Ah, the meanness of gunboat diplomacy...
Was it worth it?
Seems like this is not as bloodless a war as the Imperialists want...
Indeed.
It always gets me grumpy when people think wars are 'easy'...
:'(
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Ah, the meanness of gunboat diplomacy...
Was it worth it?
Seems like this is not as bloodless a war as the Imperialists want...
Indeed.
It always gets me grumpy when people think wars are 'easy'...
:'(
Given my current life trying to shore up supply chains in the chaos caused by my nation's government abandoning the trade tenants that has served it so well...
I fear my government doesn't understand how trade is nearly ALWAYS preferable to this other type of cultural exchange...
Ah yes, those who don't agree with you are 'cowards.'
Man, humanity can really irritate me some times!
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Plans usually don't survive first contact with the enemy...
Perhaps a comment on the player strategy for this war?
There is always a way to get an answer...
Oh no.
I'm getting a real case of depression from all of the stories I am reading being dystopias and my nation trying to descend into one as well.
I need to find a story that is uplifting in some way...
Also, finally caught up!
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Perhaps a comment on the player strategy for this war?
I plead the fifth
(Having my war be stalled by a nebulae is something that I've never had to deal with before).
Next update is gonna be a way off. It's something I've been looking forward to writing for quite some time, so I want to take my time and do it justice. And my new job demands a fair bit of travel, so I have less time than I used to.
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I plead the fifth
(Having my war be stalled by a nebulae is something that I've never had to deal with before).
Next update is gonna be a way off. It's something I've been looking forward to writing for quite some time, so I want to take my time and do it justice. And my new job demands a fair bit of travel, so I have less time than I used to.
Just got caught up on this.
Do you mean that the nebula was impassable to your fleets?
Hmm, sending a science vessel in first might have worked, although you probably didn't have one nearby as well (it being an active warzone and all).
The Treaty of Al-Azis
February 2200 - CRS McKinley - High Athanebia orbit
The Venzri Royal Palace was one of the biggest tourist attractions in El-Hazam, attracting thousands of visitors each year. While no longer the home of the Venzri government, the building still served as a major cultural landmark for the city. Following the Treaty of Al-Azis, the building was briefly converted into emergency housing for the thousands desperate to escape off-world. Hundreds of refugees slept in the hallways where Kings and ministers had once walked.
Art by Neil Blevins
Nezym gave a quick knock on the bulkhead door as he floated into the communication centre. The petty officer spotted him immediately.
“Officer on deck!”
The Humans did the weird seated salute that was protocol when at zero-g. Nezym returned it.
“At ease, everyone.”
They didn’t have to salute him. He was only aboard the fleet as an attaché, but Admiral Lions had insisted that he be treated as another member of her command staff. And Nezym wasn’t going to try to convince the crew to disregard her instructions.
He floated over to the petty officer, making a quick glance at his nametag. Kennedy. He was pretty sure that was the one he’d talked to the day before. He was still having trouble telling Humans apart. Sometimes the differences were clear and obvious, like their colour or shape. But when he had to rely on just their faces, he struggled.
“Major Nezym, sir. I assume this is about your request.”
“Yes, thank you,” resolving the question for him. “Do you have any news?”
Kennedy pulled up a few AR slides that hovered in the air beside him. Communication transcripts.
“We were able to reach the local government, but they were unable to tell us anything about your family. The good news is that the area has been largely untouched by the Beldross, but the supply disruptions are starting to eat into their food supply. They promised to do some research on their end and get back to us, but I’ve been too busy to follow up on it.”
Nazym nodded, a Human affectation he’d picked up aboard the ship. “Thank you. And don’t let this get in the way of your duties. I’m sure there are many more in distress down there.”
He turned to leave, then turned again. He stared at Kennedy, not knowing if he wanted to ask the question.
“How bad is it?”
