Nightmares of the Past[]
“It can’t be, what am I looking at?!” stated General Lee loudly.
“I don’t believe it either sir… That is Word of Blake insignia!” responded Paladin Gareth Sinclair.
“We knew some of them went missing by the end of the Jihad but, an entire fleet?” General Lee ran his palm over his face and through his red hair. “Captain attempt to hail them.”
“Aye, sir… Nothing is getting through.”
Across the bridge, everyone was on edge. There was no expectation of conflict with any major force as they proceeded to the Deep Periphery. But, if the Blakists were coming in from there…
General Lee began issuing orders to a portion of the civilian vessels in Home Fleet. They were to immediately start working their way to New Avalon now that Prince Julian was on the throne. An escort was assembled and they were ordered to use a pirate point, so as not to risk encountering the Blakist ships.
“General Lee, it appears the Blakist ships are diverting to another area of the planet, dropships are accelerating away from the formation.” Called out Captain Coquello.
“Map their trajectory, deploy wings of Aerospace to harass them on the way in.” General Lee ordered. He used his console to alert the Home Fleet Command Staff and ordered the Triarii Protectors to deploy. It was clear that whatever forces were being deployed was only a small quantity of the full Blakist forces.
“It is very likely, General Lee, that this world was not their main goal. They may have been trying to take advantage of the Federated Suns and take New Avalon while still under Drac control. But, that they are not deploying the entirety of the dropships in that fleet means they must think they can push us from the world and have other targets in mind.” Sinclair gave as his counsel.
“That assessment makes sense, Paladin Sinclair.” General Lee paused a moment as he continued to think it through. He continued… “We can’t proceed into the Periphery because we have no idea how many of them there are or where they came from. We can’t evacuate the planet; we don’t have the manpower or resources. It is very likely that Prince Davion does not even have word of this attack yet.”
“Paladin Sinclair, evacuate as many women and children as possible to the yardships, the extended berthing for survivors on Terra are far from capacity. Also, ensure the civilians on the surface are armed, bolster their abilities without draining our limited resources. We will hold for as long as we can but we are not going to exhaust our capabilities to hold this world. I want you to assign Knights to assist the Protectors and help the civilians to be as prepared as possible to defend themselves.”
“Yes, General Lee, at once.” Paladin Sinclair saluted and proceeded to put plans in place on his handheld tablet as he marched from the Refuge’s Command Deck.
He took a moment to imagine what Grandma Lee might have thought, to see this fleet after all of her efforts alongside Devlin Stone. A grin did find its way across his face though thinking that his Victor in the hangar below would taste Blakist blood once more.