“Yes, Captain,” replied Dawson.
“We can use the hover tanks’ sensors to spot any inbound,” Jamie added. She then turned to Daebenn. “How soon can we begin evacuations?”
“There are twenty of us on this mission,” Daebenn answered. “We’ll be departing as soon as the sun sets. Our plans are to go to the nearest small city to procure transportation. From there we’ll split up and begin searching for the people on our lists. My own include several Deltons who were high up in our government as well as many involved in scientific research. I feel fairly certain that if we contact the right people first they will be more than willing to help in the evacuation.”
“Just be careful,” warned Jamie. “There are Kleese upon your world, and they must not learn of our presence.”
“They won’t,” promised Daebenn. “Though I found it strange there were no Kleese ships in orbit.”
Jamie nodded in agreement. She had found that strange also.
A noise distracted her and turning she saw one of the hover tanks come down the ramp of the nearest shuttle. Its large energy gun, twin secondary railgun cannons, and dual explosive launchers would provide a lot of firepower if needed. They also were capable of recharging a battlesuit if necessary.
“I’ll get the perimeter established,” Sergeant Dawson said as he began speaking to the Marine driving the hover tank.
He was going to place all four of the tanks first, as they could use their sensors to ensure the immediate area was clear. Then he would have a couple squads of Marines fan out to the one thousand meter perimeter and set up the motion sensors. If anyone came close to the shuttles, they’d know about it.
-
Fleet Commander Achlyn was on the outskirts of his home system looking at the latest sensor scans in confusion. Not a single red threat icon was showing.
“How certain are we these sensor readings are accurate?”
“They’re accurate,” Second Commander Baylith responded. “There are no Kleese vessels anywhere in the system. All we’re picking up are Delton cargo ships traveling back and forth between the different mining operations on the outer moons.”
“This is strange,” Achlyn replied with a frown. “Considering the size of the fleet they used to conquer our system, one would assume they would have at least a few assault ships in orbit.”
“Perhaps the rift between the two Kleese castes is more serious than we thought,” suggested Baylith. He was very familiar with Marken’s claims that there was major unrest between the two Kleese groups.
“We’ve encountered very few exploration cruisers in our scans of other systems as we made our journey to Delton,” added Achlyn, wondering if there was some truth in Baylith’s words. “There was also an absence of assault ships above many of those planets. Something odd is definitely going on.”
“We could drastically speed up the rescue operation if there are no Kleese ships,” recommended Baylith. “We could move our passenger liners and cargo ships into the outer regions of the system, which would make the turnaround time much shorter.”
Achlyn thought over Baylith’s recommendation for a long moment. “Not yet,” he said, preferring to play it cautious. “Let’s continue as planned for several weeks. If at the end of that time no Kleese have put in an appearance, then I will consider moving our rescue ships.”
Baylith nodded. He respected the fleet commander’s decision. It might indeed be wise to wait in case the Kleese did show up, which could put the unarmed rescue fleet in danger.
-
Captain Sterns was awoken from her sleep when her com unit in her tent began blinking and buzzing. Sliding out of her bunk, she hit the receive button. “Captain Sterns here.”
“We have inbound,” Sergeant Dawson’s voice came back. “The east hover tank is detecting them about two thousand meters out. Estimated number is nearly two hundred.”
“Battlesuits?” inquired Jamie, concerned it might be the Kleese or some of their conscripts. They’d only been down on the planet for about forty hours.
“No,” replied Sergeant Dawson. “We’re not picking up any power emissions of any type or indications of approaching armor.”
“It could be Deltons. Bring the camp to full alert; I’ll be there shortly.”
Jamie quickly dressed and stepped outside, walking over to where her Type Three command suit waited. Stepping inside, she waited for it to seal up and then activated the suit’s HUD, which displayed the contacts from the hover tank. The HUD was showing two hundred and twenty-three unidentified contacts slowly moving toward their position. It was just before sunup, with only the dim glow of the distant horizon indicating the Delton sun was about to rise. It was still dark in the surrounding forest.
