The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five)
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“Yes, Admiral,” Freemen replied as he stepped over to the large communications console and began carrying out Admiral Johnson’s orders.
Karla sat down in her command chair and gazed across the large Command Center. It seemed calm and orderly as if everyone’s lives were not on the line. Karla knew this coming battle would determine the fate of the entire Federation and their allies.
But then she remembered the story that she and every other Federation child had been told by their parents and their teachers. It was a simple story passed on for generations from the time the Federation had first come into being. Someday the great Admiral Hedon Streth would awaken from cryosleep and lead the Federation to victory over the Hocklyn Slave Empire. Karla was about to find out if that old story was true. She sincerely hoped it was.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Admiral Sheen gazed cryptically at the tactical display and shook her head in deep concern. Over fourteen hundred Hocklyn ships and thirteen AI ships were closing on their position. The fleets had taken up a position directly in front of New Tellus Station and were slowly advancing on the approaching enemy forces. From every starship in the human fleet fighters were launching and accelerating toward the expanding wall of Hocklyn fighters forming up in front of their fleet. The Hocklyns were launching more fighters from their new ships and Amanda knew that they would be badly outnumbered, but that was norm for fighting the Hocklyns.
“All fighters launched,” Commander Evans spoke, her eyes focused on the wall of human fighters that was now rapidly approaching the enemy.
“They have to blast a hole through for our bombers,” Amanda informed her in a low voice. “We’re going to need our Anlon bombers in this if the Fleet is to survive.”
Looking at one of the main viewscreens on the front wall of the Command Center, she could see the sprawling image of New Tellus Station, and just behind the station was the massive command asteroid fortress where Richard was. She hoped that she and Richard both survived this battle. Letting out a deep breath, she turned her attention back to the tactical display.
“Fighters are engaged,” Lieutenant Stalls reported. On his sensor screen, the myriad of green and red icons began to merge.
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Major Arcles dove his Talon fighter down at a sharp angle and heard a solid tone go off indicating he had a firm target lock. Pressing a button on his console a small Hunter missile rocketed away and struck a Hocklyn fighter, obliterating it in a ball of fire. Next to him, Lieutenant Sanders flew in close formation as the pair darted through the Hocklyn formation.
“They’re like a swarm of bees,” Lacy spoke with anxiety in her voice. “They’re everywhere!”
“We need to keep the squadron together,” Karl responded as he saw on his tactical screen two green icons, which represented fighters in his squadron vanish. He instantly communicated to the other pilots to form up and stay close so they could support one another. “Work together,” Karl spoke as he fired a short burst from his 30 mm cannons at another Hocklyn fighter, damaging it. “Let’s clear a path for the bombers!”
Karl knew that with the reinforcements from the new Hocklyn ships they were facing over 7,000 enemy fighters. They were outnumbered three to one. “Make every shot count and don’t waste your missiles. Be certain you have a good target lock before firing one.”
Looking around, Karl could see hundreds if not thousands of missile trails and the bright flashes, which designated exploding fighters, both Human and Hocklyn. A warning tone suddenly went off in his cockpit, indicating a Hocklyn missile had a target lock on his fighter. He quickly fired off some countermeasures and rolled his Talon fighter. Accelerating rapidly, he turned at a sharp angle with Lacy mirroring his movements. The missile narrowly missed as it flew off harmlessly into space.
“You could walk on all of this ordnance,” complained one of his pilots as a line of tracers narrowly missed his fighter.
Karl nodded; there was no need to reply. Even as he watched, two more of his squadron’s fighters vanished from his screen. Karl began to wonder if any of them would survive this battle.
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“Bombers are launching,” Clarissa announced as the Anlon bombers left the fleet’s battle carriers and began accelerating toward the swirling mass of human and Hocklyn fighters.
“Order the shipyards and the fortresses to launch their fighters,” ordered Hedon, knowing he needed to eliminate the Hocklyn fighters so more of their bombers could get through. He had wanted to hold off on the current bomber strike, but he needed to slow down the Hocklyn fleet’s advance to allow New Tellus Station and the command fortress to lock on with their heavier weapons.
