Second contact war

By Bob base

This is book two in the first contact war series and it takes place Ten years after the initial contact and the invasion of Earth.
After the first war it was always known that the Aliens would return and so Earth had spent the time the they had been given developing new weapons and ships based on Alien Tech that lay scattered all across the planet and in space. They had also found out that the Aliens were also engaged in fighting another war with a Human type race and the search was underway to find these potential allies in the hope that they could help. Time had run out now and the Aliens had returned in even greater force and the war was about to begin again. But this time it would not be for the planet and its resources but for the survival of the Human race.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bob base
• Release date: Dec 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386689966

Book preview

PROLOGUE

It was ten years ago when Aliens had entered earth’s solar system and without any warning and also without any provocation they had attacked and destroyed a scientific mission in orbit around the moon of Titan. Their main fleet had not paused but had continued towards earth decelerating their craft as they came and again with no provocation they attacked and destroyed the small geological research colony on Mars. All attempts at contact with the Aliens were met with silence and instant aggression as they destroyed the drones carrying messages of greetings and holding out the olive branch of peace to the visitors. They ignored all attempts at contact and their ships continued decelerating as they came on still unopposed, their huge ships finally slowing and then halting in Geo stationary orbits around the Earth, and there they waited.  The only alien movement was from their own shuttle type craft, which flew between the great ships in continual streams and again they destroyed any of earth’s drones that came within the range of their weapons.  The hawks on earth had then launched a nuclear missile attack on the Aliens, which failed utterly, and still the Aliens ships sat motionless in orbit. A short time later more ships were tracked as they entered the earth’s Solar system and when these joined the ones already casting their shadows onto the surface of the planet the Aliens launched their first small scale attack by wiping out the substantial human colony that had been established on the Moon. At the same time they started to carry out small scale probing raids on the planets surface. The Aliens were now called Reps after their Reptilian appearance had been revealed from the bodies that had come back from Mars and again there was a pause and after a short period of time after all of their initial raids had ceased they launched their first major offensive and along with mass bombing raids they landed large numbers of assault troops on all five continents. A soon as these armies had landed they began to attack the large densely populated major cites of the planet. Earth’s armies deployed and met them and the battle for the planet had began in earnest as both sides gave and asked for no quarter especially when a small company of men had discovered that the Reps saw man and all the creatures of the planet as a food source and nothing more, and not only would they turn man into food but they intended to farm him and produce a sustainable food source for future Rep generations. Over time the war of the cities became stagnant as the Reps were halted on their boundaries and within the suburbs as earth’s armies dug in and fought for every foot of land, and from captured Reps it was soon learnt that the Reps themselves had never encountered a food source that could withstand their onslaught. It was also earth’s first indication that there were many more life forms in the universe. The stalemate was finally broken when some of their mother ships were destroyed followed by their command and control ship and then when the forces of earth used their new weapons, the first Anti matter bombs, upon them and the Reps could only reply with conventional Nukes and they used these Indiscriminately which only succeeded in contaminating the very food source for which they had originally came to the planet for. With the loss of their command ship as well as several landing ships and the huge losses to their invasion forces as they tried to disengage, and with Earths forces pressing them hard they began to withdraw in some haste.

A mission of small very fast earth shuttles using Alien Tech. followed them as they departed because the captured Reps had revealed that the military ruling class of Reps would not give up and that they would be back with an even greater force maybe within one year or maybe not for a hundred years, but they would return. It was also revealed that they were fighting two other wars in different galaxies and this was why their full fleet had not attacked earth whose capabilities they had grossly underestimated.

The shadowing ships followed the Aliens to an unknown and undetected Wormhole within earths own Solar System and the ships continued to follow the Reps through the hole whereupon they found themselves in a completely unknown Galaxy. The Reps then entered another wormhole within this Galaxy and again the earth ships followed but this time they came out into what they knew was the Reps home Galaxy and for the next six months Earths shuttles explored its edges using the Reps own coded signals as recognition so they could move about unmolested.

On returning to earth further probes were dispatched and sent through the holes and into the Reps galaxy, which was mapped by stealth drones using passive light pulsed digitized stellar mapping equipment.

