2 weeks later.
Star System K17T
The 10th Defense Fleet, which currently consists of 3 battlestars, 2 dreadnought heavy cruisers, 1 interdictor cruiser, 8 Concordat destroyers, and 18 K'tinga attack cruisers, is tasked with maintaining the security of Star System K17T. In addition, there are also ships from the system defense fleet in the form of 3 CR-90 Corvettes and 8 K'tinga that help in securing the system.
The ships securing Star System K17T were spread throughout the system except for the heavy-class ships, namely the three battlestars, two dreadnoughts, 1 interdictor cruiser, four Concordat destroyers, and six K'tinga attack cruisers, which remained gathered together as heavy backup. While the other ships were spread throughout the system, four Concordat destroyers secured the four most strategic planets in star system K17T, while the rest spread out to patrol the entire system. The heavy ships were in langerange orbit around the 7th planet.
Admiral Fremsa was in the command center of Battlestar Gemini, which was currently the flagship of the 10th Defense Fleet. It had been more than two weeks since the 10th Defense Fleet had patrolled Star System K17T, and nothing out of the ordinary had been found. This made the crew of the 10th Defense Fleet and the ships of the System Defense Fleet bored. In an hour, Admiral Fremsa would be finished with his shift and would be replaced by his deputy, Commodore Keduina, who would be arriving at the command center shortly.
"What's the condition?" asked Fremsa to confirm the condition of the system before he took a break.
"There are no anomalies that our ships, probes, or the atomic space station can detect." The sensor officer said.
"Hmm, these conditions are quickly causing us to become bored and possibly make mistakes. We must change the crew rotation schedule and also conduct various drills to keep the crew sharp." Fremsa said.
"That's right, it's becoming very boring and repetitive." Said the XO who accompanied Fremsa.
"But we must remain vigilant because our enemies are very difficult to detect with ordinary sensors. We can only detect them with gravity sensors." Fremsa said.
A few minutes later, the captain of the 'Gemini' arrived at the command center and would later replace the XO. Apart from the captain, several other crew members began to arrive for the shift change that would occur in about half an hour. The command center seemed more crowded than usual. The officers and crew members who had arrived began conversing with those they would be replacing, inquiring about the current status while looking at logs.
In the midst of the murmur of crew conversations during the shift change, the sensor and communications officer suddenly went on alert.
"Captain! The probe near planet 8 has detected a gravimetric disturbance!" said the sensor officer.
"What? Does that probe have visual capabilities?" said Fremsa.
"It does, admiral. I'll point the camera in the direction of the disturbance." The sensor officer said.
The main viewer in front of the command center changed from displaying the map of the system to the feed from the camera on the probe. Several dots appeared in the center of the screen.
"Magnify!" Fremsa ordered.
The dots were enlarged so that the silhouettes of several ships could be seen. There appeared to be six ships on the screen. They were the same ships that attacked the 'Macross'!
"Red Alert! Alert all commands. Transmit this to Elysia!" said Fremsa.
"Launch all available standby fighters, ready all fighters for immediate deployment!" said the captain of the 'Gemini'.
The command center of the battlestar 'Gemini' became visibly busy with the Red Alert and the orders.
"It appears that those ships are unaware that our probes have located them. They have not changed their trajectory." The captain of the 'Gemini' said.
"Plot the probable destination of those ships." Fremsa ordered.
There appeared on the secondary screen a plot of the direction of movement of the alien ships, which seemed to be heading towards where the battlestar 'Gemini' and Myto's heavy ships were.
"Hmm, can they fight us with only six ships? Or are there other ships we haven't detected that could suddenly appear?" said the captain of the Gemini.
"That's the most likely possibility." Fremsa said. "Order all ships to launch all probes they have. We need to find them."
"Yes, admiral." The communications officer said.
"Navigation: plot a random course at medium speed for all our ships here. We don't want them to fix our position." The captain of the 'Gemini' said
"Captain, admiral, one of the probes outside the system at the edge of the Oort Cloud has also detected a gravimetric anomaly. It's quite massive." The sensor officer said.
