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But only a few were that extreme – the rest of the building’s heights tapered down sharply and remained low until the very edges of the city itself. Even then, low meant the ‘humble’ height of one kilometer.

At the very heart of the entire city was the tallest and widest of them all. Of course, it was the center of power for House Felrahn. And somewhere in the middle of it, nestled safely behind heavily armored walls and patrolled by heavily armored troops, was Felrahn Warroom Alpha.

The room itself was stately, with its dark red carpeting and stained-wood furnishings. There were also numerous copper filigree tracings where any corner met.

Circling the room at various stations, terminals, and tacmaps were hundreds of the best Felrahn analysts, logisticians, and tacticians. All were working hurriedly and painstakingly, even as they read and watched and heard all manner of new reports and updates. They compiled all of their data into short reports, and sent them to the center of the room.

In the middle of it all was a large, heavy conference table that was stained a reddish brown and had a beautiful sheen to it. Scattered on its surface were numerous datapads and holographic interfaces, but at its very center was one large tacmap.

On it was a 3-dimensional map of Felrahn space.

Seated all around the elegantly curved rectangular table were numerous officials, officers, advisors, and admirals. Among them was an old woman, nearly decrepit. Her body wasn’t just aged – it was practically decomposing.

.....

At least, if not for the team of geneticists and doctors standing right behind her. Their drones hovered over the old woman, and beamed various energies straight into her body. And they kept her alive and upright as much as possible.

While the others were in the regular seats, she was in some kind of hovering chair.

“Lady Felrahn,” said one of the admirals, “you haven’t rested in cycles. I think you’d do better if you laid down, even for just a few hours.”

There was a general mutter of agreement from those around him. And even those around the old woman.

She certainly looked more haggard than she had ever been, of course. This war ensured that none of them got much rest, never mind sleep.

When the old woman spoke, it was clear that there was still a great degree of sharpness to her voice. Even if most of the strength had faded.

“None of us have, Lord Halbrecht,” she replied. “Not one. How could we, with so much at stake?”

She looked up and down the table, at every official seated around it. She peered at some of them through the holographic map of Felrahn, which certainly helped punctuate her point.

Then she refocused her attention on the map itself. It was clearly split into three separate sections: Felrahn territory, general Hegemony territory, and Drogar-occupied territory.

Everyone seated at that table watched the Drogar invade their territory in real-time on that map. In front of them was the literal erosion of their space, their power.

“The truth is simply that we’re getting eaten alive,” Lady Felrahn continued. “None of us could sleep, even if we wanted to.”

“I agree with High Admiral Halbrecht,” said a man to her left. “And with your Highness as well. In either case, we cannot allow our eyes or our minds to fail us. The Drogar’s technological superiority is already difficult enough to deal with. It’s all the harder if we are exhausted. I propose we rest in shifts. If something truly pressing happens, we can call everyone back.”

The old woman turned her head to look at the man. He was young, bright, talented. And wore the colors and honorifics of the Hegemony Grand Parliament.

“Counselor, I truly appreciate your input,” the old woman told him. “But perhaps you should remain true to your focus on galactic law, hm? In fact, neither you nor the High Admiral are part of my medical team, and are hardly qualified to speak on my health. However, I acknowledge that not all members present have equal stamina. And so approve of this ‘rest shifts’ idea.”

“Considering this war may last years, this is definitely a good idea,” the High Admiral chimed in right after. “Not sure any of us could survive being awake that long.”

There was a modicum of chuckles around the table, which the old woman joined in on. Any tensions quickly diffused.

“Before you all hash out who goes on which shifts, we need to respond to one potentially devastating problem,” said the old woman. “The Imperial front line is dangerously close to one of our major industrial systems – FGIS 02.”

There was a mutter from some of the officials in the room. But it was the High Admiral who gasped audibly.

“That’s where the fleet sources half titanium carbide plating!” he said.

“Precisely, Lord Halbrecht. We lose that, and we lose the war,” added the old woman. “We provide nearly 20% of standard military plating to the rest of the Houses, for all their fleets. If we lose, everyone in the Hegemony loses. And so House Felrahn cannot lose.

“Which, by the way, is why I’m stunned that the Grand Parliament didn’t provide a devastator to guard us.”

She looked to her left again, straight at the young man, as though to provoke him into a reaction.

Though he smiled at her politely, he was furious inside. There was an arrogance in her tone that he just couldn’t abide.

As if the Hegemony would send precious resources to protect aging technologies. Especially since they’ve proven to be all but worthless against Imperial weapons.

“If only I had the ability to sway the Grand Parliament,” he replied calmly. “Sadly, I’m just another one of their voices. But if I had the ability to, I would certainly convince them to send a devastator to defend House Felrahn. Our prosperity is shared, as you say.”

