The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four)

by Weil, Raymond L.

  “If you notice, the Hocklyns have been careful not to target any weapons batteries close to the operations center,” General Abercrombie pointed out as he studied the developing situation up above. “I believe they want to capture it intact.”

  “They want information,” Lucy replied with a knowing nod. But the information was gone, destroyed by self-destruct charges set by the human marines. “They want to know where Earth is.”

  “Well, they won’t find out from us,” Abercrombie responded as he listened to his embattled marines over his mini-com.

  Looking up at a screen, Lucy saw a squad of Protectors coming cautiously down a street. This was her first look at a live Hocklyn. The Protectors were nearly two meters tall, dark green in color and wore black body armor. Their arms were very muscular, and they were carrying some type of heavy assault rifle. A lighter color crest extended from their forehead to the back of their head. There was no body hair and their eyes were extremely large and set wider on the head than human eyes. Lucy shuddered involuntarily; she was glad she was down here in the Command Center and not up there facing those fearsome looking Hocklyn Protectors. She just hoped that Lieutenant Simmins was ready for what was coming toward him.

  -

  Lieutenant Simmins laid down the view scope he had been using to watch the advancing Hocklyn Protectors. Already, heavy weapons fire and occasional explosions could be heard throughout the settlement. The Hocklyns were advancing along three routes, and all were aimed at the operations center. More marines had already been pulled back from the outlying areas and were taking up defensive positions around it. Simmins knew the battle was only going to get more intense.

  -

  War Leader Sangeth was venting his growing rage at the deadly information being displayed on the main sensor screen. More human ships had jumped into the system. He knew now that they had fallen into a well planned trap. No Hocklyn ship would escape from this system to spread word of this human danger back to the empire. No matter which way he went with his fleet, he would face a numerically superior enemy who would trap him in the planet’s gravity well. There was no doubt that this was what the humans had intended all along.

  Sangeth looked over at First Leader Rahn, his dark eyes wide. “Honor will be ours today.”

  “Honor will be ours,” agreed Rahn, knowing the only honorable decision to be made and hoping War Leader Sangeth would make it. “The enemy comes toward us, War Leader. What are your orders?”

  Sangeth was no coward. He had fled from the enemy in this system once before, but not again. His cold eyes gazed unafraid at the approaching human ships. “Break orbit and proceed toward the nearer human fleet. The two Protector ships are to stay here and, if they recover the necessary information, try to escape.”

  Rahn nodded his head in respectful agreement, his cold, dark eyes gazing at War Leader Sangeth. He suspected this battle would be very short.

  -

  Colonel Arcles flinched as a railgun round impacted the forward screen of his bomber, covering it in light. Captain Sanders was continuously firing off countermeasures as Arcles weaved their craft through the intense defensive fire toward the war cruiser he had chosen as his group’s target. A green light finally blinked on, indicating that the targeting computer had a positive lock on the Hocklyn ship.

  “Missiles fired,” he stated over the com. Moments later he heard other confirmations from other squadron leaders.

  Arcles pulled the Anlon bomber up in a sharp turn, accelerating it to top speed to get away from the defensive weapons fire. Looking down at his sensor screen, it seemed to be full of missiles targeting the Hocklyn’s eight remaining war cruisers. They had lost a few bombers going in, but not nearly as many as had been feared. The forward shields actually seemed to work!

  -

  “Get us out of here,” Jeremy ordered Ariel when he saw the massed missile attack from the Anlon bombers. He had never seen so many missiles fired at once.

  The Avenger and Nemesis instantly turned and accelerated away. Ariel had managed to take out two war cruisers while receiving only minor damage in return.

  Jeremy and Malen watched the viewscreens as roaring atomic fire played across the Hocklyn’s screens as the Shrike missiles struck. Their screens seemed to be covered in fiery nuclear energy.

  “My God!” Malen spoke, aghast at the sheer destruction the Anlon bombers had released.

  “If these are the new bomber tactics, I think I am going to like them,” Jeremy responded as reports began coming in of Hocklyn energy shield failure.

