The Forgotten war

The forgotten war

Prologue:

The space held such great hope for humanity. In the year 2291, Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa developed the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine and the great expansion into the space had begun. Although it was unreliable and crude, it propelled the mankind into the vastness of space with not yet seen speed. After that, the golden age had begun. The humans prospered and flourished and started to colonize the distant worlds far from the cradle of their home planet. In the year 2317 a new unity on Earth had formed. The Slav Union. The SU was founded to once again restore the might of the Slav people.

The most noteworthy among the founders were the Czech, the Slovaks and the Russians. The SU was formed by the 21st century Slav countries that wanted to regain the power they once had. They wanted to depart, leave everything behind and build a nation they desire. They wanted peace, prosperity and independence from the rest of the humanity. Few years after the founding of the SU, they begun on the construction of huge colony ships, measured in kilometers in length and hundreds of tons in weight. The SU had constructed 5 of these colony ships, each for one of the major Slav group, with an appropriate name for them. The ships names were Praha (Czech capitol), Bratislava (Slovak capitol), Wrocław (Polish capitol), Zagreb (Croatian capitol) and Москва (Russian capitol). . Little did they know what was waiting for them in the far-eastern part of the galaxy. In the year 2340, these ships had begun their pilgrimage into the unknown lands of the eastern galaxy.



Part 1: the new beginning

The fleet had arrived to the eastern sector in the year 2440, it took them over a hundred years, but the voyage was fruitful. Many hospitable worlds were found and there were even solar systems where multiple planets were habitable. The eastern sector greatly exceeded the expectations of even the most optimistic minds. The colonies were constructed by dismantling the ships and so the first worlds were colonized and the founding stones of the great Slav Empire were laid. Many raw materials and rich mineral fields were found on the planets and the manufacturing process followed shortly after. In the year 2444, scientists from the new Czech capitol, Vyšehrad, had found strange artifacts in the wastes of the deserts on their planet of Bohemia. These artifacts were left there by an ancient, far superior, race that could travel waste distances in a matter of days. Thanks to these artifacts great advancements in the branch of health service, space travel, mining, land-based vehicles, computers, construction materials and weapons including shield systems for ships and cities were made. In the year 2502 the Slav union was on its peak, they had colonized nearly a hundred worlds and their technology was advanced hundred times more than when they arrived here. Some people wanted to return back to Earth, to tell other humans about these technological breakthroughs, but then they realized that would be in conflict with one of their fundamental rule that made them come here "Free ourselves from the rest of the humanity."

In the year 2508 a new race had arrived. A brutal and fanatical race they were, they called themselves the Covenant and wanted to obliterate the humans. They did not know however, that we were more advanced then they were. We had better weapons, ships, shields and propulsion system + we had a few more little tricks in our sleeves. But there was one advantage they had against us and that was their sheer weight of numbers that outnumbered us greatly. Most of the conflicts were fought by 5 Covenant ships against one Slav ship. Many worlds have fallen to the covenant onslaught. But the war was not over, no, not yet; a major battle is to be fought to ensure the survival of the Slav people, and that battle was about to change the face of the universe forever.



Part 2: The plan

Today is the year 2511, the war is stretching on and the end is nowhere in sight. Many Slav systems were completely annihilated with plasma bombardment, also known as "purging". Some planets in the outer sector are still relatively intact thanks to its powerful defenses, but they will not survive for long without their gotten-used-to supply ships and therefore, will fall to the covenant sooner or later. This desperate situation requires an immediate action and so, a high command reunion was called.

The lights inside the conference room blinded me when I stepped inside, but my improved eyes had tuned quickly and I could concentrate on the people sitting around a round table. There were 3 generals of the SU, one was still missing. At least I didn't come last. The three generals were: 4 star general Pawlov of the Russian army, 4 star general Lakatoš of the Slovak army and the 2 star general Groznyj of the Croatian army. The Polish general was still missing, so I took seat and made a short hand signal to the other generals.

