The Originator Wars: Explorations: A Lost Fleet Novel
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Race waited tensely as the two fleets closed. In only a few more moments they would be in weapons range. “Stand by to launch missiles.”
“Ready,” replied Zamdol. “We should get two waves of missiles launched before any Eternal missiles reach us.”
“When they do, we’re going to lose a lot of ships,” warned Commander Haskins. “We’ll have over one million missiles coming toward us.”
“Our own missiles in the first wave will number nearly 600,000,” reported Zamdol. “We should get a second wave off before the Eternals’ missile strike reaches us.”
“Missile range!” called out Lieutenant Justin.
“Launch!” ordered Race, leaning forward in his command chair. He could feel his pulse racing. There was so much at stake in this battle. The future of the Human race might very well depend on its outcome.
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From the battlecruisers and dreadnoughts in the fleet subspace missiles began exiting the missile tubes. Missile after missile was launched until all tubes were empty. Then they were reloaded and a second wave of missiles began to launch.
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“Eternal missile launch detected,” reported Lieutenant Justin. “Preliminary count is 1,515,000. Impact in four seconds.”
On the primary viewscreen, thousands of small explosions littered space between the two fleets as some missiles were intercepted. Then a massive wave of explosions rolled across the front of the Eternal formation as four hundred-megaton dark matter missiles smashed into the energy shields of the Eternals.
“Damn!” said Commander Haskins, staring at the viewscreen in awe. “You can see Eternal ships being blown apart.”
“Inbound missiles!” called out Lieutenant Justin. “Hold on!”
The WarHawk shook violently and several red lights appeared on the damage control console. The main viewscreen switched to show the ships in the cylinder which was lit up as if it was on fire. Most of the impacts were on the outer rings of the cylinder. Battlecruisers were being torn apart from the sheer number of missiles strikes overloading energy screens and then striking ship hulls and exploding like miniature novas. There were four rings of battlecruisers in the cylinder. Most of the missile strikes were on the outer ring but a few were penetrating all the way to the dreadnoughts.
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Admiral Qurant watched as the missile strike from the Originator ships slammed into his fleet formation. The forward section of his fleet looked as if it were burning. Qurant could see Eternal battlecruisers dropping out of the formation from heavy damage and still others, which were being turned into glowing wrecks of metal and plasma. Eternal ships were dying at a faster rate than he had ever experienced.
“What’s the Human fleet doing?” he asked, gripping the armrests on his command chair. His ship was in the rearmost section of the fleet and no enemy missiles were penetrating this deep.
“Still on course,” replied Second Commander Anston. “They’re reforming their formation from ships in the inner rings and condensing it to take their losses into account.”
Admiral Qurant stood up, his eyes narrowing sharply. “They’re going to try to penetrate our fleet formation. If they do I want them englobed.”
Qurant was amazed at the sheer audacity of the Human fleet admiral. He reminded him of an Eternal. This admiral was dangerous and Qurant dared not take any chances. He needed to kill him and his fleet.
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The two fleets steadily drew closer. Missiles were being launched constantly and now energy beams of various types came into play. If a ship on either side lost its energy screen, it was either instantly destroyed by missiles or riddled with energy beams. Ships were being annihilated so rapidly it was nearly impossible to keep track of the numbers.
The Originator fleet steadily neared the forward ship wall of the Eternals. Weapons fire was nonstop with the ships in the front of the Originator cylinder taking the most damage. The Eternals were focusing on this section of the approaching fleet attempting to destroy it before it reached their wall of ships. Massive explosions were occurring in both fleets. Ships were simply disappearing under the onslaught of dark matter and antimatter energy.
With ships on fire and falling out of formation, the Originator cylinder reached the Eternal wall formation and penetrated it. There were a number of collisions, which resulted in the destruction of both vessels involved.
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Race winced as the dreadnought Justice blew apart just a few kilometers from the WarHawk. Some of the debris slammed into the flagship’s energy shield but failed to penetrate.
“Fleet status!”
“Uncertain,” replied Commander Haskins. “We’ve lost a lot of ships and many others are reporting in as damaged. We’re having trouble maintaining our formation. In some sections of the cylinder, the Eternals have destroyed our battlecruisers all the way to the third ring.”
“The Eternals are attempting to change their fleet formation,” reported Lieutenant Justin. “I believe they’re trying to englobe us.”
“Reduce speed by 90 percent,” ordered Race. “All ships are to maintain maximum weapons fire. We must do as much damage to the Eternal fleet as possible.”
Race switched his gaze to the tactical display. The two fleets were becoming intermingled. Eternal ships were maneuvering to encircle the Human cylinder. Race could see the cylinder was rapidly coming apart as more ships were lost. However, at this range the Eternals were losing ships rapidly to the dark matter missiles knocking down their energy screens. Dark energy beams and gravitonic cannons were also wreaking havoc in the Eternal fleet as they penetrated weakened energy screens.
“We need to withdraw,” said Commander Haskins, looking a little rattled. “If we stay here too long we’ll lose the fleet.”
The WarHawk shook violently and one of the command consoles exploded in a burst of sparks. Smoke was filling the Command Center as the air ventilation system fought to clear the room.
