Talcon Star City

by Gary Caplan

  Yes, such disruptions are dangerous and should be halted, Kalst thought-sent in agreement. I will work with my ascended self as well to convince some Calyx to assist the Cynz in a defensive manner. These Jiyarri starships are slowly besting the Cynz defense forces. As you know, the Cynz have not been aggressively warlike and do not maintain a large war fleet. However, they have maintained at least neutral to good relations and trading treaties with the Hegemony, Saldron, and the Calyx.

  The Cynz central government should notify the Hegemony members’ governing bodies individually, as further requests could get the relaxed governments to mobilize, Garfield thought-sent.

  I know the Cynz central government will call upon at least the Calyx for aid, which could help balance the Accads’, Kalst thought-sent. I will make a suggestion to contact the others as well. Now, if the Accadian leaders were to avoid the Quellien crystals used for protective and balance purposes by the Protren, I would not worry as much.

  Let us hope that no further direct interference is necessary, Garfield thought-sent. I hope my percept, Malbane, adequately convinced Lord Solg and a few others to persuade Kra’ag to modify his plans.

  I have much to do; I will contact you later, Kalst thought-sent.

  Yes, as do I, Garfield thought-sent. The Talcon have sent a large force to this galaxy, and I agreed to help the Alliance of Worlds. I am headed toward a Talcon Star City now.

  CHAPTER 7

  STAR CITY

  In the distance, an immense object came out of hyperspace. The Talcon Star City had almost reached its destination. The Star City had a generally multi-sectional shape; one part had a vast dome. The overall shape was spherical with a vaguely avian shape, including three immense beak-like docking entrances along the external circumference. The lower section, which was below the more spherical section, was talon-shaped with an angled, almost claw-like appearance. There were hundreds of millions of small lights scattered across the vast construct, which was several thousand kilometers in circumference. The lights were view ports of a crystalline substance. The hull and body structure of the Talcon Star City was an organo-crystalline and metal alloy matrix, a semi-hollow structure that carried important contents of an entire world. Strangely, the great Talcon world ship was silent as it continued to move at one-quarter the speed of light toward a star system in the distance.

  Not far away, a small fleet of ten Accadian ships, including two Kadath dreadnaughts and an Accadian-operated Jiyarr Kad’jiah class ship, were approaching. The Kad’jiah class was the Jiyarr version of super dreadnaughts. Supreme governor Kra’ag was given several of the older Jiyarr ships as a reward for his past services to the Archon. In addition, he had received an updated version of the first ship built in that class, the Kad’jiah, as his own. Each Kad’jiah class was an elongated ovoid vessel over twenty-three kilometers in length and a third that at its greatest diameter.

  The small Accadian fleet had recently come out of hyperspace; the ships had linked together and created a disruptive field across the Star City’s course in hyperspace that had caused the Star City to prematurely alter course and enter normal space. The fleet approached cautiously; they had expected to be fired upon, but that did not immediately happen. Probing scans went toward the Star City from the Accad and from a Varlon fleet of sixteen ships that had also recently arrived.

  There was something strange; the Star City seemed to reorient on some distant target and began generating a hyperspace conduit as if automatically trying to get back on course. However, before it could do so, several Accadian antimatter torpedoes targeted it. The torpedoes struck the defensive Talcon screens, which turned on as the torpedoes approached, and moments later, several bright flashes occurred. However, most of the damaging energies seemed to be siphoned or dampened away, and then the Star City’s weapons and defense systems came online.

  The Star City released a massive energy wave from one of its beak-like areas and discharged comet-shaped projectiles at the oncoming ships. The vast energy wave disrupted or detonated most of the next volley of Accadian and Varlon torpedoes and then continued toward the oncoming fleet. Just behind the destructive wave were the massive, comet-shaped projectiles and multiple streams of Talcon antimatter torpedoes and mixed missile weaponry.

  The Varlon ships intensified their chameleon fields as some torpedoes succeeded in finding their ships. Both Accad and Varlon released anti-torpedo and missile countermeasures. Those ships that were struck with the disruption wave began to experience power loss and fluctuations, causing some internal systems damage. The Kadjiah class was struck, but it was faring better and was not veered off course as a few of the other lesser Accadian cruiser ships were. The Kadjiah class ship, the E’droth, was charging its antimatter cannon and had targeted the Star City; meanwhile, the Varlon had generated plasma torpedoes and had sent them toward the Star City, as well. Soon after that, several of the Talcon’s comet-shaped projectiles pushed through defensive screens and struck hulls; they were like huge spears and, being solid matter, impacted and penetrated the Varlon’s organo-metallic Spunril hull and the Accadian design starships organo-metallic Diburnium-Osmium alloy hull.

  The impacts from the Talcon’s rail cannons caused course alterations and hull integrity disruptions to several ships. Two of the 500-meter-long, comet-shaped projectiles that struck the E’droth shattered against its more advanced Jiyarr hull, but the mass and force of the impact shifted the ship’s course. It was then that the Alliance of Worlds’ fleet dropped out of hyperspace and charged weapons.