"Where is Petrov?" Groznyj asked.
"He had better show up fast, Ondra was late enough." Pawlov answered
I have made a silent hum and continued to watch the door, hoping to see Petrov. Suddenly Petrov flew through the doors, wet dropping from his forehead. He exhaled quickly and started to speak in very quick Polish.
"Hold on Petrov, we can't understand a word you say!" It wasn't about I couldn't understand his language, but fluency of 200 words a second is hard to understand in any language.
"I am sorry, but the traffic jam above Vyšehrad was too great, even with my privileges."
"All right, just sit down and let's get started already."
Petrov took a seat next to me and stared at the table still exhaling from his run to the conference room. This is a good time to describe the officers. Pawlov was a sturdy man, more of a bear than a man, his face was filled with scars which he owed to a frag grenade that exploded just a few centimeters from his face, miraculously, he didn't lost neither of his eyes and only the scars remain to give proof of this incident. On the other hand, Lakatoš was rather a squirrel compared to Pawlov, small and rather weak man, but what he lost in body he gained in mind. His strategies were sound and mostly resulted in devastating destruction of the enemy, but not even this guarantied a victory thanks to the insurmountable numbers of the Covenant forces. General Petrov was rather plump and his strategy was to shoot first and ask questions later. General Groznyj was a man of faith, he believed, as well as I did, in our god that the people used to worship on Earth and so we always took god's interventions into account in connection to truly fortunate outcomes of some battles that seemed completely with no chance of success. All of these generals had something special about them and when we have agreed on something, it was (in most cases) something what you would call "full-proof plan".
"Gentleman..." Pawlov started
"One of our planets in the Ural sector is besieged by the Covenant forces for three months and if we won't do something, we will lose it. And this, gentleman, is not an option! We have many factories on the planet's surface that produce tanks and other weapons at high rate and even one dock for corvettes and destroyers. So, I propose we send in the 3rd fleet of Vyšehrad under the command of general Ondra with his flagship Marigold. Michael, are your men prepared?"
"Of course Anton, we will depart as soon as possible. But there is also another reason why I called you to Vyšehrad..." I took and deep breathe and continued. "The planet of Plzeň was lost to the covenant 2 days ago."
Silence filled the room for ten seconds, after that, Groznyj spoke with a slow but forceful voice. "Do you realize that Plzeň is just 68 light years from here? We must retake the system as soon as possible."
"All right, the Russian 18th fleet and the Slovak 7th fleet will take care of this, what are the enemy numbers?" Pawlov asked.
"We have confirmed at least 72 cruisers and 12 carriers" I answered "If you are willing to pull these fleets from their systems then be my quest, but be careful not to let your guard down while on the mission."
"Don't worry Michael. We have no enemies in the surrounding sectors, so we should be fine, plus we have very strong defenses on the ground in these sectors." Lakatoš explained
"I hope you are right, Peter, I hope you are right. This conference is over, get to your fleets and lets get it done."
We all stood up at the same time and went to the doors, this was the last time I saw Peter in my life.

Part 3: The Marigold



As I was making my way to the spaceport, I could see thousands of refuges from the western and eastern sector. Thanks to our excellent intelligence corps, we are able to monitor Covenant movement and therefore evacuate the world before they arrived. Many refuge camps were built even in space which could accommodate a great number of them. The city itself was on full alert. Anti-space batteries were raised and prepared to fire on the moments notice. Radar stations and other detection gear were working at full capacity and troops were boarding transports and then went to space to take part in the liberation of the Ural system. I was nearly at my space shuttle when I noticed a familiar face among the crowd. It was Nathan! Nathan Turnbull!
"HEY, Nate!" I shouted into the crowd.
He immediately recognized me and a smile appeared on his face as he was making his way to me.
"Yo, what up, Mike!" Nate, as well as I, was glad that we see each other before the attack. Nathan is a captain of the heavy assault cruiser, the Excelsior, the third most powerful ship in the 3rd fleet. He is well build and participated in many campaigns against the Covenant in the northern sector. His greatest strength as well as weakness is that he never leaves anyone behind.
"I hope you are ready for those Covenant SOBs." Even greater smile appeared on Nate's face.
"You can count on that, and you?" Nathan asked with enthusiasm.
"What do you think? I only hope that the Marigold is loaded and ready."
We started to laugh at the same time, rising spirit of the people around us.
"Ok, that's enough Mike, let's hit it. See you in space."
I made a simple gesture of acknowledgment and went to the shuttle.

