The Shattering War

by James Edward

  “I am the captain of that ship. Get that crazy lieutenant on the horn and tell her to bring my ship back!” the captain screamed.

  Even as he said that, he heard the booming as missiles exploded close to the station. Alarms sounded all over as the station shook from the shock waves. Both men were running toward the control room, which was housed in the center of the station. There they could see what was happening.

  On the ship, the lieutenant was trying her best to keep her voice even but was losing the battle as the first missile hammered the shields down. Milliseconds later, the second missile exploded five hundred meters from the hull; pieces of the missile blew through the skin of the ship and created massive damage as they bounced and ricocheted around the interior. On the bridge, the din of the claxon was dimmed by the louder alarm indicating hull breaches. She was going to yell to shut them off when the third and fourth missiles slammed into the ship. Her orders died with her and the ship. Another two more missiles slammed into the station, exploding deep inside. The station manager, captain, and XO all died in a ball of fire that quickly snuffed out as the station broke up and space sucked all the air out.

  “It is sad that we are killing the very ships that we served in not very long ago. That cruiser died well for being blindsided. Its captain had a couple of good moves,” Bruce said, not realizing that he was giving fair praise to the dead junior lieutenant. “Please inform Jackspar to carry on while we kill those ships in repair bays. Tell all ships that they are free to kill any ship, tug, or freighter they run into.”

  “Roger, sir,” the coms operator said. “Jackspar has fired on the frigate. The frigate is trying to run but has already taken damage.”

  “Helm, take us to the repair docks. We have some sitting ducks to kill,” Bruce said.

  On the cruiser Beauregard, the crew was working to get the engines fired up. They had no missiles, but power to the lasers would make them feel better. As soon the cruiser started taking hits, the shipyard tried to move the ships out of the docks.

  The XO happened to be doing an inspection on the cruiser when the trouble started and had ordered an emergency power up. As screens started to come alive, the XO realized that he didn’t have a crew, just some techs and workers. Trying to keep calm, he helped them with many overrides so that the ship would come alive faster. All the efforts were thwarted when the mystery ship fired on them. An Eagle missile slammed into the top of the hull, exploding and sending shrapnel ripping into the ship, destroying decks, corridors, and superstructure, killing workers and technicians. The power that was coming up suddenly dropped, and the XO knew that this ship was doomed and ordered everyone to abandon ship. Again workers, technicians, and construction trades ran for the escape pods when two more missiles hammered the ship into scrap. Most died immediately. Some managed to climb in the escape pods, only to smash around and turn to pasted as the missiles exploded. The XO realized that he was already dead so sat back in the captain’s chair and lit up a cigar. He was on his second good pull when the last Eagle crashed into the center of the ship before exploding.

  Less than a minute later, more missiles were hitting the other ships in the repair docks along with the repair docks themselves. The battleship Victorious slowly cruised through the damage and using its lasers destroyed anything that was of any workable or salvageable size. He then moved on to join Jackspar as they started destroying the shipyards. Wolf Fang, Wolf, and Everglade chased the remaining frigate and corvette, managing to kill three more before returning to the shipyard to add their firepower to the destruction. By the time forty-five minutes passed, there was nothing remaining of the shipyard, repair yards, or the warehousing facility. Bruce broadcasted the same message as Olaf had, except using his ship’s name, Victorious, instead of the Valkyrie.

  The Stethus system was a binary star system and was in the heart of the PRC’s growing empire. As such, it was also more heavily industrialized and had far more traffic. The two inhabited planets were Breyloren and Harvane, both in their respective Goldilocks zone. There were many other planets and moons dotting the system. Some had rudimentary levels of colonization, usually domes over rich mineral deposits so that they could be mined easier.

  The industrialization of this system was more pronounced than the other systems, except the hold-out rebel systems that the PRC was trying to take control of. It had one of the largest shipyards in the empire and was also a heavily defended site. There were platforms and mined areas. Picket ships and patrol ships moved back and forth around the systems and planets. At the shipyard, which was a hive of activity, there were defensive structures and emplacements mounted around the yards.

