The Phoenix War

Hey guys, never posted here, but there are so many good stories I had to add.

Earth Calendar Date 2231: Galactic Coalition Council Chambers, Public hearing after 3 weeks of closed sessions.

We call this session to order at the request of Sarah Demitrov, leader of the Earth Mars forces during the war. The Lencarian head councilor states, and per request of the Human government, I yield the floor to them to conduct this public hearing. A Human male gets up from his seat and approaches the podium, "I am Councilor James Roberts, and I thank the Galactic community for allowing us to conduct this hearing."

James: The Phoenix war ended just 50 standard orbits ago, and details regarding what occurred are finally coming to light. Sarah has requested this hearing to be conducted prior to the all-net galaxy-wide broadcast of what happened so that all may understand why she demanded a trial. We have held closed sessions over the past 3 weeks so that the Galactic Council could hear a full account of what happened, and all details will be broadcast tomorrow. As such, what you are about to hear is just a brief synopsis of what occurred in the Sol system during Earth calendar dates 2149-2163. I warn you, what you are about to hear is not for the faint of heart, and I request that all questions be held until the end. Ms. Demitrov, please walk us through what led to, and I quote, "the self-inflicted genocide of nearly 11 billion humans."

A gaunt figure rises from her wheelchair, hair thin and white, with eyes that seem to have no light left in them at all. Despite the frail appearance, she carries herself as one unafraid of any outcome.

Sarah: Thank you, Councilor James, and to all in attendance today, as well as each of the representatives present. It began as many things do, with regime change in the Traxan Empire. For centuries, the Traxans abided by galactic law and were contributing members of the Coalition; however, civil war enveloped the Empire in 2105, and what emerged were a changed people. Those who no longer saw themselves as partners but as conquerors resolved to rule the galaxy because it was their right.

James: Ms. Demitrov, I believe all here are aware of how the conquest wars began. You may skip ahead to 2149 when an invasion fleet first appeared outside the Sol ort cloud.

Sarah: Yes, of course, being new to the galactic community, we had heard whispers of what was occurring across the galaxy, and we wrongly assumed that it was only a minor squabble. So when the fleet appeared, we sent a few delegates to ascertain their intent. The destruction of our ships gave us an answer. At that time, the Earth Mars Consortium was finally recovering from our own civil war, and our Navy was modest at best. Despite this, we mustered what ships we could in hopes of holding off the Traxans until Galactic help could arrive. We did not know the true extent of the war then, but it became apparent when our allies sent messages that no military aid was available. So we did the only thing we could do: we fought.

James: Was negotiation never attempted?

Sarah: Oh, certainly, but the only reply we received was an ultimatum: surrender and be enslaved or fight, die, and be enslaved. The Traxan technology was vastly superior to our own, and as such, our only advantage was numbers and home territory. That wasn't enough; the first battles around Jupiter were complete losses, for every Traxan ship we were able to destroy, we lost 10. Decisions were made on Earth and Mars to abandon the outer solar system and redeploy our forces along the Martian lines. We left 1.1 billion people out there to die, become slaves, or worse....

James: This seems like a valid military decision given the overwhelming force, clearly not grounds to be called genocide.

Sarah: No, sir, and my part in this story hasn't started yet. The Traxan invasion fleet wasn't large, a mere 43 ships, and we had hopes that if we could make a stand, they would decide we were not worth the effort. The battle of Mars fared better for us; our forces, combined with planet-side defense, helped us finally inflict some damage to the Traxans. However, it was not enough; our lines began to break, as their technological advantage was too great. The beginning of what would become my crimes started when the EMCN Carrier Antaries, critically damaged, decided to charge the enemy fleet. Cpt. Brian Starling unsafed all weapons, ordnance, and reactors, then rammed the lead siege dreadnaught and detonated. The blast vaporized a majority of the dreadnaught and support vessels. The Traxan fleet disengaged back towards Jupiter.

James: I don't quite follow. How could a victory lead to your "crimes?"

