Being a military base on the outskirts of the alliance occupied area and one of the prime relay points, the moon base was one of the most secure establishment on the frontier. Though it had a small size with about 1500 km diameter, the entire moon was a high resource area with about 70 percent of the lithosphere made of Titanium and most of the remaining being strong alloys of iron and nickel. This allowed the entire moon to be developed into a fortress. The entire moon had only military personnel and contractors with hardly any normal civilians living on it.
The entire moon had only 3 kinds of areas: Mining area, Military area and Residential areas. No agricultural areas, commercial areas or any other kind of industrial areas exist on the moon. All the necessities including food are supplied to the moon from PK-170. The entire moon itself is a government space without any private area belonging to any private mercantile/industrial organization. It also had several anti-space large scale munitions installed on the it, making it an impenetrable citadel safeguarding the alliance-human territory from any external forces.
Today, the annual games and drills celebrating the defence of the PK-170 planet and the affiliated alliance-human occupied aerospace is being held. There would be exhibitions displaying the might of the technical installation on the base as well as several personnel displaying their skills. It was a day which allowed the personnel to convince the alliance force, the advantages of having the installation, how to improve the performance of the base and how advantageous the improvements on it would be to the conquest of the alliance. To the personnel posted on the base it was a rare opportunity to show their skills and talents.
In a well lit dining hall over-viewing the training grounds in the military area of PK-170-B, Balthazar and Jane just met Rodrigo and a few other delegates who were engaged in a discussion regarding the new warframes being provided by the banderas weapons ltd. Rodrigo quickly pulled Balthazar aside from them.
"Kid are you sure about the knights of the old republic's infiltration in the military. I put around a few feelers but couldn't get anything to support your theory. There is an old sub-ordinate I trust looking into it. I hope for both you sake and mine that you are wrong," said Rodrigo.
"So do I, Sir. But I would still be prepared for the worst. I believe the night after the celebrations would be the best time for any attempt. Especially, when they believe that their patch in the installation makes us blind to their movements. Don't worry, I won't let you down," replied Balthazar.
Suddenly, a thin Caucasian man dressed in a dark blue 4-piece suit, along with a couple of other delegates caught up to Rodrigo. He had a small rectangular emblem depicting an open book with a galaxy on both pages pinned on his lapel. This implied him to be an agent of the alliance council
"Mr. Banderas, the new warframes, the Pacifier-A is a very attractive. One of the main drawbacks we face from the apes is our inability to capture and experiment them. Even though we have many options of body enhancements these days, these aliens are twice our size and have always had an advantage. Your concept allows men to fight and capture them without much loss and would be a very valuable addition to the growth of mankind," complimented the Caucasian.
"Thank You, Councilman Armstrong. I believe these would allow us unprecedented advantages in reconnaissance against the apes. Unlike the other aliens, we encountered these apes are extremely intelligent, strategic and technologically advanced. This is the main reason we needed to communicate with aliens for the first time in eons. We can't just go ahead and clear the planets as we did with other aliens and actually treat the warfare with these aliens the same way, we treated the Knight of the Old Republic or any other human enemies. Hence, I believe we have a need for these kind of war machines at this stage of the war more than ever," said Rodrigo.
"I agree completely with the practical use of these war frames, Rodrigo. But your specs on the warframes and the general movements of the apes we observed require extremely precise and high speed movements on the part of the pilots. Though the medical science has had many advancements, this is a bit tough to achieve, except for the best of our experts. So, I suggest that we limit it and not have any large scale production of them," said Armstrong.
"I would like to inform that this project is being done in collaboration with Apropos medical laboratories. They have been working on a system which could improve the reflexes and inherent body movement. Only together we have been able to confirm on this project. I just want to emphasize the fact that it would be a very useful to operation on a border planet such as PK-170," replied Rodrigo.
"If that is the case, it definitely is a worthwhile investment. While the alliance prime council's main warframe research team, the Scions of Minerva are working on bio-feedback warframe design, it would still take a decade or so for the system to be implemented. Though such warframes would be the mainstay once they are achieved. It would be very prudent to have warframes suggested by Gen. Rodrigo in the immediate future," supported Jane.
"But, I am skeptical about new medical procedure to improve human speeds to the value required. It is not an easy thing to suggest this to the council and military and get their joint approval," pondered Armstrong.
"We can have the asklepian certify the procedure and only then go ahead with it. If required, we can have them collaborate with us on the project. I as a Blyth can assure that they will definitely be interested in such a venture and will definitely help with this," suggested Balthazar.
"If that is really the case, convincing the council wont be an issue. But are you sure Colonel?" asked Armstrong.
"Haha! I am positive about it. The Blyths never turn down an opportunity in any medical research. I would be travelling to asklepian today evening and will most definitely inform my grandfather about this when I meet him. If councilman Armstrong insists, I could call and inform my grandfather about the proposal right now," replied Balthazar
"No need, Colonel. I will also be going towards the asklepian after the event. I hope we will be meeting again soon," said Armstrong.
"Haha! Let us toast to new and successful ..."
"BEEP! BEEP!"
The communication device on his wrist band started ringing, displaying a call from Capt. Jones.
