Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 4)

by Raymond L. Weil

  All along the line of ships, weapons fire was initiated almost simultaneously. Pulse fusion beam fire and particle beams slammed into the Kleese formation, shattering shields and setting off massive explosions as ship armor was penetrated. On the main viewscreen, the bottom section of a Zaltule battlecruiser was hit by a bright blue particle beam blasting huge pieces of debris off into space. It left behind a glowing hole in the hull, and internal explosions could be seen deep inside the gash.

  The Kleese were also firing back. Numerous antimatter missiles slammed into the light cruiser Odin, and the ship vanished in twin fiery explosions.

  “Light cruiser Odin is down,” reported Lieutenant Lash.

  The Constellation shuddered as several antimatter missiles hit her energy shield, severely jarring the ship. The tactical screen seemed to flicker and then cleared as the screen returned to full power.

  “No damage,” reported Commander Shepherd as the various departments reported in. “Shield is back up to 92 percent. Those were twenty-megaton antimatter missiles that struck our screen.”

  “All fleets task groups are engaged,” reported Lieutenant Lash.

  -

  The heavy battlecruiser Union fired her heavy plasma cannon at a nearby Zaltule warship. No one was expecting what followed. The beam flashed through the shield in a cascade of brilliant light and slammed into the top section of the ship. The entire ship seemed to glow for a brief moment and then blew apart in a violent explosion. Commander Andrea Lucian, upon seeing the devastating effect on the Kleese ship, instantly ordered a full spread of the new multi-warhead antimatter missiles to be fired. There was no doubt in her mind that the two human heavy battlecruisers were the most powerful ships in the Alliance fleet and even more powerful than a Zaltule battlecruiser.

  Instantly, along the entire right flank of the Zaltule fleet, a series of powerful antimatter explosions tore through energy screens, leaving numerous hulls open to attack. The eighty accompanying eight hundred-meter long Nalton battlecruisers fired their heavy energy beams as well as more antimatter missiles at the weakened enemy ships. Zaltule battlecruisers died in brilliant explosions of fiery light as megatons of antimatter energy were released. The Zaltule were now in the same position as most of the nonaligned world fleets they had attacked and annihilated in the past.

  Along the left flank, the Britannica fired her new particle beam cannons at a nearby Zaltule battlecruiser. Commander Davis watched the ship’s main viewscreen, as beams of brilliant blue light flashed through the energy screen of the Zaltule warship as if the screen was nonexistent. Massive explosions tore through the ship, disabling it, and then a multi-warhead antimatter missile finished killing the ship. In just a few moments, all that was left was a scattering of glowing gas and burning debris. The Lanolthians were firing their heavy ion cannons nearly nonstop, disabling Zaltule energy shields or severely weakening them. Each time a shield failed or developed a hole, an antimatter missile was fired.

  In the center of the formation, Seventh Fleet was firing their pulse fusion weapons, particle beam cannons, and numerous multi-warhead antimatter missiles. In addition, the sixty Tureen battlecruisers were firing their forty-megaton antimatter missiles in sprint mode at the advancing Zaltule. The Deltons were attacking with their heavy energy beams, hitting Zaltule ships anytime a shield faltered or failed.

  “Eighteen Zaltule ships are down,” reported Lieutenant Lash excitedly. “We’ve lost two Nalton battlecruisers, one Lanolthian battlecruiser, and two Tureen battlecruisers so far.”

  “Intensify the rate of fire,” ordered Admiral Adamson determinedly. He had the Kleese in a meat grinder and he didn’t plan to let them out. Their arrogance in attacking a superior fleet was about to end in their demise.

  -

  In the Command Center of the trading station, Minor Overlord Betel gazed in unbridled shock at the large viewscreens showing close-ups of the raging battle occurring in space. The humans and their Alliance were eliminating the Zaltule ships as if they were a minor nuisance.

  “This can’t be!” grated out Standt, as he looked at the latest data from the tactical screens. “The Zaltule are the warrior caste; they can’t be defeated in battle like this.”

