“The last of the railguns have been installed,” reported Colonel Fields. “That gives us twenty-three of them.”
Mitchell’s attention switched to the colonel. “Can they take out a hover tank?” That was the biggest problem right now besides the orbiting battlecruisers. Field units were losing battles because it was too costly to destroy one of the Trellixian tanks.
“We think so,” Fields replied. “We won’t know for sure until we try it.”
Every day the mountain became more heavily defended. However, Mitchell knew without the energy cannons and energy shield, the base could still fall. He had stressed that point to Professor Wilkens in their conversations.
“Trellixian colony ships are entering the atmosphere,” Colonel Fields said. On the main viewscreen, the ships developed a red glow around them as they descended. “They’re definitely heading for Florida.”
General Mitchell wondered how many civilians were still hiding in the sunshine state. He knew some had fled into the Everglades and others to the smaller islands in the Florida Keys. He just hoped the nuclear explosions they would soon be setting off didn’t kill any of them. Enough of their people had already lost their lives.
-
Battle Commander Balforr watched impatiently as the five colony ships descended toward Florida with their escort of battlecruisers. All ten vessels had their energy shields at maximum though the colony ships would have to drop theirs when they landed. The battlecruisers would also have to reduce the power to their energy shields due to being so deep in the planet’s atmosphere.
“We’re not detecting any dangerous activity from the Humans,” reported Jaltor as he stepped back from the ship’s sensors. “I don’t believe they have any weapons left which can be a threat to us.”
Balforr studied the viewscreens for several long moments before replying. “Keep our ships’ sensors focused on Florida and the area around it. If they detect anything suspicious I want to know immediately.” Already these Humans had surprised him a number of times. He shuddered thinking about what would have happened if the Humans had developed hyperspace travel. The Humans would have made the war with the Jelnoids look like a minor skirmish.
-
General Mitchell had a good night’s sleep and returned to the Command Center. The main viewscreens revealed close-up views of the landed Trellixian colony ships. Several stealth satellites in orbit used Jelnoid technology and the views of the colony ships were crystal-clear.
“Where are they?” asked Mitchell. “Yesterday the ships spent considerable time just flying above the countryside as if seeking the perfect places to land.”
“They’re outside of Gainesville, Orlando, Lakeland, Moore Haven, and Coral Springs,” reported General Briggs.
“Moore Haven?” said General Mitchell, confused. “That’s a small town. Why there?”
“It borders Lake Okeechobee,” replied Briggs. “That may have something to do with it.”
“How soon before the West Virginia reaches its launch coordinates?”
“Fourteen more hours,” answered Major Thomas.
Mitchell glanced at his watch. “That will be 22:00 tonight.”
“A night launch will be better,” Major Thomas said. “It might make it more difficult for the aliens to detect the missiles or where they were launched from.”
“Have every unit in the field take cover,” ordered General Mitchell. “There will be no more attacks on the Trellixians until we have the first shipment of pulse rifles. I expect when we nuke their colony ships, the aliens will intensify their search for any surviving military units. Let’s make them as difficult to find as possible.” The pulse rifles would be a game-changer and so would the secondary energy cannons.
General Briggs nodded and made his way to Colonel Tricia Steward at Communications. They had ways to secretly contact many of the small military units still resisting the Trellixians.
Mitchell stood. “I’m going outside to inspect some of the defensive installations.” Mitchell also wanted to breathe some fresh air. Once they nuked the colony ships, it might be a while before he could go out again.
-
Battle Commander Balforr was satisfied the colony ships were safely down. A battlecruiser hovered over each of the five of them using its sensors to search for any possible danger. No Humans had been found anywhere near the five ships. The thousand soldiers assigned to each colony ship had been sent out to secure a perimeter.
“We’ve seriously degraded the military this world once possessed,” said Jaltor. “Combat across the planet has decreased significantly in the past week.”
Balforr turned toward his second in command. “Don’t forget the battlecruisers we lost to the energy beam weapon the Humans used. I’m still not satisfied we’ve taken out all their major military units. There may be some hiding in the planet’s mountains.”
“A large number of their civilian population has fled into the mountainous regions,” admitted Jaltor. “However, it is the opinion of several of our scientists the harsh weather in those regions will wipe out most of those who went there. It may not even be necessary to send our troops in.”
“I’m not convinced of that,” replied Balforr. “Use some of Battle Commander Jabale’s troops and hover tanks to begin searching those regions for Human military units.”
“That’s rough terrain even for a hover tank,” replied Jaltor. “The Humans could set all kinds of traps.”
“We’re superior to the Humans!” roared Balforr, his eyes streaked red with anger. “I want to be finished with this world.” Balforr was growing more concerned every day about how this mission would affect his career.
-
Jaltor turned and walked away. He had noticed Battle Commander Balforr becoming more agitated every day they were here. With the addition of Battle Commander Jabale’s troops and ships, the pacifying of this world should take no longer than another few more months at most. Then they could go on to the next world which stood in the way of Trellixian expansion.