“We have possible inbound hostiles,” she spoke over the general comm frequency. “There’s also the possibility this could be the first group of evacuees. Everyone hold your fire until we have a positive identification.”
Jamie quickly jogged over to where Sergeant Dawson was standing next to the east hover tank. “Report.”
“Eighteen hundred meters out and still closing,” Dawson reported. He was holding his RG rifle with his right hand down at his side.
“I have a comm message from Daebenn,” the Sensor and Communications operator in the hover tank reported. “He’s bringing in the first group of refugees.”
Jamie felt immensely relieved they weren’t facing an imminent attack. “The inbounds are Delton refugees,” she announced over the general comm frequency. “Everyone hold your fire.”
“Sergeant Dawson, organize a couple of squads to serve as escorts. Make sure there are no unauthorized weapons or communication devices on these Deltons. We don’t want any Kleese spies in our midst.”
The minutes passed as she waited for the first Deltons to appear. She knew they had to be moving slowly due to the near darkness in the thick forest. Many of the trees towered nearly sixty meters above them with a moderate amount of overgrowth on the forest floor.
“Got em!” called out Sergeant Dawson as several Deltons suddenly appeared in front of them as they stepped out from beneath the large trees.
“It’s Daebenn,” Jamie said, recognizing the small Delton.
Daebenn must have seen the Marines because he paused and then, upon recognizing Jamie’s command suit, he quickly walked up to her. “I have the first group,” he said excitedly. “I also need to send a message to Fleet Commander Achlyn. There have been no Kleese ships in the system in over a month. They all pulled out after receiving a message from Supreme Overlord Xatul.”
“What type of message?” Jamie was curious what could cause the Kleese to leave so suddenly.
“We don’t know,” answered Daebenn. “However, there are less than a dozen Kleese upon the planet and only about two hundred conscripts. All are in the capital or at the main spaceport outside the city.”
“Let’s get your people processed and inside the shuttles,” Jamie replied. “I’m sure Fleet Commander Achlyn will be interested in your report.”
Jamie watched for a while as the long line of Deltons moved slowly past her. Several wore Kleese explosive collars around their necks. These would be removed once they reached the shuttles. Many looked fearfully at the Marines in the towering battlesuits but continued to follow Daebenn and the Marines who were now escorting them. Jamie noticed there were both male and female Deltons as well as a number of small children. Families, Jamie realized. Most of these Deltons were family groups. When the last filed past, Jamie turned to follow. She wondered when Fleet Commander Achlyn found out just how small the Kleese presence was on his world, if he would order an attack to take out the Kleese and their conscripts. With the Defender and the Argyle, they had the Marines to carry out such an assault.
-
Fleet Commander Achlyn listened with astonishment to the report Daebenn was delivering over the ship’s comm. “Are you certain of those numbers?” he asked, finding it hard to believe the Kleese would leave t
he planet so lightly defended.
“It’s been confirmed,” Daebenn replied. “I managed to talk to several officials in the government and they’re just as confused by the Kleese withdrawal as everyone else.”
“If we took out the local Kleese and their conscripts, we could complete the evacuation in less than a week,” said Baylith. It would be a gamble, but the risk might be worth it.
“I need to speak to Admiral Rivers and Colonel Nelson,” Achlyn replied. Baylith was right; they could complete the evacuation very quickly if the fleet could be moved closer, possibly even into orbit around Delton. The only danger would be if the Kleese showed back up in the middle of everything.
“What about the Ruling Council?” asked Achlyn. He had a cousin on the council.
“The Kleese killed four of them upon landing on the planet,” Daebenn replied. “Kleese collars of obedience were placed around the necks of all the rest. The same goes for many of our leading scientists and professors of higher learning.”
“Were others killed as well?”