  “We know now why the Zaltule are so concerned about these humans,” muttered Betel, as he shifted his attention to the conscripts, who operated the controls in the Command Center. A number had stopped performing their duties and were staring in awe at what was occurring on the viewscreens. With little more than a passing thought, Betel pressed several buttons on the small black control box on one of the consoles upon the Command Pedestal. Instantly, half a dozen small explosions rang out as the designated conscripts were eliminated. In the last few minutes, a few more Kleese had made it to the Command Center to take their posts. Most were now in their battle armor.

  “Notice those two large human warships,” Betel pointed out, as he adjusted a control, and one of the ships he was speaking about grew in size on one of the viewscreens. “I have been observing it, and it’s firing a plasma beam as well as particle beams. Both weapons are so powerful that our shields are useless against them.”

  “Those are inferior races,” spoke Standt, turning his full attention back to Betel. “How can they defeat the Zaltule? The Zaltule are the greatest warriors in the galaxy.”

  “Are they?” asked Betel, as he turned to look at the human ships on the viewscreens. He now understood fully why the Zaltule were so concerned about the humans. “Order the exploration ships to withdraw.”

  “What?” uttered Standt, not willing to believe what he’d just heard. “We don’t flee from inferior races or vermin!”

  Betel gazed long and hard at the viewscreens as more Zaltule battlecruisers died in fiery explosions. “I’m not so certain they are as inferior as we have believed. There is a reason why the Council of Overlords elected to sign all of the neutrality agreements with so many highly advanced worlds. If the exploration cruisers stay here, they will inevitably be destroyed. Send them to Sector Fourteen.”

  “What about the assault ships, are we to send them away also?” demanded Standt.

  “Of course not,” replied Betel sharply. “They’re operated by conscripts and their lives are of little value.”

  -

  In space, the battle between the Zaltule battlecruisers and the Alliance ships continued to intensify. Antimatter explosions lit up space on both sides as numerous missiles detonated against energy screens and occasionally ship armor. When an antimatter missile detonated against the hull of a ship destruction was almost immediate as the metal turned into glowing plasma.

  The Delton battlecruiser 224-331 was under heavy attack. The ship had become cut off from the main fleet and was under fire from three Zaltule warships. A Kleese pulse fusion beam penetrated the weakened shield, blowing an energy beam turret apart and blasting a gaping hole in the ship’s armor. The ship took a massive hit to her bow, losing most of her heavy weapons. In desperation, the ship’s commander turned his vessel broadside to bring his remaining weapons to bear. However, the shield was now far too weak to halt the massive onslaught of pulse fusion beams, which began hammering at the hull, ripping open compartment after compartment. In a massive explosion, the Delton battlecruiser blew apart.

  -

  “Delton ship 224-331 is down,” reported Lieutenant Lash.

  “The Arrow is reporting a major hull breach,” added Commander Shepherd with grave concern in her voice. The Arrow was one of Seventh Fleet’s six battlecruisers.

  “Get me a detailed report on the Arrow,” ordered Adamson, wincing at the news. He couldn’t afford to lose one of his larger warships. “Have the light cruisers Renown and Dresden move closer to the Arrow to give her additional covering fire. All ships are to go to continuous fire on all weapons and missiles. I want this battle ended yesterday!” Adamson was watching the tactical screen intently as the embattled ships were now within just a few hundred kilometers of each other. Very few if any w
eapons were missing their targets.

  “Admiral, the Kleese exploration ships are pulling out!” reported Commander Shepherd, as she watched the eight giant ships leave the vicinity of the trading station and accelerate away from the battle. In a matter of just a few moments, the eight ships vanished as they entered Fold Space.

  “They’re gone,” added Lieutenant Lash, as the eight red threat icons vanished from his sensors.

  “What about the assault ships?” Adamson asked. Perhaps the battle for the station was going to be easier than he had expected.

  “Still here,” Lash answered. “They’re taking up defensive positions around the station.”

  “Of course,” uttered Shepherd, shaking her head. “The assault ships are obviously crewed by conscripts and to the Kleese their lives are meaningless.”

