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A Message To My Readers
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Thank you
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Appendix
This chart is offered to assist readers who may be unfamiliar with military rank and the reporting structure. Newly commissioned officers begin at either ensign or second lieutenant rank.
Space Command Officer Hierarchy:
Admiral of the Fleet (5 Star)
Admiral (4 Star)
Vice-Admiral (3 Star)
Rear Admiral – Upper (2 Star)
Rear Admiral – Lower (1 Star)
Captain
Commander
Lt. Commander
Lieutenant
Lieutenant(jg) "Junior Grade"
Ensign
Space Marine Officer Hierarchy:
General (4 Star)
Lt. General (3 Star)
Major General (2 Star)
Brigadier General (1 Star)
Colonel
Lt. Colonel
Major
Captain
First Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
The commanding officer on a ship is always referred to as Captain, regardless of his or her official military rank. Even an Ensign could be a Captain of the Ship, although that would only occur as the result of an unusual situation or emergency where no senior officers survive.
On Space Command ships and bases, time is measured according to a twenty-four clock, normally referred to as military time. For example, 8:42 PM would be referred to as 2042 hours. Chronometers are set to always agree with the date and time at Space Command Supreme Headquarters on Earth. This is known as GST, or Galactic System Time.
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Admiralty Board:
Moore, Richard E - Admiral of the Fleet
Platt, Evelyn S. - Admiral - Director of Fleet Operations
Bradlee, Roger T. - Admiral - Director of Intelligence (SCI)
Ressler, Shana E. - Admiral - Director of Budget & Accounting
Hillaire, Arnold H. - Admiral - Director of Academies
Burke, Raymond A. - Vice-Admiral - Director of GSC Base Management
Ahmed, Raihana L. - Vice-Admiral - Dir. of Quartermaster Supply
Woo, Lon C. - Vice-Admiral - Dir. of Scientific & Expeditionary Forces
Plimley, Loretta J. - Rear-Admiral, (U) - Dir. of Weapons R&D
Hubera, Donald M. - Rear-Admiral, (U) - Dir. of Academy Curricula
Ship Speed Terminology:
Plus-1 - 1 kps
Sub-Light-1 - 1,000 kps
Light-1 - 299,792.458 kps or (c) (speed of light in a vacuum)
Light-150 or 150 c - 150 times the speed of light
Hyper-Space Factors:
IDS Communications Band - .0513 light years each minute (8.09 billion kps)
DeTect Range - 4 billion kilometers
Sample Distances:
Earth to Mars (Mean) - 78 million kilometers
Nearest star to our Sun - 4 light-years (Proxima Centauri)
Milky Way Galaxy diameter - 100,000 light-years
Thickness of M'Way at Sun - 2,000 light-years
Stars in Milky Way - 200 billion (est.)
Nearest galaxy (Andromeda) - 2 million light-years from M'Way
A light-year - 9,460,730,472,580.8 kilometers (in vacuum)
A light-second - 299,792.458 km (in vacuum)
Grid Unit - 1,000 Light Yrs² (1,000,000 Sq. LY)
Deca-Sector - 100 Light Years² (10,000 Sq. LY)
Sector - 10 Light Years² (100 Sq. LY)
Section - 94,607,304,725 km²
Sub-section - 946,073,047 km²
Mission Descriptions for Strategic Command Bases:
Strat Com 1 – Base - Location establishes it as a critical component of Space Command Operations - Serves as home-port to multiple warships that also serve in base's defense. All sections of Space Command maintain an active office at the base. Base Commander establishes all patrol routes and is authorized to override SHQ orders to ships within the sector(s) designated part of the base's operating territory.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Rear Admiral (U)
Strat Com 2 – Base - Location establishes it as a crucial component of Space Command Operations - Serves as home-port to multiple warships that also serve in base's defense. All sections of Space Command maintain an active office at the base. Patrol routes established by SHQ.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Rear Admiral (L)
Strat Com 3 – Base - Location establishes it as an important component of Space Command Operations - Serves as homeport to multiple warships that also serve in base's defense. Patrol routes established by SHQ.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Captain
Strat Com 4 – Station - Location establishes it as an important terminal for Space Command personnel engaged in travel to/from postings, and for re-supply of vessels and outposts.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Commander
Strat Com 5 – Outpost - Location makes it important for observation purposes and collection of information.
Recommended rank of Commanding Officer: Lt. Commander
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This map shows Galactic Alliance space after the second expansion. The white space at the center is the space originally included when the GA charter was signed. The first circle shows the space claimed at the first expansion in 2203. The second circle shows the Frontier Zone established with the second expansion in 2273. The 'square' delineates the deca-sectors around Stewart SCB, and shows most of the planets referenced in Books 4 through 6 of this series. The image below this one is an enlargement of that area.
No attempt has been made to show the thousands of stars, planets, and moons in this small part of G.A. space. The only purpose of these two-dimensional representations is to provide the reader with a feel for the spatial relationships between bases, systems, and celestial objects.
