There was a lot of bluffing involved in our Contact mission at Betelgeuse. The birds saw our ship deftly evade almost all of their weapons fire. We never fired back so they didn’t see our weapons in action. Thank God. If they’d seen that scout ship’s weapons in action they might have realized that they actually had a better tech base than we did. They never thought twice about all the “cheap toys” our team picked up on planet. For cultural study of course.
It didn’t take long for Dixie to be noticed outside of her immediate area. The drug cartels of Mexico put a price on her head. It took them a while to realize she didn’t have a head to take. Texas offered her a commission in the Texas Guard. She declined but accepted their next offer to cooperate with them, and sent a Sherman with supporting drones to relieve the defenders of El Paso. Historians still argue over whether she turned the tide there or not.
Over three hundred Alliance warships flew into Epsilon Reticuli. It was our most powerful fleet at the time. My Cowboys helped pull fourteen ships out of that mess. Fourteen. Yeah, I know most people say only one ship made it out. They’re sorta right and sorta wrong. History can be like that you know. It depends greatly on your own point of view too. But I was there and saw as much as anybody alive today. So trust me. Epsilon Reticuli was a real bad day for us.
Millions of Russians died in The War, millions more retreated from the German armies, and millions were captured. In population alone the price they paid was staggering, but they also lost vast territories to the German war machine. The economic collapse that followed further devastated the Russian Empire and an alliance of the parliamentary Duma and the workers’ party Bolsheviks took control of the reins of government. The demoralized military did not intervene.
There was no way to keep Contact secret from the Betelgeuse populations. Too many birds had seen the scout arrive, and they spread videos of it throughout their version of the nets long before their government could even think about classifying it. It turned out a lot like Peloran Contact with us in the end. Landing in a public square and walking out to a crowd of birds wanting to welcome their first proof that they were not alone in the universe. It was surreal.
The Martian Affair on Amazon
Forge of War on Amazon
The Audacious Affair on Amazon
Angel Flight on Amazon
Angel Strike on Amazon
Angel War on Amazon
The Family Affair on Amazon
The Thunderbird Affair on Amazon
Wolfenheim Rising on Amazon
Wolfenheim Emergent on Amazon
The Gemini Affair on Amazon