Joan stood with her hands on her hips looking at the 3D tactical display in front of her. She was hoping for some brilliant maneuver to emerge suddenly. But it wasn’t coming. The space stations were too far apart and too far away for the earth fleet to go after them. There was a constant buzz by their smaller battleships surrounding the remaining capital ships and slowly wiping out the frigates and battleships.
“Admiral, I don’t have much accept to suggest a maneuver similar to what we did before. We cluster close together, and we pick one of their space stations to make a break for it. We hope that we can take it out before it takes us out. SIMPOC any suggestions?” Asked Captain Herl.
“Captain Herl, Admiral Monson perhaps it is time for the earth defense force to withdraw. If we withdraw and seek sanctuary near the moon base, we can at least protect ourselves with the moon’s missiles. There we should be able to regroup and repair our damage. Unfortunately, the ships that are off-line might be left unguarded. They have not come back online, so they may have additional damage and won’t be able to withdraw with us. That is the only suggestion that I can make,” said SIMPOC.
Captain Herl did not like what SIMPOC just said. It sounded like a retreat. But it might be the only option.
“Admiral, I hate to say it, but SIMPOC is making sense,” Captain Herl said with a sound of reluctance in her voice.
“Joan, SIMPOC I don’t disagree with what you’re suggesting. That we stay as a group as long as we can, hoping that our ships come back online, and we can provide assistance. Once we achieve fleet status will make a decision to withdraw,” said the Admiral
“SIMPOC is there anything that we can do to disrupt the Terest’s attack? Joan asked.
“We have deployed all of our battleships, frigates, and Cow-Robots. They are fighting per the programmed plan that we provided. The losses have been significant, but our forces are still inflicting damage. It is true we are caught in a battle of attrition and will likely lose eventually. I’m afraid that I’m aware of no other tactic that is applicable in this situation. If we were to coalesce our forces for a full assault on one of the stations, we would face significant odds against the same maneuver being effective a second time.”
Two Other Terest Stations Arrive
“Captain Herl, I have just received two Gamma Ray pulses from the jump exit point,” announced Beta-5.
“What?” Said Captain Herl with incredulity.
“Captain, it appears two additional Terest space stations have exited the jump point. They are moving at a high velocity towards our location,” announced Beta-5.
Captain Herl and SIMPOC looked at each other, and she shook her head.
“Open a channel to the Admiral,” directed Captain Herl.
“Admiral we just picked up pulses from the Terest entry point. We think that two more stations have entered our system. Now that they have two new space stations entering the battle, I think we have no choice but to withdraw,” said Captain Herl.
“You’re right,” Said the Admiral
“Earth Defense Force, this is Admiral Monson. Your ships are currently receiving orders to pull back. We are moving to the vicinity of the moon, and we’ll form our next of resistance at that point. Stay in formation during the withdrawal and remain engaged with the enemy,” transmitted the Admiral to the entire Earth Defense Force.
“Captain the remaining capital ships that went offline are now back online. The aliens boarding the Burlington appear to have been repulsed. All of our capital ships have acknowledged the withdrawal order,” announced SIMPOC.
At least we can move as a group and not leave anyone, Joan transmitted to SIMPOC.
“Captain, we have been ordered to stay in the rear along with the Burlington to cover our withdrawal,” pointed out SIMPOC.
“Drummond, you take the port side of the rear, and we’ll take the starboard. Mars Laser move into the center of the formation” transmitted Herl.
Two quick acknowledgments and the formation was taking shape for the fleet movement to the moon.
Moon Receives Orders
Alarms were going off in the moon colony Desert Beach. Bill Thompson moved through the tunnels as fast as he could to the command habitat. What now, he thought to himself as he ran towards the hatch in front of him.
“Sally, what’s up,” he yelled to his wife as he entered passed through the pressure hatch.
“The EDF has decided to withdraw to our orbit. The Terest brought in two other space stations, and we’re outnumbered. Admiral Monson wants us to get our little surprise ready,” Sally summarized to Bill as he sat down next to her.
“How many missiles are online,” he asked. Forty-two are loaded and fueled. I wish all of them were, but that’s all that we have.”
“Well get them ready,” he said with a flat voice. “Did you give the Admiral our status?”
“I’m just passing it now,” she responded.
“How long before the fleet is here,” he asked.
“Based on their current speed, they should be here within the hour.”
“Will all of the stations arrive at the same time?”
“No, there are two still following the EDF closely and fending off the attackers. The two space stations that just arrived are approaching from a different trajectory.”