  “Colonel Nelson is closing on the trading station and should be within combat range in another ten minutes,” Lash added.

  Adamson nodded. On one of the main viewscreens, he saw another Zaltule battlecruiser explode as a Tureen forty-megaton antimatter missile detonated against its hull. The ship vanished in an all-consuming fireball of energy.

  “They only have six warships left,” Commander Shepherd informed the admiral. “Why aren’t they withdrawing?”

  “They’re Zaltule,” answered Adamson, his eyes narrowing sharply. “They will not withdraw without orders from their Supreme Military Overlord and I suspect he’s long gone.”

  “Along with our abducted Marines?” asked Shepherd with concern in her voice.

  “Probably,” Adamson responded with a deep sigh. Even as he watched, the overwhelming weapons fire from the Alliance fleet annihilated the last Zaltule battlecruisers in brilliant fireballs of fiery destruction. “Get me a status on all fleet ships and the condition of their crews. I want to know the casualty figures.”

  As he waited for the report, he ordered the fleet to set course for the trading station. He strongly suspected that by the time they got there, Colonel Nelson would have annihilated the defending assault ships and be preparing to board. If everything continued to go as he hoped, they would soon have another Kleese trading station under their control. After some technological updates and major modifications, the station would become a major ship building facility for the human race. He also greatly feared the Kleese would retaliate in a strong way for the humans taking the station.

  Chapter Ten

  Wade felt the Defender shudder violently as several Kleese pulse fusion beams impacted the ship’s energy screen. They were in a vicious fight around the trading station. The fleet’s assault ships, the Defender and Argyle, as well as four hundred Alliance battlecruisers were steadily advancing on the station. Opposing them were nearly three hundred Kleese assault ships and the heavily armed station.

  “No damage,” reported Captain Alicia Damon, the Executive Officer. “Energy shield is holding at 92 percent. All systems working at optimum levels.”

  On the main viewscreen, the massive trading station could be seen. Bright flashes of light surrounded it as the Alliance ships tried to break through the defending assault ships. Weapons’ fire from the trading station was intense as dozens of pulse fusion beams and energy beams flashed out toward the attacking vessels. On one of the screens, a number of beams speared a human assault ship, penetrating its energy screen and blasting huge holes in its armor. The ship vanished in a bright fiery fireball.

  “Take out the weapon emplacements on the trading station,” ordered a grim faced Commander Greer over the ship-to-ship com channel to the other ships in the fleet. The trading station was heavily armed, as he had feared.

  On the main viewscreen, the massive one hundred and twenty-kilometer station was putting up a powerful defense. The pulse fusion and energy weapons were making it nearly impossible to approach the station to land the assault ships with Marines on board. Commander Greer had moved the Defender and Argyle closer, as they had the most powerful shields next to the heavy battlecruisers. They could handle the punishment the station was putting out, but only for a short while. Both troop assault vessels were using their KEW batteries to blast the weapon emplacements to oblivion on the station carving deep glowing holes into the hull. The KEW batteries would normally be used for bombarding planetary targets and they were ideal for taking out the station’s weapons.

  Around the station, two groups of assault ships were fighting a violent duel to the death as they swirled around each other in what could only be described as an intense dogfight. The Nabian commanders were determined to keep the Alliance ships away from the station and were fighting a desperate battle to do just that.

  “Assault ships 452, 487, 492, 515, 535, 546, 612, and 625 are down,” Ensign Walton reported as friendly green icons on his sensor screens vanished. He felt a deep sadness, knowing the crews on those ships had died.

  On the main viewscreen, brilliant fireballs marked the death of the valiant assault ships. The crews had given the ships names, but due to the number of assault ships in the human fleets numbers were still used to designate them in battle. Each assault ship had a crew of fifty and ten Marines.

  “The Waltarns have lost two battlecruisers to weapons fire from the station,” added the ensign as he kept track of losses to the Alliance fleet. “The Preen have lost three.”

