| abstract | - "Engage warp five toward Nevanak," Garrison said, his eyes fixed on the open space in front of the Kendara. If the ship was to arrive at Nevanak Prime before the Nkrit, they had better get a move on with their travel. The planet was home to billions of Nevanakans as well as several thousand other Coalition citizens. The Nkrit had already demonstrated their weapon power against planetary targets in an assault against a Nevanakan colony on Rnheer III. "Aye, sir. Warp five engaged," T'Lek replied; his fingers quickly and effortlessly pressing the standard Coalition controls in front of them. The ship lurched forward a small bit, and it warped off toward the Coalition planet of Nevanak Prime. T'Lek wondered silently to himself as to whether the Kendara would see its first battle soon. It is logical to assume that these vessels shall arrive around the same time period as we shall, he thought, shuddering inwardly at the thought of taking on a fleet of powerful warships bent on genocide. A few hours later, the Kendara arrived in orbit of the planet. Three unidentified vessels suddenly began moving to intercept. The vessels were lightly armed but had little damage. "Sir, three vessels are moving to intercept us. They aren't Nevanakan," Commander Shimanal said as she sat in her chair at the weapons station on the spacious bridge. "Arm weapons. I want us ready if we have to fight," Garrison replied, nodding slightly toward the officer as she acknowledged his order and began to ready the starship for battle. Then, the three vessels' lead ship hailed the Kendara. "I am General K'Nek'An of the Nkrit Navy. Lower your shields and surrender," he hissed, the sharp horns on his distinctively reptilian face pointed toward the viewer. "I'm Captain Adam Garrison of the Coalition of Planets starship Kendara. We ask that you leave orbit of this planet, which is a member of our nation. We are prepared to use deadly force if you do not retreat your vessels immediately," the captain said calmly, obviously undeterred by the alien's command. As soon as he finished speaking, the Nkrit general terminated the signal and the three vessels opened fire on the Kendara with a series of low power phase cannon blasts, which had little effect against the powerful Coalition ship's advanced shielding and newly-fitted platonic armor. The vessels then fired several high-power torpedoes which disintegrated against the shields but depleted the intensity to ninety-six percent. "Return fire. Destroy them," Garrison said, his voice cold. Obviously these vessels had attacked the planet's surface; there were remains of satellites in orbit and ground communication relays hadn't hailed them yet. When he finished speaking, bright pulses of orange weaponfire shot from the Kendara's hull and instantly vaporized the enemy ships in a fiery explosion. "Captain, we're being hailed by the Nevanakan Command Base. They report that there have been minor fatalities on their side but that the attackers have been at war with Nevanak for three years. Orbital defenses were able to destroy two of their vessels before Nkrit ships bombarded them with high-powered torpedoes. They sincerely thank us for averting the Nkrit assault on their planet," Ensign Kayla Johansson said as she looked up from her communications console. "Send Doctor Trken and her medical team to the surface to aid with any injuries they might have assessed during the battle. Take us into standard orbit; the Buenos Noches is scheduled to arrive here to defend the planet and set up defenses within the half-day," Garrison said. At least this battle was over. The Nkrit seemed somewhat arrogant to attack a planet defended by heavy weapons and allied with powerful forces. Something was amiss, and Adam Garrison intended to find out what it was. As Captain Garrison sat in his ready room, the door chimed and Ensign Johansson spoke a brief query as to whether she could enter. "Captain, may I enter?" she said, her voice tired. Kayla was Adam's daughter, married to Commander James Johansson of the Confederacy, which was stationed in the Andor system. "You may enter, Ensign," Garrison said, turning his front toward the door of his room. "What can I do for you, hon?" he said, a bit of fatherly instinct apparent in his speech. "I recovered a signal from the Nkrit vessels before they were destroyed. I analyzed it and found a somewhat disturbing message. They intend to assault the planet of Nevanak Prime with thirty large planetary assault cruisers, and from what I can tell, they want to destroy the cities on the planet. They are going to invade the Coalition and attempt genocide on Nevanak, dad. We have got to stop them!" Johansson said as she held her hands loosely together before giving her father a look of extreme worry and anxiety. "Send that message you intercepted to Coalition Command. They need to know of this. Could I take a look at that message you intercepted?" he asked, his voice indicating a pique in interest of the padd she held. "Here. I'll go ahead and hail the Buenos Noches, and tell them to be ready for attack. That sound like a plan, Dad?" she replied, obviously feeling better after her father looked at the message. "Mhmm. That's right, do that. We've got to help the Nevanakans set up planetary defenses..." Garrison's voice trailed off before ending quietly. These Nkrit had sent five scout vessels to neutralize Nevanakan defenses in preparation for the fleet, which would arrive in ten days. The mission had been successful, but defense vessels were in orbit, the message said. The Coalition would need multiple ships defending Nevanak Prime to avoid the death of millions, possibly billions, of residents of the densely-populated planet.
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