-
“What were our losses?” asked Fleet Admiral Horrabe. The battle had been intense, and, at times, he had become lost in it, due to his connection to his admirals and to his ship commanders. He felt like his mind had been run through a wringer.
“We went into the battle with 5,643 ships,” reported High Commander Corr. “We came out of the battle with 4,370. Of those nearly eight hundred have substantial battle damage.”
“Inform the commanders of those damaged ships they have six hours to conduct repairs. Now, I’ll be in my quarters to get a few hours rest. I’ll need my telepathic abilities, if we expect to win the next part of this battle.”
“And what are our goals?” asked Corr. He knew they didn’t have the forces left to totally subjugate this system.
Horrabe stood and then looked at High Commander Corr. “I want all the shipyards and space stations in orbit around Earth destroyed. If we can do that, it will be years before they can threaten the Confederation again. By that time we’ll have reconquered all the worlds of the Human Empire, and it will be up to the Great Council, led by us, to decide what needs to be done. I believe at some future date we’ll offer Earth peace, if they’ll stay in the Bacchus Region and stay away from any other Human worlds or the Confederation.”
Horrabe then left the Command Center, heading toward his quarters. He badly needed some rest before the next battle. With the proper medications, he would be ready when the time came.
-
“No contact with Colonel Mills or Mayor Kennedy Stone,” reported Colonel Williams at the Pallas Command Center. “Captain Vern is the senior ODP commanding officer on the Moon, and he’s taken charge for the time being. He’s moving the remaining orbital defenses around to give protection to domes that are still standing.”
“What of Rear Admiral Leeson’s fleet?”
Colonel Bryson shook her head. “Not much left. He has five dreadnoughts and seventy-eight battlecruisers. Almost every ship has suffered some damage.”
“The Confederation fleet?”
“We estimate they still have nearly 4,300 ships left,” answered Colonel Bryson. “Some of those are damaged. The fleet is currently heading toward Earth but at a very low speed. We believe they are repairing their ships before they strike Earth.”
Admiral Reynolds stood and walked over to the large holographic tactical display of Earth. “Have Rear Admiral Leeson join up with Rear Admiral Collison. Collison will remain in command. That will give Collison over 720 warships. Rear Admiral Leeson will be second in command, followed by Rear Admiral Mendoza. Contact General Weston at the main shipyard and inform him that he has full control of the next part of the battle. He is to do everything in his power to protect those three shipyards and Earth.”
It had now become apparent to Reynolds that this Morag admiral was intent on destroying the systems’ ability to wage war in the Empire. If he could annihilate enough of the shipyards, he might just accomplish his goal.
-
On Golan Four, Andrew shook his head in disbelief when he heard of the destruction done to the Moon and Luna City.
“The Fleet Academ y, the Marine training center, and their adjacent spaceports are gone also,” reported General Gantts. “There has been no contact with Luna City’s underground Command Center.”
“I’ve been to Luna City several times,” said Andrew, his eyes narrowing. “It was an amazing place. Luna City was the most advanced city in the Solar System. I hope the people survived in the deep underground bunkers.”
“It’s too early to know,” replied General Gantts. “Rescue operations can’t even be launched because of the closeness of the Confederation fleet. They still have nearly 4,300 ships left.”
Layla looked at Fleet Admiral Marloo. “That’s a lot of ships.”
“Keep in mind they started out with over eight thousand. From my understanding of Earth’s defenses, the Confederation fleet might just be about to step into a major trap. Over seven thousand attack interceptors are based on Earth and another eight hundred are on the shipyards. Rear Admiral Collison still has his fleet intact. If you combine the interceptors along with Collison’s fleet, Earth just might survive this with little or no damage.”
“Let us hope so,” said Layla. “An awful lot of people live on Earth. More so than on any Imperial planet, even more than on Ambary Two.”
A communications officer came over and spoke to Fleet Admiral Marloo.
“It appears we have a few hours before the Confederation fleet reaches Earth. Admiral Reynolds believes they’re repairing their ships. I suggest we all get something to eat and take a few hours to rest before coming back here.”
“The battle for Earth,” said Krista in a low voice. “Sounds like the title of a science fiction novel.”
Layla shook her head. “This is real life, not fiction. Millions of people are dying in the Solar System. Some of them are our newest friends. Let’s just hope that Earth survives this, for, without Earth, the Empire will fall.”
Everyone grew quiet; they knew High Princess Layla was correct. The most important battle to free the Human Empire was about to take place, and they could do nothing to help. Earth was on its own.
Chapter Twenty-One
General Aleck Weston watched the massive viewscreens in the Command Center of Alpha One, Earth’s primary shipyard. Many times Weston had wondered why they had not come up with a more original name. The other two military shipyards were named similarly, Alpha Two and Alpha Three.
“Confederation ships will be here in sixty-seven minutes,” reported Colonel Julie Dean. “All commands are at Condition One, and interceptors are ready to launch upon your order.”
General Weston nodded. “Inform Rear Admiral Collison that he is not to engage until ordered.” Weston wanted to know what the Confederation fleet would do before he committed the system’s last major fleet.
