Caleeb turned to leave the Command Center. He normally did a complete inspection of the shipyard every day which took nearly two hours. As he neared the hatch alarms suddenly began sounding. As he turned back around the station shook violently, nearly throwing him to the deck. More alarms began sounding and red lights began flashing.
“Originator warships have exited hyperspace and are attacking all of the shipyards and stations,” reported Dakar, his eyes widening in alarm. “They were not picked up on our sensors.”
“Raise our energy shield!” ordered Caleeb, hurrying back to his command station. “Instruct our warships to engage immediately.”
“Shield is coming up,” reported Belton from Tactical.
The shipyard shook again even more violently. “Raise the shield!” commanded Caleeb, glaring in anger at Belton. What was taking so long?
“Shield is up; whatever they’re hitting us with is going right through the shield.”
“Activate weapons; return fire.” Caleeb looked over at the damage control console. It was covered in red lights. “Send a message to the Council of Eternals, we are under attack. Send out a general broadcast ordering all warships within range to get here as soon as possible.”
“Communications are being jammed,” reported the officer at Communications. “All we have is short-range.”
Caleeb let out a deep breath. They were the Eternals. This was not supposed to be happening.
-
In space, the Originator fleet emerged within engagement range of the twelve orbiting space stations. Missile hatches slid open and dark matter missiles launched. In four instances the stations were completely obliterated, leaving glowing debris in orbit. Six other stations were heavily damaged. The two largest shipyards survived as their shields snapped into place and the stations began returning fire.
-
“Target the largest shipyard with our dark energy cannons,” ordered Commander Zafron. “Have all battlecruisers target the nearest fleet.”
-
From the Dominator two beams of dark energy flashed out, going easily through the shipyard’s energy screen and striking the hull. The beams tore the hull apart, penetrating deep inside. Secondary explosions began to wrack the shipyard, demolishing large sections.
A nearby Eternal fleet of eighty battlecruisers opened fire on the Originator battlecruisers. However, these battlecruisers were protected by the new triplex energy screens and possessed more powerful energy weapons due to an extra antimatter chamber for power.
The Eternals hit the Originator ships with their powerful energy beams and hundreds of antimatter missiles. Across the fleet of battlecruisers, energy ran rampant. Several shields failed, allowing Eternal weapons fire to strike the hulls. Almost instantly, with the loss of the energy shields, the ships were obliterated. More Eternal ships in orbit rushed to engage the Originator battlecruisers.
The Originators were firing dark matter missiles, energy beams, antimatter beams and their gravitonic cannons. In the Eternal fleet, energy shields began to waver and go down. Gravitonic cannons tore one Eternal battlecruiser apart. Four others died when their shields failed and dark matter missiles detonated against their hulls, releasing four hundred megatons of destructive force. In their places, small novas appeared which rapidly died away, leaving wisps of glowing gas and melted metal.
The Originator dreadnaughts quickly finished destroying the other space stations leaving only the two large shipyards still fighting back. The dreadnaughts moved to assist the battlecruisers with their heavier weapons against the attacking Eternal fleet. The battle was growing larger as more Eternal ships arrived to engage the Originator battlecruisers.
The heavier firepower of the dreadnaughts quickly shifted the battle in favor of the Originators. Across the Eternal formation, more ships lost their energy screens as the battle rapidly intensified. The Eternals were heavily outnumbered and Originator weapons began to penetrate screens more often. Eternal battlecruiser after battlecruiser was blown out of space, sending debris flying in all directions. Space seemed to be on fire from the fury of the battle.
-
Fleet Commander Caleeb could not believe the destruction caused by the attacking Originator vessels. His own flagship was docked to the station but no longer reporting.
“What of the space stations?”
“All destroyed,” reported Dakar. “The other shipyard is under heavy attack and sustaining heavy damage.” On one of the viewscreens, a light suddenly flared up and died back down. “Correction; the other shipyard has been destroyed.”
“Our fleet?” Eternal battlecruisers were the most powerful ships in the cosmos.
“Suffering heavy damage. They are heavily outnumbered, and we’re losing ships at a six to one rate compared to the Originators.”
The shipyard shook again and the lights dimmed.
“There is one ship in the Originator fleet larger than one of our battlecruisers. Analysis indicates it’s using some type of dark energy weapon against us which is going right through our energy screen.”
“Communications?”
“Still being jammed.”
The shipyard was now constantly shaking and the damage control console was covered in red lights. There was smoke in the air of the Command Center and a number of consoles had ceased functioning.
“We’re having major power fluctuations,” reported the damage control officer. “We won’t be able to keep the energy screen up much longer.”
Fleet Commander Caleeb looked at one of the still functioning viewscreens showing a massive Originator vessel. Even as he watched, missile hatches slid open and blue energy spheres were launched toward the shipyard. Almost instantly power failed and the lights went out. Fleet Commander Caleeb sat down in his command chair. He knew he was about to die and as an Eternal, he accepted his fate.
-
Commander Zafron watched in satisfaction as the last Eternal shipyard disintegrated from the influence of the blue energy spheres which were turning the shipyard into space dust.
