“Both enemy ships have been eliminated,” reported Darst, turning toward Lantu. “Their energy screens are first generation and cannot resist our energy beams. This will be a short battle.”
Lantu nodded. “Find more targets. As soon as this defending fleet is eliminated we will go on to this system’s inhabited planet and cleanse its surface of these organics. We will also land the Conqueror Drones to ensure no life rises from the ashes of this world in the future.”
-
In space, the admiral in charge of the eighty defending Ornellian warships watched in near panic as his ships were being eliminated with impunity. Ship after ship died in blazing balls of light as antimatter missiles detonated in the hearts of the vessels.
“Our energy screens are useless against the power of the invaders’ weapons,” his second in command reported. “Our most powerful lasers are failing to penetrate their energy screens. Even our nuclear missiles are proving to be useless.”
The Ornellians were bipedal and stood slightly shorter than a human. Their eyes were wide and narrow and their heads were nearly round. Two small ears were on the side of the head and they were bald. Their skin color was a deep dark gray. Their arms were very thin with three fingers and a thumb on each hand.
“We must withdraw to the planet,” the admiral said, as he watched another one of his ships die. “With its orbital defenses we might be able to hold these invaders at bay.”
“I’ll send the order,” the second officer responded.
The admiral looked with trepidation at the viewscreens in the small Command Center. For generations there had been rumors about a dangerous and cruel enemy toward the galaxy’s center. He now knew those rumors were true. He greatly feared that not even the orbital defenses would be enough.
-
The withdrawal was done quickly and the surviving eighteen Ornellian warships were soon in orbit around the planet they were tasked with defending. There was a defensive grid of two hundred small laser satellites in orbit as well as twenty missile platforms. The platforms each held twelve advanced missiles with fifty-kiloton nuclear warheads. Also in orbit were four space stations. Two were used for the construction of warships and civilian vessels while the other two were for research.
“The two research stations have been evacuated,” reported the second officer.
“What about the shipyards?” The admiral feared there had not been time to get everyone to safety.
“They need another hour,” answered the second officer with a deep and concerned look. “They don’t have enough shuttles.”
“They don’t have an hour,” responded the admiral, gesturing toward the viewscreens showing the advancing invaders. The invaders had two types of vessels. The massive 1,700-meter battlecruisers and the smaller 1,100-meter escort cruisers. Each ship had six dangerous looking spires on the bow, which contained the unstoppable energy weapons that had proven to be so deadly to the Ornellian fleet.
“The shipyards have weapons,” pointed out the second officer. “Perhaps they can hold the invaders off while they finish the evacuation.”
“Against those?” replied the admiral, gazing at the approaching invaders and shaking his head. The admiral let out a deep breath. He greatly feared that no matter what he did the world below him was doomed.
“Make sure we record everything,” he ordered, accepting that he and his remaining fleet were soon to die. “Once the battle begins, launch a hyperspace message drone every five minutes.”
“At that rate we’ll run out of drones quickly,” replied the second officer with a look of confusion on his face. The ship only had six of the expensive drones on board.
“I suspect that will be long enough,” the admiral replied softly.
Leaning back in his command chair, the admiral thought about the world below and how the panicked populace was probably rushing to shelters. Shelters that would prove pointless if the invaders nuked the surface. With a cold feeling in his heart, he knew he would never have the opportunity to see again the pristine white beaches on the ocean shores, the deep snow on the mountains, and the gently running rivers he so dearly cherished.
-
“The Ornellian ships have gone into orbit around their planet,” reported Darst as he checked the sensors on the battlecruiser. “There’s a defense grid as well as four space stations. From our scans, the defense grid is comprised mainly of primitive laser satellites with a few missile platforms mixed in.”
“They will pose no threat to our ships,” Lantu said in a voice without passion or mercy. “Inform the fleet to close and destroy all the orbital constructs, including the remaining Ornellian ships. When we leave, I don’t want there to be a trace of a civilization ever having existed on or near this planet.”
“All must be Simulin,” Darst intoned.
“All must be Simulin,” repeated Lantu with a confirming nod.
-
The Simulin fleet, which was comprised of 210 battlecruisers and 407 escort cruisers rapidly closed with the remaining defenders and the planet they were trying to protect. The Simulin fleet quickly englobed the planet and then moved to within optimal firing range. Space became lit up as hundreds of deadly energy beams flashed out and struck the Ornellian ships. Fourteen instantly became riddled wrecks as the powerful beams tore the ships open. The remaining four were heavily damaged and begin to drift down toward the planet.
The defensive grid was activated and hundreds of ruby-red laser beams struck the Simulin energy screens. The Simulin screens shrugged off the attack as if it were mere pinpricks. Then the missile platforms fired. Nuclear fire washed across the Simulin fleet and once again, the shields held steady.
From the surface of the planet hundreds of missiles began rising on plumes of fire as everything the Ornellians had left was thrown at the Simulins. With impunity, the attacking battlecruisers and escort cruisers began shooting them down. Not a single missile managed to clear the atmosphere. Then the warships began taking out the defensive grid. Space above the planet lit up with small explosions as the laser satellites and the missile platforms were wiped from existence.
