Orion Federation

Part Two

Through the help of Ambassador Williams and the improving strength of the military we have been able to maintain peaceful relations with our neighbors for another seventy-two years. Our aggressive colonization program has continued and our influence continues to spread. Relations with our neighbors remain strong and we are even to the point of trading technological developments to our mutual benefit. Ambassador Williams was actually able to trade away five technological breakthroughs for nine new technologies from three separate nations! While we do not want to broadcast this success to widely for fear it might reduce his ability to work such trades in the future he has been awarded a service medal (kept eyes only top secret) for his actions.

We are having a problem recruiting and keeping good leaders. Alien spies are beginning to assassinate our leadership with a high degree of success. This development is alarming, but we are able to continue to function at a high degree of efficiency none the less. If we could pinpoint a specific nation for these assasinati0ons war might be a viable option!

Now in the year 232 we are having the first major redesign of our battle fleet. There have been a few skirmishes with the Gamro Empire, and although we are winning due ot a superiority in numbers, the lower technology of our ships is telling. This new redesign will help to alleviate this growing problem/concern. Admiral Greer has announced that he is pleased with the militaries performance thus far, but a better fleet with bigger ships would be desirable.

Admiral Greer actually got a number of chuckles and laughs from congress when he made the announcement that bigger IS better. However the draft to approve the redesign effort was unanimously approved.

In the year 255 we received an intelligence report that one of our allies was building a VERY powerful war machine. After some intense effort to verify this we were horrified to learn that the Auarhciniala had a VERY large battle fleet! Their fleet had nearly five times the number of ships in service that we did! In addition to that, they command twice our votes in the senate, and their economy is on a Total War Setting.

Seeing a possible growing threat with our gas-bag allies congress immediately approved a change in budgetary policy to Limited War. The next year, after yet another skirmish witht eh Gamro Empire at our frontier Admiral Greer orders his staff to draw up battle plans to fight the crystals.

Two years later, in 258 the Auarhciniala send a fleet of 287 ships to our Psi Leonis System. Fearing that this is the first step in an impending war we upgrade our military spending levels to Total War. Not having enough ships in our entire battle fleet to address this new threat Greer decides to hedge his bets and hope for a lasting peace with the gas bags.

A new carrier Armada is dispatched to a blocking system new Psi Leonis leaving only three of our systems in the path of this huge alien fleet and it is decided to put war plans with the Gamro off for now. Admiral Greer fully understands that a single armada will not even give pause to a fleet the size that the gas bags have built up, but it is a clear signal and if they go on the war path we will have some additional time to pull more ships from our reserves.

Acting on a hunch, Admiral Greer assigns a high priority to colonize every world in this sector that is not already colonized for colonization. By year 273 every remaining world in this sector is colonized. Five years later and the gas bag fleet moves on to greener pastures and with a combination of colonization and fevered diplomatic effort, another potentially disastrous war with the Auarhciniala is avoided.

With the threat of war with the gas bags reduced, plans for war with the Gamro are restarted. Armada after armada is pulled from reserve and placed in the Remfro fortress system. After amassing seven full armadas and a number of ground force armies our fleet is ordered to advance on the Gamro system of Theti Indi.

In the year 284 the Gamro declare war on us, several years before we are able to attack. This actually comes as a pleasant surprise. We are now able to claim self defense and according to Ambassador Williams, this will play well on the diplomatic front. Three years later our battle fleet arrives, and in 288 both Gamro worlds in the system fall to our armies!

In 289, now having plenty of warships to fight and defeat the Gamro and verifying that the gas bags have pulled their fleet entirely out of our space we reduce our military spending to Limited War allowing more resources to be dedicated to building our colonies and core worlds. The very next year two major events take place. First, Gamro launch a counter attack on Theta Indi and it is repulsed without loss! Second, our trade income actually exceeds our tax income for the first time in our nations history! Ambassador Willaims is lauded for his great contributions to our society and a day of celebration is declared! Our main battle fleet leaves Theta Indi to continue the war effort.

In 291 Gamro attacks Theta Indi again, this time the age of our defensive armada is telling as we lose the battle. The Gamro armada is content to blockade the system for now, but we will not take the chance that they might decide to bomb our newly acquired colonies. This same year the main battle fleet attacks the Gamro system of Whynil and Whynil I falls to our armies!

In 292 Whynil II falls to our main fleet and our only LR armada at Whynil is dispatched to Theta Indi to deal with the Gamro ships located there. While we advance on the Gamro we are finding it quite interesting to note how many systems are jointly occupied by the Gamro and Auarhciniala empires.

Seeing an opportunity to dent the influence of Auarhciniala and expand ours at the same time Admiral Greer initiates a new secret policy to colonize every Auarhciniala oupost in this new region. In this fashion we can begin to peacefully incorporate their species into our society and at the same time limit their expansion. This is a risky policy in that if it is noticed and identified as intentional then it could generate the same war that we have feared for so long. Sure our military is MUCH stronger now, with larger and more advanced fleets, but the gas bags still have triple the ships in service that we do.

After running his ideas through the president the plan is adopted as “unofficial” and “highly secret” state policy. Instances where we have lost a few of our outposts to the gas bags are recorded and sent to Ambassador Williams just in case he needs the ammunition for defense against the discovery of our new policy.

By 298 the war against Gamro is going well. They are losing worlds and systems to us just as rapidly as we can train and equip new armies and recall armies garrisoned on newly conquered worlds. In this year our fleets try a bold new venture. Wanting to test our mettle against the most advanced foe we know of Admiral Greer sent four armadas, two carrier and two missile, to the Fieras system to do battle with the Guardian there. After a lengthy and violent fight our fleet is victorious! While we lost eight ships from one of our carrier armadas, the system is now ours!

The populous is overcome with joy over this victory. What was unsaid be definitely understood among the populous is that surely if just a small portion of our fleet can destroy the dreaded guardian; then the dreaded gas bag fleets will not be quite the threat we had envisioned!

Twenty-two years later we were brought low. In the year 320 we attacked the Gamro Indactyl system. But for the first time our army was not able to take the world in a single massive attack! Then in year 321 feeling confident that our forces on Indactyl I could finish the job this year we turned our attention to Indactyl III. But the fighting was fierce and although we were not driven off world, neither world fell to our forces.

In 322 believing that surely Indactyl I would fall along with Indactyl III therefore Indactyl VIII was attacked rather attempting to provide support or reinforcement to the other two ongoing battles. This time the gamble would pay off. Indactyl I finally fell in the third year of fighting and Indactyl III fell in its second. However, the Garmo defenders of Indactyl were not done and they were able to hold on to a large part of Indactyl VIII. All of the Indactyl system finally fell in 323. Seeing our ground forces so sorely taxed has brought the elation over easier earlier victories down several notches.

Two years later in 325, after our informants told us that the Auarhciniala empire had a fleet five times the size of ours, our first orbital battle platforms were designed with battleship sized hulls. This revelation also sparked a new and very open debate in congress over funding levels for our military. The doves proclaim that our solid string of victories is a clear indication that our military has a large enough budget the way it is. However the more hawkish elements state that with a 5-1 disadvantage there is no way our fleet could withstand an assault by the gas bags. By 331 public opinion is finally swayed and the budgetary policy is once again adjusted to Total War.

Ten years after increasing the military budget Admiral Greer asked for permission to redesign the battle fleet. He noted that our current designs are over a hundred years old, and although they are still performing very well against the Gamro, we are beginning to take more and more losses in our battles with them. After some debate, the bill to approve the redesign of the fleet is approved almost unanimously.