“It’s the Ralift,” the sensor officer said. “Fourteen thousand Ralift warships and 314 AI battle spheres are being detected. The AIs are just behind the Ralift fleet.”
High Lord Droll took a deep breath. He glanced over at another viewscreen showing Melsberth. The blue-white globe reminded Droll of his own homeworld of Perhall. Perhall was one of the Shari core worlds.
“Ralift fleet is moving toward Melsberth,” reported the sensor officer. “They will be in combat range in eighteen minutes.”
“Orders from High Lord Tabor,” added the communications officer. “We are to maintain our current position. We will let the Ralift come to us. If things go badly we’re to retreat to Melsberth and aid in its defense.”
“Ready energy weapons and missiles,” ordered Droll. “We’ll hit them with a full missile spread once they get within range followed up by our energy weapons. Our escort cruisers are to focus on the Ralift escorts.” Droll knew the Shari escort cruisers had equal or greater firepower than the Ralift escorts. The Shari escorts were much larger and had more weapons that could be brought to bear.
-
Nest Lord Creesth gazed at the tactical display noting the disposition of the Shari fleets. They were remaining close to Melsberth where they could fall back to the planet’s defensive grid if necessary.
“We’re nearly within weapons range,” reported Second Nest lord Alboin. “The Shari are outnumbered. We have a two to one advantage in ships and our weapons are more powerful. With the aid of the AIs this will be an easy victory.”
“Stand by to engage,” ordered Creesth in a cold voice. It was time to kill the Shari.
-
Admiral Tolsen waited tensely as the Ralift closed upon the Shari fleets. The large viewscreen showed a highly magnified view of the two opposing forces. The screen was covered in small white lights that designated individual spacecraft.
Suddenly explosions and the flash of energy beams erupted between the fleets.
“Fleets have engaged,” confirmed Commander Arnett. “AIs are still hanging back behind the Ralift fleet.”
Race nodded. It was time. “Drop the stealth shield and go to full power. Jump us directly behind the AIs.” Race knew Alton Admiral Baasil would be jumping his battleships in front of the AIs. Admiral Stoddard was in charge of the rest of the fleet and would jump directly behind the Ralift force.
The lights in the Command Center suddenly brightened as the battle dreadnought went to full power.
“Jumping,” reported Taalon Briez, the Alton navigation and helm officer.
-
The Command AI was watching the advance of the Ralift fleet waiting to see if it would be necessary to commit any battle spheres to the conflict. Alarms sounding on the sensor console instantly drew its attention.
“Federation warships detected,” reported the AI at the sensor console in a nearly monotone voice. “Hyperspace vortexes are opening.”
“How many?” asked the Command AI, growing alarmed. Federation forces were not supposed to be in the Shari Empire except for a few ships monitoring the Dyson Sphere. “Where did they come from?” No Federation ships had been detected on the long-range sensors.
“Nine hundred and forty-three ships detected. There are Human and Alton battleships in the fleet formation as well as forty-one of an unknown class. They were hiding behind the gas giant using some type of stealth field.”
The Command AI looked at the viewscreens showing swirling blue-white hyperspace vortexes opening just behind and in front of the AI fleet. There was no doubt the Federation forces were targeting the AI battle spheres. “Open fire,” ordered the Command AI. “We must destroy them before they destroy us.” A strange feeling passed through the Command AI, one it was not familiar with. The Command AI wondered if this was what fear felt like.
-
Nest Lord Creesth’s eyes widened in shock as spatial vortexes started opening around the AI battle spheres and Federation warships began appearing. Almost at the same time more vortexes opened up just behind his fleet and even more Federation ships began to appear.
One viewscreen showed AI energy beams reaching out and striking one of the large Federation ships. The beams had no effect other than to make the shield glow more brightly where they struck. Some of the ships attacking the AIs were larger than the battle spheres. This was the rumored dreadnought class he had been informed about by the other Nest Lords in the Ralift fleets. These giant ships had supposedly been spotted around the Dyson Sphere. Creesth had dismissed the reports as being false.
