-
Jaseth cried out in anger as the Viden was struck with a smashing blow. Several consoles blew out, sending cascades of sparks across the War Room. Gray smoke began to fill the air, making it difficult to breathe. Looking up at the tactical screen, he saw two massive waves of Human bombers coming in toward his now besieged fleet.
“Call back our fighters,” he hissed, knowing his ships couldn’t stand up to an attack from so many of the small ships.
“Too late,” responded War Leader Barelle, coughing loudly. The ventilation system was finally starting to draw the smoke out of the War Room. “Most of them have either been destroyed by the Human fighters or in attack runs on the Human ships.”
“Then we have no choice,” Jaseth spoke in a voice filled with rage as he watched the AIs being systematically destroyed by the Alton and Human warships. The AIs were taking out many of their attackers, but the Altons’ surprise hyperjump had turned the tide of the battle. All that was left now was to choose how to die. “All ships are to accelerate and ram the nearest Human vessel. Today, honor comes for all of us.”
“Honor for all,” Barelle agreed as he moved to pass on the command.
Taking a deep breath, Jaseth stepped off the Command Pedestal and made his way out of the War Room, there was one more thing that he needed to do.
War Leader Barelle watched the Fleet Commodore leave. It was just as well, many of the crew in the War Room would just as soon die without the young Commodore being in the room with them.
-
“They’re going to ram!” Ariel warned as she saw the Hocklyn ships turn and begin accelerating toward Third and Fourth Fleet.
“Our bombers will get to them first,” pointed out Commander Malen. “They’re less than thirty seconds out.”
Jeremy hit the ship-to-ship frequency on his mini-com. “All ships, prepare for possible ramming. Moving out of fleet formation is authorized. All helm officers, do what you have to!”
“Bombers are beginning their attack runs,” Kevin reported his face grim as he realized the danger of being rammed. Even a battleship could face easy destruction.
“Bomber squadron leaders are reporting missile launches,” Angela informed Jeremy her face white with worry. She wasn’t ready to die just yet.
-
The sixteen hundred Anlon bombers launched thirty-two hundred Shrike missiles, each with a ten-kiloton nuclear warhead. The missiles streaked toward the Hocklyn warships as they locked on their targets. The Hocklyn ships, desperate to escape the incoming missiles, laid down a heavy barrage of defensive fire. Energy beams, interceptor missiles, and even railguns opened up trying to take down the missiles. They were marginally successful as over two thousand of the missiles were destroyed. However, nearly one thousand continued on to their targets.
Nuclear explosions rolled across the Hocklyn formation overloading ship screens allowing others to strike unprotected armored hulls. Hocklyn ships died by the dozens in nuclear fireballs. More weapons fire slammed into the shattered Hocklyn fleet as missiles and power beams from the Human ships struck Hocklyn vessels that had lost their energy shields. In less than two minutes, seventy-eight Hocklyn ships ceased to be.
The Hocklyn ships continued to accelerate, firing their weapons as they neared the Humans. They passed through the Human bomber formation, blowing many of them out of space with their defensive weapons. Hocklyn ships were dying rapidly now but not nearly fast enough. With devastating results, the first Hocklyn ships began to slam into Third and Fourth Fleets. Brilliant explosions lit up space as the Hocklyns had set many of their nuclear weapons to explode on contact when they rammed. Space became full of glowing suns that marked the death of Federation warships. Then it was over and the dying stopped.
-
“Report!” Jeremy snapped his eyes wide with shock over what he was seeing on the viewscreens. His fleet had been gutted by the Hocklyns’ wild charge. The Avenger itself would have been destroyed on two occasions except Ariel had taken over the ship’s flight controls and hurled the Avenger about in wild maneuvers that Jeremy would have sworn were impossible.
“I don’t know,” Kevin uttered barely able to talk. “There’s so much debris out there my sensors can’t tell what’s left of the fleet.”
Jeremy’s shoulders drooped, feeling the weight of all those that he knew had just died. “What about the Hocklyn ships; are we detecting any of them still surviving?”