Annoyed that she didn’t get the reaction she had hoped for, Lady Felrahn turned back towards everyone else.

“At least they sent us a dozen carriers and thousands of fighters,” said the High Admiral. “That pretty much doubled our defenses along the front.”

“We’re barely holding on even with that!” countered the old woman.

As she spoke, Felrahn territory shrunk by another solar system on the map.

“We have carriers orbiting secure systems like ours doing practically nothing,” said the High Admiral. “We could pull half, and send them to reinforce the front lines.”

“Are you honestly suggesting that we reduce security in the core Felrahn systems?” the old woman asked. She was slightly aghast that he had even suggested it.

“It makes me nervous just thinking about it,” the Parliament counselor added. “But then again, if it’s as you say that losing the industrial system would be devastating for the entire war effort, then it would make sense to at least reinforce that position.”

The old woman pursed her thin lips, truly agitated by the state of her House. At how her power was being chipped away at the edges, both afar and close by.

While she formulated her counter, a number of alerts and warnings flashed on the tacmap in front of them.

–

ALERT

Location: Felrahn Galactic Industries Corporate System 002

Notice: Primary teleport beacon over the Administration Planet has been compromised.

–

ALERT

Location: FGIC-S002 Administration Planet

Notice: Primary orbital station and defensive fleet identify hostile Imperial vessel signals in local space.

–

WARNING

Location: FGIC-S002 Administration Planet

Notice: Primary orbital station and defensive fleet under fire by hostile fleet.

–

Alarm swept through the entire room – everything they feared was happening right in front of them. They immediately zoomed in on the tacmap, straight to that specific solar system, and further to that planet.

There, they watched as Drogar ships blinked into space around the planet’s teleport beacon and exchanged fire with the fleet stationed there.

The old woman grit her teeth, then yelled out, “Reinforce FGIC Two immediately!”

~

It was roughly three minutes later when one of the reinforcing fleets flashed into FGIC-S002 space, above the main governmental planet. The fleet was composed of a battleship, 12 cruisers, 18 destroyers, and 30 frigates. They were also supported by a Hegemony carrier, which held hundreds of fighters, mecha, and drones.

A second reinforcing fleet flashed in shortly after, and practically doubled their numbers.

Once they had completely ported in, the massive reinforcement fleet headed straight towards the planet’s primary orbital station 20 kilometers away. There, its defensive fleet and complement of fighters, mecha, turrets, and drones fought off the invading Imperial fleet.

It was clear that they had already sustained a great deal of damage – their battleship’s armor was scored and sliced up. And little under a third of their cruisers, destroyers, and frigates had already been destroyed.

And it was simply because the Imperial fleet they fought against wasn’t just technologically superior, but numerically as well.

The enemy forces had two battleships and one carrier. They also had 15 cruisers, 30 destroyers, and 80 frigates. And of course, they too appeared to have hundreds of fighters, mecha, and drones.

Both the reinforcing fleets split up, and began to flank the Imperial fleet from the side and the rear. The admirals collectively determined that pincering them was the best tactic – the Drogar would be pressed to retreat and regroup.

However, instead of falling back, they found that the Imperial line simply shifted. Imperial battleships moved quickly to flank their own carrier, and protected it from both sides.

One protected it from any incoming fire from the defensive fleet and orbital station, while the other shielded it from the incoming reinforcement fleets.

“Advance to outer medium range,” ordered one of the Felrahn admirals. “And pummel that battleship into submission!”

His fleet immediately responded to his orders: they slowed their advance and revealed their starboard side to the enemy. Each of the ships under his command revealed their starboard rail cannons and topside cluster missile emplacements to the enemy, narrowed down their aim, then fired.

Every ship in the fleet lurched from the power of their combined blasts, but their portside thrusters kept them from swaying too far.

And before their ships could maneuver back into prime firing position, countless rail cannon slugs smashed against Imperial ship chitin.

The enemy battleship was hammered mercilessly by the rail shots – its armor cracked and splintered and fragmented across its surface with every hit that it took. Powerful vibrations shook everyone inside.

But the barrage was far from over. The Felrahn quickly followed up with cluster missiles, whose bomblets erupted everywhere the chitin was already weak. Chunks were blasted off the armor, large and small and everything in between.

Not that the Imperial fleet took any of that lying down – they fired back with their own long-range weapons. Chitin armor plating along their shattered broadside slid open and revealed powerful stinger-like guns underneath.

Each fired heavy slugs charged with dark orange energy, which slammed into Felrahn armor with ease. The massive titanium carbide plates warped and tore from the sheer force alone.

And the battle for Felrahn space truly began in earnest.