THE FUNCHAL WAR


How a new slavery was ended at sword\'s point

"If there is a major conflict in the history of mankind, the 38th century was the most correct, and the most exhausting because the most fierce: The slaves revolted against their condition, they took up arms in All the worlds known and fought with all their might, and humanity was compelled to give up its dream of civilization of leisure, and the functional clones, slaves of modern times, gained their freedom and the right to belong to the A great family, and what a denial for those who excluded any cyclical character from history: The intellectuals of this time named this chaos the "Spartac War", in homage to the most famous revolted slave of the ancient land history "...
Alyott Nilbatha, grand master of the pillars of knowledge, 23,676 of the ancient era

The Funchal war was the incarnation of several events connected by their main actors: The funchals, contraction for "functionals", the usual term used since the XXIIth century to describe bio-engineered clones that reintroduced the notion of slavery. The war was comparable to spartacus revolt in the antiquity, but on a much larger scale and with a level of technology that allowed the Funchal to win, eventually. This ended the slavery, promoted robots instead, and created a brand new human specy with new beliefs systems and history.

Dawn of a revolt

The clones: Slavery is back again

The first functional, specialized transgenic clones, optimized in their field and asexual, were designed to perform certain tasks in place of men, and this on Earth and Mars as early as the 23rd century. The former were engaged in dangerous occupations in industry or space, and others served as security agents, or military personnel. Their legal status had questioned generations of specialists, who had no satisfactory answer. Since they were derived from mixed and manipulated genetic strains, they had elements in common with a large number of "normal" or "native" individuals, who were not cloned, but for no filiation. They came from large private companies that had invested considerable amounts in their development and training and thus owned them, before belonging to their final employers.

Being physically identical to humans, they could and should have had the same rights. However, in the fierce economic context of the time, they were assimilated to "humans praised for life", under a special regime. In addition, for safety reasons, to prevent clones from experiencing uncontrolled offspring, their hormonal functioning had been seriously revised, and they had only atrophied genitalia which did not allow them to perpetuate themselves. These two criteria differentiate them from humans (cloned, so without filiation and asexual). The humans themselves set up social barriers with them and their appearance, their widespread diffusion, their use and their sober clothes dedicated exclusively to their identification.

A character, whose true identity was never known precisely, perhaps it was Clarodd Hymang, a Martian (3655-3970? ...), which in any case enjoyed an exceptional magnetism. If it was a former functionary who had escaped from its owners, or from a normal man, no one would know. Still, he did everything to surround himself with people determined at all costs to give the functionaries their rights and get them out of their servitude. In the 36th century, most major metropolises had a population of more than 70% functional, occupying all production and service positions. Creative positions were reserved for humans, of which a minority "worked" truly. The presence of the functionaries in this society was enough to ensure the happiness of the human population, which was enriched and offered the services of cloned servants, enjoying an idle life for the vast majority.

The cloning industry at that time was one of the most important of all sectors, and arguably one of the most profitable. The directors of the three principal consortia of these industries, which had eliminated all their rivals by common agreements, were only conquered by a facade. Their considerable profits attracted a large number of unscrupulous entrepreneurs or adventurers, or politicians in distress of communication funds. Progressively, the collusion at the top of the state between these leaders and the political class became evident to the highest of parliament as well as of the assembly. And the impunity was total: the politicians paid by these industrialists were elected because the media pus, in exchange they concoct a favorable legislation, and the media, possessed by intermediate funds, "served to them the soup" and made themselves discreet on their practice. Finally, at the base, the services of order, provided exclusively by the functionaries, including the highest ranks, were totally subservient to them ... in theory.

The vexations, insults, bullying, rapes, seeing murders of clones remained unpunished: Even when the perpetrators were discovered, when the evidence was evident and the witnesses present, the sentences were symbolic and not applied. At the most, the insurance regulated the owners of the clones victims. Cases in which the police of several cities were compromised demonstrated that a real system existed around the exploiting companies of certain clones too old to continue the service, less efficient: They wished to get rid of them while collecting the insurance premiums on Their heads, calling on little thugs or sometimes sons of good families, in a band and lack of strong sensations, who killed a single individual, sometimes with a refinement of tortures. The life of a functional one was not worth at that time, and the segregation present at all levels.

This added to the sometimes very free manners of urban humans, in public, especially the hermas, concurred in bringing about in the clones that all considered intellectually limited, an obvious frustration. This unknown character, later called Gritlibater, mobilized human beings around him, and convinced them to help him organize discreet meetings to gather the right moment in unguarded places of the clones, in order to make them take Awareness of their condition and the means of organizing themselves. Year after year, this work of sape bore fruit: The strikes began. Security services were mobilized every time, but very soon, they were also invited to these "meetings" and in turn convinced.

The services of order, functional, thus tipped the side of the strikers. The panic-stricken authorities called upon troops, few in number, but stationed nearby, apparently without any suspicion, and at the same time summoning the owners to bring their strikers to their senses. The latter did it in the most brutal way: They called on thanatologists to eliminate those who thought they were the leaders. The meetings were discovered, and the morgues filled up so quickly that they were obliged to build them (crime at that time was extremely feeble, and the system of banishment little used).

From strikes to revolt

But these events, which had begun at Canaveral, on earth, in America, on June 26, 3697, took a decisive turn when the troops entered the city. Gritlibater and his flock had not foreseen that they would remain faithful to the government, and the strikes were repressed with great vigor, fortunately without a victim. The Functionalists, four days later, had returned to the ranks, the "presumed leaders", officially "exiled" in viwo after lethal injection, which was not an unpleasant punishment and raised nobody\'s protest but unofficially, They were definitely "deactivated". Contrary to what the old functionaries were supposed to believe, the latter had no right to the golden virtual retreat to which they aspired. In reality, they were given a lethal injection and their remains were recycled into foods that were mixed with other nutrients found in the usual canteen rations reserved for functional purposes.

Gritlibater knew this reality and was offended by it. But in this highly policed ​​society, unfavorable to other sounds of the bell, he remained isolated in his own revolt. Proving the evidence first to relatives, then to other humans, they presented them during these short meetings very supervised clones that he could convince. His failure at Canaveral was no longer to be repeated. Twenty-two years later, in 3719, he organized the same operation in Cardens, the Martian megalopolis on the shores of Marineris Bay. This time the strikes took on a whole new dimension thanks to the secret work carried out by Gritlibater and his team. Working discreetly in the back rooms of the functionaries, including the military, he succeeded in convincing functional officers (veteran and deserving clones) to tilt their men for their cause when the day came.

Carden\'s strikes turned into a tragedy when, in 3699, the security services on the side of the strikers were assailed by shots of professional killers engaged by the Aurorites. 24 dead in a few minutes. The forces of the Order could not replicate, not benefiting from weapons other than sticks to vomit, flashes or ball-throwers made of rubber. The result was a profound resentment which foamed the whole city like wildfire. The landemain, the strikes had become generalized to all the trades occupied by functional: The paralysis of the economy became a reality. Once again the authorities appealed to the troops, but the troops, commanded by officers who had won the revolt, fell on the side of the mutineers before entering the city. They laid siege to the city, communications. This perfectly carried out operation triggered the triggering of the martial state on the whole planet and the Martian authorities appealed to the earth.

One of the rare known portraits of Gritlibater, taken in his youth, probably around 3665. Man remains a complete mystery. Like the Gandhi, Mozart or Hitler, there remains an enigma within the reign of hominids. The paradox was that he always wore a naturally glabrous skull, although some saw an allusion to the Funchals he freed. Extremely spartan, irradiating with calm and simplicity, he was a limpid figure, to whom the truth was not hidden. But his resolution, his knowledge, and his highly calculating intelligence were never defeated. When peace was concluded, Gritlibater retired permanently to an unknown place. Many people say Ottowan before the hour ... We will undoubtedly continue to tell about his origins. The most tenacious legend wanted to see the fruit of the union between a high-ranking herma and the general clone Fugma-4. (Fugmafo).

Civil War

Gritlibater\'s crews on the spot had also worked diligently in this direction. A week after the start of the revolt, garrisons began marching, having been ordered to join troop transports to Mars. Once disembarked, they rejoined the mutineers, but instead of opening fire immediately turned against the local authorities. The governor of Cardens soon escaped capture. The terrified inhabitants were lying in their high towers, and here and there the latter were trying to organize themselves. The government in exile, a week later, declared the state of civil war in its territories. The earth renounced sending other functional troops, and on the contrary, attacked them with gas and with blows of napalm bombs. 12 functional regiments were thus decimated to avoid any risk on this side while a mobilization of "human" troops began, on earth as on March. The "Revolt" was transformed into interplanetary warfare.

Opinions were divided. In the rural areas, the commitment was weak: the functionaries were few in number, and even though they were generally much better considered. It was in the towns that the privileged populations mobilized the most. These contingents were reinforced with functionaries who had had preferential regimes, such as "freedmen", sexual (functional) func- tions, domestic servants who had become full members of the family, perpetuating their lineage of servants in the same field. The latter sometimes had more to lose than to win in this revolt. This revolt became a war when internal troubles led to the declaration of martial law for the Alphite system, then Procyonite, Etitonides, Proximian, Taucetian, and of course Procyonite. Sirius, Omicron and Altair, were spared for a time because of their youth and their small population of clones.

A global, total war: 3705-3760 Operations

First clashes 3705-3723

During the first 55 years of war, there was a rise in the numbers involved and the transition from a peace economy to a real war economy. This war was singular because the fighting began at the very heart of the great capitals and major cities of the main inhabited planets of these systems. In some cases, the clones, more numerous and better organized, prevailed, causing panic and flight of officials and many "native" civilians to neighboring worlds. Of the "provisional governments" of the federation were thus born on many secondary planets. The first objectives of the two camps were to ensure control of major industrial centers, sources of supply, and control of space traffic.

The beginning of the conflict was marked not by great battles, but by a series of attacks, improvised with the means available, to conquer a sector, a station, a relay center, a hyperspatial gate, a warehouse ... But no major battle before the year 3723. Only when the situation was stabilized at the level of whole systems did the infrastructures mobilize for the production of warships, the only way to regain systems for Federal, and keep them and defend them for the clones. In this first phase, the functionaries had an immense strategic and tactical advantage: They had all the key points of the economy because they ensured industrial production, orbital ports, stations, warehouses, relays and even hyperspatial gates . The latter were in principle managed by a very singular species among the clones, benefiting from a special regime, the Ungravids. Neutral for security, the latter soon found themselves engaged, sometimes forced, alongside other clones at war.

As a result, the federation quickly found itself in a critical situation. It was suffering a de facto blockade, could only move outside the hyperspatial lines, and therefore slowly, no longer possessed its biggest arsenals but Only those of the still modest young planets no longer possessed its principal military bases and troops, its war material, security forces, basic technical personnel, or even a means of transmitting data, Vital to maintain the cohesion of the federation and to coordinate actions, finding themselves entrenched in economically weak, poorly equipped and isolated planets. The second phase of the war would thus lead both sides to actions within the stellar systems to control non-hyperlite sources of energy, including gaseous gases and their gas expansions and orbital refineries. In this war, the federation exhausted itself in attacks of all these key points. Each time, she suffered heavy losses, using "native" troops raised on the spot, while their opponent had clones perfectly trained by officers of rank, SOD and SODI (Senior Officer Defense, Instructor).

Respective Forces

The Funchals (Clones)

The symbol of the Spartacus insurrection: "Clofist" (The clenched fist, brandi high.) This symbol was adopted apparently following the habit of the first clones gathering under the instigation of Gritlibater. Is not, as the Federal propaganda at the beginning asserted, a "blood-red head of death".

The Clones had no names, but first names composed of the acronym of their function followed by a registration, such as BAGSOL-6AC-7665 (Basic Ground Soldier, Alpha Centauri, series 7665). The clones were called "rebellious" and were chosen to choose a "human" name, and most chose to keep the "Bagsol" in this case, which became a surname, followed by a first name (actually "postnom" ), Linked to an event, to its own characteristics, to a region, to an envy ... This system was rational for officers as well as simple soldiers: it avoided the identification of ranks or the wearing of a specific uniform by The simple enunciation of the name, but remained personalized. This contributed to the morale of the troops, sometimes composed of clones coming from very diverse horizons (industry, maneuvering, cleaning, aquaculture greenhouses, etc ...).


