-
“The Zaltule are smashing their way through the Pradelian ships,” pointed out Commander Hill. “They’re nearly in range of the planet!”
“Damn!” said Amelia with a concerned look. “We need to press forward faster. Contact the Alliance fleet and have them switch their fire to the Zaltule battlecruisers. They’re the biggest threat to the planet. We can deal with the assault ships later.”
“We just lost Admiral Vass,” reported Lieutenant Jones. “His flagship has been destroyed.”
“Admiral Torrel has taken command of the remaining Pradelian warships,” added Lieutenant Williams from communications.
The Dauntless shuddered as two antimatter missiles hit her energy shield, severely jarring the ship. The screen seemed to flicker and then the flickering vanished as the screen returned to full power.
“Shield is holding,” reported Captain Smith.
“We just lost a Bashan battlecruiser,” added Lieutenant Jones.
Amelia nodded. This battle was intense and she knew in her heart more ships would die before it was over.
“Light cruisers Peru and Crete have taken heavy damage,” reported Commander Hill as he listened to the reports coming in over his comm. “Assault ships Calgary, Benson, Detroit, and Joplin have been destroyed.”
“More incoming missiles!” shouted Lieutenant Jones.
-
Overlord Barral stared coldly at the tactical display and viewscreens. His fleet was nearly in range of the planet. The defending Pradelian fleets were in disarray and their formation broken. The Humans and the Alliance fleets were closing with his ships but they would not be in time to prevent him from firing on his targets.
“Target the shipyards and open fire!” His harsh voice echoed through the Command Center.
On the viewscreens, three massive shipyards were visible. They were protected by energy screens and armed. Barral was confident the firepower of his remaining ships would be able to batter down the shields and make the shipyards vulnerable to attack.
-
Antimatter missiles began exploding against the energy shields of the massive shipyards. Defensive fire was destroying nearly 60 percent of the inbound missiles but too many were still getting through. The surviving Zaltule battlecruisers were now pouring all of their firepower into their attack on the shipyards. Suddenly the shield around one of the shipyards failed and half a dozen antimatter missiles slammed into the structure. Six massive explosions obliterated major portions of the shipyard. The remaining parts of the shipyard began to come apart as pulse fusion beams started tearing open the remaining sections. A few moments later all that remained of the shipyard was a huge mass of drifting and glowing wreckage.
-
Rear Admiral Stinson grimaced as one of the Pradelian shipyards was destroyed. “Is there anything we can do?” Amelia didn’t want to see the other two shipyards destroyed. It would severely limit the Pradelians’ ability to build new warships though there were several smaller shipyards around Ryerson, the third planet in the system with a population of nearly two billion.
Commander Hill shook his head. “No, there are just too many Zaltule battlecruisers and assault ships between us and the two remaining shipyards. The best we can do is continue our attack and hope we can destroy the remaining Zaltule ships before they can take out the other two shipyards.”
Amelia turned her eyes to the viewscreens. Several Zaltule assault ships were under heavy attack and suddenly exploded in bright fireballs of released energy. Unfortunately in order to get to the battlecruisers the fleets were finding it necessary to remove the Zaltule assault ships that were in the way.
-
Overlord Barral was nearly knocked off the command pedestal as his ship was rocked by a series of antimatter strikes to its energy shield. With every passing minute more of his assault ships were being destroyed, allowing the Human and Alliance fleets to fire upon his battlecruisers. Even as he watched the tactical display, two more of his battlecruisers were blown apart by intense weapons fire.
His multifaceted eyes focused on the large viewscreens. A second shipyard was in trouble. Its shield was beginning to fail and several pulse fusion beams had already penetrated the shield causing major damage to the shipyard.
-
Inside the shipyard’s Command Center, the commanding officer gazed in horror as the damage control console began to fill with red lights. Damage control crews were rushing about trying to contain the growing damage.