The first wormhole that the Aliens had used to gain access to Earths Galaxy was now guarded by a substantial fleet whilst another smaller fleet was based

On a dead planet within galaxy two. Which was now being called the Red Galaxy, after photos of the Centre of this galaxy revealed a huge Molecular red gas cloud. Both fleets had been armed with the new Anti Matter bombs and these were Earths first line of defence. Fast ships were constructed using Alien tech and these were sent all around the home Solar system to find any other unknown anomalies and these Survey ships found another two ‘stable’ wormholes and these were entered and were found to lead yet more unknown galaxies, and so it went on and on each Solar system or galaxy had numerous wormholes within them, most were stable but some were not, and these were all being investigated in case the Aliens returned by the back door whilst everyone was watching the front. The trail of Alien races was easily traced across the various solar systems and galaxies as the holes that these Reps, or as yet unknown races used, were marked by huge pulsating lighting systems whose power sources were still unknown. Warning droids and comm pods were left all over the solar system and near all of the holes as an early warning system, as earth did not as yet have the ships to cover all of these holes in force and it was hoped that the Reps would use the same hole that they had originally used. They were also trying to find a back door to the Reps galaxy but so far no matter how many holes earth’s ships had transited none had as yet led back to the Reps home system.

A search was also under way for the two worlds that were still at war with the Reps as well as any other life form that may become allies, after all there were billions of stars and planets within our own galaxy and now we knew of multiple galaxy’s and how to get to them and so by the law of averages there must be more Hundreds if not thousands of Intelligent life forms out there somewhere, and so after ten years and thousands of drones, as well as hundreds of manned ships which had continually traveled into the other galaxies looking for planets in the habitual zones around various Suns. So far though no life had been found but then it was like looking for a needle that had been dropped from an aircraft into the Pacific Ocean two decades ago and the drop point had been forgotten. Earth itself had been devastated by the war and most of its major cites were being rebuilt from the rubble The Rep nuke strikes, and their own Anti matter bombs had destroyed and they had taken large swaths of land from the contaminated zones in huge shuttles again using the Rep tech they had taken billions of tons of earth and rubble into space and had dumped it all into the vastness. Even the ammunition that earth forces had used was radioactive as the spent uranium rounds had been used in the billions, and even the atmosphere had now been scrubbed by earth’s own ships that had been in use since the end of the combustion engine and fossil fuels in order to clean the harmful gasses out of the atmosphere.  The city’s had been gradually rebuilt but this time bunkers had been built under every reconstructed building. Strong points were also constructed, as it was known by all the people of the planet that the Reps would return and if the Reps could not be stopped in space they would have to be defeated on the surface once again so all of the peoples helped turn earth into a fortress. The original military and civilian control authority PLUN-Civ and PLUN-Mil. had been disbanded and a Global earth civilian authority had been formed but more importantly a military force had been formed from all of the planets nations and this huge force now went under the acronym of GMF and this force was truly global and covered all arms of the services including space. The budget was enormous and trillions of credits had been spent on research and development, weapons, and ships, both in atmosphere and for deep space and the munitions had been manufactured all around the world and by all of the nations. The captured Rep Techs had been invaluable in understanding the Rep equipment as well as copying it and in some cases even improving on it. The Reps after all had built their entire world controlled empire on conquering lesser peoples before engaging in the more capable races and then copying all of their tech, and some had said that instead of Reps for Reptile it should be Rep for Replicates either way the name worked and earth worked feverishly to prepare for the war that was soon to come.

