say, these were all evacuated prior to the arrival of the Black Cloud Aliens. Being deserted, however, did not mean that these bases & colonies were saved. As had happened to the Sassnorah & Phillis, so these bases & colonies suffered destruction.

Yet as had been feared, nothing appeared to stop the Black Cloud Aliens advance. President Roberts was deeply concerned, even though in public he would not admit it. To the Catharsis species, however, whatever the President said or did in public did not matter. All could "sense" the President’s concerns as well as those of the senior UDF officers. More pressure was placed upon NGW to come up with a solution.

9946 The NGW solution, however, was not fast in coming. The progression of the war only made matters worse. Whether or not the Black Cloud Aliens knew exactly what NGW was up to was never known. But it soon became obvious that NGW Oracle had become a major objective for the Black Cloud Aliens.

President Roberts now changed his orders to the UDF. NGW Oracle must be defended. It was one of a handful of installations of the FGCP that was placed on a level equal to Earth. Admiral Zend, knowing first hand the situation, was not so sure that it could be done. Although he had no intension of disobeying orders, he nonetheless organised the evacuation of the planet. NGW was not overly happy, but agreed with the realistic assessment of the situation.

Considering the unknown intensions of the Black Could Aliens, NGW decided that their Oracle operations would be re-established on NGW Enigma. Basically, it meant that NGW’s operations could not distance themselves any further from the invaders. All of this was organised without informing the President.

9947 It goes without saying that the Black Cloud Aliens were not told about the evacuation of NGW Oracle either. Waiting for their advance was the 12th & 15th UDF fleets, not too mention planetary defences. As expected, the Aliens attacked. They were not ready for the UDF response. Expecting the UDF to withdraw, the Aliens attacked in force. Furthermore they rushed in hoping to cause as much destruction to the UDF fleets as possible.

This simply worked into Admiral Zend’s plan. The 12th Fleet rapidly withdrew in front of the invaders advance & in doing so unmasked the firepower of the 15th Fleet. The leading Black Cloud Alien ships were destroyed. Before the Aliens could respond, the 15th then withdrew, deliberately inviting the Aliens to pursue. This they did right into a reformed 12th Fleet. As had occurred for the 15th Fleet, now the 12th Fleets guns were unmasked & they unleashed a tremendous volley of destruction.

By now the Black Could Aliens realised the tactics being employed. They stopped their pursuit in order to reform & reinforce their fleet. Soon the Aliens once again advanced en mass - far too powerful & protected for the 12th & 15th Fleets to counter. Admiral Zend had feared that defence of NGW Oracle would be hard to achieve. Furthermore, he believed that now was not the time to have a massive stand up fight against the invaders.

Accordingly, the UDF withdrew from NGW Oracle as the Aliens approached. Sensing another trap, however, only a small force of Black Cloud Aliens landed on the planet. Most of the Aliens ships kept a safe distance & positioned themselves between the planet & the last known location of the retreating UDF ships. It was just as well. As the Aliens on the planet began their destruction, the UDF made one more action.

The bulk Black Cloud Alien ships on guard immediately registered an unusual energy reading coming from the planet. Scanners then picked up a huge blackness that had blotted out the planet & the light from the stars around it. A few seconds later the stars had returned, but the planet had gone. Scans indicated that the planet had disappeared from existence. Not one atom remained. Yes, the Black Cloud Aliens were right. The UDF had indeed left a trap. BlackStar had returned.

President Roberts was furious when he had heard the news of the events at NGW Oracle. Although he did not sack Admiral Zend, he was nonetheless unimpressed. All the same, although the Commonwealth has lost one of its most important installations, it was considered a victory by most. It was a major boost for the President’s re-election hopes. His anger was somewhat further softened when he was informed that NGW had transferred all its operations to NGW Enigma prior to the destruction of Oracle.

As stated, President Roberts was in trouble in the forthcoming election campaign. Having had no real victories, many citizens had come to blame the President for "the run away" tactics employed by the UDF. But the destruction of NGW Oracle brought home the reality of the war: in order to have a victory, the most extreme & desperate measures were required. With this knowledge & enlightenment, President Roberts was narrowly returned to continue the fight.