"Can we see it visually?" Fremsa asked.
"Negative, it's at the end of the probe's detection capability, too far away for visuals." The sensor officer said.
"It seems that the size of the gravimetric anomaly indicates a larger number of ships or a larger ship. The size of the anomaly is five times larger than the anomaly caused by the six ships." The XO said while looking at the sensor readings.
"Hmm, update central command about this. Request additional ships." Fremsa said. "It will be very difficult for us to deal with those ships if they join the battle."
"Should we ask our ships in the system to come here? At least there are enough ships to reduce our combat load." The captain of the 'Gemini' said.
"No, we use them as backup. Order them to gather in a place that is difficult to detect...here, in the ring of the 7th planet." Fremsa said. "There's a lot of rock and ice there, so it's hard to detect our ships. It's also close enough to be able to help us immediately."
"Yes, admiral." Said the captain of the 'Gemini' while signaling the communications officer to carry out Admiral Fremsa's orders.
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Myto Fleet Command
Golan III Defense Station 'Kars'
Myto Fleet Command, which is located in the orbit of the planet Elysia, is actually on one of the Golan Defense Stations that protect Elysia. Fleet Command is one of the subordinates of the central command in Jakarta. Admiral Aedat typically holds the position of leader of the Home Fleet, but on occasion General Armeda, who is in charge of the System Defense Fleet, fills in for Admiral Aedat.
Right now, Admiral Aedat has just arrived from Jakarta to replace General Armeda at the helm of Fleet Command. Just as he arrived in his office and put away the things he brought from Jakarta, suddenly the Red Alert siren sounded throughout Fleet Command.
Admiral Aedat immediately contacted the command center.
"Aedat here, what's going on?" asked Aedat through the intercom.
"Admiral, we got a flash command from the command center. All Myto Empire military forces are on red alert. There is an intrusion in Star System K17T." said the communications officer who answered Aedat's intercom call.
"I will be there shortly." Aedat said.
Admiral Aedat immediately ran to the command center of Fleet Command. Fortunately, Admiral Aedat's room was very close to the command center because, for officers, all of their working rooms and accommodation rooms were close to the command center.
"Status report!" said Admiral Aedat as soon as he reached the Command Center.
"Ah, admiral. News from Admiral Femla states that they found two groups of alien ships, like the one that attacked the Macross in Star System K17T. One is already inside the system, and the other seems to be acting as a backup outside the system. They are still looking to see if any other ships are in the system." General Armeda said.
"How big is their force?" asked Admiral Aedat.
"The group inside the system is 6 ships, while the one outside the system cannot be determined because it is too far away, but its mass is about 5 times the total mass of 6 at that time. They are at a disadvantage." General Armeda said. "I have asked the 9th Defense Fleet to immediately head to Star System K17T and also prepare all the fleets in Elysia for action."
"Very good. What do you think of the current situation? We can't immediately deploy all our forces there because there is a danger of them arriving in Elysia." Aedat said.
"I think we just need to mobilize a little more force. Most of the ships from the 10th Defense Force will also be there. Maybe we only need to deploy the big ships, 2 star destroyers, 3 battlestars, and some escort ships should be enough." Armeda said.
"Alright, we'll do it that way." Aedat said while looking at the pad containing the home fleet asset information, and then ordered an officer, "Instruct the home fleet to have 1 imperial-class star destroyer, 2 victory-class star destroyers, 3 battlestars, 4 dreadnought heavy cruisers, 8 Concordat destroyers, 1 interdictor cruiser, and 10 K'tinga to depart for Star System K17T. 2nd and 3rd Defense Fleets in Elysia to immediately head to the edge of the Elysia star system, facing Star System K17T. Also, order all available light ships and probe droids to scan Elysia and its surroundings. We must not be caugth with our pants down."
"Yes, admiral." The officer said.
"Also order all combat-capable ships that are still in dock or under repair to immediately exit the dock or repair bay and defend the area around the dock or repair bay." Aedat said to the communications officer
"Yes, admiral." The communications officer said.
