2953-02-05 – Tales from the Service: A View From Headquarters, Part 11  

Though it has been nearly two years since we’ve done a proper sit down with Admiral Abarca, I doubt any of you have felt left out of Seventh Fleet’s confidence in that time. Both Nojus and I have met with the admiral on many occasions, and spoken with him many more times at official functions. He is very familiar with the press pool here at Sagittarius and his staff is far more responsive than Admiral Zahariev’s was when we were embedded with Fifth Fleet. As long as we imperil no military secrets, he is only too happy to answer our queries. 

When we reached out with a list of questions about the Kyaroh front and Force 73, the admiral suggested we sit down for an official interview to answer them. As is common for this sort of conversation, you can view video excerpts of the interview on the main Cosmic Background datasphere hub. 


This interview was conducted in-person aboard the battleship Philadelphia in the Sagittarius Gate system on 2 February. 

D.L.C. - Duncan Chaudhri is a junior editor and wartime head field reporter for Cosmic Background.      

N.T.B. - Nojus Brand is a long-time explorer, datasphere personality, and wartime field reporter for Cosmic Background.     

K.T.K. - Captain Kenneth Kempf is the Naval Intelligence attaché to Seventh Fleet commander Admiral Shun Abarca.   

S.R.A. - Admiral Shun R. Abarca is the commander of Seventh Fleet.  


[D.L.C.] - Good afternoon Admiral Abarca. And you, Captain Kempf. Thank you for sitting down with us today. 

[S.R.A.] - Always a pleasure, gentlemen.  

[N.T.B.] - The situation is very different than when we last sat down, isn’t it? 

[K.T.K.] - How so, Mr. Brand? 

[N.T.B.] - Seventh Fleet has been on the offensive for the better part of two years. The perimeter is steadily expanding, and things are safe enough here at the Gate that you’ve sent some of your best cruisers off to Kyaroh space. 

[S.R.A.] - It is true that Force 73 contains some of our most modern vessels, but this was due to the needs of the mission, not because we did not have other uses for them. The dire situation the Kyaroh and our other Sagittarius-native allies find themselves in demanded attention. 

[K.T.K.] - It is no secret that the cruisers of Force 73 would have been the forward mobile operating force of our next major offensive. The planetary assaults of last year, though important, were small affairs by the standards of what this fleet can do when it is massed. 

[D.L.C.] - I’d guessed that, since few of the battleships in the fleet have seen much action since raids on Sagittarius Gate itself have become rare. Ashkelon hasn’t even been out of system since- 

[K.T.K.] - Let’s not be too specific about that on the record. Suffice to say that most of the battlewagons are spending most of their time close to home port.  

[S.R.A.] - They do get out occasionally, as you well know, but we like to avoid discussing the specifics of these operations on public media. You understand I’m sure. 

[D.L.C.] - Of course, Admiral. My apologies. 

[S.R.A.] - Returning to the topic of the day, Force 73, I do not like Mr. Brand’s characterization that it is an offensive maneuver. The force’s mission is to spoil enemy attacks on Kyaroh colonies, not to go on the offensive in the deep Corward flank of Incarnation space. It only appears as an offensive because the force is deployed so far forward relative to our own holdings. 

[N.T.B.] - Of course the tactical objective is defensive, but surely you think of it as a strategic offensive, Admiral? That’s how all the analysts are reading it. 

[S.R.A.] - I do not keep up with the opinions of the datasphere analysts. If you are characterizing them correctly, I disagree. Force 73’s mission is a defensive one only, at the tactical, operational, and strategic level. Logistics prohibit it from being anything else. 

[D.L.C.] - Lack of logistics seems like a more accurate assessment. 

[S.R.A.] - Indeed. A force not properly supplied can hardly be on the offensive, but it can get in the way and disrupt enemy operations. We cannot supply any offensive along that avenue. 

[N.T.B.] - Why would you tell us that, if the enemy can read this interview same as the people back home? 

[K.T.K.] - The Incarnation knows this already. It does not help their situation. They can withdraw their forces from Kyaroh space without real concern that Force 73 is in their flank, but to do so takes the pressure off the Kyaroh themselves. Eventually, they will have to do this anyway. 

[S.R.A.] - As it is, their expenditure of forces on at least three fronts – it may be more, as we do not know if there are other peoples in Sagittarius who are similarly suffering – is quite baffling. If the Incarnation focused all its ships and troops on us here at Sagittarius Gate, they would stand the best chance of breaking our fortress and securing the Sagittarius Arm against us. I think that they do not know when to cut their losses. To wield their whole strength in one place, they would need to surrender their gains in the Coreward Frontier and abandon their claims in Kyaroh space. 