  As Ray’s Green task force slipped through the gate, they were surprised by the amount of activity that was showing in the system. Further, they were surprised to discover that the system hosted a dreadnought that was parked in the center of the system. They were able to discern by the heat signature that the dreadnought was running so it would be ready for a fight. Ray didn’t know if his battleship would be able to take on a dreadnought, even an old one. He knew that they packed a lot of missiles and lasers. Their point defense systems would be on par with the Cul Dar, and they had way thicker armor than Ray’s Cul Dar. To go one on one would be a recipe for disaster. Ray and his XO studied the situation as they drifted closer to the shipyard. He had Jeb and the other captains on the line to add their input.

  “If we get into a running battle with that monster, we will lose,” Ray stated. “If we can disable it, then at least we can keep it in one place while we engage the pickets and patrol ships.”

  “It will take the Cul Dar and empire to just get its attention,” Jeb added.

  “I was thinking along the same lines, Jeb,” Ray said. “If we can get close enough to take the engines out, then we can at least get out of range and hit it with a couple of Kews. We would need to drift in really close to get a decent launch before its shields went completely up.”

  “Your idea of Kew has a lot of merit, Ray,” Doug Dawson of the cruiser Chariot said. “If that monster is stationary now, we could fire a few at it and wait for a hit. We could cause massive damage, especially if they aren’t looking for that.”

  “Yeah, we could fire one now, like that destroyer did to us on our last patrol together,” Jeb said. That was back when Ray and Jeb served together in the AGW. They were doing a long-range patrol out on the rim when they were involved in an exchange of fire and missiles from an unknown hostile force. They had fired a Kew at the destroyer that had turned to engage them. They didn’t see or realize that the destroyer had fired a Kew at them until the proximity alarms sounded. They just barely jogged out of the way, but the Kew did destroy their shield emitters and disable the engines, requiring a tow to the nearest base. The subsequent investigation resulted in Ray’s court martial and dismissal from the Fleet. “It almost got us even with us looking for tricks. If these guys are on idle, they might not be aware of the Kew until it’s too late.”

  “Agreed,” Ray said. “The problem with that is once fired we have announced ourselves. If the Kews are detected, they will be on alert long before we are in position. That will kill our attack, and we will have to run, leaving out objective intact.”

  “Well, I am here to hurt these bastards,” Everet Nielson of the destroyer Mercy said. “But that being said, I would be a gnat trying to kill a human, irritating but not really effective. I will do whatever you want, but my idea would be to fire half a dozen Kews at the yard and the dreadnought. If they all hit at the same time, there will be confusion and pandemonium. Not to mention the parts and pieces of yard running into mines causing secondary explosions and damage.”

  “It is a sneaky way, and I am not one to run from a fight,” Ray said. “But as Everet said, we would be pretty hard-pressed to engage this whole system with five ships. If you all agree, I think that firing the Kews will be the order of the day. We will have to slowly slip
into a good firing position. I will take the dreadnought with a few Kews. Jed and the rest of you, drop Kews on target of any ships that they are building, warehousing and structures. I want the yards in rubble that will take years to clean up and repair. We will drift into position for a couple of hours and then fire.”

  They signed off, and Ray ordered the Kews to be readied. They would be launching a ton and a half of iron slugs at a moderate velocity that would slowly increase in speed. The launcher was a missile tube that heated compressed nitrogen was forced up behind the Kew. When the dogs were released, the gases pushed the Kew out and sent it on its way.

  Two hours of silently slipping into the system put them at the optimum firing position for the Kews to be on target with the eight-hundred-meter dreadnought and the shipyards. Tight beam conversations with the other ships had Ray on the dreadnought and Jeb on the two ships in construction on the starboard side. Dave and Everet would hammer the other ships on the port side, and Espesito on the frigate Bear would fire smaller Kews into the warehouses and administration buildings. After the first impact, they would all fire their missiles into the damage. Ray would target the dreadnought, and the rest would go for the shipyard. They would then run for the gate and jump. The order went out to launch, and they started to head to their jump point.