“Move over to the fleet battle and use the blue energy spheres to destroy the rest of the Eternal battlecruisers.”
Kazak quickly passed on the orders and soon began firing the deadly blue spheres at all remaining Eternal vessels. In just a few minutes the battle ended as the few surviving Eternal battlecruisers were turned into space dust. Across the system, the remaining Eternal ships began entering hyperspace and fleeing, no doubt to spread word of the presence of a powerful Originator fleet.
“All enemy ships have been destroyed,” reported Kazak, folding his arms across his chest. “The dark energy beams worked as specified. The Eternals have no defense against them.”
“Our own losses?”
“We lost six battlecruisers.”
This was acceptable as far as Commander Zafron was concerned. The attack had been a complete surprise to the Eternals so light ship losses were to be expected. From this battle on the Eternals would be more prepared to engage his fleet.
“Set a course for the Stralon Star Cluster. It’s time we paid that cluster a visit.” Zafron knew Fleet Admiral Strong had explored the cluster; he had the Avenger’s records of that visit. He intended to go there and destroy all of the Eternals’ ships and stations, effectively freeing the star cluster. In theory it should force the Eternals to commit even more of their ships to holding onto their conquered worlds.
“Course set,” replied Kia, a female Originator AI.
“Engage,” ordered Commander Zafron. This first battle was over and now it was time to show the Eternals the Originators were not to be taken lightly. If they wanted a war, Commander Zafron would give them one.
-
In the New Tellus System, Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes watched as four Originator construction vessels assembled the large Accelerator Ring, which would allow quick transport between the Human Federation of Worlds and the Originators’ Communications and Transport Hub. The ring was massive at over one hu
ndred and ten kilometers in diameter.
All across the Federation, word of the war between the Originators and the Eternals was spreading. Volunteers were lining up to fill out paperwork to colonize the Dyson Sphere at the Hub where Fleet Admiral Strong was based. Former Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth had come out in support of the colonization effort and for the Federation joining the war against the Eternals. Even former Admiral Amanda Sheen had come out in support of the war. The fact the Special Five were at the center of the conflict also helped drive recruitment. The entire Federation considered the Five to be legends and any news of them was hungrily devoured by Federation media.
“Nearly two-thirds of the current graduating class of the Fleet Academy are prepared to travel to the Hub,” reported Clarissa. “That’s 3,215 recruits for our new dreadnaughts.”
“We also have a number of ship crews which will be transferring as well,” reported Commander Grissim. “Arrangements are being made to transfer nearly 112,000 trained crewmembers.”
“The Altons and the Carethians are sending trained crewmembers in this first group as well,” said Kathryn. “It should give Jeremy a quick boost in crews he can use for the new dreadnaughts.”
“Where’s your father?”
Kathryn gestured to one of the viewscreens showing the command asteroid fortress. The Command Fortress was twenty-two kilometers in diameter with the Command Center located in its heart. The asteroid was honeycombed with passages and power plants and had a crew of over twenty thousand. There were six of the massive asteroids in orbit around New Tellus as well as multiple huge shipyards and space stations. There were also a large number of Indomitable class battlestations, which were one thousand meters in diameter and heavily armed.
“He’s visiting Senator Karnes and Admiral Hazleton on the command fortress. There are a few security precautions we want to take to ensure the safety of the Accelerator Ring. We’re going to have the Altons design some new battlestations. Each will be two thousand meters in diameter and have antimatter chambers as their primary power source. The stations will be armed with antimatter projectors as well as gravitonic cannons. Their energy screen will be a triplex screen which should be able to protect them.”
Commander Grissim looked surprised. “That’s some pretty advanced technology. I thought we weren’t going to give them anything like that, at least not yet.”
“The Altons don’t apply to part of that rule due to their high level of advancement. As far as the Originators know, the Altons are the most advanced race they’ve ever encountered. The plans are to build ten of the battlestations and place them in orbit around the Accelerator Ring. One of the stations will act as the Control Center. Each station will have a number of Originator AIs on board to ensure the technology isn’t copied or removed. The command station will have a military AI on board as well.”
“What about the rest of the crew?”
“It will be a mixed crew of Humans and Altons,” Kathryn replied. “All will be trained at the Hub and the commanding officer will be from the Hub as well. My father is also seeking to allow one hundred Originator battlecruisers from the Dyson Sphere in Shari space to assist in the defense of the ring. If Admiral Hazelton and Senator Karnes agree, the battlecruisers will be placed under Hazelton’s command. However, they can only be used to defend the Accelerator Ring and this system. All will be the enhanced battlecruisers.”
“We just received a message from Admiral Kalen,” reported Captain Travers. “A number of transport ships are being dispatched from the Hub.”
Clarissa turned toward Rear Admiral Barnes. “It will take them a little over two weeks to get here. To be precise the travel time will be two weeks, two days, and twenty hours.”
“I suspect this ring is going to see a lot of use,” said Commander Grissim, looking at the viewscreen.
Kathryn knew Anne was right. There would be fleets flying back and forth between New Tellus and the Hub almost continuously.
“There is a danger of the Eternals someday finding the Federation,” stated Clarissa. “What will happen then?”