“Federation ships detected,” warned Second Nest Lord Albion. “Detecting Federation battleships, battlecruisers, and strikecruisers. There are also a number of Alton battleships and battlecruisers. We are detecting forty-one unknown ships of Alton design which are larger than their battleships. These have to be the ships of the rumored dreadnought class.”
For a long moment Creesth froze, uncertain what to do, and then he snapped out of it. “Order Nest Lord Fresnel to take his portion of the fleet and attack the Federation forces appearing in our rear. The rest of our ships will continue to attack the Shari.”
Suddenly a massive white light appeared in the AI fleet formation.
“What was that?” demanded Creesth.
“One of the AI battle spheres has been destroyed,” reported Alboin with uncertainty in his voice. “The Federation ships destroyed it!”
Suddenly Creesth was not so certain the AIs would come to his aid if needed. The battle was suddenly in doubt.
-
Admiral Tolsen felt the WarHawk shudder as it was struck by several AI energy beams as well as a number of antimatter missiles.
“Shield is holding at 82 percent,” reported Major Daniels. “Deploying defense globes and firing particle beam cannons. Missiles are on auto launch mode.” This meant the missile tubes were being reloaded automatically and auto targeting was picking the next target for each salvo of missiles. The WarHawk was capable of launching forty-eight missiles in each salvo.
On the large viewscreen the AI battle sphere, the ship’s current target, was visible. Fifty-megaton Devastator Three and the more powerful one-hundred-megaton antimatter missiles were slamming into the sphere’s powerful energy shield. The shield grew incredibly bright from the energy being released and then the particle beam cannons fired. The bright blue beams tore right through the overstressed energy shield, cutting deep into the battle sphere. Secondary explosions erupted as critical systems were destroyed. A huge chasm extending nearly to the center of the fifteen-hundred-meter ship appeared.
Major Daniels had a devilish grin on his face as he overrode the autofire program and launched a Devastator Three missile through one of the holes in the sphere’s energy shield created by the particle beams. The missile darted into the chasm in the battle sphere’s hull and detonated. The sphere blew apart as nuclear energy ravaged the vessel.
“Battle sphere is down,” confirmed Captain Davis.
“Switching target,” added Major Daniels as he reset the autofire mode. “Defense globes are firing their ion beams.”
“The AIs are targeting the defense globes with their defensive energy beam turrets,” reported Captain Davis. “They’re not going to last long.” On the tactical display, all the dreadnoughts had launched their defense globes. They appeared as very small green icons.
“Twenty percent of the defense globes have been destroyed,” reported Commander Arnett.
“How are our other ships doing?” Race could see from the large viewscreen other AI battle spheres had been destroyed and many more were under heavy attack. While the defense globes might not last long, their ion beams were having a devastating effect on the energy shields of the AI battle spheres.
“Fourteen battle spheres are down,” confirmed Davis. “Others have been damaged.”
Race nodded. The battle was less than a minute old and already the AIs were feeling the wrath of the Federation vessels.
-
<
br /> High Lord Droll gasped in disbelief as another AI battle sphere exploded under the attack of two Alton battleships.
“They’re destroying the AIs!” said Lower Lord Malben in elation. “I don’t believe what I’m seeing.”
Droll took a deep breath. His fleet was already exchanging weapons fire with the Ralift. “They destroyed the AIs’ Great Project at the galactic center. We are seeing the true power of Federation weapons and their effect on AI battle spheres.”
The Dark Victory shook violently, and several red lights appeared on the damage control console.
“This battle isn’t won yet. The Ralift have a massive fleet arrayed against us.” Droll felt his blood run cold as several Shari battlecruisers blew apart under heavy weapons fire. “We must hold the line; the Ralift can’t be allowed to reach Melsberth.” Glancing at the tactical display, he saw the two fleets had almost merged. They would be at pointblank range shortly.
“High Lord, look at the rear of the Ralift fleet!” cried out Lower Lord Malben.