“We’re getting a lot of messages from Earth,” reported Lieutenant Brenda Willis at Communications. “We have several leaders of smaller countries demanding we surrender immediately rather than risk Earth being attacked.”
“The fools!” uttered Colonel Dean, shaking her head. “Don’t they realize the Confederation would not accept a surrender? They would still bomb the planet.”
“We still have the full support of Earth’s military and all the major governments,” replied General Weston. “Ignore those messages for now.”
Colonel Dean turned toward the general. “General Stern and General Brice report that all North American Union forces are at Condition One. They are ready to launch interceptors at our order.”
“All interceptor bases across the planet are reporting ready to launch,” added Lieutenant Willis.
General Weston nodded. “Inform them we are still a good hour away from launch. Where are all the civilian ships?”
“We’ve landed those we could, and the others are in low Earth orbits, where they are not blocking any of the PDCs,” replied Colonel Dean.
“Rear Admiral Leeson requests that he be allowed to put a few of his worst damaged warships in our repair bays. He says they’ll be next to useless in the upcoming battle.”
“Yes, he has permission to use the repair bays on all three of our shipyards.” Weston wanted to save those damaged ships if possible. When this battle was over, the fleet would need every ship it could get its hands on.
On the main tactical display, the Confederation fleet adjusted its formation. When it was done, it resembled a hollow cone aimed directly at Alpha One.
“I don’t like the looks of that,” said Colonel Dean, frowning.
Weston nodded his agreement. “They want to partially englobe us. It will allow them to hit us with the maximum amount of firepower.”
“We’ll need to watch for suiciders,” added Dean. “They used those at Ganymede and at the Moon.”
“Assign some of our gun crews just for that purpose, both on the shipyard and on the orbiting ODPs.” The shipyard had six OD
Ps, two hundred defensive satellites, and forty missile platforms under its direct control. Alpha One had been designed to be the major blockade for any attack on Earth. The other two shipyards were protected similarly but not quite as in depth as Alpha One was.
“What do you want Rear Admiral Collison and Fourth Fleet to do?”
“Watch for leakers to begin with. If any Confederation ships get past us, they’re to engage them. We can’t allow any antimatter missiles to be launched toward Earth.” Weston had other plans for Collison as well, but that must wait until later in the battle.
-
Fleet Admiral Horrabe reentered the Command Center. He had spent a couple of hours sleeping and taking medication to give him extra strength and stamina and consuming a medium-size meal with additional liquid nourishment. “How are the repairs on our warships coming?”
“Those that could be repaired have been. Some are little more than flying wrecks,” answered High Commander Corr.
Horrabe nodded. “I have a special use for those vessels. Standby to accelerate. At our current speed, it will take us nearly another hour to close with that large shipyard. Increase speed. I want to attack in the next ten minutes. It’s time to bring this battle to a close.”
-
The Confederation fleet accelerated, heading directly toward Alpha One. All across Earth and in space its defenders detected the change in acceleration. Tensions increased, and weapons were readied. If Earth were to be destroyed, then so too would this Confederation fleet.
-
“Engagement range in six minutes,” reported Colonel Dean. “ODPs, missile platforms, and energy beam satellites are ready to fire.”
“Ripple-fire the missile platforms,” ordered General Weston. “Once a platform has exhausted its missiles, it’s to put its energy weapons on automatic and evacuate.”
Colonel Dean turned toward the general. “If I was the Morag admiral, I’d hit us with every damaged ship he has. We may be facing a wave of suiciders in the beginning.”
“You’re right,” replied Weston. “Remind all commands that any ships on a collision course with any ODP or this shipyard are to be targeted.”
“Rear Admiral Collison is changing his fleet formation into a wedge,” reported Lieutenant Brenda Willis from Communications. “He’s ready to attack when you give the order.”
Weston studied the main tactical holographic display. The enemy was coming in fast and would be in weapons range in another few minutes. He noticed a small core of enemy ships breaking away from the rest. “I want a larger view of those ships,” ordered Weston, pointing to the ones he wanted to see better.
The holographic image swelled up, and he saw several hundred battlecruisers surrounding thirty other Confederation ships. All appeared to be heavily damaged. “There are our rammers. Get this out to all commands. That small group of ships is our primary target. I want every weapon we have focused on it until every one of those warships is sent to oblivion!”
“Locking on targets!” called out Major Glen Alexander from Tactical. “Firing range in forty seconds.”
The tension in the Command Center rapidly increased as the Confederation fleet drew nearer.
“Engagement range!” called out Major Alexander.
“All commands, fire!” ordered General Weston over his fleet-wide comm.
-
Fleet Admiral Horrabe was taken aback by the massive amount of weapons fire that erupted from the shipyard and its protective ODPs, missile platforms, and energy beam satellites. His large eyes widened, as he realized the majority of that weapons fire was aimed at his suicide ships. The small globe of ships, hurtling toward the shipyard, suddenly lit up like a nova from all the explosions. Taking mental control of all the ship captains in that globe of ships, he encouraged them to increase acceleration and to ram the shipyard. If he could destroy it quickly, it would be a massive blow to the morale of the Human defenders.