-
High Commander Lantu was satisfied with the progress of the battle. As he had suspected, the Ornellians had no weapons that could endanger his fleet. Shifting his callous gaze to the viewscreens, he watched as antimatter missiles struck the four orbiting space stations, obliterating them from existence. In moments, only wisps of glowing gas and molten metal marked where they had once orbited above the planet.
“The battle is over,” Darst reported with a satisfied smirk. “This enemy, while they possessed warships, were still very weak.”
“Position the fleet for planetary bombardment,” ordered Lantu, folding his arms across his chest. “Contact the Conqueror Drone ships and tell them to standby to deploy.”
-
The Simulin fleet went into a lower orbit above the inhabited planet. From its surface frantic pleas offering to surrender filled the comm channels. All were ignored. For nearly an hour, the large fleet circled the planet, scanning the surface for population centers and industrial locations. At the end of that time on all two hundred and ten Simulin battlecruisers hatches slid open and slower moving nuclear missiles were fired. These were the ones used for planetary bombardment and each contained a ten-megaton nuclear warhead.
The missiles flashed down through the thick protective atmosphere and shortly, massive explosions shook the planet. Above each city with a population of over ten thousand a warhead exploded, sending fiery devastation across the landscape below. Mushroom clouds billowed up into the sky as superheated air rushed in. In all two thousand missiles were fired at the planet.
-
“All primary targets have been destroyed,” confirmed Darst, as he checked the ship’s sensors. “The spreading radiation should kill the few survivors.”
“It doesn’t matter,” commented High Commander Lantu coldly. “The Conqueror Drones will finish off any organics
that managed to survive the bombardment. Contact the drone ships and tell them to deploy their cargo.”
-
Four large Simulin vessels dropped down toward the planet and hatches on their hulls opened. Numerous drone pods began dropping down toward the hapless planet. Each pod contained four of the deadly Conqueror Drones. Through the atmosphere, the pods descended and then landed gently on the surface. The hatches opened and four lethal killers emerged from each pod. The crab-like creatures were three meters across with numerous legs and four appendages with large and dangerous looking claws. They were made out of battle armor and used solar energy as their primary power source. They killed by tearing their prey apart. A Conqueror Drone had a basic self-repair capability and could exist upon a planet for several centuries before ceasing to function.
The drones had rudimentary scanners, which they could use to detect movement as well as sound. As soon as the drones exited the pods they stopped, scanned their surroundings, and then set off toward likely targets that might hold survivors. It didn’t take the drones long to find their prey. Frightened Ornellians turned and ran when they saw the advancing drones. In moments, a frightful screaming noise filled the air as the drones began to kill.
-
“Drones have been deployed,” reported Darst in an emotionless voice.
“Soon these organics will cease to exist,” High Commander Lantu said evenly. It didn’t bother him that under his orders an entire civilized world was dying. It was the Simulin way.
“Assemble the fleet and let’s move on to our next target,” Lantu ordered. “We still have much to do in this sector of space. There can be none but Simulin.”
“None but Simulin,” Darst repeated.
-
The Simulin fleet quickly formed up and made the jump into hyperspace. In a few weeks ships would be sent back to check on the progress of the Conqueror Drones to see if more were going to be needed. In most instances that was not the case as the drones were very good at depopulating a world.
-
The Ornellian fleet admiral was still alive. His ship was heavily damaged and without power. In a few more minutes, it would begin to enter the atmosphere of the planet and burn up from its passage through the thick and now heavily contaminated air.
“We have just enough battery power to launch one of the message drones,” his second in command reported.
The second officer was leaning against a console breathing heavily. One of his arms was broken as well as his right leg. Several other officers lay prone on the deck where they had died from their injuries.
The admiral let out a deep and regretful sigh. One viewscreen was still functioning and upon it, he could see the death of a world. Already the atmosphere was becoming filled with smoke and dust from the nuclear blasts. In another few days, a nuclear winter would cover the planet in darkness.
“Send the drone,” the admiral ordered. Already he could hear the atmosphere beginning to brush the hull of his ship.
The second officer hobbled over to a still functioning console and pressed several buttons. “Drone is launched.”
“Let us hope the information it contains can help the rest of our people,” the admiral spoke in a tired voice.
The ship began to shake more violently as it rapidly began to fall toward the surface of the planet. The noise of the rushing air soon reached a crescendo.
The Ornellian admiral closed his eyes, ready to meet his death. He’d done everything he could to protect this world and had failed. For that failure, he and his surviving crew would pay the ultimate price.
-
In the atmosphere above the dying planet, the Ornellian flagship broke apart and became numerous fireballs flashing through the atmosphere. A few of the fireballs crashed to the ground, gouging out small smoking craters. Around the planet, thousands of Conqueror Drones were busily killing. At the moment, prey was plentiful but that would soon change as the drones and the spreading radiation would quickly reduce the number of frightened and doomed survivors.