[N.T.B.] - Baffling in that a Confederated leader would make different decisions? Yes, I suppose it would be. But quite like Nate from what we know of him. 

[S.R.A.] - What we know of our enemy is a bundle of contradictions. You could predict any course of action and have grounds for it. This is perhaps their greatest intelligence success; we know much about their equipment and tactics, but little about the motives and tendencies of their leaders on the strategic level. 

[D.L.C.] - Your candor in this is refreshing as always, Admiral Abarca. But do you think you are saying too much? 

[S.R.A.] - I am not saying too much, Mr. Chaudhri. If I was, Mr. Kempf would have stopped me. What this fleet regards as sensitive information has not been exposed. 

[D.L.C.] - So do you expect the Incarnation fleet to withdraw from Kyaroh suppression activities? And if it did, would Force 73 return to the main body of the fleet? 

[S.R.A.] - I think eventually their forces will withdraw, but it will not be soon, nor will it be all at once. They will not simply surrender that angle in their conquests, even though that would be the coldly rational thing to do once they are brought to a halt. 

[N.T.B.] - And at some point, the level of forces that way will be low enough that the Kyaroh won’t need our ships anymore. 

[S.R.A.] - Eventually. But at that point, once again, there is a decision point where the enemy is impossible to predict. If our ships departed, the enemy might redouble his efforts there all over again unless his forces were pinned down elsewhere. 

[D.L.C.] - Which means offensives – real ones – to pin them down elsewhere, right? Make them defend things they care about more than Kyaroh systems. 

[S.R.A.] - We shall see. I certainly hope we can do that without exposing Sagittarius Gate itself. 

2953-01-29 – Tales from the Service: The Calm After the Storm 


The duel, taking place as it did right in the middle of the enemy staging area, put an end to all expectations of a fresh assault up the hill. F.V.D.A. troopers now watched over the parapet with little fear of being picked off by enemy lasers from far below; those Incarnation soldiers who weren’t trying to aid their outnumbered champion were keeping their heads down. 

“Shouldn’t we be trying to help?” One trooper muttered to his neighbor. 

The other scowled and nodded his head toward the beige cloud and the sounds of mechanical thunder echoing within. “You want to charge down there, you be my guest.” 

Mauro Sorensen hated being on the sidelines when his own life was hanging in the balance, but intervening did seem rather questionable. Anyone heading down there would catch the attention of the enemy before he made it halfway. Sure, the company could spray railshot in that direction, since the slugs fired by their carbines maintained lethal velocity over ten times the distances involved, but there was no reasonable chance of hitting anything, especially not when anything that it would make a difference to hit was concealed in a dust pall. 

Though blue-violet flashes of laser fire ionizing dust regularly lit the melee in flashes of apparent stillness, it was impossible to see what was going on between the lone Incarnation titan and its quartet of shorter, stouter Marine antagonists. No doubt, Mauro’s guesses about the speed and agility of the enemy suit design were all too accurate; every time he saw its gaunt silhouette, it seemed to be in a totally different place. 

Eventually, though, the heavy autocannons mounted to four Kodiak suits proved too much. After one particularly fearsome fusillade, there was the sound of tearing metal, then a crash that rattled the ground even at the hilltop. After that, there was no more laser fire, but the cannons continued to roar. It was impossible now to see what was going on, but Mauro’s companions let out a ragged cheer. 

The smoke and dust cleared a few minutes later, and Mauro could clearly see the utter ruin that had been made of every Incarnation vehicle that had been down on the plain. It looked like not one of the armored troop carriers had escaped the notice of the four Marines in their huge assault suits. The transport aircraft that had been hit in the first moments of the assault still burned fiercely, and their Incarnation counterpart lay awkwardly on the ground, its metal torso split open and smoldering. 

Over all this ruin stood the four Kodiaks, now watchfully still. Two of them were badly scorched by laser fire, and the arm of a third was missing below the elbow joint. Mauro shuddered to think of what might have been if there had been four of the agile Incarnation suits instead of only one. 

The captain appeared at the parapet and surveyed the scene for a long moment. “Sorensen, take three men and a hovercart. Go down there and see if there’s anything we can use up here worth salvaging.” 

