Space Battleship Andromeda

[ExNihilo]

Despite their troubles, the Hyperion's voyage to the stars was still among the luckier. Colony ships leaving Sol had, when they left, about a one in four chance of avoiding the Gamilas fleets. Terrible odds, and in all likelihood the stars they reached would have a Gamilas force waiting for them by the time they arrived, but should Earth fall, having a small chance of Humanity's continued existence was better than none.

Hyperion had been a K class colony ship, meaning it was launched stealthily, compared to R class which launched as many as possible in hopes that some got through. Thus, after drifting mostly cold and gravity assist off Saturn, her voyage to the stars was swift, yet undetected to Gamilas sensors. Unfortunately, she hit a mine in the Oort Cloud, which, while they survived, crippled several vital systems, including repairs, communications, and command. This left Lieutenant Peterson, small craft commander who had been on a hangar inspection during the impact, as ranking officer, and in charge of what was quite clearly becoming a doomed voyage.

Interstellar travel at near the speed of light is always a dangerous undertaking, and as the fourth year of their twenty-two-year journey comes to its conclusion, it had become very clear to Lieutenant Peterson that their chances of making it to Kaptyen's Star were slim, at best. Their last spare pieces of gravity plating had been used, so any additional failures would mean cannibalizing small craft or sacrificing gravity in nonvital sectors. Their lateral turning thrusters had given completely, though what simulations they could do implied that maneuvering was still possible, if difficult. Just last week, a scare had rippled through the ship as a water reclaimer had broken, though the repairs had been simple enough. He had the science staff working on any possible solutions, but beyond a small metal remelting forge and jury-rigged spin gravity hydroponics, which looked like they came out of a twentieth-century larper's space station, they hadn't come up with much.

Yet, the morale of the captain was directly linked to that of her crew, so defeatism would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. She'd greenlit as many low-cost morale boosters as she could, including a sill and a sports tournament, and impressed upon her officers to maintain at very least a determined facade, but the captain's chair forced her to start thinking of long-term plans. Cut off half the ship's gravity, to reduce wear and tear, alternating by week? Cut down on energy-intensive recreation, saving power but weakening morale? Or, a dark part of her brain whispered, have non-vital personnel draw lots? The loss of genetic diversity would hurt, but so would starving before Hyperion arrived.

However, the choice would be made for her. Out of the void sprung a ship near the size of the Hyperion, blasting IFF signals the ship couldn't receive, but it's still mostly-functional Tadar could recognize it as Cosmo Force nonetheless. They hadn't known the fate of Hyperion, as with comms down it could be anywhere from completely dead and drifting to completely functional just without ansible equipment, but a short stopping-over was not nearly far out of their paths. It granted good closure, and repairs were one of the things Andromeda could do well.

Turns out I like writing Interludes a lot more? 'Main' story arcs will still be written, but I think I'll be focusing more on the impact Andromeda has on the universe as it travels. Next is Interlude: Stepping Stones 2

 

[ExNihilo]

As the Andromeda closed in on the Alpha Centauri system, Mamoru Kodai prepared for battle. The upcoming fight, Second Centauri, would likely be the easiest one on the trip, as the enemy was still in disarray after their losses at Third Pluto, and the Centauri picket was never meant to really hold up against a serious threat, merely strong enough to defeat any colony ship or any missed pockets of resistance, which to be fair it was. Thusly, Okita had given him temporary bridge command, as better test his skill now, in a relatively easy fight with Okita nearby should something unexpected occur, then in an emergency.


Leaving warpspace gave a brief period of blindness, and the Gamilas fleet would be expecting them, as while no communications were intercepted from Third Pluto, no matter how confident the Gamilas fleet was, at least something would have been sent, and the announcement of preparing for battle followed with none declaring glorious victory would surely be a tip-off. To counter this, Andromeda would be entering realspace further out in the system, giving time to react and counter whatever strategy the picket was employing, the usual disadvantage of such a strategy, the loss of stealth, not being nearly as big an issue here.


Daisuke's voice, loud over the murmuring of last-minute checks and orders, rang out. "Realspace in ten seconds" came the warning, as the ship began to pull itself into the Prime Material. A brief moment of silence, then a hail from the vessel opposing them.


