by Lee Guo
Orbital Station Meerlat-01
Command Room…
“Ah, Admiral? They’re changing formation!” the ensign called out. “And they’re firing—something!”
“What?” Vier’s tone was now exasperated. Her mood, on the other hand, had hit the floor. Five minutes ago, she’d just been informed that her stepsister hadn’t made it to an evacuation shuttle and would remain on the planet. What would happen when the aliens took over the planet, she would never know. What the hell did the aliens want with the planet? It was only a minor colony with a bare industrial base. There were thousands of these planets all across the frontier sphere of the United Federation. If they wanted a planet like this, they could have easily picked any number of frontier worlds, but they had chosen hers.
“Ah,” the sensor lieutenant said. “I really don’t know what they are, Admiral. They look like long range kinetic kill slugs but they adjust course and accelerate. But there’s no known physical mechanism that is applying force to them. My sensors say absolutely squash about their inner workings. It’s like they’re made of things from a different universe.”
“God damn it,” Vier whispered, then she spoke louder, “Well, what do you know about them?”
“They can accelerate like a normal missile or torpedo, except at a faster rate. That’s all I know, Admiral.”
“Let the targeting computer assign their designations as missiles, then,” Vier suggested. “And I want to hear everything you know as soon as you find out more about them.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Vier turned towards her second in command. “Well, captain? Options?”
“Because of their current speed and acceleration, it’s too late now to turn tail and run,” Shenks replied. “Very few of our ships will make it out alive. Still, it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever be able to defeat that force. Just the size comparison alone is enough to hammer us to pieces. Their total tonnage outweighs us by ninety to one, including this space station. I suggest we make the best out of the situation and take out as many of them as we can.”
“I know.” Vier rested her elbows on her armrests. “It’s like we’re fighting monsters from another kardashev scale. We’ll need an absolute miracle if we’re going to win against that.” She shook her head. This wasn’t the right mentality to confront this thing. She had fought bad odds before, but never this bad. What were the chances that these aliens had a weakness she could exploit? If both societies were alien to each other, there was a slight chance, however dim, that these aliens could not overcome human technology. Yet, if they could make hyperspace emergence chasms this big, it was damn unlikely they could be beaten technologically.
But as long as there was a chance, she was willing to fight. It was in her training and her upbringing to fight with all she had. Hell, she would fight even if there weren’t a chance.
“Admiral, need I remind you that it was you who said ‘there is no greater test of a person’s courage than death?’ “
“I was quoting Knopsky,” Vier whispered. “A crazy martyr who happened to fulfill a role in history.”
“We are fulfilling that role now, Admiral. We made first contact.”
“Lucky us,” Vier grumbled. “Lieutenant Seetch, I want two volleys of missiles consisting of about six hundred each sent out on an intercept trajectory right now. They are to impact the enemy fleet the moment they enter range of our disruptors. I want to saturate their defenses with our missiles and disruptors. However, keep the vast majority of our missiles in reserve. The purpose of this is to test their defenses before I send out all our missiles.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the weapons controller replied.
“Browder, I want you to tell the warship squadron to stay in formation and wait for my order before moving. Our station’s disruptors outrange the cannons on those warships after all.”
“And the Tachyon net, ma’am?”
“Keep it shifting. I don’t want them to blast our sensors out of the blue.”
Browder nodded, then turned back to his station.
Vier pressed a button on her chair. “CAG, you hear me?”
“I hear you, Admiral,” Captain Mike Michio’s voice answered. “Fighters are on the way.”
“I want the fighters to enter combat range of the enemy fleet at the same time that missile group B intercepts it.”
“Missile group B is the five thousand missiles you’re keeping in reserve?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. What about those weird looking enemy missiles?”
“We’ll take them out when they come at us. Keep the fighters safe. I want those hypernukes on target.”
“Yes, ma’am. Anything else I can do for you?”
“Tell Lieutenant Akiko I’m sorry I got us into this mess.”
“Yes, ma’am. She’ll hear it after the battle.”
“Goodbye, Mike.”
“Goodbye.” Mike closed the channel.
For a moment, Vier stared in a stony silence at the main viewscreen. Then she let out a sigh and went back to work.
Supreme Battlecruiser Usha'Tera
Bridge of Light…
Hal-Dorat Al-rim sat coldly in his control tank, eyeing the Pra who had just fired off several thousand primitive missiles at his fleet.
It was nothing. Those missiles, apparently propelled by gravity drives, would probably do nothing against his shields, much less his armor.
His missiles, on the other hand, would be entirely different. They would harm the Kavic out of those Pra.
“Lance commanders, maintain formation. We will destroy the Pra and propel the Great Commander to new heights.”