  * * *

  Commodore Sheppard was in the command alcove monitoring task force operations as the Phoenix exited out of Hyperspace. The Phoenix and most of Task Force One and Task Force Four were almost at the intercept location. Sheppard was given notice that the Star City was under attack by both the Accad and the Varlon. He had hoped that the Alliance of Worlds forces would get there first, but the Accad and the Varlon were faster. He began to look at tactical data and enemy weapons’ fire.

  Fleet Captain Wilder informed his first officer, “Evasive maneuver course Delta one.”

  “Aye, Sire,” Commander York said. “Helm, initiate evasive course Delta one.”

  “We are still a good distance out of our energy beam weapons’ range,” Lee Sterling said, after examining the tactical data. “Look at the size of that station; it’s almost as big as the planet Mars.”

  “The Talcon have released energy waves at the Accad and the Varlon and have detonated multiple antimatter torpedoes,” Andor stated. “Shock pulses from the antimatter explosions are approaching.”

  “It seems the Varlon have released some of their powerful plasma torpedoes at the Star City,” Wilder said. The tactical section of the bridge view screen showed the weapons fire on part of the view screen; the first barrage struck the Talcon world ships’ screens.

  Sheppard recalled the last time he and Commodore Helmslar had tangled with the Varlon at QB7. They did not fare well, since several Varlon ships had already secured the planet, and it took three ships of equal class to go up against the Varlon. Later, a single Kadjiah class ship and its antimatter pulse cannon destroyed the starships remaining in his task force. Sheppard now went onto the bridge as the remaining ships in this task force exited from hyperspace.

  “Sir, I think we are being scanned by the Star City; some torpedoes are being launched our way,” said Lt. Commander Ares.

  “Send a friendly hailing out, Lieutenant Commander Ares,” Sheppard said. “We do not wish to appear hostile.”

  “Sending message now, Commodore Sheppard,” Ares replied.

  “Let me try to communicate with them,” Ambassador Renjir interjected, as he began moving some controls on a Talcon remote commlink device. “I will use my star shuttle’s communication system to contact the other Talcon.”

  “For a few moments, lower the bridge screens,” Sheppard said, “so the Talcon officer with us can be scanned without interference.”

  “Yes, Commodo
re, lowering bridge screens,” Ares said without enthusiasm.

  “It looks as if some of their ships have spikes sticking out of their hulls,” York observed.

  “Those spikes were released by several launchers.” Andor magnified the section of the bridge screen to show them.

  “They must be some form of modified, highly-accelerated rail gun,” Wilder said.

  “Sir, the Talcon torpedoes sent toward us are diverting away,” Ares said with relief in her voice.

  “Yes, good,” Renjir said. “I got through to a defense computer. It validated my ship and identification. I said I was acting ambassador among friendly forces here.”

  “Thank you, Ambassador Renjir; you may have saved our lives,” Sheppard said.

  “Sir, scans show that the Talcon mass drivers seems to be having an effect on most of the ships except the Jiyarr one…although its shields are notably reduced,” Taylor said.

  “That’s good for us; those shields were too powerful for our damaged fleet last time. Prepare to launch attack,” Sheppard said. “Signal the task force to battle stations and select targets.”

  “Yes, we need to help that Star City,” the sixth fleet’s operations officer Fleet Captain Sherman, said as he came from the command alcove section.

  “The Jiyarr ship is discharging its antiparticle cannon at the Star City; the beam pulse has sectioned to strike different areas,” Andor said.

  They watched anxiously; when that weapon had struck the ships of the sixth fleet in the expanded task force sent to QB7, the blast had sheared through screens, sectioning and destroying his ships with two or three blasts.

  One of the antiparticle beams were dampened or absorbed, another was intercepted by matter from the rail gun and exploded like a nova, producing a shockwave. The third partially penetrated the Star City’s defense screens and caused an explosion on the surface of the dome structure. Then the Varlon plasma torpedoes began pelting the Star City’s screens, reducing them further.

  “I don’t understand,” Renjir said. They should have launched a defense fleet by now. Something must be wrong.”

  “What do you mean, Ambassador?” Sheppard asked.

  “From looking at your tactical scans,” Renjir replied, “I can find no Talcon cruisers deployed. Only the basic defense system seems to be active.”

  “Sir, it’s possible that the Accad tried boarding in hyperspace to start their attack,” Lt. Commander Darani said from the helm station.

  “Yes, that is possible,” Renjir said. “These large ships do not travel at the speed of our fastest cruisers, so for long journeys from one galaxy to another, the population of colonists and crew will enter in protective chambers.”

  “And they came from the Sculptor galaxy,” York added.

  “Is that what you call it?” Renjir asked.

  “That is an Earth name. The Alliance designates it Galaxy G45,” Sharon Taylor said, while looking over at York, who was from Earth.