"Unknown vessel, you have entered territory under control of the Gamilas military. Immediately power down all weapons and prepare for boarding"


"I'm afraid I cannot do that. This is the UNCF Andromeda, en route to our colony in this system. I am obligated under the seventh protocol of the fifth Geneva Convention to offer you the option of surrender, if you stand down now no harm will come to any soldier under your command." This option would get trickier as the mission progressed, as the Andromeda couldn't realistically hold significant numbers of prisoners and had no way of taking them to any EF prisoner of war facility, but attempting it was nonetheless a good policy.


"Impossible. The Zul navy is weak and possesses no hyperspace capabilities, besides which, Goer would have stopped any such attempts. This is your last warning, stand down and prepare for boarding."


"And that" the voice in his earpiece whispered "is what is known as bluffing." Despite all the effort into studying Gamilon psychology and culture, Yurisha still had far more practice in interpreting Gamilon facial expressions. "He's not afraid, not yet, but is certainly anxious. Probably thinks this is a converted Gamilon freighter Zul somehow got ahold of, or something like that."


"Very well Lieutenant Vaedler," that was shock, there, Shultz had told them who was almost certainly in command, but Vaedler had never told him his name, "Prepare for combat." With a swipe of his arm, the viewscreen cut out, and the Andromeda prepared for battle.


A quick glance at Tactical revealed an easy enough plan. "Helm, keep us at distance. Weapons, prepare for long-range combat, we outrange them by quite a bit, but focus fire on the cruiser. Tadar, I want every missile tracked, light craft, be prepared to scramble to defensive positions. This will be the first battle on our journey, so let's make history, people."


The Andromeda, with better tech and bigger size, far outranged the screens and light capital ship the picket had, but they were still more maneuverable, so across the void the two forces danced, one by one the Gamilas vessels falling behind or exploding in incandescent balls of fire. The closest they'd gotten was a fighter wing hidden in a missile strike, which prompted his own fighters out to meet them, but under the covering fire of Andromeda's point defenses, it was dealt with quickly. In all, an auspicious start, but with the force disparity being what it was, a far more aggressive approach would likely have had no difference in results.


Finishing the battle meant approaching the disabled and wounded ships and demanding surrender, and then meeting with the Centauri resistance to deliver supplies and materials to help them rebuild their colony. With this victory, the only active Gamilas forces in the region were the even smaller forces in nearby systems meant to dissuade breakouts and colony ships, but the Andromeda could not stay to deal with them. It was onward for them.

Spoiler: AN:

Space battles are hard, probably more abstracted in the future. This was as far as I had planned, so while I doubt the gap will be as long as this time (moving into college and setting up, etc.) I'll have to plot out the course a bit.


Expect a smaller update, of the informational type, sooner, however, addressing some of the headcanons and particular usages of terms. I'd realized I'd made them and used them without sharing them, so if you were wondering why I used both Gamilon and Gamilas, and not Garmillas, and what the difference would be, it will be there. Any particular questions about terminology will likely be answered there as well, so if you have any feel free to ask.


Also, is there any term for the set of fighters, bombers, and air superiority craft present in SBY and/or sci-fi in general? On land, say an aircraft carrier, they would be all planes, or naval planes to specify versus the ones launched off airfields, but starship/spaceship don't really connotate a size and light craft, at least in my mind, includes all nonrated (that is, smaller than a corvette) ships, like gunships and transports. I've been using fighter, and while in SBY they tend to be multirole fighters, it seems… imprecise? Inelegant?

 

[ExNihilo]

Any in particular I've used and not mentioned here? Let me know, and I'll add them.

Earth Federation vs United Nations

In 2199, the government of Earth is the Earth Federation. However, the protagonists are members of the United Nations Cosmo Force Cosmo Navy, UNCF Cosmo Navy. The redundancy honestly isn't that surprising, however, why does the Earth Federation employ the United Nations Cosmo Force and not the Earth Federation Cosmo Force? Here, at least, it's a bureaucratic thing, relating to early treaties in the formation of the Earth Federation. The United Nations no longer exist, however, for a brief period they were cotemporal, and specific wording of the last international treaties and early EF documents make it hard to change the name.

The name of Earth Federation has its own problems, as while in Canon few people live off-earth, here a lot more do, including in other solar systems. As the general consensus is that sometime soonish (in bureaucracy terms) the Earth Federation might get a name change, updating it twice is seen as less important, and it would better be done at once.

