The Evon Experience
by Alex Poff

Chapter 9 Revenge, Again

Labon received the report from Coilis at approximately 9:00 pm Sente time. By 9:30 pm, a full meeting of the High Council was well underway. The Trilarians and Psilons had formally declared war on our Empire, but it had not occurred until technically after the attack and the damage had been inflicted. Lebak wanted their skulls on a stick. There was no other option, in his opinion. Labon concurred, as did the entire High Council. Treachery of this sort would not go unpunished. The question now, was, who first?

Strategically, it made the most sense to strike at the Psilons. The two Psilon systems, Geineh and Rayden, were a perfect choice. These two systems, once taken, would extend our claims from Moya in the northeast section of our Empire. The Moya chokepoint could then be pushed out one system to the barren expanse of Drossel and we would extend up and out into Geineh and Rayden. After these assaults, a further push south from Drossel would take us to a single system held by the Trilarians. It would start with a two-pronged assault with Hektar returning from Juta via the wormhole to Rayden and Sebak, our Moyan fleet commander, would launch from Moya to Gieneh. Coilis was ordered to disband his remaining three ships and he and his remaining crew were to return to Sente for de-briefing, medical attention and a well deserved furlong.

The pitiful screams of dying Psilons filled the vastness of space over the next few weeks. The Psilons appeared to throw everything they had at our attacking forces, but they were pathetically out-gunned. Many of our attacking TF’s were now Titan class, with only a smattering of Superdreadnought TF’s thrown in the mix. From time to time an occasional fleet of Meklar would come to their aid in Rayden, but Hektar, now our most decorated commander, turned space into a floating junkyard of computer motherboards as he avenged his fellow soldiers who had fallen in Maestrom. Yes, some ships were lost, but losses were exceptionally low and the mission a complete success. Kaytapa’s northern ground force commanders were equally as effective, wiping out any puny Psilon ground unit that dared to stand in the way of his Gargantuan Battleoids. Throughout the assault on the Geinah and Rayden systems, numerous entreaties were heard from the Olaptra, begging for mercy and an end to the conflict, but Labon would hear none of it. Lebak had thrown out both the Trilarian and Psilon ambassadors, expelling them to their homeworlds and had told Labon to continue as he saw fit. For the time being, at least, no formal political communication would be welcome or received from either race.

With the expansion of our Empire completed, Labon chose to further ignore the Trilarians, at least for the time being. Coilis had returned from furlong and, along with his fellow officers, had requested immediate re-deployment. Labon concurred and thought there would be no better place to “get back in the saddle” than in Juta, through the Rayden wormhole. The Psilons had taken two of the three planets in the Juta system from the Tachidi and it also appeared that they were attempting to overrun the two “dead-ended” systems to the south of Juta as well from another race. Coilis would lead a massive strike force against the Olaptra there. The Tachidi practically squealed with delight when we agreed to enter into a Defensive Alliance with their race, now knowing that help was on its way.

Coilis entered the Juta system with over twenty TF’s and multiple Battleoid Army TF’s at his disposal. Following closely behind was a plethora of heavily armored Colony ships, ready to colonize newly glassed planets. Juta held three planets, one of which was held by our new allies, the Tachidi. Coilis took the other two with ferocity that bordered on manic. These planets were quickly colonized and Coilis then moved on with ten TF’s to the first “dead-ended” system, leaving ten TF’s behind for defense, as Juta was the springboard to the Meklar empire via Maestrom. Upon entering the first system, Coilis was shocked to discover the “hiding place” of the Ithkul. It seemed that this is where they had ended up, these last two systems as far away as they could get in the known galaxy. With great delight Coilis proceeded to obliterate all life on every planet in these two systems, regardless of whether or not there were any life forms other than Ithkul; the chance of infestation was simply too great. Finally, the Ithkul had been completely vanquished, their ilk never to be seen again. Colonization of every planet went exceptionally smoothly and Coilis then returned with his fleet to Juta, joining up with his massive defense force he had left behind cycles earlier. He contacted Labon via interstellar communicator notifying him of his success and that he was awaiting instructions.

Labon told Coilis to sit tight. Simply put, he had not yet determined what to do next; his forces under his command had been too efficient. He was very proud of his warriors and he wanted to make sure that they were all recognized for their valiant efforts in the defense of our Empire. Labon wanted to review new star charts, made available to him by the Tachidi military liaison officer, who was anxious to please his new ally. Apparently, our power was becoming quite well known in the galaxy, as our new Tachidi friends informed us that we were now considered the most powerful Empire in existence, even surpassing the legendary New Orions in strength. While we took this compliment with a grain of salt, we couldn’t help but notice that even the Eolodi addressed us with greater deference and humility lately.

Labon was happy about all of this, but he was more concerned with his next target. Would it be the Trilarians turn to feel pain, or should we continue and completely exterminate the Psilons, as we had done now to both the Laaran and the Ithkul? Decisions, decisions…