The Occupied Territories, Maramanakama, the forest outside Tolina.

Brigadier General Bartolommeo gazed through his binoculars to the right of the spider-wolf-jeep he was in. The General looked at the heart of the forest, where no doubt the enemy guerillas where watching the army march.

He let out a sight of regret as he gazed back at the map on the dashboard of the pa.s.senger’s seat, where he was sitting.

There, he looked at the formation which he arranged for this march. It was a common deployment for any convoy, heavy armor made out of chariots in the front, sides and back, forming a ma.s.sive rhomb.

 Between the angles of the rhomb, there where light vehicles like the A4 Man-o-War troop transports.   

Ma.s.sive armored beasts that where the size of Chariots, but lacked the Rune Dome on top, and in its place was room for about 12 troopers, not including the driver and gunner since it also had weapons mounted all across it’s body..

The A4 Man-o-War was in the shape of a cylinder, with sharpened cones on both its front and back. Underneath it was a series of cylinders used for movement, the cylinders where formed out of seven wheels each and they were about eight cylinders from front to back, beneath each Man-o-War.

The sharpened front and back where both made to look identical, in order to confuse the enemy, and sculpted over all the right, left and top sides where battle golems, that were made to look like humanoid soldiers, or whatever shape the manufacturer or the maintenance crew preferred. They were heavily armed with arrows and spears to hurl at the enemy, in short the Man-o-War had a lot of anti-infantry fire power and great mobility and cargo capacity, making it an ideal support vehicle.

At various points on the sides of the rhomb, just in front of the Man-o-Wars and accompanying Spider-Wolf-Jeeps where groups of cavalry companies.

Cavalry was basically mounted warriors and depending on the breeding grounds of various worlds of the Empire, the riding steeds where anything from great dire wolves, to giant cobras or other snakes, to ma.s.sive saber tooth lions and tigers, and sometimes even swordfish and sharks that where encased in a field of water, held together by magical rune encrusted wood and metal cages, powered by crystals to help them move.

They where al heavily armored, not just to protect the mount and rider, but also to inspire fear in the enemy.

 After all, a ma.s.sive cavalry charge is in itself a frightening sight for any soldier to behold and when it’s composed out off giant wolves, sharks, lions, bears, cobras and all other manor of nightmarish creatures, all clad in steel and they all formed a ma.s.sive horizontal avalanche towards you or where enveloped in a great vortex of either fire, water or air, it paid for even seasoned troops to either be drunk, crazy, fearless or preferable all of the before mentioned when facing them, plus investing in black and brown colored underpants was not a bad idea either.

They where the best offensive ground units, though they had very little armor and mostly medium range weapons, but their great speed, powerful vortex attacks and the countless millennia old psychological advantage of a cavalry charge, made them irreplaceable in any attack.

In the interior of the rhomb, there was a circle of infantry trucks, transporting the rest of the soldiers and in that circle was a smaller ring of the Earth Breakers, and finally in the middle of that ring there were the precious supply trucks and ambulance units.

It was a standard formation and a very well deployed one at that, Bartolommeo had spared no effort to ensure that this army would be in the best shape possible, while on this fool’s errand from Gelios.

“If only they had listened to me all those years ago, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now!” he thought to himself as his mind flashbacked towards that fateful day so long ago.

*****************************************************************************

Bartolommeo entered the room onboard the Fleet’s Flags.h.i.+p Moonraker, where the other leaders of the s.p.a.ce Fleet, Army, Navy, and Air Force who had now just successfully conquered the Maran Nation where gathered.

They were: Admiral Gerula the 8th Combined Fleet, who was the commander of the s.p.a.ce fleet, he was one whose species the Dorscah where giant beasts whose first form where like dragons.

 He personally was a great red scaled four legged dragon, about 80 meters tall, with golden eyes like the sun and ma.s.sive wings, so it was difficult for Bartolommeo to reconcile that image with the one of the bushy mustache faced old man, who always had a friendly smile on his face, used a cane to walk and had a calming almost paternal voice when he talked to you.