-
Back in the Gaia System, Fleet Admiral Jeremy Strong was in a shuttle inspecting the orbital defenses along with Admiral Jackson. They were currently circling one of the six massive Indomitable Class battlestations that were the bulwark of the planet’s defensive grid. The station was one thousand meters in diameter and armed with numerous heavy particle beam cannons and sublight antimatter missile tubes. Since the arrival of the six stations two years back, each one had also been equipped with two very powerful ion cannons to strip the shields from attacking Simulin warships. They were also equipped with a large number of dual energy beam cannons for defense. Each station had a powerful energy shield that rivaled that of an Alton battleship. They were powered by Fusion Five reactors.
“Impressive,” spoke Admiral Jackson. Jackson was an older fleet admiral, graying at the temple and very efficient at his job. “I’m glad we were able to bring six of these with the relief fleets.”
“So am I,” Jeremy answered. “You have no idea how pleased I was to see those Alton battleships with these in tow.” Over the last two years, the Altons had added more refinements to the battlestations until they were much more powerful than their Federation counterparts.
With the addition of the Indomitable Class battlestations and then later equipping them with ion beams, Jeremy was now confident he could hold Gaia against any foreseeable attack by the Simulins. He knew they were safe for now; the hyperspace disruption satellites were seeing to that. But he also knew anything that technology could build, more technology could find a way around. At some point in the future, the Simulins would find a way through the nebula that hid Gaia. When that day happened, they would arrive in force with one goal, the complete and utter destruction of every organic being in the system as well as the AIs.
“I spoke with General McGown a few days ago,” said Jackson, glancing over at Jeremy. “He has eight thousand marines at each one of his three bases. Since the last attack, the Altons have come up with a pulse rifle that should punch right through Conqueror Drone armor.”
“I knew the Alton scientists were working on that,” Jeremy replied, curious to see how far the research had gotten. “Andram indicated they were almost to the point of producing a prototype.”
“They have produced a prototype and it works very well,” Jackson reported. “General McGown’s only concern is the pulse rifle is only good for ten shots before it needs a new energy pack.”
“I’ll speak to Andram about that,” Jeremy promised.
He knew how he would feel if the pulse rifle stopped working with a Conqueror Drone charging. He’d seen videos of how a drone killed and it was quite gruesome. As they continued on their tour, they inspected several of the Type Two battlestations. They were 150 meters in diameter and fully self-contained. They had an upgraded energy shield, defensive lasers, and two particle beam cannons. They were also equipped with twelve Devastator Three missile tubes with a standard crew of twenty. The crew size had been greatly reduced as the Altons had added refinements to the smaller stations to allow for less maintenance and upkeep. The stations were powered by a class three fusion reactor. There were currently sixty of these in orbit over Gaia under the control of the six Indomitable Class battlestations.
“Defense in depth,” commented Admiral Jackson. “Admiral Tolsen believed the same. He had Indomitable Class battlestations, Type Two stations, and particle beam satellites around the disturbed area of space at the black hole.”
“I didn’t mention this in the meeting,” said Jeremy, looking intently at Jackson. “There is another possible reason for the lack of Simulin ships in the blue giant nebula.”
“If they went to our home galaxy,” spoke Jackson with a knowing look. “Admiral Tolsen was ready for them if they did. I’m not sure what he had in mind, but he was pretty convinced he could destroy anything the Simulins sent through the intergalactic vortex. If they sent a large number of their ships through, they died when the
y arrived.”
Jeremy was silent for a moment in thought. Glancing out the viewport, he could see a number of bright points of light. There were four thousand particle beam satellites in orbit above Gaia. “Let’s assume the Simulins lost a major portion of their fleet when they attacked Admiral Tolsen. Let’s also assume that somewhere in this galaxy they’re fighting a major battle. Either might explain the lack of ships in the blue giant nebula.”
“It would,” conceded Jackson. Then he looked seriously at Jeremy. “Don’t underestimate the Simulins. From what I’ve seen they are on a par with the Altons in science and technology, perhaps even more so depending on what they’ve learned from the Dyson Sphere.”
“Perhaps,” answered Jeremy, pursing his lips. “However, the Altons have learned a lot from the information Rear Admiral Barnes brought from the computer banks on Astral. They have research from thousands of civilizations they have been going through. That’s one reason why the new AI warspheres are so effective against the Simulins.”
“That’s one thing the Altons are good at,” Jackson replied with a grin. “They sure know how to conduct research.”
-
An hour later, the shuttle touched down at the large spaceport just outside of New Eden. Stepping out onto the pavement Jeremy was met by an impatient Kelsey standing at the foot of the shuttle’s ramp glaring at him.
“What’s this about the Distant Horizon going out on a special mission and Katie and I might not be included?” she demanded with her hands on her hips.
Jeremy let out a deep sigh. Rear Admiral Barnes had made the suggestion to him after their meeting, somehow Kelsey must have heard about it. He had a strong hunch either Clarissa or Ariel had been responsible. “We haven’t decided anything yet,” he replied defensively. “We’re still planning the mission.”
“Katie, Clarissa, and I did most of the design work on the exploration dreadnought,” Kelsey said, her eyes still glinting with anger. “The Altons and some human scientists helped toward the end. If that ship is going out on an exploratory mission, we’re going to be on it!”
The Lost Fleet: Oblivion's Light: A Slaver Wars Novel Page 4