Turning his attention to one of the viewscreens showing that portion of the Ralift fleet High Lord Droll’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. The Federation fleet was attacking the rear of the Ralift formation, blowing it apart. Even as he watched, Ralift ship after ship vanished from the screen as they were annihilated by the deadly weapons of the Altons and the Humans.
-
Rear Admiral Massie Tolsen was busily launching all of her Anlon bombers from the flight bays of her battlecarriers. She had twenty battlecarriers and each carrier held eighty of the deadly little bombers. Sixteen hundred bombers would shortly be heading toward the Ralift fleet, each armed with four twenty-megaton Shrike missiles. Their targets were any damaged Ralift vessel or the smaller Ralift escort cruisers.
Massie’s eyes shifted over to one of the viewscreens showing the WarHawk. The massive battle dreadnought seemed to be on fire from all the AI energy beams and antimatter missiles striking its energy screen. Massie gasped as the dreadnought vanished beneath several large explosions to only reappear moments later unharmed. Breathing a sigh of relief, Massie didn’t know what she would do if something happened to Race.
“All bombers are out of the flight bays,” reported Colonel Tillerson, the fleet CAG. “All we have to do now is coordinate the targets. Bombers will attack in squadron strength.”
Massie nodded. This was by far the biggest battle she had ever been in. She knew many of her pilots would not be returning. Pilot country would be missing a lot of good people when this was over.
“Let’s get to it,” she ordered. “It looks as if my brother is kicking the AIs into oblivion.”
“Good place for them,” Tillerson replied. He didn’t mention his older brother had died at the battle of the galactic core. He had no love for the AIs.
-
In space, the battle continued to heat up. A Ralift battleship was struck in the stern by particle beam fire from an Alton battlecruiser, sending debris flying off into space. The ship lost its propulsion and began to drift. A squadron of Anlon bombers attacked the damaged vessel, placing four twenty-megaton Shrike missiles on target. Instantly the damaged vessel vanished as nuclear fire consumed it. The Anlon squadron went on seeking another target.
Particle beam fire from one of the Human dreadnoughts slammed into an AI battle sphere, drilling deep into the vessel and setting off massive explosions. Glowing debris was flung away from the ship, impacting the energy screens of several nearby spheres. A one-hundred-megaton antimatter missile penetrated the failing screen, striking the hull. A glowing sun appeared where the AI ship was. Moments later all that remained were a few wisps of glowing gas and twisted wreckage.
Nest Lord Fresnel had turned his fleet to attack the Federation forces. His battleships were hammering several strikecruisers trying to knock down their energy shields. Even as powerful as the strikecruisers’ shields were, they could not withstand the onslaught of hundreds of Ralift vessels. The Garner was the first to go as its shield failed and dozens of Ralift energy beams carved it into pieces, eventually causing the ship to blow apart. Moments later the Ranger followed its sister ship in death.
The fleet formations were quickly coming apart. There were just too many ships. A Shari battlecruiser squadron of ten ships would accelerate forward and englobe a Ralift battleship, pounding it until its screen failed. When that happened several well placed forty-megaton missiles would finish the ship off, then the squadron would move on seeking its next victim.
Ralift ships were doing the same. They would locate a Shari battlecruiser or escort cruiser, englobe it, and blow it into thousands of pieces. Space was quickly becoming full of drifting debris as over twenty thousand warships tried to destroy each other.
The Ralift Nest Lords were trying their best to keep their ships in formation. However, the battle was so large it was becoming nearly impossible to do. The fringes of the fleet were rapidly coming apart as small squadrons began operating on their own initiative. The same was happening to the Shari fleet, though it was a little better organized due to its smaller size.
-
Admiral Stoddard winced as the Alton battlecruiser WindFire blew apart from the attack of six Ralift battleships. On the tactical screen, he saw other Federation ships disappearing as they were destroyed by the numerically superior Ralift forces. However, for every ship he lost the Ralift were losing five. The Federation ships had better shields and more powerful weapons. Watching the tactical display, he saw Alton Admiral Lankell push forward with his battlecruisers into the heart of the Ralift formation, defending the rear of the Ralift fleet. The weapons fire was so intense it looked as if space itself was on fire. Not to be outdone, he ordered his own fleet to advance. All around him ships were dying, both Federation and Ralift. He saw the Shari fleets were also advancing. The Ralift formation was in danger of disintegrating from the two-pronged attack. If they could break the Ralift formation, it would help to even up the odds.