“Not that I can tell,” Kevin answered as he tried to make sense out of what his scans were telling him. “I’m trying to use the ship’s short-range sensors to identify what’s out there.”
“Ariel, what about you? Can you pick up anything?”
Ariel was silent as she used the ship’s sensors to scan all the debris around the Avenger. There had been several times she'd been nearly certain the ship was going to be destroyed. She hadn’t told Jeremy yet that the Avenger couldn’t jump. The maneuvers she'd put the ship through had fractured several major structural components and they'd have to be repaired first.
“We lost over half the fleet,” she said after a few moments. “I’ve located the Retribution and the WarHawk, but we’ve lost a lot of battleships, battlecarriers, and other ships.”
“What’s going on with the AIs? Jeremy demanded, worried that he might need to reform his shattered fleet to face the deadly war spheres. They were in no condition to fight another battle.
“They’ve been destroyed,” answered Ariel as she was able to coax more information from the sensors. She'd quickly designed a program to separate the scattered debris from the surviving warships. “The Altons have taken some heavy losses; I’m only picking up eighteen Alton battlecruisers.”
“First and Second Fleets?” Jeremy asked concerned. It would be a disaster if they had lost either Fleet Admiral Streth or Admiral Sheen. Worse than that, Kelsey and Katie were on board the StarStrike.
“I would estimate they are sixty percent intact,” Ariel responded. “I’m detecting both the StarStrike and the WarStorm.” Ariel felt immense relief at seeing the StarStrike on the sensors. She couldn’t imagine losing either Kelsey or Katie.
Jeremy leaned back in his command chair and let out a long breath of relief. There were no longer any Hocklyn ships in the system and Rear Admiral Barnes and Admiral Nagumo would ensure none survived in the other Hocklyn core systems. For all intents and purposes, the Hocklyn war was over.
“Move us out of this debris field,” Jeremy ordered as he looked around at his command crew. He could see the anxiety leaving their faces. They had survived, but just barely. “Angela, see if you can contact Grayseth, we’re going to need his mobile shipyard and the other fleet repair ships he’s escorting.” At least Grayseth’s fleet was undamaged.
Commander Malen stepped over close to Jeremy so they could talk in private. “We took a lot of losses,” she said softly. “Do we still have the forces needed to take on the AIs at the galactic center?” She was worried they might have won the battle, but lost the war.
“I don’t know,” answered Jeremy with a heavy sigh. “We have a few months yet before we have to launch that attack.” He glanced at the tactical displays, seeing just how few green icons remained representing Third and Fourth Fleets. He felt ill knowing that thousands of good men and women had died in the battle.
He knew that Commander Malen was concerned. If they couldn’t defeat the AIs at the galactic center, then this battle would have been for nothing. If the AIs set off their hyperwave generator, then all the organic races in the galaxy were doomed. He just hoped that this battle hadn’t made their mission to stop the AIs impossible.
Chapter Fifteen
Hedon let out a deep breath of satisfaction as the StarStrike took up position next to a large habitat in orbit around Calzen. The rest of First Fleet was nearby with their weapons focused on the habitat and targeting sensors active. The other Federation fleets were currently going around the system eliminating the remaining resistance which, afte
r the big battle earlier, wasn’t much.
“Everything is in readiness,” Colonel Trist reported as he looked over at the Fleet Admiral with a look of uneasiness on his face. “Hedon, I’m not comfortable with this. Why not have the Hocklyns come over to the StarStrike to sign the surrender?”
“I want to show the remaining Hocklyn leaders that we have no fear of them,” responded Hedon, firmly. “We’ll go on board their habitat and sign the documents that will end this war.”
“I don’t think it’s a trap,” Colonel Grissim said as she had finished making the final preparations for the three of them to go into the Hocklyn habitat. She had a full company of heavily armed marines going along as escorts. “From all indications, this Hocklyn High Councilor is in great fear of his life and is willing to negotiate.”
