Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5)
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“What’s the status of the Hytalian fleet?”
Jalridd checked the data coming from the ship’s sensors. “Only forty-two of their warships remain. All are damaged to some extent.”
“Destroy them and then prepare to bombard the surface of the planet,” Harmock said in a nearly emotionless voice void of mercy. “We shall make an example out of this world for all others to see.”
-
Admiral Aniled raised himself to his knees gasping in pain. The Command Center was full of smoke and he could hear crewmembers crying out for help. Only the dim glow of the emergency lights allowed him to see his crew. The flagship had been badly damaged by several Zaltule pulse fusion beams. Taking a deep breath, he staggered to his feet. “Report!”
“Power’s gone,” his second officer replied. “I can’t raise Engineering or any other section of the ship. I’m pretty certain one of the pulse fusion beams struck the stern directly above the engineering section.”
The ship shuddered violently several times. Aniled knew the shuddering was being caused by internal explosions. His flagship was in the midst of its death throes.
“It’s over, isn’t it?” asked the second officer, who had a jagged cut on his forehead. He straightened his uniform and stood at attention in front of the admiral.
“Yes,” Admiral Aniled said in an even voice. “We did our duty; now it’s up to the council to decide whether our world lives or dies.”
“As slaves to the Kleese,” replied the second officer in disgust. “I’m glad I’m on this ship and not down on the ground.”
“At least our people will survive if we surrender,” Aniled said in a voice filled with sorrow, knowing that his death and his crews was close at hand. “Perhaps someday the Human led Alliance will free our world.”
Before he could say anything else, a brilliant light filled the Command Center, incinerating everything in its path.
-
“Our fleet’s gone and the defense grid has been annihilated,” the military officer reported to the council. “Admiral Aniled died when his flagship was destroyed.”
“Our entire fleet?” uttered one of the senators in disbelief. “What do we do now?”
“Surrender,” suggested the military officer. “If we do anything else, the Kleese will destroy our world.”
“Then we surrender,” proclaimed the older senator. “We should never have built warships or the defense grid to begin with; perhaps without those, the Kleese would have honored the neutrality agreement.”
“Doubtful,” responded the council chairman. “However, in order to save our race, we will make the offer to surrender.”
-
Supreme Military Leader Harmock nodded with satisfaction as he listened to the Hytalians’ offer. “The planet is ours.”
“Should I begin sending down Zaltule with the collars of obedience?” asked Gareth. “We have pinpointed the council chambers and confirmed that all the senators are present.”
“No, not yet,” replied Harmock in a harsh and uncompromising voice. “We must teach these nonaligned worlds what it means to resist the Zaltule. Target ten of their largest cities, excluding the capital, and destroy them.”
“It will be a good lesson and a warning to other lesser species,” responded Gareth fully in agreement with that action. “The Kleese are the superior race and all the minor worlds must understand that.”
-
Moments later, ten antimatter missiles streaked through the atmosphere of Hytalia. Two thousand meters above their intended targets they detonated, spreading destruction for kilometers in all directions. Buildings were pulverized, skyscrapers collapsed, and massive fireballs of destruction blasted outward, leveling everything in their wake. In less than five minutes, twenty-three million Hytalians lost their lives. Above the stricken cities, palls of dark black smoke blotted out the sky, and ash floated in the air making breathing nearly impossible for the few survivors.
The antimatter missiles left no radiation, but the blasted out cities would forever bear testimony to the cruelty of the Kleese toward all other races.
-
In the council chambers, they had just received word of the destruction leveled upon their planet. The senators were silent, feeling shock at such wanton destruction. They had offered to surrender, why had the Kleese responded with such ferocity?
“It is as I said,” the older senator commented, rising once more to his feet. “We should never have armed ourselves. Now we are paying for that foolishness. If we would have had no weapons, the Kleese would have let us be.”
Another military office burst into the council chambers with a look of fear upon his face. “Several Kleese shuttles have landed in front of the council building. The Zaltule will be here shortly.”
“What do we do?” one of the younger senators asked. For years, he had heard stories about the cruelty of the Kleese and the disdain they felt for all other races. He had felt safe with their powerful fleet and the defense grid that had been placed around the planet to ensure its safety. Now all that was gone.
“We submit,” answerer the council chairman in a weary voice. “We lost and the Kleese are victorious.”
“These are Zaltule,” the head military officer quickly pointed out. “They are the warrior clan of the Kleese and will show no mercy. Any attempts to disregard their orders will end in disaster.”
Before anything else could be said, the doors to the council chamber were flung open, and six monstrosities in dark armor appeared. These were Zaltule warriors, and heavily armed. Behind them came four other Kleese dressed only in light ceremonial armor. One of them stepped forward and gazed at the Hytalian Council.
“I am Harmock, the Supreme Military Overlord of the Kleese Empire.”
The chairman stood facing the Kleese. “I am Zaltron, the Chairman of the Hytalian Senate and Council.”
Harmock was silent as he gestured for several of the armed Kleese to approach the ten senators and emplace the collars of obedience around their necks. He watched as the frightened senators allowed the collars to be put in place and locked.
