Talosian Chronicles 5: Raptor Squadron (41 page)

As H'joles image took form before the podium, Ian introduced him. "Ambassadors, and world leaders, I give you H'joles of the Grellian Patronomy, and citizen of the Alliance."

"Ambassadors, on my own behalf, I would thank you for allowing me to speak to you this day. There is much I would speak to you of, and in this way, perhaps help you in gaining knowledge for the coming days." H'joles said while he bowed to the assembly. He spoke in standard, which Lissa was translating while he spoke.

"I would begin by speaking to you of what you are now facing," H'joles began and laid out exactly what he knew of the total strength and capabilities of the Empire and their military. "Very soon, that war machine, in its entirety, will focus on this one sector of our galaxy for reasons we do not yet understand. In order to save you and your people, Admiral Williams will have to do something that the entire Alliance has been unable to do in a thousand years of war; he will have to defeat the Empire. He will have the assistance of the Alliance, but even with that, the odds do not favor a victory. News of this event has just now reached the High Council of the Alliance and discussions have only just begun, but I believe that if there is anyone in our universe that can salvage this situation, it is the man standing behind me. To that end I would urge you to listen to what he says and aide him in his efforts; he is trying to save not only your lives, but the lives of your entire race. I would imagine you have questions, yes?"

The Ambassador from the Russian Federation was first. "Citizen H'joles, we have no proof of the existence not to mention the reliability of the visions of supposed precognitives. How is it that an organization such as yours could be taken in by such a gimmick?"

The translation took a moment and H'joles nodded when it finished. "I was told you may not accept the visions as proof of this event. The Benesian Hegemony have been members of the Alliance for seven hundred years. In that time, very detailed investigations have been conducted by all the races into the viability and reliability of their abilities. Still, if this vision had been seen by only one member of that race, it may not have been taken as seriously as this is. However, every Benesian seer with a strong enough ability has had the exact same vision. In addition, the two other races that have demonstrated and documented abilities such as this have confirmed it. This report is being treated just as any advanced warning from a spy would be; that is to say, very seriously. I would also mention, in cases where the events foretold have not been averted prior to their arrival, they have always occurred. As unsettling as it sounds, the seers have been remarkably accurate. The visions are not seen as 'gimmicks' as you called it. The persons involved gained nothing from the visions and in many cases, such as this one, have experienced a great deal of trauma as a result of it."

The French Ambassador was next. It appeared that the American Ambassador was still speaking to the President quietly.

"Citizen H'joles, are we to understand that you are recommending that we allow the Admiral to place weapons and troops in our countries that we do not have control of?"

H'joles nodded. "I am. Ambassador, the placement of weapons, shields, and other equipment is how the Admiral will defend your people. I find it hard to understand why you would not want him to do so. If the control of those weapons is what you are concerned about, how are his people supposed to use them effectively if they do not have control of them?"

"Each Nation should be able to control the weapons inside its own borders. I am sure we can use them just as effectively as Admiral Williams can," the Ambassador replied.

"Truly?" H'joles asked seriously. "My information must be incorrect. I was unaware that Earth had experience with phased pulse lasers, mass drivers, surface to space missile systems, particle weapons, advanced trans-atmospheric fighter craft, or shield technology. My apologies for this oversight. Then if that is the case, why are you not already assisting the Admiral?"

The Ambassador got a smug look on his face. "We do not currently have such technology, but we could have been familiar with it if the Admiral would have shared this knowledge with us earlier."

"I see," H'joles replied. "So it is because you resent the Admiral's position that you are protesting. His actions in this regard are not without precedent. None of the Alliance races share their military technology with civilians; there is no need. It is the duty of the military to protect and defend civilians, why would civilians need this technology?"

"We are not civilians, Citizen H'joles, we are national leaders," the Ambassador replied.

H'joles nodded to him. "I understand that, Ambassador. The equivalent in my own race would be a clan or tribal leader. As with other races, only select members of the racial leadership have access to or knowledge of military technology. It prevents the tribes and clans from fighting among themselves, which they would do if they had the means to do so. As it is, this forces the clans to seek arbitration rather than resorting to costly war that does far more harm than good. Our citizens are far more comfortable with this arrangement, there is far less damage to commercial facilities, and far less cost in repairing damage. Please do not misunderstand, we do still have inter-tribal disputes that cost lives and do damage. However, a hunting rifle is not a phased pulse laser rifle, and a petrochemical explosive is not an antimatter warhead. If our tribal leaders had access to military grade weapons, my race would have gone extinct centuries ago. My people and yours may look very different, but in reality, we are not so different. It is the duty of the military to restrict its technology as part of its duty to protect civilian lives. Admiral Williams is acting accordingly and responsibly."

"Are you saying we should disband our own militaries and rely solely on Admiral Williams?" the Israeli Ambassador asked.

"Is not your defense his sworn duty? Each of you has the right to waste your credits on whatever you wish, but let me ask you this; have any of you been able to wage war on each other since he made his presence known?" H'joles asked. "Why would you need a military if you can't use it? Could not those beings be better used to aide your citizens in emergencies? Perhaps they would be of assistance in hunting down and eliminating some of the more difficult members of the criminal element?"

Ian interrupted him. "Just to clarify, H'joles, we have only been able to keep them from using weapons of mass destruction. We have not had the personnel until recently to keep them from fighting each other. I was planning on informing them of this prior to the news of the invasion."

H'joles nodded to Ian. "I am corrected. I tend to forget just how small a force yours is when compared to others."

"Citizen H'joles, can we know why you do not want us to know of your position within the Alliance?" the American Ambassador asked. For once, he wasn't being snide or hateful.