Gamilon, Gamilas, and Garmillas

What's the difference you ask? In Star Blazers/The original Space Battleship Yamato, the main antagonists are the Gamilons, based out of the planet Gamilas. 2199 changes it to Garmillas, as it changes many other names, and while these are often positive, I frankly prefer Gamilon and Gamilas, so I've stuck with them. I'll be adding 2199's other titles to the mix (Great Gamilas Empire, etc.) but frankly, Garmillas doesn't flow as smoothly.

Adding on, citizens of the Great Gamilas Empire are Gamilans, but the species that make up 95% or so of governing positions are the Gamilons. While these are often interchangeable, there are non-Gamilon Gamilasians(The various subordinate species), and a few non-Gamilas Gamilons(The people Yurisha and Sasha smuggled out, mostly).


Desslok and Dessler

Abelt Desslok implies a certain feel, that of a Saturday Morning Cartoon villain, which makes sense given he was one. Albet Dessler, on the other hand, is a proper pseudo-German authoritarian-sounding name, and it's likely no coincidence that someone named Anton Drexler was the mentor and predecessor to Hitler in the DAP (the predecessor to the more famous NSDAP).

Ships

Voidships/voidvessels: Anything that goes into space. Basically, everything is at least technically a voidship.

Spaceship vs Starship: Starships are warp-capable, Spaceships are not. In practice this is rarely used, as the Cosmo Force's Starships are all unique, and thus generally noted specifically, and the only spaceships in the Gamilas (and Gatlantis) navies are strike craft, and if they need to be referred to they will be referred to as such.

Defense Platforms: They are not stationary, as all have some maneuvering, however, they have maneuvering in a tactical sense, to dodge missiles or to interdict in orbit, not a strategic sense, like long-distance planet-to-planet. Generally cheaper to construct than spaceships, as engines are a big power hog and expense.

Why is everyone Japanese?

In canon, it's because it's an anime, and it's intended audience was Japanese, no different from how the half Chinese world of Firefly is very white. I didn't change it because I wanted to keep characters but tried to make the background admirals and authority figures, the various OCs that play little role, in other ethnicities, to represent the global nature of the force. The bridge of Andromeda is still very Japanese though, and the in-story reason for it is because, during the Terran Unification, Japan's navy became the core of the budding Cosmo Force and its officer training the central one, leading to a continuing overrepresentation in the Cosmo Force, especially at higher ranks.

 

[ExNihilo]

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh SBA wgah'nagl fhtagn

How a species lives is often an interesting way of analyzing their society. Not their environment or temperature preferences, those are usually either biological or derived from the Iskandarian standard (about 17 C and 1.1 Atmospheres), but how they spread out among the stars. The Iskandarians, once again, were the default that others patterned themselves after, and for good reason, your home planet, fairly definitionally, is where it's easiest and most comfortable to live, so a majority of your population living there with people offworld mostly for specific military, scientific, industrial or political reasons makes sense, most of the time. While by the height of their power, Iskandarians were capable of building habitation on any world, why bother when Iskandar the Great was already a work of art? That's not to say no one lived elsewhere, the most common location being what were essentially Iskandarian townships in their client worlds, but even at the policy's height the total percent offworld never reached the double-digit percents.

Humans, having never been an Iskandarian client, haven't followed in this pattern, having about 15% of our population, mostly on Selene, Mars, Enceladus and the Belter colonies, offworld in some capacity. A wide range of factors played into this, including vague fears of the planet-killer and a relatively prevalent pre-warp space program, and it wasn't just an interesting sociological trivia piece either, in most other species, only bombing the homeworld, as Gamilas did, would have all but wiped them out, whereas losing Earth would have been an unprecedented loss, it would have been recoverable. Contrast this to Gatlantis, who's entire population lives strictly on their homeworld, their Ark of Destruction, and military installments, as anywhere else (other than Telezart, which they don't have access too) would be unholy. The fourth most common location is Gamilas Prison Worlds, which at once says something about how well their war is going and to how devoted they are to their god.