“Don’t forget we have a Dyson Sphere located in Shari space plus the six fleet shipyards. I’m going to recommend Fleet Admiral Strong place a large fleet of dreadnaughts in the Dyson Sphere just in case. Two of the fleet shipyards are close enough they could send a large number of battlecruisers if needed. We need to ensure those battlecruisers are all of the newest design. The older ones can be used by the Federation to pacify the Ralift and the Borzon once the command structure is finally worked out.” Kathryn knew her father still had a lot of work to do. In a few more days he would be returning to the solar system to meet with President Malle and Fleet Admiral Nagumo. Nagumo still wanted more access to Originator technology, particularly for his warships.
Commander Grissim looked over at Rear Admiral Barnes. “It’s hard to believe this galaxy will finally be free of the influence of the old AI Empire.”
Kathryn grinned. “It’s something the Altons have been working on for generations. I suspect they will find their services needed even more across the galaxy to bring all the races together. It’s going to take a lot of work to bring civilization back to many of those slave worlds. Even here in the Federation’s section of space, there are many former Hocklyn Empire worlds, which are just now crawling back into space. There are Alton research vessels everywhere working with many of those planets.”
“Maybe someday we’ll have a galactic government of some sort here.”
Clarissa shook her head. “That’s highly doubtful. Many of those worlds after being dominated by the Hocklyns, Ralift, Borzon, Shari and the AIs will have no desire to join any type of galactic-wide organization. It will take generations for them to build up the trust to the point they will not fear other worlds.”
“That will be for the Federation and the Altons to figure out,” Kathryn said as she looked at the viewscreen showing the partially constructed Accelerator Ring. “Our concern for the foreseeable future is going to be the Eternals.” Kathryn leaned back in her command chair. They were going to be here for a number of days, and she wanted to go down to New Tellus and enjoy some time off. New Tellus had some of the best resorts in the Federation. The seaside resorts were fabulous. The entire crew of the Distant Horizon as well as the two dreadnaughts were going to be granted some leave time. Kathryn feared once they returned to the Hub time off from fleet duty was going to be seldom and far between. There was a war that needed to be fought and she knew she would have a significant role to play.
Chapter Five
Jeremy watched from the Avenger as the first personnel transports entered the swirling blue vortex of the Accelerator Ring on their long journey to New Tellus. It would be a month before they returned with forty thousand fleet personnel. A second and larger group of transports would be leaving in another two days. Two dreadnaughts and ten of the new battlecruisers were escorting the two transport fleets. Jeremy didn’t expect any problems but he was not taking any chances with the huge Originator vessels. Moments after the massive transport ships and their escorts entered the vortex the ring shut down, leaving only empty space.
Jeremy sat down in his command chair looking around the Command Center. Only Ariel, Commander Kyla Malen, and Lieutenant Shayla Lantz were there with him. Most of the crew was on leave and there was just a minimal crew on board. Even Aaliss, the Originator AI who had been assigned to the Avenger, was busy on one of the research stations.
Looking at the viewscreens, Jeremy could see the four Dyson Spheres and other structures, which made up the Communications and Transport Hub. All around the area of space where the Communications and Transport hub was located were hundreds of titanic structures. Many of them were massive ship construction yards and others giant manufacturing facilities that processed the raw material the Originators and their AIs needed to maintain the megastructures. There were also research centers where the AIs worked nonstop advancing the science of their creators. Many of those resear
ch centers now had living Originators coordinating the efforts of the AIs.
“It’s impressive, isn’t it?” said Commander Malen, standing next to Jeremy. “I still find it hard to believe all of this is here and it is now our home.”
On one of the viewscreens, several recently completed heavy dreadnaughts exited one of the shipyards to join a large fleet waiting for living crewmembers. The new dreadnaughts were equipped with dark energy cannons, a development of the Lost Originators.
“The first of the new defense stations will be online in another few weeks,” mentioned Ariel as she adjusted one of the screens to show several of the spherical structures.
At five thousand meters they seemed dwarfed by the other titanic structures around them. These were defense stations modeled after the dark energy ones around the planet the Lost Originators had hidden on. The stations had a gravity drive, dark energy cannons, antimatter projectors, gravitonic cannons, missile tubes for dark matter missiles and, more importantly, they were equipped with the blue energy spheres which there was no known defense against. The stations were powered by dual antimatter chambers and protected by the new triplex defense screen. The plans called to build nearly a thousand of the stations to protect the Hub.
“What if one of the blue energy spheres was to accidentally strike a Dyson Sphere or one of the shipyards?” asked Kyla.
“The Originator structures are so large it would cause only minor damage,” Ariel replied. “However, the spheres are programmed not to strike anything of Originator origin.”
This seemed to satisfy Kyla. “Do you think the Eternals will find us here at the Hub?”
“Eventually, if this war lasts long enough,” replied Jeremy. “Its coordinates are programmed into all of our ships. It’s general knowledge on the Dyson Spheres and all of the Originator AIs are aware of it. It’s only reasonable the Eternals will discover the existence of the Hub though it may take them longer to actually find it.”
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