“How long before they come here?” asked Captain Newman. He watched the tactical display of the Confederation fleet still in orbit over the Saturn moon Titan.
Leeson stood and then walked closer to the display. “They’re repairing their ships. I would expect we have no more than ten hours.”
“Here or Pallas?”
Taking in a deep breath, Leeson replied. “Here. It’s what I would do if I were the Morag admiral. They came to either destroy our system or to seriously damage our ability to make war. They can’t do that without attacking Earth. Admiral Reynolds is hoping they’ll attack Pallas, but I think we’ll be the target.”
“Is that why you sent Linda Martin and Alicia Morr to General Weston’s shipyard, Alpha One?”
Leeson nodded. “We’ll be badly outnumbered. Those two know more about AIs than anyone else in our system. It’s essential the two software experts survive, and that shipyard is the most heavily armed and defended place we have, next to Pallas.”
Captain Newman nodded his agreement. “If we only have ten hours, then I suggest we have our crews get as much rest as possible, and that includes us.”
Leeson forced a smile. “I guess I could use a few hours sleep myself. It’s not good to use stimulants to stay awake for too long.”
“I’ll have the third watch come to the Command Center. We’ll need everyone else when this goes down.”
-
On Gateway One, Earth Imperial Colonel Loren Henderson had made sure all nonessential crew were off the station. In their place, he had nearly three hundred Marines. Many of the Marines had been assigned to damage control teams.
“Ganymede Central survived,” said Major Patricia Marcus, a Pallas Imperial. “We’ll have all the Earth’s and the Moon’s attack interceptors, plus Rear Admiral Leeson’s fleet and Rear Admiral Collison’s fleet. Surely that’s enough to protect the station.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” replied Henderson. “The Morag were not involved at Ganymede, but they were at Titan.”
Major Marcus did not reply. She had seen some of the video sent from the few surviving orbiting satellites above Titan. The moon was now a desolate wasteland. She did not see how anyone could possibly have survived there.
“Double the attack interceptor patrols we have out. I want them ready as soon as the Confederation fleet makes an appearance.”
Looking around the Command Center, Henderson saw everyone busily carrying out their orders. All shipping had been diverted to low Earth orbit beneath the defense grid and out of the line of fire of the ground-based PDCs. A few of the pilots of those ships were complaining about their orbit orders.
“Colonel, I have Brett Newcomb on the comm,” reported the communications officer.
Henderson nodded. “Transfer the call to my office.” Henderson immediately turned command over to Major Marcus and went into his personal office, right next to the Command Center. Sitting at his desk, he activated his comm unit. “Brett, how are you?”
“I’m fine, but I’m worried about you. Gateway One is bound to be a primary target.”
“We’re heavily fortified here at the space station. We’ll get by.”
Brett was quiet for a moment. “I hope you’re right. At least Andrew is safe from all of this.”
Loren laughed. “A Royal. Who would have ever guessed?”
“I’ve already made arrangements for his parents to be in one of our deeper underground bunkers. While his mother has abdicated her role, in my mind she is still a Royal and needs to be protected. I would like to see Andrew in the Imperial Palace,” added Brett. “Just wait until Kala gets there. It will be highly amusing.”
“She should be there by now,” replied Loren. “Where will you be when the Confederation fleet attacks?”
“The Earth Imperial Council will be in its own underground bunker. We have tie-ins to all the military channels, as well as most of the orbiting satellites. We’ll see what’s happening as it occurs.”
Loren was quiet for a moment and then spoke. “Brett, if anything happens, and I don’t make it through this, I don’t regret anything. I’ve lived a good life, and being in command of Gateway One has been very exciting. I wouldn’t change anything.”
“You’ll get through this,” responded Brett. “When this is over, you should come down to Earth. I know of an English pub you would really like.”
Loren laughed. “I knew you had been traveling a lot. If I survive this, I’ll take you up on your offer.”
The two talked for a few more minutes before disconnecting the comm, and then Loren returned to the Command Center. A lot of work remained to be done before the expected Confederation attack.
