“It would be nice not to have to worry about fighting for a while,” spoke Casey, squeezing Ryan’s hand.
-
The five continue to talk for several more hours. Eventually, it was time to leave as they all needed to get some rest. As Casey stepped outside of the hatch to Ryan’s quarters, she glanced up and down the corridor only to see Lauren patiently waiting for her. She turned around and allowed Ryan to take her in his arms. He kissed her deeply and held her in a long protective embrace.
“I won’t ever let anything happen to you,” he promised in a soft voice. “When this is over, we’re going to get married.”
Casey felt her heart start to race. “I’ll make sure you keep that promise.” With that, she felt Ryan release her and she turned and hurried down the corridor to Lauren.
“That looked interesting,” Lauren said with a knowing grin. “Anything you want to tell me about?”
Casey blushed and shook her head. “Someday, perhaps. Right now I’m tired and want to get some shuteye.” She knew she would have a hard time falling to sleep after what Ryan had just said. All of her dreams were coming true; she and Ryan just needed to survive this damn war!
-
Ryan watched the two head down the corridor and vanish from sight as they entered another. With a long sigh, he went back inside his quarters. Early in the morning, he planned to pay Captain Durham a visit to see what Commander Symington planned for the remainder of the fleet. After what had happened, he just couldn’t see the commander rushing back to the Alliance and the Solar System without making the Kleese pay for what they had done. They’d lost too many people not to extract a little revenge out of the Kleese, particularly the Zaltule. He also wasn’t looking forward to telling his brother about Colonel Winfrey and Captain Foster.
-
Supreme Overlord Xatul watched as his fleet gathered at the edge of Strell space; twenty-two hundred Strell battlecruisers, four hundred and eighty-two Kleese exploration ships, and two hundred and forty new Kleese battlecruisers. There were also two massive Kleese trading stations, which had been heavily armed and provided with stronger energy shields as well as thicker armor. In orbit around the two trading stations were six thousand assault ships, all modified with additional weapons and with Kleese in command of them. This coming battle was too important to allow any conscripts, even the most trusted, to command the ships.
“All is ready,” Overlord Syndat spoke. Syndat was on the Command Pedestal of the Empire’s Dawn at Xatul’s side. “The Strell fleet is ready for combat. Den Leader Bith has confirmed that his fleet is ready to enter Fold Space at your command.”
Shortly Syndat would be going over to one of the trading stations as they were owned by his family. He also felt safer since they were now heavily armed and protected by thousands of conscripts trained in the use of the Type Two battlesuits. He had also taken the precaution of having a number of the most trusted conscripts trained in the use of the Type Threes. These conscripts were all assigned to the command level to protect the large Command Center in the trading station from attack. He also had twenty members of his clan who would serve as guards inside the Command Center. Each one of these would be wearing a Type Three battlesuit as well.
Overlord Bixutl was on board another one of the new powerful Kleese battlecruisers. His vessel would act as the reserve flagship in case the Empire’s Dawn became disabled.
“Then it’s time,” Supreme Overlord Xatul said in exultation. It was time to return to the empire and for him to reclaim his rightful place as the Supreme Overlord of all the Kleese, including the Zaltule though if he had his way, the warrior clan would soon be a thing of the past.
Xatul gazed at the viewscreens showing numerous ships of the massive fleet. It was so large the farthest ships only showed as dim points of light. “All ships will make the jump into Fold Space upon the signal from the Empire’s Dawn.” Unlike past trips into Fold Space, new and powerful sensors on board the trading stations would be able to track the fleet. Special FTL transmitters would even allow for communication.
Xatul gazed toward the Kleese standing upon his six legs at the Fold Space control console. “Take us to the home world,” he ordered. “It is time for the Zaltule to learn they’re not the only warriors in our empire.”
-
A few moments later, the entire fleet jumped into Fold Space. They had a long way to go and when they arrived, the battle for control of the Kleese Empire would begin.
