Dylan considered what Manson proposed. “I might just do that. Between her fleet and mine, we might hold out until your fleets get here.”
“We’ll be waiting for your call,” said Fulmar. “Jump coordinates are already being entered into the fleet’s navigation computers.”
“Same here,” added Manson. “Call and we’ll be there as soon as possible.”
After Dylan finished speaking to the rear admirals, he put in a call to the two governors. He informed them of the impending attack and that they needed to take any precautions they could to protect their people. When finished with the governors, Dylan spent nearly an hour talking to General Flynn. It was essential that Dylan lure the enemy fleets above the huge PDC on the north pole of Gideon. General Flynn was convinced his huge fusion cannons could cause considerable damage.
“Get them above the base, and I’ll destroy their fleet,” boasted the general.
“I’ll get them there,” promised Dylan. “I’ll do my part, and you can do yours. Maybe between the two of us, we can save this system.”
-
Dylan had his fleet poised above Tantula Five, waiting. Rear Admiral Carrie and her fleet had arrived twenty minutes earlier. Her dreadnoughts and battlecruisers surrounded her battlecarriers. Along with Rear Admiral Carrie, Rear Admiral Glenda Krest had brought along the remains of her fleet. Both fleets combined consisted of 25 dreadnoughts, 113 battlecruisers, and 20 battlecarriers, each carrying 160 attack interceptors.
Dylan stood in front of his command console, watching the tactical display. There had been no reports from any other world in the cluster of any signs of Confederation fleets. All this indicated to Dylan was that the target was, indeed, the Tantula System. Taking a deep breath, he made an important decision.
“Contact Rear Admirals Fulmar and Manson,” he ordered. “I want their fleets here as soon as possible. I’m now convinced the target is the Tantula System.” Dylan wanted his entire fleet present before he engaged the enemy. If he had to send them back, he could. All the primary worlds of the cluster had massive defense grids around them and should hold out until the fleets returned.
-
Nearly twenty minutes passed, and suddenly the tactical display lit up with red threat icons. At the same time alarms and red lights sounded on the sensor console.
“Confirmed Confederation ships,” reported Lieutenant Casella. “I have over six thousand so far, and more are still exiting hyperspace. Distance is four million kilometers.”
“That’s a long way out,” commented Colonel Bidwell.
“They’re being cautious,” answered Dylan, as he eyed the tactical display. “They want to take detailed scans before they attack. They know from Zynth scans that this system is very strongly held. No doubt they want to see if there have been any changes.”
“Admiral, Rear Admiral Fulmar’s fleet is dropping from hyperspace,” reported Casella. “Distance is two hundred thousand kilometers.”
“Communications, order Rear Admiral Fulmar to join his fleet up with ours.” Dylan gazed at the tactical display. No matter what, he would be heavily outnumbered.
-
For the next ten minutes Rear Admiral Fulmar’s fleet formed up on the right flank of First Fleet. During this time more Confederation ships still dropped from hyperspace.
“Admiral, Rear Admiral Manson is here,” reported Colonel Bidwell, sounding relieved. “His fleet is only forty thousand kilometers distant.”
Dylan was glad the last part of his fleet had arrived. “Have Rear Admiral Manson form up on our left flank.” Dylan was pleased that he now had the entire First Fleet at his disposal, plus the ships of Rear Admiral Carrie and Rear Admiral Krest.
Leaning forward, Dylan activated the ship-to-ship comm link that would put him in voice contact with all his ships. “This is Admiral Cleemorl. The Confederation ships have arrived, and battle is imminent. We are facing nearly nine thousand enemy warships. However, this star system is held nearly as strongly as Golan Four. We have thousands of attack interceptors and massive ground and orbital defenses. Today is a day that will long be remembered in the history of the Human Empire. It will be the day we stopped the invasion of the Empire and crushed the enemy fleets. All dreadnoughts have permission to use your particle beam cannons. Let’s see how big a surprise they will be to the enemy. For the Empire and victory!”
