“May I?” asked Governor Alex Therron of Bratol Three.
“You may,” said Layla, smiling and taking the governor’s hand. She knew this would be a long night, but it also offered opportunities to talk to many governors, including some who had not yet joined the Empire.
-
In his personal quarters, Councilor Damora watched the wedding events in the Human Empire on the large viewscreen in his private office. Already reports of more unrest flooded his office. He slammed his hand down on his desk, cracking the top. He frowned and then stood. In the last hour he had already sent messages to Morag Prime and to the High Council, informing them of what he had done. He had also expressed his concerns about missing Councilor Ardon Reull.
The Confederation was falling apart around them. It was become more essential that they keep a firm grip on the other six races of the Great Council. The Morag were the only ones who had actual warfleets; the other sixty thousand worlds of the Confederation were completely unarmed.
As Damora paced back and forth, he thought over what he needed the other six races to do. It was essential they keep all the inhabited worlds in their region of space under their firm control. This rebellion must be brought to a stop and soon. They could not allow the Human Empire time to fully arm itself. Damora stopped, realizing the Confederation was now facing its greatest danger since its inception—a danger so great that even the massive Morag fleets might not be enough to keep the Confederation together.
-
On Morag Prime, the High Council was still meeting. They were busy discussing the current situation and what could be done to bring it back under control.
We must send operatives to all the worlds in revolt, sent Delann. We can take over the minds of their leaders and bring these riots to a stop.
After the Empire’s broadcast, the presence of any Morag will only bring about more unrest. It would take thousands of our people to bring a single world back under our control, replied Addonis. I suggest we bring all of our shipyards fully online and activate the reserve fleet. The Morag kept a huge number of older outdated ships in stasis. While not as powerful as our current vessels, they should be useful in putting down any unrest on Confederation worlds. They could also be used for patrol duties in the Confederation, while we use our modern vessels to take on the Human Empire.
It will take several months to do as you suggest. Time in which both Earth and the Human Empire will be growing stronger, sent Brant. We may find ourselves in a very long and difficult war.
We have no choice, replied Addonis. If we don’t conquer the Human Empire, someday they will come for us.
Then I suggest we increase the defenses around our worlds, as well as all our inhabited moons, sent Hiram. While we already have adequate defenses, we should ensure the Humans cannot attack any of our worlds.
Your suggestion is a wise one, answered Addonis. I’ll give the order immediately to construct more and better orbital defenses.
What about Lormallian Councilor Reull? asked Delann. Is he a threat?
I doubt it, replied Addonis. However, it might be wise to learn of his exact location. I’ll have some of our operatives on the Lormallian worlds search for him. On every one of the major worlds of the six other ruling Confederation races, there were beings who were under complete telepathic control. It wouldn’t take long to figure out where Councilor Reull was hiding.
-
The festivities were finally over, and Layla and Derrick had retired to their Royal Quarters. They were currently standing on a large private balcony, looking out over the city and the Palace grounds. Fireworks were going off over the capital, and large numbers of revelers were still visible, celebrating below.
“I loved everything,” said Layla, leaning back into Derrick’s arms. “It was perfect.”
Derrick smiled. “Yes, it was. A little tiring but I think we accomplished a lot. Several of the governors I spoke to indicated they would be joining the Empire.”
“Same here,” replied Layla. “Krista and Andrew told me that they had a lot of luck also in speaking to the various governors. I’m anxious to see in the next several weeks what happens.”
After a few more minutes standing here and watching the fireworks display, Layla turned to face Derrick, with a smile on her face. “Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going to go take a long hot bath. Afterward we have a little more business to take care of.”
Derrick grinned. “I wouldn’t call it business. More like romantic fun.”
Layla blushed slightly. “Give me thirty minutes, and I’ll be back.”
With that, Layla turned and headed inside. Derrick waited a few minutes and decided he probably should take a quick shower. It might be quite some time yet before he got to sleep.