Federal Forces Ships



Top: Planetary assault devices of the Albatros SSF35 type. Delivered by standard Barracuda destroyers, Tech. Barracuda, USC Super Cruiser form, USC Courageous sheet and other converted cruisers, Standard cruiser type I cruiser.

In the middle: Tech. Standard Frigate Dog, Bird, Tech. OLCM, Tech. OLCL, Blue Fly, Wisel.

Below: Devices deployed with the XIV Fleet:

-OLCM type 54 - An average orbital landing craft. 30 meters long, two atmospheric reactors, dropping into low orbit. A system of ceramic microtubes provided protection during downhill climbing. These devices deployed two retractable wings and landed like gliders, also using an antigravity generator and reactors to brake. Weight 54 tons unladen; A detachment or 30 marines equipped.

-Free standard type Hounddog. Length 210 meters, weighing approx. 46,000 tons, carrying 48 orbital barrages type OLCM 54 or 96 standard athmospheric hunters. Operates in low orbit. Little armed, reintegrates its carrier destroyer after release.

- A destroyer of the class Barracuda. Length of 470 meters and weighing approximately 320,000 tons, it embarked 10 standard frigates, each carrying orbital fighter or landing craft type OLCM. Each destroyer thus had the capacity to deploy 480 landing craft, 14,400 men, or 960 athmospheric hunters. It also had an ability to support orbital fire, and escort the cruiser-mother.

USC Devastation Motherboard. Spearheaded by the XIVth Fleet, this hyperlite vessel carried the entire fleet, ie 8 Barracuda-type destroyers, and by extension, 3840 landing craft or 115,200 men or a mixture of athmospheric hunters and landing craft. Length 1860 meters, weight approx. 2 456 000 tonnes. Crew 3566 men, maximum speed L 1.3. -8 AMAT turbines coupled.

To these forces, the Funchals replied only with two garrisons of 4000 men, dispersed in detachments on the various sites of extraction of Lintirium. The high-orbiting mother-ship itself had four more destroyers out of the original eight, but only two were actually operational, and a force of about 1260 robot-hunters. But these unlike human missiles did not have an atmospheric capacity: They were orbital combat fighters, a fundamental difference in tactics that explained the defeat of the two USC fleets. These small hunters who could not be seized by the batteries of the USC\'s ships could inflict heavy losses on the atmospheric barges and hunters during their orbital descent, a period of great vulnerability. Admiral Nantochan had no other plans than to reiterate his strategy, and all his staff was confident. There was even hope in advance of a possible annihilation of the other two USC fleets, which would result in the abandonment of the confederation any offensive outside the Nikhta system and would liberate the Funchal fleets in reconstitution in Many sectors. This "nibbling" of the means deployed by the USC would cause them to lay down their weapons, especially since the possession of Lintirium in such vast quantities did not prove anything good for them.

Funchal Forces Ships

Officer\'s uniforms(1) -A: First Master
-B: Commander of frigate
-C: Deck Officer
-D: Quartermaster


Outfit details:

1-Col second-in-command
2-Col Commanding Officer
3-Deck officer cap
4-Captain\'s Captain
5-Quartermaster\'s Cap
6-Master Cap


Uniforms of subordinate officers of the fleet Funchal at the beginning of the war were very sober but elegant, with as little useless ornamentation as possible. The respect of the subordinate for a gleaming uniform does not have to be for the Funchals, whose discipline and respect are based on very different criteria from the warlords. Until the end of the conflict, all uniforms of officers were systematically in medium-white gray livery, the simple "ungrades" being in uniform white. A definite contrast with the human uniforms, out of old historical fads. (See below).

The uniforms were, to say the least, varied and remained those of original origin, sometimes with a single body specific to the unit. But the possession of the textile industries rapidly gave them the means to create uniforms that were unified and standardized, and yet not devoid of a certain aestheticism derived from so-called "Zen" sobriety, such as the utilitarian clothing of the Phalansterian communities. But the latter, as Bar-Alahya the elder (5678-9800) rightly noted, "were thirsty for all that the natives considered as acquired over the centuries." Thus, when an officer had shown some bravery and intelligence in the fire, he was not thanked for the glittering medals - a sign of bad taste consumed - but was offered three uniforms tailor-made and customized according to his wishes. There were, however, colored conventions which required the officers to be kept as inconspicuous as possible, the most lively tones and the most striking associations progressing in intensity with rank. It was sufficient at a glance to determine the rank of the officers present in any headquarters

Funchal officers existed before the war: Gradually in history, the clones had been created as ordinary soldiers, and their generalized uniform qualities were such that the old system of advancement to courage and efficiency did not work : It was useless. The cloned soldiers were commanded from the single chief of section to the commander-in-chief, by humans. But it was realized in the first place that the clones were not strictly identical after a few years of service, developing their own personalities, but also that the systematic use of human orderors at all The ladder led to a cruel lack of flexibility, even absurdity in some cases. In the course of local conflicts in the 21st century, whole sections were cut into pieces by enemy fire because the last order of the killed officer was already out of date and no longer corresponded to the evolution of the situation.

A certain gradient of survival instinct was introduced in the cloned soldiers, as well as the possibility of taking command of a section if necessary. Differentiations observed in clones with many years of service have naturally made use of both instructors and officers. In the space of 40 years, clones were seen becoming corporals, lieutenants, warrant officers, sergeants, captains, commanders and colonels. A stronghold always resisted, that of the generals. Indeed the social status of the latter did not fit well with the very spartan life of the clones ... A clone general cohabiting with human generals would probably have felt all the weight of his condition. Moreover, entrusting the command of so many men to a clone capable of turning with his men against authority would have been dramatic. It was above all the fear of such a revolt which drastically limited the number of authorized colonels. The rank of "colonel in second" was also created to continue entrusting the true command of the regiments to non-clones.

Nevertheless, the relative decadence of the system meant that on Mars among others, it was allowed to do what was previously unthinkable, in the early 3600s: For the first time a clone was appointed to this rank. This one-star general, who was given a brigade, was a 45-year-old clone, already engaged in more than 21 risky operations, and who had gained the unanimous recognition and appreciation of the senior human officers he served, and Those who rubbed shoulders with him. The General Staff refused several times, but the media finally put pressure on it, and public opinion, careless, interfered. At that time, acronyms were already used. The rank became a name, and in this case BriGen-1. Nevertheless, and without demanding them, BriGen-1, later transformed into "Bridgeon", received the right to benefit from surgery in order to graft him sexual organs and rights that went with it. As a result, the first clone general became human. By this simple fact, he was bound by a kind of morphological community to the rest of the human race, and the specter was removed from an armed revolt led by clerical superior officers. Moreover, a meritocratic message was sent to show that a clone could be "freed" in terms of a brilliant career...

By 3640, on the other hand, other clone generals had been appointed, but not all of them asked for a human status. Those who refused to take the plunge and remain in the same condition as their men were all the more respected... An evidence which escaped the great headquarters of the federation, and which cost them dearly. On the eve of the revolt, it was estimated that more than 132 brigadier generals, 29 division officers and even 3 army corps were clones or "exfuns" of clone extraction. More disturbing, the three corps generals were on Mars. This explains why the revolt was so rapid... In the end, it is clear that if human superiors still represented a large majority of the command of the land and space forces, the future Funchal forces were not lacking in entrenched cadres ready to mount In grade...

If the clone officers were not the majority at the top of the military organization chart, all the base soldiers, corporals, sergeants, warrant officers, or captains were. It was the latter who played a decisive role. Paradoxically, humans were in a most critical situation, obliged to keep civilian militias, with little training, often physically and psychologically weaker, and with a disparate armaments that was not always easy to handle. The war of the clones thus began as a confrontation between a revolted army and human civilians, often divided. This makes it easier to explain the almost simultaneous capture of the most important planets in the federation. On a material level, the situation of the clones was also excellent: Armaments, arsenals, shipyards and deposits had been entrusted to clones ... A considerable amount of armaments was therefore available immediately, and the potentialities To smother new ones were rejoicing.

USC - Union of Space Nations

The Federal symbol: The "Stars Union". The star remains the oldest historical symbol of the first stellar colonization. It was at once a form considered with positivism and deference, like that of the first spatial community, that of the Alpha station at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This symbol also represented the sun, and remained that of the USN (Union of Space Nations). The three letters meant "Union of Space Confederacies".

After what has just been said, the situation of the Federals seemed at first sight disastrous. Mathematically, in all the long-settled and highly urbanized systems, the clone population held virtually the reins of the economy, all the key posts, and the army. The superior officers, colonels and generals, who were not killed or taken prisoner, tried to regroup civil militias formed in haste. It was most often a series of useless butcheries. But the situation was quite different in the remote areas, which were little colonized, the Doms systems, which from the beginning displayed a cautious neutrality, and systems that were fraternally colonized, populated by humans for the vast majority. The Provisional Government, first on Mars, moved on land, then on the Moon, and finally on Sirius, and remained there until the end of the conflict.

The situation of the federals was very differently considered through the "empire": Human settlers with hard life, on inhospitable worlds that they tried to make habitable for centuries considered not needing clones, except for Besogns truly very dangerous. We had too much need of a local workforce to pay the luxury of establishments delivering clones over a period of 30 years and more ... The functional ones, also called Funchals and clones, simply, were mainly characteristics of the Urban civilizations. Indeed, it was also considered that the non-clones who lived comfortably thanks to this considerable domestic labor, were entitled to this privilege because of their age of development. They were sometimes viewed with envy, and in others with indifference, and for a minority, with open distrust, arguing for the reintroduction of a neo-slavery. Some planets with or without clones were thus mostly favorable to the emancipation of the clones and to the end of this segregation resulting from an industrial production, generating commercial relations.

Savayand Huszkan.
He was the first chief of the General Staff of the USC forces whom he led with firmness and foresight from 3704 to 3723. He attempted to reorganize the federal forces around Sirius and recover the industries of all sectors Poorly controlled by the clones. He was responsible for the foundation of the USC Admiralty, the basis of all major operations. He withdrew after the defeat of Gigren, and became a mere technical advisor to the Admiralty.

Other worlds, shared, were neutral. In fact, a minority of humans in large cities were hostile to this emancipation simply for reasons of comfort: Civilization based on cloning of all areas of production and non-creative positions allowed humans to enjoy Of a recreational civilization and to grant themselves essentially creative activities at the top of the chain. The urban "caste" of the Hermas was the most virulent. She persisted in her contempt for the clones, tinged with a very strong social racism, and the latter, who could not express their opinion openly, despised in return those hermas considered as the dregs of decadence. The two communities had long been at loggerheads, but the former had always had the power, but not the clairvoyance. The strongest support of the federation, which some called the "slavers", with the radicalization of the conflict, were always the hermas. Unfortunately, they were precisely in the ancient and dense urban areas, precisely where revolt and war began.

The consequence was immediate: the hermas, unaccustomed to physical exertion, and still more to violence, showed themselves to be very poor combatants. Their first idea was to leave the cities and retreat to the wildest parts of the affected planets, this exodus then allowing them to reorganize themselves to resist. Unable to fight, the Hermas simply wanted different populations to do the job. Human non-hermas were therefore solicited, and even fanatized because of the persuasive force of the hermas, dragged by the high-ranking soldiers deprived of their troops. The pockets of resistance flourished in the towns. Some quarters were transformed into chaos of ruins with duration. The war was also raging on the extent of these planets, the clones having considerable military means seeking pockets of resistance. On their side, too, a certain radicalization of positions emerged. Scratching a Herma was appreciated as a pick of choice. This unfortunate man was then often tortured or executed. As for the non-hermas, they were considered with more gentleness and made merely prisoners, then sent back, free, but "re-educated".

The war raged on all the terraformed planets cited at the beginning of this article, sometimes for 60 years without interruption. Operations around simply colonized worlds were more restricted. One of the solutions of the federalists on the spot was to establish secret bases and to produce clone soldiers devoted to their cause. The clones did the same to keep always the numerical advantage. But the Federals had an advantage: They compensated the overwhelming material superiority of the clones by the search for new methods of combat and weapons much more sophisticated than the opponent. Thanks to the hermas, creative also in this field, they always enjoyed a technological advance. These large-scale land battles were also sometimes supplemented by space battles, clone fleets disembarking assault or reinforcement troops, and the Federals doing the same. The mastery of space was a sine qua non of success for belligerents. Still retaining control over the economy, the federal government financed "mercenarism" in order to offset the recruitment of clones. There were many poor and ill-fortunate Doms hoping to travel and find a new situation in the federal army. The oratorical talents of the Hermas made them designate quite naturally to organize large campaigns of recruitment.

