Conflict Unending
Page 25
“It’s a risk we’ll have to take. The fleet will also fire upon the Shrieel defensive sites around the target. Perhaps we can widen the safe area the Simulins have created.”
Second Commander Bernon began issuing orders. On board the Eternal ships, warrior robots began to march up the ramps to the shuttles followed by Eternal shock troops. Nearly two hundred thousand warrior robots and thirty thousand shock troops were assigned to this mission.
The twenty thousand Eternal battlecruisers entered hyperspace for the forty-minute trip to the Shrieel. It was time to take the first step in invading the over two hundred Shrieels in Originator space.
-
Jeremy watched the viewscreens as the reports flooded in.
“All energy shield generators have either been disabled or destroyed,” reported Aaliss. “The Simulins will not be able to raise the shield again.”
“All Simulin warships have been destroyed,” added Ariel. “Their shields were no match for our weapons.” It had been a massacre as the Simulins’ weapons were feeble compared to the Originators.
“Combat robots and Marines are advancing,” reported Commander Malen. “General Wesley reports they are meeting heavy resistance.”
Jeremy was uncomfortable with General Wesley being on the ground, but the general had proclaimed that if he was committing so many troops to this battle, then he needed to be there with them. What also concerned Jeremy was that Angela’s husband Brace was with him.
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General Wesley was inside his command shuttle, which was at the very edge of the fighting. Thousands of Conqueror Drones were resisting the combat robots and Marines’ advance. On one large viewscreen, Wesley watched as hundreds of Conqueror Drones and combat robots were locked in an intense battle. The drones were as large as a small tank and covered with a metallic shell with four large appendages shaped like dangerous looking pinchers which could tear a Marine or combat robot apart. A few of the drones were also equipped with short-range missiles and explosive rounds.
The combat robots and the Marines were using energy weapons and explosive rounds against the drones. In some areas, hand-to-hand combat was rampant with the drones and the combat robots trying to tear one another apart. The Marines in those regions stayed back. If a drone grabbed a Marine, he faced the most gruesome of deaths in being torn apart.
General Wesley let out a deep sigh. He had brought an ace in the hole to deal with the drones infesting the surface of the Dyson Sphere around the vortex crater. “Contact Rear Admiral Tolsen and tell her to begin the airstrikes.” Wesley had asked Fleet Admiral Strong to allow Massie to take command of the battlecarrier task group he had brought to serve as air support for the combat robots and the Marines. These tactics had been very successful on Ornellia and the drone infested worlds of their small empire.
-
In space behind Fleet Admiral Strong’s fleet were three battlecarriers. From each, squadrons of Talon fighters and Anlon bombers were launching. Massie was in the Command Center of the battlecarrier Liberty as the attack squadrons left the ship’s flight bays.
“Bombers will target clusters of Conqueror Drones,” she ordered. “All fighters are to do strafing runs as near the front lines as possible to take out individual targets.” She had read the reports and watched videos of the tactics used at Ornellia and on their other worlds.
Massie leaned back in her command chair. She had been pleased to find out there were still battlecarriers at the Communications and Transport Hub. Evidently, from what she had been told, they were being used primarily to run reconnaissance patrols in the space around the Hub. There were also more battlecarriers in the Triangulum Galaxy helping the Ornellians clear their planets of the deadly drones.
“All fighters and bombers have been launched,” reported Major Karl Arcles who had transferred to the Liberty for this mission. Karl was the CAG for the Distant Horizon and Rear Admiral Barnes had approved the transfer. Some of her pilots had come also as they were some of the most experienced in the fleet. “They should be starting their attack runs shortly.”
Massie nodded. She could feel her heart beating faster and the excitement rushing through her. “Let’s take out as many of those drones as we can on the first pass.”
“Orders sent and confirmed by all squadron leaders.”
It felt good to be back in the Command Center of a battlecarrier. Leaning forward she watched as the first squadrons set up for their attack runs.
