Move the fleet forward. Engage the enemy. A food world is waiting to be harvested.
-
The forward Vorn battleships and cruisers surged toward the incoming Zumwald fleet. Suddenly, from all six thousand defending warships, missile hatches slid open, and hyperspace missiles launched. Only these were not any old missiles; these were the two-hundred-megaton dark matter missiles of the Lakiams. The Zumwald fleet coordinated their firing in squadrons of ten ships each. All ten ships fired their missiles at just one Vorn vessel.
Across the front of the forward Vorn formation, dark matter explosions suddenly blossomed. As soon as the missiles detonated, every Zumwald ship fired their heavy energy projectors and direct energy cannons. Seeking gaps in the Vorn shields.
Under the punishing attack of the dark matter missiles, 318 Vorn shields collapsed, releasing their stored energy. The Vorn ships beneath the shields simply ceased to exist as they were vaporized by the massive amounts of energy that struck their armored hulls. Other ships’ shields fluctuated as they nearly overloaded leaving gaps in the shields.
Direct energy cannon fire from a Zumwald squadron slammed into the main part of a Vorn battleship, setting off massive explosions and hurling glowing debris into space. The beams played across the vessel, tearing it open until it finally blew apart.
Fire from a squadron’s heavy energy projectors struck the aft section of a spindle-shaped cruiser, and debris drifted away from the ship. A dark matter missile arrived, and the ship vanished in a novalike explosion. When it cleared, all that remained were a few small pieces of glowing wreckage.
Another dark matter missile slammed into the stern of a battleship, and the vessel vanished in a fiery explosion. High Protector Vormalt’s fleet pressed the attack, taking advantage of these first few moments of the battle.
Before the Vorn could respond to this unexpected missile assault, a second wave of dark matter missiles was released.
-
Prince Brollen stared in shock at the carnage delivered to the front echelon of his fleet. What type of missiles are those? He already had a suspicion, but he wanted confirmation.
Dark matter, replied Military Leader Gallet.
Our ships are returning fire, added Military Leader Ansolk.
Use our sensors. Search for ships from food species 236. Brollen knew they were the only food species with these deadly missiles. Somehow they had gotten their missiles to this isolated Protector World, and now the Vorn fleet was paying for it.
Suddenly alarms sounded on the sensor console as more explosions ravaged his fleet. From above and below his fleet, dark matter hypermissiles slammed into his ships.
Where are those missiles coming from? Prince Brollen watched the viewscreens as dark matter explosions ripped into the top and bottom part of the main Vorn fleet formation. Other ships had to be out there where the sensors failed to find them.
Sensor contacts, reported the Vorn at the sensor console. Confirmed two additional enemy fleets. Ships from both food species 236 and 111 detected. They were using sensor-dampening fields to hide from our scans.
Prince Brollen’s twin antenna quivered as several thousand new red threat icons appeared on the tactical display.
Return fire, he ordered frantically as hundreds of green icons representing Vorn ships vanished from the tactical display. He was dismayed to find fleets from these two food species here at this Protector World. Both of these worlds had defeated Vorn fleets in the past.
-
Captain Callast drew in a deep breath. It was time. The Vorn were focused on the three-pronged attack ravaging their fleet. They would not be expecting an attack from the rear. “All ships advance. Prepare to fire on my command.” Callast was curious. The battlecruisers he had with him all had the new kinetic energy cannons. They had been furnished with special rounds from the Glaymons. While not as powerful as the ones the Humans used, they were still supposed to be capable of taking out a Vorn warship with one strike.
Callast watched as they neared optimum range. His battlecruisers were screening the thirty Glaymon disk ships in the heart of his small fleet’s cylindrical formation. “Fire!”
Each Lakiam battlecruiser fired a kinetic energy round. Almost instantly they struck their targets. The rounds detonated with a force of nearly one thousand megatons. Vorn energy screens instantly collapsed, ripping apart or vaporizing the ships they were supposed to protect. Into the chaos that had just struck the rear of the Vorn formation, Captain Callast took his fleet. His ships were aimed at the heart of the enemy formation and the motherships waiting within.