The neutrality of the Doms was thus dethroned by this means, and these worlds were touched by war. Sometimes there were unnamed tragedies like convoys gorged with men and even women. Doms being caught in a devastating clone attack and perishing en route by the thousands in utter ruin. The social racism of the Hermas applied also to the Doms, and they were willingly treated with care in view of their previous habitual situation and considered as "laser flesh", which could be sent by tens of thousands on a target Military arduous and well defended without any particular tactic, just for the purpose of usury, not counting the expenditure of manpower ... It will prove that in many similar cases unscrupulous non-hermas who finely command assaults to Repetition without progress, be massacred as a result of mutinies. And there were, on the contrary, humans of brilliant character, good organizers and tacticians, who spared the lives of their recruits, whatever their origin. The latter were beloved by their troops, deemed federated by the staffs and consequently appointed to higher ranks. It was the case of very diverse individuals, townspeople, farmers, settlers, Doms of all social conditions, and sometimes hermas and freed clones... Great destinies emerged from the tumult of those years fight.

It was estimated around 3720 that the federal workforce consisted of 49% of Doms, 86% of whom were modest, 21% urban, 20% clones, 8% farmers and settlers, and 2% Hermas. The former formed the basis of the troops, but only the clones were militarily well equipped and efficient. The hermas were on their side in command positions, military theory, recruitment, training of high-ranking officers and the design of weapons systems. They were therefore exceedingly rare on the field of battle. On the Funchals side, it was 85% clones, 8% colonists, and the rest of diverse populations. Humans serving alongside the clones, who called themselves "abolitionists," were initially ideologically committed to a new vision of society, especially rural society.

The clonal liberation movement, called the Spartac movement, emanated from a collective of urban intellectuals who had joined Gritlibater. Legend has it that the latter is the offspring of a herma and a functional freedman. The picture in any case was beautiful and federative and was skilfully maintained. Gritlibater himself paid willingly for his person, and came to encourage the troops in many theaters of operations on the front line. While the Federals had no prominent personality at the beginning of the conflict, Gritlibater\'s imprint remained considerable in the minds, and at the height of the Battle of Rangoon, the Verdun of the Spartac War, made a series of discourse Were religiously noted by his "court", relatives and counselors devoted to him. They still remain a model of the genre, and the Federals themselves were in admiration before his unparalleled oratorical talent. The secret services and the defensive thanatologists had put it at the top of the list. But the latter thwarted all attempts. Unseizable, he traveled grimé, disguised, with some relatives who made diversion, had no habit and sometimes took decisions at the last moment that seemed absurd. More than one saved his life. An indication of an incontestable propensity to intuitions and presentiments, a sign of the hermas par excellence.

Battle of Gigrên (Alpha Centauri, 3723)



The first major battle between the two sides was the possession of the considerable methane reserves of Gigrên, alias Alpha-6 Centauri. Starting from Blaclane and Resander, two heteroclite fleets consisting of cargo ships and LNG tankers armed with autonomous or semi-autonomous vectors and equipped with primitive firing systems (hardly different from those used during the Martian War of Independence!), Gathered in order to win Gigrên in Swaner\'s low orbit to benefit from its stimulus. This mission involved considerable risks: the clones possessed Swaner, and aligned forces difficult to estimate in orbit. Fatally, they would hook the Federal Fleet in the most violent manner in its passage.

The only possible tactic adopted by Admiral Jodl (the first one appointed to the Federal Staff, that rank did not exist before the conflict) was to separate his fleet into two waves, the first hanging Clonic forces, allowing the second to pass in force and to continue its road towards Gigrên. The whole tactic was based on two postulates: That the forces gathered by clones in orbit should be modest, and that those available to Gigrên should be modest. But such a journey was long: The fleet consisted of buildings made to carry heavy loads with the ease of the hypusepathic roads. If they moved by their own means, they could rely on their venerable ionic hydrogen-powered turbines, and in this case it would take Swaner to 12 days and Gigrên to 4 months... If drones of surveillance were Posted in the advanced defense zone of Swaner, the fleet would be spotted a few days in advance, and the clones would organize accordingly. But Jodl was hopeful. Like most of his contemporaries and the staff, he did not hold the clones in high esteem, believing them incapable of organizing an effective defense on their own.

For their part, the clones had regrouped themselves in a "committee" and then, at the instigation of the "Liberation-4" team, a group of elderly clones and native abolitionists, Gritlibater disciples, Officers and seniors of the Clone Army to regroup in a local staff, making contact with the worlds of other systems as soon as possible. The Chuzen communication relays were operational again after the last abortive attack by the federal forces, and this clonal staff succeeded in joining Mars, Nuwo (Procyon), Snolane (Sirius), Kalbion (Epsilon Eridani), and Riand Tau Ceti). On paper, the Functionalists normally had intersystem communication, large industrial arsenals and centers, hypuse- matic roads (in part, many of them had been destroyed or damaged during the federal raids). However, they found themselves in a numerical inferiority as far as the populations were concerned, since they could not count on a commitment on their part to the "natives" of the planets they occupied, nor to the adherence of the populations of the young worlds to terraforming, War was a distant worry, which made little use of clones, and lastly and especially of the Doms, occupying ten times more systems, and whose population was fiercely neutral.

The "Great Staff" was established on Mars. From then on, after the exact knowledge of the resistance points and the areas held by the Federals, a vast defense plan was put in place. There was no talk of an offensive for the simple reason that the General Staff knew that by holding key points necessary for victory, the enemy would come to him. Its role was therefore limited to identifying the sensitive points and organizing the defense at best with the available means, which were quite considerable. Finally, it was decided to set up an intelligence and intelligence agency, the role of which would prove decisive afterwards. Before the latter was put in place, it was unknown or with what forces the federals were going to strike.

The story of an aide-de-camp to General Martien SOGFO-Skilover, in 3722:
"The great commander of the Spartac forces was the most worried of all, and he spent his nights routinely eliminating all the key points located in hard-to-reach areas and estimating the local means of the Federals, The defense was going to go to 34 sites of strategic importance, but to defend these points with such a dispersion of forces was a challenge, and none of these points could survive for a long time against a grouped assault by the Federals, We could only reinforce them by disembarking another... "

Within this headquarters, therefore, the centralization of the information was carried out with the utmost attention, and it was carried over to a three-dimensional spherical map representing the arm of Orion. The chuzen relays had all been displaced so as not to be destroyed, since the enemy\'s maps had not been updated since the beginning of the war. In this way the Grand Commander had local forces and could send them quickly through the hyperspaces still operational in case of attack, a faculty that the opponent did not possess until he took possession of these doors.

The latter were not protected by any system of defense and could therefore be accessible to the federals from the beginning of the conflict. But the passage of the doors was only possible by obtaining a "pilot", a drone that fixed to the ship and allowed it to center perfectly in the door. The obtaining of a pilot was obtained by a coding paying, means of old compensation of the operating companies. These codes were all changed as soon as the conflict began, the local clones playing their role perfectly, and the Federals found it impossible to safely cross them. In order not to risk a partial deceleration along the way (fatal), the Federals tried to install a system on their ships to dispense with these pilots without any success. Because they could not borrow the gates, they began to deprive them of their adversaries by destroying them. But their action was hampered by the distant position of these gates, and their stubborn defense by modern combat devices deployed by the clones during the first phase of the conflict. Henceforth, the only remaining gates were those defended by rapid interceptor squadrons based at nearby orbital stations, serving as workshops and depots before the conflict.



The planet-capitals were thus protected by orbital stations equipped with detection and firing systems, while "fleets" were constituted with the means of the edge, ready to sail to the nearest gates, in order to park there Then on alert. These disparate fleets consisted of civilian ships (the ships of war did not exist above the class of an orbital fighter, a small vessel with low autonomy and low speed, but swift and sluggish). Derived from customs patrol officers, they were upgraded and put into production in record time. In 3713, the clones could count on 40 000 hunters, and in 3720, out of 150 000. But another problem presented itself: The lack of qualified pilots. If the clones were to set up large groups for the industrial production of the functionaries, sabotaged by federal commandos, but repaired promptly, they could set up millions, or billions of clones in record time. But the definition of genetic heritages adapted to the functions required by a war economy required decades of research.

At that time, Spartacus did not have it. Obviously, it was necessary to counter the hurry. The first series "pilots" were thus derived from the "model" of the customs pilots, with an after-the-fact training on the new hunters. The process was then repeated for the crews of warships then under construction: these were the civilian "sailors" common to freighters, LNG tankers and other vessels chartered by the large companies, who then received specific training. The best in their fields, not as much as would have been specially designed clones, but they remained reliable and relatively versatile, which was not insignificant, but above all they received political training explaining the stakes War and the sense of their struggle for the liberation of their fellow men.

However, the cloning problem was not resolved: All these clones needed a protein supply other than that derived from the bodies of the "deactivated" clones ... These large industrial-rich planets were also Poor in arable and pasture land, in farms and in fish resources in general. The neighboring planets, when they were terraformed, furnished these commodities. But it happened that the latter were in the hands of the Federals. The Doms worlds were also major exporters of edible products, but their apparent neutrality was subordinated to their traditional business sense and lack of political vision. Loyal in spite of everything, they remained loyal to the federation and hostile to the "rebels". In fact, they stopped supplying the planets in the "rebellion," but continued to provide the Federals generously, provided that the latter provided for the protection of the convoys.

This led to a rapid shortage of certain commodities and a near-rationing of populations. The "clonial council", a collegial body that brought together senior clones, who were leaders in their field, and more versatile natives, settled in parliament and functioned as a kind of great democratic government, pure for everything that concerned the survival of the community, In agreement with the General Staff. The latter quickly set up a reconversion of natural parks, and of urban parks, into agricultural zones. They had hastily built fishing rafts as they existed on Wawo (Aquaer), which were responsible for fishing, serving farms on the high seas, and a floating base for underwater farms harvesting cultured algae specially. Rapidly, all the means were put in place to multiply by ten the agricultural production, even to encroach on the subdivisions, on all the potentially cultivable lands, and even on the slopes of the mountains, rearranged in terraces, in marshy zones, used for The cultivation of rice...

After a few years of near-shortage, most of these worlds, thanks also to the goodwill of the natives, conscious of their isolation, were self-sufficient, and small off-ground farms were set up, including in large towns, encouraging The inhabitants having the least light space to furnish it with planters, citrus fruits and edible roots. Due to lack of space for animal husbandry, the diet consisted mainly of vegetables and derivatives, and fish. The cultivation of a derivative of the macrosomponium lavidens algae, already used in back packs for oxygen supply, developed at a very high rate (one meter per hour) and produced an abundance of large fruits rich in glucose and lipids. They were reduced to powder, and mixed with water in the form of flour, cooked, became edible breads. This "sea bread" developed first on Swaner, lives its recipe exported on the other worlds and become the main source of daily feed of the Clones.

Despite this, there was still a lack of food for the huge expected numbers. In order not to reduce the future troops to starvation, but also to simplify the construction of hunters, light armored vehicles and other modest combat engines, it was decided to deprive them of pilot clone or crew. All would be derived from cybernetics, costly but reliable at that time. In this way, the clonic war industry was able to generate divisions of hundreds of thousands of robot hunters available for all sensitive sites. Many others were stored pending the completion of the first large warships. In this respect, the two sides had no technical advantage: these "combat fleets" existed, but only in the virtual universe. They came from the imagination and the work of native researchers at the instigation of the rulers, "in case ...". These databases had been released from secrecy and circulated freely for decades.

