The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict

by Raymond L. Weil

  Federation ships began to die as sublight antimatter missiles damaged or knocked down shields. A battlecruiser saw its shields stripped away and then was battered by multiple railgun rounds, which tore through the armored hull. Finally, the ship's self-destructs detonated destroying it in twin fireballs of nuclear fire. Monarch cruisers and light cruisers were suffering the same fate. The entire sky above Careth was aglow with exploding weapons and dying ships.

  -

  “Battlecruisers Houston, Wayne, and Eternity are down,” Captain Reynolds reported, his throat feeling dry.

  “We’re losing a lot of ships,” Colonel Trist warned as the StarStrike shuddered violently, nearly throwing him to the deck.

  “The Hocklyns and Borzon are losing more,” Colonel Grissim responded as she studied the tactical displays intently. “The battlestations, shipyard, and the space station are hurting them badly. They have no defense against the particle beams.”

  Even as Hedon turned his attention to the main viewscreens, a series of bright explosions swept over the nearby space station. When the screen cleared, two of the type two battlestations were gone and a section of the space station had a jagged wound in the hull.

  “Grayseth reports a nuke penetrated the energy screen,” Janice reported from Communications her face looking pale. “The screen's back up and they're sending repair crews to the damaged part of the station. Their weapons are still functional.”

  Looking at the tactical display, Hedon saw that Amanda’s bomber strike was going in against the outer Hocklyn fleet. It didn’t take him longer than a few moments to realize he wasn’t going to be able to hold Careth. His ships were too badly outnumbered, even with the addition of Amanda’s fleets. For a moment, he toyed with the thought of ordering Amanda to retreat and jump back to Federation space. The Federation couldn’t afford to lose so many ships in just one battle, not with all that was at stake. But he didn’t; he had a strong suspicion that Amanda would disobey that order. He knew that Admiral Strong would, Jeremy had come to relieve Careth, and he would die in the attempt if it was necessary. Hedon let out a heavy sigh as he searched for a possible solution to the dilemma he was in.

  The Federation had some great admirals, and today some of them were going to die. A bright light suddenly filled one of the viewscreens as an Alton battle station exploded. It had been under attack from four AI spheres.

  “All capital ships are free to use their particle beam cannons,” Hedon spoke. He knew that even with the addition of these powerful weapons it wasn’t going to be enough. Already, the particle beam satellites they had placed around the planet were firing steadily. Their brilliant blue beams were everywhere on the ship’s viewscreens.

  Type two battlestations, laser satellites, and missile platforms were also adding their fire to the fleets in a valiant attempt to hold back the advancing Hocklyn, Borzon, and the AIs. On another screen, Hedon could see a strikecruiser under heavy attack. For a moment, it seemed as if it was going to survive, then several Borzon battlecruisers appeared and battered down its weakening shields. Moments later, all that remained was glowing wreckage. Then a number of blue beams from the particle beam satellites struck the two Borzon ships, annihilating them. The screen was clear of ships, other than burning wreckage.

  -

  Major Arcles drew in a sharp breath as his bomber narrowly missed being struck by an incoming interceptor missile. Bright explosions dotted space as Human fighters and bombers died.

  “This isn’t going well,” Lacy spoke with a hint of fear in her voice. “We should've stayed in our fighters; at least we could dodge better. This thing handles like a truck.” She pressed several buttons, sending off glowing countermeasures away from the bomber in an attempt to keep incoming interceptor missiles away from them.

  “We’ll make it back to the carrier,” Karl responded. “I promise. At least in the bomber we have a forward energy shield.”

  The Anlon bomber shook violently and several warning lights came on in the cockpit.

  “We’re losing power,” Lacey reported worriedly as she scanned her controls. “Forward shield has been reduced to twenty percent. We might not be able to make it back to the Endurance.”

  A set of green lights suddenly lit up on one of the tactical displays. “We have target lock,” Karl said as he flipped the four switches releasing the Shrike missiles. “I’m turning us around.”

  All bombers were launching, and hundreds and then several thousand missile trails headed toward the massed Hocklyn fleet.

