“A juggernaut,” said Mathew, his face lighting up with excitement. “Wait until Braleseth and Carly hear that.”
“Speaking of those two, where are they?” asked Kelsey. She had expected them to be here tonight.
“Rear Admiral Jones has set up a hyperspace communications relay directly to the hub so they can speak to their parents,” explained Jeremy. “Grayseth is back at the hub with Marille and the rest of the cubs. Braleseth and Carly may come by later.”
-
For most of the evening they sat around talking about various subjects. There was still so much to tell about Angela and Clarissa raising the children. Time after time they found themselves laughing over some antic they had pulled.
-
Later Jason and Clair were sitting out on the back porch of the house looking at the city lights. “It’s very similar to the inside of a Dyson sphere,” commented Clair.
“Don’t forget, Angela helped design the habitat. She originally believed we would live here until we rescued everyone.”
Clair nodded. She was holding Jason’s hand with her shoulder leaned up against his. “We had a lot of fun here when we were younger.” At that moment the back door opened and Angela and Kelsey came out.
“I wondered where you two disappeared to,” said Kelsey, grinning. She sat down across from them with Angela joining her.
“We’re just enjoying the peace and quiet,” replied Jason acutely aware of how close to him Clair was.
“God, how I wish I were your age again,” said Angela. “The innocence of youth was so much fun and also a nightmare at times.”
“It’s hard to imagine you were once our age,” commented Clair.
Kelsey burst out laughing. “It was a long time ago.”
“Mom, what do you want to do when we all get back to the hub?”
“Retire,” Kelsey replied without hesitation. “My days of running around the universe are over. When we get back to the hub that’s where I’m going to stay.”
“So am I,” said Angela. “My days of exploring and running off to put out a fire somewhere are over. I’m going to spend a lot of time at the resorts at the hub, particularly the seaside ones which give lots of massages.”
“Mother!” uttered Clair, turning red.
Angela laughed. “I’m not that old.”
Kelsey nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Now, what do we do to keep Jeremy and Kevin from running off across the universe?”
-
Jason had to smile listening to Angela and his mother. He gently squeezed Clair’s hand. “I have a suspicion my father is going to find himself grounded to the Dyson sphere.”
Clair grinned. “I wonder if we’ll ever sound like that?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” replied Jason. “We’re just dating for now. Also, with the rejuvenation treatments we have very long lives ahead of us. Let’s enjoy them.”
The back door opened and Carly and Braleseth stepped out onto the porch.
“How was the conversation with your parents?” asked Angela.
“It was wonderful,” said Carly. “I didn’t realize until I spoke to her how much I missed my mother.”
“All daughters should miss their mothers,” said Angela, looking at Clair. “Particularly for all you put us through.”
Braleseth looked over at Jason. “My father says the Eternals will be coming soon. He expects many members of our clans to embark on the Great Hunt. He’s having a ceremony tomorrow for those who were lost in the Creevak universe.”
“I wish we could be there,” said Kelsey. “We owe them so much. I believe Jeremy will be sending Grayseth a message to read at the ceremony. The two are really close.”
-
The others came out on the porch to enjoy the evening. Jeremy lit the fire pit and they roasted some marshmallows. He knew this would make Kelsey happy as she had mentioned a number of times how she wished she could do things like this with the kids.
“This is nice,” said Clair as she snuggled closer to Jason. She noticed out of the corner of her eyes her mother was watching her.
“It’s been a good evening,” admitted Jason. He liked the feel of Clair’s body up close to his. Mentally he chided himself and forced himself to think of other things. “I’m going to have the crew report to the Liberator the day after tomorrow so we can thoroughly check out the ship. We’ll all be leaving for the hub as soon as Fleet Admiral Tolsen reports the battle with the Eternals is over.”
Clair looked over at the others who were laughing as Andrea burned her marshmallow to a crisp. “It will be good for all of us to finally be home. This is nice, but it’s not the same. What are we going to do when we return home?”
“That will be up to Fleet Admiral Tolsen. We all have enough credits to graduate from the academy and we’ve already been given our commissions. We’ll go wherever we’re sent.”
“Will it be on the Liberator?”
“Probably at first,” answered Jason. “Later I suspect our parents are going to demand we get assigned to a larger warship, perhaps a dreadnaught and eventually a juggernaut.”
“If mother has anything to say, it won’t be a dreadnaught, it will be a juggernaut.”
“We can only dream,” replied Jason, liking that idea. He knew his father had mentioned a juggernaut but Jason felt they were too young to be trusted with such a large warship.
-
Kelsey was watching the kids. She noticed Angela was keeping an eye on Jason and Clair. If Clair got any closer to Jason she would be sitting in his lap. Allowing herself to smile she turned her attention back to Andrea who had just burned up another marshmallow. Mathew was trying to explain to her she couldn’t keep it in the fire for so long.
Leaning back with a deep sigh, she felt completely at peace with herself for the first time in years. She was surrounded by her family and friends and for the time being they had nothing to worry about. She would give anything if this feeling could last forever. However, she knew all things must eventually come to an end. The children were just beginning their military careers though she would make sure she had a say in their future assignments. With a little luck there would be many more days and nights like this one.