Their concept was based on the two qualities that have always been demanded of this type of gear, the same as in the naval domain: Speed ​​and long range of fire. Both combined made a fleet "untouchable" without detracting from its performance (no passive protection for example), and at the same time capable of annihilating its adversary without being subjected to a retort. At that time, however, tachyon ships do not yet exist - it will be 1100 years - and the only vessels capable of spinning at the speed of light are in fact "sublites" capable of reaching a factor of 0, 2 or 0.3 the speed of light at the cost of a dantesque energy expenditure, requiring a complex propellant and considerable fuel reserves. The two handsets drew up a huge maneuvering ship, just good enough to carry a long-range arsenal. In order to defend it, smaller vessels were conceived. But the latter were not able to receive AMAT turbines capable of giving them sufficient speed (just 0.004 LS). The solution adopted was for the first time to ensure that one of these large fast ships "embarked" its own escorts. Pushing the principle, it was possible to have the ships\' embarked by smaller ships: And they were the hunters. In order to differentiate sizes and capacities, these vessels were identified by classes of cruisers, destroyers, frigates and hunters. But in practice, the clones felt more interested in having more (smaller) robot fighters board their destroyers, providing them with remote protection against similar ships and releasing them during the battle, supplying them as needed.

On these principles, it was not one but eight "fleets" that were started in 3711. Each one included only one cruiser, carrying its own destroyers and hunters. Several fleets could be grouped giving "squadrons". When the command was given, the squadrons were entrusted to the great commander, who was in charge of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and had under his orders the Grand Admirals, directing the squadrons, admirals, directing the fleets and vice- Leading to more modest composite fleets. These fleets were not integrated into two squadrons but liberated to join their hyperspace gates and stay there until further notice.

Thus, when the drone-probes in the crown around Swaner pointed out the federal fleet, its only fleet of defense had just set sail towards a hyperspatial gate. Prevented, Admiral Clone Dubinsy\'s 1st fleet traveled from Frostel Gate (alpha-4) to Swaner, which she was to reach in three days. This delay also allowed the clones to arm additional stations of formidable batteries from the federal arsenals. When the day came, the confrontation was astonishing: the Federal fleet arrived as planned in view of Swaner at high speed. Jodl was jubilant: his detectors did not announce an enemy fleet but only orbital stations. He was therefore going to be able to force his two fleets into force and thus have a tactical theoretical superiority before Grigrên. But Admiral Dubinsy knew that the federal detectors were only effective in a straight line. Arrived shortly before, he had his ships "behind" swaner, in relation to the federal fleet. When the latter swooped swiftly at Swaner, it would bypass it and inevitably pass over the position of the clones in ambush. That\'s what happened. Wiping off the space stations, the two fleets kept their coherence, losing two destroyers, and a hundred minor ships.

Then they continued their orbital run and suddenly detected a real line of barriers of ships. Jodl, petrified, had no other choice, now that the rebound was going to be consummated, than to sacrifice as planned one of his two fleets, the other coming out of his trajectory prematurely. His two fleets were the first to be built in a modern way: Instead of cargo ships or LNG tankers transformed into barges and fighter carriers, these were two cruisers, carrying eight destroyers, themselves carrying 8 frigates , The latter carrying 12 hunters or 12 landing craft. The "Fleet-Sacrifice", carrying only hunters, tried to pass by force, the frigates and destroyers remaining at post. Half of the hunters disengaged from their ties to harass the enemy in passing.

The fight was brief and savage: From the outset Admiral Dubinsy concentrated his shots on the cruiser: The latter, exploding, would annihilate his ships by torque. It was precisely this which happened, and so suddenly, that the flash of light was visible that night (the battle took place before the face of Swaner plunged into the night), like a brief supernova, a spectacle that followed Most of the inhabitants with anxiety. The glow was like a second sun, irradiating the ground for a few seconds. The deflagration had been so severe that several cloned major vessels were severely damaged and thousands of hunters were volatilized. But as expected, the second fleet, that of landing, almost intact, was now sailing towards Gigrên.

Rear Admiral Hassan Ectabane made his debut alongside Ludi Veyron, commanding the destroyer Pelops at the Battle of Titan in 3710. In 3712 he was appointed commander of the ship, and carried out the raid of Nuwo in 3716 under orders Of Vice-Admiral Karl Hemmering, distinguishing himself the head of his destroyer, the USCS Chronos. He had been in consequence of this action, called Rear Admiral. He led a squadron of 4 destroyers, taking command of the Third Fleet during the Palmyra raid in 3718, but had fewer successes. He was approached to take the lead of the defensive sector of Gigrên, at 36 years. Role he held with a handful of destroyers and above all an exemplary courage, which he paid for with his life, on August 13, 3723. A cruiser was renamed USCS Ectabane in homage in 3734.

The admiral clone knew that this fleet had passed without difficulty: He could not pursue them, for lack of sufficient speed, and preferred to demobilize his ships for prolonged repairs. Gigrên would defend himself. The gas giant had a "courtyard" of moons, some of which were major industrial centers of recent times, such as Gigrên 3, Gigrên 8, but above all the satellites of the gazette Gigrên-5, including Alyottha and Palmyra. These were Doms worlds at the beginning of colonization: The first domes were hardly pressurized. Admiral Jodl having courageously perished in attacking the cloned fleet before Swaner, it was to Rear Admiral Ectabane that the heavy task of taking control of the whole Gigrên "system", and above all of the gas stations of Gigrên and his satellite Gigrên-5.

The sector could not receive reinforcements: The VI fleet clone was then "within range", but its sector of protection being vital, it was decided to leave it on site. The great commander Thron, who was the first to command the general staff of Martian, had the obsession of the operations of diversion. So much the worse for the loss of Gigrên, Swaner and his arsenals had vast reserves, at least until Dubinsy\'s fleet was operational again and able to resume Gigrên. In just 11 months, the teams of the Swanian arsenals, working hard, managed to restore the vessels of the fleet. It was joined by the XIth fleet, constituted on the spot. Having a clear numerical advantage, Admiral Dubinsy set sail at the head of his ship, the cruiser "liberco", first of the name (Liberation).

The battle of Gigrên was, unlike that of Swaner, a real, classical battle. The forces on paper argued in favor of the clones, 2 to 1. But this superiority was even more tactically overwhelming, thanks to the cloned robot hunters and their use. After a five-day journey at full power, the I and XI fleets arrived in sight of the most distant Gigrên satellite, gig-5-12, in the heart of the asteroid crown. The next day they "bounced" into the orbit of Carbomallia, and finally prepared to cross that of Palmyra, the supposed base of the federal fleet. The Federals, on their side, had spent the 11 months to land their troops on Palmyra, the large terrestrial planet in the area, and storm its agricultural domes to supply its troops. Then he pitched towards Gigrên himself and operated methodical landings on the stations and gas mines of the supergiant. The cloned miners had received a formal order not to resist and not to blow up the stations.

It was thought that they should be resumed quickly. The local LNG tankers, on the other hand, were scuttled, thus depriving the federal government of any capacity to send reserves of methane or whatever. The latter were thus reduced to retaining the sector until the promised reinforcements. These latter depended on the taking by the IVth Federal Fleet of the hyperspatial door of Nuwo. But the bulk of the cloned forces had concentrated locally, and the unequal battle that had begun signaled the loss of the Fourth Fleet. The news of this defeat never arrived. On the other hand, Ectabane\'s advanced patrol boats spotted the two cloned fleets a few hours before their arrival. The latter caused the rings to ring, and his fleet, having only its frigates, little armed, and its destroyers, unfurled.



Dubinsy had no particular tactics. He simply wanted to engage the federal battle line, and use it to break up, in order to test his fleet: The speed of the destruction of Jodl before Swaner had somewhat disappointed him. As he later stated in his memoirs, Jodl had "stolen his victory." The battle began in the darkness of Gigrên\'s moon, Palmyra. Obviously, the clones were far superior in number. They lined up two cruisers, 24 destroyers and 2,400 hunters. On his side Ectabane faced with his 8 destroyers and 64 frigates. But the frigates, refuppers and conveyors, were scarcely conceived to support a combat against light units, having only a few long-range weapons against the destroyers. Above all, his fleet had only embarked barges of landing and had no hunter, except the few patrollers of the cruiser. The latter, following a threat of damage to its fragile AMAT turbines, remained in front of Gigrên\'s arsenal, the only one capable of receiving it. His long-range cannons were therefore not present. Ectabane played a big part in engaging in combat without cunning: he hoped to retain the clones sufficiently to receive the reinforcement of his cruiser, once his risks of controlled damage, a few minutes away, or of the IV fleet, of which he was still without news. Rear-guard patrol vessels were to report his arrival.

Not surprisingly, Dubinsy first gave his hunters. The heavy units remained in the rear, unfolded, but without opening the fire. The test first concerned the new fighter-robots in the fleet. The latter were at first occupied with the frigates, detached to occupy them. They did not do it for long: defended and not very swiftly, they did not escape the atomic vectors launched by these hordes of hunters and were quickly decimated. On his side Ectabane caused his destroyers to fire on the heavy units with his long-range weapons. He did not record the loss of a single destroyer. The others, employing jammers and maneuvering skillfully, avoided federal shots. But soon the federals found themselves deprived of their frigates, decimated in record time. Without even waiting for them to be out of action, the clone hunters fell upon the destroyers, and the latter, better defended, began to "clear up" the enemy\'s squadrons. But their long range shots were canceled to concentrate their efforts on their close defense.

Ectabane\'s aide-de-camp remembers: "The admiral was silent, his eyes riveted on the screens of the bridge, he watched the hordes of rabid mosquitoes sift his pachyderms," ​​he turned to me with a nervous smile, More ironic grin, and whispered... "My kingdom for a handful of hunters...".

Dubitative, Ectabane watched these hunters apparently harassing his 8 giants without damage. Hunter losses had been considerable. But his anxiety grew: "But what are the heavy units waiting to open fire?". The young admiral was alone in the world. 12 minutes after a constant harassment, his little officer\'s staff was shaken in all directions while a blinding gleam filled the screen. The nearest destroyer had just jumped !. How is it possible? No one had any reply: No weapon carried by the hunters was capable of it, and no shots were fired from the heavy units left behind. So? What Ectbatane did not know was that a damaged frigate had survived the hunters and had asked permission to enter the protected shed of the Destroyer... and that, faithfully to the elaborate tactics, one of the robot-hunters, Still the bearer of his atomic vectors, had profited by it to penetrate into the holy of saints at the same time as the frigate, at the price of the sacrifice of his two acolytes. The instant after the clone hunter was blown up with his weapons, spraying the destroyer from within, volatilising his turbines nearby. Dubinsy\'s tactics bore fruit: he scattered the attention of the destroyers and knocked at the sensitive point. But no one around Ectabane seemed to understand it. Loss reports were ordered with frenzy.

Admiral Clone Spartan Dubinsy.

Spartan was the assumed name of many clone officers. Dubinsy, the highly deformed acronym of his first function ... He took the lead in the First Fleet (first cruiser Liberco) during the raid on Alyottha and then at the Battle of Swaner, in which he destroyed the forces of Jodl, and that of Gigren, where he crushed the meager forces of Ectabane, with the Ninth Fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Agolmis. He was then seen, still at the head of the First Fleet, leading the Casco raid in 3733, then that of Chimo in 3738, before being engaged in the campaign of Procyon. He survived, and participated in the beginning of the campaign around Rangoon. He was killed there in one of the first orbital battles in 3739. He was 51 years old and unlike the other clones, was an Asian clone Dom originally from Chimo, engaged after he was said to have met Gritlibater in 3721.

A few minutes later, again, the shock and a violent light: The force of the explosion caused the destroyers to waver from their original position: They were drifting away: A second destroyer had just vanished. Ectabane seemed abashed, without reaction. After a flutter, his deck-keeper, who asked him for unsuccessful orders, decided to take the provisional commandment with a whim. He ordered the remaining destroyers to be assembled, and ordered them to hold the line. The next moment, Ectabane emerged from his momentary astonishment and decided after hesitation and turn around, and headed for the cruiser. Seeing this from the Admiral\'s Bridge of Liberty, Dubinsy gave the order to "clean" the area. One can imagine the horror of the surviving crews of the damaged frigates, whose cockpit decompressed inexorably, far from any planet reachable by their own means ... In his "tactical" flight, Ectabane left behind 4560 survivors condemned to a long death And atrocious...

The first master Agton, on board the cruiser, was at the same time anxiously following the battle and the efforts of his engineers to make the cruisers\' turbines more reliable. He kept all his men at station, ready to fight, in order to sail as quickly as possible. He saw with horror the brutal disappearance of the two destroyers, then the withdrawal of his admiral. But as he had no communication, he prepared to receive the survivors as a couple and to sail at his own risk, or to face the pursuing fleets. Dubinsy waited to re-enter his hunters before pursuing him. This respite allowed Ectabane to take news of the cruiser and give his orders. His first teacher informed him of the risks involved. But this was not Ectabane\'s intention: He wanted to bury himself in front of the cooker for the final fight, taking advantage of his firepower. Moreover, the arsenal benefited from the presence of a base of hunters who were captured without strike in the assault, and the operational defenses of the arsenal. By refusing the sabotage of its installations, the clonic command had made a gift to the federal...

