He knew that as soon as the defending fleet pulled back, the Humans would destroy the valuable shipyard, one the Hocklyn Empire could ill afford to lose. It would have been better to allow the fleet to fight to the end, extracting as much damage as possible to the Human ships, perhaps even ramming to increase their honor. However, the orders of the commodore had to be obeyed.
-
"Hocklyn ships are breaking off,” Lieutenant Stalls reported as he saw the remaining red threat icons around the shipyard begin to move away.
“We broke their backs with the antimatter missiles,” Commander Diaz said as he watched one of the tactical displays showing the withdrawing Hocklyns.
“One hundred-megaton missiles will break anyone’s back,” Colonel Leon spoke as she stepped back away from Tactical and looked at Admiral Sheen. “Shipyard is in range.”
Amanda nodded; she knew that since the AIs had withdrawn back to the center of the galaxy, the war had been going in the Federation’s favor. The AIs had been providing sublight antimatter missiles to the Hocklyns and now they'd left. Amanda strongly suspected that the Hocklyns were working frantically trying to develop their own. Before that happened, it was essential that all of their big shipyards were obliterated. Once the Hocklyns developed their own sublight antimatter missiles, Federation losses would greatly increase.
“Fire four missiles into the shipyard,” ordered Amanda, letting out a deep breath. “All ships are to form up and we’ll advance upon the next one.”
Captain Kimura acknowledged the order and soon four sublight antimatter missiles left the WarStorm to explode against the armored hull of the Hocklyn shipyard. On the main viewscreen, four brilliant flashes of light signified the successful detonation of the deadly missiles. Kimura watched and was rewarded with satisfaction as the light died away, leaving nothing but a scattering debris field.
“Shipyard’s destroyed,” reported Commander Diaz, looking over at Admiral Sheen.
“Advance on the next target,” Amanda ordered. She leaned back in her command chair, taking advantage of the momentary break in the fighting. Looking at one of the tactical displays, she strongly suspected that the Hocklyn commodore responsible for the defense of the shipyards would now be forced to change his strategy. It would shortly be time to launch the bomber strike.
-
Commodore Zeth watched stoically as the surviving fleet ships retreated from the destroyed shipyard. His eyes narrowed angrily at the destruction the Humans had caused. It had taken years and the lives of countless slaves to build what the Humans had destroyed in just a few minutes.
“Order our ships to abandon their defense of the other two shipyards and rendezvous at our position,” ordered Zeth, deciding to change his tactics slightly. “We will attack the Humans together.”
“Yes, Commodore,” War Leader Danth replied his large reptilian eyes staring in hatred at the main viewscreen, showing the shattered remains of the shipyard. “The flight bays report that they are ready to launch their attack.”
“Soon,” Zeth spoke with a satisfied nod of his head. “We have laid a trap for the Humans just as they have done to us so often in the last few years. Call back our war wings to be rearmed.”
-
Major Arcles let out a deep sigh of relief as the Hocklyn fighters broke off and turned back toward their ships. “All squadrons break off and return to base. The Hocklyns are withdrawing, and we’ll use this opportunity to rearm.”
“Damn, I didn’t get that last Hocklyn fighter I needed to make Ace,” complained Lieutenant Sloan loudly over the com.
“Because you can’t hit the broadside of a barn without using a missile,” Lieutenant Walker declared.
“I had to bail your ass out twice or the Hocklyns would have blown the tail off your fighter,” continued Lieutenant Kyle. “You really need to learn how to dodge; you fly in a straight line too long.”
“I’ll make Ace next time we come out,” Sloan said doggedly.
Karl would have Sloan’s squadron leader talk to the pilot about his flying. Lieutenant Kyle was right. Too often, Lieutenant Sloan would get too focused on what was in front of him and forget about what might be coming up from behind. In a fighter, that was a sure way to have a short career. Right now, Karl wanted to get back to the Endurance and have his fighter rearmed as well as check on Lacy.