The trip to space took only a minute and I could finally look outside. The surrounding of the planet was totally crowded. Refuge camps, refuge ships, refuges everywhere where you looked. The landing corridor was full to the last docking port and there was virtually no way to get to the surface without a high rank clearance. High above the orbit were armed space stations with laser turrets, ion cannons and plasma guns. These heavy weapon platforms were hard to destroy, because each plate of nano-steel could be ejected, and with 10 layers of these plates it was difficult to do any damage to it at all. Many battle-cruisers, frigates, destroyers and stealth ships were massing at a single checkpoint to prepare for the jump to the Ural sector. The most remarkable among these were; the heavy assault cruiser Excelsior, frigate 1st class Ticonderoga, heavy assault carrier Poťempkin and the Kirov super star destroyer.

Suddenly a huge subspace portal opened and a colossal ship emerged from it. It was the Marigold the most powerful space faring warship ever constructed. Spanning over 6 kilometers from bow to stern, the Marigold has taken over 20 years to complete. 5 Excelsior class heavy assault cruisers can fit within its massive hull. Its state-of-the-arty weaponry includes, 140 laser turrets, 50 flak guns, 40 missile batteries and 40 beam cannons. The Marigold wields more firepower than 15 Covenant capitol ships combined. 60 fighter and bomber wing are housed in its waste hangars and its crew numbers over 30 thousand. The SU now wages war on multiple fronts, Ural system, Blaník system, Moscow sector and around the most strategic position, the Vyšehrad. The Marigold, once deployed into these sectors, will bring these systems back into our control. Immediately after I boarded the Marigold I went to the bridge.
1st lieutenant brought up a salute "Good to see you commander."
"Likewise, Martin. Is the Marigold ready?" I asked
"Of course, sir. And the entire fleet reports that they are ready for immediate departure."
I took my place in front of the window on the bridge. "Give the order, Martin. We are departing."
"Aye, sir. Slip space drive engaged, jump in 3...2...1...jump." The light around our ship deformed, planet disappeared and we went into the slip space.



Part 4: This is...



