Defying the Prophet: A Military Space Opera (The Sentience Trilogy Book 2)

by Gibson Michaels

  Now it appeared Diamond’s prayers were finally being answered. Diamond smiled to himself as he remembered the rousing cheers that erupted amongst his crew, when he was finally able to announce they had received orders to relocate to the Nork system. There, they were to take up position astern of the single Yankee attack carrier in orbit there, in preparation for combat operations. Ghost was tasked with taking out all three of the Yankee carriers, beginning with the big boy, as quickly as possible. Diamond only hoped they’d be able to get all three of those carriers, before they could launch very many fighters to throw against the Confederate fleet, whose emergence would trigger his carrier attacks. He’d guarantee that big attack carrier in front of him, sure as hell, wouldn’t be launching any.

  * * * *

  The Planetoid Discol, City of Waston

  August, 3862

  Admirals Campbell and Bradley had a problem. Bat Masterson’s amazing sixth-sense had been uncannily accurate on virtually everything he’d prophesied so far. Now he’d given them Kalis’ next target: Nork. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a damned thing they could do with the information. They couldn’t strip one planet of its defenses to reinforce another, without some kind of definitive, physical reasons to show for it. They couldn’t be seen shifting fleet units around, based only on some lowly commander’s supposed psychic voodoo abilities... regardless of how accurate he’d been in the past. If Bat missed just once, and Kalis attacked where they had just pulled the Fleet defenses out of, they could both kiss their careers goodbye.

  Both recognized the irony in their own hypocrisy. They both found Bat’s candidness in telling the brass the unmitigated truth, without regard to how it might negatively affect his career, to be very refreshing, yet they now found their own career-enhancement filters kicking in, to quash any actions that might be taken to make use of it. No, there would be no help for the task force at Nork, if that was really where Kalis was going. Life was definitely a bitch, sometimes.

  * * * *

  The Planet Slithin, Raknii Region-4

  Xlan, Prince of the Empire and Supreme-Master Xior’s eldest son, sat reclining amongst a set of exquisitely embroidered pillows atop an equally exquisite couch. Xlan thought of all the disagreements he’d had with his father, and of the communications barrier that had grown up between them. Xlan didn’t hate his father — he pitied him. Xlan just couldn’t understand his father’s proclivity towards the old ways.

  No progress can be made while looking backwards.

  Things were different now. How could they not be? Advances in science and technology made it completely illogical for the leader of the entire race to cling to superstitions and legends originating thousands of cycles past, before the Rak even discovered the means to escape their home world. It was no wonder Glan, Region-Master of Region-3, was his father’s best childhood friend. Glan and his blues were every bit as hide-bound as Xior.

  Xlan was on an extended visit to all of the various region-masters' households, but he had tarried long here at the home of his best friend Erig, who lay insensible on the floor at his feet. Erig was the eldest son of Region-Master Blug, and therefore of more than sufficient rank to associate with a Prince of the Empire. Blug and Erig both embraced all of the modern philosophies — a refreshing change from the “stepping forward, but looking behind” ways of Xior and his friend Glan.

  Xlan thought he may have discovered some commonality between his views and those of Harf, Region-Master of the reds of Region-2, but who really knew what Harf actually thought about anything? Harf was a political animal, whose public opinions shifted with every variation in the current political winds. Xlan wondered if Harf actually had any real convictions, or if he merely agreed with the opinions of the High-Rak around him on any given day. If so, Harf certainly couldn’t be counted on as a true progressive.

  Blug, on the other paw, was a modernist visionary — a true progressive in every sense of the word. It was no wonder that Xlan felt so at home here in Region-4, with Blug’s greens. Xlan knew he’d soon have to move on and visit the browns of Region-5. Region-Master Olin was relatively young, so Xlan hoped to find him having a firm progressive bent as well.