-
Morag Admiral Norlan was surprised at the number of ships he faced. Nearly 1,700 Human ships orbited Tantula Five. Also scans revealed defenses the likes of which he had never seen before.
Which do we attack first? asked First Officer Kenold.
We will split our fleet, replied Admiral Norlan. We will take our four thousand ships and attack Gideon. While we attack the moon, the Druins and the Zynth will attack Tantula Five. That will pin down this fleet while we destroy Gideon. Once Gideon is finished, we will return here and finish off Tantula Five. We will bombard the surface of both Tantula Five and Gideon, erasing any signs of Human civilization.
Admiral Norlan then used his telepathy to inform the other two admirals of his decision. He also placed a few mental commands in the back of their more primitive minds to ensure they did exactly what he wanted.
-
Druin Admiral Falorr and Zynth Admiral Donlur had joined their fleets together and advanced on Tantula Five. On the viewscreen, a large Human fleet blocked their path to the planet. “How many ships do we face?” This was by far the largest Human fleet Falorr had ever confronted.
“Nearly 1,700 Human ships are in that formation,” reported the sensor officer. “I’m also detecting twenty of the Human attack interceptor carriers.”
This did not surprise Admiral Falorr. He had expected that. Fortunately he had twenty drone carriers in his fleet. He still had a nearly three-to-one advantage in warships. “We will advance and engage the Human fleet and annihilate it. Once the fleet is destroyed, we will move forward and engage the planet’s defenses. While the defenses are engaged, the drones will move in to bombard the planet.”
“A good plan,” commented Falorr’s First Officer Dagor. “When should we launch the drones?”
“As soon as the Humans launch their attack interceptors. I want them destroyed.”
-
Dylan watched the tactical display, as the combined Druin and Zynth fleets advanced.
“We’ve identified twenty vessels that might be drone carriers,” reported Colonel Bidwell. “Should we order Rear Admiral Carrie to launch her interceptors?”
Dylan shook his head. “Contact the interceptor bases on the planet and tell them to launch. I want all three thousand of those interceptors in orbit as soon as possible.” Once the battle started, he would rotate the ground-based interceptors through the bays of the battlecarriers to be refueled and rearmed. It would be much quicker than sending them back to their planetary bases.
“Orders sent,” reported Lieutenant Newsome from Communications.
-
On the planet in the huge reinforced hangars that held the attack interceptors, ground crews began the process of rolling them out. The crews had been standing next to their ships for nearly two hours, waiting for the enemy fleets to show up. In rapid succession, squadron after squadron took off and accelerated toward space and the waiting fleets. All knew that a good part of them might not be coming back. Into the crystal-clear sky the squadrons formed and then headed upward toward their waiting destiny.
-
“Human interceptor launch from the planet has been detected,” warned Falorr’s First Officer Dagor. “Six hundred and still rising.”
Druin Admiral Falorr frowned at hearing this. “Launch the drones. They are to stay near their carriers until needed. I also want to know how many Human interceptors are launched from the planet.”
-
Several more minutes passed, and First Officer Dagor turned toward Admiral Falorr, with a look of concern on his face. “Scans detect slightly over three thousand ground-base
d Human attack interceptors. They are taking up positions near the Human battlecarriers.”
“Seven minutes to attack range,” reported the sensor officer. “Human ships are not moving. They are in a line formation, facing us. The line is 10 ships high and 170 ships long. All their dreadnoughts are in the center of the line formation. No reserves other than these warships protecting the battlecarriers.”
Admiral Falorr nodded. The formation the Humans were in could easily be broken, and, once it was, their defense would fall apart. His own ships were in a wedge formation, with the point of the wedge facing the center of the Human fleet. His battleships and the Zynth battleships were scattered throughout the formation to give better coverage of weapons fire.
Looking at the viewscreens, he saw the Human dreadnoughts and battlecruisers lined up to take on his fleet. “As soon as we open fire, send our drones to attack the Human battlecarriers. I suspect they will send out all their attack interceptors to stop our drone attack. That will give us the opportunity to destroy the Human small attack craft.” Falorr felt confident the Druin drones were far superior to the Human attack interceptors.
