“Press the attack,” Achlyn ordered his large eyes narrowing. “It’s time the Kleese learn what it means to die!”
-
“Battlecruiser Rampage is under heavy attack,” reported Commander Shepherd. “They’ve lost one of their fusion power plants and thirty percent of their weapons are offline.”
“Move us closer to them,” ordered Admiral Adamson, not wanting to lose one of his valuable battlecruisers. “Have the light cruisers Ajax and Odin move in with us.”
“We won’t make it,” Sandra said with a disheartened look in her eyes as she shook her head. She gestured toward one of the viewscreens where the Rampage was under heavy attack.
As Adamson shifted his gaze to the indicated viewscreen, he saw a brilliant explosion and the bow of the battlecruiser disintegrated before his eyes. The ship attempted a sharp turn trying to bring her secondary weapons to bear on the attacking Zaltule battlecruisers, but before the turn was completed, the ship vanished in a giant fireball as an antimatter missile detonated in her heart.
“Battlecruiser Rampage is down,” reported Lieutenant Lash in an even voice as he fought down his emotions at the loss of so many Human lives. Lash knew that nearly seven hundred Humans had just died.
Admiral Adamson let out a deep and ragged breath. He momentarily closed his eyes and then reopened them. “They died in a just cause,” he said as he looked into the eyes of his shocked command crew. “Now let’s finish this battle.”
-
On the main viewscreen, Harmock had watched an Alliance battlecruiser die. They'd determined that the ship was a Human one and it had been very difficult to kill.
“The Human battlecruisers are very powerful,” stated Minor Overlord Gareth as the Warrior’s Fire trembled from weapons fire impacting the ship’s armored hull. “They have extremely strong energy screens as well as that infuriating particle beam weapon, which seems to pass easily through our ship’s shields.”
“This battle is lost,” uttered Harmock as he studied the tactical screen noting two more icons representing Zaltule warships flicker and then disappear. “Our fleet is not powerful enough to stand up to these advanced weapons, not in the numbers were facing now.”
“It’s the fault of the Council of Overlords for letting these worlds develop such weapons to begin with,” pointed out Gareth.
“They were lax in their duty to the Empire,” agreed Harmock. “When we return to the home world, there will be some immediate changes.”
“Then we’re returning?”
“Yes,” Harmock responded as his multifaceted eyes took stock of the tactical situation. “This Alliance is dangerous, but if we cut off its head it will collapse in upon itself.”
“The Humans?”
“Yes,” answered Harmock as he thought of a strategy to neutralize this new Alliance. “We shall return to the homeward, address the problems with the Council of Overlords, and then return with a fleet large enough to annihilate the Humans and what remains of their star system.”
“It is a wise decision,” Gareth spoke in agreement.
“Ready the fleet for departure,” ordered Harmock. He'd already lost far more ships than expected. There was no point in sacrificing more in a losing situation.
“What about the ships in orbit over Ryerson?”
Harmock studied the tactical screen briefly and then shook his head. “Order them to begin picking up the ground forces immediately. They have fifteen minutes and then we execute our jump into Fold Space.”
“They won’t be able to extricate all of the ground forces in that short of a time period,” warned Gareth. “Some will be left behind.”
“Those that remain will bring glory to the Empire,” Harmock answered in a dispassionate voice. “They know their duties as warriors.”
“I will pass on the orders,” replied Gareth.
Harmock turned his attention back to the tactical screen. He still had a battle to fight as he organized his fleet’s withdrawal. His multifaceted eyes focused on a viewscreen showing a close up of one of the Human battlecruisers. Even as he watched, a bright blue beam of light flashed forth, spearing through a Zaltule battlecruiser’s energy screen and setting off a massive explosion. A large section of the ship’s hull could be seen drifting off into space. The Human ship then fired two antimatter missiles through the weakened screen, destroying the ship.