  Each time a shield failed, multiple Shrike missiles would strike the ship’s unprotected hull. Hocklyn ship after Hocklyn ship died. Finally, the screens began to clear as the bombers finished their attack run and headed back to Third Fleet.

  “What’s left?” Jeremy demanded still seeing a few red threat icons on the main sensor screen.

  “Not much,” Kevin replied as he studied his sensors. “There are six Hocklyn escort cruisers still intact, but they are heavily damaged.”

  “Let’s move in and finish them off,” ordered Jeremy, knowing this part of the battle was almost over. He quickly activated his fleet com. “All ships, move in and finish off the remaining six Hocklyn escort cruisers and be wary of suicide runs.”

  A few minutes later it was done, and the Hocklyn fleet was destroyed.

  -

  War Leader Sangeth watched in dismay as another of his war cruisers exploded as its self-destructs went off. The humans had hit him with a large bomber attack from their three battle carriers and then moved in and blasted his fleet with their new beam weapon. He had managed to destroy several of their lighter units, but their superior shields and weapons were having a telling effect.

  Sangeth looked wearily over at First Leader Rahn, knowing the battle was lost. “All ships are to accelerate and ram the enemy. Honor will be ours.”

  “Honor will be ours,” Rahn replied as he passed on the order.

  Instantly, the Crimson Oblivion and the other surviving Hocklyn ships accelerated toward Second Fleet. The weapons fire intensified, and most of the Hocklyn ships were destroyed short of their intended targets, but the Crimson Oblivion and the other Hocklyn dreadnought reached their targets. A Monarch cruiser and a battle cruiser died in a massive series of explosions as the nuclear self-destructs in all four ships went off.

  -

  Amanda felt stunned at the sudden turn of events. There had been only two battle cruisers in her section of Second Fleet, and one had been destroyed. She knew it could have just as easily have been the WarStorm. What would it have meant to the Federation if Fleet Admiral Streth had died in this battle? She didn’t even want to think about the ramifications.

  “Take us in to Caden’s World,” Hedon ordered as he looked at the swirling display of energy and gases that remained of the battle cruiser Olympia. He knew only the fact that the Olympia had been closer to the enemy dreadnought had saved the WarStorm.

  -

  Lieutenant Simmins was firing round after round from his heavy assault rifle into the advancing Hocklyns. Their combat armor was damn tough, but an armor piercing bullet could still penetrate it. The surviving marines had pulled back to an area just around the operations center and had already thrown back several heavy Hocklyn attacks.

  “They’re getting closer each time,” spoke Corporal Blevens, breathing heavily as the fighting died down for a moment. “We might not be able to stop them next time.”

  Simmins looked over at the young corporal as he slid a new magazine into his rifle. Blevens looked to be in his early twenties. “The Fleet will be here soon, son, and then this will be over.”

  “Here they come!” Simmins heard over his mini-com. Looking up over the pile of sandbags they were behind, Simmins saw the Hocklyns charging forward. “It’s time, Corporal.” Simmins spoke as he raised his rifle and began firing in short controlled bursts.

  With satisfaction, he saw a Hocklyn go down. But this attack was differ
ent; the Hocklyns acted as if they were desperate. The Fleet’s won, Simmins thought as the Hocklyns began to overrun the marine’s positions. He heard a loud scream from his side and, turning his head, saw Corporal Blevens fall. The young man was dead, shot through the head!

  Simmins turned his attention back to the Hocklyn Protectors just as one leaped over the sandbags pointing his rifle. Lieutenant Simmins fired first and the Hocklyn dropped, then Simmins felt a sharp pain in his back. Looking down, he saw blood coming from his chest. Damn! He thought as he fell. Falling to the ground Simmins rolled over, looking up into the sky. Human assault shuttles were coming down. He felt a wave of dizziness pass over him, and he realized he was dying. As he closed his eyes, he heard the heavy roar from an assault shuttle’s engines as it landed near him. He knew the battle was won as darkness overcame him, and everything became peacefully quiet.

