Chapter 4

They were all watching a news cast about the situation on the border with the Veluxions. It seemed that the Empire had been completely driven out of the Josper system and were now in danger of losing even more. The Farneax and the Polharris systems had refused to commit their fleets but even worse news was that the Haraday had actually asked the Veluxions for their protection! It was a somewhat nervous Admiral Bleucher that came on the com.

“Ah, Commodore, how are your preparations going?”

“Fine Sir. We have several vessels ready for service.”

“Good, good. We seem to have a situation in the Haraday system. How soon do you think you could get out there?”

Knowing he couldn’t trust the security of the Admiral’s office he thought quickly.

“Well at warp 3 it should take us six weeks to arrive. The other vessels in the fleet should also be able to keep up with us.”

“Very well. Take what you’ve got and do what you can. I’ll give you blanket authority for this. You will report to General Cairns. He’s the Governor General there.”

“Yes, Sir. I would like to take some of my own people there as well. I feel I would need some first rate administrators. It’s the one thing we’re short of.”

“Look, we’re in a bit of a bind at the moment. If you tell me who you want then I’ll see what I can do. First though get out there and find out what the hell is going on!”

The first thing he did was put a call through to his old pal, Tony.

“Admiral Doulton’s office, Sinclair speaking.”

“Hello, Tony, Charles here. Tell me, any idea what’s going on at Haraday? I’ve just been tasked with sorting it out. What the hell is going on?”

“It’s all gone tits up that’s what’s happened. It seems that there is a significant Veluxion minority within the system. They have used the situation to claim they are being oppressed and have appealed to the Veluxions for protection. The rest of the population, while not being the empire’s biggest fans have no love for the Veluxions either. To tell the truth it’s a bit of an out of the way place. They have some industry but not a great deal. They are best know for their agriculture, and for Haraday 3. The locals call it Eden. It’s a resort planet. Beautiful by all accounts. Playground for the rich and famous.”

“Well I’ve just been told to report to General Cairns, the Governor General. I might need some extra administrators. You wouldn’t happen to be able to point me in the right direction would you?”

There was silence for about two seconds. “As a matter of fact, yes I do. Tell you what, I’ll put a team together for you. You send me a message when you need us and when it’s safe for us to come out. I hope it’s a long term posting. Some of them will want to bring their families.”

“Cairns, the name rings a bell.”

“It should do. Don’t you remember Colonel Cairns? The man that exposed the Purbright Corporation’s battle armour fiasco?”

“Oh god yes! Those were the ones that were supposed to supersede the Mark-24’s. Turns out they could barely stop a slight breeze let alone a plasma round. Didn’t they have a problem with the batteries? After four hours the damn things would explode!”

“That’s right. He uncovered the evidence that the defect was known about, but was deemed too expensive to correct. Then it turns out that the contract to supply the batteries came from a company with direct links to the Emperor. The pressure on Cairns was immense but he stuck to his guns. That was, until they blew his house up. Fortunately no one was at home, but it brought home to him that he was dealing with some very powerful and ruthless people. They offered him a promotion and the governorship of the Haraday system. He accepted, and has been there ever since.”

“Thanks, Tony. I knew I could rely on you.”

He told Admiral Froidlegger what was happening.

“So you’ll be needing my men and ships then?”

“Yes, yes I will. What can you spare?”

The man smiled at him. “Listen, we are here thanks to your people. Our ships are being repaired to a better standard than when they were new. This is thanks to you. I would like to keep some here for our own defence, but I think we can spare four battleships, six cruisers, twelve frigates and one of our carriers.”

“I don’t know what to say. This is fantastic! How soon can we get underway?”

“I’ll issue the orders for the change of command and they will be ready first thing, tomorrow. Oh, there is one more favour I need to ask of you. I would like you to leave Hargreaves here.”

“Oh, okay. Is there any particular reason?”

“Just say it’s a personal favour and leave it at that, shall we?”

“Very well. I’ll have him transferred to the base, here.”

“I’d rather you put him on special attachment to my staff. I’d hate it if your admiral could suddenly spirit him away somewhere else.”

“Very well. I’ll issue those orders. Ask your officers to report to my office will you?”

“Your officers, now. They will be there directly.”

The orders were issued and the ships’ officers assembled in the Commodore’s office.

“Well men, we have been tasked with the unenviable of sorting out the Haraday system. It seems there is a little internal strife there at the moment but the biggest threat is from the Veluxions. It is apparent that they are taking advantage of our internal problems to try to make a territory grab. They are trying to seize the system. Our task is to stop them. Make no mistake, these people can fight. We have just had an encounter with them. We lost a lot of good men. They are sharp and professional. I have informed our Admiral that it will take us six weeks to get there. I think we can arrive somewhat sooner than that.” A chuckle ran around the room. “All I can say is thank you for volunteering for this. Now lets get this done!”

Early the next morning the ships slipped silently from their moorings. They made their way to the departure point and set off. Once out of sensor range Commodore Holstock ordered the ships to maximum warp.

“How’s the fleet looking, Mr Forbes?”

“We’re maintaining warp 7. We should be there in two weeks Sir.”

A smile crept over Charles face.

“That should give them a big surprise.” said Lieutenant Berkley.

“Yes, yes it should. They are expecting a beat up old relic with a few equally beat up tag alongs. The last thing they will expect is a fully functioning battle fleet. Once we arrive I will need to get a feel for the situation. We will need to come up with a plan very quickly.”

“How long do you think we’ll have?”

“Not long. If I were them I would be placing my fleet in an ambush position about a week before we are due to arrive. Us arriving early will force them to do one of three things. One, abandon the whole scheme, which I feel is unlikely. Two, rush whatever forces they have available and come at us piecemeal. This is my preferred thing to have happen, as we could take them out one at a time. Three is what I personally would do, and that is to find out what is opposing us and take a force large enough to deal with it. I have no idea of what they have available, but I think with the confidence they have after Josper 6 they might just rush in regardless.”