-
Deep in intergalactic space, Admiral Trope was preparing his fleet for departure. Looking at the viewscreens, he could see Eternal battlecruisers lined up as far as his eyes could see. This was the greatest fleet ever gathered by the Eternals. It was here for one reason and one reason only; to conquer the secret Originator base they had discovered.
“Fleet is ready for departure,” reported First Officer Novast. “The other admirals are anxious to be on their way. There is much hope in the fleet that we may discover a method at the Originator base of deactivating the hyperspace interdiction field around our home galaxy.”
“Perhaps,” replied Admiral Trope. He wasn’t going to tell Novast he had no intentions of turning off the field. “The first units will depart in twenty minutes with the rest of the fleet units following in five minute intervals.”
Trope wanted his entire fleet to appear at the Originator secret base within a few minutes of the first fleet’s appearance. He planned on overwhelming the Originators’ defenses. On board his battlecruisers Eternal warriors and millions of Eternal warrior robots were waiting to be deployed.
-
Time passed and suddenly the first fleet of Eternal warships under the command of Admiral Grayton vanished as they made the transition into intergalactic hyperspace. A few minutes later the next fleet under the command of Admiral Stord made the transition.
“So it begins,” said Admiral Trope with a satisfied look on his face. The journey to the Originators’ secret base would take nearly ten days. When the Eternals arrived Trope would throw every ship he had into the battle. The Originators would never know they were coming until too late. Admiral Trope could already taste the sweet taste of victory.
Then it was time for the flagship to make its tr
ansit with the large fleet which surrounded it. Admiral Trope felt the ship make the transition into hyperspace and they were on their way. The tactical displays were full of green icons representing the over one million warships with him. There was no doubt in Trope’s mind he had an overwhelming force, one the Originators would be powerless to stop. It was time to establish his new Empire with himself as the greatest ruler and conqueror in Eternal history.
Chapter Twenty
Grayseth was on board the Hunter with his fleet sitting just outside of the Communications and Transport Hub where he would have maneuverability. His force had been greatly augmented. He now had twenty dreadnaughts, four hundred dreadnaughts and ten thousand battlecruisers. He had a picket force of two hundred battlecruisers spread out in a globe around his fleet to take out any stray Eternal battlecruisers that might pop out of hyperspace. The rest of his fleet was in a tight wedge formation with the juggernauts spread out through the front ranks. This would allow the dreadnaughts to help protect them as well as offer the larger ships clear fields of fire.
“Outer picket ships report no contacts,” reported the sensor officer. These were the ships Fleet Admiral Tolsen had placed far outside the hub to serve as an early warning system. There were other ships farther out on patrol but it would be a miracle if they detected the Eternals in intergalactic space.
“Keep the fleet at Condition Three,” ordered Grayseth. He had a feeling the attack was getting near.
Leaning back in his large command chair Grayseth studied the tactical display. A number of other Originator fleets were easily visible. Other than that, business at the hub seemed routine. It did seem strange for the only Accelerator Rings to be active were the ones at the center of the hub. These were the forty-kilometer ones as all the larger ones had been disassembled and stored in the Dyson spheres.
“Warning,” reported the communications officer. “The Voltron is reporting detecting a massive hyperspace track incoming at three hundred and seventy light years.” The Voltron was a battlecruiser patrolling far out from the hub.
Grayseth set up. “Do we have any firm data?”
“No, they’ve gone quiet so as not to reveal their presence in case it is the Eternals.”
“Message from the Warhawk,” reported Communications. “All commands are to go to Condition One. Combat is imminent. I repeat, combat is imminent.” The Warhawk was Fleet Admiral Tolsen’s juggernaut.
“Take us to Condition One,” ordered Rastell as he sat down and buckled himself into his command chair.
Immediately red lights started flashing and klaxons began sounding, sending the crew rushing to their battlestations. In less than two minutes all stations were manned and reporting combat ready.
“Combat robots and Marines are taking their positions,” reported Thomal from Tactical. “Ship is secure.”
“How long until the Eternals arrive?” Grayseth knew they would be coming in fast.
“We have no idea of their speed,” replied Rastell. “I would estimate ten to twenty minutes. We’ll know when they pass the interior picket force.”
-
Admiral Zafron had just taken his fleet to Condition One and made a short hyperspace jump. They were thirty light years from the hub which should put them out of sensor range of the inbound Eternal war fleet. He was trying to disguise just how many ships were available to defend the hub. Zafron’s current fleet consisted of twenty juggernauts, twelve hundred dreadnaughts and twenty thousand battlecruisers. The fleet was designed to be swift, deadly, and maneuverable.
“Ships are ready,” reported Kazak.
“Put us in a cylinder formation with five juggernauts forward and five at the rear of the formation. Place the other ten in the second inner wall. We’ll use that formation to attack. As soon as the Eternals begin their attacks on the Shrieels we’ll move in. Are the other fleets ready?”
Kazak nodded. “We have three other fleets positioned outside Eternal detection range.”
“What about the ships inside the Shrieels?”
“They’re ready to exit upon your command.”
