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

by Raymond L. Weil

  “She’s coping,” answered Marken. “For now she’s occupied with treating the Marines who were with Ryan. They’re all aboard the Micene and seem to be coming along well. Some have malnutrition and a few are still having a hard time sleeping, but she feels confident they will all be able to return to duty soon.”

  “That’s good news,” Beth said.

  She would like to go over to the Kivean medical ship to speak to Ryan and Casey, but she knew with the impending mission that wasn’t likely. She reached out and took Wade’s hand, hoping they would get through this safely. They’d risked so much to come find Ryan. She hoped they weren’t about to throw all of that away.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Supreme Military Overlord Harmock was standing upon the Command Pedestal of his flagship making plans for the upcoming attack on the humans and their pitiful Alliance. Four thousand of the new battlecruisers would be going as well as three thousand of the regular Zaltule battlecruisers. He’d decided to go ahead and launch his attack though many more of the new ships were still under construction. He would crush the Alliance worlds first and then go on to eradicate the humans in their star system. Once that was complete, the fleet would return to Sectors Seven and Eight for repairs before setting out to conquer the remaining nonaligned worlds in the empire.

  If Harmock’s plans were successful, within a year all worlds in the boundaries of the empire would be under Kleese control. The Zaltule would control all the important assets in the empire and the new Queens would be ready to breed. Once the first hatchings from the new Queens matured, the Zaltule would begin to rapidly expand the empire across the galaxy.

  The flagship was currently in orbit over the sixth planet of the home system where one of the large shipyards was located. Harmock was considering transferring to one of the newer and more powerful battlecruisers once some special modifications were finished. Observing the main viewscreen, he noticed the space around the shipyard was full of activity. Cargo ships were constantly coming and going delivering the necessary materials to keep the shipyard functioning. Numerous battlecruisers were docked to the station and its construction bays were operating constantly, building additional battlecruisers as well as updating the older ones.

  “There have still been no signs of former Supreme Overlord Xatul and those who have fled with him,” reported Minor Overlord Gareth. “The search has thus far come up empty. We have twelve hundred Zaltule battlecruisers engaged in the search as well as three hundred and twenty exploration cruisers.”

  “I want all the star systems between the home world and the former Strell Empire searched,” Harmock responded coldly. “I don’t care how long it takes, I want those Overlords found. Have all the trading stations in that region of space use their assault ships for the search. Xatul and the other Overlords could be hiding anywhere.”

  At that moment, Dalock turned about from his Communications console with a confused upon his face. “Overlord, we have lost communication with most of the ships and outposts in the system. I have checked our comm system and it’s functioning normally. I still have contact with the shipyard and the nearby ships.”

  Harmock gaze sharpened as he stared at Dalock and then refocused his attention on the Zaltule standing in front of the massive sensor console. “Jalridd, what do your sensors show?”

  “Nothing out of the ordinary. We have a number of fleets inbound that are still in Fold Space that should be arriving shortly. I have no explanation for the sudden loss of communications.”

  “How shortly will these fleets be arriving?” demanded Harmock with growing suspicion.

  “Now,” Jalridd replied as his screen suddenly began showing red threat icons. Instantly, alarms began sounding and the Warrior’s Fire rocked violently as red lights began to glow on the damage control console.

  “We’re under attack!” Harmock spoke, his voice rising in anger. “Raise our energy shield!”

  “Impossible!” responded Gareth as he rushed over to his command console. “No one would dare attack us here in our home system.”

  “One race would,” snarled Harmock, realizing once again he’d underestimated the humans.

  -

  “Close on the shipyard,” ordered Admiral Rivers as the Independence fired a broadside from her pulse fusion turrets as well as the particle beam cannons. On the main viewscreen, white energy beams and bright blue particle beams smashed into a nearby Zaltule battlecruiser, annihilating it in a fiery blaze of light. “Fire antimatter missiles. Target is the shipyard.” The shipyard was just barely in range of the missiles but with the element of surprise on their side, they just might get in a few lucky strikes.

