This is a tale of foolish errors, armed conflict and rebellion for a people who had already suffered through the above so many times before. Actions halfway across the galaxy would cause the 4th rebellion on Farquak since it was discovered by the outside galaxy, all of which except one involved simple Cren on Cren violence. At the center of this was false assumptions, a commander who was unable to think, and leaders who had become blind with power.


Past, just prior to “To Burn With A Righteous Anger”
Onboard the space station Defender, in orbit around Farquak
Office of the Supreme Commander of the Cren Alliance Military

Admiral Dawara sat in his office staring at the orders which had been passed down to him.

By order of Prime Minister Regrad, Minister of Defence Dondana has activated the following Cren Alliance ships and their respective support vessels for broader Coalition duty. The ships are to report to Onyx and will be placed under the command of General Logan upon their arrival.

Below was a short list of a Republic Star Destroyer, some Haven Light Cruisers, Defender Gunships, a couple Heroic Support Vessels and of course their accompanying fighters and support vessels. It wasn’t the orders in themselves that had Admiral Dawara staring at them, they were pretty normal, save for one thing. At the bottom of the orders Prime Minister Regrad and Minister of Defence Dondana had both signed the orders, rather than the usual seemingly random bureaucrat signing it off under the powers that the offices of the Prime Minister and Minister of Defence held. The fact that both of these important men had taken time to personally sign the orders signified that this was more than your average joint-Coalition patrol. Something big was up, he just wondered what that was. Hopefully nothing too big, after all, he hadn’t been informed of anything. If it was that big one would think that the Coalition, being a democracy, would at least have the decency of notifying the member-states. As there was nothing more he could learn from staring at the documents he forwarded the orders on to their respective commanders.

The commanders aren’t stupid, its not like they are going to break our non-aggression pact with the Imperials without questioning the orders or at least sending a query up the chain of command.


Past
Taken from To Burn With A Righteous Anger:

"I would like to thank all of you... for being here with me today. You represent the whole of the Coalition, you represent the united fist of a righteous cause. I want to take this moment now to commend you for your coming bravery. This is going to be a difficult campaign... with much loss of life expected. Any one who does not wish this for themselves... I give you the opportunity to step back now, and no reprisal will be administered.

I beckon for the heroes of the Confederation, the Cren, the Azguards, the Onyxians, and the rest of the united peoples of the Coalition to step forward.

As one!

- General Joren Logan

Onboard the lead Cren vessel the XO walked over to the Captain.

“Sir, I have some concerns with the upcoming assault.”

“Lieutenant, ease your fears, this isn’t my first time in combat. We are well led and won’t have any problems in this assault. General Logan knows what he’s doing. We’ll get through this without a hitch and be an instrumental part in how the upcoming battle unfolds.”

“But sir, we can’t even be the smallest part of this assault! We have a non-aggression pact with the Empire. Our ships shouldn’t even be here at Ord Mantell, let alone moving onwards with this and being part of the upcoming assault.”

“Lieutenant, our orders were clear. Report to Onyx and follow General Logan’s orders. Upon arrival we were sent to Ord Mantell and upon our arrival here we were placed under strict communications silence. We are still under communications silence and there is no room for us to stray from those orders. We continue to follow them and go to Bilbringi with the rest of the fleet.”

“But sir, this could lead to war. Our people could be devastated in this war and once again fall under the dominating hold of the Empire.”

“Lieutenant, High Command and our politicians will have thought about the consequences before approving this mission. We go onward.”

“But sir, we don’t even know if High Command and the politicians know about the mission, let alone approved it.”

“Of course they know and approved it Lieutenant. Remember that the Coalition is indeed that, a Coalition. We have our own separate governments, some with different treaties. Take Tirahnn for example, they are in both the Coalition and the League of Nations. The Coalition has no problems with this, they also do not have a problem with the Cren Alliance’s non-aggression pact with the Empire. After all they were there when it was signed and it is their fault that we ended up under the Empire’s control in the first place. The Coalition leadership would not be so foolish as to order individual Cren vessels to break that non-aggression pact without having previously consulted the Cren Alliance High Command and politicians. And even if they were foolish enough to simply consult one of the two above bodies, the informed body would be intelligent enough to consult the other body. No Lieutenant, I have no doubts in my mind, our politicians and High Command have approved this assault and as such we will follow orders and proceed with it.”

“But sir, what if they weren’t consulted?”

“Lieutenant, they were consulted, I guarantee it!”

“But sir, how do you know that?”

“Because common sense dictates that they know it.”

“But sir-”

“No more ‘but sirs’, Lieutenant! This ship is under my command and we will ALL follow our respective orders, for disobedience can lead to one being cast into the brig. Do you understand me Lieutenant?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Remember Lieutenant, you are my XO, here to ensure everything runs smoothly. You are not here to question every one of my orders. If you persist you will find yourself replaced, even if its in the middle of the battle, and placed on ‘fresher duty.”