Finally, Gamilas. Like many parts of their society, their demographic spread is a lot like Iskandar's, though taken to weird and terrible extremes. Proportionally less research, as while they do innovate, they like to keep their intellectuals close at hand where they don't get any ideas. Quite a bit of industry, though focused around heavy industry and the mines required to keep it fed, and obviously a frankly ridiculous number scattered in military facilities, like capital ships and their asteroid bases. Finally, they expanded (in some cases literally on the same sites) the Iskandarian townships into colonies in miniature, allowing a full political structure and secret police in every world they take over, as where Iskandar was fine to keep a light hand, Gamilas greatly prefers to control everything they can about their clients. Combine this with liberal colonization of marginal worlds for imperial purposes and they too hit the double digits, about 12% offworld, but even with such numbers, most of their space is empty, beyond the occasional beacon or automated defense platform announcing their ownership.

Said beacons and defense platforms were not really challenging fights to the Andromeda, so for a few systems, it wasn't really combat, but more of target practice or drill runs. However, five jumps later, we encountered a base. Not much of one, but an asteroid Gamilas had hollowed out and installed military facilities in, along with what appeared to be every ship in the region they could scrape together. Some of them weren't even warships, but clearly transports pressed into service. To be fair, they were Gamilas transports, so they had last-gen military tech and weapons on board, but all they'd amount to was fodder.

It was a battle, from what I could observe from the observation deck. It's important to note that said deck wasn't near the hull in any fashion, of course, it was entirely video, it still was jarring to see a torpedo seem to dive directly at the screen, and then immediately feel the ship rock as it connected. Not serious damage, but damage nonetheless, as while this fleet wasn't that much stronger than the Centauri Picket, it was actually prepared for our arrival, and Admiral Okita is a lot less cautious than Captain Kodai.

Still, they fought much harder than a border fortification was expected to, even accounting for Gamilas's fanaticism towards all things war, while we weren't going to land and force them out, I was pretty sure I saw spacesuited soldiers firing handguns at the Andromeda at one point, before the base was determined pacified enough and we retreated a safe distance. The reason became clear as we picked up a surviving escape pod for information, before sending them to the asteroid base. They had reinforcements coming. Fresh from the Gatlantis front off of a wave of victories, and from what we could tell an interesting political position of being too successful, a full battle fleet was coming, along with its legendary commander.

This would be no Suppression Fleet, which despite terrible command and a focus on occupation and pacification forced the entire Earth Federation to its knees. No, this was a Main Battle Fleet, under the command of a war hero. Loyal, as far as Yurisha could tell, despite family being heavily tied to resistance movements, skilled, beloved by his men, and almost not a war criminal (by Terran and Iskandarian definitions, even) despite his service to such a murderous state. The Andromeda faces her biggest challenge yet: Erich Domel.

Spoiler: Notes

Man, the last month has been hard, with midterms and papers, not to mention having to rewrite this chapter a few times. But yeah, it's time for Mr. Clean Gamilas Military himself, the totally-not-a-Rommel-ripoff Erich Domel!

 

[ExNihilo]

Andromeda is pretty objectively the strongest starship currently in use by any major galactic player. Thanks to the Wave Motion core and gun, she should outperform even Gamilas superdreadnoughts with relative ease. However, a Main Battle Fleet isn't just one superdreadnought. Ten superdreadnoughts, twenty-five fleet carriers, a hundred dreadnaughts, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of assorted cruisers, escort carriers, destroyers, and patrol craft, none of which would be a match for the Andromeda individually, but together even the scatter mode of the Wave Motion Gun wouldn't be enough. Add in any static bases along the way and any secret weapons Domel might have, if it comes down to a fleet-versus-fleet encounter, it would take a literal miracle for us to come out alive.

However, a head-on battle was never the plan. Fundamentally, our advantage is that space is gigantic. There's no real way to put how big and empty it is into a human perspective. Even when limiting it to 'space in the direction we're heading' and 'systems and exoplanets big enough to mine for repairs' it's still a tremendous amount of places that we could be or might be. If Domel kept his fleet concentrated, he'd certainly win if he encountered us, but he never would, statistically speaking. Thus, he'd be splitting it up into smaller fleets, scattered in locations we'd likely end up. These flotillas, likely a capital ship and her escorts, would be beatable by the Andromeda, but present a different game entirely.