  On the dreadnought Impenetrable, it was business as usual. Everyone was at their stations, but it was without a doubt the most boring shift there could be. John Fresher, the sensor operator, sat in his comfortable chair and gave another cursory glance at the terminal. All green, of course. Even the screen showed a lot of activity; it was all marked with the IFF, and the computer was following that. The bridge watch was trying to fight off dozing in the captain’s chair. Communications were talking to another ship about something other than fleet matters. Tactical wasn’t even on the bridge. They were after all in the most secure system and on the most secure ship. What could happen? John yawned. I wonder if Salima will let me into her bunk tonight, he thought. I have been trying hard enough. These were the thoughts that were in his mind when the proximity alarms went off. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that something was close and another second or so to realize that it wasn’t a stray ship that needed to be reprimanded. About that time, as he was keying his mike to report to the bridge watch, the Kew slammed into the side of the dreadnought. A ton and a half of iron traveling at thousands of kilometers an hour went through the dreadnought like a bullet through a water balloon. It exited out the other side of the ships after wrecking massive destruction. The energy of the impact expanded out through decks, levels, corridors, and bulkheads, causing an ever-expanding zone of destruction. Air ducts, electrical conduits, hydraulic lines, water lines, steam and fuel lines sheared and broke in half, split and exploded. Lights dimmed and went dark, and elevators catwalks and stairs buckled or collapsed. Two hundred meters on either side of the impact were shredded or vaporized. The ship went dead, alarms stopped ringing, and blast doors slammed shut, isolating survivors and leaving some to their icy fate in a vacuum. There wasn’t anyone to report to as another Kew slammed in just forward of the engine room. This Kew ripped the engines out of the ship, causing explosions and catastrophic failures. Two hundred meters of the back end of the ship were turned into ruined scrap.

  At the same time, three partially completed cruisers seemed to jump in their docks and explode, pushing parts and pieces of themselves and the docks into other docks and ships. All over the shipyards, the ships were breaking apart along with the construction yards.

  On the picket ships, almost as one, they all turned toward the shipyards and went to flank speed. They would take over twenty minutes to an hour in some cases to get there. By that time, the yards were a complete mess, the administration building was rubble, warehouses were totally destroyed, and the ships were never going to be completed.

  Ray was watching with intensity the damage to the dreadnought. The urge to fire a few more killers into her was almost overwhelming. He saw the damage that the two Kews had done and marveled that there was still a ship there. Oh granted, it wouldn’t ever be in combat and more than likely would be melted down to make a smaller, tougher ship, but the old girl was impressive.

  Ray sighed. He really would have liked to tangle with this monster, but he knew even with his ship’s enhancements he would have lost. The picket ships were hovering over the destroyed yard, their sensors working hard to find out who did this and where they were. Ray had had the engineering department rig up a satellite with a prerecorded message and a self-destruct system so that there would be nothing to trace back to Conrad. It too announced itself as the CSWS Cul Dar, and the rest of the message was like the other three. They also dropped some stealth satellites to observe the system and eavesdrop on the communication. They were at the gate when the satellite started its broadcast. It ran for ten minutes, basically repeating itself so that both planets picked up the signals, and many on these planets were able to hear and record the signals before the PRC was able to jam the signal. A few moments later, the satellite exploded, scattering pieces all over the system. Ray was the last to enter the gate.