The six destroyers redeployed in front of the cruiser. The latter separated from his dock and came to present his flank, all systems in alert. The pilots had joined the fighters. Still no news of the Sixth Fleet? Is. It was better to perish by fighting than to risk the destruction of the fleet on a high-risk apparatus... Everyone prepared to do his duty. For his part, Dubisy decided to deploy only his big units, his hunters, coupled, being reloaded in arms. A long-distance combat began. But the numerical superiority of the clones allowed them to concentrate the firing of two or more units on one. Thus each of the six federal destroyers were attacked by four clones, and the two cruisers were busy with Ectabane\'s flagship, Which he had just rejoined and on which he had just hoisted his mark. This time the damage on both sides was considerable.

Instead of scattering his shots, Ectabane concentrated them on one of the cruisers, betting that he was at the head of the clone squadron. This was indeed the case. Dubinsy and his staff were shaken by impacts, and damage was quickly reported. Having received confirmation that the hunters were ready, he ordered the first wave to leave. Ectabane, on his part, ordered the whole squadron of the arsenal to be given. Here again the superiority of the clones was evident: The federal hunters, of old model, were less swift and fast. But above all, they were only 60 against the 450 they faced. A spinning struggle broke out, hopeless. Courageously the pilots of these hunters prevented the clones from using their heavy weapons on the destroyers. But the second wave was launched, even though the federal hunters had been wiped out. Taken together by well-adjusted shots of heavy units and swarms of hunters, the destroyers perished one after the other. In cold blood, Ectabane had his cruiser tackled in a senseless maneuver: To give all the power of his turbines to the middle of the enemy fleet...



His general staff on the flagship deck watched Ectabane religiously take off his cap as a sign of mourning. They all imitated him. And the next moment, falling, covered with the cry of a thousand breasts ("Long live the federation!") The fateful order: "give full power to the turbines, cap on the enemy fleet" ... The cruiser was surrounded by Myriads of hostile hunters, but the batteries were silent, destroyed one after the other. The giant did not care: He was now sailing straight on the cruiser-admiral of the fleet Clone. Dubinsy, who did not understand the maneuver of his antagonist, ordered his hunters to stop the giant at any price. Suddenly, one of them succeeded in sending a vector to the rear, through an extinguished ionic nozzle. They had found the weak point.

A nuclear explosion in the combustion chamber, not far from the reserves of Lintinium, caused a brief and devastating fire. The heat quickly reached the turbines, and that was the drama. On the Admiral Bridge of Liberco they all wavered backwards, protecting their eyes: A wave of radioactive heat penetrated their bodies, which they felt even in their spinal cord. The next moment, the shock wave projected them to the ground. Then, rising up, the shaken officers heard the anti-collision siren. Protecting themselves as they could, they were thrown like straw straw through the passenger compartment: A crazy destroyer had just hit them on the flank, at high speed. Returning from their commotion, the surviving officers, of whom Admiral Dubinsy gave orders to assemble the fleet, dispersed as on ice. There was no longer a federal cruiser, and instead an indistinct luminous form, a remnant of combustion. The supernova was visible from Swaner ...

However, some debris was spinning. One of them, had some survivors on board ... It was the cruiser\'s footbridge-admiral !. Designed for the occurrence of such an explosion, the bridge could be separated from the ship. At the announcement of the fire, one of the officers had had the reflex to unhook the ship\'s bridge. The moment after the latter was projected by Herculean force. Captured, the bridge delivered its sinister charge: 12 bodies, atrociously burned, still smoking: the radiation had penetrated the base of the bridge and the survivors were those who were randomly protected by a relief inside the module. Among these, Trojani, the Admiral\'s aide-de-camp. He survived enough to meet Dubinsy and was treated and treated with the greatest respect. The other officers died a few days later. Trojani, in his turn, died a month after this battle. He managed to save his memories and switch to viwo. This is one of the key witnesses to this battle on the federal side.

procyon\'s campaign (3738-3744)

After the disaster of Gigrên, the Alpha Centauri system passed definitively under the clones. The doms planets were forced by force to deliver food resources to them after a trade agreement recognizing them as the new authority of the system. Procyon and its vast industries was another priority objective of the federation, especially since the federal parliament was there. The government in exile (on Sirius) took exceptional measures to in turn launch clone production en masse and release funds for new squadrons. The order given was that every system which could do so would constitute its own forces. Nevertheless, the loss of Chabiran\'s squadron (Fleet 3), brand new, in a resolute assault of clones while the latter was still in testing, sounded the death knell for offensive projects for a long time. The federation no longer had the means to resist the shock. This truth, coupled with the fact that public opinion was beginning to change, began to weaken the foundations of Sirius\' government.



The next objective of the clones was, from the beginning of the war, to seize the Procyon system. The former was one of the largest industrial centers of the federation. Contrary to what happened elsewhere, the local revolt of the functionaries, at first victorious over Nuwo, had failed to take over the outer crown, especially Loryan, and the federal forces, well led by Danton Abrek, had been able to resume Initiative and launched several victorious offensives on the Loryan crown, commanding the major industrial resources of Procyon. After 6 months of preparation, Abrek launched a last offensive (the battle of Langtah), then began a long land campaign on Nuwo itself.

The Funchals\' attempt to regain control of the Funchals had failed and had been repressed in such a way that the vast majority of the undecided New Orlean clones, still balancing between prudent loyalties and class preoccupations, remained indifferent to the fate of clones of other systems. The clone command was aware that the main advantages of detaining the system were the ability to rapidly replenish new offensive capabilities. The federation thus had an instrument of choice, which it was imperative to deprive it of. We were counting on a classic offensive, but also on the action of a "fifth column", and the reversal of the mass of local clones which for the moment had no choice but to turn industry War.

Such were the stakes when Admiral Funchal Gandor (later Grand-Admiral) was appointed as Chief of Staff. The latter named all his subordinates and set up the fleet which should carry the iron on Procyon. The preparations being very long, it was planned to melt on the system in 3738, especially in order to play full effects of rebound gravitational masses. Procyon and Sirius, moreover, were close to 6 light-years. Sirius was truly the ultimate center of the Federal defense. Procyon was therefore the last bastion to take before the final assault that would end the war. The clone fleet, conceived within the newly developed port ring of Bachroon, a moon on the outskirts of Solsys, was to join the nearest planet, Aldenia, to restore the hyperlite gate, and then to join Koka, Melt directly on Procyon. There was also the option of taking his nearest neighbor, Lutansar, another Dom system, barely a light-year away from Procyon. But there was a sizable pitfall: The latter was "behind" Procyon opposite the road followed. She could be reached only by way of the Procyon system itself. It was resolved, therefore, to make every effort to assemble the necessary forces at Koka.

No less than three fleets were formed in Koka for this assault: "Gamboren", "Tedla" and "Nolath", named after officers dead in the field of honor to Proxima Centauri. In fact it was the fifteenth, twentieth and twenty-first fleets, based on three Liberco cruisers. Their numbers were freshly constituted, and the three fleets had a total of 72 destroyers, 432 frigates and 432 OPAC *, 54,360 fighter planes. Opposite, the federal defenses consisted of a single ex-civilian cruiser, the USCS Victorious assisted by 23 Barracuda destroyers, from the Rhonia shipyards (Loryan-7, Procyon). In terms of numbers of hunters the latter were largely outclassed. Nevertheless, the Federals had an asset in their sleeve: Danton Abrek, who had been given the command in chief of all Procyones forces and expected to resist the Funchals. Since he suspected that his system was strategic for the clones, he endeavored to develop the means of an effective defense with the important local means. In the space of three years, the time it took the clones to gather their three fleets and sail on Procyon, he developed several lines of defense, but better, considered it more effective to attack in an important tactical area and, Attract the bulk of the Clones forces into a formidable trap.

*OPAC: Orbital Planetary Assault Carrier: Spartacous heavy planet landing craft.

Battle of Rhônia

The large size of the system and its layout made the Loryan system, and in particular the Loryan-7 more well-known as Rhônia, more important in terms of supply and control of the main industries in the sector, Offensive on Nuwo. Knowing this, Abrek gathered his forces and made the Victorious sail quickly on Rhônia, which already had a force of 23 brand-new destroyers from its orbital shipyards. The idea of ​​Abrek was as old as the world: He had to send an advance guard over the Spartac forces, skirmish with them, and then fall back on part of the fleet. There, knowing his insufficient numbers, he would have feigned a new retreat and would have been pursued as far as Rhônia itself. But on the spot he had taken precaution to build many armed stations of multi-headed vector-launchers which were supposed to "clarify" the robot-hunting squadrons. In addition, other batteries of unprecedented models had to attack the cruisers directly. The fleets thus occupied would not pay attention to the other part of the Federal Forces, in this case the cruiser Victorious, leaving the other side of the planet to "raid" the rear guard Clone.

However, on March 5, 3738, the Funchal High Command had not taken sufficient precautions to inquire further by its own scouts, and was deluded by the weakness of the opposing forces. The battle plan of Gandor was based on a considerable superiority of Funchal means, and thought he could divide the offensive into three waves; The first would be conducted by the Tedla fleet. It had to invest Lusaga, the main moon of Jabiru, and control the high-tech industries of this world. It then had to rally the bulk of the forces to Loryan, taking position around Tantrinia, whose yards were among the most prolific of the Loryan subsystem, and to secure the zone. The Nolath fleet had to go straight on Nuwo, test the Federal defenses, fight them alone if necessary, and then wait for the other two fleets for the final landings of land forces. Finally, the fleet Gamboren (fifteenth fleet), on which Admiral Gandor bore his mark, had to directly rally the Loryan subsystem, secure the arsenals of Rhonia, and its "wheat domes". It was indeed the "granary" of the entire Loryan system. She would then wait for the Tedla fleet, then sail to Nuwo for the final assault.

On the 5th of March, the three fleets arrived at the planned points. The Ganboren fleet arrived on the 7th, while Rhonia appeared superb and immense on the screens of the cruiser, and detected the federal lighting forces, four "drones", on duty since January. The latter spotted and announced the coming of Gandor. At once Abrek ordered 10 of his 23 destroyers to sail. Four hours later, they were "within range of a gun". Fortunately for the Federals, the cruiser Liberco XV was no more than the others endowed with very long range weapons. Surprised, Gandor had only time to launch the "decompression" of the fleet. (Destroyers, with a couple, free themselves, then release their frigates, which in turn launch their hunters). It was therefore the hunters who, in deploying themselves, had to provide a first defensive curtain to the cruiser. The MDM-Ns of the cruiser were launched one after the other, but they were limited to 300 km, against 5400 for the new LRN23 of the Federal Barracuda. Whatever. They had been set to explode at a distance when the enemy vectors arrived within this 300-km radius. However, at Mach 45, the federal missiles traveled 130 km to the second ... So they ran through the first line of defense formed by the hunters who had to explode by intercepting them frontally. At the start, the 10 Barracudas commanded by Rear Admiral Sobhran Mingtuo made a saturation shot and launched their 2560 LRN at the same time...

A fraction of them were intercepted but the others, about three-quarters, arrived in the 300-km zone where the slowness of the MNR fire could not constitute a sufficiently dense curtain. It is estimated that about 120 missiles were destroyed on this "second line". As soon as the Liberco scopes detected the numerous vectors on approach and in a fraction of a second the automated short-range defense was activated by simultaneously launching the 512 CM-N. Then, in the same fraction of a second, it was the 32 laser batteries that came into action. Even before realizing that the enemy vectors had passed through the hunters\' curtain, a tremendous blast of light invaded the bridge, grilling the screens by its intensity. At the same time, the cruiser, an enormous mass of twelve million tons, was shaken like a plum tree. Its classic active protection in the form of a supra-magnetic belt made it possible to "extend" the shock of more than fifty vectors, far more than was bearable: Each of them provoked a shock of 350 kilotonnes...

