Dylan nodded. The construction site was well over a kilometer across. Parts of it were complete, and missile launchers and small defensive turrets were already visible, where they had already been installed. Around the perimeter, a ten-meter-high wall—with guard towers every one hundred meters—provided extra security.
“We’ll have nearly one thousand Marines stationed on the perimeter of each PDC,” Governor Bloom informed Dylan and Rear Admiral Fulmar. “If it comes down to fighting on the ground, we’ll be ready.”
Dylan saw formations of Marines performing drills. “I’m expecting a major battle to be fought over this moon,” said Dylan. “I’ve made arrangements to add at least four more ODPs.”
“What size fleet will we have to help defend us?” asked the governor worriedly.
“All seven of your major worlds are building warships. I want at least ten dreadnoughts and one hundred battlecruisers assigned permanently to your defense, once we have the ships available. I would also like to see five thousand attack interceptors ready to deploy as well.”
Governor Bloom nodded. “We’re building them ourselves. But, in order to have that many and the crews to fly them, it’ll take three more months at least.”
Dylan had suspected this. “I’ll see if I can get some interceptors and crews from some of the other worlds. I’ll make it plain that I expect the main battle to be above Gideon.”
Governor Bloom frowned. She knew the importance Gideon would play in the admiral’s plans to defend the star cluster. She just hoped her people would be safe.
Dylan looked down at the PDC one last time. “Let’s go inspect the main base. We may spend most of the afternoon there, as I want to do an inspection on the ground.”
Dylan leaned back in his seat, as the aircar turned and headed north. He wondered how much time they had before the Morag had the Confederation back under control. No doubt once that was done, they would launch a full-scale attack against the Empire.
-
It took nearly an hour to reach the massive base sitting on the north pole of the moon. As they neared the base, Dylan was taken aback by its pure size. The base stretched out over one hundred kilometers. The landscape was dotted with defensive turrets, massive fusion energy cannons, and hundreds of missile launchers.
As they flew over the base, Dylan looked down and saw the gigantic reinforced hangars that held several thousand attack interceptors. He saw many more under construction. Above the base several full squadrons of attack interceptors underwent flight training.
“We have four flight schools continuously in session,” explained Governor Bloom. “Once we land, I’ll have General Flynn explain everything in more detail.”
The aircar descended and soon approached a small landing field. As soon as Dylan stepped from the aircar, a military band began playing the Imperial March, and several hundred Marines were lined up in parade formation. Dylan paused, surprised, and, upon seeing the small line of officers in front of the assembled Marines, headed straight toward them. He stopped in front of them and saluted, being saluted back in return.
“You have a fine group of Marines here,” commented Dylan, smiling.
“This is General Flynn,” introduced Governor Bloom, gesturing toward the most decorated officer.
“General, it’s good to meet you. If you don’t mind, I would like to take a tour of your base.”
Flynn nodded. “I would be delighted to show you around. We’ve accomplished a lot these last few months. We have construction across the base going nonstop throughout the day and night. If you will follow me, we have some vehicles waiting.”
-
For the next several hours they drove around the base, inspecting weapon turrets, missile launchers, and one of the massive fusion energy beam cannons that could reach up into space. Finally they stopped at one of the large reinforced hangars that housed a full squadron of attack interceptors.
-
Dylan walked over and put his hand on one of the interceptors. He saw a young pilot standing nervously nearby. “How does she fly?” he asked, looking at the pilot and smiling.
“Great, sir,” he stammered.
“Don’t be nervous, son,” Dylan said, reaching out and putting his hand on the pilot’s shoulder. “We need you pilots. Learn everything you can because what you do is very important to the Empire.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the pilot a little less nervously.
Dylan stopped and talked to a few mechanics and a few other pilots, as they walked through the hangar. He was surprised how well trained everyone was and how young some of them were.
“Let’s go to the Command Center,” suggested General Flynn.
-
The Command Center was located one thousand meters beneath the ground. As they stepped inside, Dylan was surprised at how large it was. Hundreds of viewscreens revealed areas from across the base as well as the moon.
“From here we can monitor the entire star system,” General Flynn informed Dylan. “We are tied in with the main Command Center on Tantula Five, and we can cross-coordinate, if we need to.”
They walked around the Command Center, stopping occasionally to talk to some of the hundreds of officers operating the control consoles.
“I’m impressed,” commented Dylan, as they finished the tour. “You’ve made more progress than I could have hoped for.”
“We recognize the danger,” replied General Flynn. “If the Confederation comes here, I don’t intend to lose the battle.”
Dylan smiled. “I believe that. I will promise you this. If the Confederation comes here, I’ll be close by with my fleet, and you can count on that.”
-
Later, as Rear Admiral Fulmar and Dylan flew back up to the Themis, Dylan turned toward Fulmar. “What do you think?”
“I was amazed at what all they have accomplished. If they have time to finish everything, this moon will be a death trap for any Confederation fleet that attacks it.”