  The all returned to Conrad and celebrated their victory. Ray met with his war council and told them that the PRC had the dreadnought Invincible up and operational until they destroyed it. But it would suggest that the other dreadnoughts had been resurrected and put into battle. The demise of the shipyards would be a blow to the PRC, but if the other dreadnoughts were in service, they could wreak havoc all by themselves. Byron Weatherfew confirmed that there were eight dreadnoughts in the fleet, although he thought they were all decommissioned. Ray knew through Jeb and Bruce that they had destroyed one in the Carver bone yard, and now they had killed the Impenetrable, so that left six active. If they came through the gate with two or three of them together, the survivors of Conrad would live out their days on Doust. They sat for a long time wondering what they could do to reinforce the system against the danger of the dreadnoughts. Ray thought that he needed to push R&D harder to develop a weapon that could cause major damage to the dreads. They discussed the upgrades to the armor and the research on the hyper drives and a special project that Sergie wouldn’t reveal yet, but he did say that it would kill any ship from long range. Oddly, Sergie was the only one that wasn’t glum about the prospect of taking on a dreadnought.

  On a brighter note, they got two more ships from the rebels; both cruisers entered the system under the Barbarossa code. The crews were interviewed by Byron Weatherfew and George Lincoln and were assimilated into the system. The Doust people had also been added to the roster, and ships were filling with trained personnel. The pace of training was hectic, as Ray needed people with as much experience as possible. The war games that were played daily became tougher and tougher as Olaf, Les, George, Weatherfew, Ray, and Bruce became a task force that the others had to beat. They had to fight the best of the best, and they were pushed hard to win or explain why they failed to the rest of the fleet. Sometimes all the captains stood down, and the XO stepped up to direct the fighting. Egos were left at the door, and they fought as a group. Soon they were operating in tight fights with few mistakes, and the crews enjoyed the fights and the completion that arose.

  Shipyard One reported that other than the hyper drive, a completed Mamba class Viper battleship was parked. Right now it had the standard gate hyper drive, but as soon as the gate-free hyper drive was approved, they would need a week to swap it out.

  Shipyard Two was two-thirds of the way toward completing the second Anaconda carrier. The Taipans were still in production, but they had enough fighter trainees to fill half the complement. Sadly the Taipans were the ones that were taking the most damage and fatalities in the war games. The marine crews were better than the fleet, and there was some discussion about turning all the fighters over to Hammer. They were overruled by both Hammer and Ray. The marines were hard-pressed finish their own rigorous training.

 
Shipyard Three was busy building a Krait class Viper heavy battle cruiser. Reports were that it would be finished in a month, and then the ceramic armor had to be put on and cured. These Viper ships were of a design that was completely different from the Fleet ships. They were sleek, almost in the shape of an arrowhead. The skin was now jet black rather than the cream color of the original ceramic armor. The weapons were also improved, with the particle beams now the most powerful ever developed. This beam could eat through shields and armor at an alarming rate. A Krait was equipped with six batteries on each side of the ship, along with eighteen missile tubes with auto loaders. Lasers, rail guns, and anti-boarding missiles were embedded all over the ship. Most of these were operated by the computers now. There was a smaller crew with more automated equipment, thanks to the nanobots and that field of technology.

  Research on the field of communications had progressed by leaps and bounds. They were now in the possession of the most advanced communication technology in known existence. Their satellites were reporting by the relay system so quickly that the news was arriving in only days instead of a week or so. As well, ship-to-ship communications were instantaneous when they were in the system together. Nano technology had made that possible by raising the signal to the far end of the light spectrum when sending and bringing it back down upon receiving. If an opponent did manage to pick up their signals, they would not be able to decipher them anyway.

  The development of the warship particle beams had given rise to the mobile miner, and using the same technology, they had made major advancements in mining. They had been able to practically vaporize rock and open up vast areas in the centers of the planetoids. Big reactors and nanotech had made it possible to open it up and light the way. All areas ran by computer to a day and night clock, and all clocks were synchronized so that every planetoid and habitation ran by the same time. In some areas, they were able to hollow out the caverns and with the help of technology raise the ceilings to a height of a kilometer. These they painted to give the effect of sky and clouds. What it did do was allow for birds to have some free flight.