"I will go to my flagship to coordinate the defense of planet Elysia with the governor of Ira." General Armeda said.
"Very well, general. We must also create a backup command structure. Your flagship will be the backup command center. Is the imperial class II star destroyer that just became the flag ship of the System Defense Fleet already functioning as a command center?" said Aedat.
"Star Destroyer 'Dark Sword' is 100% functional, admiral. Although it was originally a badly damaged ship, now the 'Dark Sword' is like a new ship with various repairs and improvements installed." Armeda said.
"Very well, general." Aedat said.
General Armeda immediately headed for the flagship of his fleet.
All military assets in Elysia and its surroundings became fully active and ready for action. For some time, Elysia's orbit was full of the movement of starships, small ships, and fighters that immediately moved to the designated place.
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Star System K17T
Battlestar 'Gemini'
Admiral Fremsa looked continuously at the secondary screen that displayed a tactical picture showing the position of the six ships compared to the ships of the 10th Defense Fleet. The ships were moving at a slow pace, like a tiger sneaking up on its victim. For the time being, Admiral Fremsa made the ships of the 10th Defense Fleet seem to be unaware of the opponent.
"It seems that they have hostile intentions. Otherwise, they would have come in without concealing themselves, or one would have acted as such and the other hidden as backup. It's all hiding." Fremsa said
"It seems so admiral. Shouldn't we act immediately? After all, their intentions are clear." The XO said.
"We must be certain that they have hostile intentions, as Moff Trevat stipulated. That's why we let them fire the first shot." Fremsa said. "What about assistance from other fleets?"
"Core elements from the 9th Defense Fleet are on their way to us. They will be exiting hyperspace behind the 7th planet, so hopefully their emergence will not be detected by enemy ships." said captain of the 'Gemini'
"Good, very good. No additional forces from Elysia?" asked Fremsa.
"There is, admiral. The number is unknown, but they seem to be about to enter hyperspace." said captain of the 'Gemini'
"Good. With those relief ships, we should be able to counter them if necessary. What is the ETA of the two relief fleets?" asked Fremsa
"The ships of the 9th Defense Fleet will arrive in less than 10 minutes. While the ships from Elysia will arrive in approximately 15 minutes." Said the XO
"ETA of enemy ships?" asked Fremsa.
"6 minutes." The XO said.
"Hmm, I hope we can pull this off. How are the other ships in our fleet?" asked Fremsa.
"They are ready for action. They have gathered behind one of the moons of this planet." The XO said.
"Excellent, there are at least 4 destroyers plus other small ships as a surprise to the enemy." Fremsa said.
They waited for a few minutes tensely, knowing that there would most likely be a battle.
But when the six ships had reached the optimum firing range for both sides, they simply deactivated their cloak shields and stopped.
"What are they doing? Why are they just sitting there?" said Fremsa.
"Are they waiting for reinforcement?" said the captain of the 'Gemini'. "What is the status of the ships in the oort cloud?"
"Still not reacting." said the XO
"What are they doing? Call in our ships and have them make a short hyperspace jump behind those ships. But do not open fire. Let them take the initiative first." Fremsa ordered.
Soon there was a psudomotion flickering 50,000 km behind the alien ships. The rest of the 10th Defense Fleet and the ships of the System Defense Fleet had appeared behind the enemy ships and were closing in slowly. The enemy ships were effectively trapped between the two groups of Myto Empire ships.
"Captain, we received a transmission from those ships. The transmission is heavily encrypted and has complex encryption." Said the XO, who was near the telecommunication station.
"Let's hear it. On speaker." Fremsa said.
"We have not forgotten this. The casualties on our side are your responsibility."
"Reply to their message and also provide a stronger and more complex encryption that can still be cracked fairly easily." Fremsa said.
"Ready, sir." The XO said it a few seconds later.
"We won't forget this either. We will avenge all acts of aggression committed against us." Said Fremsa, who then looked at the XO.
After a few seconds, the XO nodded and said, "We have transmitted your message."