CHAPTER I

Send thy seed throughout my worlds

Scott felt his age as he had just returned from a five K training run in full armour and even though his suit was fully Ram assisted for the final K of the run he had ordered that they disable the Rams to simulate combat conditions and the fifty KG suit with helmet, combat support vest, 214 personal

Weapon, and booster pack, as well as his share of squad ammunition and two bomb rounds had nearly killed him, as the weight was nearly Ninety Kilos of dead weight. He was now stood at the weapons range with half of his Battalion watching as his five hundred men were all lain prone at the

Individual firing points with there 214s pointed downrange at the target butts. Scott breathed heavily and watched as Major Carney walked the line watching the prone men like a hawk. The battalion’s sergeants were now standing behind their individual platoons readying them. Carney looked over at Scott who nodded and Carney turned to his front and spoke into his helmet Mic and then all hell let loose on the range as blue Rep plasma rounds fired into the air and the simulated Rep rounds came towards them in straight lines and then the Reps themselves appeared as holographic images and as these images ran forward they began diving and moving to and from cover just as any real attacking squad of Reps would. Within the chest area of each hologram a small hover drone was suspended and the drones computer controlled it and kept it with the computer generated Reps torso and this was the target the men had to hit, and although a lot of the holograms were disappearing as their drones were hit. At least twenty got through and their images disappeared when they were one meter from the prone  Marines and a red flashing pulse was generated above the platoon who had failed to stop their targets.

Carney was furious with his Spartans.

You Fucks!He screamed at them as he walked the line kicking boots and legs as he went. You have all died the Reps are in our trench and are making soup from your carcasses. The Boss is going to have to data link your death conformation to your next of kins. You are all next to fucking useless and yet you have the balls to wear the patch of a Marine rifleman, and the clue is in your title you shits and in case your learning ring malfunctioned at school the word is. Riflemen! I am glad that our Spartan vets are not here today, as they would be crying with shame at the men that now wear their hard earned Spartan patch. A patch I may add that they earned with their blood, their pain, and their sacrifice. And even though you have not have to have done anything to wear the badge except to enlist you are expected to live up to its standards and that patch, which I myself wear with pride is the most famous military badge on the fucking planet. It was an honour earned by marines who fought from day one to the end of the war and then some. You get to wear the patch and you share the honour without having to piss your armour in the front line with real Reps coming at you. All you have to do is lay prone and blast away at some cock sucking holographic targets. And it appears that you cannot hit these harmless images with the best weapon in the three Galaxies. You have got to be shitting me. Marines my ass. Sergeants do your jobs and we will run the simulation again, and again, and a fucking gain until you get it right and if you run out of ammo you can go after them with your fucking jabbers and knives so Standby.

Scott smiled, Carney although he held the rank of Major, still acted like the British marine Sergeant who he had first met Ten years ago.

As the simulation started again his wristlet alarm went off and raising it so he could see the script he quickly read the scrolling message and saw that he had been summoned to the Third marine Corps command bunker and he was about to re activate the arm and leg rams to run the five K back when a personal Hydro vehicle turned up. He stood up straight from the stooped position that he had now assumed as he recovered from the run and waving at Carney to show him that he was going he climbed into the open topped armoured vehicle and nodding to its driver he watched as the marine jerked the joystick to the right and increased the attitude of the hand throttle. The twin Plas tracks responded immediately and the vehicle shot over the rough ground until it reached one of the camps numerous Mag roads and as soon as the green lights on the vehicles fascia board illuminated the driver pressed a button and the tracks withdrew into the body and the vehicle floated over the magnetic strip which was set into the roads surface and then without waiting he pushed the throttle three quarters of the way forward and the vehicle increased to nearly three hundred Ks an hour. It could go faster, and it was not unknown for these military vehicles to loose their grip on the magnetic track and shoot of into the countryside, which was an adventure, and not as dangerous as it sounded.