-
Deep underwater in the Atlantic, the West Virginia neared the Blake Plateau. The Columbia Class submarine was 561 feet long with a beam of 43 feet. It used a pump-jet for propulsion that created a stream of water to move the submarine at twenty-two knots at a depth of 1,200 feet. It was originally designed for sixteen missiles tubes holding Trident D5 missiles.
However, four of the tubes had been removed and replaced to allow the launching of a modified Block II TLAM-A. The Tomahawks had a W80 warhead which could be set for a detonation of between 5 to 150 kilotons. The West Virginia carried forty of the modified Tomahawk cruise missiles. The submarine was supposedly capable of reaching depths of six thousand feet though Captain Erickson had no desire to test that. Erickson had been assured the new armor plating on the ship’s hull would make the West Virginia undetectable to Trellixian sensors.
As they neared the coast he would test that statement.
-
The colony ships were in the process of bringing a portion of the colonists out of stasis. They would scour the local area for resources and then set up the automated machinery which would construct the first Trellixian cities on the planet Earth. In time more colonists would arrive until each city held at least two million Trellixians. This planet and star system was rich in resources. It would become a major hub of the Trellixian Empire in this region of the galaxy.
-
Battle Commander Jabale studied the latest reports from the colony ships. Each ship had one thousand Trellixian soldiers checking the areas around the ships for any danger and setting up a defensive perimeter. While Battle Commander Balforr had assured him this place called Florida was clear, Jabale was not so certain. This planet should have been cleared of its inhabitants weeks ago yet there was still fighting over much of the planet’s surface.
Balforr had even managed to lose some of his battlecruisers which was unheard of. Very seldom did the Trellixians encounter a world capable of damaging
one of those powerful ships. Jabale was convinced this was due to Battle Commander Balforr making critical errors deploying his vessels. Jabale had mentioned this to the High Command, stressing his concern at being placed under Balforr’s orders.
“Our ground troops report no viable threats,” said Second Officer Oberon.
Battle Commander Jabale nodded. “Nevertheless we will keep our battlecruisers in position over the colony ships.”
Second Officer Oberon showed concern. “They are deep in the planet’s atmosphere and can only operate their energy screens at 20 percent.”
“Even at 20 percent that will protect the battlecruisers. Once I’m satisfied the colony ships and the new cities they’re building are safe we can pull the battlecruisers back into orbit.”
Looking at one of the viewscreens focused on the planet, Jabale wondered if there was a plentiful food source. Most Trellixians preferred their meat raw. It might be worthwhile to send some hunting parties to the surface and bring back samples of this world’s meat animals. He was curious to find out what they tasted like.
-
General Mitchell spent most of the afternoon inspecting the defensive weapons sites on the mountain. Hidden artillery pieces, missile launchers, heavy machine-gun posts, mortars, and a line of deep trenches protected the mountain from the most likely avenues of attack. The entire floor of the valley was covered by claymore mines. Near the top of the mountain were twenty-three railgun sites.
Mitchell stopped and stepped into an empty weapons site. It had concrete walls and camouflage netting for a ceiling. This was where one of the energy cannons was supposed to go. From here it could fire straight up or down on the valley floor below. Stepping to the edge he gazed at the mountains and forests that seemed to stretch on forever. It was hard to imagine a battle being fought in such a pristine place.
“General Briggs requests your presence in the Command Center,” said Lieutenant Stapleton, carrying a small comm unit. “He says the West Virginia has reached the Blake Plateau.”
-
For several hours the West Virginia crept closer to the coast. Captain Erickson had slowed the vessel to eighteen knots as the massive submarine slid quietly through the water.
“No contacts,” reported the sonar-sensor operator.
Erickson let out a deep sigh. This was normally a heavily traveled part of the ocean. It was strange for there to be no shipping traffic. It was the same all over the world. Surface ships were now a thing of the past.
“Are we really going to launch?” asked Lieutenant Commander Barrington, the executive officer.
“We’ll know shortly,” replied Erickson, gazing at a screen showing the view one would normally see through a periscope. At the moment it was dark because of the depth the submarine traveled.
Erickson looked at his watch. “In a little over three hours we will be at the launch coordinates. We should receive a signal from command designating our targets.” The signal would come from a Jelnoid satellite and would be received by the modified comm gear on the submarine. Supposedly the Trellixians could not detect or trace the signal.
“We’re putting a lot of trust in what we learned from the Jelnoids,” commented Barrington.
“Their science was far more advanced than ours. We’ve learned a lot about their technology in the last eighty years.”
“That may be so but they lost their war with the Trellixians,” said Barrington meaningfully. “Only that small scout ship escaped and it crashed.”
Erickson knew Barrington was right. “That was eighty years ago. We’ve had that long to make sure all this reverse-engineered technology works.”
“It’d better,” Barrington replied. “Our lives are depending on it.”
-
General Mitchell watched a screen showing Florida and the Atlantic Ocean off its eastern coast.
“The West Virginia is on station,” reported Major Thomas. “The Jelnoid satellite has received a ping from the sub indicating its arrival.”
General Mitchell took a deep breath. “Is the target information ready?”