"Excuse me, gentlemen. I need to take this. We shall continue this soon," said Balthazar excusing himself from the matter. He cut the call and said "Anything regarding the moon base could be discussed with Lt. Col. Jane in my place. She has been here longer than my entire tenure in the military and is definitely capable and authorized in representing it's interests."
Walking out of the dining hall, he immediately drove himself in a military hover car to the command central. On his way, he called back to Jones.
"Capt. Jones. What is the situation up there? You notice any movements from the apes?" he asked.
"Colonel Balthazar, Sir. I was afraid when you cut my call, that how I would have to report this to Lt. Col. Jacques and inform him of our plan. Glad to see that it is not necessary," he said in a frightened manner.
"What happened? You seem to be very shocked for some reason," inquired Balthazar knowing very well about the ape fleet.
"Sir, we have wrongly estimated the cargo ships purpose. The glitch was never meant to be serving the needs of smugglers. It was all just a ruse. We have witnessed a cargo ship leading an ape armada to the moon. If not for the fact that we been using a stealth shuttle and never engaged, we would have been dead by now," said Jones.
"Size and description of the fleet?", Bel further inquired.
"There are more than 150 war ships similar to our destroyers being led by a huge ship. There seems to be a cannon attached to it. Looks like a weapon to break through planetary defences," replied Jones.
"I am glad that I decided to send you there Capt. Jones. I am headed towards the command centre now. Please, stay in stealth and continue reporting the movement and direction of the armada and also the vessel directing it. Please, continue to stay out of their sight. Go back to PK-170 and report to Sophia once we start attacking them. Thank You."
"Sir, requesting to engage the ape armada after the attack starts. The crew men don't want to be left out the tussle, Sir," reported Jones. Being a proud military man he couldn't agree to sit himself out of this battle.
"Captain Jones, the shuttle you are aboard is primarily a reconnaissance vessel. It is not meant to fight battles. I am not suggesting you and your men to sit down. Just report to Sophia, who will be leading an armada from the planet. I don't intend to have loyal men lose their lives in stealth shuttle for no good reason. Over and out," snapped back Balthazar.
"For heavens sake, just do what I ask you to, guys. It is hard enough to guess, what my enemies are planning and now I have to deal with overenthusiastic men. Best I let Sophia deal with them," thought Balthazar.
"Now that all my men are ready. I would just have to convince the Lt. Col. Chang Biming and Daisuke to let that merchant vessel enter our aerospace safely before we start firing at the ape armada," he thought. "It is best that I catch them and interrogate them."
He reached a tall building shaped like a hexagonal prism. This was the main command centre for the moon base. Any and every order executed by the personnel on the moon must pass through the offices in the building. He immediately seeked out Daisuke who was the person presiding over the centre at this time. As, he entered the central communications centre, he was greeted by Daisuke.
Daisuke was a short dark haired man. He had small beady eyes that seemed to notice everything around him. He was the most experienced veteran on the base and held complete respect and authority of all the men on the base.
"Col. Balthazar. Was just about to call for you. We noticed an unauthorized vessel heading towards the base. It hails for support and it's captain says that it had been ambushed by the apes and that it is one of the Rowley's vessels", reported Daisuke.
"I have come here for the same issue, Lt. Col. Daisuke. One of the experimental stealth ships from the planet base has accidentally noticed the same. It also reports an ape armada heading towards the moon base. You should be getting reports of it on your systems, too," replied Balthazar.
As if to prove his words right, the alarms suddenly gave off. The detection systems noticed the ape armada behind the merchant vessel.
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! UNKNOWN FLEET OBSERVED! ALL MEN NEED TO REPORT TO YOUR POSITIONS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. WE ARE UNDER ATTACK."
This sudden burst had all the men in the room confused. "How could the Colonel get such information before us. We are supposed to be the forefront of the entire defence of this sector," they thought unanimously. The sudden display by the Colonel had various effects on the personnel. Some were impressed and other still found it hard to believe. But all of them had their pride hurt, observing the effectiveness of the new Colonel. This bought a sudden change in how the viewed his orders. Now, they finally considered that their new Colonel is no less adept at command and war than his predecessors and boosted their confidence in him.
Noticing the change in the expressions of his personnel, Balthazar decided that it is his time to step up and take charge.
"Wait for the merchant vessel to safely enter the moons atmosphere and beyond the line of fire of the cannons and artillery before we open fire," commanded Balthazar. He immediately established a state of emergency all over the moon and the planet PK-170. "Today, I shall establish my name over the galaxies," he thought. "Get me the mike and make sure every person on the moon listens to this."
"The apes have been in a state of war against humanity for the past century. They have been threatening the territories established by our forefathers and continue to fight us without any intention to converse or negotiate us. Their behavior implies how greatly they underestimate the human kind. Today, we don't attack us again unprovoked at our citadel which is equivalent to trampling on our pride and honour. We shall lay waste to their forces and save the men they dare to attack."
As soon as he was informed that the merchant vessel is out of the firing range, he announced war.
"ATTACK!! SPARE NO ONE AND DON'T LET ANYONE OF THESE ALIENS ESCAPE. THOSE WHO DARE TO INVADE OUR LANDS SHALL STAY HERE FOR ALL OF ETERNITY."