  Xior was healthy and still in his prime, but he certainly wouldn’t live forever. As Xior’s eldest, Xlan fully expected to succeed his father as Supreme-Master some day — and when he did, he’d sweep away the last vestiges of religious superstition and public worship of the ancient Raknii deity Dol, and all the rest of “the old ways.”

  The Dolrak would always be necessary, of course, as it was only through their hypnotics had the Raknii been able to curb the bestial natures that predominated in their males. Some few Raknii males eventually developed sufficient mental controls to enable them to function within the boundaries of society without hypnotics. But for the vast majority, Xlan seriously doubted the hypnotically enforced rank system could have been implemented without them.

  But Xlan didn’t see the hypnotics as a gift from an ancient Raknii god, but recognized them as just another application of science. The Dolrak would become less priestesses to a superstition, but secular practitioners of a science, very much like modern healers, after Xlan ascended to the Raknii throne. Therefore Xlan thought it prudent that he personally visit all of the region-master’s households, to learn of them and determine who would be a natural ally, who a natural enemy and who would need manipulating. So far, Xlan had found one of each.

  While Erig snored lustily, Xlan groomed his immaculate white fur, as he had been born with the same imperial markings as his father. By all outward appearances, one might have thought Xlan was almost as inebriated as Erig, but this particular evening Xlan had intentionally lowered his normal indulgence in the exotic intoxicants, which he and Erig regularly imbibed so abundantly on most other nights.

  Xlan had seen something odd… a fleeting glimpse of someone dressed all in black, but far too large to be a female Dolrak, for whom those colors were reserved, and it had given him a chill. Xlan had certainly heard all of the old dam’s tales — every Raknii cub had. Although he couldn’t be sure exactly what it was he’d seen, the experience gave Xlan pause. Enough pause that he masked the fact that most of his drinks that evening ended up in the planter beside him, instead of inside him.

  A jeweled lesser-fang blade covered in purest gold rested beneath the pillow at his right hand. Thus it was that when the assassin came, it was the OverMaster’s eyes that widened in total surprised when Xlan suddenly moved unexpectedly, shoving the sharp golden blade violently between his ribs. Xlan looked down at the black-clad body, lying on the floor next to the slumbering Erig, with its strange onyx and diamond sunburst rank-stone.

  So it’s true... they really do exist!

  Xlan hurriedly used his blade to carve the dead OverMaster’s rank-stone from his forehead and slipped it into his pocket. He then stripped the black silks off the body and hid them under his bedding, as he and Erig had been drinking and sharing stories in Xlan’s quarters. He then wiped the blade’s handle and placed the bloody fang-blade into Erig’s unconscious hand. He hefted the heavy body over the balcony, where it landed with a hollow thud amongst the wickedly thorned fang bushes, three stories below.

  Tomorrow, the body would be found and a very confused Erig hailed as a hero. Regardless of his inability to remember any details of the event, it would be obvious to everyone that Erig had somehow thwarted an assassin, strangely dressed only in small clothes, from harming the Prince. Most would obviously question the missing rank-stone carved from the assassin’s forehead, but that, too, would remain a mystery.

  Xlan considered the implications of such an assassination attempt. Only his father could have possibly dispatched an OverMaster, so Xlan was now warned. Why had his father sent an assassin to kill him? What could possibly have happened that had changed the mere philosophical differences between them into something the supreme-master decided required ending Xlan’s life?

  Fortunately for Xlan, the assassin had mad
e a mistake. He’d become over confident in his rank-stone’s ability to make him invisible to all those around him. By Xlan’s coloring, he really should have suspected. Like his father, Xlan was rogue.

  * * * *

  Chapter-8

  War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want. -- Major General William Tecumseh Sherman

  The Planet Nork

  September, 3862

  The bridge crew of CSS Ghost had their standing orders and, within seconds of receiving the “go” signal, buried within the Nork City media network holovision broadcast, the armored door to one of her two primary launch tubes slid open and a single preprogrammed 400 millisecond fire-control scan gave the heavy yield, ship-killer missile its target, and it leaped away towards the stern tubes of the massive Union attack carrier that Ghost had been shadowing for several days.