  Greer shook his head in dismay at the ship losses. They’d known this battle wouldn’t be easy. “Continue to target the weapon emplacements on the station,” he ordered. “The weapons fire is still too intense to send in the assault ships with our Marines.” He knew that Wade’s plan called for the forty assault ships with Marines to secure a number of flight bays and then the Defender and the Argyle would move in.

  “The Carlton, Shin, Marsten, Eldred, and Klein battlecruisers are moving in to engage the assault ships,” reported Captain Damon as she watched the tactical screen.

  -

  Out in space, the Kleese assault ships were now finding themselves in a precarious situation. Heavy weapons fire from the Alliance battlecruisers were smashing through their shields and the attacking human assault ships were taking advantage of the weakened shields to blast the Kleese assault ships with multiple pulse fusion beams and occasional particle beams. Violent fiery explosions were evident all around the massive station as ships were blown apart.

  Pulse fusion fire from multiple Alliance warships would slam into the Kleese assault ships setting off massive explosions and hurling glowing debris into space. The Nabians operating the ships were frantic as they saw their best efforts to defend their masters being brushed aside. The very idea of the Kleese Overlords losing in battle was a foreign concept to the Nabians and one, until now, they had believed impossible.

  The trading station was focusing its more powerful weapons on the Alliance battlecruisers. Four or five Kleese pulse fusion beams would strike a battlecruiser’s energy shield and in some instances penetrate, blasting deep glowing holes into ship armor. As the assault ships died, the station was becoming more reliant on its own weapons to hold the attacking fleet back.

  -

  Minor Overlord Betel watched impassively as the Alliance fleet continued to decimate his vastly outnumbered assault ships. Some Alliance ships were being destroyed, but not nearly as fast as the Kleese assault ships. He let out a deep and long breath, as he realized the inevitability of the space battle.

  “Computer estimates all of our assault ships will be eliminated in another six minutes,” Standt reported, his multifaceted eyes focusing on Betel. “We have sent messages to the nearer trading stations and to worlds where Zaltule squadrons are located, but it will be a minimum of twelve hours before the nearest fleet unit can respond.”

  “The battle will be over by then,” spoke Betel evenly.

  “We have lost 32 percent of our pulse fusion and energy batteries,” another Kleese reported. “Those two large human warships are using kinetic energy weapons to take out our weapon emplacements. In addition, a number of the Alliance battlecru
isers are now targeting our weapons as well. Weapon emplacements will all be eliminated in twelve more minutes.”

  Betel nodded. There was little he could do but watch the battle on the viewscreens. He had deployed nearly twenty thousand conscripts in Type Two battlesuits throughout the station. Most of the crew had been sent to their domes to wait the battle out; only essential crewmembers were still at their stations. Idly, he wondered what the humans would do when they found out the human captives were no longer on board. Betel strongly suspected the station would be destroyed in a barrage of antimatter missiles. He felt the Command Center shudder slightly.

  “Send an FTL message to the Council of Overlords,” he ordered in a cold voice devoid of emotion. “Inform them of the attack and the loss of the Zaltule battlecruisers. Let them know we expect the human led Alliance to destroy this station sometime in the next few hours.” The message would take several weeks to reach the Kleese home world even with the relay satellites between Sector Twelve and Sector One. The council would not be pleased when they learned of the destruction of the station.

  Standt was watching the viewscreens and the tactical displays. He was finding it hard to accept what was occurring out in space. The Zaltule destroyed, their assault ships undergoing destruction, and the station itself was under attack. How could this be? The Kleese were the dominant life form in the known galaxy, all others were inferior or merely vermin. How could lower forms of life defeat the Kleese?

  Betel stepped down from the Command Pedestal. Even this deep inside the station, he could feel faint vibrations from weapon impacts. Moving over to the side of the Command Center, he opened a large cabinet that contained his battle armor. It was a Type Three battlesuit, which he quickly donned. He then picked up an RG rifle off the rack and belted an Energy Lance to his waist. He didn’t know if the humans would attempt to take the Command Center or be content with merely destroying the station in a missile bombardment. In any case, he was prepared to die as a Kleese.