-
Desmonde gazed in stunned disbelief at the tactical screen in the Operations Room. “They destroyed all of the cargo ships and shuttles?”
“Yes,” Protector Ganlon responded. “It was a sound tactical move. Without ships, we cannot move about our system or go out into the Empire and retrieve supplies from the slave worlds.”
“What about food?” demanded Desmonde his face growing livid with rage. “What will we eat?”
“Your personal shuttle is still on board the habitat,” Ganlon reminded the High Councilor, hoping he would use it and leave. “We still have four weeks of food supplies inside the habitat.”
“That’s not enough,” wailed Desmonde, seeing himself starving to death. “It would have been better to have died in combat with the Humans.”
Ganlon did not reply. He was already making his own plans. While it was true there were only supplies for four weeks that also depended on how many they were feeding. He fully intended to use his Protectors to drastically reduce the civilian population in the habitat. A number of females would be retained for breeding purposes, but the rest would be eliminated. This would increase the available food supplies to allow them to survive for several years, enough time to plant crops inside the habitat and plan for long-term survival. In time, they would leave this habitat and establish dominance over what remained in this system. He didn’t mention to Desmonde that there were a few more shuttles and even several cargo ships in one of the habitat’s main flight bays.
Desmonde stumbled out of the Operations Center, determined to escape from the habitat. If he stayed, he would be doomed to die. He was going to take his personal shuttle and go to Calzen. Surely, he could find the resources he needed there. After all, he was a High Councilor!
Protector Ganlon watched Desmonde leave. As soon as the High Councilor departed in his shuttle, he would pass the word to his Protectors who were standing by. It would be gruesome and dirty work, but very few of the civilians were armed. When it was over, Ganlon would chose a mate and begin a new ruling family. It was time for a Protector to become a High Councilor.
Chapter Fourteen
Admiral Jeremy Strong felt the Avenger drop out of hyperspace into the capital system of the Hocklyn Slave Empire. Around the Avenger, other Federation warships were exiting swirling blue-white spatial vortexes. He could feel the heightened tension in the Command Center. This was the heart of the Hocklyn Empire and where their government resided. If they could take this system, the war would be over.
“Rear Admiral Mark’s carrier group has exited hyperspace,” Lieutenant Kevin Waters reported in a calm voice as more green icons continued to appear on his sensors. The large battlecarriers had jumped a few seconds after Fourth Fleets’ battle line jumped.
“Admiral Marks is launching her CSP,” Commander Malen added as she watched the four tactical displays, which were just now beginning to show some information. From one of the displays, which was showing the results from the ship’s short-range scans, twenty small green icons were leaving one of the battlecarriers.
“Carethian fleet is dropping out of hyperspace,” Kevin added as more green icons started appearing.
“Long-range scans coming in now,” Ariel informed Jeremy from her position on his left side and slightly behind him. “There are ten planets in the system, with forty major moons being detected. There are also several asteroid fields.”
As Jeremy continued to watch, hundreds and then several thousand large yellow icons began to appear. Many were around the planets and moons plus a large number seemingly in random orbits around the system’s primary. These were all habitats the Hocklyns had built to handle their excess population. Jeremy’s eyes widened as he saw the large number. This was by far the most densely populated system in the Hocklyn Empire.
“Detecting Hocklyn warships,” Ariel added her voice sounding concerned. “A surprisingly large number have massed together. It appears to be a large Hocklyn warfleet.”
Jeremy felt his heart begin pound. This had been the greatest concern for the Federation fleets. Since it was the Hocklyn home system, it would be the most heavily defended.
On one of the other tactical screens hundreds of red threat icons were appearing, all clustered together around one larger than normal Hocklyn habitat. As other information appeared, numerous other small fleet units appeared across the system. Most of these consisted of groups of five to twenty ships at the most and were located around other habitats. Strangely enough, no warships were being detected around the planets or moons.
