The city erupted into a firestorm as numerous structures caught fire. Fortunately, the Smithfield habitat was protected by an energy shield to ensure the roof would never cave in upon the city below. It was this shield which now held the damage to just the habitat and didn’t allow it to spread to the others. The powerful shield wavered but managed to hold.
The spacedock was also heavily damaged. The construction berths and all the equipment in the huge bay were destroyed in the backlash of the powerful blast. More fires broke out and the power of the blast continued down the tunnel until it erupted from the remains of the outer airlock doors.
The Zaltule had withdrawn back to their ships to see the result of their use of an antimatter bomb inside the asteroid. They had hoped the explosion would blow the asteroid apart. It stayed together, but just barely. The energy shield in Smithfield and the blown open airlocks in the spacedock prevented the energy of the blast from having its desired effect.
Inside Smithfield, the blast died down. The city itself was in shambles with most of its buildings blown down and large fires raging. There was no movement of any kind indicating anyone had survived.
Chapter Twenty-Two
General Alan Mitchell shook his head in disbelief. The Zaltule had managed to blast their way into the spacedock at Vesta. Not only that but they had driven Colonel Wade Nelson’s Marines out of the spacedock and into the Smithfield habitat. Worse yet was the news the Zaltule had set off an antimatter warhead close to Smithfield and effectively destroyed the habitat and the spacedock. Casualties to the Marines had been heavy, and thus far, there had been no communication with Colonel Nelson or any of the Marines inside the habitat since the antimatter bomb detonated. From what General Bailey had reported, the conditions in Smithfield were so bad it would be hours before rescue teams could enter and begin sifting through the rubble.
“What’s the current status of Fleet Commander Achlyn’s fleet?”
“They’re moving into combat range now,” Lieutenant Vail reported.
“Fleet Commander Achlyn is hoping to pin the Zaltule battlecruisers between his force and Vesta,” commented Colonel Robertson. “It will force the Zaltule to fight on two fronts and might give him a slight tactical advantage.”
“He’ll need that advantage against the Zaltule fleet,” Mitchell said as he shifted his gaze to one of the tactical screens showing Fleet Commander Achlyn’s fleet emerging from a dense area of the asteroid belt where they had been waiting with their systems powered down.
“General Bailey has confirmed two of his weapons sites have been destroyed and a third has been heavily damaged,” reported Captain Jennifer Owens from Communications. “He estimates in another forty minutes all the sites will have been eliminated.”
Mitchell felt grave concern after hearing the reports. The battle so far was going against the defenders. First Mars, and now the grim news coming from Vesta.
“Zaltule battlecruisers should be dropping out of Fold Space in twelve minutes,” Lieutenant Vail reported as he watched the mass of red threat icons that were rapidly nearing the Moon.
“General, what about the weapon?” asked Marken. He was feeling great sadness knowing that Colonel Wade Nelson may have perished at Vesta. He wondered how many others he knew were missing as well. Wherever the Kleese went, they always brought death and destruction.
“Have it on standby,” Mitchell responded. He let out a deep and determined breath. “If we have to use it to stop the Zaltule, we will even if it means we destroy the Solar System in doing so. At least the Alliance will continue and there will be some Human survivors with Alliance Fleet Admiral Rivers as well as the ships we sent away.”
Marken nodded. He knew if the weapon destroyed all life in the Solar System, his own people would meet their final end. There were only a few Kiveans on the medical ship Micene and none in Admiral Rivers’ fleet. The few on the Micene would not be enough to continue the Kivean race. Without hesitation, Marken contacted the Human commander at the secret base on the Moon built to house the new weapon. The weapon was a drastic redesign of one of the fleet’s current weapon systems. It had been developed by the Kiveans along with the other alien races present in the Solar System.
-
Fleet Commander Achlyn looked at his ship’s tactical screen as his fleet left the group of asteroids they had been hiding in and accelerated toward the Zaltule fleet besieging Vesta. He had eight hundred and ten warships under his command including sixty Delton heavy battlecruisers and three hundred and thirteen regular battlecruisers. The rest of the ships in his fleet were support vessels.