The fundamental nature of repeated odds is that even unlikely events can become more likely if you encounter them more often. Thus, the more often we encounter Gamilas fleets, and the more often we are forced to battle them, the more likely something will go wrong. As Domel likely doesn't have much hard data on our full capabilities, and we not much on his strategic planning styles, it was anyone's guess how he'd split his fleet, whether into weaker but more likely to encounter squadrons or tougher but easier to dodge. However, even a weak task force could damage us, and damage wouldn't always be like last time, a few armor plates and some hull damage. Even a nonvital but long repair could be disastrous, as staying in one system for longer could mean gathering enough assets to pose a serious risk.

That's why our first encounter with Domel's fleet, in this case a Heavy Cruiser flotilla, ended with us fleeing out of the system immediately, into the black where they wouldn't be able to find us. The routine maintenance check had already finished, and the last bit of repairs could be done, if more slowly, while underway. Rumor has it Admiral Okita was reluctant, but strategic use of resources is more important than winning one battle against one task force.

It is, however, the nature of radiuses that the closer we get, the fewer places we are likely to go. Especially for the second half of the journey, where we'll be traveling through intergalactic space and stars and bodies are less numerous, it'll be easier to predict and entrap us. For now, at least, we shouldn't push the odds.

Even then, that leaves 135 vessels strong enough to seriously threaten Andromeda, with backup, plus whatever tricks Domel's assembled through his career. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but there are still millions of possible stars for us to go to. Not immediately, and not entirely blindly, there are routes more and less likely, but it will very much be two forces mostly blind trying to avoid or encounter each other. Perhaps not the most glorious of combat, but the fate of the world, and possibly others as well, rests in our hands. As little as possible must be left to chance.

Spoiler: AN

AN: Interlude: Space Wolf is up next, I'm going to try something a little experimental. Also, how does formatting work here? It's really weird. The paragraphs are supposed to be indenting and seperated, is it normal that that doesn't happen?

 

[ExNihilo]

You'd think being on break would leave me more time to write. Turns out, that would be wrong.

Scene Set:

Command Room: GINS Haym, Heavy Cruiser of the Naval Group Orion.
PERSPECTIVE of Captain Garl Melren

There is currently an ongoing meeting, in HOLOGRAM. The center is currently held by Captain Gonther Pries and his Intelligence commander, Ermann Brandi, both of the GINS Liesenbar, likewise a heavy cruiser. Several low-resolution IMAGES are likewise in display, as are several important admirals, including Erich Domel, onboard the Superdreadnaught Domelaze II, and some of his command staff.

BRANDI: Thus, our overall conclusions from the encounter are a dreadnaught grade warship, between 440 and 470 meters long, heavily armed and armored, but deceptively nimble and with high acceleration. The presence of a wave motion core is not guaranteed but is most likely present. Though theoretically an efficient Spheromak reactor could output that kind of power, it would be pushing the absolute limits and would leave them little power for anything else. Detailed analysis of weapons and maneuvering is still underway, but simulations indicate it is likely a match for dreadnaughts, and given their likely desperation in launching this mission, they will no doubt fight like cornered Scrals.

A BRIEF SILENCE

Seodur Mainel, Rear Admiral, Supercarrier GINS Kuthenar: Bullshit.

MUTTERING IN THE BACKGROUND

PRIES: I assure you…

MAINEL: Bullshit. No way the Terons could build something like that. That's a Gatlantis Titan-grade freighter with a paintjob and some weapons bolted on, you're just covering your asses because it escaped from under you.

PRIES: What? No, I'd never…

DOMEL: Now, Seo, that's not a productive argument. The data Captain Gonther presented matches the scans from Outpost M273, including in places not released for security reasons. A repurposed Gatlantis freighter could hardly kill a Suppression Fleet by itself, after all.

MAINEL, muttering: ...could have been support…

DOMEL: A whole fleet of warp-capable vessels? That's even less likely, and you know it. For now, let's assume a dreadnaught-grade warship, capable of long-range nonsupported operations, crewed by the cream of what a single world can produce.

Taul Gedenk, Vice Admiral, Superdreadnaught GINS Porglitz: Well, they're clearly not headed to Gatlantis space, or if they are, they're very lost.

A STAR MAP appears, with projected paths from Zul to it's last known location. No lines approach the region marked GATLANTIS CONTROLLED.

Hanns Buchacard, Rear Admiral, Supercarrier GINS Ohenlohen: Not surprising. Politically, they probably dislike Gatlantis more than us. They probably wouldn't accept aid from them in the first place.