“High Councilor Ruthan,” mused Colonel Trist, shaking his head. “From all reports their High Leader and several other High Councilors have vanished, supposedly killed in the fighting that erupted across their home worlds. They haven’t been seen or heard from in several weeks.”
“We’re still checking into that,” answered Hedon, looking over knowingly at Clarissa, who was standing next to Lieutenant Walters. He knew the two of them were attempting to access the Hocklyn computer systems on the habitat to search for any discrepancies in what High Councilor Ruthan had told them so far. With all the fighting that had gone on around the Hocklyn core systems, there was a lot of confusion about where their government leaders were. Some were supposedly still in hiding, afraid to show themselves after the collapse of their Empire.
“Admiral Sheen is reporting the last Hocklyn cargo ship has been destroyed,” Janice reported from Communications. “She’s currently diverting the fleets to make passes over all of the planets and moons in the system as a reminder of who is in charge now.”
Hedon nodded, pleased with the report. After hundreds of years, the Hocklyn Empire had finally been defeated. He leaned back and thought about all that had transpired to make this moment possible. The losses in ships and crews had been heavy, and at times, he'd wondered if this moment would ever arrive. Many had sacrificed themselves to ensure the Federation survived; Admiral Klask being the most recent.
“Make our shuttles ready,” ordered Hedon, ready to get the surrender over with. The fleet had suffered massive losses in the battle with the main Hocklyn fleet and the AIs, which had jumped into the system; losses that could be detrimental when the Federation launched their attack on the AIs at the galactic core.
He needed to get the fleets back to New Providence for some much-needed repairs. Grayseth’s mobile shipyard was working overtime on the more heavily damaged Federation ships. The fleet repair ships that had come along were also heavily involved in making what repairs they could to the lighter units. Their first priority was getting ailing ships' hyperdrives repaired and life support systems functioning properly.
-
Clarissa looked over at Katie with a puzzled look in her deep blue eyes. “Many of their computer files are highly encrypted,” she said. It had been relatively easy for her to gain access to the Hocklyn computers in the habitat. She was also being careful not to leave any trace of what she was doing.
“Download the data and place it in a secure location that no one but you or I can access,” Katie said, biting her upper lip. Whatever information was in those files must be highly important to have such a deep encryption that it could keep Clarissa out. Since Ruthan was a High Councilor, the files could contain almost anything. “Continue to work on the files; I’m curious to see what the Hocklyns are hiding.” Katie looked over and saw Kelsey watching her; she was glad Clarissa and Kelsey were on board the StarStrike. It was bad enough being away from Kevin, Jeremy, Angela, and Ariel. Perhaps when this was over they'd be back together again. She knew the two AIs were already discussing going off exploring together.
“I’m working on a decryption program,” Clarissa announced as she set up the parameters she thought would be needed to decode the files from the Hocklyn computers. “It shouldn’t take longer than twenty-four hours to find out what’s in the files.”
“That's great,” Katie responded, her light green eyes looking at the AI standing beside her.
She was anxious for them to leave this system and return to New Providence. It was difficult knowing Kevin and the Avenger were so close but she couldn’t see him. They could send messages back and forth, but that wasn’t the same as holding each other in their arms.
-
Inside the habitat, High Councilors Ruthan and Desmonde waited. Desmonde had arrived shortly after the battle with Fleet Commodore Jaseth ended with the Hocklyn fleet being completely annihilated. It reminded him of what had happened in his own system, except no AIs had been involved. He was still confused as to why the AIs had tried to intervene. There'd been no communication between their AI masters and any Hocklyn leader for months. He wondered if High Leader Nartel had managed to convince the AIs to come to their aid after all. Desmonde had a suspicion he'd never know the answer to that question as the High Leader had vanished.
“It’s over,” rasped Ruthan in a voice trembling with fear as he waited for the arrival of the Humans. “The Humans are coming to lay down their terms, and we have no choice but to accept.”
“High Leaders Ankler and Nartel brought this down upon us,” hissed Desmonde, recalling how the Humans had crushed the feeble opposition in his home system. The great Hocklyn fleet had been reduced to a fraction of its former size, and the Human and Alton ships had rolled over all remaining opposition. “They caused the AIs to turn away from us and once we lost the use of their more advanced weapons, the Empire was doomed.”