-
Admiral Sheen had reformed Second Fleet for the next stage of the battle. As she had expected, the Hocklyns had pulled all of their ships into one large fleet.
“At least this way they’re all in one place,” Commander Diaz commented. The Hocklyns were gathered around the largest shipyard.
“But we have to destroy them before we can get to that big shipyard,” Colonel Leon pointed out as she gazed at the myriad of red threat icons in one of the tactical displays.
“How many of their ships did we take out at the first shipyard?” asked Amanda, knowing this next battle wouldn’t be so easy. The enemy had too many dreadnoughts and warcruisers in that fleet.
“Two dreadnoughts, three warcruisers, and twelve escort cruisers,” Lieutenant Stalls reported.
“Our own losses?”
“Three light cruisers and a number of other ships reporting light to moderate damage,” Colonel Leon replied as she checked a data screen near her. “All ships are reporting being fully combat capable.”
Amanda nodded. There was no point in delaying this; by now, the fighters would have been rearmed and Evelyn would be ready to launch her bomber strike.
-
Commodore Zeth watched the tactical screen intently as the Human ships began to advance again. Several minutes passed as he allowed them to draw nearly within attack range. Turning to War Leader Danth, he passed on the order that would turn the tide of the battle. “Contact the flight bays and order them to launch their attack. Launch all of our war wings as support.”
“As you command,” War Leader Danth replied. “This will bring much honor to our warriors.”
Commodore Zeth shifted his gaze to one of the viewscreens on the front wall of the War Room. Even as he watched, numerous large hatches began to slide open and hundreds of fighters began to launch. Each fighter had two ten-megaton nuclear warheads attached to their wings set to detonate upon contact. The flight bays had been packed with fighters. Each Hocklyn pilot had the same order. Accelerate to full speed and ram the Human ships!
-
“Hocklyn ships are launching fighters,” reported Lieutenant Stalls, glancing over at Amanda. “I’m also picking up a large number of fighters being launched from the shipyard.”
“Fourteen hundred,” added Colonel Leon her eyes showing concern.
Amanda quickly contacted Rear Admiral Marsh on the Endurance. “We have Hocklyn fighters inbound. I want your decks cleared of every fighter you have. We have nearly fourteen hundred fighters bearing down on us.”
“Flight bays will be cleared in two minutes,” Admiral Marsh promised.
Amanda then turned to Commander Diaz. “Have all of our warships launch their fighters also, we’re going to need them.”
“That will put us about even,” commented Colonel Leon as she gazed at the swarm of enemy fighters rapidly approaching the fleet.
“Hocklyn fighters nearly in engagement range,” warned Lieutenant Stalls.
“Defensive batteries stand by to fire,” ordered Commander Diaz.
“The ones launched from the shipyard seem to be accelerating,” added Stalls, feeling confused.
“Where are they headed?” demanded Amanda, sitting up straighter in her command chair and peering sharply at one of the tactical displays, which showed the approaching swarm of Hocklyn fighters.
“Straight for us!” reported Stalls, nervously. “I’m picking up a nuclear ordnance warning on some of the fighters.”
“Damn!” Commander Diaz uttered his eyes widening in alarm. “They’re going to come in close and launch their nukes.”
“No,” Captain Kimura in
terjected with a frightened look in her eyes as she realized the significance of the nukes and the accelerating fighters. “Those are kamikazes, they’re going to ram!”
Amanda froze for a moment as she realized the captain was right, she instantly changed her mini-com to ship-to-ship. “All ships instigate defensive fire, we have reason to believe that many of the inbound Hocklyn fighters are Kamikazes and they’re going to ram.”
“Our fighters aren’t going to make it in time,” Commander Diaz pointed out as the WarStorm began firing a withering hail of defensive fire toward the inbound Hocklyns. Railgun batteries and defensive laser turrets were locking on the inbound fighters, trying to destroy them before they could close with the fleet.
In space, Hocklyn fighters began to die by the dozens. The nuclear warheads were set to explode on impact and space quickly became littered with dual ten-megaton explosions. In many cases, surrounding Hocklyn fighters were destroyed in the powerful blasts.