Chapter Six
Two weeks passed, and Ardon Reull once more met with Dom Marse. Ardon was anxious to hear the results on the telepathic nullifiers.
“We have two thousand of the personal ones finished,” Dom informed Ardon. “We also have enough to fully protect 112 warships.”
Ardon considered what Dom told him. The fleet Ardon had stationed nearby had eight hundred battlecruisers and sixty-seven battleships. “How many of each can we produce in another week?” Ardon wanted to fully protect all the ships of the fleet, as well as have personal nullifiers for all key personnel.
Dom smiled. “We have the production techniques all worked out and are ready to go to full automation tomorrow. In a week we can turn out enough nullifiers to protect one thousand ships and ten thousand crewmembers.”
Ardon knew from his contacts on several Lormallian worlds that the Morag were searching for him. “What can we do to fortify this world?”
Dom frowned. “We don’t have any production facilities to build any major defensive elements. We could build a few ground-based cannons and perhaps a few missile launchers, but that’s about it.”
“Then we need to keep secret what this planet is producing. If the Morag learn, they will come here and destroy everything.”
“I will suggest we build some energy cannons and missile launchers around our production facilities and research labs,” said Dom, after thinking about it. “We have what is necessary to do that.”
“What about an energy shield?” Ardon wanted to make sure this facility stayed safe. The future of all the Lormallian worlds might very well rest on the continued survival of this particular Lormallian world, Proxy Seven.
“It will take longer and would require adding some fusion reactors, but it can be done.”
Ardon nodded. “Do so. The survival of our people might depend on what we do here. Also, once we have a sufficient number of our ships equipped with the nullifiers, I can station some nearby, in case they’re needed.”
-
Later Ardon returned to his quarters. He had some plans to make. Once the Morag learned of what he was doing, he planned on sending the plans for the nullifiers to all the worlds in the Confederation. If the Morag thought the revolts now were bad, wait until then.
-
Fleet Admiral Marloo read the latest reports, coming in from the battlecruisers that were keeping an eye on Confederation fleets. Over the last week many of the enemy vessels had left, setting a course back to the Confederation. “What do you think?” he asked, looking over at Fleet Vice Admiral Masters and Admiral Cleemorl.
“The revolts in the Confederation must be getting worse,” suggested Dylan. “The Confederation is pulling back every ship it can to handle the unrest.”
“I agree,” said Derrick. “If this is true, we need to go on the offensive. We could free a number of heavily populated and industrialized worlds and bring them into the Empire. We don’t dare waste this opportunity.”
Fleet Admiral Marloo turned to Admiral Cleemorl. “How many ships of First Fleet could you commit to this attack and still keep the Hagen Star Cluster safe?”
“Five hundred battlecruisers and thirty dreadnoughts. The cluster is already turning out warship
s of their own and will have produced a sizable fleet within the month.”
“Vice Admiral Masters?”
“We still have Admiral Barnes’s Third Fleet here. However, as soon as my Fifth Fleet is up to its full numbers, we would allow Third Fleet to return to Earth. I can engage my entire Fifth Fleet, though I suggest we use it to attack Confederation positions relatively close to the core worlds.”
Fleet Admiral Marloo nodded. “We’ll start our offensive in four days. I still need to get approval from the council, though I don’t think that’ll be a problem. Return to your fleets and await further orders. Derrick, you can choose to allow Rear Admiral Banora to command the fleet or you can take charge. It’s up to you.”
Derrick thought long and hard about what he should do. “She needs experience commanding the fleet on her own. Since the Confederation has withdrawn so many of their warships, I think she can handle Fifth Fleet this time around. I’ll go up to the Destiny in the morning and inform her of what will be happening.”
“I approve,” said Fleet Admiral Marloo. “We need as many experienced admirals as we can get. At some point in time, this war will get very intense, especially when we go up against the Morag.”