The vehicle which had been nicknamed a Jeep as a throwback to the olden days shot through the camps main gate without stopping as it had sent is own codded ID to the gate barriers as it approached and the gate lowered into the road just before the vehicle reached it and it raised itself as soon as the rear of the Jeep passed over the sensor strip. It always worried Scott when they passed through the auto gates as the two auto turrets guarding the gate always tracked them all the way and if they fired if they detected even a hiccup in the continual codded interrogation of the jeep they would open fire and they would shred the vehicle and its occupants within nano seconds. The small Jeep moved through the camp and came to a wobbling halt outside of the entrance to the command bunker, and alighting from the vehicle which quickly backed away turned and then sped off as soon as he had pulled his 214 out of the rear stowage compartment. He took one step forward and stood in front of the three foot high ID stake where he was about to go through the standard pupil and DNA check and as he placed an ungloved hand onto the stakes angled palm pad the machine licked his palm and analyzed the sweat almost instantly and before he had completely removed his hand the machine had searched its global data base in a micro second and before Scott could blink twice it had electronically matched him to its data base which included a face match, height, and estimated weight and bone structure which was done via a small external and internal body scanning camera on the upper part of the stake. If the ID machine required further confirmation of his bio another plate would unfold from the stake and he would be told to plug his wristlet that all military personal wore into the stake and this would then analyze his biology from his monitored Med record and blood sample that was permanently held within his Med kits data banks and was updated every second as the kit monitored the bodies vitals as well as administered any drugs as required, including vitamins and Bio supplements and other substances to increase performance. It was an important part of his combat suit and would keep him alive and stabilized if wounded. Also within the stake was a pupil reader and this had already scanned both his eyes when he had approached the stake although this was not always done as most men wore their helmet visors down at all times as this visor displayed information from various sources including personnel weapon status and targeting. The ID system had never yet been fooled. At least it was not known to have been as all stakes were linked from those ships out in deepest space to those non military stakes that were placed in every civilian installation on the planet and beyond and this ID method was used for everything you did from birth to death.

Without further preamble the armoured door in front of him opened and Scott stepped into a brightly lit box. The door shut and locked behind him and then an inner door opened which revealed an elevator. Stepping into it he told the elevator what level he wanted and the door whispered shut and the steel box dropped at some speed before coming to a cushioned stop at the bottom of the six-story shaft. Again the door opened almost silently and he stepped out of the elevator and into another slightly larger sanitized lobby and as the door shut behind him and the elevator returned to the surface he again had to step forward to the bunkers entrance and undergo another Scan, DNA, and pupil check before the inner door opened and the command bunker was laid out before him. What he saw was a large well-illuminated smooth walled box with the far wall dominated by a Global comms panel whilst the rest of the room was filled with the standard and almost compulsory glass computer screens, most adorned the walls but there was a smattering of large screens suspended from the ceiling and smaller ones above every desk and work station, which appeared to be scattered haphazardly around the dull dark resin floor. All of the positions within the bunker were unmanned at present but the clear glass screens were illuminated and they all showed the crest of the Third Marine Corps. The center of the bunker was clear and above it was an eye of a holographic projector and this would give real time Vid in four dimensions of whatever was required, be it received vid of the battlefield in all four environments or information vid the archives. The general could even select an individuals suit Vid from any trooper and from anywhere on the planet or above it, and he could view exactly what the soldier or pilot was seeing the inputs to the videos viewer in all of the command bunkers was nearly endless. He saw the Generals small office off to his left, the door was open and the General was sat behind his a small plain desk and the general himself was gesturing for him to come to him. Scott walked across the hard resin and marble flecked floor which shone slightly as it reflected the overhead lights and he followed the illuminated strip which had been set into the resin floor and ran around the bunkers perimeter and led to the various rooms and machinery spaces which bordered the main control room. Without pausing Scott walked into the office and took the proffered oversized chair which was designed to take the weight of a man wearing armour and associated combat gear, which Scott was still wearing, and as he slumped into the chair placing his weapon that he was still carrying onto the floor normally it would have been checked into a secure locker outside of the bunkers upper door but the scanners had detected no live rounds either in the weapon or on the person carrying it.

Scott wiggled in the chair and felt instant relief as he was still aching from the moderately paced five K run.

The General put the old style hand held comm unit into its retro holder on his desk and threw Scott a sachet of coffee. Scott caught it and read the label his eyebrows going up as he read the contents list and saw that it was original coffee and not synthetic and that it was Vintage Blue mountain. He nodded his thanks and pulled the string that initiated the heating element within the Sachet and the contents began to heat up to just below boiling and as soon as it was ready the top of the bag changed colour from green to red and uncapping the ceramic straw which protruded from the top of the Sachet he placed his lips around its end and sucking lightly he drew the dark liquid into his mouth and savoured the taste by letting it wash over his tongue and around his cheeks.

