Costs, Benefits, Opportunities
The Battle of Neumann: A Theme
The battle of Neumann itself was bad enough. Three hundred human vessels jumped into that accursed system, and found themselves facing well over one hundred and fifty Hin'in warships, arrayed in defensive formation and waiting for the humans with open arms. The brutal melee that followed has been recounted numberless times since by survivors of the mutual slaughter. Books, vids, documentaries... Fiction and non-fiction galore: an entire industry was inspired by the bloody spectacle that took place on the very extremes of Codexian space. The news channels called it a 'victory'. They spoke of 'heroics' and 'infinite courage'. Well, there was plenty of that, too, one can suppose. Marianite strategists took one look at the casualty sheets that bought those labels and wondered if the war was now unwinnable.
Of the composite flotilla that had initially transitioned into the system, barely a hundred ships were still able to report in, three days later. The Hin'in, for their part, fared even worse - escaping Neumann with a motley collection of twenty or so space-worthy craft. It was a ghastly business. The Hin'in had fought savagely and resolutely. The analysis offered by Space intelligence officers was that a very senior Alpha had 'held court' at the site. Its powerful psionics had spurred the Hin'in to prodigious feats in combat, but it was all to prove to little avail. The lethal, yet fragile Hin'in craft had died gloriously, and had fought well. The Marianites could not begrudge them that. Neumann was triumph and disaster, brought together in a perfect symmetry. It was the height of the military art and the depth of macabre savagery, all in one. Yes, the battle of Neumann was bad enough.
Then the Raumen Uprising began, a mere month later. The Hin'in occupiers, who were apparently not moved by the recent plight of their kinfolk in human space, were taken by surprise. Where the Raumen built the vessels that now flooded the starlanes, few know. But one thing is certain: the insectoids clearly wanted their homes back. A dozen battles raged across the Raumeni territories, while the Venerable Respublica organized its defensive effort and watched. New ships were being brought into the line, new recruits were being trained, morale was high and so was confidence. Now that the Raumen had joined in the fight against the Hin'in, the everyman was convinced that the war would be 'over by Christmas'. But the psychic xenos proved once again why they were such finely adapted pack hunters. Their mobilization was sickeningly rapid and undeniably awesome.
The Raumen, who fought both gracefully and manfully, were obviously absorbing hideous losses to achieve local successes. They defeated the Hin'in several times in rapid succession in the G'ovan cluster, only to find a liberated clan world retaken by a brazen Hin'in counteroffensive. The psychics had previously ruled with 'temperance', one could say. Their iron fist was wrapped in silk, and their governance light. According to available reports, that ended rather quickly when the Raumen massacred several thousand of their administrators, state officials, officers and various other personnel, across more than a dozen worlds. The reprisals were decisive. The Uprising became a pitiless, primal struggle for dominance. Raumeni populations were decimated on a number of planets.
Of course, there was nothing inevitable about any seemingly preordained outcome. Certainly, the rapid Hin'in response and the lack of human distraction were serious obstacles to Raumeni success. Yet, the vastly more powerful psychic xeno was clearly not committing the majority of his strength to the fight. Reserves were being held back; deployments were reduced to the bare minimum. Something, somewhere, was distracting the Empire. The Marianite leadership believed that, perhaps, the Raumeni were not lying about the existence or the intention of the so-called 'Bron'. That a thousand lightyears away another conflict was enveloping contested space. Would it prove to be enough? At this stage, none could venture anything but a guess.
The Respublica, as such, was faced with some choices:
Option A:
Do you... intervene in the Raumen territories, now? Though the insects will be displeased that we adopted a wait-and-see approach, they could not help but appreciate assistance now - they need it. Our fleets are being rebuilt. Our people will us onward. Do we dare strike at the Hin'in Empire, while their vulnerability is evident?
OR
Do you... rebuild, recuperate and concentrate on retaining what the Respublica has achieved? The Commo has not intervened against the Hin'in, either. We hold a number of their territories, including Sonata and much of the border zone. What if they strike at us, while we gallivant around meddling in xeno affairs? Let us make sure we are unassailable!
Option B:
Do you... accelerate your shipbuilding programme? We need hundreds of new vessels. We NEED more recruits. We need a military that can hold its own against anyone and everyone, if need be. Our economy and the government bottom line will be meaningless if the Hin'in come back with a vengeance, and burn our worlds while we sit on piles of unspent moneys.
OR
Do you... strive to reduce the impact of the war on the economy, significantly lowering the output of war materiel and new vessels, but preserving the health of the Marianite economy? Our people have faced this choice before. We chose wrongly, then. Let us not do so again, Councilmen! The Hin'in will not come back. We have bloodied their nose without taking their honour. Our only enemy is ourselves... and the Commo. But we can beat them good and proper, without a far vaster navy.
Option C: (this option will be counted separately; please denote choice with a + (e.g. AB+B))
A: Your scientists have discovered something truly groundbreaking. By 'modulating' the laminar flow of warp slipstreams, they have managed to erect a 'forcefield' around a small object. We do not even need a true FTL drive, for the field effect. This field can take a great deal of stress, before collapsing. The applications of the invention are nearly limitless. A few years from now, our shielded, impervious fleets could carve their way across the sector, with but a little investment. Think on it, Councilmen!
OR
B: Update: Peaceful contact with the Amoneth