The immediate result was that the cruiser, which had been constructed in such a case, had a flexibility allowing a certain level of vibration. But the ultimate course had been crossed and it broke into several assembled sections so that they could be dislocated if necessary without causing decompression disasters. And so the Liberco XV, completely overwhelmed by the impact of the attack, was now separated into five sections, which were not independent of each other: The second section, which included the footbridge-admiral, Could move or protect himself without the last one, that of the compartment of the propulsion and especially of the breeder AMAT ... Abasourdi (several officers had been killed by the shock), Gandor, wounded to the thorax and both broken legs, To realize the scale of the disaster. His cruiser-mother was annihilated; he himself was in a carcase offering no more protection than his simple double-hull.

At the mercy of the least hunter. The violence of the shock had also cut off the intermediate energy generators that powered the laser batteries. So the Liberco was entirely devoted to the defense that its destroyers could protect ... Fortunately, Gandor was able to praise the ingenuity of the Liberco design: Pressurization was intact, and the emergency communication devices worked. He appealed to his fleet, one of the destroyers broke off the formation to sail to the wreck. Five minutes later, Gandor, carried by some survivors, climbed aboard and hoisted his mark. Meanwhile, the situation evolved. The Barracudas came closer to be within range to launch their own hunters.

Fighter-robot squadrons had largely exploded, often too late, in the passage of federal missiles. Henceforth they were only 418, of which half were medium-range MF1s. The Blue Fly fighter planes were only 480 for all destroyers, but they were much better armed and quicker, if not maneuverable. A formidable "Dogfight" committed as the destroyers approached to implement their eight long range laser batteries. For their part, the 12 Black Prince protected the remaining 12 amphibious Black Drakons wisely left behind. The battle did not go as planned. Gandor had lost his flagship, and the capacities of his fleet were singularly reduced: he would not have the mobility to join Nuwo in time. Like Abrek, the latter bet on superior forces and did not at first expect a direct assault; He was initially furious at Mingtuo\'s initiative.

But the unexpected result made him hasten to authorize a total engagement of the destroyers, and sent in reinforcement the 13 remaining Barracudas. He also decided to have the Victorious assembled in order to find the other two fleets which had not yet been reported to him. He also knew, however, that if he met the two other fleets combined in an unprotected area like Nuwo herself, he would have had the worst. It was therefore imperative to henceforth flush out one or other fleet and draw him into the trap of Rhônia.

Battle of Rangoon (3760-3777)

The most fierce battle of usury of this war was undoubtedly the one waged on and around this small telluric planet of Nikhta-5. This planet was particularly rich in deposits of Lintirium, the primary fuel of the hearts of sublite turbines. His possession would have given the camp the opportunity to construct AMAT turbines of the mother cruisers in inexhaustible quantity, thus obtaining an unprecedented industrial advantage. Producing artificial Lintirium was far too complex and costly. The planet was therefore coveted from the beginning of the conflict.

When the forces of both sides were ready to launch the assault on this world, freshly colonized by Asian doms, hence its name, the latter understood that their planet would become a battlefield and were preparing to leave En masse and flee to neighboring worlds. 13,000 Rangoonian Doms thus emigrated between 3756 and 3759, the last vessels cruising an approaching funchal fleet. This fleet was commanded by Admiral Funeral Oscar Nantochan, known as the "veteran", of his former name OSCAR-3426 (O for Officer, S for Senior, C for Cavalry- Rapid Intervention Forces, A for Army, R For Reserve.). Nantochan, in the Pastouran dialect, named after his "natal" planet, Pastourani, aka Debhra-3, meant the "old fox". He had just won a "phyrrus" victory against human forces, 3rd Rear-Admiral Yerkes\'s fleet and 12th Rear-Admiral Ramensky. What remained of his own fleet was a cruiser repaired hastily, a real wreck, but whose turbine still operated, and embarking only one fifth of its initial strength.

He became entangled around rankoon and his troops invested him. Quickly, he set up teams of research of this precious material and had to build bases surmounted of blockhouse on all the deposits. But the services of the human staff, based on Procyon, had just developed a great-style offensive designed to take over the solar system. Five fleets had been mobilized. However, Yangin\'s defeat creates a vacuum in the "southern" device of the orion arm which was to be filled urgently. The good news soon arrived that this area had nothing to fear, for the fleet of Nantochan had deserted it. But the bad news fell shortly afterwards: The fleet had invested Rangoon!

The situation was critical for humans. After losing Solsys, the political and historical center of the confederate systems, and part of their apparatus from within the orion arm, cutting them from their most valuable industrial planets, and eliminating two experienced fleets and officers , The Funchals threatened to take over the mass production of the AMAT turbines, which allowed them to eventually have an overwhelming material superiority. The offensive on Solsys was thus deferred unanimously and the means deferred to Rangoon. Two fleets, the nearest, the XIII and the XIV, brand new, were dispatched to the system Nikhta-5, a giant giant Nikhta system. Their objectives were twofold: the first one only embarked on athmospheric fighters and the second on landing craft. In total, they were to deploy 115,000 men and 7680 fighters in the battle.

When the day came, the detectors of the two confederate fleets signaled the funchal fleet in orbit around Rangoon. Admiral Solkande, commanding the two fleets from the Devastation Bridge, and Vice-Admiral Loewry, who commanded the Resolution, a cruiser of the Thirteenth Fleet, were assembled one last time to make a statement of the chosen tactics. They were, however, in charge of the means available to Nantochan and were preparing for a diversion organized by the destroyers of the XIIIth Fleet. The latter should open fire on the cruiser, while releasing their frigates, which would drop their barges, assisted by the two cruisers , Including the Devastation, which had previously let go of its destroyers to ensure the protection of the landing in another sector.

The plan proceeded as planned. The destroyers of the XIVth fleet were not disturbed, while the two cruisers assisted by the destroyers approached the enemy cruiser, the Liberco III. The latter had dropped at the last moment his two operational destroyers on the cover, equipped with all robot-available fighters. Unlike the Confederates, the funchals did not have frigates, only destroyers embarking hundreds of hunters, which avoided the intermediate maneuvers of separation. Moreover, these robot-fighters operated from "holds" in the hull\'s own flanks, and came to dock for a supply. Shoals large open and heavily protected by batteries allowed the damaged hunters to take refuge there. But the programming of these robot-hunters had been reviewed by the Admiral and each had to be used as a suicide vehicle in case of damage. We did not have time to make any repairs whatsoever. The chosen tactic was to carry out massive raids on the defenses to occupy them, while the remaining squadrons, heavily laden with nuclear ballistic missiles, would attack the frigates in separation. Nothing was foreseen because of the understaffing for the frigates of the XIV Fleet who were disembarking 5000 km away.

At first the tactic of saturation bore fruit: At the price of the sacrifice of a third of the hunters on the defenses of the destroyers, a few crossed the dam and succeeded in launching their machines which made considerable havoc: A destroyer was seriously reached , A destroyed arias, breaking in the middle, and a hundred frigates annihilated with their cargo. But more than half of the athmospheric hunters were dropped as planned. The defense of these destroyers, much more lively and efficient, surprised the officers of Nantochan. The reports of the losses accumulated, more and more alarmist. One hour after the start of the operation, the battle had reached its peak: Liberco III simultaneously engaged Resolution and Devastation with its long-range weapons. His own detached operational destroyers had been destroyed by the "Barracuda", in surplus. All his robot-hunters had been annihilated by a barrage of fire of a power still unpublished. The Liberco III was now deprived of its defenses and obliged to stand up to the remaining destroyers, without its engineers having managed to make operational those that it still counted on its mooring rails.

But there was still a card to play the fox: His ship had suffered serious damage but its turbine was still operational. He dropped his destroyers loaded with stocks of unused bombs and thermonuclear missiles and prepared to jump into hyperspace under a deluge of blows. A minute later, the second-in-command of the Devastation signaled to the bridge the entry into combat of four new enemy destroyers. In reality they were unable to move but fired by automatic systems to give way, protecting the Liberco III who made his leap. At the same moment that the two admirals rejoiced at the flight of their adversary, a series of dantesque explosions shook the destroyers, even though the two fleets were dangerously close together. Three destroyers suffered depressurization damage and suffered the loss of a hundred men. But the rebel fleet had been annihilated, and more importantly, the landing, far from it, had passed without encumbrance: not the least enemy athmospheric hunter came to meet them. Meeting only an empty sky, the hunters of the XIIIth Fleet assembled and carried out attacks on the terrestrial targets assigned: The sites of extraction underwent a hellfire, at the very moment when their defenders could see from the sky descend thousands Of barges full of troops.

The sequel was a rapid and bloody confrontation. Fighting to the last man, often killed by hunters or low-orbit frigates, the funchal garrisons were decimated. Often the marines had only to clean up fields of ruin. The victory of the confederates was total, but the facilities should be repaired. Planned this assault, the officers had everywhere ordered to trap the installations. They jumped with the last remaining funchal troops, including the officers. The message quickly reached the Land Staff, who at last began to believe in a reversal of fortune. The two fleets had fulfilled their mission perfectly, had suffered few losses, while destroying the enemy fleet, and above all it was Rangoon from now on who would supply the turbine fuel to the confederation. The flight of the Liberco III was not unanimous: Many had considered that the cruiser had been broken by the shots and exploded at the same time as the destroyers.

Nantochan, for his part, was leaving behind him at the mercy of weak forces, and was leaving the planet to confederation. But he saved his precious cruiser (and his skin will say much), his precious cargo (thousands of tons of lintinium), and crazy to the Bagos arsenal, 12 AL away. He would be immobilized for two years, but he had the merit of existing. The Funchal staff shared that Nantochan had done his best to both delay the inevitable and at the same time save one of his best cruisers, others reproached him for not leading a "suicide mission." But when all saw the extent of the damage, it was granted to him that his ship could no longer fight and would have been sacrificed without even being able to hope to approach the enemy. More importantly, the ship\'s sensors had recorded all the tactics and capabilities of the new kind of units, deployed for the first time by the Confederation, and on which it would be necessary to count. Moreover, the engineers of Liberco III pointed out that a self-destructing of the ship would have inevitably also caused that of its turbines AMAT, admittedly fleets adverse, but especially a dangerous irradiation of the planet itself, with unknown consequences for the behavior of the Lintinium.

This episode was only the first of a long series of catches and covers that spanned over 17 years. Three years after these events, the "old fox" was back at the head of four fleets, his own, with a Liberco III repaired and modernized, and three others, Jestec II and III and Amaling. The Amaling was of a new generation, equipped with an AMAT muliturbine gorged with pure Lintinum. It was two and a half times faster than these predecessors and had twice as many hunters. In addition, the hunters were of a new model, with equipment enabling them to carry more weapons, to be even swifter and reduced while possibly being able to serve as a thermonuclear bomb.

The confederates, on their side, knew that the Funchals were preparing for this return. Instead of sending forces directly to Rangoon, they tried to organize a real ambush. The twelfth and fifteenth fleets, under the orders of Saterjee and his vice-admiral, would be stationed in orbit around Badonni, the second moon of the giant giant Nikhta IV. At the same time, Palgurda systems (Groombridge 32-45) and Altair would converge two other fleets under the orders of Stutz and Limberg. The "ambush" was to consist of a bait fleet, that of Linberg from Altair, on the supposed left of the hyperlite deceleration point of the funeral forces, which was supposed to attract at least some of the forces from Nantochan to Sotyen, where Awaited them the Third Fleet of Admiral Stutz. The latter was quite special: it was not equipped with fast elements, without a cruiser, but with 16 destroyers of the Ax class, of a new kind.

The latter, thanks to their great firepower, had to retain and fix these forces separated from the Nantochan forces until the Second Fleet flew, that of the Veterans Battles of Sollum and Procyon, do not take place to bar the way of retreat and close the trap. Meanwhile, the rest of Nantochan\'s forces, supposed to join rank, would pass before Badonni. There they awaited the XII and XVth fleets which would carry the bulk of the battle and would be reinforced rapidly by the 14th fleet of Solkande, the XIIIth remaining in orbit around Rangoon in case of a diversion of Nantochan.