“Let’s split our missiles. Aim half at the stations chasing our fleet and the rest at the two newcomers. Let’s pass our plan to the Admiral,”
“Will do,” responded his wife, Sally.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“Captain, we have just received the targeting information from the moon, they are splitting their missiles between the two stations following us and the two new stations that are approaching,” announced Beta-5.
“Captain, there is a risk in that plan,” commented SIMPOC.
“…and it is?” Herl replied.
“They must fire all of them at the correct time to hit the target simultaneously. If they fire at one of the stations and they are able to defend themselves, they may pass key information to the other stations, which will limit the effectiveness of the subsequent missiles. By firing them to arrive all at the same time, the Terest won’t know what the characteristics of the missile are until all of the space stations have to deal with them at the same time.”
“Pass your comments to the moon base and the Admiral,” Herl responded.
Joan stood and watched the EDF configuration. The 3D display showed the moon and at some distance was the EDF fleet. The last two capital ships in the formation were the Burlington and Chevesky. Between them and the pursuing Terest space stations, was the battle area where the two space fleets were engaged during the withdrawal. There were still hundreds of frigates, battleships, and armed Cow-Robots engaged. There were too many for a human to control. Each of the ships was following prescribed tactics programmed into their ship’s computers.
Each of the support fleets assigned to the individual capital ships had been moved to the combat area.
“SIMPOC, what have our losses been?” Captain Herl asked with a certain amount of concern in her voice.
“Captain, I presume you’re asking about human losses. Presently, we’ve lost 58 ships that have humans onboard. Many of them have been powered down and not destroyed. They will eventually regain their systems. But some of them were attacked after they powered down and were destroyed. It appears that 24 human lives have been lost.”
Joan didn’t need to respond. The personal toll on her and the Earth was painful.
After a stressful few minutes, Captain Herl spoke again, “How long before we reach the moon’s launch window?”
“Twelve minutes,” responded SIMPOC.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“Captain, we have received the fleet formation for entering orbit,” announced Beta-5.
Joan didn’t respond; she knew what the plan was. She watched as the ships slowed and formed a layer of ships in an orbit high enough over the moon so they could form a defensiv
e position between the moon and attacking ships.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Moon Countdown
Bill and Sally sat in the command habitat waiting for the computer countdown to reach zero. They had no experience with what was about to happen. In eighteen seconds, nuclear missiles would be launched from the moon in the first time in human history. They both knew that human history had changed, and what was unthinkable a short time ago was now possible and even likely.
Ten seconds to go and neither knew if the missiles would successfully launch or blow up on the launch pads. Neither knew if they would be successful in defending the Earth Defense Force and Earth. Neither knew if they would live to see another day.
But, both knew, that all their questions would be answered in a few minutes.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, the computer screen showed. All they saw were 21 streaks of light as the missiles left the surface of the moon and headed to their targets.
“That was pretty uneventful,” Sally pointed out.
“Let’s hope that it stays that way,” her husband responded.
14 seconds later the second salvo of missiles launched.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“Captain Drummond, all of the injured Marines have arrived at the medical facility. It appears that they received significant nerve damage,” announced Beta-Prime.
“Will they be okay,” she asked.
“Unknown at this time. The medical facility is programmed to do repairs, not to provide status.”
“According to reports from the other Marines, five of them received individual pulses. Unfortunately, BG received multiple pulses.”
Darlene almost collapsed, when the meaning of that flowed over her. At her lowest point of despair, an image formed in her mind. The thought was scary, and part of her resisted the concept. But the thought persisted. For a second, she felt as if, someone was talking to her.
She gave Beta-Prime the necessary instructions, and she wasn’t sure if she had killed BG, or saved him.
Missiles Leave Moon
“Captain, the missiles have been launched,” SIMPOC pointed out.
Joan, along with the rest of the EDF fleet were just observers now. Their fate rested on the missiles. The fleet’s back was to the moon and either the missiles worked, and Earth was saved, or they didn’t.
The battle continued between the EDF’s rear guard and the pursuing aliens. The number of battleships and frigates were decreasing, and the battle of attrition was not going well for the Earth’s fleet. The missiles had to work.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Joan didn’t need to hear the details. The 3D display showed the little red needles moving towards their targets. Each of the projected impact times was approximately the same.
While she was watching she saw the change just as Beta-5 made the announcement.
“Captain, station Delta is slowing dramatically. It will disrupt the missile timing,” said the Beta unit.
“No shit,” responded Captain Herl.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Izod Arrive
“Captain there are numerous gamma pulses coming from the Izod jump exit point,” said Beta-5.
Joan had nothing but the look of confusion on her face. Were the Izod entering the battle to finish off the earth defenses?
“Admiral we have visitors!” Transmitted Captain Herl.