-
In the Kleese home system, Minor Overlord Kaluse studied the latest reports in the search for former Supreme Overlord Xatul. Once more there had been no sign of the elusive former leader of the Kleese.
“He has gone outside of the empire,” Kaluse said emphatically. “If he were still in the empire, we would have found him.”
“Supreme Overlord Xatul is no fool,” answered Genedt. “He took two trading stations with him. With those it would be very easy for him to set up a new empire amongst the distant stars. I also believe he has fled the empire and we’ll never see him again.”
Minor Overlord Drusiid shook his triangular shaped head in denial. “No, I believe Xatul and his ships are hiding in the empire, perhaps inside a nebula or in some remote sector. It may take time, but he will be found.”
Kaluse was a Zaltule and firmly believed in the superiority of the warrior clan. Genedt was a Kleese from another clan but very good at building exploration ships and the assault ships used to keep the conquered worlds of the empire under control. He was also very supportive of the Zaltule. Minor Overlord Drusiid was also a Zaltule and very well versed as a warrior.
“All of the new battlecruisers are en route to Military Overlord Harmock,” Kaluse said as he shuffled his six feet upon the Command Pedestal of the Zaltule shipyard. “As soon as they arrive Harmock will begin his assault on the Human led Alliance.”
Genedt looked at one of the large viewscreens, one of many that covered the walls of the massive Command Center. On the screen, an older Zaltule battlecruiser was visible. Beyond it, several assault ships could be seen patrolling around the shipyard. “We have sent the new battlecruisers away, and War Overlord Tetus has many of our remaining older battlecruisers searching for the Human fleet reported to be in our space. We also have many vessels out searching for Supreme Overlord Xatul. If the Humans manage to reach our core worlds, they could be in danger.”
Drusiid stomped his feet noisily. “Even with our reduced forces, our worlds are still heavily protected. If the Humans show up here, we will destroy them!”
Genedt didn’t reply. He had worked with the warrior clan to ensure the continued safety of the core worlds from the Humans. He greatly feared that in their desire to destroy the Humans and their Alliance, the Zaltule were endangering the very worlds they had sworn to protect.
“In a few months the Humans and their Alliance will be a thing of the past,” Kaluse said. “When our Military Overlord returns with his fleet, we can then complete our search for Xatul. If he is not found, then we will have confirmed he has fled the empire.”
Genedt nodded but remained silent. In the past, he had spoken to Council Overlord Bixutl about the Humans. He wondered if the Zaltule realized the risk they were taking in attacking the Human led Alliance. In many ways, he preferred the former rule of Supreme Overlord Xatul. At least his cautious approach in dealing with the nonaligned worlds and using the neutrality agreements to control them had assured the continued growth of the empire.
-
In Sector Thirteen, Military Overlord Harmock was in the Command Center of the trading station responsible for the sector. He despised coming aboard any of the trading stations because they were full of vermin from so many Kleese controlled worlds. Inside the Command Center, a large number of Nabians operated most of the control stations under the supervision of a few Kleese. Harmock gazed about in contempt at the Nabians who seemed so dedicated to their masters. Once he was finished with the Humans and their Alliance, there w
ould be some major changes in the empire. He would require all vermin to be removed from the trading stations and qualified Kleese brought in to take their places.
The other clans of the Kleese, in Harmock’s opinion, had become weak and too reliant on the subject races of the empire to play important roles on the stations and even on Kleese exploration and assault ships. All that would soon change. A new order would sweep across the empire. Those Kleese who were deemed unfit would be removed and eliminated. With the twenty-six hidden Zaltule Queens producing more Zaltule warriors, they would soon have the numbers to force the other clans to do their bidding.
“Overlord,” spoke the station’s commander. “All of your vessels have been repaired and resupplied.”
Harmock looked over at Kamdel. He was from one of the other Kleese clans but had shown considerable initiative. Harmock had already witnessed him using the small black box he always carried in eliminating a number of the vermin on the station who were too inefficient at their jobs.