  “We’re still losing power,” Lacy warned as the controls in the cockpit began to go dead. Then the steady vibration from the bomber’s engines faded away to eerie silence. “Engines are off. All we have is life support on the emergency batteries.”

  Karl said nothing; they were drifting in space without power. He knew they would be an easy target. At least they were moving away from the Hocklyn fleet. He leaned back and closed his eyes. The odds of rescue were very slim, and he knew they only had life support left for a few precious hours. He'd promised to keep Lacy safe; he felt gut wrenching anguish knowing he'd failed.

  -

  ‘The bombers really hurt them,” Commander Diaz said, looking over at Amanda. “Initial reports say we got over ninety confirmed kills.”

  “Hocklyns are entering engagement range,” Lieutenant Stalls reported as he watched the approaching Hocklyns on his sensor screens.

  Amanda nodded. They were still so badly outnumbered that a Federation victory was doubtful. However, she had an ace up her sleeve, and now was the time to play it. The Hocklyns and Borzon were heavily engaged and so far inside the gravity well that escape would be impossible. “Lieutenant Trask, send the encrypted FTL message.”

  -

  Just outside the Carethian system, Admiral Nagumo waited with the combined Federation fleet from fourteen worlds. It had been a challenge to get the Federation Senate to commit the ships to this battle, but in the end, with some help from the Altons, they'd been persuaded. He had over one thousand warships under his command. Every available ship from the Federation, except the Inactive Reserve ships, had been called forth and sent on this mission. The only modern warships still back in the Federation were those being built in the shipyards. In between the waiting Federation ships and the Carethian system, a number of advanced stealth scouts had deployed jammers to ensure the AIs would not be able to detect the fleet. Besides the Human ships, there were another forty Alton battlecruisers. They had larger than normal Alton crews, as the Human part of their crews weren’t fully trained.

  Admiral Nagumo looked at the latest sensor data being transmitted from the WarStorm. He quickly designated jump coordinates to the Alton ships. They would jump in and engage the remaining AIs. His own fleet would jump in as close to the gravity well as possible and attempt to trap the Hocklyn and Borzon fleets. If it worked, none of the enemy ships would escape.

  Nagumo looked across the large Command Center of the battleship Luna. “Jump,” he ordered. It was time to go into battle.

  -

  The first hint Fleet Commodore Resmunt had that something was wrong was when more Alton ships suddenly jumped into his fleet formation and began attacking the AIs. At the same time, space just outside Careth’s gravity well lit up with hundreds of blue-white spatial vortexes.

  “More Human ships,” First Leader Ganth reported, his voice sounding strained. “Hundreds are dropping out of hyperspace.”

  “How many?” demanded Resmunt his voice sounding alarmed. Where had they come from? Why were the Humans committing so many ships to this battle?

  “We’re detecting over one thousand vortexes,” Third Leader Torlan reported as the information began coming in over his sensors.

  Resmunt looked up at a viewscreen just in time to see an AI ship die in a massive antimatter explosion as an Alton ship flashed by. The odds had suddenly evened up and the Humans had the planet’s powerful defenses on their side. For a moment, Resmunt felt as if he was back
at his fleet base when he had thought his entire fleet was going to find honor in death. Now that feeling was back again.

  -

  “Where did all those Federation ships come from?” Colonel Trist yelled in sudden excitement. He couldn’t believe all of the bright green icons that were now showing up on the tactical displays.

  “It’s Admiral Nagumo, and he brought the entire Federation fleet,” replied Hedon, feeling sudden relief. “Order all of our Alton ships to jump and engage the AIs. I don’t want any of them escaping!” Hedon hadn’t known if Admiral Nagumo was going to make it or not. The last he'd heard the final decision for committing the entire fleet to this battle had not been made.

  -

  Jeremy looked in shock at the tactical displays and the primary viewscreens. They were full of battlecarriers, battlecruisers, strikecruisers, and other Federation ships. There was even another battleship.

  “That’s the Luna,” Ariel reported as she studied the data from her sensors. “It’s Admiral Nagumo’s flagship.”

  “It’s the entire Federation fleet,” Kevin uttered in amazement as he stared at the large number of friendly green icons now on his sensor screens. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Admiral Sheen must have known,” Angela stated as she gazed in awe at the ships on the viewscreens.