Dylan didn’t reply. No one knew he was setting up the Hagen Star Cluster to stop the Confederation cold. The cluster would be the site of the biggest and deadliest battles. He just hoped most of the cluster survived.
-
All across the Empire, Confederation ships and small patrol fleets were pulling back to the Confederation to put down the unrest sweeping over so many Confederation-controlled worlds.
On numerous Human planets, they looked up into the sky and noticed the Confederation warships were gone. Many wondered what had happened. Also a strong demand came across many worlds to join the Empire, as they did not want to fall under Confederation control again.
-
On Golan Four an emergency meeting was held of the Imperial Council. They were discussing the sudden influx of messages from worlds requesting immediate admittance to the Empire.
“In the last two days we’ve received nearly two hundred requests from worlds wanting to join the Empire,” reported Admiral Marloo. “We believe it’s a direct result of the Confederation’s withdrawal.”
“But we know that withdrawal is not permanent,” said Governor Elaina Dreel of Glimmer. “Eventually the Confederation will return.”
Admiral Marloo nodded. “We have, at the most, two to three months to prepare for that. But how can we refuse these worlds?”
“In three months’ time, what size fleet will we have?” asked Governor Gregory Staley of Aquilla Three.
“Over 4,000 ships,” answered Marloo. “The Resistance fleet will also be up to around 1,500 ships, though many of their vessels will be lighter units.”
“This presents a quandary,” said Governor Able Marsk of Lamora Seven. “While we want to greatly expand the Empire, there is no way we can defend that many additional worlds.”
“I may have a solution,” said Fleet Admiral Marloo. “What if we only defend those worlds on the side of the Empire nearest Confederation space? We know the Confederation will have to fight its way through our defenses just to get to the core
worlds. It will be almost impossible for them to go around the Hagen Star Cluster. It will present too large of a danger for them, if they attempt to bypass it. Admiral Cleemorl has placed extremely heavy defenses throughout the cluster. There’s a chance the Confederation will not get through them.”
Several of the Governors nodded. “So, you’re suggesting we leave the worlds on the far side of the Empire on their own and responsible for their own defenses?”
“Oh, we’ll help them. But we won’t focus most of our resources there. On the side of the Empire nearest the Confederation, we need to make it a death trap for any Confederation forces that come back into the Empire.”
“We have much work ahead of us,” said Chancellor Stein. “Every day that passes, the actual war comes closer. We must do everything we can to expand the Empire and to prepare for that day.”
Everyone nodded. All were determined that the Confederation would never regain control of their worlds.
-
High Princess Layla sat in the Royal Court, along with Krista and Andrew. For the last several weeks, during the afternoon, civilians were allowed to come into the Royal Court to address the Royal Family and, in some cases, to express their grievances. They were currently speaking to a family of four, who were concerned about all the funds being spent on the war effort.
“We could be doing so much for ourselves if not for the war,” said the man. “Is there no chance for peace talks with the Confederation?”
“I don’t want to die,” said the daughter, who looked to be a young teenager.
Layla smiled. “You are not going to die. I won’t let that happen.” She then turned toward the father. “More worlds are joining the Empire every day, making us stronger. Soon we will have more resources available that can be used to help everyone. As far as peace talks with the Confederation, they are not interested. The Morag are only interested in galactic domination, and we are in their way. With a little luck this war will not last much longer.”
“I hope not,” responded the mother, holding an infant in her arms. “I want a safe world for my children to grow up in.”
“And we are working hard so that they will have that,” replied Layla. “I promise.”
This seemed to satisfy the parents, as they thanked Layla for her time and then turned to leave.
“Just a moment,” said Andrew. From the look of the family, they were very poor. He stood and, reaching into his pocket, took out a couple one-hundred-credit notes. “Take this and find someplace nice to eat with your family tonight.”
The wife took the money, with trembling hands. “Thank you.” She then handed it to her husband, who carefully placed it in his pocket.
Layla watched as the family left the Royal Court. “So very nice. I wish I would have thought of that.”
“I’m amazed we still have so many poor people living on Golan Four,” commented Krista. “How can that be?”
Layla shook her head. “I’ll speak to Chancellor Stein about this. This may be something the Palace wants to get involved in.”
“Helping the poor is always good publicity,” said Andrew.
“I’m not worried about publicity,” replied Layla. “I just want to make sure we have no children on this planet going without food or proper clothing. Did you notice the pants the father had on? They had been mended a number of times. I suspect the clothes the children wore were hand-me-downs.”
Krista nodded, as she thought about how packed with clothes her closets were. She had gowns she had only worn once since she had purchased them.
“We need to see how widespread this is,” said Layla. The meetings with the public were over for the day.
“You do realize that not long ago the Confederation still had control of Golan Four,” said Andrew. “We may be seeing in this family the results of that.”
Layla nodded. Andrew was probably right. She would arrange for someone in her staff to check on this family. If they needed more help, she would arrange for it. It was the least she could do.