“I understand sir.”

With that the fate of the Cren Alliance was sealed. There would be more conflicts between the Cren Alliance and the New Order in the near future beyond the upcoming engagement at Bilbringi, just no one was aware of it as of yet. The fate of intra-Cren relations also was sealed to include even more violence and unrest amongst their own species. Actions halfway around the galaxy were about to cause great social unrest which would move into armed conflict and eventually rebellion as even more foolish errors were made.

Past, between “To Burn With A Righteous Anger” and
Office of the Supreme Commander of the Cren Alliance Military

“Admiral Dawara, we have reports that Cren Alliance ships were involved in a Coalition wide assault on the New Order at Bilbringi.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Here, watch this.”

The following is from the INS broadcast concerning Bilbringi.



Empire Attacked at Bilbringi

^

What sort of distraction?

"We will have to wait and see. But the Empire will remain on alert."


*


The room was more crowded than usual as Grand Moff Azrael Zell, retired, stepped up onto the stage and moved toward a podium amid flashes from holographic, digital, audio and plain retro-grade recorders.


"Long range sensor probes discovered a fleet amassing near Ord Mantell yesterday. A follow-up probe was launched to confirm the composition of this fleet and, if possible, their intention."

He looked up with an incredulous look on his face.

"Well, ladies and gentle-fucking-men, guess what fucking Captain has been transferred to Admiral Kraken's toilet duty?

Because, guess what? That fleet has no longer been detected in and around Ord Mantell!

Anyone want to guess where the fuck the fleet is? Where it's headed?


Surprise, surprise... the Imperial High Command has just been informed of the destination of those sneaky Coalition bastards. They have arrived at Bilbringi and they ain't bringing flowers.

This is fucking Corellia all over again and this time.... THIS TIME, Kaine is not going to hold us back!

He'll come and give you sweet words about fucking rogue elements within Coalition territory and how this attack may be unsanctioned by his High fucking Lord Regrad.

Well, Supreme Commander, let's take a look at these Rogue Elements shall we?"


A rough holopicture of various enemy craft appears before the audience.


"Let's fucking see what we have here..."

The older man rubbed his chin and bent over squinting at the holopic.

"Hmm.... Onyxian Commonwealth contingent... complete with fucking Bird of Preys... the ship that also attacked Glee Anselm? Yeah.. it's unconfirmed to all you technical shitfaces but what the fuck, right?

What else?... .ahh yes... Some Azguard heavies... There are some Cren fuckers there... blow up this section of the picture and you see one of those fuckers in a view port waving.... hope you get sucked out into space you little backstabbing fucker!

There's something we hardly see.... that's a fucking Kashan warship... those fucking aggressive bitches that we had to talk some sense into at Metalorn only to find they were being funded and supported directly by the Coalition as a subject state. Sneaky fucks those Kashan!

And here they are to chew on our carcasses if they can. Fucking carrion eaters!

So, Kaine! If it was so fucking unsanctioned and if these were rogue elements why the fuck do they represent nearly all the bitches making up the Coalition!!

Wait a fucking minute!

Do I see any Anx there??!!

Zoom on that ship! No.. THAT one!

hmmm... No, that's another fucking Cren.

Just goes to show that those Anx are smart fuckers. Doing some good over there on Glee Anselm staying away from this unsanctioned, sanctioned attack."


Zell chuckled grimly as the holopic flickered off.

"So we do not know yet what is actually happening at Bilbringi, or why the Coalition took this moment (especially after Glee Anselm) to attack us or what the fuck they hope to accomplish.

The composition of that fleet could not have materialized overnight...especially the hodgepodge way the Coalition is scattered across the galaxy, but it makes us wonder how long they were expecting to attack us and if that base they established on Glee Anselm was actually a forward post for an invasion route?

yeah... I can see you reporters squirming for questions like you have bitz beetles in your pants ..bet you never connected those dots did you?

With all the hate coming from the Coalition about how evil we are, about how we (and the Imperium) must be destroyed or submit to Coalition rule, one wonders if they would consider the price the Glee Anselm paid for their forward base a good one?


I wonder what Azguard god ordered that fucking base on Glee Anselm put up?

I wonder what Azguard god decided to keep all those Soveriegnty fuckers in power so they could piss out their old tricks again?


Anyway, I'll take your fucking questions now..."


Where is Supreme Commander Kaine?

"Last I heard he was in the Yaga Minor Protectorate. The Empire is on alert.. a terrorist attack is a terrorist attack and Glee Anselm was just a little too close for comfort. Since we cannot conclusively say it was the Coalition as we do not have a holopic of some Cren or Onyxian fucker launching the missile, we cannot dismiss the possibility of a third party somewhere."