“Pretty bad,” Kennedy said. He paused for a moment, his gaze wandering around the room for a moment before settling on Nezym again. “Catastrophic, actually… We’ve got everyone with a shortwave radio begging us for help. They’re offering us everything, anything, for a spot aboard a ship.”
Kennedy made an expression Nezym didn’t quite understand. “It's been… unpleasant. The Doc pulled Gauthier off duty after she sobbed at her post. Gave her some sedatives and scheduled a few talks.”
The two of them stood there for a moment, staring at each other. Nezum was strangely impressed by the Humans. They were doing so much for his people, more than anyone could reasonably expect of them. It wasn’t enough, but nothing ever would be. And the crew of the McKinley had treated him as if he were just any other Human. None of the other aliens he’d dealt with had done so. Of course, he’d mostly dealt with the Beldross, so maybe that was unfair to the other aliens.
A priority alert appeared on his AR display. A message from Admiral Lions. He gave a quick thanks to Kennedy, then accepted the transmission.
“What can I do for you, Admiral?”
“The situation on the surface is deteriorating. The troops stationed at the space elevator are worried about being overrun.”
Nezym’s felmor gland spiked. He took a deep breath to calm himself. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m heading to the surface to take stock of the situation myself. I want you to accompany me. The shuttle leaves in fifteen minutes.”
If the felmor gland hadn’t already spiked, it would have. “Understood, Ma’am. I’ll be there shortly.”
He turned to leave, but Schneider spoke up. “We’ll let you know if we hear anything from your family.”
Nezym could only nod in reply.
He made his way down to the hangar bay and found the Admiral and most of her command crew waiting as a pair of shuttles were prepared. Floating down to the deck, he activated his magnetic boots and saluted her.
“Major Nezym, reporting, Ma’am.”
“What can you tell me about El-Hazam?” she asked, not looking up from her slate. He’d learned not to take it personally, it was just how she was when stressed. She’d spent most of the Loyalty Crisis standoff buried in screens.
“It’s the site of the space elevator and the key link to and from space. The city is a massive transport hub, linking to pretty much the entire continent. The Beldross left the city largely undamaged.”
“Too valuable to risk destroying it,” Lions muttered to no one in particular. “Any political significance?”
“Technically, it was the capital of the Venzri Republic, but that hasn’t been politically relevant for two centuries.”
“Nothing relevant to the Trade Association?”
“The WBTA moved most corporate holdings off-world decades ago. There’s a logistics office of some significance there, but nothing more.”
Lions didn’t respond, instead nodding to her slate. She only looked up when the shuttle tech approached.
“We’re ready to depart, Ma’am.”
The trip to the surface was made in silence; the only sound being the hum of the engines and the gentle tapping of debris hitting the outer hull. The Beldross had obliterated most of the satellite network around Athanebia, creating a dense cloud of tiny shrapnel. It was no problem for a military shuttle, but could easily destroy a civilian shuttle full of refugees…
They touched down a short distance from the space elevator. El-Hazam had been one of the jewels of architecture on Athanebia. Various styles built over centuries that somehow still didn’t clash. It was still beautiful. Which made it so much more painful to see the throngs of people in the streets.
Lions and her officers strode out of the shuttle, Lions taking in the situation. As Nezym followed, he stared at the ground under his feet, admiring every detail. The faint yellow dust that had been thrown up by the shuttle. The brown dirt underneath it. It was all so familiar.
“Is something wrong, Major?” Lions asked.
“No, nothing is wrong,” he said, looking up at her. “I just… I just wasn’t expecting to ever set foot here again.”
She glanced down at the dirt around his boots. “Ah… I understand.”
“Admiral!” a man yelled as he ran up to them and saluted. “Ma’am, Colonel Krüger, Ma’am.”
Lions returned his salute. “Colonel, what are we looking at?”
“Rough estimates suggest we’ve got around three million people in the city, up from two million when we took the planet. And we’ve got more people arriving by the trainload.”
Nezym glanced out over the city, the glass and steel dome glinting in the setting sun. He pointed to it.
