Disaster, Presiding
‘Tell us, human-clan, why should we believe you? Your evidence may have been doctored. Your designs on Raumen are no more honourable than the Hin’in, and we KNOW you ply a trade in falsehood. Look at the broken sons of the Three Tones; they believe in your lies wholeheartedly! You seek to destroy the independence we so dearly treasure!’ The representative of the Four Suns levelled the accusation in a machine monotone, courtesy of the translator. The Raumeni’s own chirping voice quivered with barely suppressed rage. The conference was now running into its third day – a hive of activity and conflict, wherein the human delegation struggled to make its case to the largest gathering of clan heads in years.
‘Elder Churrol, please Sir, calm yourself,’ the Codexian ambassador gave reply, ‘This petty mudslinging serves no purpose. We Codexians seek to preserve what the Hin’in would tear asunder. Survey the proof before you. See the Hin’in for what they are; manipulators, deceivers and destroyers of your sovereign right to rule your clans, as you will. How can you ignore the truth, when it sits before your very eyes? Elder, Codexia has long been the friend and ally of the Rau-‘
Another Four Suns Elder rose on its hind legs with a start, ‘No! Apologies to the Gathering for the interjection, but I must refute this HUMAN’S ridiculous attempt at obfuscation. Do not underestimate us, Codexian. Do not think us idiots! We all know why you side with the Three Toners. What makes you any better than the Hin’in, who we of the Four Suns use to our ends – and admit are used by, in turn? You aliens impose your machinations on us, in our time of pain. You feed off our suffering, bloodsuckers that you are. Clan Elders, where does this road lead? The Raumen are in ruin. Six clans have already been extinguished by this fighting, and yet the humans would see us sacrifice on THIER BEHALF, compounding our misery. Our quarrel is not simply with the Humans, or the Hin’in. It is with all those that would enslave us by our own hands!’
A raucous choir arose, ‘Hear, hear! Hear, hear!’
The Elder conducting the proceedings rapped on the podium he sat behind, ‘Calm, fellow Elders, calm, please. The humans have proven themselves to entertain notions of supremacy over us. The Hin’in duplicity is now also a known quality. Where does this leave the Clans? Even as we deliberate, our fleets continue to wither away fighting each other. Our strength is failing. We must put this matter to a vote. Where do we go from here? When we leave these chambers, is the war to continue as is? Can we allow it to continue? What is our duty to our kin and kith?’
The room erupted, as hundreds of voices rang out simultaneously. The debate would now begin in earnest.
***
When all was said and done, the conference called by the humans to rally support against the Hin’in had resulted in unmitigated disaster. Firstly, the Clans did rally – but against the ‘alien menace’, generally, not the Hin’in. Secondly, the Hin’in found out about the conference almost immediately, and correctly deduced the obvious intent behind it. Their response was evident even before that of the Raumeni, when elements of the Second Fleet were ambushed and destroyed in Tau Omicron, a few lightyears away from their the regional headquarters. The faces of the attending admiralty paled, when they were first presented with the still-developing situation at a general staff meeting thereafter. This was a nightmare scenario; war against the majority of the Raumeni clans, and the Hin’in themselves.
Not every Clan joined in the Muster against the Codexians and the Hin’in. Some, weakened by the war or otherwise disinterested in its course, abstained from joining in. But out of two hundred-odd Clans, almost one hundred and fifty pooled their remaining strength to wage war against both of the alien factions now besetting their territories. A three sided conflict began to spin out of control. The Hin’in, cognizant of the underlying danger, quickly committed a huge number of vessels against the ‘bugs’. The Codexians, meanwhile, found their fleets facing constant attacks from an array of local clans. Some had even turned away from the Three Tone Alliance, in order to fight the Codexian threat. It was all becoming a ghastly mess. Explaining the situation at home was going to prove exceedingly difficult – even as thousands of Codexians became casualties of the war enveloping Raumeni space.
You are at war. It is time to decide on its conduct.
Do you... begin a general mobilization, in preparation for a high intensity conflict? This might anger your populace, but it will leave you better prepared to deal with wartime losses and other consequences of the struggle.
OR
Do you... pull back your fleets from the conflagration, in order to consolidate a defensive perimeter along your borders? This will see you pull away from the everyday conflict, in preparation for fore decisive action, later on.
OR
Do you... wish to both a) mobilize and b) pull back? This will increase your fighting strength greatly over time, and reduce casualties in the short term.