Professor Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of ProximaThe link up between the Clones and Rectoids has a lot of people worried. The Rectoids are pretty much on a par with the DDS technology wise and if they can transfer that technology to the Clones it would put the old enemy right back in front with their existing numerical advantages and full-spectrum capabilities.
But what can the DDS do about that? One UNP politician has called upon the DDS to attack the Rectoids now, so what if that happened? Below is a "what-if" scenario...
Operation Broken Shaft
The DDS and Eritrans announced their large joint exercise early in 2114. Broken Shaft would involve virtually the entire FES fleet and a sizeable chunk of DDS hardware in a series of mock combats and exercises. In June the ships assembled near Molab and the exercises began with a mock combat near the Clone-Eritran border.
Naturally the Clones were interested. A Kelsan Sigint ship was detected early on, it was allowed to monitor the first exercise then chased away. So far so normal. Then the galaxy changed.
On day 2 of Broken Shaft the two fleets suddenly diverged. The FES fleet (a powerful fleet comprising pretty much everything they had) broke into two and crossed the Clone border. A day later the Clones were attacked at Austini 55 and Woloron 12. Sixteen CDF ships were destroyed along with serious damage being done to key orbital facilities. Three FES ships didn't make it back.
The DDS fleet meanwhile charged over into Rectoid space and launched an all-out attack on the Rectoid homeworld Recta. A Quasar attack squadron launched a nuclear strike on key orbital facilities and 14 Rectoid ships were destroyed, 3 more were destroyed in a later engagement as the DDS returned to Eritran space. Four DDS ships were destroyed but it was judged a price worth paying, the Rectoids had been knocked out of the game militarily for a good few years.
The Clone response
Oojok was furious at the attack on the CSE-E by the Eritrans and on the Rectoids by the DDS. However faced with strong DDS and allied forces along the CSE-W border he resisted calls from his generals for a full war with the DDS. Instead he gave the green light to Marcus to strike back against the Eritrans.
The CSE-E had 7 Kelsan KS bombers operational (all but 1 of their allocation had avoided destruction). These headed off from Austini 55 and cloaked once they passed Woloron 12. Meanwhile a fleet of 23 warships departed Austini 55 and headed for the border. They were intercepted by a combined FES fleet and a stand-off ensued.
Distracted by this fleet the Kelsans had left Clone space unnoticed. They were not noticed again until 5 days later when they briefly decloaked to launch 12 CSM-S missiles against Molab.
Molab's population are tightly clustered about one continent on the planet. This meant the ensuing nuclear attack killed millions. Eleven of the missiles struck the planet hitting military targets though the proximity of population centres meant the civilian death toll was catastrophic.
At the border news of the attack sent the FES into a panic. Molab elements (the majority) were torn between attacking the Clone ships waiting for them or returning home to help. Discipline broke and 6 Molab ships crossed the border, only 1 managed to get back to the rest of the FES fleet.
War is declared
As per the Tier 1 agreement an attack on an allied homeworld is treated as an attack on the DDS. The DDS declared war on the Clone Star Empire. But the threat of nuclear attack loomed large. The Clones leaked details of their CSM silos being made ready for launch and the 20 Kelsan bombers in CSE-W space were dispersed to secret staging points.
Firefly met with his general staff, his message was simple. If the DDS attacked the Clones then they had to take out the CSM threat first. Unfortunately Knobhead and the other fleet strategists conceded that even the entire strategic attack force could not guarantee a total wipe out of CSM and Kelsan (and it was unlikely much of the DDS force would get back out alive). Knobhead's answer to his commander was blunt, DDS GHQ and other key DDS and UNP bases and cities would get nuked.
For several days an uneasy quiet reigned as the fully operational DDS and CDF war machines waited for the spark to begin fighting. Then Firefly blinked.
The humbling of the DDS
Firefly ended the war with the Clones, then resigned. A humanitarian convoy was instead sent to Molab. The DDS entered a period of soul searching, the Porquatians seriously considering leaving their alliance though the pragmatism of Firefly's decision in the end was accepted. The DDS went all out to develop its own strategic weapon and LRM was bought into service 2 years early in 2117.
The DDS remained strong (stronger than ever) but had lost face. The Rectoids sped up their technology transfer to the Clones (who assisted their new allies in the aftermath of the DDS attack) and at the end of the decade were undisputedly top dog...
So thats a possible scenario, its based on many assumptions of course. The Clones may have restricted their nukes to orbital targets, Firefly may have decided to accept the inevitable destruction. But it shows there is no easy answer to the problem of the Clone-Rectoid alliance. Its there and just has to be factored into future strategy i.e. get a hurry up with LRM!