“The El-Hazam Grand Terminal. It’s the largest train station on the planet. You can get from anywhere on the continent to El-Hazam using the rail network.” In the distance, he could see a train approach the city.
“So things are only going to get worse.” Lions didn’t ask. It was a simple statement of fact.
“Much worse. This area is notorious for poor agriculture. The Venzri Republic was a net importer of food before the war.” It pained Nezym to say it out loud, but the facts remained.
Lions took a deep breath as she watched the train slowly roll towards the terminal. “Okay then…”
“We need backup at CP November,” a voice said on the emergency channel. It had the clipped tone of a rattled but professional soldier. “I don’t know why, but the Suramo are… I don’t know, they’re saying goodbye to their kids.”
“This is Admiral Lions. We’re there shortly.” The Admiral’s security detail looked like they were about to protest, but she looked to Colonel Krüger. “Lead me to CP November.”
Krüger didn’t hesitate, and he set off at a quick trot while radioing for additional reinforcements. Lions set off after him, with her entourage, Nezym included, scrambled to keep up.
As they approached the checkpoint, he saw the massive crowd. It was large enough that it could easily overrun the soldiers there if something happened. But instead, the crowd was unusually calm, collected, even melancholic. Groups were gathered around their young, speaking softly to each other, comforting each other.
Saying goodbye.
Lions stepped up to the officer in charge. “Report.”
The officer was apparently unfazed by the sudden appearance of a flag officer. “I’m not sure, Ma’am. The Doc saw a sickly Suramo kid and had it brought over for him to have a look at. The parents started wailing, but the rest of them calmed down. Then they started doing… this…” He waved his hand towards the crowd, now expectantly presenting their children.
Nezym looked around and saw the doctor examining a Suramo child. The kid wasn’t looking good, struggling to sit upright, skin pulled tight around his face. He was clearly suffering from Elramf’s Disease, but the doctor probably wasn’t familiar with it. He was consulting his slate, but kept throwing uneasy glances at the expectant crowd.
Nezym braced himself. “Admiral, I think I know what’s happening.”
Lions looked to him and nodded for him to continue.
“A few hundred years ago, a plague ravaged the entire planet. Casualties were extreme. At an old military fort, a group of civilians sought refuge, but they were denied entry by the soldiers there. Things escalated until a surgeon offered refuge to the children in the group. The civilians agreed. In the end, the children lived while their parents perished.”
Lions glanced over at the doctor and nodded.
“The story has lodged itself into our culture. It’s a very traditional way of looking at things, but it’s something all Suramo agree about, regardless of whether you work for the Trade Association or not. The next generation must survive, regardless of the cost to yourself.”
“I see…” Lions said, looking to the crowd. It was looking expectantly back at her. “Have the children brought to the base of the elevator. Load them onto the first free ship out of here.”
For a moment, the only sound was the roar of distant shuttles. Then, a few soldiers stepped over to the crowd and led the children away. The crowd was silent, a thick layer of despair covering everything.
Nezym stepped closer to Lions.
“Ma’am, are you sure about this?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
“If I can keep these people from rioting just a little longer, then I will do whatever I have to.”
“But separating them from their parents? Won’t your enemies use this against you?”
She shrugged. “We Humans have a similar tradition. I will be able to justify this back home. Besides, my enemies are not here. Why worry about them?”
Lions took a few steps towards the elevator and looked up at it. The cable stretched into the dark blue, gradually disappearing.
“I’ve seen enough. I need to get back in orbit. We’re going to need every ship in the sector.”
“I will stay here,” Nezym said. “I think I will do more good down here coordinating.”
Lions turned to him. For a while she just studied him, like she was trying to read his expression. He wasn’t sure what expression he had.
“I understand. But I want you back aboard when we leave orbit. So no… romantic or dramatic gestures.”
“No, Ma’am,” he said after a brief hesitation. “I’ll be there when we leave.”
“Good. We still have a war to fight.”
