Salvation

by voroshilov

THE END OF THE WORLD

Dominion High Command was relaxed in comparison to its Imperial counterpart. Made up of a council of nineteen, nine from each of the two branches of the military and the last a minister from the Dominion civilian government, it was a far cry from the veritable army of its cousin. Dominion High Command met once a standard month, on the first day without fail, at precisely one standard hour before midday.

Yet, even their rigour was still relaxed in comparison to the Imperial High Command. A Dominion meeting would go on for around four hours; the only Imperial meeting lasted 17,000 years.

The Dominion was also peaceful. So, when an emergency meeting of the Dominion High Command was called, even many of its members were worried. Regardless, they convened quickly, initiating the first extraordinary meeting of the Dominion High Command.

“Reports have stopped transmitting from the Marches Sector. Orpheum has gone completely silent.”

“Local FLEETCOM vanished two days ago, we were preparing a fleet to investigate.”

“Whatever this is, it’s coordinated. If this is an invasion, this could be the biggest we’ve ever faced, by a long way.”

“There are eight fleets on exercises near Arcadius, they could be quickly consolidated and dispatched?”

“I’d rather not risk it. If this is an attack, we need to know what we’re dealing with and where. We risk just losing more ships until we have enough intel.”

“Orpheum held all of central command for the Marches, as well as a large portion of the garrison forces.”

“Hammerfell base may still be holding.”

“If we deployed to Orpheum, we might be able to connect up with our troops still on the planet.”

“Well, I don’t know how easy it’d be to convince the navy to go on a suicide mission.”

“It’s either that or we remain completely blind.”

“Good point.”

“The people won’t react well to a mobilisation. Especially not if we tell them we the enemy has taken an entire sector from under our nose.”

“Martial law is absolutely out of the question. The army will not allow it.”

“Nor will the navy.”

“Let us vote on the deployment of forces to the Marches sector…”

Far from the prying eyes of the Dominion, hidden under a cloak of shadow, the Marches Sector, on the border of the Great Void, lay devastated. Entire worlds, once teeming with life, hung desolate and silent in space. Entire nations, from the lowliest of tribes to the Dominion colonists, had been massacred. Celestine’s warning had been heeded just too late.