“Yes,” Daebenn answered with sadness in is voice. “Several hundred other Deltons were executed as an example to ensure cooperation. “Your cousin survived and is still on the council though as I said earlier, he’s wearing a Kleese explosive collar.”
“Not for long,” vowed Achlyn. “Continue the evacuation while I contact Admiral Rivers. We may indeed change our strategy.”
-
On the far side of the planet in a forested valley, a Kleese assault ship lay partially hidden beneath a massive stone ledge. The rest of it had been covered with small trees and limbs to make it blend in with its surroundings.
“Are you certain?” Lieutenant Nelson asked, his eyes focusing sharply on Casey.
“Almost,” Casey answered as she gazed at her comm console. “I’ve picked up what sounds like several messages from the surface to a Delton warship somewhere far out in the system.”
“How do you know it’s a warship?” challenged Lauren.
There was no way a Delton warship could be in the system. All the surviving ones were back in the solar system or part of Alliance fleets. Lauren was concerned Casey was letting her imagination make her hear something that wasn’t there. They all wanted to go home.
“The messages were highly encrypted,” answered Casey, wanting the others to believe her. “There’s no reason to use encrypted messages to cargo ships.”
“How do you know it wasn’t a Kleese?” asked Lauren, shaking her head in disbelief.
“The messages were on the wrong frequency,” Casey explained. She was beginning to doubt herself about what she’d heard.
Ryan leaned back in his command chair and thought over what Casey was saying. It was highly unlikely there was a Delton warship in the system. However, from the intense look on Casey’s face, it was obvious she’d heard something out of the ordinary.
“Keep a watch on communications,” Ryan ordered after a moment of thought. “Turn recorders on so we can playback any messages you pick up. If this is a Delton warship, it’s possible Fleet Commander Achlyn sent the ship to check up on his home world, and I have to admit that’s a slim possibility.”
Casey nodded. She’d made a mistake to begin with by not having the recorders on. She wouldn’t make it again.
“If that is a Delton battlecruiser, how do we go about contacting it?” asked Lieutenant Guthrie. “If we send any type of message, the Kleese are bound to detect it.”
“I don’t know,” Ryan admitted.
For the last four weeks, they’d stayed close to the assault ship. They had been listening to Delton communications, trying to pinpoint who they could turn to for help. They’d been foraging for food in the surrounding forest including killing some animals that were deemed safe to consume. Sergeant McElroy was sending teams out daily to scrounge for food.
“This might be our only chance at rescue,” spoke up Alexander. He was sitting at his tactical console listening to the conversation. “We could launch a drop ship and try to make contact. I’m willing to go.”
“It would be a one way trip,” Lauren said, looking worriedly over at the other corporal. “A drop ship isn’t designed for long term stays in space. Within forty-eight hours, you would be dead.”
“Lauren’s right,” Ryan said. “Let’s wait and see if we pick up any more messages. If we do, then we’ll make a decision about what we need to do. Autumn, can we get the assault ship back up into orbit?”
“Maybe,” she said, glancing at her flight console. “The Fold Space Drive is out, but the sublight drive is still marginally functional.”
“What do you mean, marginally?”
“Whatever is wrong with the Fold Space Drive is affecting the subspace drive also. I could probably get us up into orbit, but not much farther than that.”
Casey turned to look at Ryan, seeing the deep look of concern on his face. She knew the burden of command was weighing heavily on his shoulders.
“What about an FTL message?” asked Ryan, seeing Casey watching him.
“FTL messages are out,” Casey replied. “The problem with the drive is causing a cascade effect across other systems, including communications. I’m not certain I could even transmit a message to orbit that would be powerful enough to be received.”
Ryan let out a deep breath. They were nearly out of options. Looking at his crew in the Command Center, he could see the faint hope in their eyes that it was indeed a Delton battlecruiser. Ryan hoped they were right; if it wasn’t, then it was likely they would spend the rest of their lives here in this forested valley.