* * *
While the Confederacy had (barely) weathered the storm of the Loyalty Crisis without bloodshed, it now found itself in a very awkward position. The war started by Burian had lost any semblance of legitimacy. Yet despite this, there were very few calls to end it. Human casualties were low, and despite the fumbles surrounding the Daturi Expanse, the war had been fought well. So Jennifer Pelletier's first job was to resume this illegitimate war.
There were, however, changes in how the war was fought. Admiral Lions would have significant limits placed on her authority.
As one of Burian’s closest allies, there were serious doubts about her political reliability. Some in the Assembly demanded that she be replaced and return to Earth. Others countered that there was no guarantee that she didn’t just take a page out of Commodore Hoang’s book and bring a portion of the fleet with her, restarting the entire crisis.
In the end, the solution was to return the way the Confederate Fleet was supposed to work.
When the Sol Confederacy had first been established, control of the fleets had been devolved back to its constituent nations. Only a central Admiralty had been retained, intended to coordinate ships and logistics. But as the Human fleets expanded, the Admiralty had slowly exerted more and more control. This process accelerated during the Aifu War, until the Admiralty was the de facto high command.
The solution was thus to clarify the chain of command and break the fleet up according to national lines. Lions would still be in command of the overall task force, but her authority would be limited to immediate military matters. She would privately grumble about politics getting in the way of her job, but outwardly, she accepted this solution.
The second order of business was dealing with the Daturi Expanse. After the Loyalty Crisis, going around it was no longer an option. A path through had to be found.
At the Ring, the freighter Crocea Mors was requisitioned for service and hastily fitted with the sensors, navigation equipment and other necessities needed to chart a path through the Expanse. Rechristened the Nikolai Chernykh, it set a course for a rendezvous with the fleet.
With the immediate issue of the war dealt with, at least for the time being, the Confederacy had to deal with the much thornier issue of the Confederacy itself.
The Confederacy had been born from a desire to break away from the centralisation of the Space Security Administration. The heavy-handed measures needed during the Lavis Wars had seemed counterproductive. Now, fifty years later, Humanity was safer than ever from any alien threat. Yet despite this, the Confederacy had escaped civil war by sheer luck. Once again, Anna Schumacher’s remark that Humanity was “back to fighting ourselves again. Our oldest enemy” rang true.
Something had to be done to prevent a repeat. And fortunately, everyone had a convenient scapegoat: the Chancellorship.
During the transition from the Space Security Administration to the Confederacy, there had been certain concessions given to those who had favoured the status quo. The Chancellorship had been given certain broad emergency powers, to be used if another existential crisis like the Lavis Wars ever appeared.
Since then, Humanity had become one of the dominant powers in the galaxy. Humanity had settled more than a dozen worlds, had become a key player in galactic politics, and its fleet was one of the largest, most advanced in existence. There were still threats, but none able to park a fleet in Earth orbit. If Humanity were to face another existential crisis, few could imagine what form it would take.
The emergency powers would have to go, or at least go to someone else. After internal deliberation between the Great Powers, assisted by legal and policy scholars, Pelletier put forward a proposal to the Assembly. The Chancellorship’s emergency powers would be turned over to the Assembly, to be granted to the Chancellor in times of crisis.
This set off what was quickly dubbed the “Faux-debate”, in which the Assembly debated the merits of the proposal back and forth.The result, however, had already been already decided. The Great Powers had already agreed amongst themselves and instructed their allies in the Assembly to vote accordingly when the time came. After a few months of back and forth, the measure was passed with a vote of 83% in favour, comfortably in favour, but not so much as to be suspicious.
As the nature of the Confederacy was debated, the Nikolai Chernykh had rendezvoused with the Confederate Fleet and was charting a way through the Daturi Expanse. As the fleet followed, Beldross resistance grew increasingly desperate, with hit-and-run attacks on Human warships. Most took this as a sign that the fleet was approaching Beldross core territories, or at least they hoped that was the case.
