The Void War (Empire Rising Book 1) by D. J. Holmes Page A
Authors: D. J. Holmes
Tags: Science-Fiction, Space Opera, Military, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Exploration, Space Exploration, Galactic Empire, Space Fleet, Space Marine, Colonization
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fly rings around a Behemoth but if they wanted to actually get in close to attack one they had faced a withering amount of fire.
In response to the defeat at New France, the Russian fleet in orbit around Earth had attacked their British and American counterparts. They had been quickly beaten but not before they had attacked many of the orbital instillations of the other space faring powers. Two stray missiles had entered Earth’s atmosphere. One had burnt up on re-entry but the second had impacted in the Philippine Sea. The resulting tidal wave had killed thousands of people in the Philippines and Indonesia. As a result, the UN Interplanetary Committee had banned the Russians from building or basing anything larger than a frigate in the Sol system and every other space faring power had quickly signed up to the Sol Demilitarization Act that banned armed conflict in the Sol system. The Committee had also demanded that the Russians pay reparations for the damage done to the Sol system.
Initially the Russian leaders had made it look like they fully intended to pay the repatriations. However, secretly they had been relocating most of the strategically important Russian population to their colony worlds. Then, once the second installment of their reparations had been due, they had announced they were abandoning Earth for their colonies. It had turned out that their entire government, along with five percent of their population, had been shipped out. Next the Russians offered a lucrative cash incentive for anyone who wanted to relocate to their colonies. This resulted in a mass exodus of the general Russian populace along with not a few volunteers from other countries.
Today there were a handful of shipping companies which owed their formation to independent freighter owners who had made so much profit shipping colonists into Russian space they had been able to start their own companies. Yet within a year, the Russians had closed their borders and there had been no communication with the rest of the Human Sphere for over twenty five years.
At first the other powers had hoped that the Russians would be content to live in peace in their own colonial empire. Yet recent stealth ships sent into the single Russian system that bordered the rest of human space rarely returned. If they came back at all the reports showed a steady buildup of Russian military vessels. The American and French response had been to begin the construction of battleships and China, not to be outdone, had embarked on her own construction program. The RSN however, had opted to continue its focus on battlecruisers. With so many systems to defend, the Admiralty felt that speed and flexibility was still the order of the day. That might just all change if the RSN ever had to go up against the battleship on the main holo-display James was looking at.
Not wishing to dwell on Chinese strengths James focused back on the matter at hand. “Navigation, have you updated our jump calculations?” James questioned.
“Yes sir, we’ll be ready to jump to intercept our drones from V31 and V48 as soon as we finish our deceleration burn.”
“Very good,” James commented. “We’ll watch this fleet for as long as our passive sensors can get good data on them. Once it’s safe we’ll begin deceleration for our jump to shift space. Then we’re heading home people.”
Chapter 7 - Home
The King or Queen of Britain was the second most powerful person in British politics after the sitting Prime Minister. Their personal wealth alone meant they had considerable clout. The popular support they could control in elections could sway the balance of power in the House of Commons. On top of this, the coalitions they were able to build up in the House of Lords gave the ruling Monarch of Britain significant political influence.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD
10 th January 2465. HMS Drake , the Sol system.
Thirty-eight
In response to the defeat at New France, the Russian fleet in orbit around Earth had attacked their British and American counterparts. They had been quickly beaten but not before they had attacked many of the orbital instillations of the other space faring powers. Two stray missiles had entered Earth’s atmosphere. One had burnt up on re-entry but the second had impacted in the Philippine Sea. The resulting tidal wave had killed thousands of people in the Philippines and Indonesia. As a result, the UN Interplanetary Committee had banned the Russians from building or basing anything larger than a frigate in the Sol system and every other space faring power had quickly signed up to the Sol Demilitarization Act that banned armed conflict in the Sol system. The Committee had also demanded that the Russians pay reparations for the damage done to the Sol system.
Initially the Russian leaders had made it look like they fully intended to pay the repatriations. However, secretly they had been relocating most of the strategically important Russian population to their colony worlds. Then, once the second installment of their reparations had been due, they had announced they were abandoning Earth for their colonies. It had turned out that their entire government, along with five percent of their population, had been shipped out. Next the Russians offered a lucrative cash incentive for anyone who wanted to relocate to their colonies. This resulted in a mass exodus of the general Russian populace along with not a few volunteers from other countries.
Today there were a handful of shipping companies which owed their formation to independent freighter owners who had made so much profit shipping colonists into Russian space they had been able to start their own companies. Yet within a year, the Russians had closed their borders and there had been no communication with the rest of the Human Sphere for over twenty five years.
At first the other powers had hoped that the Russians would be content to live in peace in their own colonial empire. Yet recent stealth ships sent into the single Russian system that bordered the rest of human space rarely returned. If they came back at all the reports showed a steady buildup of Russian military vessels. The American and French response had been to begin the construction of battleships and China, not to be outdone, had embarked on her own construction program. The RSN however, had opted to continue its focus on battlecruisers. With so many systems to defend, the Admiralty felt that speed and flexibility was still the order of the day. That might just all change if the RSN ever had to go up against the battleship on the main holo-display James was looking at.
Not wishing to dwell on Chinese strengths James focused back on the matter at hand. “Navigation, have you updated our jump calculations?” James questioned.
“Yes sir, we’ll be ready to jump to intercept our drones from V31 and V48 as soon as we finish our deceleration burn.”
“Very good,” James commented. “We’ll watch this fleet for as long as our passive sensors can get good data on them. Once it’s safe we’ll begin deceleration for our jump to shift space. Then we’re heading home people.”
Chapter 7 - Home
The King or Queen of Britain was the second most powerful person in British politics after the sitting Prime Minister. Their personal wealth alone meant they had considerable clout. The popular support they could control in elections could sway the balance of power in the House of Commons. On top of this, the coalitions they were able to build up in the House of Lords gave the ruling Monarch of Britain significant political influence.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD
10 th January 2465. HMS Drake , the Sol system.
Thirty-eight
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