The Space Liberators

Chapter 27: The Inner Circle

Three years have passed since Dom Hercules gave the note to Carl Zeus to deliver it to "an old friend"; that friend was Air Marshal Wilfred Richtofen, Imperial Commander of the Berlukraften and one of Dolan Litmah's inner circle within his trusted colleagues... Or that's what Dolan thinks; ever since Dolan's decision to demote Dom Hercules to Corporal, Wilfred started to dislike Dolan because it should be up to him to decide the fate of an ace pilot and not Dolan; But there is one thing Wilfred has that Dolan doesn't... Dom Hercules' list, in which he received it from Carl Zeus three years ago and has been busy ever since, trying to organise an army as well as making alliances within the Zeta High Command, especially with the head of the Zeta elite guard; Hubert Von Kluger, the man who formed the new elite guard after the First Inter-Galactic War and also used his influence to become Field Marshal of the Zeta Elite Guard and also becoming a member of Dolan's exclusive inner circle, But he too has plans of his own, in which he hopes to overthrow Dolan and become Emperor of Zeta Pictoris; But he wasn't the only one that hopes to overthrow the dictator from his power; Admiral Alfred Van Spee, Sea Lord and Head of the Berlumarine was also planning a major rebellion against Dolan Litmah, believing that Dolan was no longer able to continue his rule over the empire and that the Berlumarine should take over; with all these men planning their own coup's you have to wonder if the inner circle is becoming a plot of something much bigger; even now Dolan Litmah's health has deteriorated in the past three years as well as becoming paranoid after hearing his forces have been on the retreat for the two and a half years; especially the massive charge from the Boriscovian forces; and now the United Galaxies Fleet are approaching the outer limits of the Grand Imperial Inter-Galactic Empire, but this wasn't the worst news.

The Imperial Constellation of Spartans have begun to crumble from the pressure of the Legion Army of Resistance and the Gerodin naval forces; King Perez Marino started to have separate peace talks with the United Galaxies via President Dupont; now Dolan can only rely on Emperor Shin Maurer and the Imperial Collective of Aldos, but even they are in the defensive against the Barlian and Englashican forces.

But even most of Dolan Litmah's commanders didn't think that the forces of Aldos could hold on for long, and so they started to make plans for a coup against Dolan; the only man they turned to was Kaiserlicher Feldmarschal Albert Von Braun of the Grand Army of Zeta, and another member of the inner circle, he gained a famous reputation during the First Inter-Galactic War, for the planing and execution of the Blitzschlag Offensive which saw him take a force of half a million troops advancing 279 miles in three days and wiping out the 3rd Gerodin Army with ease; But currently he is planing the fall of Dolan Litmah, but with Wilfred, Alfred, and Hubert all planing their own coup's the possibility of an internal conflict was very high, all they had to do now was keep their cards close to their chest.

Meanwhirle at the planet Dorffslund, the United Galaxies fleet had just cleared the Zeta forces from the planet and the forces of the Parisians continued to advance along with Boriscovians, while Admiral Smith stayed at Dorffslund to consolidate and rest his forces until he plans a new offensive; Admiral Smith was in his quarters on board HMS Liberator with Boudiccas, both of then was looking at the holographic map of the Parada System and the Empire of the Germanica, the Parisian and Boriscovian forces were displayed on the map; "they're heading to Berlung" said Admiral Smith as he points to the Parisian-Boriscovian forces; Boudiccas was happy with the progress but even she was thinking of the next target for the offensive, she was thinking of a forward thrust to Zeta Pictoris "We should charge forward immediately and go for the jewel to gain a swift victory" she said enthusiastically; Admiral Smith wasn't enthusiastic, after what Boudiccas said "And overstretch our supply lines" he replied "NO. I will not do that whatsoever"; he was looking extensively at the map and started mentally planing his next move, he then pointed at a planet "Frankbergen"; Boudiccas questioned his choice "and your reason for picking that is?"

"Well, it has decent resources for building aircraft, army vehicles and ships, plus it has perfect naval facilities, and it's the halfway point between Dorffslund and Zeta Pictoris; if we are quick enough and form a strong force we could take Frankbergen within 3 weeks and have the facilities ready within 2 months... I hope", Boudiccas was quite surprised with Admiral Smith's ending to his words; I'm guessing anything could happen, even at this stage of the campaign", Admiral Smith nodded in agreement and said "even the craziest things can happen at any time", Boudiccas sighed and took a mouthful of her drink, just then Millie Ova burst into the Admiral's quarters huffing and puffing, "either this is disrespectful of my privacy or it's something extremely important" said the Admiral with a very disciplined tone; Millie finally caught her breath "I'm sorry to intrude Admiral, but we've received a telegram from the Gerodin forces "We have taken full control of the Imperial Constellation of Spartans and the planet Raloma, with assistance from the Legionary Resistance Army, King Perez Marino has been captured and is in Gerodin Custody, he has accepted unconditional Surrender'"; both Admiral Smith and Boudiccas looked at each other with surprised expressions, Millie continued "That's not all sir"

"Well what else is there to know?" Admiral Smith replied

"Dende and Chi-Chi have returned with the Shondarian forces, they are advancing towards Mucklenburg" Millie said as she started to rush back to bridge; now Admiral Smith and Boudiccas were astonished and speechless.

It had been three years since the then Prince and Princess had declared their withdrawal from the war since Bejingia was engulfed in a civil war, and now they return with a massive force and advancing towards Mucklenburg.

Admiral Smith turned to Boudiccas "WE CHARGE TO FRANKBERGEN IMMEDIATELY". Boudiccas was surprised with Admiral Smith's change of tone.

"You've suddenly changed your tone, why so?"

"Because the entire United Galaxies forces are here plus we've wasted enough time so we must get moving now" said Admiral Smith, with a warriors spirit within him; within a matter of hours the invasion force for Frankbergen was ready and began to set sail out of Dorffslund, once they were clear, the combined Anglo-Kilmarnac Fleet began to warp to Frankbergen; three hours later they arrived at Frankbergen's orbit and saw 2 Zeta ships fighting against each other; Admiral Smith looked through his telescope to identify who was fighting the other, he found it difficult at first but he can clearly see the naval ensign of the Berlumarine, the he focused on the other ship and could see an ensign but it was completely different; just as Admiral Smith was trying to identify the colours of the ensign Millie received a message "Sir we've got a message from Emma Koch of the Pictorian Legion of Freedom"

Admiral Smith was surprised "How much of Frankbergen have the liberated?" he asked, as Millie sent the reply it wasn't long till Millie received an answer "They have taken all the naval bases and facilities, 90% of air bases and facilities and just 75% of army facilities, and most of the Germanican forces have been wiped out, we are willing to join you in the fight against Dolan".

Admiral Smith lowered his telescope just as the Germanican ship was destroyed. "Send a signal to Boudiccas "keep tight formation and descend onto Frankbergen'", then the Anglo-Kilmarnac fleet began their descent to Frankbergen.