"There are two reasons for this. Firstly, it is a matter of tradition and prudence for a person in my position to not directly address a single national leadership in an official capacity. As such, I did not want address you officially using my title. Secondly, I chose to do this out of friendship to your Admiral and to your race, and not as an official of the Alliance. I am doing this of my own volition and not as a representative of the Alliance. My title and position are not by any means secret, it was only that I wished to separate this action from my office," H'joles replied.

The Ambassador nodded his understanding. "Thank you for telling us that. Can we then know what your duties are within the Alliance? Based on your knowledge and your testimony you are in the military, correct?"

H'joles sighed. "I am Fleet Admiral H'joles of the Alliance of Races Command also known as ARC. I hold the highest office within the Alliance military organization and am the over-all commander of all Alliance forces."

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Admiral H'joles' address to the UN Security Council must have had an effect on the leaders that had attended. Whether it was out of respect for his position or they were beginning to believe the warning, Ian wasn't sure. After H'joles closed the comm, Ian took a moment before speaking which gave the Secretary General the chance to ask him a question.

"Admiral Williams, why did you ask Fleet Admiral H'joles to speak to us today?"

Ian could see the sparkle in his eye from across the room. "I didn't ask him, Mister Secretary; he asked me if he could speak here today."

"Why would he ask to speak to us?" the American Ambassador asked. "We're not part of the Alliance."

"When he asked me to speak, he said he wanted to return the favor; I'd spoken to the High Council of the Alliance on his behalf when the Empire began a series of terroristic attacks on civilians." Ian replied. "Admiral H'joles has a reputation for being a tough commander and a hard ass. If you want to know if he has an agenda he does; it’s a simple one. Every action he makes is for the protection and well-being of the citizens of the Alliance. Just for the record, he does consider Earth to be a part of that whether you are officially a member or not. We, that are known as 'Terrans', have sworn to protect you, and we
are
members of the Alliance. In his mind and to his way of thinking that means it is also
his
duty to protect you.

"The High Council is really not so different from all of you; they argue and bicker but eventually work out their issues. However, at the heart of all of it, the Alliance is about the protection of the people. The races that make it up are just like you folks; they all have different national agendas, they worship different deities, and at any given time not all of them get along. But at the foundation of the Alliance, you will find that every member, regardless of their beliefs or political agenda, share one solid idea; and that is that none of them would still be free if they had tried to stand alone against the Empire," Ian finished. It was clear he wasn't preaching to them, but rather only explaining what the Alliance was.

"So, as I understand it, each of the separate races still retain a military?" the American Ambassador asked. "Do they fight each other?"

Ian nodded and looked down. "Yes, each nation of the Alliance still retains their own military. They are used for the defense of planets and other important facilities and are usually comprised of mostly new recruits and older, outdated equipment. They are the Alliance reserve fleets. As for fighting other nations in the Alliance, no they don't.

"Seven hundred years ago, in the early days of the Alliance the Grellian and the Croanian races had a major disagreement over the mining resources of a certain star system. It escalated into war. Both races recalled battle fleets from the front lines with the Empire to settle the matter. The Empire, aware of the discord between them, followed with a hidden fleet three times the combined strength of the two races. The disputed system as well as two other inhabited systems were lost in the fighting. Four hundred thousand military personnel and both fleets; a total of roughly two hundred war ships, were destroyed, and the Empire captured three inhabited worlds and the resources of the disputed systems. Two of those inhabited worlds belonged to a race that had been uninvolved in the dispute.

"In the aftermath of that horrific event, the Alliance agreed to suspend all 'internal' hostilities until the threat of the Empire has been dealt with. Currently any disputes like that are brought to the High Council for mediation. I will admit, there have been times that mediation failed, and the two sides began moving their forces once again. They were met by an Alliance battle fleet and basically forced to negotiate. Since that event, hostilities between nations have never progressed to the point of armed conflict."

The Ambassador from the Russian Federation spoke next. "So the Admiral was not telling us to get rid of our military, but to use them in a different manner?"

Ian leaned forward on the podium and looked at each of the delegates. "In the coming fight, we will be facing the largest military force the Empire has ever assembled against a single target. Current estimates place that around ten thousand warships and at least three million ground troops. Currently, my fleet is about fifty ships and three quarters of a million ground troops. All but four of those ships and a third of our ground forces belong to other nations. However, at best, the estimate of Imperial strength is a guess. We honestly have no idea how much they are going to hit us with, but it will be what they believe to be an over-whelming force.

"The fight this time will not be isolated to just one country; it'll be the whole planet. Not just this planet either, but the moon, Mars, all of our stations here as well as every facility and settlement in the Centauri system." He paused and looked grim. "People are going to die. World War three is not going to be fought between our people, but for our people." He nodded slowly. "And some of our people are going to die. How many will depend on all of us. Not just my forces, but on you and your leaders as well. We
have
to work together on this; I mean
all
of us, not just those of us in this room or even just the UN member nations, but
everyone
. We must set aside our differences for the time being and work together or we simply won't be here anymore.

"This is why I'm here today. I would like to ask all of you to give more resources to the UN Military. I would also ask that you consider including non-member nations in this effort. We have many projects in the works to build defenses and shelters for our people on the planet. I would like to ask for your help in implementing them.

"Any disputes between your countries have to stop, at least for now. Bring the problems here and work it out. We can't build the defenses for our people if my troops are busy stopping wars. It has never been the intention of our group to exert power over any of you or force any of you to our will, but this is an emergency. We will not interfere any more than necessary; If North Korea decides to invade the South, we will stop them. During that if the South tries to use the opportunity to retake the North, we will stop that too. If India and Pakistan heat up again, we will stop it again. People, this is too important to be messing around with nationalistic issues. Which leaves one major issue that still affects all of us; terrorism.