EV: Chapter 30

Yuezhi was a rugged planet, largely mountains and deserts with very little in the way of Water. Two major population centers were where the people lived, along with a smattering of smaller villages. These were Khydamos for the Hellenic Settlers, around the main Desert Oasis, and Qinhuang in the Mountains for the Han Settlers. Khydamos was a center of manufacturing, where Human Slaves assembled various items such as Ma'tok Staff Weapons, Zat'nic'tels, Jaffa Armor, and so on via a compartmentalized assembly line system that was tailor-made so that no one Human could ever figure out how to manufacture the entire item. Meanwhile, Qinhuang was a mining center, where Human Slaves dug Naquadah, Trinium, Gold, and other metals out of the mountains under the watchful eye of Jaffa overseers. Both Cities had over one-hundred-fifty-thousand people in them, mixed between Humans and Jaffa.

Meanwhile, most of the smaller villages were populated by a few hundred to a few thousand people, primarily Jaffa, and tended to be clustered around mountain springs and small oases. However, there was still relatively little water on the Planet, and none of the dozens of smaller villages ever made it past ten thousand people living there. No, the main source of Water for Yuezhi was the Ice Moon of Duhuoluo, where the City of Tufan, populated largely by Han Settlers with a smattering of Hellenic Jaffa to act as overseers, was situated. Tufan carved great blocks of Ice out of the surface of the Ice Moon for transport down to Yuezhi to slake the thirst of the Majority of People there. Another three-hundred-thousand people lived on Duhuoluo.

There was also a third Moon, that of Tubo, where a shipyard lay producing Alk'esh Gunships, Ptah-class Fighters, and Tel'tac Transports. The Tubo Shipyards were largely populated by Hellenic Jaffa and Han Human Workers. Tubo was a rocky moon with a thin atmosphere and had various seams of ore running through the rocky crust. The mines there served a dual purpose, first, to feed the shipyards the raw materials they needed, and second, to expand the City of Dazhao, where most of the Workers and Jaffa that worked the mines and shipyards lived. Dazhao and its subsidiary tunnel settlements collectively had a further three-hundred-thousand people living there.

All told, the Yuezhi System was home to just over one million souls, with roughly a third of those being Jaffa. It was sparsely populated, but rich in raw materials, which was one of the reasons it had been colonized to begin with. Now, we were going to fight over it. Of course, we wouldn't be attacking the system unopposed. No, Cronus had sent his nephew, Pallas, to act as the Governor of the system, and Pallas had with him a fleet element of Six Ha'tak Battlecruisers and Twenty-Four Al'kesh Gunships, along with several Battalions of Jaffa. On paper, it should be a near-peer to my own force, though my superiority in technology and Jaffa Training meant that I should outstrip his force in capabilities. I would have agreed if not for the simple fact that Pallas was considered to be one of Cronus' more capable Underlords when it came to military matters.

Pallas was a renowned commander, one who had actually defeated a Proper System Lord in battle before, defeating Kali during an attack she had launched on the Disputed world of Tushara. Kali had been in command personally, and being defeated by a mere Underlord had caused her prestige to tank significantly. It had been the reason that Sobek had attacked several of her worlds, perceiving her as weak, which in turn had been the catalyst for her to seek an alliance with Bastet to strike back at Sobek. That alliance went on to utterly annihilate Sobek in one of the very few instances of all-out war between System Lords that had occurred during Ra's reign as Supreme System Lord. Kali and Bastet's Alliance has persisted to this day, a rare example of two System Lords engaging in a beneficial long-term partnership, instead of temporary alliances of convenience.

It spoke well of Kali's strategic and tactical mindset that she continued the alliance even when another System Lord might have let it lapse or even betrayed it. That Pallas had an unqualified victory over someone with such a mindset on his record meant that he, too, must have a keen strategic and tactical mindset. Defeating him here in the Yuezhi System would be a challenge, unlike the virtual walkover that had been the conquest of Wusun. I was fully expecting a fight here. I would not be disappointed either.

The lynchpin of my strategy was attacking Duhuoluo. Without the water from the Ice Moon, the defenders of Yuezhi would swiftly find themselves suffering from thirst and dehydration, making my conquest all the easier. Of course, Pallas seemed to understand that there was such a weakness in the defense of Yuezhi and had deployed appropriately. As we exited hyperspace, our scans picked up his fleet arrayed around Duhuoluo, along with a number of less-than-welcome surprises.

"My Lord, we are picking up multiple defensive layers surrounding Duhuoluo!" Called out Shun from the Comms Station.

"Composition?" I questioned.

"It seems to be a minefield and layer of defensive satellites, My Lord." Answered Shun.

"Defensive Satellites? What class?" I queried.

"Unknown. They do not match anything in our database." Frowned Shun.