For a few minutes, nothing happened, but eventually the enemy ships seemed to turn 90 degrees and then accelerate. Soon they were lost in the distortion that was their FTL form.
"Admiral, captain. They're gone, although we don't know their FTL principle yet, but we can track them as they enter hyperspace." The sensor officer said.
"What about their ships in the Oort Cloud?" asked Fremsa.
"They have also left, admiral." The sensor officer said.
"Maintain alert for the time being! Don't let your guard down. When reinforcements arrive, we'll set up an alert rotation schedule." Fremsa said.
"Yes, admiral." XO said.
Fremsa slumped in her chair, exhausted, as the adrenaline began to decline.
---oOo---
The next day
Terminus Island, Jakarta.
Central Government Building
Moff Trevat held a meeting regarding the events that occurred in Star System K17T yesterday. He was in his private meeting room, located next to his office. Only Governor Ira was with him, the other participants were present via holonet.
Meeting participants:
- Admiral Aedat Iskir, commander of Home Fleet (present via holonet)
- Admiral Arakel Yeera, commander 9th Defense Fleet (present via holonet)
- Admiral Fremsa Dita, commander 10th Defense Fleet (present via holonet)
- Admiral Krumbel Kasheef, commander 1st Exploration Fleet (present via holonet)
- General Famla Adil, leader of Myto special forces and intelligence (present via holonet)
- General Armeda Krakov, system security leader (present via holonet)
- Governor of Elysia, Ira Ishil
Chairman of the meeting: Moff Trevat
After opening the meeting, Trevat said, "Although the encounter in Star System K17T did not end in battle, their intrusion into a system so close to Elysia is very worrying. Twice, they entered Star System K17T, which is practically our neighbor. Moreover, the encounter ended with a threat. We are meeting to discuss this. What do you all think?"
"In yesterday's incident, if it ended badly, we still have the advantage of quantity and quality. But it seems that their strength is only a task force, not a main battle fleet. I dare not imagine what would happen if they attacked in large numbers, especially if they attacked at the same time as attacking Elysia." Admiral Aedat said.
"Yes, right now our forces are spread too thinly. We, who originally only had the strength of one sector, now have a galaxy-wide commitment. Moreover, we don't know the map of civilization here, there are still so many mysteries. I'm afraid it will end badly." Armeda said. "For example, the System Defense Fleet is still incapable of just patrolling the planets we already control, we still lack ships."
"I agree with General Armeda. It seems that right now we should put the brakes on our exploration. Limiting exploration to navigation and essentials only." Admiral Krumbel said.
"I think so too, until we have enough ships, we should put the brakes on our ambitions." Governor Ira said. "But the problem is our limited manpower, we can't possibly increase the number of ships almost indefinitely, like back home, because our manpower is limited."
"That is indeed a problem, but for the time being, we can still increase the number of our ships. We must also refrain from making grandiose projects like back home that absorb a lot of human resources." Aedat said.
"Hopefully our problems can be solved with the activation of the 'Liberty' and also the opening of our new dock in Detroit, which will make ships on land. But it seems that that will take some time as well." Trevat said.
"That's right, we really need ships now." Admiral Fremsa said. "The 9th and 10th Defense Fleets are very short of ships. We are just like a task force."
"Right, besides, we have to keep expanding our fleet. Like right now, because of the incident in Star System K17T, it is appropriate for us to create the Elysia sector Fleet." Trevat said. "But once again, it is against the availability of the number of military starships we have or can produce."
"Right, we are back to the original problem: not enough military starships. All problems originate there and end up in human resources." Aedat said.
Finally, after talking for some time, they decided on the following:
- Approved Admiral Krumbel's proposal to scale down their exploration mission. New exploration will be done with probes only. While the areas that have been considered controlled will be re-explored to map more thoroughly and install a number of probes and automatic space stations as detection and defense tools.
- Conduct a thorough investigation and exploration to find out the origin of the ships that arrived at Star System K17T. This is very crucial because they have twice penetrated the territory that is considered to belong to the Myto Empire without being known at the time of entry.