“Nearing optimal engagement range of the Hocklyn fleet,” Colonel Trist reported from where he was standing in front of one of the tactical displays. Then turning around, he looked at the admiral. “The AI ships are hanging back slightly and are still out of effective range of our Devastator Threes.”
“Clarissa, keep a close watch on the AIs,” Hedon ordered, wanting to know what the AIs were doing at all times. “I want to know the instant any of them move.” The Hocklyns he felt they could handle; the AIs were another matter entirely. It made him nervous the way they were just sitting behind the Hocklyn fleet, watching.
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From the shipyards and fortresses an additional 3,000 Talon, fighters launched and accelerated swiftly toward the battle. They were fully armed with Hunter interceptor missiles and full loads for their 30 mm cannons.
The original fighter strike had managed to thin the Hocklyn fighters in one section sufficiently to allow the attacking bombers to reach the Hocklyn fleet. With escorting fighters leading the way, the Anlon bombers fought their way through the final defending Hocklyn fighters before pouncing on the enemy ships. However, the Hocklyns had been expecting this, and defensive missile fire became intense as the bombers closed to engagement range. Bomber after bomber exploded in fiery deaths as interceptor missiles found their targets.
“Lock your missiles onto the escort cruisers,” ordered Colonel Grant grimly as he saw two more bombers in his squadron burst apart from defensive fire. “Fire your missiles and let’s get the hell out of here!”
Pressing down firmly on the four small red buttons on his console, all four nuclear-tipped Shrike missiles underneath the bomber’s wings launched toward their intended target. Grant didn’t hang around to see if they struck instead he swerved his bomber around, nearly ramming a Hocklyn fighter in the process, and then accelerated rapidly back toward the fleet. A sudden warning alarm sounded in his cockpit, but the strike commander never saw the Hocklyn missile that struck the fuselage of his bomber, destroying it in a fiery blast.
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Fleet Commodore Resmunt felt elation as the human fighters died and most of their bomber strike was annihilated just short of his fleet. He had ordered all of his ships to load their missile tubes with interceptors in anticipation of the human bomber strike, and it had paid off.
“Damage reports are coming in from the fleet,” First Leader Ganth reported. “We lost eighteen escort cruisers with twenty-two more heavily damaged in the attack.”
“Their crews served us well,” replied Resmunt, feeling aggravated that the humans had managed to destroy and damage so many of his escort cruisers. “Honor has come for them today. We will continue to advance and engage the human fleet. We have another surprise for them, one they will not be expecting that will ensure us a quick and complete victory.”
Ganth nodded; he was not sure what the Fleet Commodore was speaking about other than it involved the AIs. “Humans have launched additional fighters.”
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“Order all fortresses and shipyards to launch their bomber strikes, additional strikes to be made at their discretion,” ordered Hedon, seeing that less than four hundred bombers were returning from the first strike. It had been costly, but it had damaged the Hocklyn fleet. The next strike would cause even more damage. This would be a battle of attrition. He nee
ded to weaken the Hocklyn fleet sufficiently so the shipyards, the fortresses, and the defensive satellites could finish them off.
“Hocklyn fleet is in engagement range,” Clarissa reported as she swiftly checked to ensure all of the battleship’s weapons were ready to fire.
“All ships, fire,” Hedon ordered without hesitation. “Unlimited use of Devastator Threes is authorized.” Now the battle would really begin. Hedon let out a heavy sigh, knowing that many Federation personnel were about to die.
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The massive fleet battle began. Both sides were now launching missiles and firing their energy weapons. Railguns fired non-stop as space became filled with tens of thousands of explosive rounds, which impacted on ship’s screens. They wavered and then failed as the heavy weapons fire overloaded them. Whenever that happened, the vulnerable ships were instantly targeted and normally died a few seconds later. Nuclear explosions ravaged screens and ship’s hulls. A human battlecruiser saw its shields go down and almost instantly six nuclear missiles struck the ship’s armored hull. The massive detonations split the ship into four pieces and additional inbound ordnance turned the remains into gaseous vapor and burning metal.