“Can we increase the power to the shield?” The Commander knew if they could survive a few more minutes the Human and Alliance fleets might be able to reach them.
“We can cut off our defensive fire but that will allow even more of the Zaltule antimatter missiles to reach the shield,” reported the tactical officer.
The shipyard vibrated violently as more compartments were ripped open.
“We’re losing atmosphere and reactors three and four have been destroyed,” reported the damage control officer. “The shield is not going to last longer than another ninety seconds.”
“It’s time to evacuate,” said the Commander as he realized he could not save the shipyard. “Everyone to the evacuation capsules. We’re leaving. Set the defenses on automatic. I want everyone off the station while they still can.”
-
Overlord Barral watched impassively as the second shipyard was systematically blown apart by his fleets’ weapons. “Focus all of our fire on the third shipyard.” As he watched he saw the third shipyard’s energy shield flare up brightly as it was pummeled by weapons fire. Barral then switched his attention to the planet. He intended to destroy one or more of its major cities as an abject lesson to the Alliance of what the penalty was for resisting the Zaltule.
-
Rear Admiral Stinson was feeling anxious as the second shipyard was destroyed.
“Detecting numerous escape pods,” reported Lieutenant Jones. “The Zaltule are targeting some of them!”
“Damn spiders,” muttered Commander Hill as he watched several pods being vaporized by energy beams on a viewscreen.
“How many ships do the Zaltule have left?” asked Amelia.
Lieutenant Jones checked some data on his sensor screens. “Thirty-seven battlecruisers and fifty-eight assault ships. Many of those vessels have some damage.”
Amelia looked over at Commander Hill. “Our own losses?”
“We’ve been hit pretty heavily. We’ve lost two heavy cruisers, six standard battlecruisers, twelve light cruisers, and seventeen assault ships. In addition we’ve lost two Delton battlecruisers, one Belen battlecruiser and one Bashan battlecruiser. That’s a combination of our fleet and Rear Admiral Haden’s.”
Amelia nodded; she still had over half the ships she had started out with. “What about the Alliance fleet?”
“It’s lost about 30 percent of its ships,” replied Hill. “They’re continuing to attack the right flank of the Zaltule fleet and attempting to reach the shipyard before it’s destroyed.”
Amelia took a deep breath. She had to stop the Zaltule from firing on the planet. “Attention all ships,” she said over the fleet comm. “We will advance until we’re within the Zaltule fleet formation. Engage targets of opportunity. We must stop the Zaltule before they reach the planet.”
“We’re going to lose a lot of ships if we get that close to those Zaltule battlecruisers,” warned Commander Hill.
“I know,” replied Amelia, her eyes narrowing. “But so will they. It’s the only shot we have of keeping them away from Pradel.”
Looking back at the viewscreens, Amelia saw the Zaltule ships suddenly begin to grow larger as the Dauntless and the rest of the Human ships accelerated toward the enemy. Antimatter energy crawled over the energy shields of the Zaltule ships. Amelia knew her ships must look much the same as some of the Zaltule ships were now firing on her fleet.
-
Overlord Barral felt his flagship shake violently. His six feet kept h
im safely on the command pedestal.
“The Humans are advancing and have entered the rear of our formation,” reported the Zaltule at the sensors. “The Alliance fleet is continuing to attack our right flank. Most of our assault ships and a few of our battlecruisers are returning fire.”
Barral took a moment to study the tactical display. His assault ships were now being destroyed rapidly as the enemy attempted to remove them so they could intensify the firepower being directed toward his remaining battlecruisers. Switching his multifaceted eyes to the viewscreens, he saw the single surviving shipyard was still resisting his fleet’s weapons fire. However, the planet was now in range. “Launch two antimatter missiles at the city of Maxlet and two more at the city of Leyland.” These were the two largest cities on the planet. Both were currently on the side of the planet facing the fleet.
“Missiles launched,” confirmed the tactical officer.