“Yes,” Major Thomas replied. “The Tomahawks will be guided to their targets by the satellite. I don’t believe the Trellixians will detect anything until the missiles detonate. All five missiles will be synched to arrive at their targets within just a few seconds of one another.”
“This is it then.” General Mitchell knew it was dark in Florida and the flashes of the nukes would be visible for hundreds of miles. “Send the launch order and the data pack.” Mitchell then turned toward Colonel Steward. “Inform the vice president we are using nukes on the colony ships.” Mitchell knew this was an extreme measure as it would make parts of Florida uninhabitable for years. However, the human race was fighting for its survival and sometimes drastic measures were necessary.
-
On board the West Virginia the message to launch had been received and verified.
“Take us to launch depth,” ordered Captain Erickson. “Prepare Tomahawks for immediate deployment. This is a nuclear fire mission.”
The submarine slowly rose and then stopped when it reached 150 feet, the maximum depth from which it could launch the Tomahawks.
“We’re at launch depth,” reported Lieutenant Commander Barrington. “Coordinates have been loaded into the Tomahawks’ navigational software. The Jelnoid satellite will guide them in as needed. All five Tomahawks should arrive at their targets within seven seconds of one another.” The Tomahawks had a modified Jelnoid propulsion system which allowed them to travel at different speeds.
Captain Erickson took a deep breath. He was about to launch a nuclear attack against the United States. “Commence launch sequence.”
-
On the top hull of the West Virginia four hatches slid open. From each a twenty-foot-long Tomahawk cruise missile burst forth from its pressurized container. The missiles rapidly rose to the surface before their boosters kicked in. Moments later a fifth Tomahawk launched, following close behind the other four.
-
“Confirmed Tomahawk launch,” reported Lieutenant Commander Barrington, looking to Captain Erickson.
Erickson nodded. “Let’s get out of here. We could be targeted at any moment. Take us down to two thousand feet, all ahead full.” That would allow them to leave the area at twenty-eight knots. If the Trellixians had not detected the launch, the West Virginia should be a good fifty miles away from the launch area when the missiles detonated. Erickson planned to have the sub sitting on the bottom and powered down by that time.
-
“Tomahawks have been launched,” reported Major Thomas, looking at General Mitchell. “They will reach their targets in ninety minutes.”
General Mitchell nodded. “Let’s just hope they’re not detected.” Mitchell leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the armrest. Now all they could do was wait.
-
The five Tomahawks flew only fifty feet above the water as they neared the Florida coast. Each missile had its own target as they split up going their separate ways. Several missiles slowed down while the rest sped up to reach their targets at the specified times. It was dark with a cloudless sky as the missiles’ turbofan jet engines propelled them toward their targets.
For an hour and sixteen minutes the missiles flew over the Florida landscape, most of the time keeping to an altitude no greater than 150 feet. Each W80 warhead was set to forty kilotons, nearly three times the strength of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
-
The Tomahawk missile targeting the Trellixian colony ship near Moore Haven came in low over Lake Okeechobee, then climbed to an altitude of one thousand feet before detonating. The powerful blast struck the colony ship, disintegrating its unprotected hull. The massive ship blew apart as its power systems were compromised, leaving a huge crater in the ground. The blast wave spread outward, toppling trees and blowing down surviving buildings in Moore Haven. A towering mushroom cloud formed, buffeting the b
attlecruiser overhead and threatening to overload its defensive shield.
The battlecruiser shook violently and several sections of its hull blew out as part of the blast wave penetrated its weakened energy shield. For a few moments it looked as if the battlecruiser would fall from the sky. Then its energy shield went to full strength and the vessel climbed upward, away from the devastation spreading beneath it.
-
Near Orlando, the colony ship was nearly disintegrated by the blast. The battlecruiser holding position directly above had its energy shield barely activated and a major portion of the blast wave struck the ship. Explosions rattled the vessel as its hull was compromised in numerous areas. The ship seemed to hesitate and then it plummeted to the ground, crumpling on impact.
-
In Coral Springs a husband along with his wife and three children were huddled in the basement beneath their house. Several times in the past few weeks they had heard alien soldiers go by their home. Occasionally they would hear a scream and then there would be silence.
Suddenly a tremendous roar filled the air and the house shook. The children cried out in fear from the noise, holding on to their parents. Then the heat from the nuclear blast arrived, incinerating the home and everyone inside.
-
General Mitchell rose, his gaze glued to one of the large viewscreens as five brilliant flashes of light appeared over Florida.
“Confirmed nuclear detonations,” reported Colonel Fields. “The Trellixians never detected the missiles.”
“The colony ships?” Mitchell knew this mission would be a failure if they didn’t get them all.
“Jelnoid satellite imagery confirms all five destroyed as well as one battlecruiser over the colony ship near Orlando.”
“What’s the wind direction in Florida?” Mitchell was concerned about the radiation from the blasts spreading north into the main part of the United States.
“We lucked out there,” General Briggs answered. “I checked with our meteorologists and a cold front came through yesterday. The wind is out of the northwest at eight to ten miles per hour and should stay that way for the next several days.”
Earth Fall: Invasion : (Book One) Page 16