  Chapter Eleven

  Admiral Streth was walking down a street on Caden’s World. General Abercrombie and his aide, a Captain Krandle, were with him as well as a squad of heavily armed marines. Everywhere around them was a scene of destruction.

  “I never saw anyone fight like these Hocklyn Protectors,” Abercrombie commented gravely as they halted where a long line of covered marine bodies lay.

  Several officers were slowly going down the long row, making sure they could identify each fallen marine. They all had dog tags, and after each was checked, one of the officers would mark off a name on the list he was carrying.

  “How many did we lose down here?” asked Hedon, looking over at General Abercrombie. He knew a lot of brave men and women had died today, up in space as well as down here on the planet.

  “We had twelve hundred marines protecting this settlement and eight hundred in the other,” replied the general, motioning for one of the officers to come over. “Unfortunately, the Hocklyn Protectors all landed in this settlement. We estimate there were nearly eight hundred of the enemy. Fighting toward the end was fierce; it even got down to hand to hand in some areas when the Hocklyns overran our defenses.”

  An officer walked up and handed General Abercrombie a list. He examined it briefly, taking note of several names, and then looked over at Admiral Streth. “We lost 412 marines KIA and another 262 are injured.” He then gazed at Captain Krandle with a sad look in his eyes. “I’m sorry to say that Lieutenant Simmins is on the list; he was one of those killed as the Hocklyns overran the positions on the west side of the operations center.”

  Lucy felt stunned by the news. She felt a wave of dizziness sweep over her and then felt a steadying hand. Admiral Streth was holding her arm with a sympathizing and understanding look in his eyes.

  “We lost a lot of good people today, Captain,” he spoke softly. “I’m sorry to hear about Lieutenant Simmins. I’m sure he was a good marine.”

  “He was, Sir,” replied Lucy, forcing her voice to remain steady. “He was one of the best.”

  “Captain Krandle, why don’t you return to the Command Center.” Abercrombie suggested. “The admiral and I can finish our tour.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” replied Lucy, trying to hold back the tears.

  At the moment, all she wanted was to find someplace where she could be alone. She had never been in combat before, and there was so much death surrounding her now. Lieutenant Simmins and she had grown very close since her posting here. It would be difficult to stay here without him.

  Abercrombie watched her walk off. “She will be fine after a while; she’s a good officer.” Then turning back to Admiral Streth, he said. “We didn’t capture a single Hocklyn Protector, they fought to the death. When they realized their fleet had been defeated, they did everything they could to take as many of us with them as possible.”

  “That crazy honor system of theirs,” explained Hedon, shaking his head. “I don’t think we will see many prisoners taken on either side in this war.”

  “What now?” Abercrombie asked as they continued on their tour of the settlement.

  “Admiral Johnson is sending additional marines to replace those you lost,” answered Hedon.

  The air was still full of smoke and numerous buildings were still burning. Hedon knew it would take some time to rebuild the settlement if they chose to do so. He suspected, knowing that many of the miners and their families considered Caden’s World to be their home that the settlement would be rebuilt. He couldn’t blame them; it was good to have someplace you could call home.

  “What about the defense satellites?” General Abercrombie asked. “What are we going to do about replacing them?”

  Abercrombie felt as if they hadn’t work well at all. The missile strike had failed from the platforms, and the only real use the laser satellites provided had been was shooting down stray missiles. They were just too vulnerable to Hocklyn weapons fire.

  “They didn’t work very well because of our fleet disposition,” Hedon responded, his brow creasing in a frown. “I think in future battles some fleet units are going to have to be positioned in the same orbit as the satellites to ensure their survival. That may be a good use for our destroyers. This is war and we must learn from each battle.”

  “Do you think the Hocklyns will attack us here again?”