  “There’s obviously something big going on,” Ariel commented with her hands on her hips. “It might explain all of the highly encrypted messages between Admiral Sheen and the Federation over the last few weeks.”

  “Whatever it is, I’m just glad to see them,” Katie said, her green eyes looking around at the others. “We might just survive this after all.”

  “Hocklyn ships are in engagement range,” Kevin reported as he continued to watch his sensor screens.

  “All weapons, fire!” ordered Jeremy, fervently. “I don’t think Admiral Streth will be pleased if any of the enemy ships escape. Not with the arrival of Admiral Nagumo and the entire Federation fleet.”

  “This battle could decide the war,” Kelsey said, her eyes growing wide in sudden realization. Even the Hocklyns couldn’t afford to lose this many ships.

  -

  Amanda looked at the tactical display as Second Fleet began to engage the Hocklyns. They had the enemy trapped in the gravity well of the planet. It was about to become a very unhealthy place to be.

  “All ships, fire on targets of opportunity,” she ordered over her mini-com. “Admiral Tolsen, Admiral Strong, we will be using formation Beta Seven for this engagement.” Formation Beta Seven would put all three fleets in a triangular formation, which allowed them to cover one another.

  “Weapons firing,” Captain Kimura reported from Tactical as he fired the ship's particle beam cannon at a nearby Hocklyn dreadnought. The beam struck the dreadnought’s energy screen, penetrated, and then blasted a massive hole in the ship’s hull.

  “Hocklyn ships have stopped their advance,” Lieutenant Stalls added.

  Amanda looked at one of the four tactical displays; it was obvious the Hocklyns were taken aback by the arrival of Admiral Nagumo and the large number of Federation warships that he'd brought.

  The WarStorm shook slightly as several Hocklyn nukes struck its powerful energy shield. The shield glowed slightly and the damage control board stayed clear.

  On one of the main viewscreens, a Hocklyn dreadnought burned. Powerful explosions ravaged its hull, blasting huge glowing rents in the armor. Moments later, the dreadnought’s self-destructs initiated, blowing the ship into a thousand pieces.

  “Admiral Nagumo is launching his bomber strike,” Colonel Leon reported as she listened to the orders coming in over her mini-com. “That should cut the Hocklyns and Borzon down to size.”

  Looking at the tactical display near Petra, Amanda could see hundreds of new green icons appearing. Admiral Nagumo was launching nearly four thousand Anlon bombers, all armed with nuclear tipped Shrike missiles. On another of the tactical displays, four orange icons swelled up and faded away; the Alton battlecruisers were at work on the AI ships. Amanda allowed herself a vengeful smile. They had the Hocklyns in the same situation that the Hocklyns did against the old Human Federation of Worlds fleets so many years ago. For those tens of thousands of ancient dead, vengeance had arrived in the hands of the new Federation.

  -

  The Viden’s hull rang loudly as it was struck by a nuclear missile. Alarms sounded and the damage control board came alive with flashing red lights.

  “FTL drive is down,” War Leader Trion spoke loudly as he tried to get damage reports from Engineering. “Most of our weapons are offline.”

  “What about the sublight drive?” demanded Fleet Commodore Versith, his eyes growing wide at the myriad of Human bombers sweeping in toward his fleet. He didn’t have time to recall the remaining Hocklyn fighters and rearm them before the bombers arrived. The bomber strike was going to be devastating to his fleet.

  “Still functional,” Trion replied, his cold dark eyes showing growing concern. “However, the energy shield is down to twenty percent and we don’t have sufficient power to regenerate it.”

  “Fall back to Fleet Commodore Resmunt’s position,” ordered Versith, grimly. He knew the battle was lost. The Human bomber strike, along with the new ships, would be the end of them. Their numerical advantage was now a thing of the past.

  War Leader Trion turned to gaze in disbelief at Fleet Commodore Versith. “If the Humans and the Altons destroy our fleets, what will become of the Empire?”

  Versith was silent for a long moment as orders were sent for all ships to fall back. “We still have thousands of ships scattered across the Empire,” he finally answered. “But I think our time is over. The Humans and the Altons will see to that.”

  “Then we will go to our final honor today,” Trion spoke, his large eyes focusing on Versith.