  From the Independence and the other three battlecruisers in Fourth Fleet forty-eight sublight missiles left their tubes, quickly flying the twelve thousand kilometers, which separated the fleet from the unarmed shipyard. Kleese defensive systems on the battlecruisers were rapidly coming online and over half of the missiles were intercepted and destroyed. The others continued and broke apart, allowing the six small twenty-megaton warheads inside to impact the armored hull of the massive station. Brilliant suns lit up space as armor melted and was turned into plasma. Huge sections of the hull were blown away into space. Twelve of the station’s large fusion reactors were destroyed, releasing over one thousand megatons of uncontrolled energy. In a glaring explosion, the station came apart as it shattered into tens of thousands of bright and burning pieces.

  “We got it!” shouted Colonel Greerman, gazing in rapt fascination at the glowing pieces on the main viewscreen.

  “Target the larger surviving sections,” ordered Rivers, wanting to ensure the Kleese couldn’t rebuild the shipyard. “Two salvos and then refocus our weapons on the Zaltule battlecruisers.”

  Colonel Greerman tore his eyes from the screen and quickly passed the orders on to Tactical.

  “Kleese warships are opening fire,” warned Colonel Greerman as the Independence shook violently. Their brief element of surprise was over and now the Zaltule were responding to the presence of human ships. “That was an antimatter strike against our energy shield. I also show their energy screens are coming up.”

  “Zaltule ships are starting to maneuver toward us,” reported Lieutenant Hertz, her sensor screens showing the growing danger.

  “Continue to fire on the station sections,” commanded Rivers in a determined voice. It would be a few moments before the Kleese could become organized, and he was going to take advantage of those moments to finish the destruction of the largest surviving pieces of the shipyard.

  -

  Harmock felt stunned as one of his valuable shipyards was blasted apart by the human attack. “How many human ships are there?” he demanded, his triangular shaped head focusing on Jalridd and his sensor console.

  “Twenty-four,” Jalridd responded. “The humans are jamming our communications and long-range sensors.”

  “They tricked us,” uttered Gareth. “They came in acting as one of our fleets and then dropped out of Fold Space within weapons range of the shipyard.”

  “It will be the last thing they do,” snapped Harmock, feeling furious at the humans. It had taken years to build that shipyard, and it would not be easy to replace. Not only that, but the ships docked to it as well as those in the construction bays had been destroyed as well. “Order all ships to close and destroy them!”

  -

  Fleet Commander Achlyn cringed inwardly as another of his battlecruisers exploded in a fiery death.

  “Cruiser 772-436 is down,” reported the sensor operator.

  “We’ve lost two battlecruisers and three Pradelian vessels,” reported Second Commander Baylith. “There are eight remaining Zaltule cruisers in orbit of the moon.” Fourteen others had already been destroyed in the fleet’s opening salvo. Energy weapons and antimatter missiles were extremely deadly to ships with their energy shields down.

  “Bring in the assault ships,” Achlyn ordered as his flagship rocked from incoming fire. �
��We’ll add their firepower to ours.” This battle needed to be over quickly so the humans could land their Marines.

  -

  The assault ships, which had been hanging back from the fighting along with the Defender and Argyle, accelerated rapidly toward the fighting. In moments, they were heavily engaged against the Zaltule cruisers. The assault ships closed the range, bringing all of their weapons to bear. Their most effective weapon was the single particle beam cannon each was equipped with.

  -

  “Take us in,” ordered Commander Greer as he watched the battle on the ship’s viewscreens. “The clock is ticking and we need to launch our attack. The energy screens on the Defender and the Argyle are the heaviest in the fleet and should protect us. We also have our own weapons to fire back with if necessary.”

  “Weapons are ready to fire,” confirmed Captain Damon. She was anxious to get this attack over with so they could vacate the Kleese home system. She had a nagging feeling this was not going to be a safe place to be shortly.