-
“This is Echo squadron leader,” spoke Captain Lacey Sanders over her squadron comm channel. She was flying a Talon and leading a squadron of ten fighters. “The fighting below is pretty obvious. We’ll make a run two hundred meters behind the front line and thin out the drones gathered there. Keep in mind we have Human Marines close by. I don’t want no loses due to friendly fire. Everyone follow me in and prepare to engage.”
Lacey arrowed her fighter down toward the surface. Small explosions and the discharge of energy weapons indicated where the fighting was occurring.
“I’m on your right side and sixty meters back,” reported Lieutenant Raven. “I’ll follow you in.”
The two Talon fighters came streaking down through the atmosphere of the Dyson Sphere followed by eight others. Just before reaching the surface, the fighters began firing explosive shells into the masses of waiting Conqueror Drones. Pieces of metal and appendages flew into the air as the Talons strafed the drones. Pulling back up Captain Sanders inspected the damage. Other fighter and bomber groups were active as well. Smoke was beginning to cover the battlefield. “One more time,” she ordered. “Then we’ll split up and seek targets of opportunity.”
The fighters went back again laying down long lines of explosions destroying some Conqueror Drones and damaging many others.
“There must be thousands of them,” said Lieutenant Stark. “I’ve never seen so many, not even at Ornellia.”
Lacey nodded in agreement. “We’ll split apart now. We’re in charge of support in this quadrant along with a bomber squadron. Make your rounds count.” Looking at the fighting on the ground, Lacey had a suspicion this was going to be a long day.
-
“Fighters and bombers are engaged,” reported Commander Malen.
“We have Simulin warships coming through the open hatch,” warned Kevin as alarms sounded on the sensor console.
“Escort cruisers and battlecruisers detected,” added Ariel. “They must have jumped right into the opening.”
“How?” asked Kevin. “Even the Simulins would lose ships jumping that close to an object of mass.”
Aaliss turned toward Kevin. “No doubt they did. Some of the ships we’re detecting are showing major damage to their hyperdrives. I suspect a large number of their ships were destroyed completely.”
“Incoming weapons fire,” warned Kevin.
“Can we close the hatch remotely?” asked Jeremy.
“No,” replied Aaliss. “That can only be done from the vortex Control Center or the individual hatch controls located throughout the tunnel.”
Looking at the viewscreens, Jeremy could see the long spires on the front of the Simulin ships light up as they fired their powerful energy weapons. Weapons that in the past would have been considered dangerous.
“No damage to any of our ships,” reported Ariel. “Beams are not penetrating or stressing the shields.”
“Destroy them,” ordered Jeremy, feeling no mercy to the Simulins. He had seen videos of how their Conqueror Drones killed. “I don’t want them to turn their weapons on our Marines or combat robots. Destroy them as they exit the hatch.”
For the next twenty minutes the Simulin ships continued to come out of the large hatch only to be blown apart by the dreadnaughts in Jeremy’s fleet. Very few even managed to fire their energy cannons. The wreckage on the surface of the Dyson Sphere continued to pile up.
-
Captain Carl Werner ducked as pieces of Conqueror Drones rained down on him and his Ma
rines. A missile from an Anlon bomber had struck uncomfortably close.
“Damn, will somebody tell those pilots we’re down here!” yelled Sergeant Hitch as he hunkered down behind a tree that had been blown in two.
Captain Werner grinned. “Just stay down.”
They were slowly getting closer to the vortex crater. Destroyed combat robots and Conqueror Drones lay strewn over the ground. The battle plan was to secure the surface area first and then enter the corridors below to remove the rest of the Simulins and their drones. So far, Captain Werner had not seen a single Simulin engaged in combat. He was also thankful for the combat armor the Originators had built for his Marines. The armor was nearly impossible to penetrate with normal weapons fire.
“We’re going to have a problem shortly,” said Sergeant Hitch as he gazed through the scope of his assault rifle. “We’re about to run out of cover.”
Werner stood up to get a better view. He could see what the sergeant was talking about. In another three hundred meters, the ground ended to be replaced by smooth metal that extended all the way to the vortex crater. “The drones won’t have cover either. It’ll make them easier to destroy.”