“I see that, if they were to attack us, we have been dealt our hands and we’re going to have to play it out. If they are here to help us, then we have to remain effective long enough for them to get here. Earth defense fleet stay with the battle plan waiting for my orders,” directed the Admiral
“Beta-5, how many ships are exiting the Izod exit point?” Asked Captain Herl.
“Captain there are currently eight of them, and there are more coming,” announced Beta-5.
“What is their trajectory?” Asked Captain Herl.
“They have exited at a high velocity, and their trajectory is to the incoming Terest space stations,” said Beta-5.
That’s good, Joan said to herself.
“Captain, I suspect that the Izod are here to help us. If they were here to attack us, their trajectory would be towards the earth defense fleet not towards the incoming Terest space stations,” pointed out SIMPOC.
“I agree,” said Captain Herl.
“Admiral, I think those Izod ships are here to attack the Terest,” transmitted Captain Herl.
Captain Herl got no response from the Admiral. She could only presume that he was busy trying to figure out was going on and directing the other members of the earth defense force.
“Captain it appears that they have all arrived. There are 12 Izod ships, and they have split their trajectories six are heading towards the two incoming Terest space stations and six are heading towards the existing space stations,” said Beta-Prime.
“Earth defense fleet, this is Admiral Monson. I am assuming the Izod are attacking the Terest, and we’ll time our offense after we see the results of the missile attack. If our moon missiles remove any of the space stations, we’ll time our movement with the arrival of the Izod ships. My ship is sending the timing and trajectories for each of your ships. Good luck and may God be with all of us,” said the Admiral
The Final Attack
The resulting attack was fought on multiple levels. The Terest forces quickly realized they were caught in the middle. The Earth forces and incoming missiles from one direction and the arriving Izod ships from another. The Terest ships were split into two three-ship groups. The three that were damaged and out of the conflict remained in the location of the initial attack. The two functional stations were pursuing the EDF forces towards the moon with their battleships leading the way. The two new arrivals hadn’t caught up yet and were moving at high speed towards Earth’s Moon.
The Izod entry point put them equidistant from the two arriving Terest stations and the two that were pursuing the EDF fleet.
The 3D images began changing as the Terest reacted to the incoming Izod ships. One of the stations approaching the moon began slowing rapidly, and the battleships nearest the EDF fleet also slowed rapidly to provide cover for the two stations nearest the moon.
Captain Herl focused on the two red ships shown in the 3D display. Sure enough, one of them appeared to have put its brakes on. Its position with respect to the other had changed dramatically. Surely the missiles would hit its sister ship first.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“SIMPOC, if those stations slow like that, will the missiles miss?” asked Joan.
“They shouldn’t. The missiles launch then they just cruise. If the Terest didn’t pick them up on launch, they might not know they are there. The missiles the Izod launched during our first encounter were single warheads. The missiles that were launched from the moon are multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle. They are passive until they reach their targeted release point, then they separate into four missiles, and each seeks their target. The Terest might be prepared to deal with one of the missiles, but they may not be able to defend themselves from so many of them.
“The missiles are following multiple paths, and the movement of the space stations are within their target cones. The slowing of the space stations should have little impact.”
Missiles Arrive
“First missiles will impact in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,” announced Beta-3.
The 3D display showed the now common red flare as the sensors picked up the nuclear bust nearest the first station. The others had moved so the missile timing was off.
“Captain, station D has powered down, and two of the missiles struck the station. The damage is limited as the missiles have limited yield,” said the Beta unit.
“Station D is no longer a threat,” said SIMPOC. “It will not power back up.”
“One down, three to go,” replied Captain Herl.
“Captain, the approaching stations have joined, and the three Terest stations
are moving in unison. Their functioning attack ships are boarding the space stations and accelerating towards the Terest jump point. They are leaving the engagement area, and it appears they’ll be able to outrun our remaining missiles. They have left the four inoperable space stations.” said SIMPOC.
Joan felt as if a huge weight was just lifted off her shoulders. The Terest had given up the attack and were leaving Earth’s solar system. She continued to watch the 3D display and noted that the incoming Izod ships had altered their course and were trying to intercept the fleeing Terest space stations before they exited the system.
“Will the Izod reach them before they leave our system?” Captain Herl asked SIMPOC.
“My calculations indicate they won’t,” answered SIMPOC.
“Good. If they were able, then I’d feel the obligation to pursue them, and maybe we could combine forces with the Izod and finish them off. But if the Izod won’t catch them, then I think we should wait here.”
“It appears that Admiral Monson feels the same way. We have just received direction to stand in our positions and not to pursue,” relayed SIMPOC.
Earth II - Emergence Page 29