The General waited whilst Scott savoured the expensive Sachet and when his colonel took the straw from his lips he spoke. Its begun Scott, a small Rep fleet of twenty shuttles came through the hole into the Red galaxy and then came through our hole and into our Galaxy where there were met by the second fleet and blown to bits. Our Rep Techies informed us that this was a recon wing of strength and which by its size has told them that this force is not merely a reconnaissance force but a full scale pre attack recon which the Reps always sent through the holes prior to sending their full scale assault forces in order to carry out probes and recons and to trip any ambushes that may await them. So at least they have now given us a warning that they are coming and they will now know that we have discovered their secret and are waiting for them. Our pet Techies has also informed us that the Reps have lost numerous Recon forces before and that their leaders will shrug it off as an act of war and they will class this as a successful Recon as it has told them that their enemy is waiting for them and so they will adjust their tactics accordingly and as you know Scott that probably means that they will arrive with little subtlety and all guns blazing. So Colonel it looks as if we are out of time and they are now turning their attention our way. However we are not going to wait for them to roll into our system as we have now positively identified two Rep colonies within the Red galaxy and which supply meat and veg to the Rep home world. GMF has decided to send a small strike force into the red galaxy and to take out these colonies as we begin a logistic war upon the Reps as their own Galaxy has long been exhausted of natural resources, hence their search and their many wars as they looked for a system that could give them a sustainable source of the resources that they needed especially food. We are also going to mount a raid on a third Planet from the ninth Sol in the red galaxy which we have been informed by the Techies contains a Rep Nav computer and this machine will give us all of the co-ords of their own colonized worlds and known planets within the explored galaxies. It will also give us the positions of all known Wormholes as well as other useful Astro and scientific stuff. But most importantly to us in the military is that it will give us the position of the two systems that the Reps are presently at war with as well as some of the more aggressive conquered planets where we may be able to start resistance movements upon if their own peoples have not already initiated resistance. But the bigger picture is not the third corps concern. What is of specific concern to us is the planet that this Nav computer or machine is located upon and that is because the Third marine Corps has been chosen as part of joint strike group. We will form one arm of the group whilst the other will be supplied buy Chinas black hand corps augmented with Russian SF. We will also be carrying British SF and our own USRA SF. Our special forces will be used for recon and as shock troops if needed. The planners are still working out the operational plan so all of my officers will be summoned for a briefing and you will all receive your copies when it is transmitted through to us. That’s all I have for now except that we board the shuttles in approximately seventy two hours so get your men prepped and check off your logistics. Its a rushed OP as per normal but as our gear is containerized and labeled it is ready to go as soon as the shuttles touch down but please run through the lists with your officers and NCO’s and order anything that you think you may need, or are deficient in and as this mission is a priority you will get anything you ask for, within reason, and also provided that it is in stock somewhere in the world. I know your Spartans are fifty per cent green and I will ask you this only once. Are they ready?

Yes sir they are ready, the third Battalion of the third are fully combat capable sir and as they wear the Spartan patch they are Spartans in all respects.

I never expected them not to be ready Scott but how about you? The offer of a Star for your shoulder board is still open and you can have your own command anywhere on the planet. Major Carney and White can be promoted to handle the Battalion. Your talents are special and I feel they are wasted in your currant job. So how about it?

I’m flattered sir that I am held in such regard but I am a Spartan. I have sweated and bled with those men and if we are going to war again I want to be leading them. I do not want a safe desk job in Global command or a soft command even if it’s a combat command. I have all I need in my Battalion and I know my men’s weaknesses and strengths and I will stand shoulder to shoulder with them, and if it’s my time to take the Rep blue shit in the chest then so be it. I have a lot of friends waiting for me on the other side sir.

So be it Scott I’ll be aboard the command shuttle when we launch. The African second marine Corps are moving into this base whilst we are gone just in case the Reps attack in force and go after New York again.

