Earth Fall: Invasion : (Book One)
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“Ready to jump,” reported Captain Randson, as he listened to the readiness reports from various ships over the short-range comms. His eyes focused on the admiral, still studying the large tactical screen on the front wall of the Command Center.
Kurt nodded. There was no point in waiting. Pressing the fleetwide button on his command console, he announced, “All ships, initiate jump in sixty seconds. All ships to fire upon targets as soon as you exit hyperspace. Don’t wait on orders from the flag to engage. The element of surprise is essential if we want to win this battle. Good luck and good hunting.”
Captain Randson activated a counter on his console. “Helm, prepare for hyperspace insertion.” Randson buckled himself in his chair in preparation for combat maneuvers.
The hyperspace jump would only last a few seconds. Kurt, like everyone else, wondered what they would find when they reached Earth.
“Tactical, ready the main particle beam cannon,” ordered Kurt, noting the increased activity in the command crew as they prepared for combat. “Lock on the enemy’s nearest capital ship and fire as soon as you have a confirmed firing solution.” The cannon could only be fired once every forty seconds due to heat buildup. They needed every shot to count.
“Weapons are ready,” reported Lieutenant Evelyn Mays from Tactical.
The counter on Captain Randson’s console reached zero. “Jump!” ordered Randson, his hands gripping the armrests on his command chair.
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High Profiteer Creed of the Gothan Empire stood in the Command Center of the Profiteer ship Ascendant Destruction. He was bipedal and slightly taller than a human, with light blue skin and coarse white hair. His face, while humanoid, had larger-than-normal eyes. The last few days had been quiet, while he awaited the return of the rest of his ships, plus the others he had sent for: a large fleet of detainee ships and a number of heavy cargo ships.
The Gothan Empire, with planet Marsten as its capital, was a loose federation of 118 star systems that routinely raided many of the civilized races of the galaxy. It was a dangerous living, but the huge rewards from the bounty collected more than offset the danger.
“We’ll make huge profits from this planet,” gloated Second Profiteer Lantz, as he gazed at the main viewscreen on the front wall of the Command Center, depicting the blue-white planet beneath them. “Their people will sell well in the slave markets on Kubitz.”
“Their world is rich in many things that will bring good profits on the black markets,” added Creed, recalling his last trip to the bustling black market world. “Gold, platinum, jewels, and even some of their art will add much to our coffers.”
Hundreds of alien races could be found on the planet Kubitz, either selling or buying, some of it openly and some done in the back rooms of the pleasure houses. It was also a very dangerous place for someone unfamiliar with the workings of the black market system. People were known to vanish quite routinely, and the local authorities always seemed to look the other way.
“We were fortunate to find this world in this backwater system,” Lantz said. “Few ships have ventured into this area where the stars are so far apart.”
“We can thank the Kreel for that,” Creed said. “Several of their cargo ships have reported unknown ships detected by their satellite marker buoys in a number of systems they have claimed. It wasn’t difficult for the computers on Marsten to correlate the data and extrapolate the most likely location of those ships’ home world.”
Lantz nodded in agreement.
Though it hadn’t been quite that simple, as the computers had given them an area of space nearly thirty light-years across, which had contained quite a few stars, even in this sparse region. The Profiteer fleet had searched for two weeks before finally pinning down the system they sought.
“It is well that we found this system when we did,” Lantz said with greed showing in his eyes. “They had a sizable fleet and, in a few more years, would have been too powerful to overwhelm without major losses. They still remain hesitant to obey our demands, even after we destroyed their cities. More examples might need to be made.”
Before Creed could reply, warning klaxons sounded, and red lights flashed in the Command Center. His eyes instantly went to the sensor operator. “What’s with the alarms?” he demanded.
“We have ships exiting hyperspace,” reported Third Profiteer Bixt, as red threat icons appeared on the sensor screen before him. Then, after a moment, he looked at First Profiteer Creed with astonishment on his face. “They’re human!”
“We didn’t get them all,” muttered Lantz.