-
Massie felt like crying each time she saw one of the small green icons representing one of the Anlon bombers from her fleet vanish from the tactical display. The bombers were attacking Ralift escort cruisers and any ships they found which were damaged. Shortly they would be returning to be rearmed with additional Shrike missiles. She knew already that many of them would not be coming back. The defensive fire from so many Ralift ships was taking its toll on the bomber squadrons. Massie cringed as six more bombers vanished. Nearly an entire squadron. Massie didn’t know how she would be able to sleep when this was over, assuming she survived.
-
Race felt the WarHawk shake violently and several red icons appeared on the damage control console.
“Energy beam managed to penetrate the screen,” reported Colonel Cowel. “The damn beam hit right where a pair of antimatter missiles detonated, momentarily weakening it. There is minor damage to several compartments. The hull armor stopped most of the beam.”
Race nodded. “How many battle spheres have we destroyed?”
“Eighty-seven,” reported Captain Davis. “These battle spheres have better shields than those we’ve fought in the past. We’ve also lost 67 percent of the defense globes.”
Race examined the nearest tactical display trying to see how the overall battle was going. From what he could tell, the Ralift ships were destroying two Shari vessels for every one they lost. However, Admiral Stoddard and Admiral Lankell were evening up the odds by destroying five Ralift ships for every Federation vessel lost. Even so, the battle was still up for grabs. It all depended on what the AIs did. If they jumped into the heart of the battle, it would be detrimental to the Shari vessels and make the battle spheres much harder for Race and Admiral Baasil to destroy.
“How many ships has Admiral Baasil lost?”
“Nine of his battleships so far,” Commander Arnett answered. “He has six others reporting heavy damage. We also have two of our dreadnoughts reporting damage, but they are still combat-capable.”
Race took a deep breath. He had to destroy the AI battle spheres! “Move us closer. We need to press the attack.” Race was certain that if he could destroy the AIs, the battle would be over.
-
The Command AI was hovering near the ship’s main tactical display as the battle sphere’s computers continuously updated the status of the battle. From the current projections, it was clear the Ralift fleet would destroy both the Shari fleets and the Federation one as long as the Alton battleships and the forty-one dreadnoughts were kept out of the battle. However, the only way to ensure that was for the AI battle spheres to continue to engage those vessels.
“Our upgraded energy shields are buying us time,” the science AI said. “However, due to the number of Alton battleships we are engaging along with the forty-one dreadnoughts, we will not survive until the end of this battle. Latest computer projections show a 98 percent probability all of our battle spheres will be destroyed.”
“We cannot allow that to happen as it will mean the end of our goal of conquering this galaxy and extending AI rule across the cosmos,” replied the Command AI.
Even as it watched, three more battle spheres swelled up and vanished from the tactical display as well as one of the attacking Alton battleships. The ion beams being projected from the small globes the dreadnoughts launched were having a detrimental effect on the energy shields protecting the AI battle spheres. However, the small globes were now nearly all destroyed.
“We must divide our fleet,” stated the AI in front of the tactical console. “Part of our fleet must go on to the Dyson Sphere while the remainder stay here and keep the Federation forces occupied.”
The Command AI was silent. The globe of energy above its head swelling and glowing brightly. Sparks of energy flew about. The Command AI knew it had no choice if it wanted to bring new life to the AIs. “We will take twenty battle spheres and jump to the Dyson Sphere; the others will remain here.” The Command AI knew it was sacrificing the rest of its fleet, but if it could reach the Dyson Sphere, the sacrifice would be worth it.
The twenty ships were quickly selected and the rest of the fleet informed of what its duty was. A few moments later swirling white vortexes formed and the Command AI and twenty other battle spheres fled the battle into hyperspace.
The Originator Wars: Universe in Danger: A Lost Fleet Novel Page 22