As the heads of state arrived on the capital city of Ogo, Wanjo system, the atmosphere was concerning. The activated fallen empires as they were called, presented an unique threat to their system of stability which had lasted for over 100 years. What do those beings want from the galaxy?
"We will start our meeting now," said the Prime Minister of Immuthor, the reigning Chair of the Righteous Alliance.
The nations will speak in turns, clockwise from their position in the galaxy. The Immuthorians will speak first, then the Alari, then the associate member, the Jogollwans,
after that the Kel Azaans, the Sintomorois, and the Mandasura Manufacturing Collective, finally the Othethi League.
"Without further ado, we have the latest troop movement data on the Rutharians, I'll leave the Chimm to the Alari nation. The Rutharians have moved their fleets into the sectors of Yggrolia and Karos, two neutral systems bordering the Othethi Confederation and Kel Azaan Republic respectively. The fleets both contain at least 1 Titan class warship.
"As to the titan warship's firepower... you can see it for yourself"
A visual of the titan warship gun firing is displayed, it showed a transport vessel being vaporised under the energy output. There was some murmur amongst the delegates.
"We have with our Alari allies discovered many hidden drones implanted on our planets, sometimes disguising as innocuous objects. It is through these spy devices they put in centuries ago they have kept abreast of the galaxy's events.
"Hence why this meeting is held in Ogo, the planet surface was completely bombarded and most listening devices destroyed, the reconstruction began 20 years ago and we are free of most of the spy devices of the ancients. Most Jogollwans were given chance to evacuate, of course." He looked at the Jogollwan PM and detected no hostility, so he continued.
"Recently the devices became active, as cloaked scouts started to appear. Here we have the model of the ship available" he clicked to a visual. "Without advanced surveillance tech it is extremely hard to detect those spy ships, they are the size of a corvette or less.
"Furthermore, we have bought this information from the Curators that they inhabit about 5 worlds, each built with unimaginably advanced technology. Their capital world is named Core, with a moon orbiting it called the Periphery. Both are densely populated. The number of Rutharians in the galaxy are estimated to be at least 60 billion.
"From their shipyards and recent incidents, I would put the estimate of their fleet power at 300k units." A dumb measure, but it was the best they've got, he thought.
"Keep in mind that their capital ships consists of Battlecruisers, a totally different philosophy to our battleships. They are designed as carriers since their fighter-bombers are more durable than ours, and are capable of swarming tactics.
"The current League forces are as follows, at last count"
"As the current situation unfolds, I would suggest that we put resources into defending the Othethi and Kel-Azaan space against Rutharian aggression, for that is where they are likely to strike next."
"I believe the Alari President has a plan"
Another set of murmurs amongst the delegates. The forces arrayed against the League seems staggering.
"The Alari President will now speak" As the Lavi spoke through its unique language, the translator sounded out a male Alari voice.
"Friends and allies, we have gathered here to meet a threat, a threat that hangs over us like the swords of Damocles. We must face it head on or perish. For years we have suffered under the yoke of the two great empire.. nay, remnants of past empires for too long. This is time to show them we deserve our space in the sun. I look to my colleague, Chancellor Bo-Gu of the Othethi Confederation, to tell you about the injustices his people have suffered under the arrogance of these Chimms and Rutharians, for daring to occupy the space they themselves desired. Various peaceful space faring vessels over the years destroyed, all without any note or apologies. All without even entering their space! The time has come to arm yourselves and defend what is rightfully yours! in unity there is strength!
"Cease your AI research and destroy all robots within your space, then swear fealty to us, your emperor, and you shall know peace".
We have received this transmission from the Chimm overlord, dictating to us an ultimatum we have no intention of accepting. I know that all of you seated here have an economy that would fall apart the instant we did that. The Chimms are demanding our total surrender, and subsistence as a thrall species, forever losing our independence and chained to a corpse of a geriatric empire. Their times have passed, and our time is now! I say this not as bluster but we have devised an actual plan to end the threat from those empires once and for all.
