Sigma
Inactive Member
Essia, July YE 35
The Twelfth Standard Fleet, or rather part of it, glided towards the planet Essia at a leisurely .35c. As far as they were concerned, the war was over. Their fleet had been raised to take the Hanako Cluster and they had done exactly that. Starship losses had been comparatively minimal but the damage to the XII Legion was far more severe. It had been employed badly, amateurishly even, by the I Legion's commander.
And the Taisho could only sit and watch as the nightmare unfolded. Units cut off and annihilated, shuttles packed with wounded blown out of the sky, and he had been prevented from deploying every single fighter he had. What use were starfighters and flight-capable Mindies if they were prohibited from providing the air-support they were supposed to give? What good was holding orbit if he was going to send his fragile Legion into a meat-grinder.
Taisho Kurita Shunsaku had known where the enemy forces were. If they had followed standard XII Legion doctrine, it would have been a very different battle. He had been perfectly happy to start firing indiscriminately at anything resembling an NMX position or unit before landing his troops. And once he had been satisfied that the landing was safe, he would have sent his first wave to land in the middle of the enemy. It was a proper orbital drop tactic, designed to rely on the individual soldier's initiative and confuse the enemy's command and control. The second wave would have been the conventional troops.
Despite their complete annihilation, the NMX had done more damage relative to what they had received. And Kurita was now sure that whatever fleet that they had stationed in the Cluster had now safely escaped. He now cursed that he had listened to the I Legion's SAINT officers.
It was obvious to him that SAINT was no longer at the top of its game. HX-13 had been anything but a walk-over.
"Taisho, we are receiving a message from the Essian Conclave. Real-time. Do you want to take it?" his aide, Saito Takamori, interrupted the Taisho's vitriolic reflections. The young man had used the intercomm to reach him with that information. Which meant that he was on the bridge while the Taisho had been resting.
Kurita sat up from his bed and walked to his desk, pulling up the screen to allow him to take the call.
A mottled brown Pythus, female from her outward appearance, faced him. It was, in fact, a little too close as she soon realized and drew back. From her torso up, she looked like a Nepleslian but wore simple cloth garments. She looked young, far too young to represent the governing body of Essia. "Taisho Kurita. My name is Dathene and I represent the Essian Conclave. I am glad to see you have made good time with your fleet, though it is very small. Your mission, I presume, remains the same?" she asked, a velvety hiss that disarmed Kurita more than her looks.
The Conclave of Essia was relatively new and Kurita wondered how the Separans would treat him and his soldiers since this was the first time since First Contact that a large group of Yamataians had entered the system. It was also going to be the first time, since First Contact, that the Yamataians would be staying for a long time in the midst of the Separans.
He expected some distrust and reluctance from the de facto independent and autonomous Separans. Not this alluring welcome. A theocracy was, by definition, more conservative because of its foundation in religious laws. Kurita also expected to see someone of authority. It made sense that they would present a female but one so young was an odd statement of authority. Were they trying to throw him off?
"Mistress Dathene, the greater part of my fleet is currently undergoing repairs and refits at our yards in HX-2. What I have right now constitutes those units which were ready to come here," he tried to smile, "Our mission remains the same. We will not force anything upon you that you do not want."
"I am sorry to hear that your fleet has suffered casualties. However, we have made provision for up to six thousand personnel to take up residence on our planet. We can arrange for more to stay with host families if your men and women are comfortable with the idea," the young Pythus smiled in reply.
"Thank you for the offer. For the moment, we shall take up position in orbit and I shall take a shuttle to the surface to present myself before the Conclave at the earliest possible time," Kurita replied, trying to sound as comfortable as possible.
His Twelfth Fleet were nicknamed the Striking Serpents but this time, they were dealing with real serpents. For some reason, he felt very guarded and suspicious.
The Twelfth Standard Fleet, or rather part of it, glided towards the planet Essia at a leisurely .35c. As far as they were concerned, the war was over. Their fleet had been raised to take the Hanako Cluster and they had done exactly that. Starship losses had been comparatively minimal but the damage to the XII Legion was far more severe. It had been employed badly, amateurishly even, by the I Legion's commander.
And the Taisho could only sit and watch as the nightmare unfolded. Units cut off and annihilated, shuttles packed with wounded blown out of the sky, and he had been prevented from deploying every single fighter he had. What use were starfighters and flight-capable Mindies if they were prohibited from providing the air-support they were supposed to give? What good was holding orbit if he was going to send his fragile Legion into a meat-grinder.
Taisho Kurita Shunsaku had known where the enemy forces were. If they had followed standard XII Legion doctrine, it would have been a very different battle. He had been perfectly happy to start firing indiscriminately at anything resembling an NMX position or unit before landing his troops. And once he had been satisfied that the landing was safe, he would have sent his first wave to land in the middle of the enemy. It was a proper orbital drop tactic, designed to rely on the individual soldier's initiative and confuse the enemy's command and control. The second wave would have been the conventional troops.
Despite their complete annihilation, the NMX had done more damage relative to what they had received. And Kurita was now sure that whatever fleet that they had stationed in the Cluster had now safely escaped. He now cursed that he had listened to the I Legion's SAINT officers.
It was obvious to him that SAINT was no longer at the top of its game. HX-13 had been anything but a walk-over.
"Taisho, we are receiving a message from the Essian Conclave. Real-time. Do you want to take it?" his aide, Saito Takamori, interrupted the Taisho's vitriolic reflections. The young man had used the intercomm to reach him with that information. Which meant that he was on the bridge while the Taisho had been resting.
Kurita sat up from his bed and walked to his desk, pulling up the screen to allow him to take the call.
A mottled brown Pythus, female from her outward appearance, faced him. It was, in fact, a little too close as she soon realized and drew back. From her torso up, she looked like a Nepleslian but wore simple cloth garments. She looked young, far too young to represent the governing body of Essia. "Taisho Kurita. My name is Dathene and I represent the Essian Conclave. I am glad to see you have made good time with your fleet, though it is very small. Your mission, I presume, remains the same?" she asked, a velvety hiss that disarmed Kurita more than her looks.
The Conclave of Essia was relatively new and Kurita wondered how the Separans would treat him and his soldiers since this was the first time since First Contact that a large group of Yamataians had entered the system. It was also going to be the first time, since First Contact, that the Yamataians would be staying for a long time in the midst of the Separans.
He expected some distrust and reluctance from the de facto independent and autonomous Separans. Not this alluring welcome. A theocracy was, by definition, more conservative because of its foundation in religious laws. Kurita also expected to see someone of authority. It made sense that they would present a female but one so young was an odd statement of authority. Were they trying to throw him off?
"Mistress Dathene, the greater part of my fleet is currently undergoing repairs and refits at our yards in HX-2. What I have right now constitutes those units which were ready to come here," he tried to smile, "Our mission remains the same. We will not force anything upon you that you do not want."
"I am sorry to hear that your fleet has suffered casualties. However, we have made provision for up to six thousand personnel to take up residence on our planet. We can arrange for more to stay with host families if your men and women are comfortable with the idea," the young Pythus smiled in reply.
"Thank you for the offer. For the moment, we shall take up position in orbit and I shall take a shuttle to the surface to present myself before the Conclave at the earliest possible time," Kurita replied, trying to sound as comfortable as possible.
His Twelfth Fleet were nicknamed the Striking Serpents but this time, they were dealing with real serpents. For some reason, he felt very guarded and suspicious.