-
Prince Brollen’s eyes opened wide in sudden fear when he saw the newest ships attacking the rear of his formation. On the main viewscreen, a ship of the ancient race was visible. The one-thousand-meter disk ship was aimed at the center of his fleet.
Ships of the ancient race, reported Military Leader Gallet.
Ansolk was busy directing the ships of the Vorn fleet as they responded to this unexpected multiple attack.
Brollen watched as the small fleet to the rear of his fleet intermixed with Vorn ships as they penetrated the fleet formation. Summon Military Commander Vasterus. He’s to attack the small fleet in the rear of our formation. Those ships are to be destroyed at all costs!
Prince Brollen was annoyed. Why had the two food species—who had defeated him in the past—and the ancient race decided to intervene so far from their home sector? Gazing at a viewscreen, he saw a Vorn battleship explode as it was stuck by a weapon from one of the battlecruisers penetrating his formation. Why are those ships entering our formation? Don’t they know we will destroy them? It made no tactical sense. Once Vasterus arrived and hit the small enemy fleet from the rear, their doom would be sealed.
Military Leader Gallet looked uneasily at Prince Brollen. That small fleet has set a course toward the center of our formation. I believe they plan to target our motherships.
Prince Brollen stepped back, his focus on Gallet. They will never make it. We will destroy them before they can reach us. Brollen looked at the nearest tactical display. Surely his fleet could destroy those vessels. There was no way they could make it deep enough into the fleet’s formation to threaten the motherships.
-
High Protector Vormalt groaned as the Vorn returned fire. Across his formation, ships died as they succumbed to the Vorn black antimatter beams. True, the shields were holding up better, and the few black energy spheres the Destroyers of Worlds had used had no effect on his ships’ shields. Still the Zumwald fleet was vastly outnumbered.
“We are destroying their ships!” reported Caatler as a Vorn cruiser died under the fire of the Dawn’s Light and the squadron supporting her.
Vormalt took a moment to study the tactical display. They were destroying some Vorn vessels, but now the Vorn counterattack was taking out a large number of Zumwald warships.
“High Protector, look at the viewscreens.”
The upper and lower levels of the massive Vorn fleet seemed to be on fire. A fire which was steadily growing and burning. Vormalt knew two sections of the Alliance fleet were attacking there.
Alarms suddenly sounded as more red threat icons appeared behind the Vorn fleet.
“Two thousand more battleships and six thousand Vorn cruisers,” reported Fabold breathlessly.
“They’re trying to pin in Captain Callast,” Caatler said, his eyes flushed with concern. “They’ll never be able to pull back and escape.”
Vormalt let out a deep sigh. “Captain Callast does not intend to return. He goes to destroy the Vorn.”
-
Captain Callast felt the Destonn shake violently. The lights blinked once and then returned to normal.
“Multiple black antimatter beams have hit us as well as small antimatter missiles,” reported Fabold.
“The new kinetic energy cannon is working as predicted,” added Danall with a pleased look from Tactical. “Each round is taking out a Vorn ship.”<
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Callast looked at Fabold. “What about Captain Latimeer’s ships?”
“Untouched,” Fabold answered. “Our battlecruisers are preventing the Vorn from targeting them, at least for now.”
Callast nodded. His ships had their energy screens extended to maximum, creating a shield around the Glaymon ships at the center of the formation. That wouldn’t last much longer as he was losing some of his battlecruisers. Even with the new improved shields and weapons, just too much weapons fire was impacting the shields of his ships.
Captain Callast gazed at a viewscreen as several Vorn black antimatter beams penetrated the weakened shield of a battlecruiser, wrecking the bow of the ship. An antimatter missile arrived, annihilating the warship in a fiery explosion.
“How many battlecruisers have we lost?”
“Thirty-seven and a number of others have been damaged,” answered Fabold. “The Vorn weapons fire will soon be able to strike the Glaymon ships.”
“Nothing we can do about that for now,” Callast answered as the Destonn shook slightly from weapons fire impacting the ship’s energy shield again.
