The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five)

by Weil, Raymond L.

  Chapter Six

  Commodore Krilen looked at the main viewscreen, which showed the blue-white world beneath his orbiting flagship. The IronHand was 1,200 meters of death. The ship was heavily armed and wedge shaped, with a width of 400 meters. Heavy railgun turrets covered the hull, as well as thick protective hatches over the missile launching tubes. On the bow of the ship were two heavy energy beam batteries capable of cutting through any ship’s armor. Krilen was confident that his fleet could handle anything the humans might throw at him as long as he stayed away from the former Hocklyn bases they had captured.

  “The Protectors are landing now,” First Leader Angoth reported as he stepped over to the command pedestal. “They are reporting no resistance and expect to be in full control of the planet within a matter of hours.”

  Krilen nodded and spoke. “Excellent; the humans still refuse to give battle. With each former slave world we land our Protectors on, the more honor comes to our fleet.”

  “Honor is ours,” Angoth replied in agreement. Someday soon, he would be a War Leader and have his own fleet. Commodore Krilen was causing the fleet to accumulate honor rapidly, and all the warriors of the fleet were very pleased.

  Krilen gazed at the viewscreen as he thought about his campaign so far. It had gone better than expected. Once again, there had been no human ships in the system to offer resistance, so his fleet had gone into orbit of the planet unopposed.

  “The system of Careth is next,” he spoke, wondering if human ships would be waiting for him there.

  Every system they took control of only added to the honor that was steadily mounting for the fleet. It also pleased him that the majority of that accrued honor would fall upon him. It still confused him that the humans were offering no resistance. Why free all of these worlds and then do nothing to defend them? Perhaps their fleet was not nearly as powerful as Fleet Commodore Resmunt had claimed. He had always been an outcast, and it amazed Krilen that the commodore was still in the fleet.

  “Careth is home to a very aggressive species,” Angoth warned as his left hand strayed to the blade he always carried at his waist. He clenched the hilt of it with the six digits of his right hand. “There will be much fighting for our Protectors. There will be honor waiting for them on the planet’s surface.”

  Angoth would enjoy going down to the surface of the Carethian’s planet with the Protectors to bring it back under Hocklyn control. From what he had studied in the ship’s computers about the Carethians there would be heavy resistance when the Empire returned to their world. Hand-to-hand combat with a worthy opponent brought quick honor. Perhaps the Commodore would allow a few warriors from the flagship to join the Protectors in subduing the Carethians.

  “Yes, honor will be waiting,” repeated Commodore Krilen in agreement. “If the humans are interested in protecting any of our former slave worlds, it will be Careth. I intend to send a couple of escort cruisers forward to see what awaits us in that system. Thus far, they have avoided contact with our fleet since that one action, and that may stop when we reach Careth.”

  “A wise precaution,” Angoth rasped out with a nod. “So far we have seen little resistance from these humans. Why free so many worlds if they will not stand in their defense? These humans have no honor or they would not have allowed us to retake world after world unopposed.”

  Commodore Krilen nodded his head in agreement. He drummed the long sharp nails of his hand against the command console that was in front of him. Nothing about these humans made any sense. When he had started on this conquest, he had been cautioned by the High Council to be prepared to meet heavy resistance. However, that resistance had never materialized except for that one engagement. Since then there had been no sign of human ships. Each system he had jumped his fleet into he had expected to meet some resistance. It was almost as if the humans had vanished.

  First Leader Angoth left the command pedestal and walked across the War Room to study the tactical screen. In his opinion, Commodore Krilen had grown lax in his concern for the safety of the fleet. In the early conquests, a major portion of the fleet had stayed just outside the gravity well of the planet and only a few war cruisers and escort cruisers had gone in to orbit the targeted planet. They would then land their designated Protectors and, after a few orbits, move back out to rejoin the fleet. However, in the last few conquests Krilen had allowed the entire fleet to enter the gravity well of the target planet. Angoth feared that if these humans were indeed as dangerous as the High Council claimed, then Krilen could be playing right into their hands.