The core of his fleet was built around the sixty Delton heavy battlecruisers, each of which was twelve hundred meters in length and the most powerful vessels ever built in the Alliance. They should easily be able to go heads up against a Zaltule warship.
“Admiral Trest of the Belen fleet and Admiral Hiath of the Bashan fleet both report ready for combat,” Second Commander Baylith reported from his command station. “We’ll be in combat range of the Zaltule battlecruisers in fourteen minutes.”
“Have they detected our fleet?”
“Yes,” answered Baylith, nodding his head. “The attack on the weapons sites on Vesta have substantially decreased and it appears the Zaltule are attempting to adjust their formation to meet our fleet.”
“Excellent,” Achlyn said, pleased the Zaltule were reducing their targeting of the large Human inhabited asteroid. “All ships, stand by to fire. Our first attack will be a general assault on the nearer Zaltule battlecruisers with antimatter missiles and then we’ll switch to multiple fleet units attacking individual Zaltule ships.”
This was the strategy the three fleet commanders had agreed upon. A general strike on the entire Zaltule formation and then groups of four to ten ships targeting individual Zaltule vessels. It was felt this tactic would allow for a greater strategic success. Achlyn just hoped it worked. The lives of millions of people in Vesta were relying on him being able to defeat this Zaltule warfleet.
-
Minor Overlord Barral’s multifaceted eyes gazed unflinchingly at the ship’s large tactical screen. It was showing over eight hundred red threat icons approaching his fleet. They had been hiding in a region of dense asteroids and hadn’t been detected by the fleet’s sensors until the vessels had powered up and began advancing.
“We have detected Delton, Belen, and Bashan warships in that formation,” Falolt, the ship’s second in command reported. He stomped his six feet upon the floor of the deck as he looked up at Barral, who was on the Command Pedestal. “Of concern are what appear to be sixty large Delton warships of twelve hundred meters. These are obviously new constructions and may contain upgraded weapons from the Alliance.”
“We shall destroy them regardless,” Barral said confidently. “We are the Zaltule and are supreme in battle. Our fleet vastly outnumbers theirs, and we shall annihilate it. Once their fleet has been dealt with, we shall return to destroying this planetoid the Humans are hiding in and then seek out the hiding places of the Deltons, Belens, and the Bashan. I suspect they’re inside some of the nearby asteroids this system has an abundance of. They shall die here as well as the Humans.”
-
The Zaltule fleet reversed its course and adjusted their formation into a solid wall of battlecruisers. Even as they did so ion beams and particle weapons fire from Vesta blew four more of their battlecruisers into twisted wreckage.
-
In Centerpoint, General Mitchell watched the tactical screens in the large Command Center as Fleet Commander Achlyn’s combined fleet neared combat range of the Zaltule. At the same time, enemy battlecruisers began dropping out of Fold Space in close proximity to the Moon.
“Sixty thousand kilometers,” Lieutenant Vail reported in a strained voice as hundreds and then thousands of three-kilometer Zaltule warships exited Fold Space. “Detecting energy shields coming online and weapons powering up.
“Now it’s Fleet Admiral Kelly�
��s turn,” General Mitchell said as he looked at the large group of friendly green icons representing the admiral’s fleet. The fleet was in between Centerpoint and Freedom Stations. Already it was moving out to intercept the Zaltule.
“The weapon is nearly ready,” Marken said as he gazed at the massive Zaltule fleet showing on multiple viewscreens. “It will take twelve minutes to activate once the order has been given.”
“Let’s hope that order isn’t necessary,” General Mitchell said.
Marken nodded. He wished Harnett were here with him. She helped to keep him calm and if the weapon inadvertently caused the destruction of the Solar System, the two of them would die being separated by the vast distance of space between Centerpoint and the Kivean asteroid.
