The Evon Experience
by Alex Poff

Chapter 10 Moya Payback

Long range sensors had indicated the presence of enemy vessels in the Moya system prior to Labon's fleets arrival, so it was no surprise this time when, immediately upon exiting the jump lane, sensors snapped on the "Red Alert - Proximity Warning" signal. This time, however, the story would have a different ending.

There were six Ithkul TF's bearing down on our combined fleet, and it certainly appeared to be the same murderous scum as the last time. The last time, however, they were attacking Battle Cruisers with Level I shielding and minimal armor; this time it was Battleships with Level III shielding and duranium medium armor. Would it be enough?

The answer came quick enough. Their first volley of missiles and fighters simply bounced off our hulls, at least, those that actually got through our vast array of PD weapons. Our missiles targeted their three SR Attack TF's, as did our Eolodi allies two Missile TF's and Labon was certain he could smell burning Ithkul in space. Labon's TF fired another missile salvo at the remaining three Ithkul TF's (their Carrier & Missile boats), and our four LR TF's opened fire, Spinal Mounted Hard Beams and Rail Guns blazing. It was over very quickly, and yet Labon felt extreme gratification. "Now you can rest in peace, Sortal, your killers have faced the ultimate justice."

Moya II, the largest planet in the system, had been the target of Sortal & Labon's first assault, cycles before. This time, it was decimated with a single run. It was time to move on and clean up the system. With the Ithkul defense force annihilated, Labon decided to eradicate the Ithkul in order of size of planet, from largest to smallest. It just seemed to be the most efficient way to do things. Labon and his fleet laid in a course for Moya III, full impulse.

Our combined fleets were just maneuvering to take up position over Moya III when the proximity warning sounded again. This time, however, Labon was prepared. To our shock and surprise, a solitary SR Attack TF came into view, but it was not the Ithkul. It was the mysterious "rock" race. No matter, they were enemies of our people and their fate was sealed. Our LR TF's never even got an opportunity to close and fire, as Eolodi and Evon missiles in a flash of spacial pyrotechnics vapourized the rocks. Moya III was turned to glass.

Moya IV and I met the same fate, with no more incursions from either the Ithkul or the rocks. Analysis of the planets also returned some very interesting and unexpectedly positive results. Because the Ithkul were humanoid, of a sort, they had obviously been terraforming these planets, both in Moya and Tarkaras, to make them more suitable for habitation. With this being said, what had been a total of six "red" planets had now become two beautiful "green" and four acceptable "yellow" worlds.

This report was, indeed, good news to the High Council. Xetaph asked Lotar to immediately switch production of six ship facilities from war ships to Battle Cruiser class colony vessels, capable of holding two pods, not one, of settlers. This would ensure that only a single vessel would be required to land on all six planets, ensuring a successful colonization. We had learned this lesson inadvertently, with no detriment, when we originally signed our Full Alliance and Open Border Trade agreements with our Eolodi allies. There had been a single world uninhabited in our system that both species were racing to colonize. As per our agreements, it was simply whoever got their first got the planet. Both colony ships arrived and landed at the same time, but the planet in question was green to our Rhean subjects, but yellow to our Eolodi allies. Two hundred Eolodi died upon disembarkment. The planet was ours, with the added bonus that we now had a planet with a high percentage of Eolodi who happily became members o f our Empire.

Lotar obliged, and six colony ships were quickly built and dispatched. The High Council was obviously delighted with the current state of affairs. The Ithkul were being pushed back. We had suffered no casualties whatsoever in our advances. Six new worlds were ours, immediately easing the overcrowding issue and we were now only two systems away from finding out the status of the Alkari.

On the battlefront, Lotar was given more good news from his science advisors. A new alloy had been developed, thanks to our advances in mining and smelting technologies, which could be applied as a new form of armor for our battleships. It was called Zortium, and for all intents and purposes, practically doubled the current deflection value of duranium.

Our ship production facilities had been churning out 2nd generation battleships (with Level IV shielding) at a constant rate. The plan now was to fortify Moya as the new chokepoint access to our northern front. A total of seven new 2nd generation TF's (five LR and two IF) were to be sent to Moya to join our initial five 1st generation TF's. Production would be immediately altered to now begin producing 3rd generation TF's with the new armor.

In addition, two 2nd generation TF's (one LR and one IF) would be mobilized in Selia, our southern chokepoint, joining our five LR Battle Cruiser TF's currently stationed there. There had been additional "fish" incursions into our space and the last time, while not overly concerning our military commanders, the attacking TF was only destroyed after incurring a full missile barrage from our entire fleet. It was obvious that these "fish" were not going to go away and it was also obvious that their armor technology was advancing. Fortification with more up-to-date vessels only made good sense.

Lotar contacted Xetaph again and asked for a private meeting. It would be a number of cycles before all seven 2nd generation TF's were able to join Loban in Moya, so they had some time to discuss options. What next? There was much more intelligence that Lotar was privy to now and he wanted the input of his old friend before he went before the High Council again. Some very interesting developments had been discovered thanks to our newly established colonies and planet and system based sensor arrays that were now in place in Moya. Lotar was anxious to meet to share his newfound knowledge.