“Aye, sir.” Mauro turned and snapped a salute. “Just four of us? There’s probably a lot of infantry stragglers left.” 

The captain shrugged. “I don’t doubt it. But they won’t be so willing to pop their heads out as long as those big lunks are standing there. Make it fast.” 

Mauro saluted again, then headed toward where he and the others had stowed the company’s hovercarts. They’d come in with four of these lightweight gravitic sleds, three of them loaded down with ammunition. 

Espinosa followed Mauro without a word, evidently deciding that he wanted to go along. Mauro flagged down Kremmer and Lyon as well; they were troopers he knew better than most of the company, and who he knew he could rely on. 

Despite his misgivings, once the quartet had manhandled the hovercart over the parapet and started their descent, they encountered no trouble. There were still a few dead Incarnation soldiers among the rocks marking where the first assault had failed, and Espinosa checked to make sure each one was dead before rifling their pockets and tossing their packs on the cart. Most Nate gear was useful only as souvenirs to the F.V.D.A rank and file, but Incarnation infantry ration packs were a highly prized commodity. 

They came under fire only once during the descent, and that apparently by a single Incarnation solder who fired at them three or four times, hit nothing, then fled while Mauro and his companions were hugging the dirt. Lyon thought he saw a flash of grey uniform atop the brow of a low ridge a little while later, but no danger appeared in that direction. 

The group reached the scene of the battle just as the area was once again overflown by low-flying Pumas. The two least-damaged-looking Kodiaks had moved to face outward, toward the flat expanse of the desert, and the one missing an arm had fallen back almost to the foot of the hill.  

Mauro, seeing that they would have to pass close by the feet of this titan, extended his helmet comms antenna and switched it to broadcast. “Kodiak unit... err...” He squinted to make out the scorched markings. “741-AS-Beta. I will be passing your location. Do you have us on your sensors?” 

“This is Four-One Beta.” The voice of the Kodiak operator was mellow and resonant, nothing like Mauro had expected. “I have been tracking your progress. You are clear to proceed.” 

“Thank you, Four-One Beta.” Mauro waved the others forward. 


Obviously, I am using identification number schemes for this post which do not resemble those of the Kodiaks deployed on Montani or anywhere else, but this information is not vital to understand Mr. Sorensen’s account. 

Sorensen and his associates did get close enough to the destroyed Cyclops armor-suit to get good pictures, but these did not even reach me uncensored; Naval Intelligence would not permit him to broadcast them without considerable blurring. I can say that what was visible was of a machine in utter ruin; very little inside the machine survived, and if there was anything left of the operator, it would be difficult indeed to identify. 

[N.T.B. - Though I’ve no doubt this new weapon is a capable machine, there seems no way Nate can manufacture it on the worlds they’ve captured on the Coreward Frontier and no reasonable way to ship them across the Gap in numbers sufficient to make a meaningful difference in the conflict there. Most likely, we’ll be seeing more of them over here in Sagittarius. In fact, I would be surprised if Bosch’s people aren’t running into these things nearly everywhere over in Kyaroh space, since that front is the closest to Incarnation industrial centers.] 

2953-01-15 – Tales from the Service: A Duel of Giants 

I have no word on Intelligence estimates of the capabilities of the Incarnation “Cyclops” heavy armor-suit, save that it seems to be designed to engage Kodiak suits on roughly equal footing. If it follows other weapons design programs of our enemies, this system is probably slightly larger than the Kodiak, and its control system is simplified by operating through the cranial implants Incarnation military personnel are fitted with.  

The account I have elected to cover of a F.V.D.A squad spotting one on the field indicates that the Cyclops is mainly armed with high wattage laser weaponry, suggesting a powerful onboard reactor takes up much of its tonnage. Lack of both hard-recoiling weaponry and the airborne capability present in all Confederated armor-suit design allows for relatively thin and nimble limbs, and the heaviest laser carried is the “head mount” on top of the torso on a precision gimbal, probably optimized for long range shooting. 

In time, and in the right numbers, this design could prove quite formidable, but as the remainder of Maruo Sorensen’s account indicates, a lone Cyclops is still not a serious threat to Kodiak units, which are usually deployed in fire teams of four. 


Mauro had just finished describing the arrival of the mechanical titan to the Captain when the air once again began to rumble, this time with the bass thunder of rocketry, not the higher-pitched scream of aero-engines. With a frown, the officer waved Mauro away and bent over the deployed controls of his radio-pack. Mauro stopped to scoop more ammunition into his pack, then ran back to Espinosa’s corner. Several other men had arrived in the meantime, and were taking quick glances over the ersatz parapet and muttering nervously about the Incarnation monster that now threatened to lead the next charge up the hill.  