-
Fleet Admiral Horrabe was satisfied with the progress being made to repair the fleet units damaged in the battles above Titan and at the large gas giant Ganymede. In eight more hours his fleet would be ready. This time he would not be splitting up the fleet, though he had assigned Admiral Laru and the Zynth to protect the rear of the Confederation fleet. He would not let the Humans split the main fleet as they had Admiral Malleck’s.
Looking at one of the main viewscreens, he saw a Zang battleship with several jagged holes in its side. Work crews were outside on the hull, smoothing out the ragged edges so a large patch could be installed to cover the damage. Intermittent flashes of bright light indicated fusion cutting torches were used to trim off the edges of the hole. The Zang admiral had promised that all of his ships would be fully combat capable when it was time for the attack. Horrabe had used his telepathy to encourage the Zang admiral to make sure this happened.
“The fleet will be ready,” Horrabe said to High Commander Corr, who stood next to him. “We will target the large space station between Earth and its moon. That will prevent it from launching attacks when we move to attack Earth itself.”
“When do we attack?”
“In eight hours. Make sure all ships know of our target. We will not suffer the same errors that Admiral Malleck made when he attacked the gas giant system. If necessary, I will take control of all the admirals’ minds to ensure our objectives are met.”
High Commander Corr nodded. He knew that, for a Morag, the fleet admiral’s telepathic abilities were very powerful, one of the highest ratings of any Morag, except for those on the High Council.
-
On Earth, preparations for the expected attack were well underway. Hundreds of deep underground bunkers across the planet were filling with people considered essential personnel. If the worst happened, these people would be the beginning of a new civilization.
Around major cities, all highways had been blocked by the military. It had long been determined that an evacuation of the major cities would cause a tremendous loss of life. It was better for the civilian population to stay in their homes and to take what cover they could.
General Weston, in charge of Alpha One, the main shipyard, and Earth’s other military commanders had set up as powerful a defense as possible for the planet itself. In his mind, Weston reviewed what they had done, hoping it was enough.
On the ground, around most of the major cities, were energy turrets and interceptor missile batteries. Also on the surface of the Earth were eighty PDCs, all armed with missile tubes and fusion energy projectors. Additionally seven thousand attack interceptors were based on the planet. So Earth itself was very heavily defended in case of any enemy landings but also to deter any orbital attack.
In space, the orbital defense grid protecting Earth consisted of two thousand small satellites armed with fusion energy beams, capable of taking out any inbound missile. In addition, two hundred large missile platforms were protected by their own energy turrets. Also forty-five large ODPs, were armed with missile tubes, as well as fusion energy beam turrets.
Three massive military shipyards were in Earth orbit, all protected by energy turrets, missile tubes, and a powerful energy shield. Six additional ODPs were in close orbit to the main shipyard, Alpha One, with two hundre
d defensive satellites and forty missile platforms. There were two slightly smaller civilian shipyards with massive defenses around them as well, in their own orbits around the planet.
-
Added to all that was Gateway One, which was nearer to the Moon. Two large docking ports were attached to the station where an Imperial cargo ship or a passenger liner could dock and be fully enclosed. The station was protected by ten heavy missile launchers, capable of launching eight antimatter missiles at any target that came within ten thousand kilometers of the station. The station was protected by an energy shield as well as multiple energy turrets.
The attack interceptor platform was next to the station and contained 120 interceptors. The interceptor platform was protected by energy turrets, defensive missiles, as well as an energy screen. Six ODPs orbited the space station, adding to its already massive firepower. Another 110 defensive satellites and 22 missile platforms surrounded both Gateway One and the interceptor launch facility.
-
Rear Admiral Collison and his Fourth Fleet were just outside the orbit of the shipyards. Collison currently had the largest fleet in the Solar System, consisting of 52 dreadnoughts and 612 battlecruisers.
Onboard the primary shipyard, Admiral Aleck Weston, after reviewing all the defenses, contacted Admiral Reynolds on Pallas. “I think it’s Earth.”