“I’ll leave later this evening,” said Admiral Cleemorl. “It will be good for us to go on the offensive. It will be a huge morale booster for the Empire.” Of course he still needed to go home and to tell Cheryl.
-
Morag Councilor Damora gazed at the latest reports. The violence was slowly subsiding, but several thousand worlds were still in open revolt. However, he grew more concerned every day about Lormallian Councilor Reull. So far all the searches had turned up negative. He did know that Reull had journeyed to see his brother at Bator Prime. What he was doing there was a mystery. After leaving Bator Prime, the councilor had switched ships multiple times and then had vanished completely.
After some consideration, Damora decided to send a couple warships to Bator Prime and to speak to Councilor Reull’s brother. It was essential to find out what the councilor had been doing there and, even more important, what he may have found.
-
Admiral Cleemorl had returned to his fleet. He had a list of twenty-two targets to hit, and he also had a large number of Imperial freighters loaded with defensive grid elements. In addition he had the construction crews to rapidly put a defensive grid into orbit.
The first thing he did was call Captain Manson and Captain Fulmar to his office. It didn’t take long for both of them to arrive.
“Have a seat, gentlemen,” he said, indicating two comfortable chairs in front of his desk. “As you know, First Fleet now comprises 720 battlecruisers and 43 dreadnoughts. I’ve been speaking to Fleet Admiral Marloo, and I need a rear admiral to handle the fleet while I’m gone. One thing to keep in mind, we plan on increasing the size of First Fleet until we have one thousand battlecruisers and one hundred dreadnoughts. We feel we need the increased fleet size to take on major Confederation forces.”
Dylan paused, looking at the two officers. “We have decided to make both of you rear admirals, with each of you in charge of an equal section of First Fleet, when I’m not around.”
Dylan opened up a desk drawer and took out two small boxes, which he handed to the two stunned officers. “Those are your rear admiral insignias. The promotions are effective immediately.” Dylan stood, as did the two officers. He saluted them, and they in return saluted back.
“Thank you, Admiral,” said Rear Admiral Fulmar, as he opened the small box with shaking hands. This was something he had not been expecting. He was determined not to let Admiral Cleemorl down.
Captain Manson opened his box with a wide smile. This was something he had long hoped for. “Thank you, Admiral. I’ll do my best.”
“I know both of you will. Now we have new orders. Effective tomorrow we are going on the offensive. The Confederation has pulled back most of their fleets to deal with the unrest currently sweeping the Confederation. We’ll take advantage of their pullback to retake some of our worlds. I have a list of twenty-two targets we’ll hit. The cargo ships that returned with me are loaded with defensive grid parts. As we take back a world, we’ll leave a squadron of ships and enough supply ships to put up a moderate defensive grid. We’ll do that for all of the twenty-two star systems.”
The two newly promoted rear admirals looked uncertainly at one another. “Won’t that encourage the Confederation to counterattack?”
Dylan shook his head. “We don’t believe so. The Confederation has several thousand worlds supposedly revolting. It’ll take them weeks, perhaps months, to bring that under control. We’ll use that time to retake and to refortify more of our worlds and to grow the Empire.”
Rear Admiral Fulmar nodded. “So we’re finally going on the offensive. It’s about time.”
Dylan took a deep breath. “For the first part of our attack, we will divide the fleet into two sections of 250 battlecruisers and 15 dreadnoughts each. The remainder of First Fleet will remain here to protect this star cluster. Each section will be assigned eleven different star systems to retake. Rear Admiral Manson, you will command one section, and Rear Admiral Fulmar will command the second. Even though I will be on the Themis, I will not be active in giving out orders.”
Both men nodded.
“Admirals, I suggest you return to your quarters. You will find a list there of the ships under your command. Get those ships organized and ready to depart at 0800 in the morning. You are dismissed.”