This hope was confirmed in April of 2197, when the fleet entered the Bindor system and found Fenn’Halor. The mountainous world was crawling with Beldross drones, more than had been observed in one place before. Lions was confident that she had found the Beldross homeworld.
The surface of Fenn’Halor was largely barren, the surface bathed in radioactivity and with just a handful of structures visible. Like most Beldross worlds, the majority of the population lived deep underground in massive burrows.
Art by Xu Zhang
That confidence was strengthened a few months later when a hopelessly outmatched Beldross fleet tried to dislodge Humanity from the system, only to be forced into a fighting retreat. Pelletier instructed Lions to bring up the ground forces, which had been trailing the main fleet, and bottle the planet. As the invasion fleet caught up, Lions began softening up the defences from orbit.
Despite Humanity’s presence in orbit above Fenn’Halor, the Beldross and Versum forces continued to prosecute their war against the Welfon-Boordar Trade Association. The Suramo, pushed to the brink and with their homeworld of Athanebia under occupation, were forced to negotiate terms. In late November of 2197, the Treaty of Al-Azis was signed.
The treaty ceded 6 systems to the Beldross hive. Critically, this included two inhabited planets: Al-Azis and Athanebia, the latter of which was the Suramo homeworld[1]. The WBTA was cut in two as a result of the treaty.
The Treaty of Al-Azis forced the Suramo to give up several core systems, effectively turning the WBTA into a rump state.
Populated systems had not changed hands since the Shipping War between the Vetyr and the Adanir, and back then the Vetyr had established a client state, maintaining a hands-off approach. One had to go all the way back to the end of the Second Lavis War to find another instance of one species conquering another’s homeworld. And unlike the Human occupation of the Ring, the Beldross were quite clear that the natives were not welcome.
The treaty explicitly stated that all Suramo were to leave Athanebia and Al-Azis. The Beldross would not provide food, shelter or other resources to the Suramo. The population would be allowed to leave peacefully, but transport would have to be provided by the WBTA or other alien species. The Beldross didn’t care where the Suramo went, as long as it was nowhere inside Beldross space.
This was a slow-moving humanitarian disaster. At the time, Athanebia had a population of 5.8 billion Suramo, while Al-Azis was home to another 467 million. Not only would just moving so many people be a near-impossible task, but they would also need somewhere to go.
There were some Suramo who were willing to fight and die for their homeworld. These fled into the hinterlands to fight a brutal and protracted guerrilla war. Most, however, had been broken by the war. Across Athanebia and Al-Azis, people flocked to the space ports, desperate to secure passage. Exactly to where was a secondary concern.
Most aimed for the remaining WBTA colonies, but these were unable to handle the vast tidal wave of refugees. Having lost their homeworld and most mature colony, the remaining colonies suddenly had to deal with critical resource shortfalls of food and equipment just as the first refugee ships landed.
On Earth, Interim Chancellor Pelletier put forward an emergency measure to grant asylum to any Suramo who arrived in Confederate space. The measure passed with little opposition in the Assembly, but very few Suramo would take the offer of asylum. The Suramo physiology required a very dry climate, and most Human worlds were far too wet, making them vulnerable to skin diseases and pneumonia-like diseases.
In the end, only a few thousand Suramo settled in Human space. Most of these were the crews of cargo ships plying the Confederate-WTBA trade routes who suddenly found themselves without a home to return to. Most settled on the Ring, where several WTBA branches were already established.
There was another reason why the Suramo avoided Human space. In the immediate aftermath of the treaty, as fear, uncertainty and despair set in, the Suramo needed someone to blame. Many blamed the Beldross, naturally, while others unleashed their ire on their own government for starting the war in the first place. But some blamed Humanity, and one Human in particular. Petr Burian.
By this point, the fact that the Suramo had approached Burian was an open secret. As was the fact that he had refused to join the war. Now, with Human warships besieging the Beldross homeworld, it was clear to everyone that the war’s outcome would have been radically different had Burian agreed to join. So, a narrative formed among the Suramo that Burian’s Betrayal had led to the loss of their homeworld.