“First, Second, and Third Fleet have jumped in,” Commander Malen added as more green icons began appearing around the system. She knew the Ceres fleet, under command of Rear Admiral Barnes, and Fifth Fleet, under command of Admiral Nagumo, were still in the process of attacking the remaining Hocklyn systems.
“We’re to take out all small fleet units in our area and then there will be a joint attack on that main cluster of warships,” Angela reported from Communications as she listened to a message from Fleet Admiral Streth.
Jeremy nodded as he accepted the orders from the Fleet Admiral. There were three habitats in their area, which had small fleet units in orbit. Jeremy instantly switched his mini-com to ship-to-ship and instructed Rear Admiral Marks to land her fighters and prepare for a microjump. He passed the same orders to Grayseth.
“Set up a fleet wide jump to the nearest habitat with a defending fleet,” he ordered looking over at Commander Malen. “We have three potential targets and we’ll take them out one at a time.”
-
Fleet Commodore Jaseth watched the main tactical screen as the Human and Alton ships began jumping across the star system, destroying the smaller fleets that had refused to ally with him. He let out a deep breath filled with growing anger, knowing there was little he could do at the moment. Upon seeing the arrival of the enemy ships, he'd sent out orders that all surviving fleet units were to immediately make microjumps and join his fleet to provide a united front against the enemy.
“I've sent the messages to the other fleets,” War Leader Barelle reported as he returned from Communications. “Only a few have indicated they will join your command; the rest stubbornly refuse to leave their habitats.”
“Then they will die,” Jaseth spat, the tone of his voice indicating his ire at their refusal to join his fleet. Jaseth had the largest remaining fleet in the system and, as a result, had promoted himself to Fleet Commodore. To the best of his knowledge, there were no other surviving Fleet Commodores in the home system.
“What’s the latest report on our ships?”
The habitat they were stationed near had considerable manufacturing resources and Jaseth had used those to repair the ships that had agreed to join him. He'd also sent out a small fleet with some cargo vessels to raid several nearby slave worlds for food supplies. As a result, the civilians in the habitat were well fed and perfectly willing to assist in keeping Jaseth’s ships repaired.
“All ships are ready for combat and have full stocks of ammunition,” Barelle answered. “We have four dreadnoughts armed with the remaining AI sublight missiles and all other ships have full loads of nuclear ones.”
“How many of the AI antimatter missiles were we able to recover?” asked Jaseth. He'd sent ships all over the system searching out the remaining stockpiles of these weapons at the fleet armories.
“Each of the four dreadnoughts has twenty each,” Barelle responded. “We also have twelve on the Viden.”
“We’ll move away from the habitat,” Jaseth informed Barelle. “I want room to maneuver the fleet when the Humans come. Relocate the fleet out one hundred thousand kilometers and we’ll wait for the Humans to come to us.”
Barelle quickly passed the orders on to the Hocklyn at the Helm. He let out a deep breath, knowing that honor was finally coming to claim him. There would be no survivors in the coming battle; they were too far outnumbered.
Jaseth watched the tactical screen as the Vide
n and the rest of the Hocklyn fleet moved out to wait on the enemy. He had twelve dreadnoughts, thirty-two warcruisers, and one hundred and sixty escort cruisers under his command. He also had five thousand Hocklyn fighters waiting in the large flight bays of the habitat to make suicide runs on the Humans. If he were to die today, he would take many of the Humans with him. His hand reached down and touched the hilt of the long knife at his waist. Perhaps today his knife would finally know the taste of Human blood.
-
Fleet Admiral Streth felt deep satisfaction as the last escort cruiser protecting the Hocklyn habitat died under the heavy fire from the StarStrike’s weapons. On one of the main viewscreens, he watched the Hocklyn ship burned as nuclear fire from a Devastator Three missile raged at its heart. The fire died away leaving a glowing gas cloud behind.