Chapter Nineteen
Colonel Wade Nelson watched anxiously as the Defender came out of Fold Space close to the Delton home world. The viewscreens cleared and everyone could feel the growing tension in the room.
“We’re at Condition One and jamming of all outbound communications has begun,” reported Ensign Snider. “All long-range FTL communications are blocked.”
“Launch drop ships,” ordered Commander Greer.
“Drop ships launching,” replied Captain Damon. On one of the viewscreens, several of the small drop ships appeared and then arrowed down toward their target on the planet.
“Receiving a Kleese challenge on the regular comm channel,” reported Ensign Snider.
“Ignore it,” Wade ordered.
Perhaps they could keep the Kleese in the dark for a few more minutes as to what was happening. There was no way they would be expecting an attack this deep in their space. Wade wanted to keep that element of surprise as long as possible.
“Beginning general broadcast to disable all Kleese explosive collars,” added Captain Damon.
The powerful signal the Defender was broadcasting would disable all collars on this side of the planet. The Argyle was on the far side and was broadcasting the same signal. Wade had been fearful that as soon as the Kleese realized this was an attack they might attempt to detonate all the collars on the planet. That would have resulted in the death of potentially thousands of Deltons, many of whom they had come to rescue.
“Fleet Commander Achlyn is sending out a general broadcast to all Delton cargo ships operating in the system,” Ensign Snider reported. He’s telling them who he is and that this is a rescue mission. He’s ordering all cargo ships to rendezvous at a set of coordinates two million kilometers from the planet.”
“The rest of the fleet is arriving,” reported Captain Damon as numerous green icons began to flood the sensor screen and then show up on the tactical display.
Wade felt relief knowing all of Fourth Fleet, as well as the rest of Fleet Commander Achlyn’s battlecruisers, were going into orbit. Now it was up to Major Winfrey and his Marines to eliminate the Kleese presence in the capital city and neutralize the conscripts at the spaceport. Wade wanted to go down himself, but he knew his rank demanded he stay on the Defender and command the operation from orbit. Major Winfrey would be able to handle everything on the ground.
-
Major Winfrey felt the drop ship shudder and the noise of their passage through the atmosphere became a steady roar.
“Just like old times,” commented Sergeant Olivia Morris.
Olivia had been a part of Major Winfrey’s British Special Forces unit and influential in the training of new recruits in the Type Four battlesuits. She had her visor up and was visibly smiling as the ride became rougher.
Dylan laughed and nodded. He raised his own visor to reply. “I had forgotten how rough landing in one of these drop ships is.”
“Just like riding a bike,” Olivia replied.
“Two minutes to target,” the pilot’s voice came over their comms.
“Visors down,” commanded Dylan as he concentrated and his visor slid down and locked. He was in his Type Four command suit. The entire platoon with him was encased in the more limber Type Fours.
“Lock and load,” ordered Sergeant Morris. “We’re coming down on the spaceport itself so be prepared to engage Kleese conscripts immediately. They’ll be wearing Type Two suits, in all likelihood.”
“Type Two’s can still do a lot of harm,” one of the privates replied.
“I want the spaceport secured as soon as possible,” Dylan said over the general comm frequency. “Try not to cause too much damage; we’ll need the spaceport for the evacuation.”
“No explosive rounds?” a corporal asked.
“If necessary,” Dylan responded. “We’ll do what we have to in order to win this battle.”
“One minute to target,” the pilot announced.
The drop ship suddenly began decelerating quickly as it came in at a sharp angle. It darted across the spaceport, coming to a stop near the center of the facility and gently setting down. As soon as the landing pads touched the blastcrete, the large hatch opened and the ramp slid down to touch the pavement.
“Everyone out!” yelled Sergeant Morris as she exited the ship, her RG rifle held at the ready.
The other Marines, including Major Winfrey, quickly followed. There were Kleese conscripts visible near some of the buildings; however, they were milling around unsure of what was going on.
Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 4) Page 27