Marloo nodded thoughtfully. “I know the Visth are in contact with the Lormallian councilor. Perhaps I could set up a clandestine meeting, and we could discuss some options.”
“I’ll leave that part up to you. In the meantime, I better get busy and start rebuilding this system’s defenses. Fortunately I can get everything I need from the other six primary systems as well as from a few of the larger mining colonies.”
“You fought a great battle,” praised Marloo. “Now let’s just hope we can do the same thing here.”
-
Layla was in the Imperial Palace in her office. She had just been contacted by Governor Dyson of Tantula Five as to the damage suffered on Gideon. From the latest reports, they were estimating the Human losses at over forty million, maybe more. Already rescue personnel and supplies were pouring in from all the other worlds in the star cluster. Layla had also talked briefly with Krista and promised that the Empire would also help rebuild Gideon.
“We’ll be next,” said Andrew, who sat in front of her desk. “Based on the fleet size that hit Gideon, we can expect an attack by up to ten thousand Morag warships.”
“Can we stop that many?”
“Maybe,” replied Andrew. “We’ll take some damage. There will just be way too many missiles flying around.”
“How’s Kala doing?” Layla knew Kala was concerned about the coming attack. Everyone was.
“Same as everyone else. Dreading the coming attack but wishing it were over.”
Layla leaned back, putting her right hand on her desk. “At least Krista, Cheryl, and Dylan are safe. I’m glad Krista finally relented and agreed to go to Tantula Five.”
“Right into the war,” pointed out Andrew.
Layla nodded. “The combined defenses of Tantula Five and Gideon were more than what we have here. Not only that but I trusted Dylan to keep her safe, and we had contingencies in case, if it looked as if the Confederation fleets would win.” Layla had only talked briefly to Krista, though Layla hoped to have a much longer conversation later in the day. She really hated being separated from her cousin and Derrick, who was stuck on board the Destiny. He was so close but still so far away.
-
In the Tantula Five System, Admiral Cleemorl watched as Rear Admiral Carrie and Rear Admiral Krest took their ships into hyperspace. He had replaced all of Rear Admiral Krest’s ships that had been destroyed from his own fleet, to bring her force up to where it was when it had first entered the Tantula System.
Dylan leaned back in his command chair. His ship was back over Tantula Five, where work crews from the shipyards were already busy doing repairs. “What were our final losses?”
Colonel Bidwell shook his head. “They hurt us pretty badly. We still have about a dozen ships that might have to be scrapped. In the battles, we lost 512 battlecruisers and 42 dreadnoughts. That leaves us with an effective force of 838 battlecruisers and 88 dreadnoughts.
“What about Rear Admiral Barnes?”
“She lost 374 battlecruisers and 62 dreadnoughts.”
It was not as bad as it could have been. If the Druins and the Zynth had not retreated, the losses could easily have been double what they were or even worse. The Morag admiral had made a tactical error, and it had cost them the battle.
Dylan wondered if this would delay Earth’s planned attack on the Confederation. He hoped not. When he had the chance, he would speak to Rear Admiral Barnes about that.
-
Morag Fleet Admiral Torrant was fuming. He had already torn his command chair from its mount and tossed it across the Command Center, destroying another console. Everyone stayed out of his way. That fool Norlan may have just cost them this war. He should have known better than to take over the minds of the crews of undamaged ships. If he had chosen heavily damaged ships that would have been destroyed anyway, he might have gotten away with it. Now both the Druin and the Zynth fleets had vanished. There was no doubt in Torrant’s mind that they were on their way back to the Confederation to report on what had happened at Gideon. How soon before Admiral Norlan gets here?
Another thirty hours, answered the navigation officer.
Fleet Admiral Torrent knew that Admiral Norlan still had nearly four thousand warships, though many of them were from the reserve. We will wait until Norlan arrives with his fleet and then attack Golan Four. We will attack in forty hours, and all ships should be ready to enter hyperspace at that time.