Battlespace…
In the deadly coldness of space, two thousand multi-dimensional particle torpedoes of the Ga Empire dove relentlessly towards their targets. Armed with the human equivalent of 30 gigatons of TNT on each torpedo, they sped through space quicker than any human warship or missile. Their space-skipping drive kept the human tachyon sensor system completely befuddled. Numerous human sensor nets lost track of the torpedoes while others fixated on sensor ghosts. When the torpedoes entered range of the humans’ nadion disruptors, those same human disruptors fired at the torpedoes. The torpedoes began the alien equivalent of erratic maneuvers. Their space-skipping drive made them impossible to hit. The beams from those human disruptors missed entirely, taking out nothing. The alien torpedoes continued on course, heading towards the human warships making up the humans’ inner defense sphere. A large number of those torpedoes also aimed for the space station where Vier Kleingelt commanded the system’s defense.
Orbital Station Meerlat-01
Command Room…
“Our disruptors are having no effect!” the sensor ensign called out in the station’s command center. “Those alien missiles are coming at us as if they’re sensor ghosts or something! Not a single one got taken out so far!”
“Damn!” Vier smacked her armrest. She couldn’t understand it. What type of technology was this? Why hadn't they met this type of alien race so far? Where had the aliens come from? If they were this powerful... “ETA on those alien missiles?”
“Twenty minutes! They’re fast, Admiral!”
“Open up the point defense slots on all our ships. Get the point defense platforms out as well!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
She couldn’t believe that her disruptors were having no effect. Nadion disruptors were the fleet’s highest form of phased nanopulse disruption technology. It had been in use and perfected over the past century. In the Orion Wars, those disruptors won numerous battles. But if they didn’t work here—what did that say about human technology overall? Human weapon technology centered around phased nanopulses, so much that the human battle doctrine was built around it. The last century had seen a lot of new developments in weapons technology, but nothing compared to the innovations in nanopulses.
Vier sighed and rested her head back on her headrest. She tried to tune out the busy voices
all around her. There were dozens of officers and ratings within the command center. She tried not to think about all the data being displayed on each holographic monitor. She concentrated on what she knew already.
Nadion disruptors had no effect on their missiles. The next step was to test how well her point defense gravitron layer and lasers would do against those same missiles. Gravitron technology was different from phased nanopulse in that they used gravity instead of dimensional physics to inflict damage. Gravitron technology had been in use for as long as humans could attain the speed of light. Gravity propulsion was the basic method of sublight propulsion.
Vier bit her lips. It could be said that gravity propulsion was the first step in every space society’s development. So what did that say about how effective her gravity cannons would be against a society that had already made phased nanopulse weaponry obsolete?
The thought made her cringe.
There was no other choice but to test how well her gravitron cannons would do. As for lasers, she had no idea... Of course, if neither of these worked, there’d be nothing to stop those missiles from impacting her shields and armor. And God knew how effective those defenses would do against that...
She gazed over at the central battlemap. The data showed that throughout the human fleet, all twenty-six human warships, including the orbital space station, were just now opening up their PD gravitron cannon layers. That meant that thousands of tiny gravity emitting slots angled towards the incoming alien torpedoes. Additionally, hundreds of PD laser platforms also spat out from the human warships. These platforms could move at fast sublight speeds all by themselves. They also targeted the incoming alien missiles.
Then, she eyed those alien missiles on the battlemap. Undazzled by the new human weaponry, they continued shifting in erratic patterns, still causing chaos to her sensor systems. And their speed was increasing to 0.8c, as if they were aiming for the kill.
“My God, those are kinetic kill speeds,” Captain Shenks mouthed as he hovered over a monitoring station.
Vier glanced at her friend. It saddened Vier to see him in such a state of surprise. Usually, Shenks could get the best of anything. Vier felt the same type of emotion herself, complete bewilderment. If her disruptors couldn’t take out those missiles, what could? She hoped for the best. “ETA?”
“Fifteen minutes, ma’am,” the sensor ensign replied.
Shenks turned to face her. “Admiral, let’s start evasive patterns on our warships, maybe we can lose them to space if we move our ships fast enough. Those missiles can’t possibly have the acceleration to change their fast trajectory that agilely.”
“Agreed.” Vier nodded. “But there’s no hope for us.”
“Yes.” Shenks nodded with her. “We’ll have to take the blow on at full force.”
Five minutes later, Vier stared at the battlemap as the two thousand alien missiles entered the laser range of the human PD laser platforms. The lasers had a longer range than the gravitron cannons, so the lasers would be the first to be tested.
“Lasers firing, ma’am!”
There was nothing to see on the battlemap. Light beams could not be displayed on the main map. She could only imagine and hope that they hit the alien missiles and took some out.
Then minutes later, the command center of the orbital space station was in utter silence. Crewmen everywhere looked dazed. Confusion spread throughout the ranks. There was definitely something wrong. No doubt about that. A sickening feeling spread inside Vier’s guts. What had happened out there? “How many did we take out?”
“Uh...” Sensor Officer Fredericks answered, “Sensors read...twelve less missiles... Ma’am.”
“Our lasers only took out twelve?” Vier asked, exasperated. What the god-devil were these missiles? What type of technology did these aliens have?