GEDENK: Then how did they get all their new tech? Some of it's reverse engineered, but not all of it.

BUCHACARD, loudly: A traitor in Weapons and Development, sending information...

DOMEL: Keep your conspiracy theories about subversive scientists for later, Hanns, right now we have to focus on the Teron vessel. While I'm inclined to agree with NAVINT that their end goal in the Large Magellanic Cloud, they likely have targets along the way, where we could intercept them.

Ledwig Dentch, Rear Admiral (Lower), Dreadnaught GINS Jagstegen II: System T94 has a habitable world, they could be stopping to set a colony there, or somesuch.

Walth Cleist, Vice Admiral, Superdreadnought GINS Meltoria: The sector command center is, uh,

A gesture to someone out of shot. A SYSTEM highlights itself on the STAR MAP.

CLIEST: Ganzig. Losing that could be bad, and would cripple C2 in the entire region.

Henz Godering, Rear Admiral, Supercarrier GINS Bierisen: What about the gate?

A PAUSE

GEDENK: What?

GODERING: The Aquarius Gate. If they breach the defences and push straight through Balun, that old network could put them in the heart of the Magellanic Clouds.

A MUTE HORROR. Even DOMEL looks shocked.

Erik Secht, Vice Admiral, Superdreadnought Hornesbau IV: The defenses are strong, but not strong enough. They could, couldn't they.

DOTTED LINES have been added to the STAR MAP, radiating out from BALUN. TWO are HIGHLIGHTED, one in AQUARIUS, the other in the LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD.

Gillmane Kanarus, Intelligence, Domelaze II: As you can see, the only gate viable is the Aquarius gate. While the Pisces Gate is theoretically an option, it is also the mustering point of the Fifth, Ninth, and Twelfth Fleets.

GEDENK: They're still preparing for the assault against Gatlantis, right? It might be strong, but three full battle fleets in one spot is not a target they could beat. Still, Aquarius's defence should only be a few heavy fortresses and an Asteroid base.

DOMEL: Beyond the Gate and the two aforementioned locations, Intelligence has located six other important targets in their projected flight path. Forces, at least a Superdreadnought or a Supercarrier, will be deployed to each, and a heavier fleet to Aquarius. Cliest, I think, should lead that force.

CLIEST: Of course, sir. May I request additional construction ships and minelayers from the support? If I'm to prepare there, static defenses wouldn't be amiss.

DOMEL: Certainly. Put in your request with Hans [Triller, chief quartermaster] and I'll fast track it. For everyone else, I'll have assignments of fleet order by day's end.

Low MURMURING breaks out among all parties.

DOMEL: Before we disperse, I'd like to see if any of you have a solution to this. Intelligence hasn't been able to come up with an answer that satisfies me

KANARUS: Sir…

DOMEL: so I'm asking you all here. What could their goal be, for this mission? If they had a single warp drive, surely it would have been better put to use as a scout, or a colony ship, or a raider. Kept small scale, Gamilas would hardly investigate, and the Terons could continue to improve the situation in their own system. Even if this ship gets past us and into our core territory, the home fleet will crush it, and then Teron will be destroyed in a bombardment that will make the assault on Alteria look like a strongly worded letter. So, why?

SILENCE, then various THEORIES are wildly proposed. Many are discussing with their own aides.

MERLEN: Oh, no.

He pulls up a TABLET, looking up old data.

...

A prevailing THEORY is beginning to take hold. Championed by BUCHACARD, the idea is developed that the TERON VESSEL will travel to Garmillas core territory, spreading rebellion and supplying partisans, drawing off reports from the picket fleet that the TERONS had good intelligence operations, which KANARUS is unable to deny.

MERLEN: Sirs, I just had a terrible thought. We've said it has a wave motion core, correct?

DOMEL, curiously: Yes, why?

MERLEN: Well, the Iskandarians were famous for their use of the technology. They used it to power their devices, and propel their starships, but it had a third, more famous use for them.

The image of an ASTEROID FIELD is brought up. It takes a moment for the collective officers to realize what the photo is of, but only a moment.

It hadn't always been an ASTEROID FIELD. It was once STRUMANIA, a planet with a billion sentients, until one day the ISKANDARIANS deemed it a threat to galactic peace.

MERLEN: Planet killing.