Torrant looked at his demolished command chair. Have some techs come in here and repair that, he sent, pointing to the twisted pedestal his command chair once sat on. I’ll be in my quarters. When they attacked, he would put Admiral Norlan in the most dangerous position in the fleet. A fool like that did not deserve to be in command.
-
Everyone watched as the angry fleet admiral left the Command Center. Once he was gone, First Officer Markel summoned some techs to repair the damage.
-
The next day Vice Fleet Admiral Derrick Masters had his fleet in a distant orbit of Golan Four. Derrick had 1,072 battlecruisers and 212 dreadnoughts in his fleet. A few more warships had arrived over the last few days. In addition, Rear Admiral Banora had 1,242 battlecruisers and 210 dreadnoughts. Derrick had combined both fleets into one massive wedge-shaped formation.
In lower orbit, just above the defense grid, hovered Rear Admiral Collison’s fleet. Collison had 1,253 battlecruisers and 242 dreadnoughts.
Derrick gazed at the tactical display, thinking about how this battle would go. Over the last month Prince Andrew had been working himself to death, getting particle beam cannons installed on all the shipyards and space stations. Each shipyard had twenty of the dual cannons and the power systems to handle them. The space stations had ten. Derrick didn’t see how Prince Andrew had managed to get all the cannons installed in time, but he had.
“Rear Admiral Carrie should be here in another few hours,” reported Colonel Bryant. “What will you do with her fleet?”
“Get full complements of attack interceptors on board her battlecarriers and put them and Rear Admiral Krest’s fleet directly behind us. We can stage ground-based interceptors through her bays. We also have the fifteen battlecarriers that came with Rear Admiral Collison. They’ll stay just beneath the defense grid. For the time being, they will be responsible for intercepting any missiles aimed at the surface that gets through the grid.”
On the tactical display, Derrick looked at Golan Four’s massive defense grid, the most powerful one in the Empire. Even more powerful than the ones above Tantula Five and Gideon. Currently Golan Four had 30 ODPs, 3,000 energy platforms, 520 missile platforms, and 20 PDCs. All four space stations were heavily armed and possessed powerful energy shields. The four shipyards have been expanded and were protected by energy shields. In addition large numbers of missile interceptors were based on the planet, and every major city sat inside a ring of energy beam turrets, which were designed to track and to take out incoming missiles. Also 12,000 ground-based attack interceptors were at sixteen bases.
With a deep sigh, Derrick knew they were as ready as they would ever be. If he could not hold back the Morag with the ships and defenses he had available, then the war was lost. One thing did concern him: the rumors that the Morag had a secret weapon that would assure them victory. This rumor had kept him up for several nights over the last week. Whatever that secret weapon was, it had not been used in the Tantula Five System.
“I’ll have Rear Admiral Collison form his fleet into a 10-high line formation and 120 ships long. Once Rear Admiral Krest gets here, I’ll add her ships to Collison’s as a reserve.”
Colonel Bryant nodded. She saw Derrick’s reasoning.
“I’ll let Collison attack independently from different directions. Maybe it will help disrupt the Morag’s fleet formation.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Derrick sat forward in his command chair. Admiral Cleemorl had won his battle and had driven away the Zynth, the Druins, and the Morag. Soon it would
be Derrick’s turn, and he hoped he was just as successful. Derrick’s greatest worry was the sheer amount of Morag ships he might be facing.
-
Several hours passed, and Rear Admiral Carrie’s fleet dropped out of hyperspace. As soon as her fleet was all safely in the system, she received orders from Admiral Masters to take up a position directly behind his wedge-shaped fleet. He would provide her with twenty battlecruisers for protection. Rear Admiral Krest was to take her fleet and join Rear Admiral Collison’s fleet.
“Put us behind Admiral Masters’ fleet,” ordered Rear Admiral Carrie. She saw the fifteen Earth battlecarriers, sitting just behind an ODP and behind the defensive grid that surrounded Golan Four. “Rear Admiral Krest will be taking her fleet to reinforce Rear Admiral Collison. Have our escorts that Fleet Admiral Masters is furnishing us form up into a lose globe around our battlecarriers.”