- Construction of long range sensor arrays in various strategic places to prevent the incident in Star System K17T from happening again.
- Selecting and repairing the wrecks they brought from their home galaxy to upgrade their fleet. Also retrofitting capital ships that previously required a lot of crew to reduce their crew requirements so that they can be used on active duty.
- Accelerate the activation of the various docks in Star System TC72D to immediately produce various military starships.
- Accelerate research to produce unmanned military starships to reduce the pressure on military human resource requirements.
Although the meeting only lasted about 1.5 hours, the decisions made were very important.
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After the meeting, Ira was still in Trevat's office. They were waiting for lunch time to have lunch together.
"Huaaaaahmmm, I'm so sleepy, I slept very late last night." Ira said it with a yawn.
"Well, what did you do last night, Ira?" asked Trevat.
"Work, Trevat. I have a lot of work to do. It seems that I have to appoint an assistant or expert staff." Ira said.
"You should, Ira. I've noticed that you often bring work home with you. It's not good for your life, Ira." Trevat said.
"Alright, I'll find extra assistant.." Ira said as she yawned again.
"There's still an hour before lunch, take a break, Ira." Trevat said.
"Okay, I'll just lie down at your place, okay?" Ira said.
"I'll work for a while." said Trevat.
Ira stood up and went to Trevat's resting place. She had used Trevat's resting place several times before, so both Ira and Trevat were no longer awkward.
Ira didn't sleep right away but thought about the meeting. Lying on the bed in Trevat's rest room, she reread the documents from the meeting.
Suddenly, she heard Trevat singing to himself while working in his office next to the break room. She could hear him because the door to the room was not closed tightly. Trevat was singing in a language she didn't know, but from the pronunciation, Ira felt that Trevat didn't actually know the language either but was just imitating it, saying it as it was.
Ira pressed the recording button on the padd she was holding while listening to Trevat, who was singing in Japanese, following a song he used to hear often and suddenly came to mind:
Ima anata no koe ga kikoeru
"Koko ni oide" to
Samishisa ni makesouna watashi ni
Ima anata no sugata ga mieru
Aruite kuru
Me wo tojite matte iru watashi ni
Kinou made namida de kumotteta
Kokoro wa ima...
Oboete imasu ka me to me ga atta toki wo
Oboete imasu ka te to te ga fureatta toki
Sore wa hajimete no ai no tabidachi deshita
I LOVE YOU SO
Ima anata no shisen kanjiru
Hanaretetemo
Karada-juu ga atatakaku naru no
Ima anata no ai shinjimasu
Douzo watashi wo
Tooku kara mimamotte kudasai
Mou hitoribotchi ja nai
anata ga iru kara...
After singing in Japanese, Trevat sang the translation in basic:
Right now, I hear your voice
saying "Come here to me."
Just when it seemed loneliness had beaten me.
Right now, I see you
walking over to me.
I close my eyes and wait for you to come.
Till yesterday, it seemed filled only with tears.
But now my heart is...
Do you remember? The time when our eyes first met?
Do you remember? The time when our hands first touched?
That was the very first time I set out on the journey of love.
I love you so.
Right now, I can feel your gaze
even though you're not here with me.
And in my body a warmth begins to glow.
Right now, I believe in your love,
so won't you please
watch over me from so far away?
I'm not alone anymore
now that you're here with me.
At first, Ira was confused about what the song meant. But hearing the translation of the foreign song, Ira felt warmth in her heart. Although she knew Trevat was only singing without realizing it because he was busy working, the song was about his feelings for Ira. Ira couldn't help but shed tears of joy. Now she was sure that Trevat really loved her.
Moments later, Ira stood up and returned to Trevat office, she walked slowly without Trevat noticing and then hugged him from behind. Trevat was surprised because he didn't know Ira was behind him.
"I love you very much. I'm yours for eternity." Ira whispered in Trevat's ear.
Trevat turned around and held Ira's hand that hugged him, then kissed Ira's cheek that was near his head.
"I love you too. I always and shall be on your side." Trevat said.