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Admiral Vickers felt the familiar gut-wrenching sensation as the Star Cross dropped from hyperspace within close proximity to its intended target. The tactical screen quickly updated, showing the alien ships in orbit around Earth.
“Energy shield is coming online,” reported Captain Randson.
“Target lock!” called out Lieutenant Evelyn Mays, as green lights flashed on her console. “Firing particle beam cannon.” She reached forward and pressed several buttons, activating the deadly weapon. Beside her, two ensigns entered targeting information for the ship’s heavy KEW batteries and prepared to fire the ship’s missiles.
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From the Star Cross, a deep blue beam flashed across space, smashing into the targeted enemy battlecruiser. Its defensive energy screen was operating at a low level, which failed to stop the beam. A massive explosion tore into the cruiser, leaving a gaping hole fifteen meters across in its hull and blasting a huge fragment off into space. The ship seemed to stagger, as valuable systems inside were compromised and ceased to function. Several secondary explosions rattled the ship, sending waves of fire through shattered interior compartments and corridors.
From the bow of the Star Cross, the two heavy KEW cannons fired, sending a pair of large armor-piercing rounds at 10 percent the speed of light toward the reeling enemy cruiser. The rounds impacted the alien ship, tearing completely through it, setting off additional explosions. The energy generated was like twin nuclear explosions. With a brilliant flash, the battlecruiser blew, sending debris in all directions.
“Enemy battlecruiser is down!” Lieutenant Brooks reported with elation, as the red threat icon swelled up on her sensor screen and then vanished.
“We caught them before they could raise their shields!” uttered Captain Randson, his eyes shining with a wolfish glint. “We surprised them, just like they did when they attacked Earth.”
“Switch to secondary target,” ordered Kurt, as he intently watched the tactical screen, seeing what success his other ships were having. They had to hit the enemy quick and hard if they were to have any hope of victory.
“The Hampton has downed a second enemy battlecruiser,” reported Brooks, as she saw another red icon vanish from her screen.
“Vindication is jumping in!” added Captain Randson, seeing more green icons appear on the tactical screen. “We caught them flatfooted!”
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First Profiteer Creed picked himself up from the deck, looking around the Command Center in anger. “What’s happening!” he demanded, as his gaze shifted to the ship’s tactical screen. He could see numerous red threat icons appearing nearby. They were appearing almost on top of his fleet!
“It’s a human fleet, and they’re attacking,” reported Second Profiteer Lantz breathlessly. “We’ve already lost the Warriors Pride and the Addax. The enemy is using a powerful particle beam weapon against us and kinetics.”
“Particle beams and kinetics!” roared Creed in disbelief, his eyes growing wide.
He knew that, for most warships, particle beams were impractical—as they required a tremendous amount of energy and needed a long cool-down time between firings. Most Gothan ships were armed with ion cannons, energy projectors, and missiles, which were cheap and efficient. Kinetics were a thing of the past and had been given up to be replaced by more modern weapons. No one used kinetics anymore!
“One of the new arriv
als is a carrier of some kind,” Third Profiteer Bixt warned. “It’s launching smaller warships toward us.”
“We’ve lost four of our escorts,” said Lantz, watching the ships drop off the tactical screen. He groaned and murmured, “My profits … the pleasure houses …” Then he reported, “All our ships have their shields up and are returning fire, but I fear we’ve already lost too many. The Glimmer Fire is reporting heavy damage, and they’re asking permission to withdraw.”
The Glimmer Fire was their only other remaining battlecruiser besides the Ascendant Destruction. Creed looked at the viewscreen, which showed numerous explosions in space. He could even see the flash of a few beam weapons. “Order all ships to jump!” he grated out, knowing that he had no other choice but to withdraw or risk being destroyed.
They were in this for profits, not to lose expensive warships! He would return to Kubitz and come back with a much more powerful fleet. This planet was too rich to allow a single human fleet to keep him from it. The humans could have the planet for now, but, in time, he and his much larger force would retake it. He would also have to intercept the detainee and cargo ships on their way here and have them return to the Kubitz System.