Harmock felt suddenly uncertain about the Empire. These Humans were an unknown. They had revolted against the Kleese, escaped the trading station, then returned and stole the trading station. Later, they defeated a Kleese fleet in their home system and then gone on a rescue mission to Kivea where they had rescued a number of prominent Kivean scientists, and then returned home to defeat a major Kleese fleet once more.
Were the Humans a greater menace to the Empire than what he had originally thought? When he returned to the home world, he fully intended to speak with other Kleese who had dealt with the Humans first hand, if any could be found. There would also be more changes to the council. By allowing the Humans to survive, the council had shown itself to be weak and incompetent; Harmock fully intended to change that. Now he needed to extricate his fleet before he lost too many more ships.
-
Admiral Adamson watched as the twenty Kleese warships over Ryerson suddenly broke orbit and accelerated away toward open space. In a matter of only a few minutes, they had accelerated sufficiently and jumped into Fold Space.
“Kleese fleet is disengaging,” reported Commander Shepherd as she studied the tactical screen. She could see the Kleese ships trying to put some distance between them and the different Alliance warships.
“All ships continue to press the attack,” ordered Adamson over the com, which connected him to all of the individual ship commanders. “We want to inflict as much damage as possible on this Kleese fleet to ensure it doesn’t return.” He leaned forward in his command chair, studying the tactical screen intently. With satisfaction, he saw a number of ships closing the gaps between them and the withdrawing Kleese.
-
The light cruisers Warspite and Sultan closed with a Kleese battlecruiser that had already suffered some damage. A major section of its armored hull plating had been blasted away and a thousand-meter wide crater was carved deep into the top section of the disk.
“Its energy shield is fluctuating,” Commander Bolton of the Warspite communicated to Commander Atkins on the Sultan.
“Then let’s finish it off,” Atkins replied as his light cruiser activated its particle beam cannon.
A bright blue beam of light flashed out, smashing through the weakened Zaltule energy shield and slamming into the side of the disk ship, setting off a colossal explosion. It was quickly followed by a second particle beam from the Warspite.
-
“Two Human ships are engaging us,” the Zaltule in front of the sensors reported.
“What’s the status of our ship?” demanded Maltkel from the Command Pedestal.
“Fold Space Drive has been destroyed, sublight drive is functioning at forty percent,” reported the Zaltule at Damage Control. “We’ve lost sixty percent of our ship’s weapons, and we have major fires burning in most areas. Our energy screen will only last for another few minutes.”
“Fire every antimatter missile we can at the nearest Human ship,” Maltkel ordered. He was a commander of the Zaltule and while his ship might be doomed, he could at least take one of the accursed Human ships with him.
From the Zaltule battlecruiser, twenty antimatter missiles flashed out from its remaining missile tubes to impact the energy screen of the Sultan.
-
“Energy shield is failing!” screamed Ensign Sherry Wild from Damage Control as she was hurled painfully against her restraining straps.
The Sultan shook violently and then seemed to be shoved hard to one side as if struck by a giant iron fist. Several consoles in the Command Center blew out, sending cascades of brilliant sparks across the room. Screams of pain
and cries of fright could be heard throughout the ship.
In Engineering, Chief Engineer Barker turned pale as the primary fusion reactor began to shake in its mountings. “Evacuate Engineering,” he ordered as he saw the reactor itself beginning to glow, indicating a possible meltdown was taking place inside. The magnetic containment fields must be failing.
“The hatches are locked down!” screamed Spaceman First Class Jones. “There are fires on the other side!”
A dozen crewmembers looked expectantly at Barker, waiting for his orders. Surely, the chief engineer would know what to do.
Barker looked frantically around, knowing they were trapped. He looked down at one of the gauges, which showed the internal temperature of the fusion reactor and turned pale, seeing that it was redlined as far as the dial would go. He looked up at the reactor just in time to see its side melt away. In an instant, everyone in Engineering was incinerated as the reactor’s tremendous heat was released
“Containment breach,” screamed Ensign Wild as her damage control board lit up with red lights. “Engineering is gone!”