“Zamdol, what’s your current analysis of the battle?”
“Due to our proximity to the Eternal ships we are destroying large numbers. However, due to their superior numbers they are destroying many of our ships as well. The Eternal numerical superiority will eventually lead to their victory.”
Race looked around the Command Center. He was trying not to cough from the smoke which was rapidly clearing from the room. His officers didn’t look panicked. They had confidence in him to carry them through this crisis.
“Maintain our current position but be prepared to reverse course at a moment’s notice. I want to damage this Eternal fleet as much as possible.”
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Admiral Qurant was growing aggravated at these Humans. They had already destroyed thousands of his warships. While he was doing the same to them the Humans were refusing to withdraw. Very well, he thought. If they want to die here, they can die. I will destroy their fleet.
“Continue to englobe the Humans. I want every one of their ships destroyed.”
“Admiral, there is a problem. Our ships are so close together all of our ships cannot fire on the Humans without hitting our own vessels. We are losing one of our ships for every one of the Human vessels we destroy.”
“We have the ships to lose,” replied Qurant coldly. “Destroy the Humans!” His eyes went to the viewscreen and watched as several Originator battlecruisers were torn apart by energy beams. His nanite-enhanced mind was satisfied with his strategy. Once this fleet was destroyed, he would annihilate the rest of the defenses in the system and the inhabited planet they protected.
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Race stared stone-faced as two more of his dreadnoughts died in nova-like explosions after being struck by two hundred-megaton antimatter weapons. With a deep sigh, he knew it was time to withdraw. “Rotate all ships 180 degrees and head back to New Tellus; best possible speed.”
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The Originator battlecruisers and dreadnoughts reversed course and disengaged from the Eternal formation. Hundreds of ship
s remained behind as they were too damaged to withdraw. They were quickly eliminated by the Eternals though they did manage to take some Eternal vessels with them.
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Looking at the viewscreen, Race saw there were far fewer green icons now than there had been before he attacked the Eternal fleet. “How many ships made it out?” He knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Eight thousand two hundred and fourteen battlecruisers and four hundred and seven dreadnoughts,” answered Commander Haskins as he checked some of the data on his console. “We’re lucky that many survived.”
“How many Eternals did we get?”
“A little over twelve thousand,” replied Commander Haskins. “We got that many because our missiles have a greater range and we hit them with two waves before they began firing back.”
Race wished they could have stayed out of the range of the Eternal weapons and simply pounded the enemy fleet into submission. However, that wouldn’t have been possible. The Eternals would have simply closed the distance until the range advantage disappeared.
“Take us to New Tellus; we’ll have to stop them there.” Race just hoped they could, that was still one hell of a fleet coming toward the planet. The Eternals still had nearly twenty-five thousand warships to attack New Tellus and its defenses. In this next battle there could be no retreat.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Admiral Qurant’s fleet was advancing slowly toward his primary target, the inhabited planet of this system. He was concerned about the four forty-kilometer battlestations in orbit as well as the large fortified asteroids. He had never in his long career as an Eternal admiral seen a planet so heavily defended.
“There are six shipyards in orbit,” reported Second Commander Anston. “All are extremely large but one is truly massive.”
“We’ll be in weapons range of their shipyards and remaining ships in thirty-two minutes,” added the sensor officer.
Admiral Qurant nodded. “Maintain current course and speed. That will give us more time to conduct repairs.”
Qurant took a moment to study the tactical display. Everywhere he looked there were swarms of red threat icons. The planetary defense grid was massive with a number of large warships in orbit just beneath it. He wasn’t certain what their purpose was but he would soon find out when he launched his attack against the planet.
Standing up, Qurant went over to Tactical to set up his attack plan. His fleet still had plenty of missiles and there were many targets around the planet that would need to be taken out.
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In the Solar System, Massie was listening to the reports coming in from New Tellus of the battle being waged there. So far, New Tellus was still safe though the Eternal fleet was steadily getting closer to the planet. Her eyes shifted to the large holographic tactical display showing the eight thousand Eternal ships close to Mars. For the past hour the fleet had steadily been getting closer to the red planet.
“Twenty-three minutes and they’ll be in attack range,” said Commander Macleod.
Massie folded her arms across her chest as she studied the tactical situation. She desperately wanted to destroy this fleet and then go to her brother’s aid.
Taking a deep breath, she made her decision. “Communications, inform Fleet Admiral Nagumo I’m taking part of my fleet to attack the Eternals. I’ll leave three thousand battlecruisers here in case the Eternals enter hyperspace and attempt to attack Earth.” That would leave Massie with 6,200 battlecruisers and 320 dreadnoughts with which to attack the Eternal fleet.
“Message sent and acknowledged,” replied Jennifer. “Fleet Admiral Nagumo says to give them hell.”
A fleeting smile crossed Massie’s face. Nagumo was a dedicated fleet officer and had guided the Federation through many battles during his illustrious career. She was confident he could defend Earth while she was away. “Commander Macleod, take us into hyperspace and put us twenty thousand kilometers in front of the Eternal fleet.” That was just outside of missile range but not by much. “We’ll form up into a wedge formation apex facing the Eternal ships. Once the wedge is formed we’ll move in to attack.”
