Vaughn Heppner - Star Fortress

SCIPIO: The Jovians have begun defensive preparations. I have read the reports. They possess two mobile asteroids. It is possible they will defeat the Uranus planet-wreckers just as we defeated the Saturn-launched wreckers.

SULLA: I disagree. The Jovians have a paltry fleet. It cannot compare to our armada and to your strategic use of the Earth’s farm habitats.

SCIPIO: The premen worked hard on the old habitats, aiding us during the emergency.

SULLA: They worked hard under Highborn guidance and forethought. It is inconceivable they could have done anything less. Otherwise, they would have faced our wrath.

SCIPIO: In light of the cyborg menace, I have reassessed our use of the preman. While it is truth that they are smaller, weaker—

SULLA: And less courageous.

SCIPIO: It takes courage to continue fighting against their superiors.

SULLA: You mistake mulish stubbornness for courage. They are too foolish to understand their shortcomings.

SCIPIO: Whatever the cause, they fight to the bitter end.

CATO: Gentlemen, the Commandant’s message is incoming.

MAXIMUS: I’m not sure this four-way conference will work. The time lag for me is too great. Because of that, let me finish my statement and then I will listen to your arguments, responding only when requested.

The cyborgs presently control the majority of the Outer Planets. If—or should I say— when we destroy their outposts on Neptune, we will have to finish them off in the Saturn and Uranus Systems and possibility in the Jupiter System as well. I am convinced that the cyborgs have used up their strategic assets in Saturn and Uranus Systems. A careful study of the planet-wreckers and data from the first Cyborg Assault against the Jovians leads me to believe they cannibalized conquered vessels and military stores in order to construct the planet-wreckers. Given the time needed to build large warships—often three to four years—it seems unlikely that they can launch newly constructed fleets from those bases in the near future. Therefore, we must strike now before they can consolidate their gains and build larger warships.

SCIPIO: You speak with the strategic wisdom of Grand Admiral Cassius.

SULLA: Are we agreed then?

SCIPIO: Agreed to what?

SULLA: An immediate and massive assault on the Neptune System.

SCIPIO: In theory, it appears to be a sound idea.

SULLA: It is a sound idea.

SCIPIO: There are many variables that we need to consider first.

SULLA: I cannot think of any.

SCIPIO: I will number the obvious ones then. As we attack Neptune, the cyborgs might launch another attack upon the Inner Planets.

SULLA: Didn’t you just agree to Maximus’s analysis? The cyborgs do not possess the means to mount another large-scale assault.

SCIPIO: What if the cyborgs launch stealth fleets from Neptune, Saturn and Uranus? Even given that they are small fleets, they could converge at Mars perhaps, moving on to attack Earth with a substantial fleet—substantial at least in terms of the warships left around Earth.

SULLA: I do not win my combat matches by fearing my enemy’s moves. I attack and make him fear my moves.

SCIPIO: You raise an interesting point. Do cyborgs fear? If so, how can we tell? Frankly, I doubt they fear to any appreciable degree.

SULLA: (shouting) They will fear as we smash their circuits and pulp their flesh! They will howl in agony as we laser their habitats and send nuclear missiles onto their moons! They will gnash their teeth as we crush them out of existence!

SCIPIO: Contain yourself, Admiral Sulla. I can hear you quite well.

SULLA: Then tell me if you can hear this. I challenge you to a—

CATO: Gentleman! We are the admirals and the cyborgs are our enemies. Let us focus our resolve and fighting skills against them, not against each other.

SULLA: I am used to respect and will accept nothing less.

CATO: We are not matched on the wrestling mats or in the fighting ring. We are the strategic team that must forge our strategy. We must outperform the greatest conqueror to date—Grand Admiral Cassius.

SULLA: He led us to victory for a time.

CATO: We were mere fighting slaves for the premen until Cassius showed us the way to greatness.

SULLA: Enough about Cassius. As you said before, we have a war to run. We should stick to that.

SCIPIO: Yes, a war and a feasible strategy. Since you didn’t like my first one, let me offer you a different quandary. What if during our absence, the cyborgs drop a thousand nuclear bombs on Earth? Here is another possibility. What if during our journey to Neptune, the preman re-conquer Antarctica and Australian Sectors?

SULLA: I will answer the second first. We must force the preman warships to go with us to Neptune. This should be easy to achieve, since they have already agreed to it.

SCIPIO: That solves one dilemma, but leaves Inner Planets open to any hidden cyborg fleet. The present crises in the Jupiter System shows us the distinct possibility that the cyborgs have stealth vessels where we are unable to spot them.

SULLA: You have stated your fear. Now how would you solve it?

SCIPIO: It is not a fear, but a strategic possibility. The answer, however, is simple: We should leave a Doom Star behind in the Earth System.

SULLA: No! That was Cassius’s mistake in the Third Battle for Mars. He didn’t attack with the full preponderance of his force. He lost a Doom Star because of it.

SCIPIO: We will have Social Unity’s battleships with us in lieu of the third Doom Star.

SULLA: I cannot believe a Highborn speaks these words. You equate warships under preman control as being as excellent as a Doom Star?

SCIPIO: I am growing tired of your continuous slander, Admiral Sulla.

SULLA: (laughs) Tell me this, Admiral , which Doom Star do you recommend stays behind?

SCIPIO: We must arrive at our decision logically and consider the sensibilities of our allies.

SULLA: I hope you do not mean that we pamper the premen.

SCIPIO: We use them. We trick them as we have been doing. Obviously, it is easier to trick them when they have a feeling of trust. They will not trust you, an Ultraist.

SULLA: But you are their friend?

SCIPIO: I’ve worked with them in the past and we achieved a level of success. It is logical, therefore, that they would trust me more than any other Highborn.

SULLA: What do you other commanders think? Is this not rankest cowardice we hear? Admiral Scipio fears to face the cyborgs at Neptune.

SCIPIO: I have warned you once already, Admiral Sulla. I spit on your slurs.

SULLA: Do you challenge me to individual combat then? I will accept any manner of fighting that you decide.

CATO: Admirals, we must unite. The cyborgs have all but conquered the Outer Planets. They have heavily damaged Earth, the greatest industrial prize in the Solar System. Admiral Scipio, I do not believe it is wise to travel to Neptune with two Doom Stars. The cyborgs are clever fighters. We must destroy them totally and with massive force. I submit we use every Doom Star and SU warship in our possession. War is a risk. Now we must take acceptable risks to annihilate our great foe.

SCIPIO: How does it help us to burnout Neptune System but lose our base and the majority of the Highborn? Those on the Sun-Works Factory, in and around Venus and Earth, and on Luna Base—

SULLA: There is your answer. Luna Base helps defend Earth. Up to this point, we have not subdued Eurasia. I do not believe the cyborgs could succeed where we have failed until now.

SCIPIO: They just showed us how to destroy Earth: with planet-wreckers.

MAXIMUS: I have the answer.

CATO: I suggest we wait for the Commandant’s words.

SCIPIO: Yes. I will wait.