Recruit: Book One of the Universal Conflict ( Under Constant Editing)

Chapter 44

  A few days later the squad sat around the same table having coffee when T'ilvesh walked over to them.

  "Mind if I join you?" He asked "Let me get some coffee, be right back."

  When he returned he sat down next to Surni and took a sip of his coffee before addressing the squad.

  "I've decided to try an assault on the Ruchkitay homeworld." he started.

  "Have you gone insane?" Rufe exclaimed "Surni, check him over! He's either sick or crazy."

  "Hold on, Rufe," Cory said "I want to hear this, then I'll figure out if the Commander's lost his marbles for myself."

  "Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys." T'ilvesh said, shaking his head in mock disbelief, "I was hoping for a little bit more trust by now."

  "You had it," Cory joked "up til that statement. Seriously though, you want to assault their homeworld? I'm intrigued, you do plan on coming back, right?"

  "Yes I do," T'ilvesh responded "On both points you brought up."

  "Sooooo..." Cory prompted "Let's hear your plan."

  "As you all know," T'ilvesh stated "since we started the reclamation our part of the fleet has more than doubled in size." The squad nodded. "I've talked to the other sub fleets and they, too, have grown. Some as much as tripled in strength. If we split all the sub fleets in half, we can continue to retake worlds from this angle and gather the rest to attack the homeworld. By doing this we cut off reinforcements and supplies."

   "But with all the worlds they've infested," Krystal pointed out "they have reinforcements and supplies everywhere."

  That's true, but by taking their homeworld they'll start returning to their home galaxy to seek us out." T'ilvesh explained "We'll warp out immediately, leaving communications open for them to call for help. Just outside the galactic boundary when they come out of warp we'll attack all incoming ships. The other fleets will pursue the original purpose and face weaker opposition during their efforts because of it."

  "Makes sense." Hawk interjected "We'd decimate the bulk of their population without too much trouble."

  "Once they figure out what we're up to they'll come out of warp expecting us." Rufe countered "That'll make it more hazardous."

  "Not if we only allow one call for help." Krystal said.

  "Exactly!" T'ilvesh replied "Just one call, then we jam their transmitter. They won't be expecting us to stay and fight. If  we make it seem it was a hit and run strike."

  "And just how do you manage that?" Surni queried "No one has come close to their homeworld in millennia and lived to tell about it."

  "That was before cloaking technology." T'ilvesh answered "We should be able to stay hidden until they show up."

  "Sounds like a plan. Do we know if the Ruchki's can use the cloaking technology?" Cory brought up.

  The Commander shrugged "Not that's been picked up from the prisoners' conversations, no."

  "It could still work." Cory mused "The cloak works in stardrive, why won't it work in warp?"

  "Something to do with the energies used. They use conflicting sources that if activated together cause a harmonic resonance. The ship would vibrate itself into pieces, almost instantaneously." Krystal explained to Cory.

  "Too bad, that's a major liability for us." Cory said.

  "How so?" Rufe asked "They can't cloak during warp either."