Nomad Fleet by Ivan Kal

Author:Ivan Kal [Kal, Ivan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-28T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

“How many?” Tomas asked.

“Out of the core, only the Tar’ferat, the Suvri, and the Afar Group have agreed on the formal alliance. The Tuete and the Josanti League have refused and left the system. Benos are not interested in an alliance for now, but they do wish to begin relations with your alliance, mostly trade and such,” Levisomaerni answered. She had been coordinating with the other races.

Tomas nodded. He knew exactly what Benos were after: Rimward Alliance technology. Everyone had seen what the Sovereigns were capable off.

“And the rest?” Tomas asked.

“We have made preliminary agreements with sixty-three nations in the rim. But it will take time for everything to get coordinated; their territories are spread out around the galaxy,” Levisomaerni said.

Tomas rubbed a hand over his temple. That number was lower than what he had expected, considering that most nations were far smaller than even the Empire. Their contributions, while welcome, would not be enough.

Levisomaerni noticed his expression. “That is not to say that more won’t come around. Most of them are scared; they have never seen battles on such a scope as the one fought several days ago. Most have far fewer ships than the rest of us.”

“I understand all that,” Tomas said. And he did—he wouldn’t jump into an alliance which would pit them against the most powerful forces in the galaxy if he didn’t have anything close to that power level.

“There is some good news,” Levisomaerni said.

“Good news would be refreshing,” Tomas replied heavily.

“The Suvri and the Afar Group have agreed to let your Nomad Fleet pass through their territory, which should lead you directly to the containment zone. Further, both the Suvri and the Tar’ferat have agreed to send three fleets each with ours when they leave. The Afar will provide two fleets.”

“That is good news,” Tomas said. It was a step in their plan, and Tomas had already sent word through the access point back to Sol, to gather more forces. They would be reinforcing the Nomad Fleet with additional fleets, one from each of the members of the Rimward Alliance, bringing the numbers of the Rimward Alliance ships to fifty thousand. With another forty thousand from their new allies, the force would number ninety thousand. It was a force that he was comfortable with sending into the heart of the enemy territory. Its mission was not to fight, but to do a reconnaissance of the AI’s zone and the Enlightened. Tomas had made it clear to Adrian that they were to run away rather than get into conflicts.

But if Tomas didn’t manage to gather a far larger force to challenge the Enlightened, their trip would only stir the hornets’ nest. Yet they couldn’t just let the Enlightened be; they knew that they had a plan, that much was obvious, and the only reason they’d been quiet was because they didn’t want to fight yet. Giving them more time to accomplish their goals was paramount to suicide. That much, at least, Tomas was certain about.

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