To Pelletier, this rise in anti-Human rhetoric was a problem for another time. Fortunately for her, the Treaty of Al-Azis was so extreme that the increasingly apathetic and ineffectual Galactic Community agreed to meet to discuss the matter[2].
Getting any sort of collective condemnation of the Beldross proved impossible, however. The WBTA had started the war, and many viewed what was happening as a self-inflicted tragedy. At the same time, there was a real concern that the Confederacy and their Hazar allies would inflict something similar upon the Beldross Hive or the Versum Divine Empire.
The talks were not entirely fruitless. Pelletier managed to convince many of the other galactic states to at least on paper care for the vast number of refugees that were being displaced. Most major states affirmed that they would care for any Suramo refugees that arrived in their sovereign space, though the details were left deliberately vague[3].
Despite this modest win, by this point it was clear that the Galactic Community was not up to the task of dealing with the various crises that befell the galaxy. In response, the Fevarian Bonded Merchants proposed forming an executive council that could be more flexible and, if need be, take direct action.
The suggestion of forming a Galactic Council was immediately controversial. The Fevarian Bonded Merchants were seen as an obvious front, and that the proposal was actually on behalf of their Vetyr masters.
While Pelletier and the rest of the Human establishment were not opposed to the idea of the Galactic Council, that was not a solution to the ongoing troubles. In the immediate aftermath of the Treaty of Al-Azis, Pelletier ordered the invasion of Fenn’Halor. The fight for the Beldross homeworld was harder than expected, but after a few weeks of combat, the planet had been successfully bottled up.
The boots had barely left the surface before Admiral Lions got the order to push onwards. Fighting a series of inconclusive battles against the Beldross remnant fleet, Lions pushed corewards, taking Shi’Partor in the Tibor system as she went. The goal: the former Suramo homeworld.
Lions arrived in orbit above Athanebia in mid-February 2200. She wasted no time, beginning bombardment of Beldross positions as soon as possible. The ground troops followed a few weeks later. Unlike the previous Beldross worlds, Athanebia wasn’t bottled up. Instead, an ad hoc force of Human and local Suramo resistance fighters destroyed the Beldross occupying force.
By the time Lions arrived in orbit, a sizable contingent of Beldross drones had already settled on the planet, and the expulsion of the native population was underway.
After securing the planet, Admiral Lions and her entourage descended to the surface. They were greeted as heroes, liberators and saviours. Amongst the Suramo, there was a clear expectation that Humanity’s presence on the planet would somehow change things. That the Treaty of Al-Azis was now null and void. And they were not wrong to expect this.
The moment Lions arrived in orbit above Athanebia, Pelletier opened back-channel talks with the board of the Welfon-Boordar Trade Association. Her goal was simple: have the WBTA renege on the treaty, reenter the war and retake their lost territory. The Beldross Hive would not be able to resist, and while the Versum Divine Empire still possessed forces capable of fighting, they were being bogged down fighting the Hazar. It would be an easy reversal of their fortunes.
But the Board of Directors that headed the current WBTA was not the same as before. The previous board, the one which had started the war against the Beldross, had faced a shareholder vote of no confidence towards the end of the war. The current board had been elected with the sole task of ending the war, no matter the cost.
The new board, traumatised by what it had been forced to agree to, was timid and indecisive as a result. They feared the potential consequences more than the current reality. Pelletier and her ministers tried to convince them otherwise, promising military support for the reclamation of their lost territories. It all fell on deaf ears.
The final blow to the talks came in September of that year, when the Sildor Blessed Union announced that it would intervene against anyone committing military actions against the Beldross Hive, who were not already a belligerent party. The particular phrasing made it abundantly clear who the statement was targeted at.
It is a matter of some debate as to why the Sildor threatened to intervene on the side of the Beldross. The Blessed Union and the Hive were not on great terms, and they had few, if any, economic interests within the Hive. The most popular theory is that the Sildor hoped to cripple one of Humanity’s closest economic and strategic partners. Humanity would respond by guaranteeing the continued independence of the WBTA, but the damage was already done.