Barral watched the large viewscreen showing the planet. His gaze was cold and heartless. The Pradelians, while highly intelligent, were meant to serve the Zaltule. The killing of millions of innocents meant nothing to Barral.
-
In the city of Maxlet, the capital of the planet, sirens began sounding and across the media orders were sent for those who had not yet taken cover in shelters or the lower parts of buildings to do so.
Panicked citizens raced for cover, sending fleeting glances up at the sky. High above two meteors seemed to be heading toward the massive city. There were numerous underground shelters as well as many buildings with underground levels. Even so it was not enough to hold the majority of the population of the city of twenty million.
The two antimatter missiles detonated two thousand meters above the city. In the first few seconds over four million inhabitants died as the heat vaporized their bodies. Millions more died in the blast wave that rolled out from the explosions. In the heart of the city superheated air rushing in toward the blasts began forming two massive mushroom clouds which began to tower over the stricken city. Fires spread and buildings collapsed. The blasts could be felt for hundreds of kilometers. The work of centuries was being ruthlessly destroyed. Museums, monuments, parks and some of the rich history of the Pradelians were going up in flames. A few seconds later the other two missiles hit the city of Leyland with the same devastating affect.
-
Rear Admiral Stinson gazed in shock at the ship’s viewscreens. Even from this distance, she could see the mushroom clouds rising up into the atmosphere of the stricken planet. She knew millions of Pradelian citizens had just died or were in the process of dying. She felt anger at the Zaltule for their callousness in attacking innocents. It reminded her as to why they did not take Kleese or Zaltule as prisoners.
“I want every weapon we have focused on those Zaltule battlecruisers,” she grated out, fighting to control her anger. “I don’t want any of them to get away. I don’t care if it costs us every ship in this fleet!”
The command crew was silent, a few of the women had tears in their eyes. All agreed with the rear admiral. These Zaltule must die!
-
Overlord Barral nodded in satisfaction as the mushroom clouds rose over the two cities. The Pradelians and the Alliance had been taught a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget. It was now time to turn his attention to the Humans and the Alliance ships still attacking his fleet. Looking at the tactical display, he was taken aback by the number of ships he had already lost. Nearly all of the assault ships were gone and only seventeen battlecruisers remained. Of those nearly all had suffered some damage.
“Reverse course; we must fight our way through the Humans and make the transition into Fold Space.”
“What about the last shipyard?” asked the Zaltule, standing in front of tactical.
“Ignore it. We’ve found out what we needed to know as well as demonstrated our power.”
The ship shook violently and the lights dimmed.
“We’ve lost several of our reactors and numerous power couplings have been destroyed,” reported one of the Zaltule at a console now covered in red lights.
“Thirty percent of our weapons are not responding,” added the Zaltule at tactical.
The ship suddenly began shaking nonstop and in the distance explosions could be heard.
“Energy shield is down to 14 percent,” reported the Zaltule at tactical. “We no longer have sufficient power for our energy weapons.”
“Inbound missiles,” reported the Zaltule at the sensors. “Our defenses are being overwhelmed.”
Overlord Barral gazed at the viewscreens showing his dying fleet. He had badly underestimated the resistance he would face in this system. “Then we will die,” he said without regret. “We are Zaltule and we shall die in battle.”
Suddenly a massive white light swept through the Command Center. Moments later the Zaltule flagship blew apart as antimatter energy destroyed it.
-
The battle lasted for another twenty minutes. When it was over not a single Zaltule battlecruiser or assault ship remained.
Rear Admiral Stinson leaned back in her command chair and breathed out a long sigh of relief. Nearly every remaining ship in her fleets was damaged. The same was true of the Alliance fleet. The cost in ships and lives had been heavy but the Zaltule had been destroyed.
“Have all ships repair what they can. I don’t know if the remaining shipyard will be of any use or not.”
“There are shipyards at Ryerson,” pointed out Commander Hill. “We could send some of our ships there for repairs.”