Reynolds voice came back. “I’m afraid you may be right. Our military strategists here say it would make more sense for the Confederation to strike at Earth rather than Pallas, though we’ve left them what looks like a wide-open target. However, Earth was their ultimate target and they’ve incurred more losses than expected, I’m sure. So why not skip Pallas and jump right to Earth?”
“We’ve evacuated all the nonessential personnel from all the shipyards, including Gateway One. All we can do now is wait.”
“We must win this battle,” said Reynolds. “I’ll keep Seventh Fleet at Ganymede because their defenses on that moon have been hammered, particularly their defense grid. However, once we know for certain it’ll be Earth, I’ll send Admiral Mendoza to assist Rear Admiral Leeson. That will bring Second Fleet back up to full strength. If the Confederation makes an attempt at Mars while Mendoza is away, the planet’s defenses should hold them back until we can send our fleets.”
“I wish we had more ships we could send,” replied Reynolds. “But we’ve taken everything out of stasis.”
“We have some powerful defenses at Earth that the Confederation must get around to attack us,” said Weston. “After what happened to them at Ganymede, I’m pretty confident we can keep them away from the planet.”
“I hope so because just one or two antimatter missiles striking the surface could cause a tremendous loss in life.”
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”
The two talked for nearly twenty more minutes. In the end both agreed they had done everything they could to prepare for the coming attack, given their limited information on the Morag and their limited time frame to build up the Human fleets and other defenses.
-
On Golan Four, Layla had returned to the underground Command Center beneath the capital. This time Krista and Andrew were with her. Stepping inside, she found Chancellor Stein and Fleet Admiral Marloo standing with a large group of officers. General Gantts was at a large hologram of the Solar System, studying it with several other officers.
“What’s the latest?” asked Layla, as they all turned toward her. She was supposed to be called if any more attacks had been launched, but everything had been quiet for nearly a day.
“We think the Confederation fleet is making repairs,” replied Fleet Admiral Marloo. “An attack could come at any moment.”
Layla now asked the question she had been dreading. “What have been the losses so far?” She knew Titan had been hit hard, as well as some of the Jovian moons.
“Civilian casualties are estimated at close to ten million. Earth won’t know for sure until they can check the deep bunkers on Titan. They’ve also lost around three hundred warships.”
“What about the Confederation fleets?” Layla knew the ones that had attacked Ganymede had been hit hard by Rear Admiral Leeson.
One of the other officers standing next to Fleet Admiral Marloo checked a printout she held. “A little over two thousand warships. However the Morag portion of the fleet is still intact, and we believe it’s the most dangerous.”
Suddenly an alarm sounded, and one of the communications officers hurried over. “We just received this from Pallas. The entire Confederation fleet has entered hyperspace and is on a direct course for Earth.”
Fleet Admiral Marloo looked at the High Princess. “With the slight time lag we have in communications between us and Earth, that means the Confederation fleet is already there. The battle for Earth has begun.”
Layla took a deep steadying breath. The most important battle of the war was starting. If Earth lost, it was doubtful the new fledging Human Empire could survive. She looked at Krista and Andrew. “We’ll be staying here until this is over. This is a battle Earth must win.”
“They will,” said Andrew. “I’ve seen those defenses. They will crush the Confederation fleet.”
Layla nodded. “Let’s just hope you’re right. The future of our Empire depends on what happens at Earth.”
Layla knew the next few hours would be the most intense and worrisome since she and Krista had escaped from Golan Four, when the Druins invaded some one thousand years before.
Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention to Earth and the battle now taking place.
Chapter Nineteen
Alarms sounded on Pallas, Earth, the Moon, and all the shipyards and space stations.
Admiral Reynolds’s eyes opened wide when he saw the red threat icons appearing around Gateway One. “This is bad.”
“Gateway One can’t hold back that many ships,” said Colonel Bryson. “What will we do?”