-
In space, the two large fleets drew closer. The Human fleet was unmoving, forcing the Druins and the Zynth to come toward it. In orbit, all sixteen ODPs, two thousand energy beam satellites, and three hundred missile platforms prepared to fire. In addition all three space stations were heavily armed and protected by energy shields, and the greatly expanded shipyard was also heavily armed with an active energy shield. On the surface of the planet, missile interceptors, energy beam turrets, and the twelve ground-based PDCs were ready to fire.
-
As the fleets neared combat range, the Human ships moved forward. A stationary object was just too easy to hit.
“All dreadnoughts are to target enemy battleships with their particle beam cannons,” ordered Dylan. He was anxious to see the effects of the beams on the enemy energy shields. If they worked as predicted, the enemy was about to get a major surprise. Dylan felt his heart pounding in his chest, as he waited to see the results of their opening attack.
“Thirty seconds to weapons range,” reported Casella. “Detecting power buildups in the enemy ships. They’re getting ready to fire!”
Dylan keyed the ship-to-ship comm. “All ships prepare to fire. Hit them with everything we have. I want a full wave of antimatter missiles going in, as well as the new particle beam cannons. Cannons are to fire as quickly and as often as possible.”
“Weapons range!” called out Casella.
“Fire!” ordered Dylan, his focus on the enemy battleships. Suddenly the entire front of the Druin and Zynth formation erupted in bright explosions. Light-violet beams slashed out from the fleet’s dreadnoughts. The beams struck the screens of the enemy battleships, causing them to flare up brightly, and then they were through. Massive explosions rocked over one hundred battleships, ripping massive holes in their sides. Many of the ships’ energy shields failed, making them vulnerable to missile attack. All across the front of the enemy wedge formation, ships were dying.
Druin and Zynth battleships careened out of control, as huge holes were blasted from one side of the ship to the other. Massive explosions threatened to tear apart the ships, as numerous compartments were ripped open to the vacuum of space. Emergency bulkheads slammed shut, and damage control teams raced to control the damage, but it was already too late. Their power failed, as too many power couplings had been destroyed. The energy shields protecting the ships failed, and, when they did, a fusion or antimatter missile arrived, vaporizing huge sections of the ships. In less than thirty seconds, the enemy lost over one hundred of their prized battleships, and the particle beam fire continued, as the beams could be fired three times per minute.
Dylan was stunned by the damage from the particle beams. However, the enemy fleet far outnumbered his own ships, and now vessels in his fleet were dying. A few dreadnoughts and a larger number of battlecruisers were blown apart from the intense and dangerous weapons fire. On the viewscreens, both fleets were lit up by the intense weapons fire.
“Pull us back closer to the defense grid and the ODPs,” ordered Dylan. “We’ll need their firepower.” Even with the particle cannons, he was still losing too many ships.
“Admiral, the Druin drones are going around our fleet to attack Rear Admiral Carrie!” reported Colonel Bidwell worriedly.
Dylan looked at the tactical display, seeing that was true. Already the three thousand attack interceptors launched from the planet were moving out to intercept the incoming drones. At the same time Carrie was in full launch mode, as entire squadrons of interceptors spewed out of the launch bays of her battlecarriers. This battle was about to get much more intense.
-
On board the battlecarrier Orion, Mathew was busy giving out orders to the squadrons, as they moved to intercept the Druin drones. The drones were about 40 percent larger than an interceptor.
“We don’t know their maneuverability,” said Mathew to all his pilots. “We know they are equipped with fusion energy beams and fusion and antimatter missiles. Squadrons are to use maximum dispersal to keep losses down, in case the drones use their missiles. Squadrons are to attack in pairs. I believe we will have superior maneuverability. Use that against them. All squadrons, you are free to engage.” Mathew leaned back in his chair, keeping his gaze on the two tactical displays above his console. There were also four small viewscreens, which showed views from some of the interceptors. It was almost like being in the pilot’s seat. Even so, Mathew wished he were out there with his squadrons, instead of safely inside the Command Center of a battlecarrier.