He was in his second form because, well with so many different species in the Empire, there had to be universal standards for the size of the rooms and halls of the s.h.i.+ps. So, they reached a consensus that baring the bridge and high ranking officer’s quarters, all other rooms, including briefing rooms would be sized for the second form, humanoid height. The other occupants of the room were in their first form, because their species where the appropriate height or smaller, that allowed them to fit in the room.

Beside him where two members of the Lohengram race, who where humanoid lion men. One had a golden mane and the other was with red fur, they where respectively Rear Admiral Mussel and Rear Admiral Siegfried Barbarossa.

Next to them was the Commander of the naval detachment, commodore Broka de Na.

 Although it was hard to describe his species, the Hartie, since they where a sort of thick gas like creatures, that generally a.s.sumed the form of what the mightiest person in the room feared the most, and since that was hard thing to decide with so many great warriors in one place, he remained a sort of ghostly mist encompa.s.sing his uniform.

Last, but certainly not least was the commander of the Air Force detachment Sky Marshall Daca Ezz, whose species the Krhummshelappera looked like a  skulled lizards head without the lower jaw on two legs, with green scaly skin and two heavily teethed mouths on each hand, accompanied by a single eye on each palm and amphibious frog like legs.

“Ah, Colonel, now that you are here we can begin.” a voice from Bartolommeo’s right was heard and upon looking in that direction, he saw who it was and gave a quick bow of the head and then a salute, for it was High Princess Cornelia and behind her was  Prince Gelios, both where in their second form and had the appearance of two human looking individuals.

Cornelia was a very attractive woman, tall, with waist length smooth red-purplish hair and beautiful blue eyes, she was dressed in a standard military uniform that hid most of her features, but what it did show would make anyone’s imagination run wild. That combined with the fact that she was a skilled swordsman, bowman, rider, chariot pilot and considered one of the most feared infantry commanders in the army , nicknamed the ‘Witch of the Empire‘ only added to her allure, which was only outmatched by her great prowess as a general.

That was why she was also (despite being an infantry commander) the leader of this combined task force, and so they all sat down at a round table and started the meeting.

“Fellow sentients, we have achieved a ‘Great Feat’ today, with Admiral Gerula’s successful fleet battle and Princess Cornelia’s blitz on the Maran’s planets, we have now managed to for the first time in history to defeat the Maran people!” Marshall Daca said to those present and a round of ‘Hear! Hear!’ was heard all around the table.

“The question is, what do we do now?” he added.

“We must take the necessary steps to ensure that the eventual terrorists that will crawl out off the woodwork will not be a threat to the forces that will be stationed here. If not, then may the Creator help us!” Daca said and gestured with his hand for others to speak.

“Agreed! I will be frank comrades, we are in a very perilous position, for you see before our breech of their last s.p.a.ce Fortresses, Admiral Yaheer gave the order for the remaining Maran fleet to scatter and disperse , meaning that we now have almost 2.500 enemy s.h.i.+ps hiding in our mitts, a terrifying prospect indeed!” Commodore Broka said to those present.

“And we can’t keep our forces here forever; after we withdraw, the troops we leave behind are in danger of being cut to pieces, so the question is what do we do?” Admiral Mussel said.

“I am still puzzled as to why the government has decided to withdraw the majority of the fleet; with the 48.000 s.h.i.+ps we have now, we should have no trouble holding this system. With the 40.000 their ordering to be withdrawn, all that will happen will be less soldiers here and more back in the mainland where they’re not needed, why do you think Warchief Aian ordered something like this?” Admiral Siegfried asked.

“I’m sure the fact that his brother-in-law is a majority stock holder in one of our major fuel suppliers, has nothing to do with it!” Gerula said and all present gave a knowing chuckle.

