Start of The Kilrathi War
In 2634, the Confederation declared war on the Kilrathi Empire. Over Banbridge's protests, the battle plan chosen was Orange Five, a limited-action plan pushing back Kilrathi incursions in the Facin sector. Fleet Intelligence reports of Kilrathi strength and cultural makeup had long been ignored by the government in favor of the considerably more pleasant Confederation Intelligence Services assessments, and seemed to be proven right during the war in Facin sector.
Distrustful of the Kilrathi response, Banbridge dispatched his old friend Turner, along with a young Geoffrey Tolwyn and Vance Richards, into the frontier regions between Terran and Kilrathi space, hoping that they would bring back firm proof of a full-scale Kilrathi invasion. They did so, but delays in their return, combined with Terran bureaucratic inertia and breakdowns in communications within the Fleet officer corps, resulted in news of a full-scale offensive arriving just before that offensive. The attack nearly shattered the Landreich and resulted in a third of the Confederation's outer systems being trapped behind Kilrathi lines, the main military base at McAuliffe being wrecked, and the loss of the majority of the Confederation battle fleet. Banbridge had been right, and now he had to pick up the pieces.
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