Admiral Zafron nodded. “Then the trap is set. Let’s see if the Eternals take the bait.”
-
Admiral Hailey Mann was on board her flagship the juggernaut Golden Knight. She had sixty juggernauts under her command, two thousand dreadnaughts and thirty thousand battlecruisers. Rear Admiral Braedon Cross also had a similar fleet positioned above her fleet and slightly behind. For the beginning of the battle the two fleets would be the primary forces opposing the Eternals.
“How badly are we going to be outnumbered?” asked Commander Sutherland.
Hailey grinned. “By quite a lot but we have a lot of firepower here at the hub.”
“Contacts confirmed by inner security picket force,” reported Lieutenant Denise Sparks.
“Receiving tactical data,” added Captain Adams.
“How many?” asked Hailey, leaning forward in her command chair. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
“In excess of one million inbound hyperspace tracks,” reported Adams in a stunned voice.
Hailey and Erick looked knowingly at one another. This was going to be bad. Hailey had her fleet in a long, twenty-high line formation three warships deep. She knew Rear Admiral Cross was in a similar formation.
“Time until Eternal emergence?”
“One minute, twenty seconds,” reported Adams.
Hailey nodded. “Very well people, this is it. Stand by on all weapons. Caria, try to stay out of the way of the blue energy spheres. There are going to be a lot of them floating around shortly.”
“We should be safe. The blue spheres have been set to dissipate if they near one of our warships,” replied Jade from Tactical.
“Let’s just hope that works,” answered Hailey. She had no desire for her flagship to be taken out by friendly fire.
-
Fleet Admiral Race Tolsen was in his new flagship the juggernaut Warhawk. The Command Center had been modified to handle the operations of multiple fleets in a major battle. Four large holographic tactical displays were surrounded by consoles where Originator military AIs and Human commanders sat watching the movement of the fleets. Race could send orders to any of the groups and they could set the fleets into motion instantly. A fifth holographic display was in front of Race and portrayed the entire area of the Communications and Transport Hub.
“Eternal emergence in twenty seconds,” reported one of the sensor officers.
“All fleets and facilities are at Condition One,” added Commander Garratt. “We’re as ready as we’re going to be.”
Race nodded. He could feel the tension in the Command Center. This was going to be a massive battle with everything at stake and there was no way to guess how it might turn out. Race had twenty juggernauts, four hundred dreadnaughts, and three thousand battlecruisers with him. He wanted his force to be extremely mobile and capable of quick strikes. Admiral Mann and Rear Admiral Cross would do the heavy lifting with their fleets, at least initially.
-
Admiral Trope watched the tactical displays suspiciously. Even though he had a significant fleet advantage, he still didn’t trust the Humans and the Originators not to have a few tricks up their sleeves.
“Fleets are beginning to exit hyperspace,” reported First Officer Novast.
Trope knew that by now the Originators must know his fleets were coming. “What do the detailed scans show?”
“Eighty to ninety thousand warships opposing us,” reported the sensor officer. “However, we are detecting nearly one hundred and of their mobile battlestations and twenty-three of the forty-kilometer battlestations.”
“We are prepared to deal with that,” replied Trope. “How soon before all of our ships are out of hyperspace?”
“Fourteen minutes,” replied Novast.
Admiral Trope was examining the sensor readings, marveling at what the Originators had built here. “No wonder they dared to a
ttack us. The manufacturing capability here is unbelievable.”
“Manufacturing capability which will soon be ours,” replied Novast.
On the tactical display, Trope could see the opposing Originator fleets. They were adjusting their formations to face his fleet. “We have nearly a fourteen to one advantage in warships. We have the Originators exactly where we want them.”
For the next several minutes the rest of Admiral Trope’s fleets dropped out of hyperspace. When all of his ships were present Trope gave the order to attack. He suspected his targets would greatly surprise the Originators and their Human allies.
-
Fleet Admiral Tolsen stared at the various hologram displays as they filled with red threat icons. He saw four large Eternal fleets break away from the main body and head toward the Dyson spheres.
“Let them go,” he ordered. “We need the weapons on the Dyson spheres to destroy as many of those vessels as possible. Order Admiral Mann and Rear Admiral Cross to engage the main fleet of the Eternals. Admiral Grayseth is to use his fleet to defend the research facilities and the shipyards.” This would force Grayseth to make a short hyperspace jump and reveal his presence to the Eternals.
The tactical holograms instantly changed to show the fleets he had mentioned. Each fleet began moving toward its targets.
“What about our ships in the Dyson spheres?” asked Commander Garratt.
“Hold for now. I want the Eternals committed to the battle before we activate the vortex centers and lock them out of hyperspace.”
-
Admiral Mann watched as her fleet moved forward toward the Eternal warships. Rear Admiral Cross and his fleet were above and slightly behind hers.
“Engagement range in seven minutes,” reported Captain Adams. “We have four Eternal fleets breaking off from the main body and heading toward the Dyson spheres.”
“How many in each fleet?”
“One hundred and twenty thousand vessels.”
“What do you bet those ships are full of Eternal warriors and warrior robots?” commented Commander Sutherland.
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