Slipspace, a world beyond. It is a place, where nothing makes sense; laws of physic don't apply here, at least the ones we are so familiar with. I never liked the slipspace, it is so, unnatural. But where would we be without it? On earth and nowhere else.
Finally, I could make out lights illuminated by the stars in the Ural sector. There are two stars, to be precise, one larger orange and one much smaller blue that is slowly transferring its energy to the larger one by a beautiful track of blue gas. And there it is, the only inhabited planet in this sector, Екатеринбу́рг (Yekaterinburg). The Covenant fleet was already orbiting the planet and I could see that they made some pretty nasty piece of work on the planets surface. But the planetary defenses were still operational, that was obvious the moment one of the Covenant ships blew up.
1st lieutenant Martin begun to talk "Sir, we have arrived in the Ural sector and the fleet is awaiting orders."
"All right then..." I continued "Connect me to the 3rd fleet command frequency."
"Aye, sir." Martin pressed a button on the control panel and on the main screen faces of all captains appeared, along with the names, armament, docked fighter/bombers, personnel and hull and shield integrity of their ship.
"To all SU ships, this is the Commander Ondra, our orders are simple, engage the enemy and clear this sector of Covenant space forces. All ships have green light to engage and carriers are authorized to launch as many fighters and bombers as they can. All stealth ships engage "cloack" mode and sneak behind the enemy fleet. Use long range ion canons to disable the enemy ships before engaging them directly."
The captains all nodded in approval and begun to issue orders to their lieutenants.
A voice of 1st lieutenant Martin broke the momentary silence.
"Sir, gunnery control reports that the Covenant vessels are within range of our ion canons."
I turned around to face Martin "Understood, patch me through."
A face of our weapons specialist appeared on the screen instead of the captains.
"Yes, sir?" Jonathan asked
"Jonathan, give me a firing solution on the Covenant fleet with our ion canons."
"Yes, sir, data send." Near the screen was a holographic display of the Marigold and its 5 ion canons highlighted, each featuring a line towards single Covenant ship. The enemy had 50 cruisers, 12 carriers and dozen destroyers. The Marigold's ion canons were all aiming at the enemy carriers. I pressed a button and all the SU ships tracking lines appeared, revealing that most Covenant ships were targeted by the ion canons. Fighters and bombers were already launching from hangars of our carriers and stealth ships were moving at flank-speed to encircle the enemy, from where they could launch kinetic missiles into the most vulnerable rear portions of their hulls.
"Everything is AOK, Martin, give the order to engage."
Martin pressed the button on the panel "Gunnery control, open fire."
Suddenly a terrifying sound of thousand banshees rumbled through the entire ship as the 5 ion canons fired. The other SU ships followed suit immediately.
The ion canons are non-lethal, but strategically the most valuable weapon. They were extremely expensive and hard to manufacture. They require a tremendous amount of energy to fire and they took 30 minutes to recharge. "Standard issue" ships were equipped with one of these, sometimes lacking them entirely. Once fired, the "projectile" traveled at 99.7% the speed of light; therefore, the possibility of missing the target was very unlikely. After the firing sequence was completed, the gun retracted itself into the hull of the ship, to protect it as much as possible. The results after the hit were nothing less than fascinating, the ship was completely disabled for 2 minutes and this included weapons, engines, life support, communications and all other systems inside the ship. The shots were hardly visible; the only thing left behind was a thin bluish line that stretched from the gun to the target.
"Sir, all ion canons managed to hit their targets, what are your next orders."
I hesitated only for a second and in that negligible time I came up with only one reasonable strategy.
"Move in and engage the enemy at will, kill them all ASAP."



Part 5: ...dead space



Destruction. Death. Space. Combat. Those were the things that mattered to major Dilensky, the Red Devils squadron leader. She was elite among the S.U. pilots and also the only one who had 1000 confirmed kills in space combat. She was also known for listening music during combat and right now she had a mix of calm orchestral and heavy-metal songs.
"So, let's get this show on the road!" She shouts in the radio. "All pilots, report in."
She had to make sure that ALL of her pilots are ready for actions and also to distract them from the stressful silence.
"This is red 2, standing by." Pavel Antoniovicz was her second in command and also her most faithful friend that fought along side of her for a number of years.
"Red 3 standing by." Paul Satinczki, an ace, which had the best skill with missiles in the entire fleet.
"Red 4, standing by." Martin Koudelka, another ace of the S.U., an outstanding pilot concerning his skill with electronic warfare strategies, such as, ECM, EMP and other. Only four were left, but still enough to kick some Covenant butts.
"All right everyone, stick to attack pattern "Lima", we have orders to intercept any bombers and heavy fighters on approach vector to the Marigold, that means we are not to stray too far from her, ok?" Acknowledge voices sound through the radio. "So, that's done, wait... I've got contacts moving towards the Marigold. Let's go and give them a warm welcome." A cheer came in from other members of the Red Devils squadron. Suddenly, a monitor in front of Dilensky turned on and the face of commander Ondra appeared.
"Major, we are detecting hostile bombers on course to the Marigold, your squadron is to intercept and destroy."
"No worries commander, we are already on them." A smile appeared on Dilensky's face, she always liked commander Ondra, maybe, even more than just liked him.
"Excellent, I knew I could count on you Catherine." The monitor turned off and major went back to the thing she excelled at. She plotted the best intercept trajectory into her battle computer and then sends it to the rest of the squadron.