“We’re not going to get them all,” warned Colonel Leon frantically as she passed on orders to Tactical trying to direct the WarStorm’s defensive fire. The Hocklyn fighters were closing too rapidly with the fleet. “There are just too many of them!”
Hocklyn fighters continued to die, but the remaining pilots flew on, knowing their duty to the Empire. They would win much honor for themselves and their families in death. The inbound fighters were divided into squadrons and each squadron had a different target. Even with the stronger shields the Human ships had, an attack such as this should be able to knock a brief hole in an energy shield.
The first Hocklyn fighters entered ramming range even as more of their brethren died around them. The first fighter rammed the screen of a battlecruiser and twin ten-megaton explosions slammed into the shield. A few seconds later, six more fighters struck the shield. Two managed to penetrate the weakened shield to strike the heavily armored hull of the Human warship. Four massive nuclear explosions detonated, blowing the Human ship apart.
“Battlecruiser Andra is down,” uttered Lieutenant Stalls as the large green icon swelled up and then vanished from his sensors. On his screens, he was detecting numerous nuclear explosions going off all around the WarStorm.
“Our fighters are entering our defensive weapons fire,” Colonel Leon reported worriedly as she watched the fighters on a tactical display. The defensive weapons wouldn’t be able to distinguish a Human fighter from a Hocklyn fighter. She knew that many would die from friendly fire.
“They’re trying to stop the Hocklyns,” Amanda grated out as she saw Human green fighter icons begin to blink out from the fleet’s own defensive fire. However, the fighters dove in anyway trying to stop the deadly attack against the fleets’ capital ships.
The WarStorm suddenly shuddered violently and Amanda felt herself thrown against her restraining harness. Glancing at the damage control console numerous red lights began to glow.
“Section eighteen, decks eight through seventeen have been opened up to space,” the damage control officer reported. “I’m sealing off the damaged sections.”
“We got rammed,” Commander Diaz informed the admiral as he used his mini-com to get a better report on the damage. Fortunately, it looked as if only one nuclear warhead had gone off or it could have been much worse.
Amanda nodded, over the din of the alarms she could still hear Lieutenant Stalls calling out the destruction of more Second Fleet ships. She knew there was nothing they could do but bear it and hope enough capital ships survived to finish the battle.
-
In space, frantic Federation fighters dodged in and out of the defensive fire of fleet ships as they tried to launch their missiles at the inbound Hocklyn fighters.
“Engage with missiles and then pull out!” ordered Major Arcles over his fighter’s com as he barely missed being struck by twin orange-red laser beams.
“Damn, there’s so much ordnance flying around here we could walk on it,” groaned Lieutenant Walker, then his com went silent.
Looking down at his sensor, he saw the lieutenant’s fighter icon vanish. Karl let out a deep breath, knowing there were going to be others.
Across the fleet, the Hocklyn fighters were ramming numerous energy screens trying to knock them down. In some cases they were successful and the targeted Human ship would vanish as its armored hull was rammed by additional fighters. For several long minutes, the carnage continued and then the last Hocklyn fighter was gone.
“Pull out!” Karl barked as he angled up and out of the defensive fire from the surviving fleet ships.
Looking out of his cockpit window, he could see numerous glowing debris fields where Federation ships had died. Glancing down at his small sensor screen, he saw that a lot fewer fighters were heading back toward the carriers than had left them. He just hoped their sacrifice had been worth it.
-
“Hocklyn warships are entering engagement range,” Commander Diaz informed Admiral Sheen. “Our screen is at seventy percent strength and ninety percent of our weapons are still operational.”
Amanda tore her eyes away from the viewscreen that showed a battlecruiser with a large glowing hole in its side. She was just praying that its self-destructs didn’t go off.
“How many ships did we lose?” Amanda knew the fleet had been hurt. This was the first time to her knowledge that the Hocklyns had tried such an attack. It would have to be taken into consideration in future attacks.