After the admirals left, Dylan leaned back in his chair. It was difficult giving up command but necessary. The Empire needed some well-trained admirals, and this was the only way he knew to accomplish that. What he didn’t tell either rear admiral was, at some time in the future, they would be assigned fleets of their own, separate from First Fleet.
-
Above Golan Four, Rear Admiral Banora prepared to go into hyperspace with Fifth Fleet. She had been told by Vice Admiral Masters that she could not use the particle beam cannons under no condition. Those had to remain a secret, until they were ready to take on larger Confederation fleet units. At the moment Fifth Fleet comprised 512 battlecruisers and 47 dreadnoughts. Every day new ships arrived and were added to the fleet.
“Take us into hyperspace,” ordered Audrey. It felt strange not to have the admiral on board. She had a list of eight priority targets to retake. She also had a massive number of supply ships with her to build new defensive grids. Time to push the Confederation out of the Human Empire.
-
Audrey drew in a deep breath as Fifth Fleet dropped out of hyperspace above the Human inhabited world of Macron Three, a densely populated world with considerable heavy industry. It also had two large shipyards in orbit, as well as three space stations used for trade and to handle the system’s large asteroid mining operation.
“Detecting ten Morphene battlecruisers and one battleship,” reported Major Keela Nower. “All are in low orbit above the planet.”
Audrey nodded. “Target them with fusion energy beams and fire!” She couldn’t use fusion or antimatter missiles, as they might hit the planet.
The eleven Morphene warships turned toward the inbound fleet of Imperial vessels. They began firing fusion and antimatter missiles as they were firing away from the planet. However, their screens were already glowing brightly from the impact of hundreds of fusion energy beams. A few of the screens wavered, and holes formed. Suddenly one of the Morphene battlecruisers blew apart, followed seconds later by a second and then a third.
“Close the range,” ordered Audrey, her focus on the main viewscreen. “Let’s end this quickly.” She grimaced as she saw one of her battlecruiser’s screens overloaded. It then vanished in a massive burst of light. When the light faded, the battlecruiser was gone. She shuddered, thinking about the lives lost. This was the first time when people had died under her direct command.
On the main viewscreen, two more Morphene battlecruisers exploded in massive fireb
alls, which quickly vanished in the vacuum of space. Almost instantly the remaining Morphene warships entered hyperspace and vanished. The battle was over.
Audrey let out a deep sigh. Her first trial by fire was over. “Take us into orbit and contact the planetary government. Tell them we will place a defensive grid in orbit and will leave a few battlecruisers and a dreadnought. If they want the protection to remain, they need to consider rejoining the Empire.”
It had been decided to be more forceful in getting planets to come back into the Empire. They could still refuse, but, if they did, all defenses would be withdrawn to be used around worlds that did want to join.
-
Rear Admiral Fulmar winced, as the Themis shook violently. They were facing a larger-than-expected Confederation fleet, consisting of nearly forty Druin warships. He had already lost three battlecruisers but had both an advantage in numbers and firepower. Rather than pull back and conserve his fleet, he had decided to destroy this Druin force, so it could not reinforce any of the other worlds he was supposed to free.
On the main viewscreen, a Druin battleship was lit up by weapons fire. Its energy screen glowed brighter and brighter, and already a few holes could be seen in the screen. Suddenly an antimatter missile darted through one of the holes and detonated against the ship’s hull. Moments later the shield failed completely, and more missiles turned the warship into a small brightly glowing nova.
The battle lasted for a few more minutes, with the Druins finally withdrawing. Out of their original fleet of forty warships only eighteen escaped.
“What were our losses?” asked Rear Admiral Fulmar.
“Four battlecruisers and one dreadnought,” replied Lieutenant Casella from the sensor console.
Fulmar nodded. While he hated losing any ships and their crews, they had destroyed twenty-two Druin warships. By any degree of measure, this was a sizable victory.
“Put us into orbit above the planet and contact the planetary governor. We have some business to discuss.”
The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire Page 7