But this plan ran short. Instead of rattling through Linberg\'s range, Nantochan surpassed Badonni to "dabble" almost Rangoon, at the risk of a tragic calculation error. (Otherwise its ships could have crashed on the planet, risking its destruction). At the same time, the XIIIth Fleet, that of the young Vice-Admiral Cronmin, found himself face to face with four powerful opposing forces. The situation was critical. The fourteenth fleet, which had been a pair for a week, was halfway to Badonni, while the other fleets were far too far away to intervene in time. They could not make a hyperlite jump over such a short distance and were forced to use their conventional thrusters. In any case, the Confederate reinforcements forces would not be present in time for combat, had a week of flying to accomplish in the case of the case, and a month in the worst. Cronmin would have to resist alone.

The unpreparedness of the orbital defense was another black spot of the confederal strategy, and facilitated the task of the aggressors. Cronmin, against all odds, chose to fight a battle he knew he had lost. He had his weakly defended frigates placed in a barricade in front of his destroyers to hamper the fighters and the heavy enemy units and prepared to fight a pitched battle, Using his 6 destroyers still valid (the other two had been damaged at the second rankoon battle) and his cruiser. The frigates, saturated with a deluge of fire, were annihilated one after the other, generating a dense forest of debris which effectively hampered the hunters and the shooting. The sacrifice had allowed the destroyers to survive the heaviest bursts of the enemy. But the disproportion of forces and the lack of available batteries made it quickly that the hordes of hunters found the Achilles heels of the destroyers and made them jump. The cruiser itself soon became saturated, and a single enemy fighter maneuvered his way into a flank of the dismantled hull, exploding. The impact had taken place next to the reserves of liquid hydrogen under pressure, which exploded the huge hull. The resolution was dislocated, and the front part, including the bridge and the fleet staff, of which the young vice-admiral plunged dangerously out of control into the atmosphere of Rangoon. The half of the hull dislocated by burning, and the debris flooded the desert for hours.

Having the field open, the four fleets disembarked their troops without encumbrance. They would face the 112,000 Confederates. The task, however, was not very arduous, because of the 450,000 men deployed by the functionaries, excellent cloned soldiers, and orbital control, allowing ruthless ground support. The battle on the ground lasted a week. After that, 50,000 Confederates had been taken prisoners, most of them wounded. Rangoon had been reconquered. To this tragedy was added the error of judgment of Admiral Solkande. After the surprise of the announcement of the arrival of the Funchal fleet, and of waiting for orders from the General Staff, he gave all the power of his turbines, after having turned about.

Solkande thought his subordinate capable of holding the Funchal for four days until his arrival. But when his close detectors captured the vessels in orbit, he saw four fleets, not five, and thought that at least one of the enemy fleets had been overthrown. His mistake had been to expect no reinforcements from Badonni. Without waiting, the four fleets of Nantochan came to meet him, after making sure that no other fleet came to reinforce. The disaster that struck Cronmin was therefore repeated four days later: The 14th Fleet was saturated by the Funchal fighters and quickly defeated. Solkande paid the error of his life: No ship of his fleet survived and the Devastation was sprayed. An immense field of debris was soon to spread around rangoon, his "iron crown."

The two fleets of Badonni waited on their side wisely for further instruction. In their numerical inferiority, they had to wait for the reinforcements of Stutz and Linberg. A month and a half later, the four fleets were joined in a single squadron, ready to do battle. But the great Confederate HQ declined any attack. These forces were to be posted strategically to prevent any reinforcements while a reinforcing squadron was being assembled for a new offensive planned for 3762. The year 3760 was marked by terrible losses on both sides and announced all the savagery of the future Of this long war of attrition. Some historians in comparison with earthly history have spoken of a "guadalcanal".

Other battles came with various fortunes. Slowly, all industrial and strategic efforts focused on the Nikhta system and became closer neighbors. The battle of Andoath (3765), that of Bungy-4 (3768) took place far from Rangoon and even from the Nikhta system, but marked the will of both sides to fight for the front posts of the front. Who, in fact, was supplying his camp as quickly as possible had a chance of winning. After the defeat of Solkande and Cronmin, the remaining fleets were in their turn discovered and destroyed separately in the system. Having no reinforcement planned for two years, this respite was used by the Funchals to consolidate their position on Rangoon: Four bases were built fully equipped to support a massive war effort on the very soil of the planet. The four fleets of nantochan were raised one after another and replaced. In 3763 they were again in numerical inferiority. The Confederates, who had grouped their most important means for this decisive offensive, launched two squadrons, comprising not less than eight fleets, of which three were new, with chasseurs Specially adapted for orbital combat.

Nantochan was not present during the defeat of the thirteenth fleet of his dolphin, Admiral "Senyavin" OJCA-23. Unable to carry himself on two fronts, he decided to attack the 2nd Squadron, the nearest to Rangoon. There he sacrificed his own ship and those of the other two fleets present but could not obtain victory. His ship being deprived of energy, he was blown up with his whole staff to avoid the dishonor of a capture. This sacrifice only delayed the offensive of the Second Squadron, which was soon joined by the 1st Squadron (Grand Admiral Wiscoll). The assault on the ground and the subsequent "cleaning" cost nearly 400,000 men to the Confederates, not to mention the million wounded and disappeared.

The Funchals reinforcements were intercepted and destroyed at the Battle of Andoath two years later, leaving all the time necessary for the confederal engineering teams to construct blockhouses considered impregnable above the extraction sites, underground galleries Factories, power stations, clone array batteries, arsenals, warehouses, hospitals and local command centers. After 8 years of work, the bases were operational and the deliveries of lintinium were continuous. But the road to the two arsenals, that of Procyon and Altair, was frequently attacked by irregular forces, secessionist movements within the confederation, the "abolitionists", whose importance would increase throughout the war .

However, the gun was tightened around the Nikhta system: Loytken (Struve 23-46) and Nantya (Groombridge 657), the systems closest to Nikhta, fell into the hands of the fuchals, greatly helped by the abolitionists. It was the colossal battle of Bungy-4, in 3668 that decided the fate for four days. The whole of the Third Squadron and two other fleets were destroyed. Grand Admiral Drijhad, one of the best Confederate strategists, died there. At that time it seemed that nothing could prevent the funchal forces from attacking the weakened defenses of Rangoon en masse: The 2nd Squadron had been partially annihilated at the battle of Kumaré (Nikhta-8), and the Ier, Remained in Rangoon, was weakened and inadequately supplied for years, if not from Rangoon itself, which was not sufficient for itself. The battle of Kumare had been a confederate victory, saving the gas stations and mines from the gas giants of the system, but had gnawed away the defensive potential of the system.

In the inter-space between Procyon and Nikhta, the destruction and capture of a large convoy of lintinium signaled the end of this system set up as soon as flows by both sides. The Confederates would now attempt to transport billions of tons of material to Rangoon to build a giant orbital arsenal around the planet and produce new cruisers there. In the absence of an escort, the project was postponed to 3770. That same year, however, a risky offensive, with limited means, was carried out by a rising celebrity in the "council of forces" (the Funchal staff): Vice-Admiral Vintochan, known as "young fox", a young clone of the same famous admiral.

There was much hope of his prowess. At the fire he did not deny the hopes placed in him. He crushed the remains of the Second Squadron by drawing him into a trap and crossed the victorious iron with the 1st rankoon squadron, re-issuing the exploits of his ancestor and inspirer. He opened the way for troop reinforcements two months later, which poured four million men into Rangoon. The reconquest was particularly costly for the Funchal this time. Although having orbital and even aerial support, these proved ineffective against the bases buried deep in the planet and required a real "war of rats" from the Funchal clones.

This reconquest was not completed with the taking of the last base only a year and six months later. Additional reinforcements led to the addition to more than 6 million deaths in both camps. But the rebellious functionaries could not profit long enough from the resources of Lintinium. From 3773 onwards, the longest and most terrible of all battles began in the very battle of Rangoon. A Funchal squadron and a human squadron met simultaneously above rangoon: A titanic battle began High orbit, which did not cease as reinforcements arrived from neighboring systems.

It lasted a week, experienced a relative lull, while the fighting on the ground was more furious than ever: Approximately one billion men on each side disputed the 16 sites of extraction of the Lintinium. In the orbital zone, and up to 50,000 km away, a titanic battle was raging. For the first time, "heavy" cruisers of a new kind had been added to the force, as well as the first "super-dreadnought", displacing one hundred million tons, were engaged. The losses were appalling and for months, clashes continued, down to the level of the hunters in the calcined carcasses of the giants, who slalomed in this metal maze in order to find and to annihilate. Heroes, "Aces" among the federalists emerged quickly and were carried to the pinnacle by the media: Jode Hansell, who won 77 confirmed victories, and Dani Saltyan, 64.

On the ground, the spectacle was dantesque, for the frightened troops who could for a moment recover their strength and see the sky through the mist of their mask badly ventilated: Thus describes it this experience a journalist - who was killed a few hours after his report Historical, immensely famous:

"...The sky, when it was not encumbered by enormous clouds filled with acid (evaporated residues from chemical and bacteriological weapons) rarely unveiled through a celestial vault populated by ephemeral stars, mute explosions Of the orbital fighters.This sky was permanently streaked with shooting stars, hundreds, debris from wrecks falling into the atmosphere, others exploding in the mass of clouds, causing nightmares, divine anger, tearing apart Suddenly the volutes brown-gray in heavy black rains, highly radioactive ....

-The ground shook permanently. In the distance the glow of a thermonuclear explosion illuminated a carpet of carcasses of synthetic and misshapen bodies as far as the eye could see, from which sometimes a bone or some tissues emerged. Immense robots roamed these fields of death, detecting and aninhilating all living presence, friend and foe alike, so great was the confusion between the units and the numbers of losses had gone beyond all common sense. In the distance, glimpses rose from the ground, came to light the walls of the steep cliffs, as many devils danced without respite at the feet of the blackened reliefs. Everywhere or looked, it was the permanent ballet of the tiny masses of landing craft which slowly descended, often caught by some projectile, then falling into flames. Those who freed their unconscious cargo from such a hell were crushed under the caterpillars of a few dreadhulks (a "char-fortress", a new discovery of the clones) ...

The place where I find myself is an assemblage of remains of barges destroyed, protecting goodly some sections of the CXVIII body and disparate units of genius. Under our feet the soil is particularly uncertain, composed of debris and piled up corpses, melted together and crushed in an indescribable slurry. Many soldiers fell into "crevasses" resulting from this chaos, and their visors split, condemning them to an atrocious end: Overpressure, heat resulting from the greenhouse effect, radiation and lethal gases burn The skin and the lungs well before the asphyxia. I was told that if someone had a part of their skin, even if only briefly in contact with the surrounding "air", it began to brown before blistering and tattering like a putrefaction...

On how many clones with energy and oxygen we have been walking for the last few hours? I will probably know nothing about it: The battle for the coast 435 (The buttresses is from the base Trappling, one of the sites of extraction of this cursed lintinium), have made more than 4000 dead in the last five hours alone. The Clones think they have liquidated the assailants sent their robots clean our area. Our orbital headquarters has been destroyed and we are receiving our orders from a young corporal as courageous as he is inexperienced. Many men do not even have the strength to cry, but they know that they will not spend the next hours. Only the clones of our camp seem determined, including this young corporal..."

The savagery of the fighting in the year 3775 was unprecedented. Ground support gradually shifted from "orbital artillery preparation" to a carefully selected area to a random butchery, or friends and enemies were mixed: In a combat zone of several hundred meters, when a zone Held by one of the camps was invaded by superior forces, the last living officers commanded the "fire of heaven", even as their own troops were still there: Friends and enemies were thus crushed in a sinister set of statistics. At that time, the vast majority of combatants were functionaries, working for both sides. Never could we have raised populations large enough to carry the decision.

Among the weapons used, high-energy shots, electric bombs, depriving power of any system on a large surface, or nuclear missiles or even thermonuclear missiles were used extensively. There were also the classics, smashed sprinkling of toxic gases and "bacteriological showers", from artificial clouds created in stratospheric by the belligerents. Taken and taken several times, the sites of extraction were "trapped" by defenders and their galleries, highly radioactive collapsed. Instead of the bases, we often find a yawning and smoking crater in which thousands of clones had disappeared. But every battle had an end. While no camp seemed to prevail, human engineers warned: The recovered Lintinium, saved from fighting, was highly radioactive, and its utilitarian value was ultimately nil, given a decontamination too long To make its use viable.