  The Confederate Infiltrator then closed her missile tube door, immediately reoriented and raced away on her revolutionary gravitic drive, boosting herself into a higher orbit and began the chase of the light carrier in front of her, at the maximum speed she could make without achieving escape velocity and leaving orbit altogether. A massive explosion ripped through the attack carrier’s stern, destroying her engine and reactor compartments, depriving the great ship of power.

  Strangely, the Yankees must have already been at high alert status, as the first light carrier had already managed to get six fighters launched by the time Ghost made it into ideal attack position and shot her last big ship-killer missile directly up that carrier’s stern tubes, as well. An alert destroyer crewman somehow evidently spotted this second missile, as it seemingly appeared out of nowhere, as it left Ghost’s launch tube. But, as they were unable to get any kind of scan-lock on whatever had fired the missile, their own missiles were useless. It took mere seconds before the destroyer began blind-firing her twin 5-gigawatt pulse lasers into the area where the ship-killer missile mysteriously originated.

  But Ghost was no longer where she had been, as Captain Diamond again sent Ghost racing towards the third Federal carrier. With the task force’s flagship suddenly without power, the Union’s command and control structure was temporarily broken, as it would take precious time for a Federal cruiser to respond to the Union admiral’s battery-powered comm signal, so the admiral’s flag could be transferred to another ship still having power.

  * * * *

  The Planet Tensee

  September, 3862

  Confederate Admiral Eileen Thorn transitioned most of her fleet a mere 30 light-seconds out from Tensee and began launching her Raptors and Lightnings immediately, as her fleet barreled in towards the planet at their maximum normal space speed. The startled Yankees were sluggish, as it was mid-sleep period for most of their crews. Vice Admiral Carlos’ apparent disregard for any possibility of being attacked had radiated down his chain-of-command and reduced their response capabilities considerably. Within 18 minutes, all 725 of Thorn’s Confederate fighters were screaming in on the single battle-ready Union task force and the flotilla of damaged ships they shepherded.

  Again, just as Chris Rawley had surprised Loggins on the first day of 2nd Tensee, Thorn’s fighters were amongst Carlos’ task force before most could even get their pants on. Carlos’ flagship, the attack carrier USS Valley Forge, was the first to receive a massive barrage of anti-ship missiles from Thorn’s 350 Demon fighters, outfitted in an attack configuration and fully loaded with anti-ship missiles. Thorn’s 375 Raptors raked the bridges of both of the Federal light carriers with charged-particle beam projector fire, as they awaited the Union’s fighter response. Having blasted the stern of Carlos’ flagship into a flaming ruin, the Confederate Demons swung around and headed back to their carriers at top speed for rearmament.

  Thorn’s Raptors employed ECM and popped thermal flares to escape the few anti-fighter missiles fired from the Yankee’s escort ships, as they dived down to meet the first of the Federal Cobra in-system Planetary Guard fighters struggling to climb out of the planet’s atmosphere. The Federals hadn’t waited to get all of their fighters launched, but climbed towards the battle in squadron strength from multiple bases on the planet’s surface. At a 2:1 numerical disadvantage in total fighters already, these small clumps of rising, green-piloted Cobra squadrons were decimated by Thorn’s veterans, coming down at them in overwhelming numbers.

  As soon as the Confederate fleet came within maximum anti-ship missile range, a fire-suppression salvo of long range missiles was launched, followed by a second, and then a third, as fast as their auto-loaders could cycle new missiles into place. The Union task force came apart, as the missile barrage from three times their number was also accompanied by the incredible firepower of eight converted missile-battleships, and a massive energy weapons barrage from CSS Defiant. Defiant was the single battleship which had not completed missile conversion yet, but had had her engines, fire-control and scan equipments thoroughly updated.