CHAPTER II

Let the birds fly free into the heavens

1st Air Fleet 22ND Air wing central europe

Ryan and Sam were sat in their comfortable married quarter on the newly constructed Pierre Lebouf airbase on the outskirts of Paris. This base was one of fourteen that made up the first air fleet of central Europe and had been custom built with deep bunkers and angled silos where the S Tallon mark fives were now placed into, rather than arrayed in hardened shelters on the periphery’s of the runways. The silo was in fact a large tube that had been sunk into the ground at about forty degrees and this tube contained a rail system which the Tallon backed up onto before the rails rose into the air with the Tallon sat securely upon them and then the entire combination slid down into the silo with the Tallons nose pointing to the sky. A very thick door then slid across the tube sealing the Tallon into its tube. Access to the Tallon for small maintenance tasks or the loading of weapon packages was along an underground tubular access corridor with a double blast door at the silos end as well as anti blast kinks along its length. The pilot of the Tallon also had a smaller separate access corridor, which placed him just above the opened cockpit and all he had to do was step down into the aircraft where his accompanying crew chief would fasten his umbilicals. The pilots access blast door would then shut, the cockpit canopy would slide into place and lock and the Tallon was then ready for launch and it was a launch rather than a take off as the Tallon was near enough fired out of the Silo by a sophisticated Mag rail system and the initial energy that was released when this system was triggered the power generated within such a confined space was immense. At first the pilots had thought that they were being fired out of the hole by an Anti matter or a AMX5 shaped charge. They still could not believe that it was only magnetic pulse energy that shot them into the sky with such force. Needless to say the launch was a hell of a lot quicker than the more traditional method of a short run along the Mag assisted runway and then as the wheels left the runway a near vertical climb to the operational or pre ordered height. The second advantage was that the Silos were nearly impregnable to everything apart from a hit from a large Nuke. And even then the Nuke would have to hit the camouflaged Silo near enough on the nose. All major maintenance of the Tallons was still done in the hardened hangers and the air bases conventional runways were only used for landings and by the shuttles and transport ships. He thought a moment about the base as he had had an input into its design and this base alone had a thousand silos and construction for another five hundred and fifty was soon to start it was a far cry from the disguised supermarket base that they had used during the war when they had used the adjacent motorway as their primary runway. Ryan put down his wristlet and looked at the still devastatingly beautiful Sam Something s up? Sam, Scott has just data messaged me on the official military net to say he will be out of contact for the next few weeks. Sam raised a perfectly formed eyebrow before answering. Maybe he’s just taking his Marines for an off planet exercise like he did last year?      No Sam he included the word ‘No tan this holiday time’ which is our code for Rep trouble. I hoped that I would never have to read it or write it myself. He’s off to fight the Reps. Now where that is I have no idea but he is going and I.......His wristlet buzzed and the clam shell device moved across the table as an incoming alert again triggered the vibrate mode. Being a pilot they did not wear their wristlets all the time as they had to take them off and on when they were changing into flight active G suits or into non Atmosphere suits as well as when they were testing the aircraft data systems as some of the data streams sent from the wristlet could interfere with the external aircraft test equipment. Not the aircraft’s systems themselves of course as this was shielded, just the external test gear. This had never actually been proven but the suspicion was there and so pilots were ordered to take them off when any cables were attached externally to the aircraft unless they were at alert status. But the main reason was that they were heavy and awkward and none of the pilots liked wearing the cumbersome things. Maybe like his brother had once said, all pilots were really effeminates who were yet to undergo a gender change. He picked it up read the message and then clamped it onto his right wrist. Saddle up Hon it looks like we are required in the base briefing theatre number one ASAP. He then felt his skin crawl and he knew that this was something to do with his brother’s codded message and his stomach suddenly knotted as dark thoughts entered his consciousness and he realized that he may be going back to war.      