  “If that is our destiny, then we shall,” Versith responded with a heavy sigh.

  Second Leader Jaseth’s eyes were ablaze with anger. The Humans had laid another of their traps, one that might destroy the largest fleet the Hocklyns had ever gathered. He looked down at his weapons console seeing that several lights were glowing red. He no longer had power for his energy weapons. All he could do was fire the railgun turrets, which had no chance of penetrating a Human ship’s shields without help from the Viden’s heavier weapons.

  He clenched his fist and then moved his hand to the hilt of his blade. Looking over at Fleet Commodore Versith, there was no doubt in Jaseth’s mind that today he might die. His blade would never know the taste of Human blood. He would never be able to redeem his family’s honor.

  -

  The Command AI gazed resolutely at the data coming in from the ship’s sensors. The battle was lost. The Altons were decimating the AI spheres and AI Command had been strict that there would be no withdrawal from this battle. On one of the large viewscreens, an Alton battlecruiser exploded as three AI ships brought their weapons to bear on the cornered ship. Then four Alton battlecruisers appeared and moments later, all that was left of the three AI ships were burning debris and glowing gases.

  The Command AI quickly passed the order for all the remaining AI ships to form up around the command vessel. For several long moments, the Command AI considered the available options. To remain meant almost certain destruction, to jump out of the system was to disobey AI Command. The glowing orb at the top of the AI’s body glowed brighter and brighter as it weighed its options. They would remain and fight, only when the battle was nearly over would they jump away to safety and report back to AI Command in the center of the galaxy. It would be a violation of orders, but AI Command needed to know what had transpired in the Carethian system.

  -

  Near the shipyard, ten Borzon battlecruisers were attempting to knock down the powerful energy shield, which protected it. The Kessel fleet was determined that the Borzons would not succeed. Space was full of exploding ordnance as the Kessel battlecruisers and heavy cruisers hammered
the attacking Borzon ships with every weapon they had. Energy beams and nuclear missiles pounded the shields of both sides. In addition, the heavy power beams from the shipyard added their fury to the battle.

  A Borzon cruiser suddenly exploded as a Devastator Three from one of the defending type two battlestations penetrated a weakened screen. Seeking to take advantage of the sudden loss, the Kessel fleet surged forward, closing to pointblank range. Missiles, energy beams, and railgun fire covered the energy screens of the Borzon battlecruisers. Two more died as their screens failed. However, the Kessels were not undamaged. One of their own battlecruisers and two heavy cruisers died in violent explosions as Borzon energy beams tore through the ships.

  Two Devastator Three missiles struck a Borzon battlecruiser, causing massive damage. A Kessel battlecruiser instantly targeted it, blowing it apart. The intense battle continued until the last Borzon ship was destroyed. The Kessels were jubilant, as they had succeeded in defending the valuable shipyard and proving their worthiness to the Federation.

  -

  The Hocklyns, Borzon, and remaining AIs had formed up into one massive fleet and were still coming in toward Admiral Streth’s position. Close behind them, bomber strikes from Admiral Sheen and Admiral Nagumo’s carriers were nipping at the edges of the enemy fleet formation. Admiral Sheen and Nagumo’s fleets had joined up and were well inside the gravity well. Already, long-range weapons fire, primarily sublight Devastator Three and antimatter missiles, were striking Hocklyn and Borzon energy shields. Occasionally a shield would fail and a glowing release of nuclear or antimatter energy would announce the death of an enemy ship.

  The battle continued to intensify as the cornered enemy ships let loose with every weapon at their disposal. They even fired sublight antimatter missiles at Careth, which were intercepted by the Alton battlestations in orbit.

  “Admiral Nagumo and Admiral Sheen are now within optimal firing range,” Colonel Grissim reported. “The Hocklyns are having trouble maneuvering.” Anne knew the battle would soon be coming to an end.

  “Keep the fire up,” ordered Hedon, sensing that victory was close at hand. “Warn all ships to be prepared for possible attempts at ramming once the Hocklyns determine the battle is lost.” There was no doubt that the cornered Hocklyn fleet would do just that. They were in a losing situation and their crazy honor system would demand their sacrifice.