“Why did you attack our cities?” the older senator demanded as his shaking hands moved to his neck to touch the silver obedience collar. “We were willing to surrender. Why did you violate the neutrality agreement? We were no danger to you.”
“Silence, vermin,” spoke Harmock harshly, his eyes focusing on the older senator. “You will not speak in the presence of a Kleese unless spoken to first. Without a moment’s hesitation, he pressed a button on the small black box he held in his right hand.
A sharp explosion rang out in the council chamber as the obedience collar around the old senator’s neck detonated. The senator’s headless body fell to the floor where it twitched uncontrollably in a growing pool of blood.
The other senators stepped back in shock with rampant fear showing on their faces. It was dawning on each what had come to their world, and they were powerless to challenge it.
“The collars of obedience will be put on all of your citizens of stature,” Harmock pronounced. “All of your government leaders, business leaders, and any others we find appropriate will wear the collars. Any attempt to disobey an order of a Kleese will result in more deaths, some will be indiscriminate.”
The senators looked at each other, realizing that for the rest of their lives they would never know if their collar was going to detonate because of the action of someone on the other side of the planet. They were doomed to live a life of fear and doubt.
“In the coming month, we will determine what service you can be to the Kleese Empire,” Harmock continued, his multifaceted eyes raking over the council members. “Remember one thing, you are being allowed to live for one reason and one reason only, to serve the Kleese Empire.” With that comment, Harmock turned and left the council chambers. More shuttles would be landing shortly, and Zaltule would spread out across the planet with hundreds of thousands of the collars of obedience.
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Once back on board the Warrior’s Fire, Harmock checked the current status of his fleet. It would be necessary to send some of the vessels to one of the Kleese trading stations for repairs. He still had several more nonaligned worlds to subdue before he could begin his main campaign. For months now he had been slowly encircling the worlds aligned with the Humans. Their so-called Alliance would shortly be crushed, and all of Kleese controlled space would be under the rule of the Zaltule. Once that was done, the Zaltule fleet would begin moving out into other areas of the galaxy, expanding the empire.
One of the things that concerned Harmock were all the missing exploration ships that had fled with former Supreme Overlord Xatul. Those ships would have been useful in exploring those unknown regions and searching for suitable targets for the Zaltule warfleets. While there were still some exploration ships he could call upon, some of the exploring would have to be done by Zaltule battlecruisers.
However, before any of that could begin, the Humans and their Alliance would have to be dealt with first.
Chapter Two
Colonel Wade Nelson stood in the Command Center of the Earth heavy battlecruiser Victory. For the last eighteen months, ship construction in the Solar System had been highly intense as new heavy battlecruisers were being turned out like clockwork. Since returning from the Delton rescue mission, Wade had been busy flying between different worlds of the Alliance in between stops back at Vesta. He was anxious to return home and spend time with his new son. He knew that Beth was very happy to be a mother and his parents had been exuberant to become grandparents. His mother was already spoiling the child over Beth’s mild protests.
“Thirty-seven worlds,” commented Hyram Blake, who was the chief Human ambassador to the Alliance. “All dedicated to the overthrow of Kleese domination of this section of the galaxy.”
“I hope that’s enough,” sighed Wade, knowing some very big battles were ahead of them.
They had scored a significant victory by their attack on the Kleese home system. It had bought them sixteen months to prepare. The Delton rescue mission had also managed to bring back Wade’s younger brother and the Marines that had been trapped with him on Delton. It had been a huge relief to find his brother still alive. He had greatly feared that Ryan might end up a conscript of the Kleese and would never be seen again. Ryan was currently going through training at Freedom Station, the second huge trading station now in orbit around Earth.
Freedom Station had been seized from the Kleese in a daring attack and brought back to the Solar System. The station’s construction and repair bays had been modified to produce battlecruisers and a special Marine assault ship to be used in hit and run raids against Kleese controlled worlds. It also had a crew of over seventy thousand former Kleese captives and conscripts, who were working under Human supervision. They had elected to stay on the station and serve the Humans since their home worlds were under Kleese control.
“Colonel, President Raytol’s shuttle has arrived,” Commander Raelen Blair announced as she received confirmation from Communications. “The president and his aides are being taken to the main conference room.”
Wade nodded. This was going to be a war meeting to discuss the disposition of Alliance fleets in preparation for the expected Kleese attack. Several leaders of the Alliance would be attending as well as others Wade had invited that he felt were essential at this planning stage.
The Victory was in orbit around Lanolth, which had been chosen as the capital of the Alliance. Around the Victory were other heavy battlecruisers as well as numerous ships from other Alliance worlds. There was also one of the large Kleese trading stations in orbit. The station had been seized from the Kleese and taken to Lanolth in the same attack that had brought Freedom Station to the Solar System. The station was being used to create new Alliance ships to greatly enhance the number of warships, which could be used against the Kleese. Across the entire Alliance, a massive effort was underway to build new ships to greatly expand the fleet for the coming battle.
“Let’s get this meeting going,” Wade said as he turned and made for the hatch leading from the Command Center.