It didn’t take long for her fleet to be in position. “We will have some attack interceptors coming up from the surface.” She looked over at Major Sullivan. “See that the crews get settled in. I would also like to run a few practice drills, to remind them what landing and taking off from a battlecarrier is like.”
As soon as she contacted the surface and informed the commanding officer of the interceptors that the fleet was ready to receive, numerous squadrons of attack interceptors launched from the surface to fill the bays of her battlecarriers. She still had nearly half of her original squadrons and two-thirds of her pilots and crews.
“Get those interceptors in as soon as possible,” she ordered, as she watched them land on her battlecarriers. “Get them familiar with the ship and assign them to quarters. We probably still have twelve to sixteen hours before the Morag attack. I would like to do several practice drills in that time period.”
“Yes, Admiral,” replied Major Sullivan. “I’ll get it taken care of immediately. I want them to get some food and rest as well. Once this battle starts, rest and time to eat will be a thing of the past.”
Carrie needed to speak to Admiral Masters, and then she would go do the same. A good eight hours of sleep and then a good meal and she would be ready for what was ahead. At least she hoped she would be.
-
Layla paced in her quarters. She had just finished talking to Krista, and it looked as if Krista and the others were safe. It had been the right decision to send them to Tantula Five, where Admiral Cleemorl was. Layla was ready to go to bed and knew there was a chance she might be awoken in the middle of the night and rushed to the protective bunker deep beneath the Palace. Colonel Emerson stood ready with an escort of Imperial Guards to get her into the underground bunker as soon as confirmed reports of the Morag’s arrival reached him.
Sitting on a sofa, Layla couldn’t help but think about Derrick. He was about to put himself in the greatest danger of his career. She felt a cold chill run down her back, knowing there was a good chance she might not ever see him again. With a deep sigh, she knew this would be a long and sleepless night.
-
Hours later in the underground Command Center, Fleet Admiral Marloo had just returned from getting some sleep. Sitting down in his command chair, he looked up at all the viewscreens and tactical displays, showing views from all the core worlds. Everything was still quiet, but he knew that would probably change in the next few hours.
Looking at the main tactical display, he took note of the fleet dispositions that Derrick had made. It didn’t look to him as if Derrick planned on fighting a defensive battle. His fleets were set up to attack.
“It won’t be too much longer,” commented Colonel Marst, who was in charge of Golan Four’s 12,000 attack interceptors. “Do you think they’ll attack both us and Meta at the same time?”
Admiral Marloo shook his head. “No, I think they learned their lesson in the Tantula Five System. They’ll come straight for Golan Four. They know, if they can destroy our home planet, it will make a huge difference in the war.”
Colonel Marst nodded, as he turned and sat down in front of his command console, where four other officers were.
On one viewscreen was a view of the Imperial Palace. It looked grand in the early morning light. Marloo hoped it was still there when all this was over.
Suddenly an alarm sounded on the main sensor console. Looking up at the tactical display that showed the entire star system, half a dozen red threat icons appeared.
“They’re scanning us,” reported Colonel Adams from the sensor console. “Detecting two Morag battleships and four battlecruisers.”
Ten Human ships from Fifth Fleet suddenly vanished to appear in combat range of the Morag ships. There was a brief exchange of weapons fire, and then the Morag vessels made the transition back into hyperspace.
“Take all commands to Condition Two,” ordered Fleet Admiral Marloo. It would probably be a few minutes or longer before the main Morag force jumped in. They would want to go over the scans made by their warships before committing themselves to battle. “Send a message to Colonel Emerson that we’ve gone to Condition Two, and he’s to get the High Princess and Prince Andrew to the deep underground bunker beneath the Palace. Make sure you get a confirmation that the message was received.”
Leaning back in his command chair, Admiral Marloo had most of the viewscreens changed to show views of Golan Four’s magnificent cities. Nearly 28 percent of the population were in underground bunkers. Another 20 percent had been evacuated to mountainous regions. Nearly 22 percent had their own personal shelters beneath or near their homes. Another 17 percent of the planet’s population lived in rural areas. That left about 13 percent still in the cities and unprotected. Those people would be directed to building basements and large underground storage facilities.