“Of course, but in the meantime how do we avert this crisis? It’s not just the troop reduction that’s troubling, my contacts have told me that we are also going to be replaced as the garrison commanders, bar the exception of my brother Gelios who is going to be local governor, for the duration of the occupation.” Cornelia said to those present.

“Forgive me, but I do not see the danger, even with the reduction, there will be almost 9.000 s.h.i.+ps stationed here, meaning that we outnumber the remaining Maran fleet by almost 4 to 1, even if they’ve escaped, what danger do they posse to our forces?”

At this everyone, bar the exception of Cornelia, stared for a few moments in irritation at Gelios, at how he could not see the problem.

“You’re highness, the Maran nation is composed of approximately 350 star systems, of which 180 are inhabited, and 20 of them are strategically vital to holding this country. Baring the 1.000 s.h.i.+ps that will be stationed at Maramanakama, we will have to disperse the remaining 7.000 among 19 systems, meaning that at every vital system there will be approximately 370 s.h.i.+ps stationed, and if the enemy chooses to do a full scale raid, with the forces here dispersed into garrisons, the odds will be almost 7 to 1 against us, not to mention the danger of the systems in which we cannot maintain a presence for very long.” Admiral Mussel answered, a slight almost unperceivable tone of anger and annoyance was present in his voice , since Gelios was a prime representative of the fact that power in the Empire was in the hands of many who did not earn it, but rather inherited it or bought it. But he dare not say it out loud, especially with Gelios’s sister Cornelia present in the room, who was a mixture of one who got her position from family influence, but also by proving that she was a great commander.

No, it did not do to anger a superior officer; higher ranking ones were alright, but never a superior one!

“But even with that potential  danger, it seems highly unlikely that something like that could happen, for one thing transporting that many s.h.i.+ps between two star systems is very taxing on one’s resources, why just feeding them and maintaining a breathable atmosphere on those s.h.i.+ps requires an, well astronomical cost!”

“And that’s not even taking into consideration munitions, medical supplies, spare parts, and the very difficult job of coordinating an attack over more than 3.000 light-years. All that would be difficult, even when you have a proper economy and base of operations and we have stolen both from the Marans, can they really afford to muster their forces, instead of keeping them dispersed so they don’t starve, let alone pose any major threat to us?” Gelios asked.

This took many aback, even Admiral Mussel was surprised, for what he said did have sound logic and reasoning behind it.

“Amateurs study tactics, professional study logistics.” Gerula spoke, quoting one of the many ancient proverbs of war, an act which received nods of acknowledgement from the others present at the table.

“His highness has a point, it would be very difficult for the Marans to maintain a gathered fleet, it would be easier for them to disperse their s.h.i.+ps in small groups of, I’d say between 20 and 100 s.h.i.+ps and raid our supply lines, that seems the most practical thing to do.” Siegfried said.

“But what if they get sponsors.h.i.+p from the Federation or the People’s Republic, then what? What’s to stop them from crus.h.i.+ng our forces while they’re dispersed?” Daca asked.

“For one thing, we’ve just won this conflict, the Maran Government has surrendered and more than half of it has separated into smaller groups, that have fled into exile into various countries, each declaring itself the legitimate government of the Maran Nation. Also, we have just won the war; the civilian population is still reeling back from that, for now their priorities consist of securing their families and livelihoods, which takes precedence over getting back at us.”

“ In my opinion we should have 2 standard years at best and at worst 6 months, before the country stabilizes enough for them to feel confident to revolt against us and even then, in the absence of any popular uprising, it would be ill advised for the rebels to unite their forces and attack our garrisons.” Gerula said to those present.

“Agreed, without a general uprising among the populations of each planet to impede our movements, we would have enough time to concentrate our forces, the enemy would be able to destroy maybe one or two of our 370 strong garrison, but traveling even between the nearest of systems takes from one to four weeks, during which the local commanders could gather at least half of the area’s standing garrison, I’d say at least 3.000 to 3.700 s.h.i.+ps.” Cornelia replied.