If the WBTA board had been hesitant before, this closed the door for good. There were some amongst the Confederate establishment who figured the Sildor were bluffing, and that Humanity should call said bluff. Pelletier however, unlike her predecessor, took the matter to the Assembly to be debated. While there were some who believed it was a risk worth taking, or who saw conflict with the Blessed Union as inevitable, the Assembly as a whole was not keen on getting into another war. Especially not another one for the benefit of the Suramo. They’d had their chance earlier and not taken it. The Treaty of Al-Azis would stand, and Humanity’s effort would shift to evacuating the exiled Suramo.
The true extent of the casualties suffered from the Suramo Displacement is a matter of significant debate. Estimates range from 240 million on the lower end, to a staggering 1.1 billion. Exact numbers are impossible to nail down, as records were destroyed in the war and the ensuing occupation. There is also the fact that few places kept accurate records of refugees. The exact numbers are debated back and forth, but the undisputed fact remains that this was one of the greatest tragedies that had befallen the galaxy.
In the decades that followed, Suramo communities would form across the galaxy, wherever they could find somewhere to live. The communities were often regarded as interlopers and criminals by the native population and would often face prejudice.
With the subject of reconquest no longer on the table, Admiral Lions’ priorities shifted. The evacuation of the Suramo population would be handled by civilian cargo freighters. However, for them to do their jobs, first Lions would have to deal with the Beldross remnant fleet. Fortunately for Lions, the Beldross also seemed keen just as keen to end the conflict.
With most major spaceports under Human occupation and all Beldross planets bottled up, the Beldross fleet had nowhere to repair and rearm. While the fleet could potentially remain a thorn in Lions’ side for quite some time, sooner or later it would attrit to nothing.
It is not known what motivated the Beldross to move on Fenn’Halor. Theories range from a desperate attempt to rake their homeworld, to a defiant last stand just to show Humanity that they were willing to give everything.
The Third Battle of Binor saw the hopelessly outmatched Beldross fleet fight its last battle. This time there were no emergency jumps from the system. Instead, ships without engine power would continue firing until vaporised. Ships that lost weapons would try to ram Human ships, only to be torn apart by weapons fire as they came close. By the end of the battle, the Beldross Hive’s military was no more.
The end of hostilities on the Beldross front should have been a moment of triumph. Instead, there was a feeling of disillusionment. While Humanity had been fighting the Beldross, the Hierarchy of Hazi and the Versum Divine Empire had been slugging it out, and the Versum were winning. In the Assembly, there was a worry that the Empire would do as the Beldross had, and carve a large chunk from the Hierarchy. And while the Hazar did not enjoy the same level of support amongst Humanity as the Suramo had, it was feared that a Hazi loss would be a Versum gain.
So only a few days after the Third Battle of Binor, Admiral Lions received her new order. She was to assist the Hazi in expelling the Versum threat. It was not yet time for peace.
[1] - Technically, the treaty was between the Beldross Hive and the Welfon-Boordar Trade Association, with no regard for the numerous small, independent states that still held sway over various parts of Athanebia. However, the Beldross regarded the WBTA as the sole representative of the Suramo species, and thus expected all Suramo on the planet to abide by the treaty. In the end, the treaty led to the extinction of 73 different polities.
[2] - Notably, the Connisthian Hegemony and the Aifu Remnant concluded a peace treaty just a month after the Treaty of Al-Azis, ceding six (uninhabited) systems to the Connisthians. The fact that this wasn’t discussed at the Galactic Council is indicative of how most of the galaxy regarded the Aifu.
[3] - In practice, most Suramo who did not end up within WBTA borders settled within the Hierarchy of Hazi. Here, they formed an underclass typically exploited for cheap labour. Many Suramo would end up in situations almost indistinguishable from chattel slavery.
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