-
In space, the two groups closed and then met in combat. As Mathew had suggested, the interceptors did have an edge in maneuverability, but the drones’ fusion energy beams were more powerful, as well as their energy shields. The shield protected the entire drone. In the opening moments of the dogfight, it was evident the drones had a tactical advantage over the interceptors, as the drones’ fusion energy beams blasted the interceptors from space. Bright fireballs littered space, as Human interceptors in the dozens died.
“Damn!” uttered Mathew. The AIs controlling the drones demonstrated superior targeting as well. “All interceptors, switch from your fusion cannons to missiles. We must knock down those shields.” Each interceptor carried four small missiles with fusion warheads.
Suddenly large explosions went off in the drone formation. It soon became clear that a single fusion explosion could bring down a drone’s shield. Now the dogfight changed, as the drones were outnumbered by the Human attack interceptors. Suddenly large numbers of drones were destroyed. The only question was if the interceptors could destroy enough of the drones before they ran out of missiles.
“How many drones remain?” asked Mathew, as he watched the tactical displays.
“Twenty-two hundred and seven,” answered Captain Anderson, who was watching the dogfight on the main screens. Explosions and flashes of light were everywhere.
Mathew nodded. His interceptors had enough missiles, if they used them carefully. “All interceptors, the missiles are effective. Use them sparingly.” Mathew winced as he saw the icons of several more interceptors swell up and vanish. The drones were still destroying interceptors on a steady basis.
-
In space, a massive dogfight ensued as the two sides tried to destroy the other. Human fusion missiles knocked down drone energy shields, and then the interceptors would use fusion energy beam fire to finish off the drone. The drones were in turn using their more powerful fusion energy beams to knock down the forward shield on the interceptors and then using their beams to blow apart the interceptors.
Human pilots were swerving and throwing their interceptors into wild movements in attempts to avoid the beams. The Druin drones were not as maneuverable and were trying to bully their way through the Human squadrons to attack the battlecarriers.
-
Dr
uin Admiral Falorr grew frustrated, as the losses to his drones grew. “Order the drones to use some of their missiles to blast a path through those Human interceptors.” Even as he gave the order, he felt his flagship shake, as several antimatter missiles detonated against its energy shield.
“The Human fleet is moving back toward the planet’s defensive grid,” reported First Officer Dagor.
This concerned Falorr, as scans of the grid showed the strongest one they had ever faced over any Human world. He wished now that Admiral Norlan had not split the fleet.
-
Admiral Cleemorl grimaced every time one of his ships was destroyed. His losses were mounting, but so were the Druins’ and the Zynths’. He felt confident that, once he reached the defensive grid, the battle would be more than even.
“We’ll reach the defensive grid in two minutes,” reported Colonel Bidwell. The fleet was moving backward at a very slow speed, as they wanted to inflict as much damage as possible on the enemy fleets before they began firing on the grid.
On the viewscreen, the dreadnought Indomitable was under heavy fire. Its energy screen flared up brighter and brighter.
“Order the Indomitable to pull back behind the fleet,” ordered Dylan. He knew, if the dreadnought did not do so immediately, it was in danger of being destroyed.
-
On board the Indomitable, smoke was everywhere, as the air circulation system was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of damage the ship now took.
Captain Vidmann Dorn was doing everything he could to save his ship. “Can we pull back?”
“Sir, the sublight drive is down,” reported the executive officer. “The chief engineer reports at least forty minutes to repair. Energy shield is wavering, and we have a lot of bleed through coming through the shield”.
“What about our maneuvering thrusters?”
“Some are still functional.”
“Then use them to move us back. The fleet is falling back toward the defense grid, and, in another few minutes, we’ll be out here by ourselves.”
The Indomitable shook violently, as the lights dimmed and then brightened. More red lights appeared on the damage control console.
The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire Page 24