“Contact Rear Admiral Mendoza. He’ll go to Rear Admiral Leeson’s position and turn command of his fleet over to him. Mendoza will act as Leeson’s second in command for the rest of this battle.”
Colonel Williams looked at Admiral Reynolds. “Is there anything we can to do help?”
Reynolds shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not. All we can do is watch and hope this ends well.” Reynolds’s gaze was drawn to the enlarged hologram of Gateway One and its surrounding space. He wished Loren Henderson wasn’t on the station, but Loren had always wanted a command, and Gateway One was his dream job.
-
Colonel Loren Henderson looked at the tactical displays. Gateway One was surrounded by red threat icons. Glancing at the viewscreens, he saw Confederation warships from all seven of the Confederation races.
“Energy shield has been activated on both Gateway One and the attack interceptor facility,” reported Lieutenant Justin from Tactical. “Enemy ships are entering engagement range of the outer defense ring.” This included the six ODPs and the defensive satellites and missile platforms.
“Fire!” ordered Loren. No point in waiting for them to fire. “Fire station weapons as soon as we can get some good locks. Have all damage control parties stand by.”
The Condition One alarms sounded, and red lights flashed. Colonel Henderson looked around. He felt a slight vibration as an antimatter warhead detonated against the station’s energy screen.
The tactical team led by Lieutenant Justin were at their consoles busily blasting away at the enemy. On one of the viewscreens, a Morphene battleship came apart. Energy beams continued to drill into it until it was nothing more than a lifeless hulk. A fusion-tipped missile exploded in the center of the ship, tearing it apart.
-
Fleet Admiral Horrabe was pleased with his fleet actions. His flagship hung back, but his mind roamed through his admirals’ brains. Horrabe gave them direct mental orders, which they then carried out, thinking the thoughts were their own.
Horrabe ordered the fleet to
concentrate on the missile platforms and the ODPs. Those would be annihilated first, and then they would move in on the space station and the other facility next to it. Horrabe had nearly six thousand warships, and he doubted that even the Humans ODPs could last long against that kind of firepower.
The Confederation fleet had encircled the station and its defenses. The energy screens of the six ODPs were covered in constant antimatter explosions. The number of warships involved in the attack caused the shields to radiate higher and higher in the visible light spectrum. Suddenly the shield on one of the ODPs failed, and the platform blew apart in a massive series of explosions, sending debris flying across space. Some of the debris slammed into the energy shield protecting Gateway One but failed to penetrate.
-
Admiral Reynolds watched the battle for Gateway One over numerous viewscreens. He felt sick at what he saw. He knew, unless a miracle arrived, the space station could not survive this massive attack of Confederation warships.
“Rear Admiral Mendoza has rendezvoused with Rear Admiral Leeson and turned over his fleet. Leeson wants permission to jump in and to attack the Confederation fleet.”
Reynolds let out a deep sigh. “Does he have a suggestion as to how he can do that and not sacrifice his fleet in the battle? He will be outnumbered ten to one.”
“He wants Gateway One to launch its interceptors, and he wants Luna City to do the same. He will attack along with them and attempt to drive a hole in the attacking Confederation fleet, taking some of the pressure off Gateway One.”
Reynolds looked at the battle raging around the station. He shook his head. “That’s suicide. Inform Rear Admiral Leeson he has my permission to attack, but, if he loses 20 percent of his fleet, he is to withdraw to the Moon and aid in its defense. As much as I hate to say it, this battle is about a lot more than just Gateway One.”
As the message was sent, Colonel Bryson looked at Admiral Reynolds. “Should I inform Gateway to stand by to launch their interceptors?”
“Yes, and those on the Moon too. Contact Colonel Mills. Tell him to get all four hundred of his interceptors up. Rear Admiral Leeson will need them shortly.” Admiral Reynolds took a deep breath. The battle was about to get much more intense and much more serious. He suspected it would shortly encompass the entire Earth-Moon system.
The Forgotten Empire: The Battle For Earth: Book three Page 23