The two people were silent for a while. In their hearts was the warmth of the love they were enjoying.
After a few minutes, Ira finally reluctantly released her embrace, and the two locked eyes. In their eyes, there was a fiery love. Again, for a few moments, they were both silent as they looked at each other lovingly. In the end, Ira kissed Trevat on the cheek and then stood up and walked to the break room, while Trevat continued working to wait for their lunch..
---oOo---
Holy Mirishial Empire, Port Town, Cartalpas.
A certain bar
As usual, the bar was full of customers. Although it was still daytime, many drunks had already been thrown out onto the street for disturbing other patrons. There were even some drunks who didn't pay who were thrown out onto the street nearly naked because all their belongings were taken to pay for their drinks.
Some people were also seen sleeping, either because they were drunk or had eaten lunch near the bar. Even inside the bar in the corners, people could be seen taking a nap before going back to work or home in the afternoon.
As it was a little after three o'clock, which meant that lunchtime had passed but not yet the time when more customers would be arriving, the atmosphere inside the bar was a little quieter.
There were a number of people who looked like the captains of the ships that were docked at Cartaplas Harbor, relaxing and drinking after lunch.
"Friends, does anyone know how the news of the diplomatic mission from HME to Myto Empire is going? I heard that they have returned to HME." Said a captain whose ship had docked just this morning.
"I don't know, but from the news I got, they returned with two airplanes that not only carried diplomatic teams but were also full of goods." Said a freighter captain.
"Huh, you all didn't notice that the foreign ministry and the information bureau of the HME suddenly became very busy after their arrival from Myto." Said a captain whose ship was being repaired.
"Oh, yes, how did you know?" said the captain in a neat suit.
"I went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to apply for the ship's sailing license, but it was very difficult to meet the officials. Even so, upstairs, it seemed very busy because there were many people running around." Said the captain, whose ship was being repaired.
"Oh, yes. The office has a wooden floor." Said the captain, who was dressed neatly.
"It seems that the HME just realized the greatness of the Myto Empire." Said the captain, whose ship had just docked.
"I want to see the faces of the officials from both places looking at the facts. HME has been acting as if Myto is just a backward country for so long." The captain in neat clothes said.
"Oh yeah, you know what? I just came from the Mu Empire. Their entire military port is closed to the public, we can't even get close. It seems that they have secrets about their ships. Is Myto Empire helping Mu Empire with military technology?" Asked the captain whose ship had just arrived.
"Could be. My boss stated that all the shipyards in the Mu Empire are in busy condition. I don't know what they're making there. Obviously it's a military project, as you just said about their military port, all of their shipyards are also closed to the public. It's very difficult to get a place, even just to repair our ship." A yacht captain said.
"That's right, my ship in the Mu Empire suffered storm damage, so we had to repair it at the harbor. There are no shipyards available to receive our ship repairs." The captain of the freighter said.
"It seems that Elysia is changing rapidly. Mu Empire, Palpadia Empire, and the countries in other barbaric regions are changing to become more modern quickly. Perhaps soon the Mu Empire will change as well." Said the captain in neat clothes.
"But that's good for Elysia. That change will make it difficult for Gra Valkas and perhaps later the Revernal Empire to conquer all the countries in Elysia." The captain of the freighter said.
"That's right. Right now, Gra Valkas is very big-headed, even more arrogant than HME. Many civilian ships are being arbitrarily stopped and their goods confiscated." Said the captain, whose ship was repaired. "My ship was damaged by being shot with a small caliber cannon because they wanted to take the goods from my ship."
Hopefully, this condition can be resolved soon. If not, it will be difficult for us to do business, and countries will decline economically." The captain of the yacht said.
All the captains nodded in agreement. They continued their casual conversation even into dinner.
At the next table, a man with a thin mustache and dapper clothes was eating pastries and drinking wine. He seemed to be a wealthy man. However, the UV sunlight occasionally hits his neckline. There seemed to be something shiny there, glowing under the influence of the UV rays. If anyone could see it, then it was the insignia of the military intelligence agency of Gra Valkas...