9948 The destruction of NGW Oracle was certainly a desperate action. Although BlackStar had once again been successful, Admiral Zend highly doubted that it could be successfully deployed on a modern battlefield. The last time BlackStar saw action was almost one million years ago. And it was not too successful. The weapon was simply just too vulnerable on a modern battlefield against countermeasures employed by an alert enemy.

Yet President Roberts ordered the recommissioning of BlackStar in both its old forms: the mine & the missile. These were rushed into production & soon Admiral Zend had deployed these as required. Most UDF personnel shared with Zend’s opinion of the ancient weapon & had little faith in it. At least, however, it gave the Black Cloud Aliens something new to consider.

And consider they did. Having experienced the dreadful destruction of BlackStar, it made them stop & think. Just like every enemy that had experienced BlackStar, they at first really did not know what to do. A further consideration also began to bother them. Although they could find a counter for this destructive weapon, this had been the first time that they had come across an enemy who would destroy their own planet in order to kill them. Such sacrifice was unknown to them.

During this lull of the Black Cloud Aliens, the UDF 11th Fleet reported that the activity of the Essence Ancients had dramatically increased. LookingGlass had likewise indicated that hundreds of Essence Ancients ships were moving back & forth in the time line. Most of these ships were travelling back to approximately 3000AD.

The UDF was naturally concerned about the activities of the Essence Ancients, as was the President, but there was little they could do for now. Clearly this was the beginning of the Ancients War. The United Federation of Planets of 3000AD was on its own. The FGCP of the present had its own problems. At least the UDF 11th Fleet monitoring the activities of the Essence Ancients of the present reported that the Cordah had nothing to do with any of the Ancients.

9949 Having consolidated their positions the previous year, the Black Cloud Aliens once more advanced. Admiral Zend had deliberately kept contact with the Aliens to a minimum. Only a handful of clashes had occurred. Quietly, he was happy to have the enemy remain that way. Furthermore it meant that his own numbers were back to established numbers.

NGW continued to conduct research. Having noted the results of the destruction of NGW Oracle, they declared that the answer to finding a weapon to use against the Black Cloud Aliens was the ancient BlackStar. It certainly killed the Aliens attacking the planet, but as Admiral Zend was quick to point out - it took the cost of a planet to be successful. President Roberts, however, had what he thought was his weapon & ordered Admiral Zend to use BlackStar in the next major battle.

9950 Thinking that the FGCP had the victorious weapon, the Sassnorah & the Phillis began to apply pressure upon the President to attack. Although the Phillis were still classified as refugees, they could be somewhat ignored. But the Sassnorah were Commonwealth citizens. Many other FGCP citizens agreed with them & also called for action.

The President was in a bind. Here he had the weapon that he had called for, but began to have doubts himself as to its real ability to counter the Black Cloud Aliens. But the public pressure continued to build up. When Congress began to question the pursuit of the war, President Roberts regrettably ordered the UDF onto the offensive.

As in the previous year, the Black Cloud Aliens remained on the defensive. Admiral Zend did not trust them, & believed that they were planning a trap. Yes Zend accepted that BlackStar had stunned them, but he also knew that the invaders were highly intelligent & capable. When his orders came through, he almost immediately refused to obey them. After much debate, it was decided that the 9th Fleet would attack the largest of the Aliens fleet with the single purpose of using the BlackStar missiles.

Soon, the battle was on. In the old NGW Oracle solar system, the UDF 9th Fleet arrived to give battle to the Aliens. The Aliens, however, were waiting for them. The 9th Fleet did not know this & attacked en mass as planned. When the enemy was in range, the BlackStar missiles were fired. Immediately, the 9th Fleet withdrew & left in its path were BlackStar mines. All hoped they would work. Few, though, believed that they would.

With the release of the missiles, the Black Cloud Aliens attacked. First, bursts of plasma energy hit the missiles destroying their warheads harmlessly. Likewise, the BlackStar mines were destroyed in the same fashion. It was all reminiscent of the actions of the Essence Ancients almost one million years ago. Although the 9th Fleet managed to escape the Aliens counterattack, it was clearly a defeat for the FGCP.

When President Roberts was informed of the result, he said nothing.

Forward to War & Peace 999,951-1,000,000

Back to The Darkness Approaches 999 901 - 999 950)

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