  -

  Admiral Sheen gazed at the latest reports sent back from the stealth scouts that were observing the Hocklyn fleet in system K-445. It was obvious that the commodore in charge of this fleet had little fear of an attack or he wouldn’t have taken his entire fleet into the gravity well of the planet. Amanda could feel the adrenaline rushing into her system as she prepared to launch her attack. She had forty-eight ships in Second Fleet, and the Hocklyn fleet was composed of eighty-two warships. Her ships had better weapons and shields, but the Hocklyns would make up for that by their sheer numbers.

  “What’s the plan?” Commander Evans asked as she gazed at the data being put up on the tactical display. “We have them trapped in the gravity well of the planet. That is a tactical error on the part of their commodore.”

  “The only problem is we don’t know if they have reinforcements close by,” Amanda spoke quietly as she studied the disposition of the Hocklyn fleet. “We have used our stealth scouts to search some of the nearby systems, but they haven’t found anything. Either the commodore in charge of that fleet is overconfident or we are missing something. Either way, we dare not allow Second Fleet to go to far into the planet’s gravity well in case we need to withdraw quickly. We will jump in and allow them to come out to us.”

  “What about Third and Fifth Fleets, when will they be jumping in?”

  “When we call for them,” replied Amanda, relishing the anticipated shock on the Hocklyn commodore’s face when the other two human fleets appeared. If they jumped in with all three Federation fleets, the Hocklyns might scatter and attempt to escape; this way she could lure them into engaging Second Fleet. “Have the fleet go to Condition One and prepare to jump. We will be jumping to just outside of the planet’s gravity well.”

  Moments later the Condition One alarms sounded and lights began flashing red. The WarStorm was about to go into battle as her crew rushed to their battle stations. Missiles were readied and railgun rounds loaded into their magazines.

  -

  Commodore Krilen was just about to retire to his quarters when the alarms on the sensor console went off and red warning lights began flashing. “What is it?” he demanded, looking intently at the Hocklyn sensor operator. “Why are those alarms sounding?” If this was a malfunction, some Hocklyn technician was gong to lose some of their honor.

  “We have unknown ships emerging from hyperspace just outside of the planet’s gravity well,” the Third Leader who was operating the sensors reported.

  Krilen whirled around to face First Leader Angoth. “Are those human ships?”

  Angoth studied the data for a moment on his tactical screen before replying in his cold rasping voice. “Yes, Commodore; they are indeed human. Sensors show forty-eight human warships have jumped into the system.”

  “Forty-eight,” Krilen responded as he thought over his options. “We have eighty-two ships and twenty-two of them are capital ships. The humans have made a grave error if they intend to attack this fleet.”

  “We are in the gravity well of the planet,” Angoth reminded Krilen, knowing this was a tactical disadvantage. “We should exit it before engaging the humans.”

  “We have superior numbers and firepower,” Commodore Krilen admonished as he studied the tactical screen. “It does not matter whether we meet these humans inside the gravity well or out, we will destroy them!”

  Krilen could already taste the honor that was waiting for
him in this battle. He had the humans outnumbered, and he had heavier firepower. There was no doubt in his mind that after this battle and a triumphant return home he would be raised in rank to a full Fleet Commodore.

  “The human fleet has formed up and is moving slowly toward the planet,” spoke First Leader Angoth, feeling the rush of blood through his veins and the thirst for battle. “They will be in combat range in twenty minutes if we hold our current position.”

  “Let us go and meet them,” Krilen ordered his cold dark eyes gazing at Angoth. “Allow them to enter the gravity well where they will be trapped from escaping. Ready the fleet for battle, much honor awaits us today.”

  “Honor awaits us,’ Angoth repeated as he began passing on the commodore’s orders. He still felt it would have been wiser to meet the humans outside of the planet’s gravity well.

  -

  “The Hocklyn fleet is forming up and coming out to meet us,” Commander Evans reported satisfied that the first part of the admiral’s plan was working.