Sarah: What we didn't know was that the Traxan Emperor's only son and heir was commanding that very ship.... What was just another conquest became vengeance. A few weeks later, a larger fleet was detected in system, doubling their strength. The Navy fell quickly after that, and what was left began moving Earthward. On Earth, worry began to truly set in, and panic spread among the nations of Earth. Everyone spoke of surrender, escape, fighting to the last, or worse.

James: Why didn't you, like other younger species, simply build ships and flee? The Myonians were able to launch 3 ark ships before their world fell, and despite now being endangered, they did survive.

Sarah: In those days, our FTL technology was vastly inferior to the Traxans. Ark ships would be slow, easy to track, and never make it to any habitable system before the Traxan could catch up. No, that was not an option. I was the aide to the Russo-American Alliance UN chair, and most nations spoke of surrender in hopes of rebellion later. That all changed after the 6th week of Martian ground warfare. The Martians were hardy, tough people, and they made the Traxans pay for every grain of Martian sand. The red planet now ran red with blood, ours and theirs. Mars had a population of just over 6 billion and the means to arm them. The Traxans simply didn't have enough men, and so the Emperor, enraged by our defiance....

Sarah pauses the camera, focusing on her zooms in, tears run down her face, and for the briefest of moments, her stone-like face cracks. She quickly grabs the nearby cup of water, takes a sip, and resumes, her voice emotionless like before.

Sarah: The Emperor decided to crack Mars. All 13 billion people on Earth watched the news feeds as the three siege dreadnaughts lumbered into formation before firing sustained plasma beams at the planet for 22 minutes until it more or less exploded. It was clear there were no survivors, and surrender was no longer on the table. Fear and panic gripped the populace, even our leadership, and nations fell seemingly overnight as Mars burned in the sky.

James: It would seem the only ones guilty of genocide were the Traxns? However, the details of events give a chilling overview; it shows people utterly desperate, but still far from being a crime.

Sarah: It was necessary to paint the picture so you would understand why things happened as they did. It was one of the last UN meetings, and most major nations were present, and it devolved into chaos. No one knew what to do, the Traxans were now days away, and there were no plans, just panic and fear. I stepped up to the podium, and well, I don't remember what I said, but after I came to, the room was silent. It was then that I began the path that would lead me here. I laid out a plan, scatter our remaining forces and every ship with an FTL drive. Use them as guerrilla groups, harass the Traxans, have them fight and die to buy us time. I reasoned they would not begin the full invasion of Earth until they had crushed every asset in system. One, because we all know an FTL drive used in imaginative ways can cripple or destroy a dreadnaught, and two, the Emperor's rage was blinding him. I then laid out my second plan: we would tear our gaze from the sky and look down into the womb of our mother Earth. We would leverage the world's resources and build underground cities deep within the crust. It was clear the emperor had more extensive plans for Earth that didn't involve cracking it, and this would be our advantage. Once more, the room erupted in chaos, but in the end, enough of the nations agreed. We would lie to the world tell them there will be room for all in order to accomplish our goal. We would give them false hope and use them before casting them aside.

James: I.... I did not know that these decisions and ideas were originally your own. I'm beginning to understand why you might see yourself as a criminal. Please continue.

Sarah: What the UN didn't know was that this plan had no need of politicians or their families; they agreed because they believed I, like them, wanted to save myself and my power. They would be proven to be wrong, our timetable said the remnants of our navy plus civilian fleet could buy us at most 2 years. So long as the Traxans only established an orbital blockade while hunting down our guerrillas. In reality, the Navy and civilians bought us 4 years 7 months; they are heroes who did the impossible. In that time, we were able to complete 4 of these underground cities in near secrecy. It was 2154 when the facade was finally broken. A transmission from Mercury came through on all bands. I believe you have the file.

James: Yes, we do, we can play it now. The audio is from the carrier Burning Dawn, while the video is from ground-based installations.

A grainy image of Mercury appears on the holo screen, dark blobs begin to appear in focus around the planet, multiple ships all converging on a single larger ship. "This is Cpt. Diego Martinez of the EMCN Burning Dawn, we have fought and bled for you, all of you. Let this final transmission be not one of loss, but let it shine a light on a better tomorrow. One where we stand united in victory. Commander execute Star Shine protocol." The screen goes white as a light brighter than the sun emerges from the epicenter of the Traxan ships. 311 FTL cores detonated at once, and as the light fades, it's clear that 2/3 of both the Traxan ships and Mercury were rendered into atoms.

