James Harper
Admiral, Acting commander of Commonwealth forces
Admiral James Harper stood on the bridge of his command vessel, reading the after action report from the attempt to take Cerea. Somehow, despite the promising way that the battle was turning the Commonwealth forces had been routed and driven off world. It had been a chaotic and frankly embarrassing retreat in which the Commonwealth had come away with nothing but casualties. The after action report indicated that the depletion of reinforcements combined with the high casualty rate on orbit to surface deployment and the heavily entrenched enemy position all had worked together to cause disorder and eventual retreat. That was simply nonsense. While the facts of the battle were true, the Marines wouldn't have given up because of them. Harper knew the real reason that the battle had failed.
Lord of Admirals Horus had disappeared during the fighting, along with his vessel the Twelfth Night. After the CNS Surprise had used itself as a warhead to protect the Commonwealth fleet, there had been a tremendous explosion causing a brief sensor blackout. When the explosion had diminished and sensors restored, there had been no trace of the Twelfth Night. No signal pings, no wreckage, nothing. It was as if the ship had vanished. Military intelligence didn't have any information or any leads on what had happened to the vessel or its beloved commander, all that they had to offer were theories that sounded far fetched even to Harper, an avid science fiction reader.
One thing was certain, however: the disappearance of the Lord of Admirals had caused an almost immediate collapse of morale in both the space and ground forces. Retreat at this point was inevitable. Captain Campbell, who had been commanding the CNS Agincourt in orbit over Cerea, had managed to organize the route into a semi-coherent retreat and led what was left of their ragged forces back to Alexandria.
Admiral Harper had not been a part of the force that had attacked Cerea, but instead had been left in charge of the orbital defense forces around Alexandria. When the battered expeditionary force had returned, he had immediately taken command of the force and gotten to work to get them combat ready again, in case of counter attack. The ships that were in fighting condition had been rearmed in orbit, and ships which were too damaged to be of use in a defensive action were sent to dry dock to receive immediate repairs. The ground forces had been ferried down to a garrison base below to be triaged and reinforced. A counter attack had never come however, and gradually Harper had allowed ships to leave the line for repair, refit and shore leave. That had been a month ago. Ever since the retreat they had spent their time licking their wounds and assembling a full report of the failure at Cerea.
Now the fleet had been repaired and rearmed, the troops were rested and ranks rebuilt, and there was only one thing missing from the equation: a figurehead. The upper echelons of the military had been debating for the entire month about who would take the place of Horus, but a decision had been reached. At exactly 1600 hours, he would be broadcasting a message to the entire Commonwealth to bring an answer to the people.
When the time came Harper nodded to his communications officer, and an audio channel opened up to his entire nation.
"Good evening, this is Admiral James Harper, commander of the Alexandria Air and Space Defense fleet. For a month now we have been licking our wounds from our recent defeat at Cerea. We were routed, driven back, and we lost a dear leader to an unknown fate in the process. The military has not given up on Lord of Admirals Horus, and we ask you not to lose hope, as he may yet come back to us. However, we must continue on." He took a pause for a moment and took a soft breath. "From this moment until further notice, with the support of the command staff of the Commonwealth Military, I am assuming command of all Commonwealth forces, assets, and political dealings. This posting is temporary pending the return of Lord of Admirals Horus." He paused again, knowing that he had just dropped a bomb shell on several billion people, and he gave them a moment to take the news in. He then resumed, "We were beaten, yes. But now we rise. We will rebuild. We will re-arm. We are going to expand, and by God we are going to triumph. It's time we stopped nursing ourselves and started fighting back. The real work is just beginning. Admiral Harper signing off."
Lord of Admirals Horus had disappeared during the fighting, along with his vessel the Twelfth Night. After the CNS Surprise had used itself as a warhead to protect the Commonwealth fleet, there had been a tremendous explosion causing a brief sensor blackout. When the explosion had diminished and sensors restored, there had been no trace of the Twelfth Night. No signal pings, no wreckage, nothing. It was as if the ship had vanished. Military intelligence didn't have any information or any leads on what had happened to the vessel or its beloved commander, all that they had to offer were theories that sounded far fetched even to Harper, an avid science fiction reader.
One thing was certain, however: the disappearance of the Lord of Admirals had caused an almost immediate collapse of morale in both the space and ground forces. Retreat at this point was inevitable. Captain Campbell, who had been commanding the CNS Agincourt in orbit over Cerea, had managed to organize the route into a semi-coherent retreat and led what was left of their ragged forces back to Alexandria.
Admiral Harper had not been a part of the force that had attacked Cerea, but instead had been left in charge of the orbital defense forces around Alexandria. When the battered expeditionary force had returned, he had immediately taken command of the force and gotten to work to get them combat ready again, in case of counter attack. The ships that were in fighting condition had been rearmed in orbit, and ships which were too damaged to be of use in a defensive action were sent to dry dock to receive immediate repairs. The ground forces had been ferried down to a garrison base below to be triaged and reinforced. A counter attack had never come however, and gradually Harper had allowed ships to leave the line for repair, refit and shore leave. That had been a month ago. Ever since the retreat they had spent their time licking their wounds and assembling a full report of the failure at Cerea.
Now the fleet had been repaired and rearmed, the troops were rested and ranks rebuilt, and there was only one thing missing from the equation: a figurehead. The upper echelons of the military had been debating for the entire month about who would take the place of Horus, but a decision had been reached. At exactly 1600 hours, he would be broadcasting a message to the entire Commonwealth to bring an answer to the people.
When the time came Harper nodded to his communications officer, and an audio channel opened up to his entire nation.
"Good evening, this is Admiral James Harper, commander of the Alexandria Air and Space Defense fleet. For a month now we have been licking our wounds from our recent defeat at Cerea. We were routed, driven back, and we lost a dear leader to an unknown fate in the process. The military has not given up on Lord of Admirals Horus, and we ask you not to lose hope, as he may yet come back to us. However, we must continue on." He took a pause for a moment and took a soft breath. "From this moment until further notice, with the support of the command staff of the Commonwealth Military, I am assuming command of all Commonwealth forces, assets, and political dealings. This posting is temporary pending the return of Lord of Admirals Horus." He paused again, knowing that he had just dropped a bomb shell on several billion people, and he gave them a moment to take the news in. He then resumed, "We were beaten, yes. But now we rise. We will rebuild. We will re-arm. We are going to expand, and by God we are going to triumph. It's time we stopped nursing ourselves and started fighting back. The real work is just beginning. Admiral Harper signing off."