Massie looked over at Jennifer. “Contact Admiral Johnston and inform him of our plans. He’s to hold his position over Mars unless I order otherwise.”
“Ready to enter hyperspace,” reported Falolt. “Coordinates have been transmitted to all the ships accompanying us.”
Massie nodded. “Take the fleet to Condition Two and take us into hyperspace.”
Instantly red lights started flashing and klaxons began sounding. Commander Macleod made the announcement over the fleet wide comm announcing the setting of Condition Two.
“Entering hyperspace,” reported Falolt as she activated the ship’s hyperspace drive.
Massie leaned back in her command chair as the ship entered hyperspace and headed toward the location of the Eternal fleet. She needed to defeat the Eternals or at least force them to withdraw.
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A few minutes later the Hera dropped out of hyperspace twenty thousand kilometers from the Eternal Fleet. “Set Condition One,” ordered Massie. She could feel her pulse racing as the Eternal fleet appeared on the main viewscreen. She leaned forward studying the viewscreens as well as the tactical display.
“Ships are forming up,” reported Commander Macleod. “We’ll have our wedge formation complete in another four minutes.”
On the tactical display, the ships moved rapidly into formation. Soon the wedge was formed facing the oncoming Eternals.
“Take us into combat range. All ships are to launch dark matter missiles as soon as we come within range. I want the first strike to come from us and not the Eternals.” It was the only way she could win this battle. Her first strike of dark matter missiles had to even the odds. If it did she was willing to engage in a slugging match with the remaining Eternal ships.
The Hera and the rest of her fleet rapidly closed with the Eternals. Suddenly from each ship, missiles launched and headed toward the enemy. The Eternal vessels seemed to be taken by surprise as the Originator fleet was able to launch a second wave of missiles before the Eternals responded. By then it was too late as over 300,000 dark matter missiles were hurtling toward the Eternal battlecruisers.
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Second Leader Abross was stunned by the sudden appearance of the Originator fleet. It had been years since he had commanded an Eternal fleet in an actual battle. Precious seconds were lost as he tried to decide his best course of action. By the time he ordered the Eternal fleet to launch missiles, the first Originator missiles were already striking his ships.
Dark matter missiles began slamming into energy shields, threatening to knock them down. More missiles arrived and screens actually began to fail. The powerful explosions of the dark matter missiles were blowing the Eternal battlecruisers apart. Across the forward section of the Eternal fleet nova-like explosions were appearing where battlecruisers were dying.
Abross felt panic as his flagship shook violently and numerous red lights appeared on the damage control console. Panic was something very seldom felt by an Eternal. Most of the time they were too logical to feel such emotions. Looking at the tactical display, he saw hundreds of his battlecruiser icons blinking out of existence. “All ships are to go into hyperspace and target the planet!”
It took almost a full minute for the orders to be received and implemented by all the ships in the fleet. By that time he had lost nearly eleven hundred of his battlecruisers. For some reason it never dawned on Abross that he still had the superior fleet.
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Massie looked on in disbelief as the Eternal fleet vanished into hyperspace. A number of severely damaged ships remained behind. These were being quickly eliminated by her vessels. “Where did they go?” Massie was concerned they might have jumped to Earth.
“Mars!” answered Lieutenant Reynolds with surprise in his voice. “They performed a micro-hyperspace jump.”
“Damn!” uttered Commander Macleo
d. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Get the fleet turned around and set a course for Mars. Maximum speed! We’ll come up behind the Eternals while they’re engaged against Admiral Johnston.” Massie was relieved Admiral Johnston had a sizable fleet to defend Mars with. He also had two forty-kilometer battlestations plus the defensive grid.
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Second Leader Abross stared at the viewscreens as his fleet exited hyperspace. In front of him was the Human planet as well as a large defensive fleet heading in his direction. “Launch the nukes!” They were out of range but the nukes would be carried forward from their momentum and would fall on the planet, detonating when they hit the surface.
There was a brief moment of confusion on the Eternal ships as their antimatter missiles were pulled from the tubes and nuclear ones were slid in. During that time Admiral Johnston’s fleet closed the range and began launching missiles.
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Dark matter explosions began striking the Eternal ships just as they were launching their nuclear missile strike. The sheer volume of Originator missiles reaching their targets immediately started knocking down energy screens, making the hulls of numerous Eternal ships vulnerable. In massive explosions, the Eternal battle line lit up in such brightness from the release of energy it caused viewscreens in the Originator fleet to shut down.
A few seconds later Massie’s fleet dropped out of hyperspace directly behind the Eternals. As soon as the systems in her fleet stabilized, they began pouring dark matter missiles into the rear section of the enemy fleet.
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Massie stared with worry at the tactical display. The Eternal fleet had launched their nuclear missiles from long range toward Mars. Already the defenses around the planet were blasting the incoming missiles to oblivion but there were so many of them. Massie was deeply concerned that even with the two forty-kilometer battlestations in orbit they might not be able to stop all of them.