Amelia nodded. “Let’s see if we can get in touch with whoever is in charge of that remaining shipyard. Also get some shuttles out and begin searching the wrecks for survivors.” Amelia knew there wouldn’t be too many. With the use of antimatter missiles survivors would be few and far between.
She would also have to go to her quarters and prepare an action report for Fleet Command back on Centerpoint. Admiral Kelly would want to know every detail of the battle and what her impressions of the Zaltule were. Amelia knew how she felt about the Zaltule. They were cold-blooded killers and needed to be exterminated.
Chapter Fifteen
Admiral Kelly shook his head as he read over the list of ships destroyed in the battle with the Zaltule fleet at Pradel.
“We lost a lot of good people,” said Rear Admiral Blair as he read over the list he was holding in his hand.
“But we stopped the Zaltule. We completely annihilated every ship in their fleet.”
“What are the latest reports on civilian losses in the two cities destroyed?”
Kelly frowned. The Zaltule had once more demonstrated why they needed to be wiped out. “Fourteen million with another six million injured. The Alliance is sending in ships to help with search and rescue as well as rebuilding the two shipyards which were destroyed. There is also growing fear in the Alliance about who might be attacked next.”
General Timmons stood up and walked over to the large map on the wall showing the stars controlled by the Alliance and the Kleese. His hand touched the map and moved into unknown space out past the Solar System. “The Zaltule have already sent two fleets into Alliance space. There’s a good chance they’ll send a third. I suspect they’re probing for weaknesses in the Alliance and possibly the Kleese Empire. I fear we can’t wait too much longer if we intend to strike at the Zaltule nests.”
“We need to go now,” agreed Read Admiral Blair. “If we wait, we may not get another opportunity.”
Kelly didn’t like hearing this though he suspected the other two officers were right. “We can’t do this alone. We’re going to need help from the Alliance. I’m recalling Rear Admiral Stinson and Rear Admiral Haden. Their fleets will be repaired and new ships added to replace those they lost.”
“Do we have those ships?” asked Rear Admiral Blair.
Kelly let out a deep breath and slowly shook his head. “No, we don’t. We’re spread too damn thin! We’ll have to take ships from our other fleets
to make up the difference. I suspect after this latest Zaltule attack we won’t have much of a problem getting a large fleet from the Alliance.”
“How soon do we go?” asked General Timmons. “I was hoping to send our new Marines in the Type Nine suits out for some additional training in retaking several former nonaligned worlds.”
“We’re not going to have the time,” replied Kelly. “General Timmons, begin making your plans to take out those three Zaltule hives we know about. Commit whatever resources are necessary. I can give you four weeks and at the end of that time we have to go. We don’t dare delay any longer.”
General Timmons face became covered in a deep frown. “I need a general idea of the ships that will be involved. Are we going to hold the space above the hives with our ships or will the Marines have to escape in grounded assault ships?”
Admiral Kelly thought for a long minute. “I’m calling in General Nelson and his brother Ryan to help plan this mission. They’ve had a lot of experience in hand-to-hand fighting with the Kleese and even the Zaltule.”
“Better include Marken as well,” suggested General Timmons. “His perspective on this mission could be useful.”
Kelly nodded. “I’ll have them here in a few days and we can begin planning. I have a few ideas as far as the fleets go but I want to run them by Rear Admirals Stinson and Haden. I also want to spend some more time reviewing the data they sent on their battle with the Zaltule ships.”
“I’ll send the recall order to the Rear Admirals,” said Rear Admiral Blair. “I know some of their ships are still being repaired.”
“They’ll have to leave those ships behind. I need those two admirals here to help with the planning of this operation. Those ships can join them later if they’re repaired in time for this mission.”
Rear Admiral Blair stood up. “I’ll look over our available ships to see what can be spared to reinforce their fleets. It might be necessary to recall one or two of our fleets from their current missions.”
Final Conflict Page 20