“Captain, the second Vorn fleet that just jumped in, its battleships are entering the Vorn formation in pursuit of our fleet,” added Fabold worriedly. “They will reach us shortly.”
The Destonn suddenly shook violently, and Callast was nearly thrown from his command chair. The safety harness holding him in place dug painfully into his skin.
“Black antimatter beam penetrated our energy screen,” Fabold reported.
“We have damage on several decks,” added the damage control officer. “We lost two defensive energy turrets and one direct energy projector. Fires are under control.”
“Energy screen is down to 72 percent and recharging,” reported Danall.
Callast took a deep breath. “Keep firing. We must reach those motherships.” Callast feared they might not as the viewscreens were lit up with Vorn weapons fire.
-
Prince Brollen watched the tactical display intently. The fleet that had attacked his ships from the rear was penetrating deeper into his formation. However, the deeper the enemy went, the more Vorn ships there were that could bring their weapons to bear. Not only that, but Military Commander Vasterus had almost caught up to the enemy, and Vasterus’s two thousand battleships would make short work of their vessels. Not even the disk ships of the ancient race would be able to withstand such firepower.
Computer projections indicate we will defeat the fleets opposing us, though our losses will be far more than those originally projected, Military Leader Gallet reported.
The food species fleet in front of us is pulling back toward the planet, Military Leader Ansolk added. They are still firing dark matter missiles at us, but we are now destroying far more of their ships than what we are losing. Our superior weapons and energy screens are beginning to make a difference.
Brollen looked at the viewscreens. Space was constantly lit up by the thousands of explosions going off. Energy beam weapons were being fired, and occasionally a ship exploded. A few ships had reported substantial damage from flying debris striking their shields. He focused on a screen showing the battle taking place in the rear quadrant of his fleet. Ships were exploding continuously in miniature novas. Brollen knew most of those small novas marked dying Vorn ships. Already the small fleet had battled its way through one-eighth of his fleet. Prince Brollen felt a twinge of nervousness in his gut. He knew what those ships wanted. They wanted to kill him!
-
High Protector Vormalt retreated, pulling his fleet closer to the massive defensive grid that protected Zumwald. He needed the extra firepower to counter the losses the Destroyer of Worlds had inflicted on his fleet. He was losing ships at an appalling rate. The viewscreens were full of damaged and dying Zumwald warships. Even so, his fleet was still taking out more Vorn ships with the dark matter missiles.
“We’ve used 60 percent of the missiles,” reported Caatler. “In another ten minutes, we will have burned through all of them.”
“That’s why we’re pulling back to the defensive grid. Those one hundred platforms the Alliance installed in orbit all have full stocks of dark matter missiles. Even the shipyards and the space stations have a few. We just need to give Captain Callast time to carry out his plan.”
Vormalt gazed at one of the viewscreens that showed the rear of the Vorn fleet. Caption Callast still closed on his targets. However, with every passing minute his losses increased. Vormalt wasn’t sure if the Lakiam captain could make it to the Vorn motherships. If he didn’t, then Zumwald would fall.
-
Captain Callast held tightly to the armrests on his command chair as the Destonn shook repeatedly from hits to its energy screen. Twice more Vorn black antimatter beams had ravaged his flagship’s hull.
“We won’t last much longer,” Danall said as he fired another kinetic energy round at a Vorn cruiser, seeing it explode on the small viewscreen above his console.
“The Glaymons have just lost two of their disk ships,” reported Fabold. “The Vorn battleships coming up on us from the rear are hitting us with their weapons. We’ve lost another twenty-seven battlecruisers.”
“Kella, contact Captain Latimeer and tell him this is as far as we can go. We’ll turn around and attack those battleships to see if we can take some of the pressure off his ships. He knows what to do.”
Kella quickly sent the message, and then she turned toward Captain Callast. “Captain Latimeer acknowledged the message and is prepared to enact the next part of the plan.”