Sergeant Hitch stood and fired several bursts from his assault rifle toward a Conqueror Drone that had suddenly appeared. The armor piercing rounds shattered the drone’s carapace causing it to collapse to the ground. Another nearby Marine pumped several explosive rounds into it blowing the drone apart.
Looking around at the battle, Werner could see several of the large combat robots engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the drones. The robots were tearing off the drones appendages and ripping huge holes in the carapaces. The drones in turn were working in pairs trying to tear the combat robots in two. Occasionally they met with success sending the two pieces flying through the air.
Captain Werner was making it a point to keep his Marines back for now. Even so, two had been killed and five others injured. He knew before this was over he would lose even more. This had the makings of a violent and long battle.
-
High Commander Vetrex knew he was in trouble. In a few more hours the Humans and their combat robots would have full control of the surface while his Conqueror Drones and Simulin soldiers controlled the corridors and Control Center.
“All of our ships have been annihilated,” reported Second Commander Trador. “The ships of the Ancients cannot be destroyed.”
“I am preparing to summon additional warships,” answered Vetrex. “They will bring more soldiers as well as large numbers of drones. We will take back the surface and rebuild the energy shield generators.”
For many months now, there had been contact with only one other Great Sphere. The Humans and their combat robots had taken back control of all the others. All of the other Simulin controlled galaxies were now out of contact with the empire. Alarms suddenly began sounding on one of the consoles. The console was set to monitor ships approaching the Sphere. “What is it?”
Second Commander Trador looked confused. “Unknown ships have dropped out of hyperspace on the extreme edge of the system. They are even larger than the ships of the Ancients.”
High Commander Vetrex was at a loss to explain these strange ships. It was almost impossible to imagine they could have traveled across the Simulin home galaxy and not been detected. Was this a new enemy coming to claim the Great Sphere?
-
Fleet Commander Parnon gazed at the main viewscreen of his flagship showing the Shrieel. He knew if he moved his fleet much closer, they would be within range of the deadly blue energy spheres of the Originators. Reports indicated they were capable of entering hyperspace.
“One of the main hatches is open,” reported the Eternal at the sensor console. “I believe the Simulins attempted to jump part or all of their fleet into the entrance a short time ago. Their ships are weak and many could not handle the stress of emerging so close to the Shrieel and were destroyed. There is ship wreckage all around the hatch.”
“What is happening inside the Shrieel?” asked Second Commander Bernon. “What would make them risk their fleet in such a manner?”
Fleet Commander Parnon stood and stepped closer to the main viewscreen. He stood there silently for several moments. “The Humans and the AIs must be attacking the Simulins on the inside of the Shrieel. They must have recognized the danger if we were to take over the vortex Control Center. They are fighting this battle to prevent us from doing that.”
“What are your orders?”
Parnon studied a screen showing the large open hatch on the Shrieel. It was an opportunity. By using the open hatch, he would not have to risk his fleet by exposing it to the weapons fire from the Shrieel. “We will jump the fleet into the open area in the hatch. Once there we will launch the attack shuttles and then continue on into the Shrieel and engage whatever Originator ships are inside. We have a fleet of twenty thousand warships and once inside nothing will be able to stop us. Prepare the fleet to jump.”
“That will take considerable time,” replied Second Commander Bernon as he studied the open hatch on a viewscreen. “Only sixty of our ships can enter the area of the hatch at a time.”
Parnon was not pleased to hear this, but he could not squander this opportunity. He had not been expecting to find one of the primary hatches to the Shrieel to be open. “Sixty ships at a time then. They will jump to the hatch entrance, unload their attack shuttles, and then move into the tunnel leading to the inside of the Shrieel. As soon as the first group is out of the way, we will send the second. This needs to be done as rapidly as possible while we have the element of surprise. The Shrieel is ours for the taking.”
-
Jeremy was listening to the reports coming in from the surface. So far, the battle was going as planned. In another few hours the surface around the vortex crater would be firmly under their control. Once that was accomplished, the second phase of the battle would begin.