22 years ago, as you have no doubt remembered, there was an incident in the galactic blackhole named Gargantua, that ended in an emergency that resulted in the pan-galactic mobilisation of fleets. I am now free to reveal to you part of the Alari discovery in that system..."
As the President went on, the delegates were astonished at the impossibility of the tales. Intergalactic travel, starforges, and the tunnel to another galaxy. They were not told of the personal adventures of the Alari involved, of course. If the stories of the starforge were true, perhaps they did have a chance in all of this.
"This is our latest weapons platform," he touched a button on the presentation remote. A gigantic warship appeared on the holoscreen, next to it a Shogun-class battleship shown for size comparison.
"We call this the Gargantua class dreadnought"
"We have investigated the weaponry of the ancients," he continued unabated. "They have the unique weakness of reliance on their tachyon lances, which delivers poor damage on shields. Behold"
As he clicked another button, the shields around the Alari-design dreadnought lit up in a haunting magenta shade, like luminescent scales of the dragon. "Our new psi-shields will absorb most of their fire"
"We have managed to include not 1 but 7 gigacannons on those dreadnoughts, having optimised our balance devices to combat accuracy issues. For each of their shot we will hit them with 7.
"And the hull strength is enhanced by Garanthium ore and Living metal, which will repair any structural damage in the battlefield. This reduces chances of the enemy ever destroying a single ship."
"Lastly, our ship is equipped with the Psi-drive. This will enable our fleets to catch up with the ancients, as regular wormhole travel will take too long and lose all strategic initiative for us."
"We stand to liberate the galaxy from the decadent forces of Chimms and Rutharians, and they shall be brought to justice of the 24th century!"
After some other inspirational speech, Red Shoot stopped at a high point. The questions would come later, no doubt. He didn't mention how many dreadnaughts he had on hand, deliberately.
The rest of the meeting evolved into pledges of war and taking up particular roles in the upcoming war in the heavens.
The Jogollwan PM reinstated his loyalties to the Alari Assembly, his continued support of the league, and the economic mobilisation to support the frontier nations (Othethis and Kel Azaans). The Jogollwans remain the most numerous species of the galaxy and their production potentials are considerable. No one mentioned the internal strife of Ogo since the PM stopped the slavery practise but that was not important.
The Kel Azaan felt the threat of the Rutharians more acutely than other nations, for its nation borders the arthropoids to the south. Although from the same phylum of the tree of life, this has brought them no joy.
Rutharians have been harassing Azaan ships for years, but they dared not retaliate. Now the Azaan PM spoke passionately about the past grievances and the time to settle old scores. They've been a proud warrior race once humbled, but with the allies and friends they would overcome their adversary. The Azaan Republic pledges 100% support to the war effort, mainly in sending fleets and armies in to Rutharian space. The logistics will be assisted by other nations, and they have pledged large amount of credits for support.
The Sintomoris also pledged to send battleships and cruisers in the upcoming war, as well as ground troops. They would also require assistance from the League on credits and basic supplies.
The Mandasuran Manufacturing Collectives are fanatically war like and pledged support for arm sales and shipbuilding, and sending its relatively small force as an axillary to win honor.
The Othethis are the nation most at risk of ancients aggression. They are very distrusting of the other races, even they stands to be crushed by both the Chimms to the north and the Rutharians to the west. However, years of playing cat and mouse gave the Othethis an excellent idea of their enemies' tactics and technologies, and they would serve to strike at the most opportune moment once the enemy showed a weakness. It requested assistance from the Alaris specifically seeing it as the most potent space force.
The Immuthorans will contribute mostly man and materiel to the coming war, as well as armies which it had an abundance of. It has to divert a force to check the Huskos Empire, which may once again use the opportunity to engage in some form of adventure.
As the events on Ogo unfolds, the ancients have activated their Titan shipyards, gearing up for war.