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“We’ve taken out two more of their light units,” Captain Randson added, watching as a pair of red icons fell off the tactical screen.
Andrew Randson breathed a little easier. At this rate, they would win the battle, and then, as soon as possible, he intended to take a shuttle to Houston and evacuate his family. He knew others would be doing the same thing.
“Destroyer Brant is down,” Lieutenant Brooks reported grimly, as the friendly green icon representing the small destroyer vanished from the sensor screen.
Kurt winced at that news. It was the first ship under his command he had ever lost.
“Enemy ships are showing an energy spike,” Lieutenant Brooks informed them, per one of her sensors. “They’re activating their hyperdrives.”
Kurt switched his gaze to a large viewscreen just in time to see one of the two remaining enemy battlecruisers jump away. On the tactical screen, other red threat icons also vanished.
“Their last battlecruiser is too damaged to jump,” Brooks reported, as the enemy ship turned toward them with its weapons firing. “They’re attacking!”
Kurt felt the Star Cross shudder slightly as an energy beam struck the ship’s screen.
“Some type of ion beam is hitting us,” Lieutenant Brooks reported, looking at the data on one of her sensor screens.
“The shield is holding at 84 percent,” Captain Randson said.
“Particle beam is recharged,” Lieutenant Mays stated, as she targeted the alien battlecruiser. “Firing!”
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The deep blue particle beam smashed into the Glimmer Fire, flashing right through its weakened defensive energy screen. A huge hole was blasted in its bow, and the ship seemed to lose all power. Two heavy KEW rounds from the human’s bow cannons plowed into the Profiteer ship, traveling nearly its entire length, and then the vessel detonated in a blaze of light as too many vital systems were compromised.
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“All enemy ships have either jumped or been destroyed,” reported Lieutenant Brooks, breathing a sigh of relief. “We have control of Earth orbital space.”
Kurt nodded, allowing himself to relax. This battle had gone far better than expected. “Get me Captain Watkins. I’ll have the Vindication check out the shipyard. We may need their Marines to secure it.” Kurt turned his attention back toward one of the viewscreens, which showed Earth.
“Now let’s try to contact someone down on the surface and see just what the hell is going on!”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017CM03GE/
Other Books by Raymond L. Weil
Available on Amazon
Moon Wreck (The Slaver Wars Book 1)
The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact (The Slaver Wars Book 2)
Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (The Slaver Wars Book 3)
The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book 4)
The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book 5)
The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict (The Slaver Wars Book 6)
The Slaver Wars: Endgame (The Slaver Wars Book 7)
The Slaver Wars: Books 1-3
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Dragon Dreams
Dragon Dreams: Dragon Wars
Dragon Dreams: Gilmreth the Awakening
Dragon Dreams: Snowden the White Dragon
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Star One: Tycho City: Survival
Star One: Neutron Star
Star One: Dark Star
Star One
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Galactic Empire Wars: Destruction (Book 1)
Galactic Empire Wars: Emergence (Book 2)
Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (Book 3)
Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance (Book 4)
Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (Book 5)
Galactic Empire Wars: The Beginning (Books 1-3)
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The Lost Fleet: Galactic Search (Book 1)
The Lost Fleet: Into the Darkness (Book 2)
The Lost Fleet: Oblivion’s Light (Book 3)
The Lost Fleet: Genesis (Book 4)
The Lost Fleet: Search for the Originators (Book 5)
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The Star Cross (Book 1)
The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders (Book 2)
The Star Cross: Galaxy in Peril (Book 3)
The Star Cross: The Forever War (Book 4)
The Star Cross: The Vorn! (Book 5)
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The Originator Wars: Universe in Danger (Book 1)
The Originator Wars: Search for the Lost (Book 2)
The Originator Wars: Conflict Unending (Book 3)
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Earth Fall: Invasion (Book 1)
(All dates are tentative)
Earth Fall: To the Stars (Book 2) March 2018
The Originator Wars: Explorations (Book 1) May 2018