An hour later and a thousand pilots and a good mix of the five hundred senior ground crew and support staff who kept the base running and they were all comfortably seated within briefing theatre one. The huge curved wall in front of them had a holographic crest of the air group suspended just in front of it and a group of smaller individual squadron crests rotating clockwise around its bottom. Scott’s Cutlass squadron being the Crest that was larger than the rest as his Squadron was the founder member of the air wing as the English called it or group as the rest of the world referred to it. The Sol overhead lights dimmed and only the stage remained brightly illuminated a lectern rose from the center of the stage and as Scott watched it rise they were then called to attention and from the doors at the rear of the theatre in walked Air General Hussein commander of the first air fleet. He wasted no time and walked quickly down the illuminated lit aisle and then he literally bounded up the magically appearing four stairs which came out of the front of the stage and led up onto the boards as actors still insisted on calling the floor of the stage even though it was a hundred years since anyone actually used wood in a floor. He walked straight up to the lectern whilst his accompanying staff officers also stepped up onto the stage and quickly they stood in a semi circle behind him. This briefing or whatever it was had been called with such speed that they had not had time to place chairs onto the stage. The lights dimmed some more and the crests in front of the wall behind the general disappeared to be replaced by a four D picture of the wormhole and around its lit perimeter wreckage could be seen floating in space and Earth’s fleet were in view just off to the left. Their noses pointed at the hole like accusing fingers. Okay gentlemen your undivided attention please. He coughed into the voice pick-up on the front of the lectern before giving it a voice command to raise the volume level and then he continued. At 1300 local this afternoon a large group of Rep shuttles came through the Hole from the Red Galaxy they were let through by the Red galaxy fleet on orders of the GMF high command to see if they were just transiting and if that was the case the Earth fleet on our side of the ‘Hole’ was ordered to withdraw out of known Rep sensor range so that they too would be undetected. If the Reps were transiting they would have to have headed towards hole number four which would have necessitated them to turn sharp left when thy came through the hole and entered or Galaxy proper, and to allow them space to maneuver our fleet retreated further until it was shielded behind Pluto and the fleet went into passive mode only leaving line of sight camera drones to monitor the Reps. However the Reps did not turn and they came on in a direct intercept line with Earth and so the fleet was ordered to attack near Pluto. The Reps tried to run back to the hole and two managed to escape our main fleet but to their probable surprise they were met by another fleet when they entered the Red galaxy and before they could piss their pants they joined the great swamp in the sky. Laughter sounded from the darkened theatre. The general let it abate before continuing. "Okay what this means is that if we believe our pet Techies the Reps are on their way maybe not immediately, but very soon. By destroying their fleet recon we may have bought a few weeks or even a couple of months whilst they figure out why fifty plus very large ships are now missing. We also do not know the exact mission that these shuttles and warships were tasked to carry out. We do not even know if they were carrying troops, as their destruction was fairly complete. And again they could have been a probe in force and by there disappearance it has actually alerted the Reps that a substantial force awaits them which will finally tell them that their secret of the Holes is out and that we Humans have gained this knowledge. The fleet is sweeping the conflict area trying to find any bodies that are floating around so as to see what may have been aboard the shuttles. But that type of info and the analysis of it is up to the Intel brigades. Our Rep Techies say that these large warship and shuttle combinations always precede a re-commencement of hostilities and apparently the toads think nothing of letting their enemies know that they are coming and just as we found during the first war they are arrogant to the point of stupidity. But guess what Reps? We are waiting and prepared for you this time. Earth’s defence status has gone through the roof so assume that defensive condition one is now in force and planet wide all leave is cancelled, all reserve forces are being called to report to their pre-assigned barracks. GMF is already issuing orders and deploying the standing divisions to the pre- planned holding and assembly areas all around the globe. GMF will have fifty five million ground troops ready to fight within the next twenty four hours. All shuttles, Thropters, and heavy lift ships have been dispersed and are on a high alert state and they are ready to go to their designated pick up points and lift the ground troops to wherever they may be needed as and when required If the Reps do manage to breech our planets outer atmosphere and near space defences. Moon and Mars fighter squadrons are also on alert and are ready to intercept and engage the Reps should they get past the initial ‘Hole’ guarding fleets with Anti matter missiles and bombs. Smaller fleets are proceeding to the other Holes within our galaxy just in case the Reps try a two or three front attack. The other Hole is guarded by drones and is liberally seeded with early warning pods of all descriptions although it is thought that the fourth Hole is unstable although we have occasionally passed through it ourselves and we have lost two ships in transiting it as the instability of the hole is unpredictable. All earth squadrons are to be brought to