A Hocklyn dreadnought’s screen failed as two Devastator Three 40-megaton explosions tore into it. Two bright fireballs were all that signified where the dreadnought had been. Along both lines of advancing ships, bright explosions pointed out the deaths of warships.
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Amanda felt the WarStorm shudder violently and the lights flickered; she glanced inquiring over at Colonel Bryson.
“Hocklyn energy beam penetrated the shield,” he reported as he checked the damage control console. “Only minor damage.”
“Fleet’s lost two battlecruisers, one battlecarrier, two strikecruisers, six Monarchs and fourteen light cruisers,” Lieutenant Stalls reported grimly as the total of destroyed ships rapidly grew. “The next fighter strike is going in as well as the combined bomber strike from the shipyards and the fortresses.”
Amanda knew that this meant that over 2,400 bombers would be following the fighters. That should cause the Hocklyns some major damage. Glancing at the viewscreen, she saw that neither New Tellus Station nor the command asteroid fortress had as of yet come under fire though they would momentarily.
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Fleet Admiral Johnson nodded in satisfaction as the weapons on the shipyard finally began locking onto the Hocklyn fleet. She knew that the command fortress, a scant five hundred kilometers away, would also now be getting weapons locks. “Fire!” she ordered. It was time to show the Hocklyns the power of New Tellus Station.
Instantly from the shipyard and the fortress space became filled with violet power beams, orange-red pulse lasers, and missile trails all targeting the slowly advancing Hocklyn fleet. The missile platforms around New Tellus Station also began to fire. Missile after missile blasted off, accelerating toward their targets in the approaching Hocklyn fleet.
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Fleet Commodore Resmunt smiled as he saw the incoming bomber strike. Once they were annihilated, he could destroy the defending human fleet in front of him. Then the smile faded as the large asteroid and the shipyard opened up with a murderous fire upon his fleet. More Hocklyn ships began to die. Dreadnoughts, war cruisers, and escorts began to rapidly vanish from the tactical display as the heavy wall of human weapons fire destroyed them. Walking swiftly over to the communications station, he sent a quick message to the AI commander. It was time to end this battle before his fleet suffered too many more casualties.
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Aboard the AI ship, the command AI had been expecting this request from the Fleet Commodore. They had learned much from their initial attacks, the information had been assimilated, and a new battle plan had been developed. “Send the order,” the command AI spoke toward the AI at Communications. Instantly a message was sent into deep space where the main AI force was waiting.
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Fleet Admiral Johnson watched the inbound bomber strike fixedly. This one would be going after the Hocklyn fleet’s war cruisers. If they could destroy or damage enough of them, the shipyards and the fortresses should be able to handle the remaining Hocklyn ships. Already the weapons fire from the station and the fortress was having a telling effect on the Hocklyn fleet. Its advance had nearly stalled as space became littered with burning and dying ships.
A loud warning alarm suddenly began sounding, and Karla and Admiral Freeman both looked at the large tactical display in shock. Orange icon after orange icon were appearing in the gravity well of the planet. Hundreds of massive AI ships were jumping into the battle.
“It’s over,” Karla uttered in shock. Her shoulders drooped as she watched the AI ships open fire on the massive defenses of New Tellus. “We can’t stand up to that many AI ships. Our defenses were never designed to stop an AI fleet of this size.”
Admiral Freeman studied the screen for a few moments before replying. “Two hundred and sixty AI ships have jumped into the gravity well of New Tellus. They are targeting all six shipyards as well as the fortresses.”
“Do we call the bombers back?” Admiral Bennett asked, his eyes wide as he stared at all the orange threat icons now on the tactical display. “They can retarget the AIs.”
“No,” replied Karla, shaking her head bleakly “Have them continue their current attack. Their weapons aren’t strong enough to be a danger to the AIs.”
“What about the AIs?” Admiral Freeman asked.