“As soon as the rest of my fleet arrives, we’ll be leaving,” he responded.
Looking at one of the viewscreens, he was satisfied at what it showed. Numerous Zaltule battlecruisers were visible. The ships were three kilometers across and one thousand meters thick. They were the most modern ships in the Kleese Empire. Once the rest of his ships arrived, he would have a fleet of nearly ten thousand Zaltule battlecruisers, which he would use to crush the Humans and their Alliance.
-
In a nearby star system, Captain Hailey Rogers sat in her command chair in the light cruiser Sparrow nervously drumming the fingers of her right hand against the armrest. The Sparrow was four point seven light years distant from the large Kleese trading station in Sector Thirteen.
“FTL signal detected,” reported Ensign Gene Taylor from Communications. “Zaltule ships are still at the trading station.”
The signal he was reporting was the single ping given off by one of the tracking devices the Ellipse had attached to a number of the Zaltule battlecruisers. Each device gave off a single tracking ping once per day on an obscure communications frequency.
“Let’s hope they stay there,” said Lieutenant Allen Stein, Captain Rogers second in command. He was also responsible for the ship’s sensors.
Captain Rogers looked over at Lieutenant Stein. “They have so far.” Hailey leaned back in her command chair. There were twelve of the small tracking drones attached to Zaltule ships. So far each was giving off its short ping once per day confirming the Zaltule ships hadn’t left the station.
The Sparrow was in a small brown dwarf system. The star was about seventy times the mass of Jupiter. The small star emitted no significant light and was nearly invisible on the viewscreens. The ship was a good twenty million kilometers away from it. There were no planets in the system, no asteroids, and no outer cometary field. It was a very lonely place to be as far as star systems went.
“Ship status?” asked Captain Rogers.
Lieutenant Stein turned toward Hailey. “All systems are operating at minimal power.”
Hailey nodded. They had orders to stay in this system until the Zaltule gave an indication they were leaving the trading station. If they departed the station, then they would probably be heading toward the Alliance or the Solar System. The Sparrow had left a line of small Kivean designed FTL communication buoys between the brown dwarf and the Alliance. Each would boost the signal from the ship’s small FTL comm system. This would ensure that Alliance Fleet Admiral Rivers had at least a four to five day warning before the Zaltule could reach the nearest Alliance world.
“Contact!” Lieutenant Stein suddenly called out as a warning alarm sounded on his sensor console. His hands ran quickly over the console touching several command icons on one of the screens. “Kleese assault ship at forty-two million kilometers.”
“Should we raise our energy shield?” asked Lieutenant Callie Smith from Tactical.
Hailey pursed her lips as she thought. As long as the ship stayed powered down, it was doubtful the assault ship would detect them. “No, not unless it turns toward us.” Hailey looked once more toward Lieutenant Stein. “What’s it doing?”
“Nothing, the ship is just sitting there. At a guess, they might be taking scans of the system.”
Hailey nodded. The Sparrow was covered with a composite material the Kiveans said should be impervious to scans. As long as they didn’t increase the ship’s power, they should remain invisible.
On the ship’s tactical screen, the small red threat icon wasn’t moving. If it came down to a battle, she knew her light cruiser should be able to destroy the assault ship with little effort. The Sparrow was three hundred meters long, fifty meters wide, and thirty meters high. The small ship had a crew of one hundred and fifty plus twenty Marines. Her primary weapon was the single particle beam cannon on the bow. The ship also boasted four dual pulse fusion turrets as well as eight missile tubes. For this mission, the ship’s missile tubes had been modified, and they all contained the new multi-warhead antimatter missiles.
“Detecting active scans,” reported Lieutenant Stein.
“I wonder if this is just a routine sweep of the system?”
“Possibly, Captain,” Stein replied. “As close as this system is to the trading station, it might be a routine patrol.”
The minutes passed slowly and the tension inside the Command Center was high. If they were detected, their mission would be a bust and they wouldn’t be able to give Alliance Fleet Admiral Rivers an early warning of an impending Zaltule attack.