“We have a problem,” announced Aaliss with a stunned look on her face. “A large Eternal fleet has appeared on the outskirts of the system.”
Kevin’s face turned pale. “The Eternals, here?”
Ariel stepped over to stand next to Jeremy. “They must have learned the Simulins control this vortex Control Center. They’re going to try to take it.”
“Aaliss, how many other warships do we have inside the Shrieel?” Jeremy was concerned since he had not planned on facing a major Eternal fleet in battle.
Aaliss was silent for a moment as she communicated with the military AI in charge of the Shrieel. “Two thousand and seventy enhanced battlecruisers, six thousand and forty updated battlecruisers of the old class, and three hundred and twelve new dreadnaughts.”
“Aaliss, how large is the Eternal fleet?”
“Over twenty thousand.”
“Can’t the Dyson Sphere’s weapons handle them?” asked Kevin. “I thought they could defend against any size attack by the Eternals.”
“It’s the open hatch,” explained Jeremy as he gazed at the opening on one of the viewscreens. Shattered wrecks of Simulin warships littered the surface around it. Many of them still burning. “They’re going to try to come through the hatch just as the Simulins did. If they jump into the hatch area, the Dyson Sphere’s weapons can’t target them. Aaliss, have all battlecruisers and dreadnaughts rendezvous with my fleet immediately. Commander Malen, contact Rear Admiral Tolsen and tell her to get over to the Dreadnaught Dawnstar.” The Dawnstar was a command dreadnaught he had brought along as he wanted Massie to get some experience commanding a large vessel and fleet. He just hadn’t planned on her getting experience in a battle with the Eternals.
“Ariel, I want all dreadnaughts to synchronize their fire. The Eternals have to emerge from the entrance tunnel in small numbers. We must destroy them as they come out.”
“Should we summon reinforcements?” asked Commander Malen. From this Dyson Sphere communication with the Hub only took a few minutes.
“There won’t be t
ime for them to get here,” answered Jeremy, feeling worried. “We’re going to have to make do with what we’ve got. Aaliss, what type of internal defenses does the Dyson Sphere have?”
“Not as heavy as the outside,” she replied. “There are no blue energy sphere launchers. However, there are a large number of antimatter projectors and gravitonic cannons.”
Kevin looked over at Jeremy. “What if we detonated several dark matter missiles inside the hatch and seal it that way.”
Aaliss shook her head. “The damage could be catastrophic. Warheads of that magnitude detonated inside the hatch could cause a huge rift to open up in the hull of the Shrieel.”
“Can we close the hatch any other way?”
Jeremy looked over at Aaliss.
“We could if we had control of the vortex Control Center.” Aaliss grew silent as she talked to several AIs in the main Control Centers in the Shrieel. Then she turned back toward Jeremy. “There are some inside hatch controls but the Simulins control all the corridors leading to them. There is not going to be enough time to clear the Simulins out before the Eternals arrive.”
“Battlecruisers and dreadnaughts are closing on us from their bases inside the Dyson Sphere,” reported Kevin.
Jeremy knew most of the dreadnaughts built in this Dyson Sphere were only crewed by Originator AIs and a single military AI. He hesitated for a moment and then made his decision. “Commander Malen, inform Rear Admiral Tolsen she will have command of the Dyson Sphere’s dreadnaughts and regular battlecruisers. The enhanced battlecruisers will join our fleet. Rear Admiral Tolsen will act as a reserve if anything gets past us.” Jeremy had no idea what this battle was going to be like. Taking a deep breath, he gazed at the large hatch opening waiting for the first Eternal ships to appear.
-
Fleet Commander Parnon watched the viewscreen, which was showing a greatly magnified view of the large hatch that led inside the Shrieel. The first two squadrons of Eternal battlecruisers had successfully exited hyperspace near the hatch and launched their attack shuttles before vanishing inside. The attack shuttles were already landing and depositing their loads of warrior robots and Eternal shock troops on the surface.