“We will do what we have to do,” Karla uttered determinedly, knowing the battle was lost. “Contact Admiral Teleck and order him to return to Ceres; his fleet can be better used to protect the Sol system. The battle here will soon be over, and we can’t afford to sacrifice his ships needlessly. We can only hope to destroy enough of the AI ships so Earth and Ceres can destroy the rest. Order the fortresses and the type two battle stations to concentrate their fire on the AIs.”
Karla let out a deep and ragged breath as she gazed at the multiple viewscreens that were now filled with the deadly AI ships. She knew she had failed to protect the Federation. She could only hope that they could take enough of the enemy ships with them to give Earth and Ceres a chance to survive.
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“AI ships are engaging,” Clarissa spoke with a tinge of fear in her normally calm voice. She had been visibly shocked when the ship’s sensors had started recording the new AI ships jumping in all around them.
Hedon’s eyes were checking one of the tactical screens as he desperately tried to think of what could be done to salvage the suddenly reversed tactical situation. He knew that the new AI ships had more combined firepower than everything New Tellus had to defend itself with.
The screens of the StarStrike suddenly lit up with several bright flashes, and the ship shook violently. On the numerous viewscreens on the front wall of the Command Center, flashes of burning light could be seen everywhere.
“The new AI ships are deploying sublight missiles as well as energy beams,” Clarissa continued as she rapidly analyzed the attack. “Their sublight missiles contain what appears to be some type of anti-matter warhead with an explosive force of over fifty megatons.”
“Anti-matter?” Colonel Trist spoke, his eyes growing wide as the StarStrike was hit by another missile. “I thought anti-matter was only theoretical.” He saw the ship’s screen was holding, but just barely.
“We’ve been able to produce it in the labs in small amounts,” Clarissa replied as she became more involved in defending the StarStrike.
She was using the ship’s lasers to intercept some of the sublight missiles. It was all being done in milliseconds as she took over more of the ship’s defensive systems. She was also establishing an explosive flak screen between the StarStrike and the AI ship that had been targeting them, attempting to destroy the missiles as they came through it. Several large explosions in the flak field indicated some degree of success.
“We knew the AI’s science was far ahead of ours,” Hedon replied, his fa
ce turning pale as the number of fleet ships that were dying grew. He quickly activated his ship-to-ship communications, knowing what he had to do. “All strikecruisers are to engage the AIs immediately. Two light cruisers will escort each strikecruiser on your attack runs. Good luck.”
In space, every surviving strikecruiser targeted the AI spheres with their Devastator Threes as a pair of light cruisers moved to give them covering fire. The fortresses as well as all the type two defensive battle stations switched their Devastator Threes from the Hocklyn fleet to the AI ships. Computer programs quickly calculated attack vectors and hundreds of Devastator Three missiles left their launch tubes to impact on the shields of the AIs.
Over a dozen AI spheres felt the wrath of the deadly 40-megaton warheads as they struck smashing holes in their screens. Instantly through the small holes more missiles flew. In the space of two minutes, fourteen AI ships died in massive explosions, but so did over thirty of the strikecruisers. The AI ships knew which ships were a danger now and were targeting them with massive missile and energy beam strikes. The remaining strikecruisers didn’t hesitate as they saw their fellow ships die; they continued to close the range and fire their missiles in a desperate attempt to destroy as many AI ships as possible before they too were destroyed. Everyone knew that no Federation warship would be leaving this battle.
AI ships were also firing against the fortresses, the type two battle stations, and the shipyards. Shipyard Clements was already heavily damaged, and six AI ships were attacking the station, spearing it with their energy beams and blasting its energy screen with anti-matter missiles. The shipyard had managed to get a second fusion generator operating and had reestablished their energy shield and power to their remaining weapons. A crew of volunteers had remained behind to try and save the valuable shipyard.
The defending fortress managed to take out two of the attacking AI ships with Devastator Threes before the AIs managed to knock down the shipyard’s weakened energy screen. Two well-placed anti-matter missiles and the shipyard ceased to exist. All that remained of Clements was a glowing debris field.