  -

  Wade was in a drop ship and could feel the Defender taking a beating. Commander Greer had taken both troop assault ships into low orbit around the frozen moon.

  “Drop in two minutes,” a voice called out over his suit comm channel.

  “Everyone close up,” Wade ordered as he lowered his visor and checked his RG rifle. “All weapons are authorized to take out Kleese resistance.”

  The drop ship shook violently for a moment and then settled back down. The Marines looked at one another uneasily. At the moment, they were along for the ride and could do nothing about the fighting going on in space.

  “Must have been an antimatter hit to the energy shield,” commented Sergeant Kyle Patterson. “They need to knock out all of those Zaltule ships before we exit the Defender. I don’t want to be turned into plasma.”

  “Drop in one minute.”

  Wade hoped they made it to the surface. The drop ships had no energy shields and would be easy targets for the Kleese cruisers. He well understood Sergeant Patterson’s concerns.

  “Another day in the Marines,” spoke Corporal Lisa Hayes as the ship shook violently one more time.

  “Drop!”

  Wade felt the drop ship’s engines fire up and suddenly they were out in open space. The ship shook and then steadied. Wade hoped the other drop ships made it. He knew Beth would be on one dropping from the Argyle.

  -

  In space, two more Kleese battlecruisers had been blown apart and the Alliance fleet was closing on the remaining ones. Fleet Commander Achlyn wanted to force the Kleese to concentrate on him and not the vulnerable drop ships now darting toward the surface.

  “We’ve lost fourteen assault ships,” announced the ship’s sensor operator.

  “One of the Kleese ships is targeting the drop ships!” warned Baylith as three of the small defenseless ships suddenly burst apart in fiery flame on one of the viewscreens.

  “Hit that battlecruiser with everything we have!” growled Achlyn.

  “The Defender and Argyle are repositioning themselves to cover the remaining drop ships,” Baylith informed the fleet commander. On the tactical screen, two large green icons adjusted their positions slightly, putting themselves between the vulnerable drop ships and the attacking Zaltule battlecruiser.

  Defensive fire suddenly erupted from the surface and two more drops ships were blown apart. Almost instantly, the Defender and Argyle replied, targeting the weapon emplacements with their railguns, which were designed for planetary bombardments. On the surface of the moon, twenty points of light suddenly appeared as the deadly railgun rounds eliminated their targets, carving deep glowing holes into the icy surface.

  On the main viewscreen, Achlyn watched as the fleet’s powerful energy beams pummeled the screens of the remaining Zaltule battlecruisers while the remaining assault ships were at pointblank range blasting away with their particle beam weapons. One of the Kleese ships lost its energy shield and an antimatter missile turned it quickly into glowing plasma. Another had a particle beam break through, blasting a huge glowing hole in the side of the ship and cutting off some of its internal power. Moments later two antimatter missiles slipped through the weakening shield and two glowing suns appeared.

  “Battlecruiser 239-998 has been lost,” the sensor operator reported sadly. “Another Pradelian battlecruiser is heavily damaged. Four more assault ships have been destroyed.”

  On the primary viewscreen, Delton energy beams slammed into the main part of a Zaltule battlecruiser, setting off massive explosions and hurling glowing debris into space. A moment later, a pair of bright blue particle beams struck the floundering cruiser, blasting it in two. The separate pieces began drifting apart only to be annihilated by an antimatter missile strike.

  Two minutes later and the final Zaltule battlecruiser died under the combined fire of the remaining Alliance ships. Only a scattering debris field and glowing gases indicated where it had been.

  “Take us into stationary orbit above the Kleese facility,” ordered Achlyn, drawing in a deep breath. “Instruct all ships to conduct what repairs they can. As soon as the human Marines return from the surface we’ll be leaving.”

  “Do they have enough time to complete their mission?” asked Baylith, concerned about the time constraint that had been placed on the Marines.

  “I hope so,” Achlyn replied with an anxious look in his eyes. “If the Kleese appear with a large fleet, we’ll have no choice but to withdraw and leave them.”