"Let me see." Spoke up General Di.

The aged Jaffa had come onto the Pel'tac to speak to Chen about a matter involving the training of fresh Jaffa in his capacity as Minister of War. He made his way over to the console where Shun was seated and took one long look at the screens before frowning. He shook his head and turned back toward me, making his way over. It wasn't good news, though I would be happy the Elder Jaffa General had made his way to the bridge so that we knew what we were flying into.

"Those are Trishul-class Defense Satellites, My Lord." Informed General Di.

That was not good. The Trishul-class Defense Satellite had been pioneered by Kali decades ago during her war with Sobek. They were a form of defense satellite with three groupings of weapons emplacements in a triangular array, along with a crude shield generator. They were also largely autonomous, being created with a form of Virtual Intelligence that allowed quick, responsive targeting and tracking of targets as small as Ptah-class fighters. That autonomy also meant that they did not require crews, a good thing, as they tended to rapidly gimbal about to present separate shield faces and weapons emplacements to the enemy when under fire at speeds that would liquify Jaffa Organs from the G-Forces involved.

They had been so effective that Sobek had petitioned Ra to order their destruction. Ra had done so, too, likely fearing what such a potent weapon could do if turned against his own forces. It had been the one intervention he had made in the War between Kali and Bastet on one side and Sobek on the other. That Pallas had figured out how to fabricate and deploy them was a problem, though he was a cunning enough strategist that I wouldn't put it past him to have raided Kali's territory for the Schematics in such a way that the raid was both successful and hadn't been uncovered.

"I was under the impression that all Trishul-Class Defense Satellites had been destroyed? How does Pallas have them? Did he manage to obtain the schematics from Kali?" I asked.

"Unknown, My Lord. I would advise firing from a distance, however. Make use of our weapons systems' greater range thanks to your sensor and weapons upgrades. Even the Trishul-class Defense Satellites do not have our range." Advised General Di.

"Right. This is a troubling development." I mused.

"Pallas must have figured that if we were attacking on such a large scale, he had nothing left to lose." Offered Chen.

"Very troubling indeed." I frowned.

This could be a problem. After all, Ra had ordered many technologies suppressed, destroyed, or confiscated for his own use over the course of his reign as Supreme System Lord. Many technologies that various System Lords had developed to fight in the War against Anubis, in the Attack on the Asgard, or in Egeria's revolt, were above and beyond what the current norm was. Once it became clear to the wider galaxy that Ra was out of the picture, we would likely be seeing even more of such designs being pulled out by various System Lords. These Trishul-class Defense Satellites were just the start. What would be next? Ba'al's Shedim-type Gravetic Missiles? Morrigan's Badb Catha-class Command Ship? Who knew?

Whatever the case was, I would have to be ready to deal with more of the same sort of thing in the future. After all, it was likely that once it was clear there was no more Ra, any restrictions on weaponry would be out the window. I would need to take any opportunity I could to continue technical development. As such, I turned back to Shun, a calculating thought occurring to me as I did so.

"We have much better sensors than they do. I want a deep scan of those Trishul-class Satellites. It may be possible to replicate them from such a scan, or possibly even figure out ways to improve on the design." I commanded.

"That may cause them to fire at us, My Lord." Warned Shun.

"And? They do not have the range. Not if we stop the fleet." Spoke up General Di.

"Chen, order the fleet to halt while we get our scans." I ordered.

"As you wish, My Lord." Concurred Chen.

"Shun. Perform the Scans now." I demanded.

"Performing Scans, My Lord." Affirmed Shun.

As Shun began the Scans, General Di turned toward me, bowing as he did so. I arched an eyebrow at the Elder Jaffa as he straightened. I never stood on ceremony, after all, so this sort of show of submission wasn't expected like it would be for other Goa'uld. Especially not from a Jaffa who had served so ably for so long.

"This must be important if you're bowing like that. Speak, General. What's on your mind?" I questioned.

"My Lord. I had a suggestion for the ground campaign." Offered General Di.

"Our time is likely limited, General. What suggestion do you have?" I queried.

"Cronus' Forces once fielded quite a powerful weapon. Harpe-class Bombers. They utilized a sort of smart targeting system and homing munitions to more easily destroy targets and were fitted with hyperdrives as well as cloaking technology. Supposedly, they were an outgrowth of the Attack-class Tel'tacs. Their cloaking technology was considered to be somewhat more advanced, but it was their smart targeting systems and homing munitions that were the true wonders of the design." Began General Di.

"And you believe that Pallas may have begun producing them?" I asked.

"If he produced Trishul-class Defense Satellites, he very well may have. Especially since it would fit his standard tactics." Informed General Di.

