“I hope you’re right, Chairwoman, really. There is also the matter of the new class of ship from the naval design bureau—”
“The cruisers? I love them. A cheaper alternative to dreadnoughts! They’re a big part of my plans,” Cao said brightly.
“So I have the go ahead to begin production?”
“You do. Anything else, Wu? I have Montjoie after this.”
“Just one thing, and this is for your ears alone.” Wu made sure the door was shut and the room sealed.
“You’re rarely this cryptic, Wu. What is it?”
“The Kuei’tang weren’t the only aliens we found on Chengdu,” Wu said in a low voice.
“What do you mean? Some undiscovered species? Were they trading with the Kuei’tang?”
“I’m afraid not.” He paused and took a breath. “It was the Borozi.”
Cao really didn’t know what to say to that. “The...Borozi? The bug people? The ones the size of small dogs that don’t say much other than ‘go away.’ Those Borozi?”
“The very ones,” Wu said darkly. “We believe they were acting as military advisers. There’s more to this war than we know.”
Terminology of the Gongyue Systems Republic
Aolin City: largest city and capital of Zhongxing (formerly Mars) and the whole Gongyue Systems Republic, built on the great mountain Olympus Mons and spanning hundreds of kilometers
Borozi: spacefaring insectoid civilization, known to dwell in jungles and maintain isolationist attitudes
Dreadnought: kilometer long warships built around the core a single huge rail gun
Enemy: the unnamed civilization that has made war on the Gongyue Government for a generation
First Offensive: the first Gongyue attempt to relieve the planet Chengdu in the early stages of war, ended in disaster
Flechette Gun: an electronic pulse rife that uses a mono-molecular spool of wire as ammunition by cutting it into tiny flechettes with a mechanism in the receiver
Gongyue Systems Republic: the interplanetary government of the former human race (Ren and Mei) and their colonies, commonly called the Gongyue Government
Greenshift: the Gao Radiation Energy Event Nadir, a high energy reaction allowing near instantaneous transportation of spaceships across great distances
Guangbai: one hundredth of the speed of light, used as a measure of speed and distance, one hundred guangbai is one light-second, or about three hundred thousand kilometers per second
Interceptor: small single-pilot fighters capable of operating in the skies of planets and in low orbit, typically used to intercept landing craft and support ground troops
Jump Jets: small mobility-enhancing jets built into the powered exoskeleton of standard issue Marine Corps combat suits
Long War: the generation-spanning war between the Gongyue Government and the unknown Enemy, waged mainly over the Gongyue Government’s outer colonies
Massive Light: concentrated light used in a solid state as forcefields, can also be used in sensors, communication, or as an energy source.
Mei: one of the legacy subspecies of the former human race, adapted to higher gravity environments, short, robust
Otanyan: spacefaring mammalian race, engages in limited trade with the Gongyue Government, known to dwell in subterranean complexes on frozen worlds and inside hollowed-out asteroids
Ren: one of the legacy subspecies of the former human race, adapted to lower gravity environments, tall, gracile
Second Offensive: the Gongyue attempt to recapture the minor colony of Harbin in the middle stages of the Long War, ended in the withdrawal of the fleet and the death of Admiral Wen
Tiandao: floating cities in gas giants used primarily to mine xinium particles, the dwelling place of most Mei
Xinium: special high energy particles that exist in trace amounts on gas giant planets, vital to initiating greenshift jumps
Zhongxing: the capital of the Gongyue government, formerly called Mars before it was terraformed and colonized, also called Huoxing
A Brief History of the Gongyue Government
In the late twenty first century the human race was in dire straits. Planet Earth was overpopulated and polluted with the easily accessible supply of minerals mostly depleted. In the drive for more resources western firms focused on asteroid mining and Chinese firms on mining the ocean floor, but both methods were costly and dangerous.
As planet Earth was slowly dying, a Chinese scientist named Gao developed a revolutionary method to map the Earth’s crust. His process for modifying the behavior of photons was a great breakthrough in particle physics, and led to many subsequent discoveries.
Eventually, his “massive light” was used to make space travel cheaper and much safer. At a stroke, China surpassed the west in asteroid mining and was able to provide reliable transportation to Mars and beyond for the first time. Large-scale gas mining on Jupiter and Saturn began.
Mars was terraformed in a generation and settled by the Chinese elite. This became their new base to project power in the solar system and Earth gradually lost importance.
Mining operations on Jupiter led to the discovery of xinium and thus the greenshift. Dr. Gao, now a very old man, was able to use these particles to design humanity’s first truly interstellar spaceship.
Desperate to regain their former prominence, the western asteroid miners converted themselves over to xinium, even going so far as building a permanent settlement floating in the eye of Jupiter for their workers.
In time, planet Earth demographically collapsed as it was dirty, overcrowded, and simply too expensive to have children. People indentured themselves to the xinium-mining companies just for a chance to get off-world. The cradle of humanity became an abandoned ruin and nature reclaimed most of its surface.
Now firmly in the lead, the Chinese elite on Mars signed a treaty with the xinium miners, forming the Gongyue Systems Republic, the government for all of humanity beyond Earth.
Star systems were explored, colonies founded, and over generations the Chinese elite became the Ren, tall rulers of the Gongyue Government, and the miners of diverse international origins became the Mei, living in the tiandao floating cities on Jupiter, Saturn, and planets orbiting distant stars. The two sub-species were hardly recognizable as human any longer.
Contact was made with several alien civilizations, chiefly the Borozi and the Otanyans, but little came of it. The galaxy wasn’t too interested in the children of Sol.
The Mei, discontent with their lot and realizing their power as vital miners of xinium, the very lifeblood of spacefaring civilization, launched a general strike. Their demands: better compensation and representation in high government positions, as well as the settling of worlds specifically for them. Paralyzed, the Ren were forced to accept nearly all the demands, but were slow to implement them. Bad blood remained, but any further discussions were put on hold by the emergence of the Enemy.
The Enemy struck from uncharted space without mercy, seizing Gongyue colonies for unknown purposes. The Ren and Mei worked furiously to convert their fleet of exploration ships to warlike purposes. It was a long process, with setbacks and defeats, such as the counter-attack at Chengdu, but eventually the war reached a kind of stalemate as heroes like the Victorious Admiral Wen Xiuying and General Cotto of the Marine Corps devised cunning strategies to hold back the Enemy advance.
The war has entered its second generation with no signs of stopping. Ren and Mei alike have been pushed to the breaking point. Looking towards the future, the Gongyue Government must find a way to address the twin concerns of its internal divisions and the pressure of the Enemy, who may return to major offensive action at any time.
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