  “Lieutenant Stalls, what is the makeup of the Hocklyn fleet?” Admiral Sheen asked as she gazed at the tactical hologram above the plotting table. She could see that a number of the red threat icons were large, indicating Hocklyn capital ships. It was obvious that this fleet had been heavily reinforced since her previous encounter with it.

  Benjamin spent a moment as he checked the data on his sensors and then transferred the information over to the tactical display. “I make it eight dreadnoughts, fourteen war cruisers, and sixty escort cruisers.”

  Amanda nodded. “Have our two carriers pull back to wait for Admiral Adler.” That still gave Second Fleet a heavy hitting force of six battlecruisers, four heavy strikecruisers, eleven Monarch cruisers, and twenty-five light cruisers. It was enough to hold the enemy and inflict some serious damage until she summoned Admiral Adler and Admiral Gaines.

  “Hocklyn fleet will be in engagement range in seventeen minutes,” Lieutenant Stalls reported.

  “Here we go again,” Angela Trask mumbled over her private communications link with Benjamin. “This is starting to seem familiar.”

  “Admiral Sheen will get us through this,” Benjamin promised confidently as he watched the myriad of red threat icons steadily nearing the fleet.

  “I hope so,” replied Angela, feeling nervous about the coming battle. She looked over at Lieutenant Ashton at Navigation and noticed that she was looking pale also. At least she wasn’t the only one that was worried.

  “I wish we could use the Devastator Threes in this battle,” Commander Evans spoke quietly from her position next to Admiral Sheen. “With them we could take this Hocklyn fleet out by ourselves.”

  “I know,” Amanda replied, totally in agreement. “But we want the Hocklyns to think we have a very limited supply of those weapons. Admiral Streth has strictly forbidden their use unless an AI ship is involved.”

  Commander Evans turned and walked back over to the plotting table and gazed speculatively at the tactical hologram being displayed up above it and then looked over at Tactical. “Lieutenant Mason, load an even mix of Klave and regular Devastator missiles in our launch tubes and prepare to fire. All railguns to be armed with high explosive rounds for maximum effect against the Hocklyn’s energy screens. Prepare to fire all heavy pulse laser batteries and our power beams upon my command. Pick out the nearest dreadnought as our primary target.”

  “All ships except the carriers are to launch their fighters,” Amanda ordered as she listened to Commander Evans prepare the WarStorm for battle. The two carriers would wait for Admiral Adler to arrive before launching their bomber strike. She could feel her pulse quickening as the time for combat neared.

  Moments later, two hundred and eight Talon fighters blasted forth from the flight bays of Second Fleet and hurtled toward the Hocklyns. The squadron leaders quickly formed up their commands into a solid wall in front of the advancing human ships.

  -

  “Humans have launched their fighters,” First Leader Angoth warned as numerous new threat icons appeared on the main sensor screen.

  “Launch our war wings,” ordered Commodore Krilen, feeling the blood rush that impending battle brought. “They are to destroy the inbound human fighters and then target the smaller human support ships with their remaining missiles.”

  “Honor awaits us,” Angoth spoke as he passed on the orders.

  From the Hocklyn ships, five hundred and forty sleek deadly fighters launched and, after quickly forming up, headed toward the human fighters in a massive wave.

  -

  “Our fighters are going to be outnumbered two to one,” Commander Evans warned Admiral Sheen as she saw the massive cloud of Hocklyn fighters headed toward them. “They won’t last long against those numbers!”

  “Damn!” Amanda swore as she looked at the tactical display. She knew she was supposed to wait until Admiral Adler arrived before launching the fighters and bombers from the two carriers, but she couldn’t stand by and let her fighters be destroyed. “Contact the carriers and order them to launch their fighters to join ours. They may keep one squadron each back for their own protection.”

  It only took a few moments and two hundred and eighty Talon fighters launched from the carriers Endurance and Clayton. They quickly formed up and then rushed to join their fellow pilots who were already closing with the horde of inbound Hocklyn fighters.