What is his response to this attack?

"I am not sure if he knows about it. The fleet is on alert and we ARE the Empire! Elements can move without the Supreme Commander's say-so. No doubt, when he finds out, we shall all know his response."


Is there bad blood between you and the Supreme Commander?

"Fuck no. I respect that devious sonofabitch, Simon Kaine. I am an old man and have earned the right to speak as I do to whomever I will, with the exception of his Imperial Lordship, Daemon Hyfe. So when I speak of Simon Kaine in this way, it's actually a sign of respect."


So you respect the Cren?

"Fuck you."


“Governor Sawara isn’t going to like this,” said Dawara with a sigh. “Lieutenant, get me a channel with Governor Sawa-”

“He’s calling now sir.”

“Put him through…Governor Sawara, I was just about to call you.”

“I’d like you to explain this report I just received containing an INS broadcast and a Coalition attack on Bilbringi that supposedly involved Cren Alliance ships. I authorized no such involvement. Was this report falsified? I mean that close-up holo of a Cren could have been taken at any point during out history with the New Order.”

“Sir, I was just about to call you and inform you of this so we can prepare for possible consequences. That holo, as near as I can tell, is no fake. We’ve identified one of the ships in the holo as a Republic Star Destroyer built here, in our shipyards at Farquak, and which recently was assigned for Coalition wide duty under the orders of Prime Minister Regrad and Minister of Defence Dondana. Our captains were under orders to report to Admiral Logan when they arrived at Onyx. From there it appears they went with him to Onyx, without reporting their intentions to Cren Alliance Military Command, and participated in the attack.”

“They did WHAT?” demanded Sawara.

“Governor, they followed the orders which were given to them. The orders from Prime Minister Regrad and Minister Dondana were forwarded to the captains from my office. I personally viewed the orders prior to them being forwarded. It was a standard “report for Coalition wide duty here, and follow the orders of so and so”. As you know these orders are usually to report for Coalition wide patrols, as part of our commitment to the Coalition. I have, until now, assumed that if it involved offensive actions we would be notified in advance, as is also part of our agreement with the Coalition. I had especially assumed this in the case of any actions involving the New Order, considering our non-aggression pact with the Empire. It is my belief that the commanders were probably under a similar impression, perhaps even had that impression encouraged at Onyx. They would have followed their orders, assuming that we had been notified ahead of time and that we had approved this action.”

“They should have called in to check.”

“Sir, usually when a military engages in an offensive attack, some sort of communications silence/communications protocols are put in place. I have no doubt that under a more than competent commander such as Admiral Logan that the task force was put under some sort of communications silence immediately upon arrival in the Onyxian System and that once the nature of the operation became clearer the communications silence was upgraded to even higher levels. I doubt the commanders had the option of reporting back to us, and certainly would not have been able to ask if they were allowed to attack the Empire without breaking the communications silence.”

“‘More than competent’? Judging by that broadcast Admiral Logan was far more incompetent than he was competent.”

“Uncle, please, you are a politician, do not speak of things of which you are not fully informed on. Admiral Logan was a more than competent commander, perhaps one of the best commanders the Coalition has within its ranks today. Do not dishonour his name by saying such things.”

“Regardless of Logan’s competence, or lack there of, our commanders should have broken communications silence. When their ships limp back here I want them put in the brig and brought up on charges.”

“Charges of what? Following orders? You can’t charge a military officer for following the orders presented to him by his superior officers.”

“How does negligence sound to start off with? It seems rather negligent to me to commit an act of war.”

“The commanders were following orders, orders that had filtered down through the chain of command and which were valid.”

“Filtered down? How the fuck were the orders filtered down through the chain of command?”

“Well the Prime Minister and Minister of Defence clearly both authorized it and the commanders had been transferred to a different command, a command that again authorized the orders. The military chain of command was there, the political one was what was lacking, however there was no way for the commanders to know that.”

“We’ll talk more about this later. But there will be consequences for this, both for the commanders and for our people as a whole. The Empire isn’t going to take this attack lying down you know. They are going to come here, and probably in force.”

“You’re right as far as the parts concerning the Empire go. As such I should be preparing for the Empire’s retaliation, not sitting here arguing over why this happened or whether or not the commanders should be punished. We will talk later uncle.”

With that Admiral Dawara broke up the connection, glad to have an excuse to not have to talk to his cousin, but not at all pleased with the present turn of events. He knew the Governor was right and that there would be consequences for the Cren. How big these consequences would become he had no idea, never in either of their minds did the Governor or Admiral even pause for a second to debate how the people would react to this turn of events. As for the commanders, they would never find out the consequences of their actions, as the small Cren Alliance fleet at Bilbringi was destroyed, leaving no survivors.