89. Truce

Though dispatched from Alze Central to Halmaine, the landing craft fleet has been in standby since approaching the primary planet, Mandorka, without executing any descent operations.

"Captain, a transmission has come in from Admiral Marco of Alze."

"Patch it through."

"I'll display it on your monitor."

"Representative Yamada, we've reviewed Agirakana's proposal during the Council of Elders. Our conclusion is that, provided you also defend the Zeno vicinity around the capital system, Hamirapiratra, not just the Halmaine system, we can accommodate your request."

The response matched my expectations—somehow, that made me feel a little pleased. In a way, Alze might now be tasting the sorrow of a small nation forced to endure the unreasonable demands of a superpower. But there was nothing to be done about it; they’d just have to endure.

"Understood. We will dispatch two fleets, along with two assault landing ships. Arrival at the Halmaine system will be in five days. The fleet deployment point will be the outer perimeter of the Halmaine system... that will be it."

"Given that the exact scale of two fleets is purely speculative, I understand. Thank you."

At that point, the communication ended.

"Then, Maria, contact Agirakana and have the fleets set out."

"Understood."

The composition of the fleet departing from Agirakana was as follows:

Two fully equipped fleets, completed by temporary reallocation of undermanned units from other fleets, formed a combined fleet. Rear Admiral Amanda commanded the combined fleet, aboard the Inspire as flagship. Two assault landing ships, carrying ground assault units, followed in formation.

Four capital carriers ×2 (each carrying a combat unit of 6,250 manned assault craft plus eight accompanying unmanned assault drones)

Nine torpedo squadrons ×2 (each squadron comprising one light cruiser and six destroyers)

One strike squadron ×2 (each squadron consisting of six heavy cruisers)

Two assault landing ships ×2 (each carrying one reinforced infantry battalion, 3,600 ground troops, and twelve unmanned support drones per infantryman)

The capital carriers did not carry any atmospheric-capable craft, so their operational relevance in this mission was negligible—still, Rear Admiral Amanda insisted on deploying them “for exercise purposes,” and so they were sent. For this reason, no supply carriers were dispatched.

Five days after the fleet departed Agirakana, it successfully jumped out of hyperspace at the outer edge of a star system five astronomical units from Halmaine’s primary planet, Mandolka. The fleet’s arrival time over Mandolka and the terms of the ceasefire had already been communicated to the rebel faction.

Since the jump-out coordinates had been pre-announced to the Alze side, only a handful of Alze vessels were on alert nearby; otherwise, the surrounding space was empty of any spacecraft.

Immediately after the jump-out, the fleet reorganized into two distinct square-pyramidal formations and now advanced toward Mandolka at a slightly subluminal speed—ten percent of light speed, as per standard procedure.

Forty minutes after the fleet jumped out of the system, the Agirakana fleet’s size, velocity, and other parameters were optically observed from Mandolka, and it was confirmed that the Agirakana fleet had arrived at Mandolka at the time previously announced—approximately three hours after the observation point.

Even among the primary members of the insurgent faction, opinions had been divided on how the conflict might end. Yet, upon actually observing the Agirakana fleet, the impossibility of continuing the insurrection became starkly evident. And as the Agirakana fleet arrived over Mandolka and began orbital封锁—literally, "sealing the skies"—the insurgent side transmitted a communication accepting the ceasefire proposal.

Upon receiving the ceasefire acceptance, the ground forces, who had been waiting in assault pods aboard the assault ships, sequentially transferred to landing craft and descended to the surface, touching down in Mandolka’s major cities and military installations.

The infantrymen disembarked from the landing craft, methodically disarming the rebel forces, seizing weapons and other contraband that had been stored or hidden—completing the guaranteed occupation period in exactly seventy-two hours before being airlifted back aboard the assault carriers hovering above.

Even the former rebel soldiers and civilians of Mandulka were surprised by the speed of the evacuation—though, to be fair, their astonishment was beside the point. Their side had never claimed to be anything other than mediators in the peace process; disarming the combatants was, by their own standards, sufficient to count as mission accomplished. The Alzean land forces were expected to deploy in Mandulka shortly thereafter, and while it would be necessary to monitor for abuses against the local population or former rebels, minor incidents were inevitable—though nothing on a large scale, one would expect. Given that we were the ones overseeing the entire situation, and that we had detailed intelligence flowing in, Alze would surely hesitate before risking a diplomatic misstep of any real consequence.

At the precise moment the guarantee occupation period ended, two assault vessels and two large transport ships jumped out into the Halmaine system, simultaneously initiating construction of orbital elevator platforms at two points along the equatorial geosynchronous orbit of Mandulka—separated by 180 degrees of longitude. Once the platforms had taken a sufficiently defined shape, anchor cables extending downward toward the surface and counterweight cables extending upward were deployed in opposite directions. On the seventh day after construction began, the ground anchors were successfully secured. At this point, the core structure of the orbital elevator was essentially complete.

I was admittedly surprised that the basic structure had been finished in just seven days, though I was told the delay was due to the use of conventional construction methods rather than the nanobot techniques currently dominant within Agirakana.

After an additional seven days of general adjustments, both orbital elevators were formally handed over to Alze Mandulka.

Shortly after the handover, the fleet, support vessels, and transport ships swiftly departed the Halmaine system and returned to Agirakana.

Watching the sequence unfold within the Embassy, I exhaled in relief—another operation, as planned, a success.