-
Fleet Admiral Kelly gazed intently at the tactical screen on the front wall of the Command Center of the heavy battlecruiser Armageddon. He had over five hundred warships to hold back the Zaltule. Thirty heavy battlecruisers, sixty regular battlecruisers, one hundred and forty-four light cruisers and three hundred assault ships. With a deep sigh, he knew that wasn’t enough considering what was waiting in front of them.
“Send in the mine layers,” Kelly ordered. No one knew how successful this gambit would be. Mines like these had never been used in the war before.
-
The six special assault ships flew a parallel course between the two converging fleets. From tubes in their hulls, small one-meter mines made out of a material that should be immune to detection floated out. In a matter of a few minutes, thirty thousand mines were quickly emplaced between the two fleets. Each mine contained a twenty-megaton warhead and would detonate upon contact with a Zaltule energy shield or hull.
-
“What are those six assault ships doing?” demanded Military Overlord Harmock as he watched the ships suspiciously on the tactical screen. He strongly suspected the Humans might be setting another trap. At every turn, these Humans were showing to be unpredictable in their strategies. Time after time, they were showing themselves to be worthy adversaries.
“There’s nothing appearing on the sensors,” Jalridd reported as he used the ship’s powerful sensors to scan the six assault ships.
“Perhaps they wanted a closer scan of our ships,” suggested Minor Overlord Gareth.
“No,” said Harmock, shaking his triangular shaped head. “They’re up to something, but I don’t understand what.” He folded his powerful arms across his chest and gazed at the tactical screen as the six assault ships returned to the Human fleet.
“The Human fleet has stopped its advance,” Jalridd reported.
“They’re outside of our weapons engagement range,” Salten commented from his weapons station. “We will need to move closer.”
Harmock nodded his acceptance of having to close with the Human fleet. “In order to engage the Humans, we’ll have to travel through the area of space those six assault ships recently passed through.” Harmock spent a few moments trying to guess what the Humans were up to. He finally settled on a strategy that would gain him some insight. “We shall send one thousand of our ships toward the Humans. If there is a trap waiting, those ships should spring it. If there is no trap, then the entire fleet will move forward and destroy the Humans.”
-
Back at Vesta, Fleet Commander Achlyn’s fleet had entered engagement range of the Zaltule. The two fleets opened fire and antimatter explosions swept across the energy screens of vessels in both fleets.
A Zaltule pulse fusion beam smashed through the weakened energy screen of a five-hundred-meter Bashan escort ship, opening up numerous compartments to space. Energy beams cut into the hull of the vessel compromising the hull integrity across a large area. Debris drifted away from the ship as the frantic crew tried to close off the damaged compartments. Then a Zaltule antimatter missile arrived, and the escort ship vanished as it was completely obliterated.
In the Zaltule formation, the preliminary antimatter missile attack had lit up space throughout the fleet formation. Then individual Zaltule battlecruisers came under attack by groups of opposing warships. Ten plasma beams from the new and larger Delton battlecruisers crashed through the energy screen of an enemy battlecruiser, boring deeply into the hull. Moments later the ship exploded in a fiery fireball, which quickly faded away, leaving only a few wisps of glowing gas and spreading debris behind.
In both fleet formations, ships were dying. The defense sites on Vesta were firing nonstop, targeting the nearest Zaltule battlecruisers that were now at extreme range. Over the course of twenty seconds, ten more enemy battlecruisers died.
-
Minor Overlord Barral realized he had been trapped in between the planetoid with its dangerous weapons and the incoming fleet. This was a situation easy to correct.
“Move us further away from the asteroid,” he ordered. “We’ll eliminate the fleet first and then return to finish the destruction of the Humans.”
Barral looked sharply at Falolt as the Conqueror’s Pride shook violently and several red lights appeared on the damage control board.
“Plasma beam strike to the aft section,” Falolt reported. “Emergency bulkheads have sealed off the damaged area and combat efficiency has not been affected. Our energy shields are having difficulty stopping the plasma beams.”