Commander Atkins looked around his Command Center. It was full of smoke and several crewmembers were lying on the deck, either dead or unconscious. With a heavy sigh, he knew the rest of them would shortly be joining them.
-
Aboard the Warspite, Commander Bolton recoiled as the viewscreen showing the Sultan suddenly filled with light, which was quickly reduced as the viewscreen adjusted itself.
“Sultan is down,” reported the ensign at the sensors.
“Fire antimatter missiles at the Zaltule battlecruiser,” commanded Bolton, grimly. “The least we can do for the Sultan is to finish off that Kleese ship.”
From the Warspite, a spread of antimatter missiles flashed away to impact against the battered hull of the Zaltule battlecruiser. Six brilliant explosions of antimatter energy marked the end of the enemy ship.
“Kleese battlecruiser is down,” the ensign at the sensor console confirmed.
“Find us another target,” ordered Bolton. He knew they would mourn the fallen later.
-
“Kleese ships are entering Fold Space,” reported Lieutenant Lash.
“All stragglers have been eliminated,” added Commander Shepherd a minute later, as the last damaged Zaltule battlecruiser was blown apart by a Lanolthian ship.
Admiral Adamson let out a long and deep breath. He allowed himself to relax as he studied the tactical screen. It had been a brief and bloody battle, with both sides taking major losses. However, they had driven off the Kleese and at least had a victory.
“How many of them did we get?”
“We took out two hundred and thirteen of their battlecruisers,” reported Sandra as she studied information on a computer screen near her.
“Seventh Fleet losses?”
“They were heavy,” Sandra confirmed in a grim voice. “We lost one battlecruiser, six light cruisers, and eighty-seven assault ships.”
“What about our allies?”
“They lost ships also,” Sandra replied as she looked up more information. “Fifty-two confirmed losses, all battlecruisers.”
Adamson winced, but considering the number of Kleese ships destroyed, it was to be expected. “Contact Colonel Nelson and inform him to proceed to Ryerson and begin troop landings. “I’m assigning the battlecruiser Firebolt to help provide support if needed.” He knew the Defender had her own small escort fleet consisting of four light cruisers and eight assault ships.
-
Delton Fleet Commander Achlyn looked at the tactical screen in satisfaction. The Kleese fleet had been driven off and the Humans were moving their troop assault ships into position to finish off any Zaltule that remained on the surface of Ryerson.
“The Humans are indeed a threat to the Kleese,” spoke Second Commander Baylith. “They handled themselves well in the battle.”
“How many ships did we lose?” asked Achlyn, knowing every Delton ship lost was irreplaceable.
“Twelve,” reported Baylith in an even voice. “Another six require considerable repair before they can enter Fold Space.”
“We have the time,” replied Achlyn. “I believe this battle will show many nonaligned worlds the importance of joining the Alliance the Humans are trying to form. We’ll do everything in our power to help them and perhaps someday we can return to our home world and drive off the Kleese. The Humans have given us hope.”
-
Aboard the troop assault ship Defender, Colonel Nelson gazed at the main viewscreen as they approached Ryerson. He knew down in the flight bay his brother was preparing to enter a drop ship and go down to the planet to fight the Zaltule. Wade wished he was going along to keep his brother safe, but Ryan had chosen this life and Wade had to trust his brother to do his job.
It also concerned him that Beth would be down on the surface also. The two people most important to him were going to be in harm's way and all he could do was stand in the Command Center of the Defender and watch. He just prayed nothing went wrong.
Chapter Fifteen
Colonel Nelson was sitting in one of the twin command chairs in the Command Center of the Troop Assault Ship Defender. Next to him was Commander Greer, who was busy directing the coming troop deployment. Looking around the busy Command Center, Wade noted that it was very similar to a regular battlecruiser except Communications and Tactical both had extra people. There were four people in front of Communications and two extra at Tactical. He knew this was to better coordinate fire missions with the ground as well as to stay in communication with various marine units.