Mauro handed out ammunition, then peeked out himself. Apparently the enemy troops were as amazed by the huge machine as much as they were; the troops retreating down the hill in all directions were streaming toward it. He could hardly blame them; they had to know that a single isolated company of F.V.D.A. infantry probably wasn’t capable of destroying that monstrosity, certainly not before it was already inside their perimeter. 

The rumble of rockets was getting louder now, and Mauro could tell that it was coming from the north-west. That was a friendly direction. Most of the time, the sound of rockets heralded the arrival of friendlies, but not always; Nate sometimes fitted solid-fuel rocket boosters to its slower aircraft to give them unexpected bursts of speed. 

No doubt the all-seeing eyes on all the vehicles below had also spotted the incoming threat; as one, the gray-clad Incarnation soldiers scattered to find cover and point their laser carbines skyward. The gleaming black titan, of course, could never find cover sufficient for itself; it merely stood there and turned to face the threat, the lasers on the ends of its arms swiveling to point skywards. 

The distant roar built almost in an instant to a rumble loud enough to set the gravel at Mauro’s feet dancing, and then he saw the source cresting a ridge a dozen kilometers away – a V-formation of glimmering motes flying low, with a loose constellation of larger, broad-winged craft occupying the center of the formation. Surprise could never be total in a battle with the Incarnation, but this seemed to Mauro the closest they were likely to get. After all, the enemy never would have deployed this new weapon if there was any chance of losing it. 

In that instant, his blood ran cold, and he realized there was another possibility. Could that monster and its huge lasers be here precisely to protect the troops from the airborne assault that was supposed to be a surprise? 

Sure enough, the titan’s laser-emitter head flashed a brilliant blue-white, the only indication that an invisible beam of coherent light had sliced out across the air toward the oncoming flyers. Mauro turned to see if any of them would fall out of the sky, but as he did the formation thundered overhead too fast for his eyes to track, trailing a sonic thunderclap.  

Explosions blossomed on the plain below, and too late the heavy transport aircraft struggled into the air, slicing through an atmosphere now choked with dust and smoke. It made it perhaps a hundred yards before a loitering seeker missile intercepted it and blew it to pieces. Only then did Mauro really believe the trap had worked. 

Of course, a single high-speed strafing run would never do much to thin the ranks of the troops down there, and that formation of Pumas would be cut to ribbons if it stuck around. An airstrike was not, in itself, the trap; it was just the covering fire for the real trap, which had been the payload of those larger aircraft.  

As the dust and smoke began to clear, the first shape to resolve itself was the Incarnation monster, but others, not as tall but broader and darkly simian, also rose out of the pall. These, of course, were Marine Kodiaks. Initially, the plan had been for two companies of standard Marine armored infantry to drop in, but one fire team of Kodiaks had been substituted just before they’d left friendly lines. At the time the change had not seemed to be a good omen, but that now seemed to be the luckiest break. 

The Incarnation machine recognized the peril immediately, and laser-fire flashed white where it ionized the intervening dust. Heavy cannons belched fire in response, and already all the huge machines were in motion. Kodiaks moved with uncanny speed for machines so big, but their outnumbered opponent was faster – much faster. 

More and more F.V.D.A troopers crowded the parapet around Mauro to watch as it became clear that the next assault was not coming, at least not soon. There was however little more to be seen – the pounding feet of five huge machines and the thundering cannons of four Kodiaks stirred the already dusty atmosphere into an impenetrable beige cloud, lit from within by laser lightning and pyrotechnic thunder. 

2953-01-15 – Tales from the Service: Kodiak's Nemesis 

We have seen the small scale deployment of Marine heavy “Kodiak” suits in this space before (at Masinov most memorably). These machines stretch the concept of an armor-suit to the point where the operator is essentially a pilot ensconced within the torso of a ten to fifteen ton machine, his movements captured by sensor sleeves around his limbs. 

Though capable of engaging heavy armored vehicles one on one, Kodiak suits are far more difficult to use and need far more intensive maintenance than a standard combat vehicle; nevertheless their ability to keep up with standard Rico suited Marine infantry on the ground and in rocket-assisted flight has ensured they are deployed to some degree with most Marine formations. 