Barral felt enraged that his flagship had suffered damage. His multifaceted eyes turned red in anger as he leaned forward and placed his two seven-digit hands upon the control console in front of him. “Move the fleet forward!” he ordered. “We will show these subservient races what it means to face the Zaltule in battle!”
-
Delton Fleet Commander Achlyn felt his ship vibrate slightly from Zaltule pulse fusion beams impacting the energy shield. He looked grimly at the tactical screen, noting he was losing three ships to every Zaltule battlecruiser he was destroying. Many of the losses belonged to the smaller support ships of the Belen and the Bashan. Looking at a viewscreen, he saw a Belen support ship explode in a blaze of light as it was destroyed by Zaltule antimatter fire.
“We cannot destroy this fleet,” Second Commander Baylith said, his eyes showing his dismay. “It’s too powerful.”
Achlyn accepted the truth of that statement. He had waited to attack with his fleet hoping Vesta’s powerful defenses would be able to destroy or damage a significant number of the Zaltule battlecruisers. While it had helped, it wasn’t going to be enough. “Nevertheless, we will remain and fight until either by some miracle we win or the Zaltule destroy us. We owe that to the Humans.”
Baylith nodded. It was the honorable thing to do even if it meant the death of everyone in the fleet. There was also nowhere else they could run where the Zaltule wouldn’t eventually find them. Better to die here in battle than in the deep darkness of space.
-
Fleet Admiral Kelly watched as one thousand Zaltule battlecruisers crept toward his waiting fleet.
“They suspect something,” Commander Makita said with a deep and worried frown spreading across his face.
Kelly nodded his agreement. He let out a deep breath and spoke. “It must have been the assault ships. Harmock must suspect something is up, particularly after we hit them with the cargo ships at Mars.”
It was quiet in the Command Center as the Zaltule battlecruisers entered the minefield. The mines were equipped with very rudimentary sublight drives, which would be activated by a signal from the Armageddon.
“Fleet is ready to advance,” Commander Makita said as he listened to the various ship commanders over his ship-to-ship comm. “All ships are at Condition One, energy shields are up, and weapons are charged.”
“Stand by,” said Kelly as he watched the Zaltule battlecruisers intently. They were nearly in the center of the minefield. Just another few seconds and it would be time to send the activation signal.
“Now!” ordered Kelly as the enemy battlecruisers passed the midpoint of the area of space saturated with the antimatter mines.
Simultaneously, the Human fleet surged forward, activating their weapons and laying a withering hail of weapons fire into the beleaguered Zaltule battlecruisers. All of Admiral Kelly’s heavy battlecruisers and regular cruisers were equipped with plasma weapons, and these were being used to wreck havoc on the trapped Zaltule fleet formation.
On one of the viewscreens, Kelly watched as four plasma beams tore through the energy shield of a Zaltule battlecruiser, tearing the ship open and causing secondary explosions to finish its destruction. Other Zaltule battlecruisers were suffering the same fate. Even though the thousand Zaltule battlecruisers badly outnumbered the Human fleet, at the moment Admiral Kelley had the advantage thanks to the minefield.
-
Harmock stepped off the Command Pedestal until he was standing directly in front of the largest viewscreen showing the chaos his advance ships had wallowed into.
“Mines!” he said, his eyes glowing in anger. “Those six assault ships were laying a minefield.”
“But we detected nothing on the sensors,” protested Jalridd as he looked once more at his sensor readings. We’re not showing anything there.”
“The materials the mines are constructed of are immune to detection,” Harmock said harshly. “Once again the Humans have tricked us.” Harmock stepped back and studied the tactical screen. “The minefield must run from here to here,” he said pointing to different areas of the screen. We’ll take the rest of our fleet around it and attack the Humans from their exposed flank.”
“What about our other ships trapped in the minefield?” asked Minor Overlord Gareth. “They’re suffering heavy losses between the attacking Human ships and the mines.”
Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) Page 34