((A continuation after the events of Winter's Bite - Craver Saga Part I))





“This is low, even for you, you corporate bastard!” Admiral Conan Forsythe was not a man that angered easily. So when the occasion came about that pushed the man over the edge, everyone within a ten mile radius knew it. And right now the entire capital knew it, as orders for immediate mobilization of the Imperial Fleet were put out. Marines and sailors on leave were recalled, ships undergoing refit and overhaul were being rushed through whatever stage they were in now to be put back on the combat-ready roster. And he had just found the man who had caused this to happen, confronting him outside of the grand doors that led to the emperor’s throne room. “What the hell have you done? Why did you abandon that star system?”



Karta Vauclas remained silent, just looking at Forsythe as a nobleman would a common. In essence, he was. The Vauclas family was a prominent on in the capital and long had its members served in the emperor’s inner circle. Karta had been one of the exceptions. Instead of politics, he had gone into the business of war. Conan Forsythe, on the other hand, was a commoner. Born to blue collar workers, as a boy he had enlisted into the Imperial Navy and quickly shot through the ranks. Instead of studying books and learning business and war strategy, he learned straight from the mouths of the men who lived in war. Instead of grades, bribes, and family prestige determining his place in the fleet, he had earned his place through proving himself in battle.



On paper, the two men were virtually the same. One was the highest ranked admiral in the Imperial Navy, the other in the Corporate Navies. Off paper, they couldn’t be more different. One had the respect, admiration, and absolute loyalty of those that served under him. The other was known to see human lives as mere figures, and cared little for those under his command.



The differences went straight down to how the dressed, even. Vauclas wore the regalia as befitting someone of his birth. His black corporate dress outfit, with the crimson red overcoat of nobility, fastened with all of his medal and honors. Forsythe, on the other hand, wore his naval working uniform, looking every bit like the other sailors in his navy aside from the rank marking on his collar. All of his medals and honor were stashed away in some case in his flagship, somewhere, gathering as much dust as his dress uniform was.



Forsythe actually looked fairly out of place in Imperial Palace, dressed like that, when everyone else was scurrying around in dress uniforms and regalia, trying to look their best should the emperor glance their way.



“The costs of defending the Turak System would have been too high.” Vauclas said, his tone icy cold as ever. There really was no question why the man was called the Vice President of Winter, “It will be more cost productive to set up defensive lines while Turak falls, to ensure we can defeat the invaders with minimal losses.”



“You left those people to die!” Forsythe raged. “The only defenses they have are the ground forces you left behind. Apparently they weren’t worth the cost to train them, either?”



“It is cheaper to train men to play in the dirt than it is to build a warship.” Vauclas said with a shrug, “Now, I suggest you remove yourself from my path, admiral. I am to personally present my report to the emperor, and receive the honors befitting me for the battle in Aradil.”



“We’ll see how deserving he thinks you are when he learns you abandoned one of our systems to the Cravers!”

“It was the throne that authorized my withdrawal. See for yourself.” Vauclas removed a small tablet from an inner pocket of the large cloak he wore and tossed it at Forsythe. Catching it, the admiral shot a glare at the corporate noble, before looking down at the display.







To all corporate forces within the Turak System,



By order and decree of the Emperor, you are to withdraw with all haste and avoid any confrontation with the invading ships. VIP personnel and essential projects to the Executive Directorate only are to be recovered from the system before departure to the Oron System. Await further orders there.



Under no circumstance should events in the Aradil System, or of this withdrawal, be spoken to any non-corporate personnel. Failure to abide by these orders will result in termination of contract and appropriate legal ramifications.



No military force is hereby permitted to enter the Turak System. Actions to do so will be considered treason.

With the authority of the Emperor,

Sukhoi Sobeikov, High Councilor to the Throne

“Of course it was Sobeikov!” Forsythe spat, throwing the display back at Vauclas, “Everyone knows that he is in the pocket of the Directorate!” The Executive Directorate was a body of CEOs that governed all of the corporations of the United Empire. They were founded by the emperor, and he was technically the chairman of the board, but they were often left to manage things on their own. Recently the directors had been getting bolder, trying to take more power for themselves, under the guise of lightening the workload of the emperor.



“Be careful what you say, Forsythe…You slander a member of the Inner Circle, and you could be brought up on charges.” Vauclas warned, his tone mocking, the rare grin cracking his cold mask. The grin faded, though, when a woman wear the uniform of a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy ran up to them, snapping into a salute with Forsythe returned, but Vauclas ignored.



“Admiral Forsythe! The fleet is ready to depart. All we need is our fleet commander.” she said.



“I’m on my way.” Forsythe said, dismissing the woman. As she hurried off, Vauclas just looked at Forsythe, frowning.



“Where is the fleet going?” Vauclas asked.



“The Turak System. I will not leave our people to become the next meal for the Cravers!” Forsythe said as he turned and started to walk away.



“This is treason!” Vauclas cried after him, “The Councilor said that no military force would enter the system!” The damned common was going to ruin all of his plans, all of the Directorate’s plans!



“He addressed all corporate forces, and I sure as hell aren’t corporate! I take my orders from the emperor, not one of his bootlickers.”



“You commoner! You have no idea what you are involving yourself in!” Vauclas shouted at the admiral’s back. A scowl was on his face. As rare as it was for Admiral Forsythe to lose his temper, it was rarer still for the Vice President of Winter to lose his own. With a growl he turned headed into the throne room. The ceremony would prevent him from making a report of this incident and trying to stop Forsythe, and by the time it was over, he knew the fleet would be gone.



It took Forsythe twenty minutes to get a shuttle to his flagship, the massive dreadnought Bahamut. The first in the new line of Bahamut-class dreadnoughts, it was named after a dragon god found in references of legends from times long sense passed. Or, possibly, it was a giant fish. Forsythe chose to believe his flagship was christened in the name of a dragon god.



Stepping onto the bridge he grinned when he saw the crew fast at work. The ship’s captain, an old friend of his that he had known since they enlisted together, nodded that everything was ready to go. Taking a seat in the fleet admiral’s chair, he opened a comm line to all ships in the fleet.



“To all ships, this is Admiral Forsythe. The cowardice and greed of our corporate counterparts has left one of our systems, our own people, helpless before a Craver invasion force. We go to the defense of our colonists, the people that we have sworn to protect…The Cravers have apparently forgotten what happened the last time that they tried to mess with the United Empire. Let’s give teach gluttons another lesson, shall we?” cutting the com link then, he relayed maneuvering and formations orders throughout the fleet.



As the fleet left the orbit of Terra Prime for the three day journey at maximum warp to Turak, Forsythe went over the various holo-displays in front of his chair. They would be meeting more ships as they traveled to the Turak System, but even with these additions, estimates from the Ministry of Security still had them outnumbered by the Craver fleet, as last reported before all communication with the system went silent. He was flying into nearly two-to-one odds. He might be able to appropriate some corporate ships, the ones left in the Oron System. They would help even the odds, that was for sure.



One way or another, though, he would push the Cravers back out of human space. The United Empire did not abandon their own people, their own systems, to invaders. Not without a fight. The Turak System was too important. Corporate analysts might figure that the Craver onslaught could be held in the five systems that Turak linked to…But that was a five-front war they couldn’t afford. It would be far better to keep them contained to Aradil, where they had only two directions to go: back where ever the hell they came from this time or right into his line of fire.



He just prayed there would still be a system there to protect…

Love it. The opposing personalities of the Admirals make for an interesting read... when can we have more?

Really really nice! I wonder who is going to "win"?