Chapter Ten
Councilor Ardon Reull was on Lormallia, which was the Lormallians homeworld. He was currently meeting with the Lormallian Ruling Triad, explaining his actions and what he had learned about the Morag.
“We’ve been enslaved by the Morag since nearly the very beginning of the founding of the Confederation,” explained Reull. “They have used their telepathic ability to influence and to change our very culture.” Reull slid three small computer disks across the table, one for each member of the Triad. “Study the information on those disks, and you will see what the Morag have done. They have used us for thousands of years to help accomplish their goal of galactic domination. I can guarantee you that everyone in this room has had their minds manipulated by the Morag. They have forced us to do things we thought were our own ideas, but, in reality, they were theirs.”
“There is much anger among our civilian population, since the revelation of the Morag’s telepathic manipulation,” said Mador Angst, the leader of the Triad. “I find it revolting to think that the Morag have been in my mind and that I have been forced to do things I normally would not have done or recommended.”
“Many of our people believe we should go to war against the Morag,” added Serrie Voll. She leaned back and gazed at Councilor Reull for his thoughts. “What do you think?”
Ardon shook his head. “We dare not. I believe the Morag would like nothing more than to move in and to take over our worlds. As long as we don’t move against them, the rest of the Great Council will not support such an action.”
“Even with Morag manipulation?” challenged Birx Storl.
“If the Morag were to make such a move, several of the other races might come over to our side,” explained Ardon. “What I recommend is that we put up defensive grids over our three most populous planets. At the same time we increase our warship construction to the maximum. No doubt a time will come where the Morag will come for both us and the Zang. We should also heavily arm all our space stations and shipyards and make sure they have the most powerful energy shields possible.”
“What about the Zang?” asked Serrie. “What are they doing?”
“They are doing the same. I spoke to the Zang councilor earlier, and he firmly believes that, once the Morag are finished with the Human Empire and Earth, they will send their fleets against us.”
Mador nodded his agreement. “We are too much of a danger, being in the heart of the Confederation. We also have the largest population and the most inhabited worlds. We should sign a mutual defensive pact with the Zang. The two of us standing together might force the Morag to hesitate, before turning their forces against us.”
“Maybe,” replied Ardon, sounding doubtful. “However, I believe someday they will come for us, no matter what we do.”
-
The Triad and Councilor Reull met for several more hours, making plans and deciding how best Ardon could serve the Triad at the Great Council. Finally the meeting ended, and Ardon headed home for a few days’ rest. Then it would be time to return to the Great Council to keep an eye on the Morag.
-
Ardon was up early the next morning. He had a meeting scheduled with several military leaders. So far, no one knew where he was producing the nullifiers. He intended to keep that a secret, until all Lormallian warships were protected, as were all major military and government leaders. The production facilities were also sending modified head and ship units to the Zang as well.
One thing Ardon would recommend was that nullifier units be placed on board all their shipyards and space stations, as well as civilian ships. This would greatly reduce the chance of any Morag-controlled individual from sneaking onto any Lormallian world. One of the side effects of the nullifiers were they canceled any Morag commands already in a person’s mind. Ardon didn’t know if the Morag realized this yet, but it would only be a matter of time before they figured it out.
-
On Morag Prime, the High Council was in
session. This time Councilor Damora was there, as he had a seat on the council, since he was one of the strongest telepaths in the Confederation.
I don’t see the Zang or the Lormallians being a threat to us, he sent, as he took his place at the table. They will be spending months, possibly years, dealing with the unrest on the worlds in their sections of the Confederation.
We are rapidly putting down the unrest in the rest of the Confederation, with the aid of the four races that have sided with us, sent Addonis. Admirals Colane and Torrant estimate it will be six more weeks before all the unrest is brought back under control. We will then place the Morphenes and the Lamothians in charge of seeing that those worlds stay under our control. A few Morag warships with their fleet formations will remain nearby to ensure everything goes smoothly.
What about the Druins and the Zynth? asked Delann.
They are the more aggressive races and enjoy war, replied Addonis. They will take part in the invasion of the Human Empire.
What about the defensive cruisers? asked Brant. Will they be ready by then?
Yes, replied Addonis. We’ll have enough for all our fleets. In addition, the Druins are building drone carriers for their attack drones. Normally the drones are used to protect large installations or observation posts. They will be a good response to the Humans’ small attack craft.
Hiram asked Addonis, How soon before we launch our attack on Human space? The longer we wait, the stronger they become.
Eight weeks. We want the reserve fully activated, as well as many new warships as possible out of our shipyards. Our admirals will roll over the Humans, taking back all their worlds. Those worlds that will not surrender we will destroy. Once we have the Empire firmly back under our control, we will turn our attention to Earth. We will give them a choice of staying inside their small system and living in peace or total annihilation.
We have left the Zang and the Lormallians on the Great Council, said Damora. Is that a wise decision?
While they are two powerful races, their power is insignificant when compared to ours, replied Addonis. Besides, we may find a use for them in the future.
The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire Page 12