  “We will be leaving a fleet in orbit until additional units are assigned to this system,” Hedon replied as they stopped and watched some marines trying to put out a fire. The two-story building was burning so badly Hedon knew it was a losing effort. “It will be at least several months before the Hocklyns can respond to their failure to take this system. In the meantime, we are preparing a surprise for them. If it works, I don’t think you need to worry about the Hocklyns attacking Caden’s World anytime soon.”

  “That’s good,” General Abercrombie responded as he watched more marines coming up to fight the fire. “We will be bringing the miners and their families back soon, there’s a lot of rebuilding that needs to be done. I’m sure the Federation will be helping with that. At least the second mining settlement is still intact.”

  “I will talk to Admiral Johnson,” Hedon said, thinking about what he could do to help. “She can in turn talk to President Kincaid about making the necessary resources available for the people here to rebuild.”

  “Adam Severson will be glad to hear that,” Abercrombie responded. He knew that Severson and several of his people were already surveying the settlement to see what would be needed.

  -

  A little later, Hedon was back in his shuttle returning to the WarStorm. He had wanted to go down to the planet to see the combat zone first hand to give him a better feel and perspective for the enemy. Settling back in his seat, he thought about how the battle had gone. They had lost a lot of ships, but the Hocklyns had lost more. The massed carrier attack had worked beyond expectations, and he would be talking to Admiral Adler about future tactics.

  He gazed out of one of the viewports at the approaching WarStorm. He wished he could talk to Taylor about what he was planning to do. His brother had always been the more rational and cautious of the two. Closing his eyes, Hedon thought about what Taylor would be saying right now. He knew that he would be telling him to be careful and not to take this victory for granted that this was just the first of many major battles ahead.

  Opening his eyes, Hedon let out a heavy sigh. Someday, he would return to Maken. There was a lake there where he intended to build a cabin. In some ways, he considered that to be home since it held so many important memories.

  -

  Colonel Arcles was sitting in the officer’s mess of the battle carrier Wasp when Captain Sanders walked in. As their eyes met, Karl gestured for her to come over and join him.

  “How are you doing, Lacy?” asked Karl, knowing she had been feeling nauseous after their combat mission.

  “Better,” she admitted as she sat down with her tray. She had a tuna fish sandwich and a glass of tea. “I was just so afraid we were going to die out there. Those bombers don’t handle like a fighter.”

  “Not
if I can help,” Karl responded with a smile. “You and I both will see the end of this, I promise you. We will probably be back in our fighters after this. I just felt it was necessary to lead this first bombing mission.”

  “I hope so,” Lacy replied as she took a small bite of her sandwich. “Sometimes I just wonder if we made the right choice going into cryosleep.”

  Karl was silent for a moment. It had been a tough decision, especially when his sister Teena and Jacen Barnes had decided not to go into cryosleep but instead to get married. They elected to stay behind and raise a family. It had been the hardest thing he had ever done, leaving Teena like that. She had always been his little sister, and he had watched over her. But he knew that Jacen would have taken good care of her as well. Teena had left Karl several recorded messages, and he knew that Teena and Jacen had raised several children and lived out good, productive lives on Ceres. Someday, when he had the time, he fully intended to look up their descendants. Family was important to him.

  “I think so,” Karl replied slowly. “We have a war to fight and you saw how all these newbies did. We lost a lot of pilots today. They need us to train them on how to fight the Hocklyns.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” said Lacy with a sigh. She leaned back and gazed over at Karl and then she spoke in a soft voice. “I just hope we both make it through this.”

  “We will,” Karl assured her. “Someday we will see the end of this war and be able to return home. I promise you that.”

  Lacy nodded feeling better after Karl’s reassuring words. He had never let her down on one of his promises.

  -

  Jeremy and Colonel Malen were in his office reviewing the battle. The Avenger had taken some damage, but nothing severe. Even the Nemesis had come through relatively unscathed.

  “Repairs should be completed in a few more hours,” Malen reported as she looked at the computer pad she was holding in her right hand. “Engineering wants to fine tune the sublight drive since some of the maneuvers Ariel put the ship through were right at the maximum tolerance levels.”