The bombers were getting close, their designation was cockroach.
"They will surely live up to their name, in a matter of being crushed to dust." Dilensky though. She pressed the button reading "master arm" and fired a salvo of hornet "swarm" missiles towards the bombers, spinning in the process to make the rockets turn and therefore hard to intercept by phalanx fire, not that the bombers had any, but it was a great fun to do it anyway. Other pilots engaged the same tactics and send a wave of hornets towards the target. The bombers didn't start to evade soon enough and therefore paid the price for it in their lives. The bombers were vaporized in a matter of seconds and the only evidence left by them was a blue stream of gasses from the hornet missiles.
"Good job guys, but don't get cocky just yet, we have a wing of fighters on our six." Dilensky switched to active sensors which disabled her "cloaking" system but gave her a precise location of enemy fighters which were ordered to protect the bombers.
"Red Devils, I am sending coordinates of hostile fighters, intercept and destroy." A set of acknowledgment lights winked on. She made a steep turn towards her targets. The enemy fighters were designated Capricorn and were closing in fast.
"This is red 3, firing a cluster missile." A bottom cover of red 3's ship opened and a significantly larger missile than the hornet "swarm" missile detached itself form the ship and flew in the general direction of hostile fighters. The missile harmlessly passed the Capricorn squadron and then it released its contents, specifically a 200 micro missiles that were "invisible" on the sensors. Right after that the entire Capricorn squadron gone up in flames and then disintegrated.
"Nice job Paul, keep it coming."
"Any time, major." The voice of red 4 broke the momentary silence.
"Hey, check it out, the Marigold is in attack position and it's preparing to fire.

"Lieutenant Marin, patch me to fire control." During the time I was talking, I took a look at the sensors and saw that Cockroach bombers and Capricorn fighters were out of the game. I must say at least thanks to Catherine after this one.
"This is fire control, awaiting orders, sir." I raised my head from the tactical holograph. "Jonathan, arm the beam cannons and target carriers Beast and Lilith. These two carriers were harassing our bomber squadrons with their fighters for long enough."
"Understood, canons 2 to 8, charging and......" A rumble similar to the one when the ion canons were preparing to fire echoed within the ship. ".... FIRE!" A terrible screams of thousands hungry souls resonated all around me and outside I could see an extremely thick fulgent beam cut the space in half that vaporized the enemy carriers. First, the beam went right through the ship and then the impossible heat and energy literally boiled-off the ship from the dark blanket of space. The same fate which most Covenant ships will share if they dare to attack the Marigold and her fleet. But the other ships were not lagging behind, every ship had at least 2 confirmed "kills" with the Marigold, Excelsior, Ticonderoga and other huge ships exceeding the 2 kills average considerably. Once the stealth ships engaged from behind the Covenant realized their odds were heavily against them and made a run for it.
"Commander, the enemy fleet is in full retreat." Said Martin and a tiny smile appeared on my face.
"Excellent news Lieutenant, send it to the rest of the fleet." A cheer came in through the radio, shouting "We got ‘em", or "We showed them who's the boss" I took a look at the final report. 89 Covenant ships destroyed or incapacitated and 4 S.U. ships destroyed and 12 requiring repairs, now this is what I call a victory, even though a "true" victory would be without firing a single gun.
"Sir, you have general Pawlov on the line." I stopped dreaming about perfect world and how it all should be and went back to the real world. "Patch him through then." An old bear's face appeared on the monitor.
"Michael, I see you have liberated Ural system, we have achieved similar results at the Plzeň and the Covenant are open to negotiations! We need you at new Москва ASAP!" That's strange the Covenant never even talked to us, so why would they start now, they have probably lost most of their force and they don't know what to do, even though we have like 7 worlds intact by war. "Understood, I will be there soon."


Ok guys, this is my first FF and i would like to add one thing, i am not from an english speaking country so take that into acount if there are some mistakes.