Sarah: It was shortly after this that, while many in the world cheered, I put my plan into motion. 250 million people, all deemed critical to the project, were contacted and evacuated to their respective positions. This was done by force, families separated, children forcibly removed, and the like. If you had been chosen, you were taken, even if violence was required. At the same time, an additional nearly 750 million people were abducted and placed into stasis. There was no choice given; they had been deemed mission-critical by heads of all departments.

James: What do you mean by departments? I feel as if there were other plans besides these cities just being a last refuge? Moreover, while you certainly violated these people's rights, the circumstances were dire.

Sarah: As you correctly guessed, the cities were simply a cover in order to put our actual plan in motion. Shortly after getting permission to build these cities and being placed in charge, I quickly brought my own team of scientists, engineers, doctors, and military strategists together. We all agreed that waiting out the enemy was not a valid plan; we needed to devise a strategy to fight back. So, Project Leviathan was developed, we would in secret preselect all individuals necessary to build massive ships of war and the logistical and scientific infrastructure needed.

James: I see, and everyone else? The other 12 billion people? What would become of them?

Sarah: They... they were deemed a necessary sacrifice.... It would be impossible to save them all, and it would be impossible to get everyone we required if we waited until it became clear Earth would be devastated. Moreover, it would also buy us time and lots of it, our models indicated that even under the most dire conditions, our huge numbers could mount a years-long resistance. We had set things in motion now that couldn't be undone; we had chosen a path and sealed the door behind us. There was no room for emotion, mercy, pity; it was survival of the species that mattered. Lives were now numbers, statistics; they were tools to be used and discarded to survive. The Traxans were hell-bent on making an example of us; we would be exterminated, but slowly, painfully, for show and sport. Why then should we let them exterminate us when we could use those lives in a desperate attempt to survive?

The council chambers were now silent; the murmurs and whispers had completely gone. All eyes, ears, sensory receptors were focused on what this human had just said.... She and those in charge had resolved to use billions of lives as ammunition.

Sarah: When the first ships began landing troops, the cities were still packed with people uncertain of where to go or what to do, and we had planned for it to happen this way. The Traxans would land in these cities first and begin their extermination. London was the first, and it was I who pushed the button to detonate the fusion bombs placed around the city. Millions died instantly, the city, the people, the Traxans all vaporized by the explosions. Similar events occurred in every major city where the Traxan were conducting their initial landings. I don't know exactly how many people I killed that day, millions for sure but maybe it was billions. Some of the commanders and generals broke, they committed suicide or, worse, tried to take control. We had planned for this; only those with a grim resolve to survive by any means could be trusted, and our selection process reflected that. Those few were disposed of.

James: How could you do such a thing? You are saying you preplanned the murder of millions of people, you hoped for that outcome? Is survival worth such a price?

Sarah: Yes, survival is all that matters. That is why we are here today. I accepted my fate the moment it became clear that survival was what we were fighting for. The Traxans became more cautious after that; the invasion ground to a halt. By the time the Emperor finally listened to reason and began orbital bombardment of the surface, those who remained had left major population centers. It was now a slow, horrific war of attrition. As our models indicated, most people chose to fight and die. And so they did, over the next 6 years, the Earth, once beautiful and blue, was turned to an ashen wasteland. Those who we chose to sacrifice did more for us than could ever be repaid. We, I betrayed them, left them to die and yet they still fought for their homes.

James: And you few underground safe in your cities, what did you do?