Obviously the moral impact on Incarnation infantry of Kodiaks arriving in any engagement is significant, and just as obviously, it was only a matter of time before they attempted to develop a weapon with similar presence. According to this account, which is from mid-December, our enemies have fielded such a weapon on the contested Coreward Frontier world of Montani, a machine the Marines are referring to as the Cyclops. 


The assault renewed just before dawn, as everyone had expected. The perimeter sensors' squawking startled Mauro Sorensen out of his fatigue, and he hurriedly filled his satchel with battery packs and railgun magazines.  

As strong points went, the ruined village compound was more than adequate; Mauro was able to scramble around to all the rifle points to pass out ammunition without revealing himself above ground level. Montani architecture tended toward cellars and half-buried structures with turf slopes to deflect the bitter night-time wind. Even with most of the above ground portions gone, the company had spent most of the night in relative warmth and shelter. The enemy, who had spent the same night on the exposed heath south of the hill, had certainly fared much worse, even with their ring of armored vehicles. 

By the time Mauro had gone around to every position to distribute ammunition, the chatter of railgun fire and the snap-crack of laser fire blasting spall off ferrocrete was all around them. Apparently the enemy had circled around and was attacking from all sides. Mauro ran back to the center for another satchel full of ammunition. This time, he grabbed a carbine too. He wasn’t overly concerned – after all, being attacked had been the plan all along – but even the best laid plan sometimes went awry. 

By the time the local sun was above the horizon, the attack had already started to thin out. Though he couldn’t see it, Mauro imagined Incarnation troops in their oddly shimmering gray uniforms scuttling back down the hill on all sides, chased by desultory railgun bursts from every position. Evidently the enemy force hadn’t brought its armored vehicles up close. This, Mauro knew, suggested they were unwilling to risk them. The company had little that could harm those rumbling behemoths, but that too was part of the plan. The enemy had to know that an isolated post held by a company of F.V.D.A. infantry wouldn’t be left alone without any support. 

“Are they going to commit?” Mauro asked Giovanni Espinosa as he passed the man another round of ammunition. 

Espinosa, occupying an excellent firing position at the corner of the ruins, peered briefly out above the top of the parapet, then ducked back down and nodded. “Looks like.” He waved in the direction of the night’s enemy encampment. “Their armor is circling around toward the west. They’ve still got plenty of men. But don’t worry. We’ve got-” 

At this moment, they both became aware of the rumble of heavy aero-engines in the distance. Espinosa winced. “That's a Nate air transport.” He suddenly brightened, a wry smile crossing his lips. “They think they need more troops to deal with us.” 

A few F.V.D.A. troopers started firing their carbines at the aircraft as it grew closer, but the Captain’s bellowing put an end to that. “Don’t waste slugs, you idiots! Even if you hit it at this range, you won’t do more than knock out a camera.” 

Espinosa popped his head back over the ersatz parapet, then gestured for Mauro to hop up on the ferrocrete block he was standing on. “Have a look.” 

Mauro hesitated; he’d seen troopers have their heads blown off for underestimating the range of Incarnation lasers. Still, Espinosa still had his skull, so eventually Mauro also peeked over the top. 

The flyer, a boxy transport aircraft, was just coming down to a dust-billowing landing near the dry streambed at the bottom of the hill. The moment it touched down, its rear doors slammed down, and a gaggle of fresh enemy troops in darker uniforms milled out. 

Mauro was just about to hop down and start running more ammo around to all the rifle positions when something else stepped out of the transport, something that shone darkly in the morning sun as its stumpy metal feet gripped Montani’s cold soil. As it straightened to its full height, which it couldn’t have done inside the aircraft, Mauro’s blood ran cold – this was a machine that moved like a man, seven meters tall at the least with a barrel chest and oddly spindly arms. It had a head of sorts, but there was no face, only the blank circular void of a heavy laser emitter. 

“Stars around.” Espinosa muttered, then crossed himself. “What is that?” 

Mauro had seen Marine Kodiak suits once as they were being unloaded from a troop-ship, and could see the kinship between this machine and them immediately. Where the Kodiak suit had simian proportions, with arms and shoulders built to carry and direct heavy cannons, the thin arms and narrow frame of this black scarecrow were built around heavy laser weapons with no recoil to absorb. There was also no sign of jump rockets, but the horror’s long legs suggested unnerving speed. 

“Run and tell the Captain.” Espinosa shoved Mauro down off his perch. “If the Marines are going to ride in here to spring this trap, they need to know about that.”