“So, everything depends on the conditions on the ground and we have at best only 6 months to prepare for an internal insurgency, an uprising numbering in the trillions, a potential invasion by two galactic superpowers and do it all with diminished forces and with us to be replaced at a non described date by complete strangers, lovely simply lovely!” Admiral Mussel said out loud, this had the effect of discouraging the others that were present.

“I knew I shouldn’t have stolen that lollipop from the cafeteria!” Admiral Gerula said all of a sudden.

At which point, there was silence in the room and after that, they all burst into a roar of laughter that lasted for quite some time, after it died down, those present had recovered some of their confidence back.

They all then gazed at Gerula with approving smiles.

 The old war hound knew his trade well!

“So, if planetary guerillas are a problem, then I may have a solution for that.” Bartolommeo said as he rose from his seat and addressed those present.

“We can manage the urban guerillas, but the mountains and forests are the breeding ground for such forces, I suggest we burn any forest within a thousand kilometers of any major city and bombard the mountains from s.p.a.ce until they become unusable.” Bartolommeo suggested.

“We will do no such thing!” Gelios suddenly said and stood up.

“Those forests are essential for every inhabited world’s agriculture, without them we will have floods and landslides when the rains come. Also, the mountains are prime resources for metal, rock, gems and energy crystals, blow them up and we have now way of sustaining this occupation! Why, we could cause an economic collapse, that would trigger the revolt you so fear!” he added.

After that, Bartolommeo realized the implications of what he just said and replied with:

“You’re highness, I consent that you have a point and I acknowledge that the method is a bit extreme, but we must take measures against the terrorists that are to arise. At the very least bombard the mountains that are lacking in mineral and energy crystal wealth, if we don’t, then every mountain will be crawling with rebels and we must burn at least some parts of the forests and jungles to prevent the same happening there.” he pleaded.

“I concede your point colonel, but as future Governor of this region I cannot allow anything that would affect the income of my state, or the means to pay my workers and soldiers.”

********************************************************************************

The flashback ended and Bartolommeo’s mind returned to the present, since then it had been almost 20 standard years from the Invasion and Occupation, since then, the surrounding states has also been conquered, creating along with the various local allied nations, the Occupied Territories.

“d.a.m.n these Occupied Territories! d.a.m.n us for coming here! d.a.m.n us for staying!”

*BATHUN*BATHUM*BATHUN*BATHUM*BATHUN*BATHUM*BATHUN*BATHUM

“And d.a.m.n that thunder!” he thought, before realizing that there was not a cloud in the sky, and that it was coming from their left, namely from the mountain.

“Sir, incoming transmission from the second division, we are detecting energy signature echoes all over the mountain, and we’re picking up noise from potential artillery fire from it as well!”

*BATHUN*BATHUM*BATHUN*BATHUM*BATHUN*BATHUM*BATHUN*BATHUM

 “You don’t say!” Bartolommeo replied sarcastically, as he did not need a report to realize what was going on.

“Well, don’t just stand there! Have all of the men deploy and surround that mountain!” Bartolommeo replied and a cheer rose throughout the line and he could distinctly hear cries of ‘Remember Dukhym!’.

While on the outside he was glad the troops where in high spirits, inside he was very concerned, for he did not think that the enemy would be foolish enough to hide in a mountain so close to their strongest planetary garrison, but he was also mentally kicking himself for it.

One reason being that it was a legitimately risky, but good strategy to hide under your enemy’s noses. Also, the area was great for a defensive battle. Steep cliffs, soft rock, heavy wood, deep mud, in short a defender’s wet dream!

“d.a.m.n Mountain!” he muttered to himself as he directed the troops towards it.

Caliupus 14th

11:20 Local time, the battle for peak 701 had begun!