Thus the great general staff of the confederation renounced Rangoon and disengaged from it in 3777. The Funchals celebrated their victory, thinking that their obstinacy and obstinacy had finally overcome adversity. But their intelligence services reported quite differently. Hence the cruelest conclusion of this fierce butchery: The 17 years of struggle which had pushed back the limits of the industrial horror of war had been totally useless. It was the very savagery of the struggles which had made the precious material Unusable, in spite of common sense.

In the end, the Spartakes left some bases and an orbital defense station on the ground and turned to other objectives. The record was appalling: Especially for the last few years, but generally for the 17 years of struggle, Rangoon had cost the Funchals 25 cruisers, including 4 heavy, 1 super-dreadnought, hundreds of destroyers and about 400,000 orbital hunters And 23 million atmopheric. In Rangoon, nearly 46 million tanks, including 9767 dreadhulks, and 876 million robots had been engaged and lost, and "human" losses (clones) amounted to 25 billion, with the wounded representing only 0.1% of the total (rescued), and 67 billion disappeared. This enormous figure can be explained by the fact that identification was rare and that Rangoon soil had been regularly "plowed" by powerful machines, and that the human remains had been dissolved, mixed with everything from debris to The surface due to heat, corrosive gases and particularly violent radiation: At the worst moment of the battle, there could be up to 150 tactical nuclear explosions per day ...

The confederate losses were not less high: 21 cruisers, 6 heavy, 4 super-dreadnoughts, to mention only the largest losses and on the ground of Rangoon, more than 60 billion dead and disappeared confused, hundreds of thousands Tanks and robots, including more than 5000 billion "nanokillers", artificial insects that penetrated the combinations and injected a deadly poison ... Some bases and sites of extraction had been caught and taken up almost 20 times. It was, according to the expression still famous, "the most gigantic waste of history".

Because of its highly contaminated area, Rangoon gained the status of "sanctuary". It has since suffered from a powerful greenhouse effect close to that experienced by Venus before its terraforming. No memorial is visible, but a memorial center has been installed in a super-dreadnought wreck orbiting 18,000 km around this world. Debris of all sizes regularly continue to crash on its surface since then, and the area is closely marked and cleaned for centuries. A zone of exclusion of the traffic to the summit besides established on a perimeter of 850 000 km of diameter around this world.

The end of the war

The truce 3778-3792

Rangoon had literally blocked the combatants on its ground and its system, and all the related operations had been redirected for its capture. When the battle broke out in 3678, both sides were so hard-pressed that a truce was demanded by the Confederacy and accepted by the Funchals. The latter retreated to their 32 captured stellar systems and for 14 years administered them according to the new rights granted to the functional ones. On the other hand, the "human" populations who feared retaliation were fortunately surprised by the good management of these mixed communities, so that when the confederation succeeded in resuming two systems, the population rebelled and officially went to the Funchals. Conflicts continued in certain areas of the colonized systems. Thus, on Alioth, Casco, Chimo, Cohoes, or even Procyon to a lesser extent, "rebel" bases were still sought by the Confederates, and fleets disputed these systems.

From 3792 this very relative truce was broken during the attempt of the confederates to launch an offensive on solsys, in defiance of the reports of the secret services which affirmed that the population was henceforth acquired to the abolitionists. The confederacy took years to replenish its potential, even though the funchals were now supported in all systems officially within the confederation by a popular support movement. The "abolitionist cause" and the term "neo-slavery" were no longer taboo. The confederation seemed to have still the initiative but was actually exhausted in attempts to take in the Funchals their main industrial centers and great arsenals.

The Procyonite Civil War 3796

The confederation found itself in a minority from six rather industrious systems, acquired by abolitionist ideas, and found it to be less and less popular until it established its most unpopular measure: In view of the low rates of volunteerism it imposed in 3792 Compulsory conscription. From then on, the protest went up a notch. Democratic elections in many systems saw abolitionist candidates break through and declare a "ceasefire" with the Funchals, still taxed by the official authorities. This was the beginning of the end. The Procyo-Alphite alliance became isolated, and finally its own population began a policy of non-violent rejection of the war. Some more radical internal movements launched operations against the elites, taxed with clientelism of the major clone-producing groups, and the ocial seats of these groups themselves. The Funchals, however, did not take advantage of this advantage and did not launch any offensive. On the contrary, they simply made a proposal for a cease-fire on condition, the same from the beginning: To put an end to the special regime of clones, systematically refused by the federal.

In 3796, internal disturbances within the alliance had reached a critical point. The rulers of these systems, forced into a minority by the immense majority of the population, hardened their position. They decreed martial law. But the latter could now count on reliable troops: The soldiers specially created by these same major groups to outfit the Funchal forces were a new generation considered "incorruptible". "Soulless brutes" for the population. A ferocious reprehension began, the rulers of the two systems consciously engaging in a dead end. The nonviolent movement then changed its nature and became a civil war. This last lasted only a short time: Indeed, in 3797, the call launched by the abolitionist "rebels" of these systems finally provoked the start that everyone expected: He forced the Funchal to help them.

Funchal final offensive 3797

A major offensive, the last one was scheduled for late 3797. The first battle took place in Procyon\'s stellar crown: Jumendyn\'s 19th Federal Fleet attempted to arrest the squadron of Grand Admiral Oscar Kedhrin Pataya. The latter had a numerical advantage so considerable that it threatened its forces by only bringing in its new long range fighter-robtos. The latter completely outclassed the squadrons of the nineteenth fleet. The latter, rather than risk losing its best units, fell back on Lusaga, the main moon of Jabiru. On the spot, there were rather powerful defense orbital stations and arsenals delivering hunters. A cruiser and 23 destroyers, which were not yet operational, was hastily put into operation, and the combat began. Again, Kedhrin Pataya sacrificed his robot-hunters. Sufficiently small, they succeeded in breaking into certain stations and destroying them. The others saturated the defenses and destroyed not only the most vulnerable destroyers, those still moored in the great orbital circle of Lusaga, but the secondary vias of the nineteenth fleet. Then, having sufficiently "prepared" the ground, Pataya fired by his great ships, a super-dreadnought and 6 cruisers, assisted by 60 destroyers. It was an unequal and rapid battle. Admiral Jumendyn managed to flee his ship in perdition, but his rescue capsule was intercepted and destroyed by a drone-drone Funchal.

From then on, the outposts of defense of the Procyon Tombé system, the rulers prepared to cope with the remains of the XVIIIth fleet under repair in the arsenal of Tantrinia, now deprived of its main industries and sources of methane For interstellar travel). Deprived of means of displacement, the fleet was condemned to remain in orbit around Tantrinia, awaiting the shock that never came. Pataya, well informed about the effervescence that reigned in the system, went straight to Procyon-5, alias Nuwo, seat of the federal parliament. At that time, the civil war had reached peaks, and ravaged the planet. A courageous but unequal battle between popular militias and elite troops overtrained. Turning to the massacre, the general insurrection obliged Pataya to give all the motive power of his ships. He did not have time to make operational the hyperlite doors of the system. The upheaval of the authorities was prompted by the "treachery" of Alpha Centauri, who declared a separate peace in mid-3797.

Funchal final offensive 3797

However, just after the arrival of the Funchal fleet, the militiamen succeeded in containing the parliament, though defended by elite troops. The last falls and eight hours later, the government itself is threatened. It is the last place in the capital still in the hands of the rulers of the federation. Some are calling for an end and a ceasefire and a partial recognition of rights, even if it is to be discussed later. But others, the "hard core", formed around the leaders of the three major clonal-producing conglomerates, want to leave Procyon and take refuge on Langtah, so near and wilder: It would allow them to hide and rebuild a militia to regain control Of Langtah, then Nuwo in the long run. A vote took place, under the threat of a few elite soldiers present. The fate of the last "slavers" is decided: They take place aboard the protocolary shuttle and take off from the government building, heading for Langtah. The insurgents recovered an anti-aircraft battery and fired without success.

The shuttle will join Langtah two days later. On Nuwo, the capital, Kapta, is jubilant: The last troops resist for form, the government is taken, and the "new federation" is decreed. The first act will obviously be the abolition of the clone regime. When the fleet arrived, its troops disembarked and succeeded in liquidating quickly the last pockets of resistance of the federal troops, aided by the insurgents. Procyon is "liberated", the whole federation declares five days later the abolition in its parliament: The embassies of the systems have been reopened, and the latter are pressed there. "The fundamental act of abolition" was signed definitively only 3 years later, in 3801, when all the residual movements of the last "old federal" will be brought under control. Funchal troops did not wait long to capture the formation of the rulers of the federation: Langtah Governor-General Lyapping the protocolary shuttle land, but immediately imprisoned members of the government in exile. Three of them, the leaders of the "clonical cartel", committed suicide. The others went on trial, but most were sentenced only to physical punishment and the suspension of their virtual entities.

Epilogue

Officially, the war ceased throughout the federation on August 22, 3800. The new regime of the clones would in particular put an end to the great complexes which until now provided abundant clones for the great developed cities of the colonized worlds. Human cloning was not prohibited, but the regime of the clones, or functional ones, was totally recast, putting them on par with the "native" human species. The first right was that of a sexual reproduction, and thus to found a family independent of any commercial circuit. Moreover, the clones produced by companies, becoming major, were totally independent and could, if necessary, choose an activity in contradiction with their genetic inheritance. They were commercial property only until they were born. Then they were subject to the same status as "native" humans. Their descendants could be "mestizos" (results of the union of a clone and a native for example), and even before their birth, they enjoyed the same rights as the human fetus, part of the body of the surrogate mother Artificially since most of them have grown in artificial matrices for centuries, at least in developed systems).

Aftermath of the war

The material balance of this war was unspeakable: More than 150 billion dead and disappeared, the wounded being quickly recovered and not counted. All the systems known then had experienced this war, sometimes on their soil (revolts, civil wars, or regular combat of both sides, as for the sinister Rangoon), in their orbital zone, around their satellites, enormous infrastructures Had been destroyed, notably hyperspatial roads, but also orbital ports, arsenals, depots, relay stations, putting an end to interstellar commercial traffic for some twenty years. The interim was ensured by former military vessels (notably the cruisers) reconverted into "cargo transport". The destroyers were disarmed and placed in orbital reserves around doms, neutral planets (many were specialists in reinforcement and recycling on this occasion). The hunters were also either demolished or disarmed and kept in large reserves, while others were sold to individuals or converted for customs and space police, or system wardens.

The industrial madness of this war had generated a vast production of warships in most systems. Many did not want to part with the conflict by having a fleet that they had so carefully conceived and armed demolished. As a result, in spite of disarmament throughout the federation, some systems were allowed to retain their fleet, or to complete and operationalize it for local defense purposes, and under the operational control of the new Federation and its staff. As a result, the new federation retained control over its defense potential and was given the implementation of these means to respond to threats. The gravest of them was slowly going up and coming, piracy.

Exfuns

This piracy resulted partly from the new policy set up for criminals: Until then, the latter, if cloned, were killed by a lethal injection assured by the thanatologists. If they were native humans, they were deported to a world at the beginning of terraforming, on a Dom farm, or, in more severe cases, underwent lethal injection with confinement of their virtual entity in a closed universe . With the reforms of the new federation, the "universal" punishment was the "banishment". The condemned man had to survive in a little-known and life-stricken area, with a prohibition on land on official planets of the system.

He could only survive in more or less hidden communities. This method, judged to be less cruel, also permitted the indirect development of unfrequented areas of stellar systems. But this practice quickly diverted from content and became a voluntary exile of many ex-functional. Unsolicited racism was nevertheless widespread in most large urban centers, and the Exfun (ex-cloned) population was at the same time subjected to a real reproductive frenzy, leading to a notorious overcrowding, relegation to the most vile tasks of the society. Many exfun returned to working conditions not so far from those they knew before the abolition of their former status. Unemployment and exploitation affected them, and the dearness of life forced them to find their salvation in delinquency.

Little by little over the centuries, many exfun were marginalized, segregation resumed on many worlds. Many were condemned and exiled, and soon they were joined by the "economic exiles", unable to live in the large urban centers, and refused in the new colonies (100% native). Soon "piracy" was a generic term that brought together all these exfun marginals who swarmed in the courtyard of ancient stellar systems, engaging in trafficking, multiform crime, space robbery. In the face of such a situation, some systems sometimes decided to give a "broom" by mobilizing their fleet. But this situation was endemic and was growing at the rate of the impoverishment of the Exfun.

It would, centuries later, end in one of the worst conflagrations in history: The Tonite War