ONE: Epilogue of Hermesh

28. Battle of the Boran Expanse

A saying got quite popular amongst those fighting in the Boran Expanse, "If you survive the first day here, you'll live to regret it for the remainder of your short life."

Even though Commodore Reemon Erra was marked down as missing, after his mysterious disappearance from Ralnac, almost everyone, including Tekkar, believed he was dead…or worse. That left Tekkar as the senior most officer to have survived both the destruction of the Goulash Armada and the subsequent fall of Ralnac. 

The idea of arguing and pleading in front of the highest ranking Amarthian and Helmeshi officers, was definitely outside Tekkar's comfort zone. Yet overcoming her apprehensions, Captain Tekkar stood alongside Admiral Damook Attupe, General Barmin, and others, doing everything in her power to convince the War Council about the magnitude of the threat facing Hermesh.

As news of the destruction of the Goulash Armada and the fall of Ralnac started to spread throughout the galaxy, it elicited fear, confusion and panic in the population. Spurred by this chaos, the War Council made its first decisive move. As the alien invaders pushed deeper into Hermesh,  the mining colonies of Yag'laz and Zyl'othren, the nearest habitations after Ralnac, were evacuated as fast as possible. All forces were ordered to retreat. 

 The real debate, however, erupted during the formulation of a strategy to counter the invaders. Some of the more aggressive commanders wanted to launch an all out counter attack and meet the enemy at Zyl'othren itself. Tekkar knew that would be the worst possible course of action. By the time Tekkar had left Ralnac, she was convinced the chaos projected by the enemy was but an illusion. In fact, every step taken by the aliens, she believed, was not only well calculated, but also ruthlessly executed. 

Captain Tekkar was still in Alamiin, when the engagement first started at the Expanse. Initially, the news from the frontlines was quite promising. Going through the live feeds, Tekkar realized the aliens were deploying the same strategy that they had during the very first encounter. 

The first wave of alien ships that had counterattacked the Goulash Armada, outside Hermesh had crashed into the forward lines of the Amarthian and Helmeshi ships. While they had kept the forward ships of the armada completely engaged, they had almost immediately been followed by a second wave that had moved right past them and engaged the rear guard of the armada. This forced every single Amarthian and Helmeshi ship into battle, at once, with a 3 to 1 numerical disadvantage. All this had happened so fast and the damage inflicted on both the Amarthian and Helmeshi warships was so devastating that by the time Commodore Erra had ordered the remaining of the battleships to fall back to the wormhole, over half the  Goulash Armada had already been destroyed. 

Tekkar had witnessed, first hand, how the aliens had come up with an entirely new strategy to invade the Ralnac System.

Deploying the X-ray robbed them of one of their most significant advantages. Yet, in spite of the Erra Grid, the aliens still managed to clinically execute the plan. They were not only able to draw out almost all the ships defending the System into battle but also stretch them to their absolute limits, before finally bring forth the destroyer to obliterate Ralnac itself. 

It was only at the Boran Expanse that the invaders faced their first stiff opposition. Even though they gave the illusion of using a new tactic, Tekkar knew that the enemy's strategy was but a variation of the first strategy used against the Armada. Over the first two days of engagement more than 50,000 alien ships launched systematic strikes across the entire Expanse. Spearheading them were 5,000 of the planet cutters that seemed determined to plough their way across the expanse and leave a clear path for the rest of the enemy ships to follow. 

Even though this approach appeared crude, the former Commander was aware of its sheer psychological impact. It was similar to what the crew of the Armada had experienced. Tekkar could only imagine the mental state of those defending the Boran Expanse, watching ships, only one of which had cut through an entire planet, now trying to tear down the entire Expanse in a bid to destroy them.