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.jpg and .pdf versions of the maps created for this series are available for downloading at : http://www.deprima.com/ancillary/agu.html
should the names be unreadable in your printed or electronic media, or if you simply wish to gain a better overall perspective.
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Product Decription
Some readers have requested that the product description on Amazon, be included with the kindle copy. I've added it here:
From inside a giant asteroid, hundreds of light years from Earth, Admiral Jenetta Carver is beginning to look forward to a trip home, and finally receiving command of her own ship. Her five-year tour of duty as the Base Commander of the Stewart SC Base is nearing an end, and the ship carrying her replacement has been underway for more than a year.
However, when the GSC destroyer carrying Admiral Vroman is attacked just a few light years from the base, her plans are quickly forgotten. Rescue ships arriving at the site the next day find only corpses aboard the Lisbon, while a severely damaged freighter with a dead Tsgardi crew floats nearby. There's no sign of the admiral, and most of the SC crew is missing.
The Milori military forces, unsuccessful in their first attempt to defeat the Galactic Alliance and annex its territory, are preparing for a second assault. Emperor Maxxiloth has decided he won't be embarrassed a second time and sends every ship available in his empire as part of the new invasion force.
Months later, a shuttle touches down on a primeval world far inside the Frontier Zone, where Admiral Vroman and the crewmembers of the GSC destroyer Lisbon are to be marooned by their Milori captors. As the rest of the crew is being shuttled down to the surface, the officers quickly draw up a plan of survival. Left with only the most basic of supplies and equipment, they must learn how to exist in a hostile, planetary environment.
While the forces at Stewart are preparing for an immin
ent attack by the Milori, the men and women of the Lisbon is learning that they have some rather large and particularly nasty neighbors with voracious appetites and predacious habits.
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(special preview)
Against All Odds
Chapter One
~ September 12th, 2281 ~
"Suicide!" Minister of Intelligence Vertap Aloyandro said fervently, in a rare display of personal emotion in front of his King, after viewing the vid message received from the Uthlaro Prime Minster. He then closed his eyes and shook his head sadly.
"Suicide?" King Jamolendre, the monarch of all Hudeera, echoed in surprise. "I asked for your most positive assessment, Vertap."
"And I have given it to you, my King. We have gained much territory as a result of our recent military actions, but this endeavor, rooted in avarice, will certainly result in our ruination. This proposed pact will be our undoing; it is tantamount to— suicide."
"Lord Melendret, and the noblemen loyal to him, favor the pact."
"Your Highness, we both know they are drunk with power. They saw our massed military attacks on sparsely populated and lightly defended Milori outposts as great victories; although they were nothing but lightning raids against an enemy whose reduced resources were stretched far too thin to properly protect its vast territory. When the Milori pulled back, deserting their forward positions along our border, it was to marshal their forces to defend their home world from attack by warships of the Galactic Alliance. The nobles foolishly looked upon the withdrawal as a magnificent triumph by our forces. Our nobles have deluded themselves into believing that we somehow drove the Milori out."
The king stood up, stretched his six-foot ten-inch frame, and stepped from behind his desk. Silently circling his enormous office in the royal palace, his scaly, mottled, greenish-brown skin shone brightly, absorbing welcome warmth from the bright daylight streaming in through the windows. The three fingers and opposing thumb of his left hand tightly gripped his right behind his back, and his glance never left the embellished, handwoven carpet as he passed the elaborate sculptures and magnificent paintings that lined the walls. On the third pass, he stopped near the seating that surrounded the large circular fireplace in the center of the room and dropped heavily into his favorite chair. The massive, thickly-padded piece of furniture, covered in a red velvet-like fabric, had been made to his specifications and body contours and included the normal rear cutout for the short reptilian tail that all Hudeerac males sported. He lightheartedly referred to this chair as his seat of power, and always enjoyed its wonderful comfort while he presided over the frequent, informal meetings with the rich and powerful noblemen of the ruling class.
"This pact," Jamolendre said, "if signed by all parties, would combine the military might of four interstellar powers. We know that the Galactic Alliance is more powerful than our own meager forces, but surely even they can't stand against the combined might of all four nations."
The Minister of Intelligence moved to the fireplace area but would never presume to occupy any of the empty chairs unless invited to sit down. "My King, I'm not prepared to agree with that assessment, and Admiral Carver has a deserved reputation for defeating enemies who underestimated her abilities and resources. As the senior ranking officer of Space Command in the territory previously known as the Milori Empire, and what they now refer to as Region Two of the Galactic Alliance, she would be the one to direct the action against any intrusion, so we would be pitting our forces against hers. I can't imagine a more dangerous opponent."
"The Galactic Alliance apparently believes that they're entitled to annex all of the territory formerly claimed by the Empire simply because they conquered the Milori. How can they possibly control an area that large when they didn't have enough ships to cover Galactic Alliance territory before it was tripled in size?"
