"Those savages would be fools to attack us here." - Commander of Hagawa Defence Station.
Stardate: 01-12-2387
With the dawning of 2388, the galaxy was still tearing itself apart around the Cartel as they sat poised to defend their territory from the rapidly expanding Dyss Horde. Long range reconnaissance reports did eventually shed some light on the way in which they had opened up the second front against the Golden Alliance with whom the Cartel was still nominally associated with. A pair of wormholes the Cartel had long ago deemed too high a risk to use were how they had done it, a fact that the Cartel kept very much in their mind for possible future exploitation.
However, they were more concerned with weathering the storm raging around them as border fortresses along with the first and third fleets remained on high alert. It seemed fate was on the Cartel's side as in the final half of 2388 the Great Khan was defeated in open battle, choosing to remain aboard his flagship as it was destroyed rather than escape. The ensuing power vacuum had the formerly united horde turning on one another essentially ending the immediate threat that faced the Cartel.
Whilst plans were debated and considered as to whether to take the fight to the fractured horde the first and third fleets were retasked. The third fleet was moved to Targon station making New Vulpinus it's home as the first fleet was assigned a second of the newly designed Vulpinus class carriers, its goal to wipe out the crystalline menace in the Karazit system. Even as the need to fortify became less urgent and the Cartel more able to focus on achieving its own goals the fracture of the Dyss Horde was largely prevented as a new great khan took control of the now vast empire. The initial concern didn't entirely fade even as their new leader seemed more interested in consolidation than conquest, renaming themselves into the New Dyss Khanate.
The early months of 2389 saw the ever enigmatic Homolog Continuum sending blueprints, schematics and technical specifications of a planetary shielding technology. Whilst it was generally well received the Cartel had long harboured their misgivings about the true motives of this ancient race.
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| The first fleet returns to Karazit, intent on redeeming themselves after the 'Pulsar Incident'. |
As 2391 began, the Fox Cartel first fleet returned to the Karazit system where years prior they had been defeated by a massed fleet of crystalline beings. New ships, weapons and technology alongside an entirely new approach to fleet warfare and doctrine was hoped to win where they had previously failed. The battle around the pulsar lasted for over a month but whereas before the Cartel's ships had been worn down by the sheer weight of numbers, they pressed ever forward as a cohesive whole leaving nought but shards of their crystalline foes in their wake. For only three ships the first fleet obliterated everything including the strange structure at the heart of the system.
With the most immediate threats dealt with the first fleet returned to Capella for repairs as science ships examined every square inch of space within the Karazit system finding it to be a veritable treasure trove of information. Most concerning, however, was a spatial rift near the pulsar the best Cartel minds were tasked with observing and studying it as the board of directors and military command began discussing their next possible moves.
The New Dyss Khanate was quite possibly the largest bordering threat but entering into war with them was deemed to be too costly an endeavour, the fortress systems of Hagawa and Bitrius deemed enough of a deterrent to prevent them from taking Cartel space with any kind of ease. As was historically the case they turned their attention to their longest standing rivals, the Unified Uriy Suns.
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| The New Dyss Khanate, half of it at least. A greater threat or a potential ally? |
However rather than simply attempting yet another military conquest in the strictest sense, they would be offered an ultimatum. Become a subsidiary of the Cartel's corporate structure or face their military might. An idea which was all but unanimously approved when in the early months of 2392 the New Dyss Khanate and Fox Cartel entered into a defensive pact which all but assured their safety for the immediate future.
As the first and third fleets were again deployed along the Uriy Suns border to lend more weight to their ultimatum the rift in the Karazit system proved to be a boon. Mineral-laden rocks seemed to drift through it providing the already extensive Cartel economy with a further boost albeit only temporarily as after only a week it dissipated entirely.
A carefully worded ultimatum was crafted over the weeks it took the first and third fleets to reach their respective staging areas. The first fleet was planned to attack deep into Uriy Suns space with their primary objective to occupy all starbases and destroy any fleets and ships they came across. The third fleet was deployed defensively in the Peya system to ward off any retaliatory strikes from the systems not possessing a defensive starbase.
Just as the ultimatum was about to be sent science ships exploring the Karazit system repaired a civilian comm buoy intercepting a transmission from a civilian transport whose passengers and crew had been taken prisoner by a so-called group of 'Ransomeers'. Deemed an acceptable risk the third fleet was hastily redeployed to rescue the civilians. Delaying the plans for the possible war for almost a full year.
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| The third fleet attempts to rescue civilians captured by pirates. |
The year 2395 marked a tragedy, as the third fleet attempted to rescue the captured civilians the station was destroyed before they could make their escape to the life-pods as had been the plan. With nought they could do to help them they obliterated the rag-tag band of pirates entirely before returning toward their original staging area. A period of mourning was declared and plans put on hold to fully assess what had transpired and how the civilian transport had been captured in the first place.
Troops were trained and deployed as enlistment spiked following the tragedy making initial projections of the possible conflict to come far more optimistic. The plan was further delayed when it was decided upon to expand the third fleet ahead of any potential conflict in order to potentially have the sheer military might of the Cartel convince the Uriy Suns of simply agreeing to the Cartel's demands. Something they would find the answer to soon enough as the threat of the Dyss faded the Cartel became a resurgent power intent on taking by force what it could not with negotiation.
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