“Scouts are reporting in from the planets,” Colonel Trist spoke as he looked at the latest data coming in. “There still seems to be widespread ground fighting occurring in some areas, particularly around a few of the large agricultural domes. At a location on Calzen, one of our scouts is reporting massive Protector Armies numbering in the tens of thousands vying for control of one of the domes. The scout reports the ground outside is literally piled meters high with the dead in some spots.”
“The home worlds of the old Federation were once like that after the Hocklyn nuclear bombardment,” Hedon replied in a somber voice. He felt no grief about the death of so many Hocklyns. “Grayseth calls the Hocklyns the Evil Ones. What they have done to so many others has now come home to them.”
“We've intercepted some communications from one of the larger habitats in orbit around Calzen,” Colonel Grissim informed them as she stepped over closer. “They’re from a High Councilor named Ruthan.”
“He’s demanding we leave the system immediately or the full wrath of the Hocklyn Empire will fall upon us,” Clarissa added as she listened to the various Hocklyn communications flying around the system. “We have his habitat pinpointed.”
“We’ll visit his habitat last,” Hedon said thoughtfully and then gestured toward one of the tactical displays. “But first, let’s finish off that large fleet, which seems to be waiting for us to attack.”
“Several of the smaller fleets have rushed to join that fleet formation,” Clarissa informed the admiral as she used her sensors to carefully scan the fleet. “It has grown to two hundred and forty ships.”
“It’s the last major fleet in the Hocklyn Empire,” Colonel Trist spoke, his eyes focusing on Hedon. “Once it’s been destroyed, the Empire will no longer pose a threat. The Hocklyns will have no choice but to capitulate.”
Hedon drew in a sharp breath as he realized the final battle for the Hocklyn Empire was about to be waged. How many years had he dreamed of this moment? He allowed his mind to wander back to when he'd first learned of the destruction of his home worlds by the Hocklyns. Hundreds of years had passed since that shocking moment, and now it had come to full term. The Hocklyns had destroyed his worlds, now it was his turn to destroy theirs.
Kelsey was sitting at Navigation awaiting the admiral’s orders. She knew from the information being displayed on one of the tactical displays that the Avenger was still intact. Clarissa was also keeping her and Katie informed of the progress of the battle on a private channel.
-
First, Second, Third, and Fourth Fleet made simultaneous jumps, timing them so that all four fleets would exit hyperspace within a few seconds of each other. Clarissa and Ariel had helped to calculate the jumps for all of the fleets’ warships so that they emerged within twenty thousand kilometers of their intended target.
“Exiting hyperspace,” Lieutenant Stalls reported as the WarStorm exited the spatial vortex.
“All ships reporting successful jumps,” Angela added as she listened to the flood of reports coming in.
Amanda nodded. All four Federation fleets were now arrayed in a loose globe around the Hocklyns; Grayseth’s fleet was slightly further back in a defensive formation around the large mobile shipyard and other supply ships that had come with them.
“Hocklyns are launching fighters,” Stalls added as numerous small red threat icons began appearing from the encircled Hocklyn ships.
Amanda switched her mini-com to Rear Admiral Marsh’s frequency. “Evelyn, launch your fighters. I want any Hocklyn fighter that even acts as if it’s coming toward us destroyed.”
“Ready squadrons will be launching in two minutes,” Evelyn replied.
“Have your other squadrons on standby,” Amanda ordered. “I don’t think we’ll need them since we heavily outnumber the Hocklyns, but I want to be prepared just in case.”
“We’ll take care of the Hocklyn fighters,” promised Evelyn.
“Fleet’s going in,” Amanda responded. Then she turned to Captain Kimura at Tactical. “Stand by to fire. Concentrate on the nearest dreadnought”
The WarStorm and the rest of Second Fleet surged forward as the other Federation ships also began to move. This would be one massive strike to eliminate the Hocklyn warships as quickly as possible and end the war once and for all.
-
Just outside of the Calzen system, two hundred 1,500-meter AI sphere’s jumped into hyperspace. They'd been hiding from Alton and Human sensors using a newly developed stealth field. The AI commander had waited until the Humans and the Altons launched their attack against the last remaining fleet of the Hocklyns before taking action.