“Five minutes until drop,” announced Captain Alicia Damon, the executive officer, from where she was standing next to the large sensor console.
“What’s the latest estimate of Kleese warriors still on the surface?” asked Wade as he looked at one of the viewscreens focused on the blue-green planet below.
“Unknown,” answered Commander Greer, glancing over at Wade. “We know they hold the planet’s main spaceport as well as part of the capital city, but estimates of actual numbers are sketchy.”
“We have contact with some of their government officials,” added Captain Damon, looking over toward Communications. “But they haven’t been able to tell us much.”
Wade nodded. He knew from initial reports on the ground, the capital city was in the process of being hastily evacuated. It wasn’t an orderly evacuation as the populace was fleeing into the countryside to escape the Kleese as well as the fighting that was soon to commence. Several assault ships had been sent down for flyovers of the two soon to be contested areas. Energy weapons fire and several missiles had met them, forcing the two disk ships to retreat.
“The Fire Fox will be dropping the same time as us,” added Commander Greer. On one of the viewscreens, the Fire Fox floated in space waiting to begin the operation.
“I intend to use the Defender’s railgun batteries to clear out any heavy Kleese troop concentrations,” Wade informed the commander. “We do want to hold damage to the spaceport and city to a minimum if at all possible.”
He had discussed this with Beth and Major Stevens. As soon as both were down on the surface, they would send scouts ahead to search for key defensive positions for the Defender to take out. These were Zaltule warriors they were going up against and Wade had no doubt they would be extremely dangerous. This would be the first time Humans had gone up against a well trained Kleese ground force.
“Our railgun batteries are on standby,” replied Greer. He knew the ship’s railguns could take out nearly any planetary target. The ship’s sixteen railgun batteries had been designed specifically for assaulting a planet.
“Three minutes until drop,” spoke Captain Damon, tonelessly.
She was busily speaking to the ship’s flight bay operations center to ensure the drop went smoothly. They would be sending down ten regular drop ships and two of the larger cargo drop ships. The cargo drop ships would each hold a full
platoon as well as two of the Defender’s eight hover tanks. Subsequent drops would deliver the remaining four tanks.
-
Ryan’s platoon was in one of the cargo drop ships waiting patiently for the operation to begin. Each marine was encased in a Type Four battlesuit and sitting along the two walls, waiting expectantly for the drop. This would be the first time any of them had gone down in a drop ship.
“Damn, this is nerve wracking,” moaned Private Parker as he shifted slightly in his seat.”
“Look at it this way,” commented Private Adams. “You’re finally going to get a chance to kill some Kleese.”
“We’re supposed to capture one,” complained Alexander, gazing down at the large stun rifle he was carrying. He wished he were carrying an RG rifle or even an energy cannon. At least he had his Energy Lance fastened to his waist. “How am I going to kill one with this?”
“Stun one and then stomp on its head with your big feet,” spoke Private Rios with his slight Mexican accent. “That should work.”
“One minute until drop,” spoke Sergeant Olivia Morris.
Olivia looked around the group of marines knowing that none, other than her, had seen actual combat. That was one of the reasons Major Stevens had assigned her to First Platoon. As a member of Major Winfrey’s British Special Forces group, she'd seen a lot of combat, both on Earth as well as in space.
“I’m scared,” Casey said in a low voice from where she was sitting next to Ryan. She looked over at her friend and confident, but his face was hidden by his helmet. No part of a marine’s body was left uncovered by the Type Four suits. “What if I screw up?”
“We’re all feeling nervous,” Ryan responded. He could feel butterflies in his own stomach. There was a lot riding on this mission and he didn’t want to let Beth or his brother down. “We’ve had the training; all we have to do is follow what we’ve been taught.” He tried to sound more reassuring than he felt.
Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) Page 21