Callast blinked his eyes. He had never expected his battlecruisers to make it to the Vorn motherships. Just too many Vorn ships were in the way. However, Captain Latimeer and some of his disk ships just might, but it would take a daring tactic. One the Vorn would not be expecting.
Callast activated his ship-to-ship comm. “All ships, reverse course 180 degrees. We’ll engage the Vorn battleships coming up behind us. I have enjoyed being your commanding officer. Let’s make the Vorn pay a heavy price for the destruction of our ships.”
Callast looked at the Helm. “Reverse course and find us some Vorn battleships to kill.” Strangely Callast felt calm as he gave the order, which he knew would result in the destruction of all his remaining ships. However, it should give Captain Latimeer the opportunity he needed.
-
Then 116 Lakiam seventeen-hundred-meter-long battlecruisers turned and accelerated toward the Vorn battleships assailing them from the rear. A few battlecruisers were too damaged to join the fleet and continued on with the Glaymons. They didn’t last long as overwhelming Vorn weapons fire tore them apart.
The front of Vasterus’s approaching Vorn battleship formation was nearly annihilated as Captain Callast’s battlecruisers fired their kinetic cannons and emptied their missile tubes of dark matter missiles. They followed up with heavy energy weapons fire. In the space of only a few seconds, over 140 Vorn battleships died. Then the Vorn battleships were among the Lakiam battlecruisers raking them with heavy weapons fire.
-
Captain Callast watched the viewscreens as his fleet was being destroyed around him. A number of his warships managed to ram Vorn battleships. In each instance, the ships vanished in blinding explosions. Others were blown apart by intense weapons fire from the Vorn ships. He had never been in a battle so intense.
Just then the deck heaved under Callast, and Fabold flew through the air to land jarringly against a console. From the angle of his head, Callast knew his sensor officer was dead.
“Multiple breaches along the forward hull. We’re venting atmosphere,” the damage control officer reported.
Looking around, Callast saw smoke and sparks everywhere. Alarms screamed from the damage control board as red lights rapidly blinked on.
“Weapons are offline, and main power is out,” Danall said. “Energy shield is down to 14 percent. We’re losing the ship, Captain.”
Callast looked at the one
still functioning viewscreen, focused on the disk ships of Captain Latimeer. The ships suddenly vanished as they accelerated forward at full sublight speed. This was a reckless move, due to the number of ships between the Glaymon ships and the Vorn motherships. However, Latimeer had felt his ships’ AIs could pilot the ships well enough to get some of his disk ships through to their targets.
The Destonn shook violently, and more alarms sounded. Callast could hear the sound of tearing metal. He looked at Danall, who shook his head.
“Shield is down.”
Moments later the Destonn blew apart as two Vorn antimatter missiles annihilated the ship.
-
Prince Brollen watched the death of the battlecruisers of food species 236. They were taking too many of his battleships with them. Then suddenly the disk ships of the ancient race vanished as they accelerated toward the heart of the Vorn formation and the motherships. Brollen watched in shock as twelve of the disk ships collided with Vorn vessels barring their way. They vanished in blinding explosions. Then suddenly sixteen ships of the ancient race came to a stop in the middle of the Vorn fleet formation among the motherships. Instantly their weapons fired.
Jump us into hyperspace! screamed Prince Brollen telepathically, seeing his death in front of him.
The rest of the fleet? asked Military Leader Ansolk.
Withdraw, ordered Brollen. On the viewscreens, bright flashes of light appeared around the Reaper. Brollen felt intense fear, knowing the ancients were destroying the motherships with their superior weapons. At any second he expected the Reaper to be destroyed as well. The fleet is to enter hyperspace and rendezvous at the previous rendezvous coordinates.
The Reaper shook violently as a mothership near the flagship was blown into thousands of pieces by one of the deadly disk ships. Before Prince Brollen could give another order, the Reaper vanished into hyperspace.
-
High Protector Vormalt watched in anguish as Captain Callast and his battlecruisers were destroyed by the Vorn. They had taken a lot of Vorn battleships with them in their valiant fight to destroy the Vorn motherships.
The Star Cross: The Forever War Page 27