  Baylith nodded. That had been the orders from both Admiral Rivers and Colonel Nelson.

  -

  Commander William Davis shook his head as the Britannica shook from the intense fire impacting its energy screen. The heavy battlecruiser and the fifteen Nalton warships with her were making an attack run on the Kleese home planet with the goal of taking out the large city on its surface.

  “We can’t handle much more of this,” reported Captain Julius Rose. “Energy shield is down to 74 percent!”

  “We just lost another of the Nalton battlecruisers,” reported the ensign at the sensor console. “Enemy weapons fire is intensifying.”

  “There’s too many of them between us and the planet,” Rose said, shaking his head. “We’ll never be able to hit their capital city. They’re knocking down every missile we fire.”

  On a Command Center viewscreen, one of the Nalton battlecruisers was under heavy attack. Even as they watched, its energy shield failed and half a dozen Kleese antimatter missiles turned the ship into a burning sun.

  The Britannica shook violently and alarms began sounding on the damage control console. Several amber and red lights began to glow.

  “There is damage to the hull at section fourteen, bulkhead seven,” the damage control officer reported. “We have six compartments in vacuum and we’re streaming air. Emergency bulkheads have engaged.”

  “We need to withdraw,” spoke Captain Rose grimly. “We can’t get to their city.”

  “Yes, we can,” Commander Davis said, his voice suddenly calm. “I want all power applied to the energy shield and our antimatter missiles set to detonate upon impact.”

  “What are you doing?” asked Captain Rose in alarm.

  “Remember what the Kleese did to Mars Central? I’m going to do the same to them.”

  Captain Rose froze at that announcement. For a brief moment, he considered taking control of the ship from Commander Davis and fleeing. Then he remembered the hundreds of thousands of dead in the Kleese attack on Mars Central and the billions upon Earth. This was their opportunity to extract revenge for those deaths. Letting out a deep breath he nodded. “I’ll pass on the orders.”

  “Communications,” spoke Commander Davis. “Order the Nalton battlecruisers to withdraw and jump into Fold Space. They’re to go to the fleet rendezvous coordinates.”

  “Message sent,” replied the Communications officer, his face pale with fear.

  “Warheads are set,” reported Captai
n Rose as he received a confirmation from Tactical.

  “Helm, set a course for the Kleese city, divert all power to the energy shield and the sublight drive.”

  “Our energy shield might not hold up under the stress of passing through the planet’s atmosphere at that speed,” warned Captain Rose.

  “It’ll hold long enough,” replied Commander Davis evenly. “Helm, implement maneuver and try not to collide with any Kleese warships. We have a meeting with some Kleese.” He let out a deep breath. His wife had died at Mars Central, now it was time to extract revenge for her death and so many others.

  -

  The heavy battlecruiser Britannica suddenly accelerated, racing through the stunned Kleese fleet. The Zaltule attempted to turn their weapons upon the human vessel and a few even managed to score telling hits, inflicting more damage. The ship was traveling so fast it soon entered the atmosphere and a huge red glow surrounded the ship’s energy shield. From the surface, it looked as if a giant fireball was hurtling down toward the planet.

  The Zaltule realized what the human ship intended and suddenly antimatter missiles began going off all around it with complete disregard to any damage they might cause the city below. The Kleese knew if the ship struck the surface, the city would be annihilated anyway.

  Ten kilometers above the surface of the Kleese capital, the Britannica exploded as a Kleese antimatter missile finally penetrated the weakening energy shield blowing the ship into thousands of glowing pieces. That wreckage began falling toward the city, including seven surviving warheads set to explode on impact with the ground.

  Moments later, a major portion of the Kleese capital vanished as seven glowing suns appeared, annihilating everything within a thirty-mile radius.

  In space, the fleeing Nalton battlecruisers recorded everything. They were stunned at how willing the humans had been to sacrifice their lives to destroy their enemy. It made them realize the sacrifices that would have to be made to defeat the Kleese. It was a lesson they would take home with them and to their people.