"It has long been an accepted reality of war that to the victor belong the spoils, my King."
"I don't deny that the Milori, bent on conquest of the galaxy, invaded Galactic Alliance territory on two separate occasions, but our noblemen don't feel that one small fact entitles the Galactic Alliance to all the territory of the former Empire. We suffered at the hands of the Milori for generations, and we are entitled to a share of the conquered territory.
"That the Milori twice invaded the Galactic Alliance is not what concerns me, Sire. It's the fact that Space Command twice defeated the Milori invaders handily. And they did promptly return the former Gondusan and Hudeerac territories, taken by the Milori during our decades of hostilities, as was agreed before we commenced our raids against the Empire's border positions. They promised nothing else."
"We took our former territories back ourselves, Vertap–– although the actions of Space Command against the Milori certainly helped make it possible by drawing off the forces protecting the border."
"My King, this proposed pact calls for the entire area annexed by the Galactic Alliance to be divided equally among the four signatories; that's considerably more than a share of the conquered territory. The Galactic Alliance isn't being asked to share, they're being ordered to get out. They won't leave without a fight."
"They aren't needed here, or wanted here, any longer. With the Milori defeated, and beyond any hope of ever resurrecting their forces, this part of the galaxy rightfully belongs to those who suffered for so long."
"The Uthlaro and Tsgardi never suffered under the Milori, your Majesty; they were active trading partners at all times, and benefited greatly from their association. Do you feel this entitles them to half of the conquered empire?"
"They're included in the pact because we need their ships," Jamolendre said angrily. "Like the Gondusan territory and ours, their realms border the former Milori Empire, and neither has any particular love for the Galactic Alliance."
"And what of the Ruwalch Confederacy? They share a common border with the former Milori Empire as well."
"The Ruwalchu are too far away to be of consequence. Their border with the Milori Empire territory is over two hundred parsecs from their home systems, and they rarely travel this far out. I've always been amazed that the Milori didn't lay claim to part of their territory decades ago."
"The distance might have had something to do with it— and the Milori were preoccupied with us and the Gondusans. But perhaps the real reason is that the Milori feared them. My agents have reported that the technology of the Ruwalchu is far superior to our own, or that of their other neighbors."
"We asked them for assistance when the Milori were driving us from our territory, but they refused to become involved unless the Milori invaded their space. I'll be damned if I'll see them benefit in any way from this accord!"
"Yes, my King. Have I understood correctly that this pact was first proposed by the Uthlaro?"
"That's right. They have the longest common border with the newly annexed Galactic Alliance territory, and they fear that their Dominion will be targeted next if the GA isn't stopped and pushed back inside their former borders."
"That's a preposterous position. The Galactic Alliance has never exhibited unprovoked aggression towards any of its neighbors. For many decades it has shared common borders with three nations, three nations far less capable of defending themselves than the Milori, but it never coveted it's neighbor's territory. It only responded to the invasion of its territory by the Milori, and even went so far as to allow the battered Milori invasion fleet to simply leave GA space after they defeated them the first time. If the Milori hadn't invaded a second time, the Galactic Alliance would not have had to attack the Milori home system. They only annexed their territory after defeating them a second time to insure that the Milori threat was gone forever. The Uthlaro are using fear of invasion as an excuse to expand their own territory, and want to use us to help them accomplish their goals."
"Perhaps, but our own nobles won't be restrained from moving into the annexed territory to acquire new systems, and they believe that the might of our combined forces will leave
Space Command with no option but to quit the space."
"We've twice witnessed how Space Command responds to invasion fleets that threaten their territory, my King. I fear that any incursion will bring a dire calamity unforeseen by Lord Melendret and his supporters. I rather doubt that Space Command will be as generous with us as they were with the Milori. After all, the Milori were declared adversaries at all times, while we were allies. Are we prepared to have all our territory annexed by the Galactic Alliance should we declare war and be defeated."
The king remained quiet for several moments, and then responded with, "We shall have to make sure it doesn't come to that."
"There's one more consideration, my King. The Uthlaro claim that they want us to participate so that we appear to have a united front. They no doubt appeal on that issue because our small fleet will add little to the combined forces arraying against the Galactic Alliance. Should our forces be destroyed in this campaign, who is to protect us from invasion by our Uthlaro 'allies?'"
The king was silent for several minutes and the Minister of Intelligence began to wonder if he should quietly depart. He was about to declare his departure when the king suddenly said in a more subdued and weary voice, "Vertap, I share your concerns, but I'm caught up in something I'm powerless to control. I don't wish to join this pact with the Uthlaro, but the nobles led by Lord Melendret have sufficient support to insure we will. If I oppose too strongly, my power base will be so eroded that I'll be nothing more than a figurehead; a figurehead ripe for removal. It's an open secret that Melendret covets my crown. I can't let that fool depose me. I must sanction the Uthlaro plan."
Castle Vroman Page 35
