1261 1261 Homefield Advantage
The anti-portal countermeasures were a new way of using an existing weapon. The fleets used destabilized antimatter torpedoes to make it impossible for a Portal to open properly nearby. The weapons themselves didn't do much damage, but the effect on portals was nearly perfect, and it would last for days or even weeks.
The hope was that they would be preventing the enemies from appearing among them, which would allow for a better defensive formation.
Then, the waiting started.
The signals were getting stronger by the hour, and the extent of the staging area was unclear, but the extra time was enough to get everyone to break out the big guns, forbidden weapons, and other questionable bits of technology that would never be used under normal circumstances.
If this battle could be won, or even stalled long enough that the enemy could be whittled too low to be able to move on to another solar system with any level of effectiveness.
"Waiting sucks." Nico sighed as she painted giant smiley faces on the bottoms of the feet of her Mecha.
"It's better than what comes after. The second wave is likely to be worse than the first." Max shrugged.
As long as we can get far enough from the interference to send Cutters and Destroyers out to intercept other fleets when they tried to move. That was the best they could hope for because countless battles were destined to be lopsided one way or the other.
None of the defenders knew how much of an attacking force they would face, or how the attack would be split up. The planets got military based on what was available, not by population or strategic importance. There wasn't time for anything else, but that also meant that the enemy wouldn't be able to predict where their forces were going to be.
When the attack came, it came everywhere, all at once. Thousands of ships entered every inhabited star system in every Galaxy of the Alliance, as well as the human's home Galaxy, within ten seconds of each other.
Above the Innu home world, six hundred science vessels were encircled by half a million Super Heavy Mecha, and countless drone fighters. Even though they had not dared to risk using antimatter near so many ongoing experiments, the response to the invasion was devastating.
"Lead Researcher, the Mecha have begun the assault. Should we notify someone or something?" One of the Innu Ministers asked their local head of government.
"Everyone is trying to contact someone. Send out a message that we have been attacked and add it to the mess if you like, but nobody is coming." The Innu Lead Researcher replied.
"What do you mean, nobody is coming?" The old woman pointed to a holographic map on the wall.
"The red marks are every system that has reported an attack in the last minute. It's everywhere, they hit every single inhabited star, unless they missed one accidentally. Nobody can answer because they're all fighting, just like we are. Now, keep up the reports on energy consumption, and shut down all civilian power grids to essential levels, unless they are making priority level military equipment.
I want as many weapons deployed as we can possibly get. Shut down the entire climate control grid until further notice. Even the air conditioning in the buildings."
The situation above the Central Government Capital was very nearly the same. They also hadn't dared to use antimatter weapons that they might not be able to escape the range of later if they needed to flee, so they were fighting a close range fight near the planet itself.
But their planetary defences were among the finest in the universe, and within minutes, they had cleared the system of attackers and were preparing to shift some of the defence force to hard fought battles that could still be won.
Max and Nico listened carefully as the updates about these situations were relayed in real time, while looking out over the rubble at the edge of the Rae 5 system.
"They didn't make any attempt at tactical adjustments. They sent the same number of forces to every single inhabited system." Nico noted as she updated their battle map.
"Then we should be sending out the reinforcements based on the existing troop levels. With the use of extreme defensive weapons, some of our forces should still be in good working order." Max noted.
"Doesn't this feel like a suicide attack to you? Just killing off as many planets as possible to reduce our numbers for whatever comes next would be precisely their style." Nico replied.
"What have you got for me, then?" "There are two locations where there should be troops, but there aren't. One is the Canis home world, which didn't receive an attack at all, and one is the Cygnus Imperial Capital System.
Now, the Canis world makes sense, they might not have noticed that there was anyone living out in the remote boonies of the Galaxy when they scanned. But the Capital? There are four inhabited planets, over a hundred billion people, and a massive military production base. There is no way to miss the energy signature from that, I can detect it from here. There has to be a reason that it wasn't attacked, and it's either a betrayal, which makes no sense, as every other planetary group, including their government planets, was attacked, or there is something there that they fear to approach."
Max nodded. "So, are you coming with me to the Cygnus Capital?"
Nico's smirk said it all. She was definitely interested in why there was no attack on the Capital, and she had an idea as to what the answer might be. For an instant, her guard on her thoughts slipped, and Max managed to peek into her convoluted mind. Nico was thinking that there was a God there, an Energy Signature that made them think that the area was already claimed by one of their own.
All they had to do was fly over and find out for themselves.
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