Marloo knew that alarms already sounded in all the cities and across the planet. Marloo saw a few aircars, fleeing into the countryside. Probably people who had waited until the last minute to leave their homes. His gaze returned to the main tactical display. All he could do now was wait.
-
Layla was awakened when Colonel Emerson burst into her bedroom. He had passwords where he could override the door locks on every suite in the Royal living quarters of the Palace.
“Get up and get dressed,” said Emerson. “Morag scout ships have already jumped into the outer regions of the system. Fleet Admiral Marloo expects the main Morag force to appear at any time.”
Layla sat up and nodded. “Get everyone else in the Palace ready to evacuate. I’ll be ready in just a few minutes.”
Emerson nodded and hurriedly left Layla’s bedroom to get Prince Andrew and the others still in the Palace ready to evacuate.
Once the colonel was gone, Layla got out of bed. She had already laid out her clothes, so it wouldn’t take long to get ready. She was surprised when Emira came in.
“Even in an emergency, you must look like the High Princess. I have several attendants on the way to help.”
Layla started to object but saw the determined look in Emira’s eyes. “Okay, but we need to hurry.”
Emira grinned. “I’ve been helping Royals get ready in emergencies before. Sit down, and let’s start with your hair.” Even as Emira spoke, two more female attendants rushed in.
-
Thirty minutes later Layla was ready. She wore a modest gown, as she stepped out into the corridor to find an anxious Colonel Emerson.
“The others are on their way to the bunker,” said Emerson. “We must hurry.”
“Have the energy shields been raised over the Palace and the surrounding grounds?” Layla knew these shields were very powerful, particularly the one protecting the Imperial Palace.
Emerson nodded. “They’re up, and no one can get in or out. The Marines have taken up positions throughout the Imperial Palace grounds and the surrounding area. They do have small bunkers they can go to if necessary. All the Imperial Guards will be responsible for protecting the Palace itself, as well as the tunnel to the underground bunker. We better get going.”
<
br /> Layla, Emira, the two attendants, and the four Imperial Guards with Colonel Emerson all followed him. They took an elevator to the lower level far beneath the ground, where the Imperial bunker was located.
-
As they stepped into the bunker, Layla was surprised by its appearance. The corridors were carpeted and had modest lighting. Andrew and Kala were already there, waiting for her.
Kala laughed. “Even in an emergency you have to look like a High Princess.”
Layla felt a little embarrassed but nodded. “Emira insisted.”
“Let me show you to your quarters,” said Colonel Emerson. “Then we can go to the bunker’s Command Center, where you can keep track of what’s happening on the surface, as well as in space.”
-
Admiral Masters was watching the tactical display when the sensor alarms sounded, and thousands of red threat icons appeared fifty thousand kilometers away from Golan Four.
“Confirmed Morag warships,” reported Major Nower calmly. “Four thousand and increasing.”
Derrick nodded. The battle for the Empire was about to begin, and this was a battle he could not afford to lose.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Morag Fleet Admiral Torrant gazed at the tactical display, showing his fleet of slightly over 15,000 warships. At the heart of his formation were 50 truly massive vessels. Each was three thousand meters in length and was classified as a Conqueror class battleship. Each had three times the firepower of a normal battleship, with heavier weapons and energy shields. With these, Torrant planned on destroying the Human homeworld.
All ships are here, reported First Officer Markel.
Torrant nodded. We will form up into one fleet of ten thousand with the fifty Conquerors and a second fleet of five thousand. This will prevent the Humans from focusing on just one of our fleets and force them to divide their forces. I want both fleets in cone formations and ready to engage the Humans in twenty minutes.
-
Admiral Masters gazed at the ship on the main viewscreen, a monstrosity. If it was as powerful as it looked, it would be a problem. “We’ll need to hit those with our particle beams and accelerator cannons. I don’t know if anything else has a chance of penetrating those screens.”
The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire Page 30