-
The ships accelerated to an even higher speed, but the weapons fire was so intense they left a trail of twisted wreckage from destroyed warships behind them. It was impossible to see any of the ships in the small Confederation globe. The weapons fire seemed to intensify as the globe drew nearer to the shipyard, and then, just four hundred kilometers distant, the globe fell apart as heavy missile fire blew apart the last of the warships.
-
Fleet Admiral Horrabe grew angry that his gambit to end this quickly had failed. “Move forward and englobe the shipyard, the ODPs, missile platforms, and the energy beam satellites protecting it. We will destroy them all.”
-
The Confederation fleet surged forward. Weapons fire was now focused on the incoming ships, with both sides exchanging heavy weapons fire. The battle had become much more serious.
-
General Weston watched as the Confederation fleet quickly encircled his command. He had to smile to himself. What the Morag admiral didn’t know was that Alpha One had the most powerful energy shield in the Solar System. So powerful that Weston doubted if the Confederation fleet could even bring it down.
“Englobement complete,” reported Colonel Dean.
This was what Weston had been waiting for. “Contact all attack interceptor commands. They are to launch now. Inform our four battlecarriers at Ganymede they are to return immediately. We’ll need their bays to rearm our interceptors as the interceptors expend their missile payloads. Attack interceptors are to attack along with Rear Admiral Collison’s fleet. We’ll hit them with everything we have left and see if they break.” Weston had already talked to Admiral Reynolds about recalling the four battlecarriers for this engagement, so the four carriers should be ready.
“Interceptors launching,” reported Colonel Dean. “Rear Admiral Collison is waiting for them. He’ll bring them in right behind his fleet so they can do the most damage.”
General Weston smiled. “Now let’s see what that Morag admiral does.”
-
“Human small attack craft coming up from the planet,” warned High Commander Corr.”
“How many?” asked Horrabe, expecting to be facing possibly a thousand, maybe a few more.
“Detecting 7,241.”
Horrabe’s gaze moved to one of the tactical displays of the planet. It was full of red threat icons, rising rapidly through the planet’s atmosphere. Horrabe did not like what he saw. He had not expected to face anywhere near the number of small attack craft now coming toward him.
“No doubt their remaining fleet will come in with them.” Suddenly he knew this battle was in doubt. His fleet was engaged in heavy combat with the shipyard and its defenders, but now throw in the Human fleet as well as all the small attack craft, and the variables rapidly changed.
“These Humans of Earth are much more dangerous than the ones in their Empire,” said Horrabe. “I fear our fleet will not return home.”
High Commander Corr looked at Horrabe in surprise. “I don’t understand.”
“We must destroy this shipyard or, at the minimum, strike Earth. If we fail to do either, then I fear we will lose this war. These Humans are warriors, unlike the Humans in the Empire. As much as I hate to say it, the Morag may have finally met their equals in battle.”
-
Rear Admiral Leeson watched as the attack interceptors from Earth rendezvoused with Fourth Fleet. The four battlecarriers from Ganymede had returned and had taken up a position behind the fleet to rearm the interceptors. The interceptors the carriers normally carried had been left at Ganymede to help protect the Jovian moon.
“We’re to hit the front of the Confederation fleet,” Leeson said, “and attempt to overrun it. The interceptors will come in right behind us and take out all the damaged ships. Between us and the defenses of the shipyard, we should smash the Confederation fleet.”
Captain Newman nodded. “I’m just glad we had so many interceptors based on Earth.”
Leeson let out a deep sigh. “We all are.” He turned his attention
to the tactical display, showing a massive number of friendly green icons. It was finally time to show this Morag admiral that attacking Earth was the worst mistake he had made.
-
Fleet Admiral Horrabe was deeply concerned about the large number of small attack craft assembling to attack his fleet. He had never imagined the Humans would possess such large numbers. He knew with a sinking feeling that, once they attacked, the battle would be lost. However, he still had a plan that might severely limit Earth’s ability to help the Human Empire. Taking a deep breath, he used his telepathy to contact some of his ship commanders. He would show these Humans what real warriors were like.
-
General Weston felt Alpha One shake as a large number of antimatter missiles detonated against its shield. Even though the shield protected the shipyard from direct damage, the constant shaking caused some minor problems. On the massive damage control board were hundreds of blinking amber lights.
On one of the viewscreens, an ODP was under heavy attack. Its screen glowed brighter and brighter. Suddenly several fusion energy beams penetrated, blasting deep craters into the heavy armor. The ODP shook violently, but then the screen strengthened.
“We’re losing a lot of missile platforms and energy beam satellites,” commented Colonel Dean. She gestured toward a viewscreen that showed multiple blasts of light and energy in space. “Those are missile platforms and energy beam satellites being destroyed. I estimate we’ve lost 42 percent of the platforms and 38 percent of the satellites.
“Confederation losses?”
“Over six hundred ships so far.
The Forgotten Empire: The Battle For Earth: Book three Page 26