Sarah: Conditions underground were no better than the surface. There were no rules anymore, only the work and the project. The air became toxic within weeks, factories worked all hours, the heat was oppressive and conditions were terrible. Scientists, engineers, and craftsmen worked with complete disregard for safety. Death was pervasive among the population, radiation, toxic fumes, and work accidents. Our hell was at least of our own making; those left on the surface and a majority of those here now weren't given a choice. Either way, you lived in hell on Earth. Yet we still needed more; massive ships wouldn't save us we needed to close the technological gap. So we built ships, small, fast fighters designed to intercept drop pods or cargo shuttles. Our pilots would overwhelm them with numbers to score one kill. The death rate was 85% of first mission pilots, salvage teams deployed from what few entrances to the tunnels existed to obtain technology. Luckily, the Traxans don't believe in much pilot or ship retrieval and some of what we brought down was recovered. It cost us almost 550k pilots over those 6 years. In that time, our conditions continued to deteriorate as the vessels came together, and experimental technology crafted death rates soared. Thousands died daily, I lost track of the lists. It didn't matter anymore, only completing the work and saving the species. Food ran out in the third year, and so the dead became our nutrients. Rendered down in protein vats and reconstituted into lab-grown meat. Other portions were used to fertilize grow labs where meager crops could survive. I know it didn't compare to what was happening on the surface. We became more machines than people, as our numbers began to decline and affect work, we adapted. I decided not to wake the others unless they were tier 1; they needed to be spared the horrible reality of what we were doing to save them. Clones, on the other hand, were expendable. And so the dead became not only our food but their own replacements; even in death, they still served.

Sarah pauses, while the council had heard much more than this, the lower and outer chambers had not. The attendants were shocked, horrified, disgusted; some had fainted, others looked sick.

Sarah: In the closing years of the invasion, we grew more desperate, 3 of the 4 planed ships were nearing completion; however, they would never function without an AI far beyond what we currently had. Development was failing and we needed to get more radical. I decided to go with the plan of live neural transfer. Thousands of individuals were lobotomized, many against their will to build an AI capable of running particle accelerators rendered into weapons of war. Time, once our ally, was now our enemy and so I had to shed myself of the last remaining bits of humanity I had. Time tables moved up, friends sent to their deaths, and every decision was mine. And then finally the day came, the department heads had all gathered in the cavern which housed the ship in our city. By this time, full enviro suits were needed to survive outside hab blocks. We stood together and watched as The Grim Resolve came to life. At 15km long and nearly 2km thick in places, we feared it would collapse under its own weight. But deep down, I knew we had picked the right people for the job. We had closed the technological gap and even surpassed it in some places. That, along with the miles of blood soaked into the plating, meant nothing could stop the launch now. I remember talking to the Captain of the Grim Resolve before we launched. He was a Navy veteran and had seen war. He looked in my eye, and I guess he saw something. He put a hand on my shoulder and said "No one could have done what you did, you sucked it up and made the decisions needed to get us to today. I don't agree with what you did, but I don't hate you; I pity you because if we win this, you will forever wish you died up there with the others." Now I believe that you have the vid file of the turning point of the Phoenix war.

James: Yes, I believe we do, we will play it now.

The holo screen lights up a recording from one of the Traxan dreadnaughts, the frame shifts from the bridge to an outside view. The Earth resembles a tomb world, caked in ash and craters. The atmosphere is thick with dust and massive superstorms from massive climate instability. The camera zooms in on three large white gray shapes lifting through the clouds. The distance closes, and the focus becomes clear, ugly behemoths long, thin, but bulging at the sides. They close the distance surprisingly fast for ships of their size. Fire arcs from behind the camera, no doubt the Traxan ship's main cannon. Purple lightning shoots from a barrier forming above the hull plating of one of the ships. The other two break away, no doubt headed for other dreadnaughts. Plasma and kinetic projectiles are deflected or absorbed by barriers as well. The cam refocuses on the closing ship, the name appears visible now, "Grim Resolve", the letters almost look like they were painted with blood. As the ship positions, the front splits apart like a great maw. An intense flow begins emanating from conduits ringing the ship, fire intensified, but the ship shrugs each blow off, and the light intensifies. The maw silent before suddenly explodes with a stream of heavy particles accelerated to 99% the speed of light and the playback goes black.

James: This is, by all accounts, what turned the tide galaxy-wide. The Traxans would go on to lose the war and be exterminated, and you would be the one to lead that effort as well. You are to be tried for that genocide as well, so why, now of all times, would you wish to bring this information forward while no one else did?

Sarah: Because, the future that was built on the deaths of billions deserves better than me. All need to see what happened here to ensure that what we, what I, did never happens again.