  “Combat range in two minutes,” Commander Evans reported as the distance between the two fleets continued to close. Second Fleet was moving forward at a reduced speed while the Hocklyns were coming full on. “Fighters engaging now!”

  -

  In space, the two opposing fleets of fighters suddenly filled the void between them with hundreds of small interceptor missiles. Dozens of fighters on both sides died in sudden fiery explosions as missiles slammed home, annihilating their targets. Fighters swerved in mad gyrations as they attempted to dodge out of the way of the small deadly missiles launched by both sides.

  “Break and hit them now!” the strike commander called out over the squadron’s linked com system. “Stay with your wingman and let’s take these fighters out. No heroics, just do as you were taught and what we have done in practice. Make your shots count!”

  Instantly, the two groups of fighters split apart as hundreds of individual dogfights broke out. Initially the human fighters were on the losing end from being so badly outnumbered and were losing two fighters for every Hocklyn they managed to destroy. Then the reinforcements from the battlecarriers arrived, and the odds rapidly shifted.

  Space was full of flying interceptor missiles and tracer rounds as pilots from both sides tried to destroy their enemy. Damaged fighters died quickly as there was no mercy from either group. If a fighter was damaged or lost power it was only a matter of seconds before a missile would slam home, blowing the fighter into pieces. The fighter battle moved over to one side of the two closing groups of warships. To remain between them when they opened up with their heavy weapons would be suicide.

  -

  “Combat range!” Commander Evans suddenly yelled as the Hocklyn ships opened fire.

  “Return fire!” Admiral Sheen ordered her pulse racing. “Lieutenant Trask, send an FTL message to Admiral Adler and inform him that we are engaged.”

  Amanda felt the WarStorm shudder as inbound ordnance struck the energy screen. The intensity in the Command Center picked up as the battle began in earnest.

  From the WarStorm multiple missiles arched up and away from the battlecruiser as their targeting systems locked on a Hocklyn dreadnought. Large, dual pulse laser turrets on the upper and bottom hulls locked on the enemy dreadnought and fired. Multiple orange-red beams flashed out to impact on the dreadnought’s energy screen. Then the missiles arrived, covering the Hocklyn ship in raging nuclear fire. Multiple ten-kiloton Devastator warheads detonated against the Hocklyn screen, releasing torrents of nuclear energy.

  “Fire power beams!” Commander Evans ordered Tactical, se
eing the energy screen on the dreadnought was wavering. “Target their midsection.”

  From the WarStorm, two power beams of violet energy leaped out and smashed into the energy screen of the dreadnought. The screen wavered and then partially collapsed where the power beams hit. Both beams instantly struck the dreadnought’s armor, penetrating deeply into the hull and setting off secondary explosions within the ship. The dreadnaught seemed to stagger and then the energy screen strengthened, stopping the raging power beams.

  -

  All the ships of both opposing fleets were now within weapons range, and the space between the two became filled with orange-red laser beams, deep blue energy beams, and the violet color of power beams. Mixed in were fiery explosions from missiles being knocked down by interceptors as well as from close in defensive fire. The human ships were equipped with defensive laser turrets and these were firing nonstop, destroying numerous inbound missiles before they could impact on their energy screens.

  As heavy as the defensive fire was, occasional missiles were still striking the human ships as well as numerous railgun rounds. Energy screens were aglow with nuclear explosions and exploding railgun munitions. The light cruiser Malken was suddenly hit by two nuclear missiles as well as several energy beams. Her energy shield wavered and then collapsed under the bombardment as a Hocklyn dreadnought pummeled the light cruiser with its heavy railguns. Explosions crept across the ship’s armor, and then a violent explosion blew the cruiser apart.

  -

  “Light cruiser Malken is down,” Lieutenant Stalls reported in a grim voice.

  “The fleet’s taking a lot of damage,” Commander Evans reported as the WarStorm shook violently as a heavy nuke struck her energy screen. “Admiral Adler had better get here soon!”

  “Press the attack,” Amanda ordered her face covered in determination. “Switch missile tubes to Devastator missiles only!”