“Detecting an energy spike,” reported Lieutenant Stein as he leaned forward intently, watching his sensors.
Hailey looked toward the tactical screen just in time to see the red threat icon vanish. She breathed out a long sigh of relief. They hadn’t been detected and their mission could continue. She knew that back in the Alliance Fleet Admiral Rivers was hurriedly training the new ship crews which would soon be needed. He had a daunting task, but Hailey knew that if there was anyone who could do the impossible, it was Fleet Admiral Rivers.
Chapter Fourteen
Alliance Fleet Admiral Rivers gazed in frustration at the main tactical screen of the heavy battlecruiser Independence. The fleet had just jumped into the Darovin System and ships were scattered over a twenty million kilometer area.
“Crap,” muttered Commander Greerman, shaking his head. “That won’t work; the Kleese would cut our ships to pieces.”
“Lieutenant Rodriquez, what the hell just happened?” demanded Admiral Rivers. If they dropped out of Fold Space to engage a Kleese fleet like this, their entire force would be wiped out in a matter of minutes.
“Fleet computers aren’t synching,” Rodriquez replied with a heavy frown. “There are just way too many different operating systems and they’re interpolating the navigation coordinates differently.”
With a deep sigh, Rivers turned his gaze back to the main tactical screen. He had over three hundred warships under his command. Somehow, he had to get this problem worked out before the other fleet contingents arrived.
“Why didn’t we have this occur on the rescue mission to Delton? If I recall correctly, all of our drop outs were far better than this.”
Rodriquez hesitated and then responded. “We were using a Delton navigation program. It’s quite advanced, and is capable of interacting with all the navigation systems of the fleet.”
“Why aren’t we using it now?”
“The Calthan, Fallon, and Janvian battlecruisers don’t have the Delton navigation program loaded into their nav computers. They insisted on using their own.”
Admiral Rivers looked intently over at Rodriquez. “And how long would it take to load the Delton program into their navigation computers?”
“A few hours, if they’re agreeable.”
“They’ll be agreeable,” Admiral Rivers said sharply. “Ensign Entz, I want a direct line to all of the ships in those three fleets, immediately!”
River
s wanted to swear. The problem with working with so many different fleets was that the nonaligned worlds they came from were so advanced they found it hard to accept someone might have something that worked better than what they already had. This navigation error was a good example of some of the problems he was facing coordinating this fleet. More worrisome there were still over twenty additional fleet formations from other Alliance worlds scheduled to join Fourth Fleet in the next few days. He had hoped to have most of the problems in his core fleet ironed out before they arrived.
Commander Greerman looked over at the admiral. “This is a pretty large fleet; overall they’ve done pretty well with the combat drills we’ve run so far.”
Fleet Admiral Rivers shook his head. “It’s easy to blow comets or asteroids apart; they’re not shooting back. What I really want to do is place several Human officers in the Command Centers of each one of those ships.” Only a few of the Lanolthian, Tureen, Nalton, and Pradelian ships in the fleet had ever experienced combat, and that had been on the Delton rescue mission. The rest of the ships from those four races were in their home systems helping to train other ship crews.
“All ships are making their way to our position,” Lieutenant Mandy Hertz reported from her sensor console. “It will take a few minutes for them to take their assigned spots in our fleet formation.”
“I have all the indicated ship commanders on the command link,” added Ensign Entz.
Admiral Rivers nodded. Now he would have to explain why it was so important that the Delton navigation program be downloaded to all of the fleet’s navigation computers. He had already decided any ship that refused would be sent home. He hoped that would be enough of an incentive to ensure all the ship commanders complied.
-
Once the fleet had reassembled, it didn’t take Fleet Admiral Rivers long to convince all the commanders to accept the Delton program. They were made to understand, in no uncertain words, what would have happened if there had been a Zaltule battle fleet waiting on them in the Darovin System. Only a few commanders had objected, but when threatened with being removed from the fleet they had acquiesced.
Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) Page 20