"While we are focused on his defenses and those Trishul-class Defense Satellites, he sends what Harpe-class Bombers he has produced to attempt a stealth missile attack against us. It would be a good strategy and likely enough to harry us." I mused.

"They would need time to cross the system under cloak, My Lord. If we scan now, we may yet pick them up if there are any on the way." Nodded General Di.

"Agreed. Chen, have the Tóng Qílín begin those scans. Make it so they scan for gravitational anomalies moving toward us. They may not be able to see the craft themselves, but their scanners should be precise enough to see the gravity signatures such craft give off." I ordered.

"Yes, My Lord. Right away." Saluted Chen before sending the orders over to the Ha'tak-class Battlecruiser I had holding our flank.

The Tóng Qílín was one of the newer Ha'taks I had built in the run-up to the invasion of the disputed border territories with Cronus. It had been designed with my Upgrades in mind from the start, instead of having to be modified after the fact, like the vast majority of my fleet. If any of the Ha'tak-class Battlecruisers in my fleet could pick up Harpe-class Bombers heading our way, with their improved cloaking technology, it would be the Tóng Qílín. The only reason I hadn't transferred my flag over to that ship was because of my already extant familiarity with the Xiaotian Quan. Moments later, the results of our scans came in, both of the Trishul-class Defense Satellites and for any Harpe-class Bombers headed our way.

"My Lord, we have thorough scans of the Trishul-class Defense Satellites." Announced Shun.

"Excellent. I will enjoy tinkering with them and seeing what I can do." I grinned.

"My Lord! The Tóng Qílín is reporting a wing of unknown enemy craft crossing the system under cloak! They will arrive in Weapon's Range in two minutes!" Announced Chen.

"It seems that despite the range, the battle has begun already. With your permission, My Lord, I will head down to see to my men." Intoned General Di.

"Granted, General. Chen, launch our Fighters and send them the Tóng Qílín's scanner Telemetry. Tell the Pilots to disable any of these Harpe-class Bombers if possible, but not to take undue risks if doing so will result in needless casualties. I can replace destroyed fightercraft, but Skilled Pilots are infinitely more dear!" I commanded.

"At once, My Lord! Launching Fighters!" Agreed Chen.

And with that, the fighter bays of the Fleet opened, disgorging dozens of squadrons of Ptah-class fighters out into the void. Their Pel'tac systems linked with the scanner telemetry of the Tóng Qílín, giving their pilots the ability to target the Harpe-class Bombers that were coming toward us, at least in terms of general location. The improved cloaks would, in theory, allow more misses than hits, but I had faith in my Jaffa Pilots. I was worried about those smart targeting systems and homing munitions, though. It was likely that even with my orders keeping casualties in mind, it would be a bloody dogfight for my Jaffa Pilots.

Two minutes later, the Battle of Yuezhi would begin with weapons discharges from our Ptah-class fighters knocking a pair of Harpe-class Bombers out of their cloaks, disabling them with lucky shots. The Harpe-class Bombers, however, began to reap a deadly toll on our fighter wings and even destroyed two Al'kesh and crippled a Long-class Cruiser, the Dònglóng, with precision homing plasma warhead strikes. I deemed that two disabled Bombers would be enough to at least begin tinkering. I ordered my Pilots to stop holding back and go for killing shots. I could always analyze the debris along with the disabled bombers, after all.

This, it turned out, was the correct choice, as the surprise attack by the Harpe-class Bombers bogged down in a dogfight and the remaining enemy craft withdrew a few minutes later, though casualties among my fighters were relatively heavy. We would be a lot lighter on CAP than I would have liked going into the primary fight, especially with those defense satellites in play. As the enemy bombers retreated, I ordered salvos to be fired from our guns at the defenses around Duhuoluo while we closed the distance, destroying as many of the Trishul-class Defense Satellites as we could before we managed to make contact with the main enemy Fleet. At four minutes in, this was already turning into the bloodiest battle I had fought yet.

And there would be more blood spilled before the day ended yet. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. It turns out that every System Lord has an advanced weapon system or two hidden away that Ra ordered confiscated, destroyed, or suppressed, though they all maintained the schematics in secret. Ra didn't stay on top of the Empire for so long by letting his vassals have such toys, after all. Here, not only did Pallas manage to steal one of Kali's during his battle with her over the Tushara System, but he has also begun producing one of Cronus' in the time it took Erlang Shen to deal with Wusun and Hyperspace over to Yuezhi. He's actually a decent commander, after all, and wanted to give himself the best chance possible to win a victory over Erlang Shen here.

At any rate, the next chapter will continue the Space Battle of Yuezhi, and we'll follow that up with the Ground Assault of Yuezhi, before going to Lord Yu's POV for the Battle of Yancai. I'll also have some more images out before then as well.

Stay tuned. . .