Ruthan looked around the ornate room they were in. The walls were decorated with expensive paintings from numerous worlds. He'd spared no expense surrounding himself with what was needed to maintain an opulent lifestyle. In normal times, he held meetings here to determine how best to advance the family honor. Now honor meant nothing, as it had failed them terribly against the Humans and their Alton allies. Just the thought of the Altons made him shiver and his blood run cold. The Altons had created the AIs and furnished the Humans with advanced technology; technology the Hocklyns couldn't hope to match. In the end, it had been their undoing as vast fleets were lost against smaller Human and Alton fleets.
There were other Hocklyns in the room, several Commodores and War Leaders, who had served Ruthan’s family for years. He'd summoned them here to the relative safety of the habitat rather than see them die in their ships in useless battles. Originally, he'd planned to have them take command of the remaining fleet units and move out into the system and reestablish control in his name. Then later, he would've sent his ships out to the other core systems. He'd planned to become the new High Leader. Now, that dream was gone.
Desmonde looked around the room, noting the absence of the other High Councilors. Ruthan had sent word out to all of the core worlds that their High Councilors were needed in the Calzen system to meet with the Humans. Desmonde knew that several were dead, others were still in hiding in their family habitats, and a few were unaccounted for, including High Leader Nartel. Desmonde wondered where Nartel had gone. There were rumors that had spread around the core worlds that the High Leader and a few others had fled the home worlds for a distant part of the Empire. Desmonde had not been able to confirm those rumors, but he wouldn’t put anything past the High Leader.
“The Human shuttles have landed in the flight bay and the Humans are on their way here,” Senior Protector Haskt reported. The Hocklyn Protector was heavily armed along with the others in the squad serving as guards for this meeting. “They have a large heavily armed contingent with them.”
“It’s to be expected,” Ruthan spoke his large dark eyes looking tired. “Protector Haskt, make sure there are no incidents. The Human fleet has surrounded this habitat and I strongly suspect if harm were to come to any of their leaders, we would all die shortly afterward.”
&
nbsp; “It would be an honorable death,” Haskt responded his right hand touching the knife at his waist. “However, I will make certain they arrive unharmed.”
Ruthan nodded; he had a large force of well-trained Protectors in his habitat as well as a hoard of stored food supplies. When Nartel had suggested that each High Councilor secure what supplies they might need, he'd taken that advice to heart. His supply rooms were overflowing and he had ten new cargo ships sitting in the habitat’s massive flight bay. There was also a warcruiser and four escort cruisers in the bay. This was something he didn’t intend to mention to the Humans.
-
As they were escorted through the corridors of the habitat, Hedon couldn’t help but feel vulnerable. At each junction where corridors met, squads of heavily armed Protectors were present. He'd left three-fourths of his marine escort in the small flight bay where they'd landed their shuttles. The other twenty-five had come with him, along with Colonel Trist and Colonel Grissim.
“Damn, they're big!” muttered Colonel Trist as they walked past another squad of heavily armed Hocklyns. The Protectors were all over two meters tall, light green in color, and very obviously of reptilian descent. All of the Hocklyns wore the same type of dark colored body armor.
“They just fall harder,” Major Abercrombie, the marine commander, commented as he walked slightly behind the fleet officers, his assault rifle cradled in his arms. His eyes were continuously sweeping the main and side corridors for any signs of threats. So far, none of the Hocklyn Protectors had made a threatening move.
After about thirty minutes of walking, they reached a pair of massive wooden doors, which seemed out of place in the stark metal corridors they'd been walking through. Four Hocklyn Protectors stood in front of the doors and took a moment to carefully scrutinize the Humans. Then two of them turned and opened the doors. Another Protector appeared, this one a little taller, and stepped in front of the Humans. After looking at the three fleet officers, he gestured for them to follow.
The Slaver Wars: Endgame Page 22