-
The conference room was full of dignitaries from numerous Alliance worlds as well as allies who had taken refuge in the Solar System. Lanolth, Nalton, Pradel, Waltarn, Tureen, Delton, Talt, and of course Kivean representatives were waiting expectantly. There were also representatives from over a dozen other Alliance worlds.
Wade took his place at the table and called the meeting to order. Then, in a grim voice, he began speaking. “I want to thank all of you for coming today. As all of you know, we just received word that the nonaligned world of Hytalia has fallen to the Kleese. We had a long-range scout ship observing the battle and from the reports we received, we know the Hytalian fleet was wiped out as well as the planet’s defense grid. Unfortunately, the Kleese didn’t stop there. They struck the surface of the planet with ten antimatter missiles, destroying some of the largest cities. The Kleese are currently conducting landing operations, no doubt placing obedience collars around those Hytalians they find essential to controlling the planet.”
President Raytol stood and looked with grave concern at his fellow members of the Alliance. Raytol was humanoid and stood six feet tall with dark hair and eyes slightly larger than the Human norm. He was also slim in stature, which was common for all Lanolthians. “In the last sixteen months, we have continued to expand the Alliance. As of today, we have thirty-seven star systems willing to oppose the Kleese.”
“The problem isn’t so much the Kleese as it is the Zaltule,” commented the representative from Nalton. “I think we could come to an agreement with the regular Kleese to leave the Alliance alone, but the Zaltule will never be willing to let us exist free of their empire.”
“We’ll have to fight for our freedom,” spoke the Tureen ambassador, rising to his feet and looking at the others. “If we don’t stand up to the Kleese and the Zaltule, a year from now we’ll all be wearing their collars of obedience. I have no intention of allowing that to happen to my people!”
“My people wore those collars for generations,” Marken said, his eyes taking on a somber look of understanding. “If we don’t stop the Kleese then I’m afraid they’ll go on a rampage throughout the known galaxy. This is a precarious time; the steps we take in the next few months might well determine the fate of tens of thousands of worlds. War is not something I enjoy; it is something I greatly deplore. However, sometimes battles must be fought for the greater good and I believe we are now at that point.”
President Raytol nodded his head. He had a lot of respect for the Kivean and agreed with his words. All the races of the Alliance had known peace for hundreds if not several thousand years. The course they were currently on went against most of what they believed in. However, they could not allow themselves to become slaves.
“Colonel Wade Nelson represents the Human military who have shown us that the Kleese can be defeated in battle. I have spoken to the Human President, Ralph Steward, as well as General Mitchell and Fleet Admiral Kelly. We are agreed that Human admirals will lead our fleets, and Admiral Rivers will become the new fleet admiral for the Alliance.”
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Most of the worlds of the Alliance had very substantial fleets of highly advanced vessels; they were just unfamiliar with the tactics required to conduct a space war. Most of the commanders of their ships, as well as the crews, had never fired the weapons on their vessels against an enemy. The few who had were the ones that had been on the Delton rescue mission.
“The Humans know the art of war better than any of us,” commented Fleet Commander Achlyn of the Deltons. “They are as fierce in battle as the Zaltule and with their guidance, we may indeed find a path to victory.”
-
The meeting lasted for several more hours, with plans being made and forecast production of new fleet units discussed. When it was finally over Wade, Marken, Fleet Commander Ac
hlyn, and Ambassador Blake went to Wade’s quarters where they spent more time discussing what was ahead of them.
“Fleet wise we’re in a much better position than we were a year ago,” Hyram commented as he sat down with a cup of hot tea. “All the Alliance worlds are building warships at an astounding rate and the two trading stations we took from the Kleese have added a tremendous amount of ship construction capacity.”
“Ships with inexperienced crews,” Fleet Commander Achlyn quickly pointed out. “There’s a lot of training that needs to be done.”
Marken looked around the small group and then spoke. “There are only two more nonaligned worlds that haven’t fallen to the Kleese. I strongly suspect they’ll feel the wrath of the Zaltule shortly.”
“They’re at the far edge of Sector Twelve,” Hyram said, shaking his head. “Too far for us to send assistance.”
Wade nodded hating to write off those worlds; however, they had been contacted in the past about joining the Alliance and refused. “We probably have two to four months before the Zaltule start probing our defenses. There’s a lot of work ahead of us in order to get our fleets ready for what’s coming.”
“We need a diversion to give us more time,” Marken said with a thoughtful look. “We’re getting close to having the ships we need to stop the Kleese. The crews just need more time to become familiar with them.”
“We have a tentative plan,” Wade announced as he thought about his last meeting at Centerpoint Station. “General Mitchell and Fleet Admiral Kelly have an idea that just might give the Kleese pause and perhaps buy us a few more months.”
“Why do I feel this involves your brother and his new training?” commented Marken with a heavy frown. “It seems your family can’t stay out of harm’s way.” Marken and his lifemate Harnett had come to know Ryan and Casey very well on the trip back to Alliance space from Delton as they had been on the Micene, a Kivean hospital ship.