“One battleship, four battlecruisers, three strikecruisers, and eleven light cruisers,” replied Colonel Leon, evenly. “About a dozen other ships are reporting heavy damage.” Then she paused before continuing, “We also lost about eighty percent of our fighters.”
“We need to withdraw,” Amanda said as she weighed the odds. Second Fleet could probably still take out the Hocklyn fleet and the three remaining shipyards, but it would be costly, particularly without fighters. “Let’s pull out of the gravity well and repair our damage. I’ll send out a request for additional ships. Next time the Hocklyns won’t catch us by surprise.”
Amanda let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes. In her mind, she could see hundreds of Human fighter pilots sacrificing themselves as they flew into the heavy defensive fire of the Federation fleet to attack the Hocklyns. Amanda opened her eyes and she could feel the moisture on her cheek. So many brave men and women had died today under her command.
Lieutenant Stalls could see the distressed and sad look on the admiral’s face. They'd been together from the very beginning, and he knew she greatly hated the loss of life this war was causing. Looking across the Command Center, he saw Angela looking back. She nodded and they didn’t have to speak to know what the other was thinking. This war couldn’t end soon enough.
-
Commodore Zeth watched as the Human fleet began to withdraw. His suicide fighters had caused considerable damage and the Humans were hesitant about engaging his fleet.
“Honor is ours today,” spoke War Leader Danth proudly as he watched the retreating Humans on the tactical screen.
“Yes,” Zeth replied in his hissing voice. He had done what no other Hocklyn had managed recently. He'd stopped a Human fleet and defeated it. It would bring him much honor with the High Council; perhaps even a posting in the home systems.
-
Amanda had a sour taste in her mouth as Second Fleet exited the gravity well of the planet and continued to move off further out into the system. It had been awhile since she'd faced defeat at the hands of the Hocklyns.
“It was the right decision,” spoke Commander Diaz, looking over at the admiral. “Those other two shipyards may have contained more fighters. This way we preserve the fleet, and once reinforcements arrive we can finish what we came to do.”
“Yes,” responded Amanda, unbuckling her safety harness and standing up. She stretched and then walked over to Lieutenant Angela Trask. “Send a message to New Providence and inform Fleet Admiral Streth that we were unsuccessful in our attempt to destroy the shipyards.
Tell him I’ll send him a battle report shortly.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Angela replied as she begin setting up an FTL transmission.
Amanda turned and left the Command Center, she needed to go to her quarters to write the report and think about her options. She wished Richard were here. He was a good listener and oftentimes had some excellent advice. Richard was currently at New Providence helping with setting up defenses around the worlds of the old Federation. It had been several months since Amanda had seen her husband. She wished he were here.
Chapter Two
Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth leaned back in his command chair upon the battleship StarStrike. Glancing at the main viewscreen, he allowed himself to smile at what was on the screen. The old Federation world of New Providence was prominently displayed. New cities were begin built upon its surface as the sixty million inhabitants moved from their secure underground enclaves to reclaim the surface of their planet after centuries of hiding from the Hocklyns.
“I didn’t think I would ever see this day,” Colonel Trist spoke from where he was standing next to the admiral. He smiled and continued, “Our worlds are free once more and will soon be a part of the new Human Federation of Worlds.”
Hedon nodded. His entire life had been dedicated to defeating the Hocklyns and the AIs and someday returning home. His home was Maken in the Tellus system. Tellus had been the former capital of the old Human Federation of Worlds. With the freeing of New Providence and driving the Hocklyns out of this section of space, he'd already achieved part of that goal.
“Admiral Andrews did a great job helping to install the new defense grid above the planet,” spoke Hedon, looking over at one of the other screens that showed an Alton Indomitable class battle station.
The battle station was one thousand meters in diameter and there were twelve of them in orbit around New Providence. Each one was easily capable of taking on an AI ship and annihilating it. In addition to the Alton stations, there were numerous of the one hundred and fifty-meter type two battle stations in orbit, plus a large number of particle beam satellites as well as missile platforms.
The Slaver Wars: Endgame Page 2