  * * * *

  The Planet Nork

  September, 3862

  Ghost finished off the third Federal carrier, with all four of her medium-yield, anti-ship missiles disappearing up her drive tubes from directly astern. This one managed to get 47 of her 65 fighters launched before the Tydlich Bundesgenosse Gespenster… the Lethal Confederate Ghost, took her out of the fight. Captain Diamond wished that he’d been able to get them all sooner, but a mere 53 Federal fighters should prove no problem against Kalis’ almost 700.

  Diamond’s orders had been emphatic, with no room for interpretation. With her part of the battle concluded, Diamond reluctantly turned Ghost away from the Union fleet and accelerated away from the battle, lest she inadvertently be caught in the crossfire by units of both sides, neither of which could detect she was there.

  God, I love this ship! Diamond thought. I just wish she could carry a few more of those big ship-killer missiles.

  Diamond and his small crew felt utterly invincible in this little Infiltrator and somehow, taking three Federal carriers out of the battle single-handedly just didn’t seem quite enough, in such a target-rich environment. He determined to find the words to get whoever had engineered this marvel to come out with a bigger version, capable of carrying a LOT more ship-killer missiles, in his after-action report. The long range high-yield missiles weren’t really necessary, as Ghost had to get close enough to her target before firing that there was no time for ECM to be employed against her surprise attacks.

  Could a new type of specially-designed short range, high-yield ship-killer missile be made small enough that these beauties could carry more of them?

  * * * *

  The Planet Tensee

  September, 3862

  Thorn lost only 36 fighters in taking out the Union’s meager fighter contingent they managed to get launched against her. With such a gross disparity in firepower and the loss of their fighter cover, not a single Yankee ship escaped the system before the hopelessly outgunned Federals surrendered.

  Thorn then summoned her transports awaiting word at the designated rendezvous point, just outside the solar system, and began negotiations with the commander of the Alliance Fleet Marine contingent down on the surface of Tensee, advising him as to the full extent of the hopelessness of his situation. 16-gigawatt pulse lasers from real battleships did terrible things to the human body, and pretty much anything else that got in the way of those massive plasma bolts — and Thorn had nine of them. By the time Thorn’s transports carrying 25,000 Confederate Marines finally arrived, Union Marine General Maxwell Klinghoffer wisely decided the mere postponement of the inevitable was insufficient reason to throw away the lives of his 50,000 Fleet Marines.

  Klinghoffer was understandably bitter at the incredible ineptitude shown by the Alliance Fleet in general, and Vice Admiral Marin Carlos in particular. Instead of focusing upon the defense of Tensee, Loggins and Carlos had both spread their assets much too thin, letting two-thirds of their strength go to waste, for the dubious purpose
of blockading Missip, Arka and Souri, where Thorn could pick them off piecemeal at her leisure… just as she had retaken Tensee.

  * * * *

  The Planet Nork

  September, 3862

  Confederate Fleet Admiral Kalis’ 345 Raptors had no difficulties in disposing of the 53 Raptors that managed to launch from the Federal carriers, nor the mere 97 in-system Cobras that lifted for battle. Kalis lost only 37 of his fighters in the melee, as his pilots were veterans of multiple battles, while the Federal pilots had very few actual combat veterans among them. Some things just couldn’t be learned in a simulator.

  Kalis’ ships used evasive action and ECM to avoid much of the missile and pulse-laser fire coming from Nork’s orbital forts, as they maneuvered to cut off the outnumbered Federal ships that were scattering in all directions. As this attack wasn’t intended to reduce the planet’s defenses in preparation for an invasion, Kalis’ ships merely tried to avoid the orbital forts as much as possible. His Demon fighters caught and mauled the heavily outnumbered Yankee ships who tried to use the planet as cover to escape behind it, in a course that was intended to take them as far away as possible from the incoming full Confederate fleet.