Reunion
After so much passage of time it is surprising to find how little diplomacy had changed. Expeditions sent by Rheinland and later the BAF were never heard from again. Ships operated by the Order spent four days investigating Altair and returned only with grim tidings. Hostility between the Coalition and colonists in Sirius was not welcomed, but still worked to the benefit of the House governments. With the specter of yet another enemy dangling over the people, support steadily dwindled for the CSF. This culminated in the establishment of a unified, Alliance government on Planet Crossfire. Opposition continued in earnest sector-wide. Minor raids sporadically demanded Alliance response, but media coverage was often exaggerating the events taking place. With a real war effort at hand, temporary reconciliation between the factions was likely. They would fight side by side as brothers and sisters should conditions ever call for it.
Alliance fighters arriving at the Coalition’s front door were torn apart by seasoned interceptor squadrons and gigantic, station-mounted ion cannons. Raiders sent to Sol by the Coalition were easily dispatched by anti-Nomad picket lines set up by the Order. The alien presence dividing the rival factions was a force of considerable attrition. Enduring offensives involving any full-hearted campaign by one against the other was practically impossible. Combat became even less proficient as Nomad skirmishing returned in earnest with Dom’Kavash support following right on their heels. Their gunboats and fighters were terrors in dogfights, decimating Alliance and Coalition squadrons alike. Soft spots in their defenses started to buckle and give way. Alien formations swooped in, seemingly out of thin air, to ravage civilian targets throughout Sirius. They also struck at the military heart of the Coalition in Vorkuta. The Nomad arsenal now featured armored space carriers, lethal bombers, and even shielded interceptors.
Victory on so many fronts could not be attained. Summits held on Planets Curacao and Murmansk drew up terms for a ceasefire and the formation of a military pact against the Nomads and Dom’Kavash, respectfully. They would regret not having done so months earlier. Outcast raids on X-3043 tapered off as Dom’Kavash marauders brought war to the Omicrons. Fighter swarms advanced to Planet Crossfire, where only the most determined of resistances made it possible to repel them. In Altair, the situation was direr. Warships flooding in through Gurm were being held at bay less than six hours’ flight from the Coalition’s capital. To hold the lines not a single warship could be allowed to falter in their completion of tasking. Sharing assets and intelligence improved survival rates for active-duty personnel significantly, but it would be months before they would know whether or not the tides of war could be turned in favor of humanity.