“Sensors confirmed twenty laser hits registered. But only twelve of them damaged the missiles enough to force them off course. The other eight are still on course, ma’am.”
“They’re unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Shenks added.
Vier gulped. She couldn’t believe it. That was it for the PD laser platforms. The PD laser platforms were useless now, they were out of range of the alien missiles. The next layer of defense were her warship’s PD gravity beams. She only hoped they’d take out more. “ETA to impact?”
“Five minutes, ma’am.”
All things considered, she couldn’t even fantasize what types of warheads those alien missiles actually had on them. But even if they didn’t have warheads, the kinetic speeds on those missiles were enough to severely damage her ships and her space station—if they could get a direct hit. There was a slight chance that her warships could evade those extremely fast missiles. Not so much for her space station, nor the one thousand crewmembers on it.
The sickening feeling in her stomach now radiated throughout her body. Her palms were sweat coated as she gulped. Things didn’t look good. Not good at all.
Two minutes passed. The alien missiles entered range of her warships’ gravity beams. She watched as her warships fired their gravity cannons. Unlike laser beams, these darts of gravity could be observed using tachyon sensors. As a result, she could see hundreds of thousands of gravity altering ‘particles’ speed towards the alien missiles on the main battlemap. She knew for a fact that anything within one hundred meters of any of these particles experienced gravity up to 100,000 Gs’. Against normal matter, they bent and distorted most objects until they were crushed by the sudden acceleration.
However, they didn’t affect these alien missiles. For some reason, the alien missiles didn’t get hit. They didn’t waver. It was as if these gravity altering particles, despite being a deadly force against conventional warships, only passed through the alien torpedoes. Most of the alien missiles continued as if nothing had happened.
“Damage?” Vier asked.
“Six...Sixty, ma’am. We’re still firing.”
Sixty enemy missiles gone? That was—Nothing. There were still 1900 alien missiles left. In a conventional battle, the PD gravity cannons could take out at least half of the enemy missiles, as long as the enemy missiles were human made. This was nothing like it. She couldn’t understand what type of technology could make these missiles porous enough to actually be able to speed through the gravity particles without taking damage. Any type of matter, whether it was energy or solid duranium, would be warped by passing through 100 meters of those particles. She couldn’t understand it. It bedazzled her. It sent her mind into a tailspin.
She eyed the defense station. There was only one last layer of defense left...Well, two. The gravity shields of the warships and the space station she was on, and also the armor on her ships. And she didn’t have much hope for that...
Battlespace…
In the hazardous zone of battlespace, the remaining Ga torpedoes passed through the last effective human PD layer and headed on at full speed—nearly 0.9c —towards the warships and the space station. All human combatants powered on their gravity shields already, emitting a layer of defense around each vessel that warped time and space. Additionally, the human warships began jinking in every direction to shake off the alien targeting systems or at least prevent those torpedoes from making a direct hit. No one on board the human warships knew if their jinking was fast enough to evade the acceleration and aiming on those torpedoes.
Probably not.
The alien torpedoes smashed into the human warships at relativistic speeds.
The shields on the warships splattered with gravity over one million Gs. Time and space bent around the warships in a cacophony of destruction. At the same time, the neutronic charges on those Ga torpedoes detonated, adding to their kinetic fury. The power of those torpedoes penetrated the layers of gravity shielding, down into the hull of the warships themselves. Warship hulls bent and shattered. Thousands of able bodied humans died in an instant.
Orbital Station Meerlat-01
Command Room…
/> The shaking did not stop. The vibrations shattered her favorite teacup. But that was the least of her worries. A throbbing headache filled her brain, and the only salvation was the fact that she could still think, that her thoughts were of substance, meaning she was still alive. “S-Status?” Vier gripped her command chair. She didn’t know if her voice could be heard through the groaning in the command center of the space station.
The screams didn’t stop.
“Help me!” someone called from far away.
Everywhere in the room, holographic displays flickered.
“Status?” Vier yelled.
“Hull integrity…” a barely conscious lieutenant called back. “Intact! Significant damage to outer hull. Grav shields gone! Nobody in the outer hull is alive—Ma’am.”
Shit! Vier flinched. At least it made sense. At least the damage was real, even if the alien missiles were ghosts to her countermeasures. “Life signs?” she yelled. She was glad that every crewmember on board a human starship wore a life tracker system that sent signals about their body to a central computer.
“About... five hundred alive and green with only minor injuries. Two hundred in critical condition. Three hundred... dead!”
“Is the command and control computer still running?”
“Just a second...Yes, ma’am. We can still read our units on the battlefield, ma’am.”
“Good,” Vier whispered. About the only good news so far. “Tell the reserve five thousand missiles to head forward, now!”
“Yes, Admiral!”
“Ma’am! Admiral!” someone yelled from behind her.
Vier turned around and then her face blanked. She stared.
Laid before her were the body parts of Captain Shenks, bloodied and splattered across the ground. A gigantic piece of equipment was on his torso.