The transit time lasted only a few minutes and then two hundred white spatial vortexes appeared around the attacking Human and Alton fleets. The AI spheres stormed out of the collapsing vortexes, their weapons opening up almost immediately. Antimatter missiles flashed out of their launching tubes and white energy beams lashed out. The Human and Alton ships’ screens were instantly covered in inbound weapons fire. More than one failed from the sudden unexpected attack.
-
“AI ships have jumped into the system!” Clarissa spoke in a voice that sounded very frightened. “Two hundred AI spheres detected, they’re firing!”
Alarms began sounding and the StarStrike shook violently as an antimatter missile struck the energy shield, detonating in a brilliant flash of light.
“Where did they come from?” yelled Colonel Trist his eyes wide in shock. “They weren’t showing up on our sensors!”
“They must have been hiding behind some type of stealth field,” Colonel Grissim spoke rapidly as she stepped closer to one of the tactical displays showing the newly arrived AIs.
“Battleships’ StarSend, Bolton, and Crimson Fire are down,” reported Captain Reynolds, trying to keep his voice calm. “Battlecarriers Harmony and Nelson are down.”
“That’s enough,” barked Hedon, knowing he was losing ships. He activated his mini-com putting him in contact with his fleet admirals. “Admiral Strong and Tolsen, continue the attack against the Hocklyns. Admiral Sheen, your fleet will join mine in taking on the AIs.”
Hedon knew he was looking at a potential disaster. His fleets were trapped between the Hocklyns and the AIs and Admiral Nagumo and Rear Admiral Barnes were too far away to get here in time to be of help. He also couldn’t jump out. If he did, the AIs could rally the Hocklyns and make destroying their home system even more costly in the future. There were still hundreds of Hocklyn ships stationed in nearby slave systems that would return if they knew the AIs had come back to Calzen.
The fleets rapidly shifted positions even as they continued to suffer heavy fire from the attacking AIs. Another battleship vanished as antimatter missiles stripped away its shield and AI energy beams tore the ship apart. Across the Human and Alton fleets, massive detonations of light indicated damaged and dying ships.
-
Fleet Commodore Jaseth grinned in vicious anticipation. The AIs had come and now the Humans and Altons were trapped.
“The AIs,” uttered War Leader Barelle as he gazed at the tactical screen, which showed the huge spheres. “They have come.”
&n
bsp; “Now it’s time for the Humans to die!” roared Jaseth exuberantly as he saw victory at his fingertips. “Contact the habitat and have the fighters launched. Now is the time to hurl them at the Humans and destroy them.”
-
Amanda bit her lip holding on to the armrests of her command chair as the WarStorm shook violently. The lights dimmed and then brightened back to normal. She could smell burning electrical wiring and there was smoke in the air of the Command Center. Glancing over at the damage control console, she saw a number of amber lights as well as several red ones.
“We have a fire in the flight bay,” Colonel Leon reported as she listened to the damage control reports coming in. “We’re evacuating the bay and then we'll vent it to space to put out the fire.”
“Do it!” ordered Amanda, knowing the fire must be serious if Colonel Leon was recommending such a drastic action.
“We’ve lost four more light cruisers,” Lieutenant Stalls reported. Admiral Sheen had told him to quit reading off ship names for the time being.
Amanda drew in a sharp breath; she should have known this operation was going too smoothly. “Hit them with everything we have,” she ordered.
“Firing full spread of Devastator Threes,” Captain Kimura reported. “Reloading all tubes with antimatter missiles.”
-
In space, explosions were going off everywhere. Massive antimatter explosions and powerful nukes were pummeling energy screens on both sides. White AI energy beams were tearing through Human ships with violet power beams and bright blue particle beams being fired back in return. There was also a mix of orange-red lasers beams and Hocklyn blue energy beam fire.
The Slaver Wars: Endgame Page 20