  They watched as the Talcon Star City released another disruptor wave at the Accad. As more torpedoes were disrupted, they touched the energy wave. “The effective energies of that disruptor wave are at sixteenth power,” Andor said. “However, it initiated at one hundred times that before it spread out to its present dimensions.”

  “That’s impressive; the disruptive wave in its expanded form is almost ten times more energy than that of our nova cannon at that dimension,” Wilder said. “No wonder the Accad and Varlon are taking damage.”

  “The wave appears to be dissipating as it expands out farther from the Star City,” Sharon said.

  “They still have a blasted Jiyarr ship,” Sherman commented.

  “That should not matter; it would normally take several Jiyarr ships to battle a Royal Star City,” Renjir added, “since it contains an entire armada of Talcon attack ships within that have not emerged. As for the Varlon, they have well-built ships, but the vast area strike the Star City is capable of generating will hit them even with their chameleon fields, since such a regional strike will hit any Varlon in the area.”

  “Well, they are preparing their antiproton blast again, and from my scans, I can estimate that the total energy is now at nineteenth power,” Andor said.

  “As when it sent multiple blasts to the core of QB7,” Wilder said.

  “And then the planet exploded,” Sheppard added.

  “Sir, the Star City is releasing some type of power-dampening field,” Sharon Taylor added.

  “The antimatter weapon seems to still be getting through the dampening, however,” Ares said, looking at the tactical sensors.

  “Another one of those projectiles has intercepted the antimatter stream,” Andor stated.

  They all watched the view screen as weapons fire was exchanged.

  The area of space lit up with energy as the explosions occurred. The force changed the course of the Star City as its multiple barriers and defense screens were pushed to the limit. The shock wave moved toward the Accadian and Varlon ships, disrupting the outgoing weapons fire from all the enemy ships.

  “It does not look as though these Accad and Varlon have fought together before,” Sherman commented.

  “That is to our advantage, if they cannot coordinate their attacks,” Sheppard said.

  “Sir, we are in weapons range,” Commander York said. Sheppard looked over at Wilder and nodded.

  “Target and fire all weapons,” Wilder ordered. “Notify the other ships to do so as well.”

  “Sir, the oncoming energy shock wave is approaching our ships; weapons fired through it will likely cause serious interference,” Andor said. Shortly, they all felt a vibration through the entire ship, as the encroaching shockwave altered the ship’s course vectors.

  “Helm, compensate for the course alteration,” Wilder ordered.

  “Trying, Sir,” Lt. Commander Darani stated. “The spatial distortions are finally stopping.”

  “As we know, several of the ships here are enhanced, so they should fare better against the Varlon and the Accad,” Wilder said.

  “All except the Jiyarr ship,” Sheppard added.

  “Should we launch the starfighters?” Commander York asked. “The pilots are requesting instruction.”

  “The shock waves and the energy releases would be very damaging to smaller ships, not to mention they would have to outrun the Star City’s area strike weapons,” Sheppard said.

  “I agree; they would take damage just getting to target range,” Wilder said. “Hold starfighter launches.”

  The tactical display showed the Jiyarr using another weapon in its advanced arsenal: a singularity torpedo. “Sir, gravimetric distortions are increasing and headed toward the Star City,” Commander Taylor said. “It appears that some kind of singularity torpedo is headed slowly but steadily toward the Star City and will impact in three minutes.”

  “They used that on one of our heavy cruisers, and one caused the whole ship to implode,” Lt. Commander Sterling said. They all briefly recalled the UGAS Valiant’s demise.

  “The Star City is too big to evade that,” Sheppard said.

  “You’re right; with no Talcon attack cruisers to intercept it, that torpedo will cause notable damage,” Ambassador Renjir said.

  “We have to do something,” Sherman said.

  “Sir, our antimatter torpedoes are causing only minor damage to the Varlon and the Accad ships,” Ares said, as he looked at one of the auxiliary tactical displays not on the main viewer.

  “They have a hundred grams of antimatter each. I thought that level would work,” York stated.

  “They need a thousand or more grams each,” said O’Brien, the chief engineer, who had arrived at the bridge a few moments before. “Only the delivery mechanisms are enhanced. The antimatter fuel amount used is key to the level of detonation. We could deplete our antimatter stores, but it would be worth it to blast a hole through their shields and into their resistant hulls.”

  As they looked at the view screen, the crew coul
d see the massive detonations of energy as Varlon, Accad, and Alliance torpedoes flashed against shields or were detonated by anti-torpedo devices.

  “Is the nova cannon ready, Commander O’Brien?” Wilder asked.

  “Aye, Sir, and relays have been prepared in case acting Admiral Sheppard wants to authorize the nova cannon on overload levels. Oh, and I can now operate the entire sequence from the bridge.”

  “Good, because we will probably need overload levels,” Sheppard said. “I think it’s time to fire the nova cannon; let’s hit some Accad, since we are unfortunately not yet close enough to even attempt to divert that singularity torpedo.”

  “Target and fire the nova cannon on overload level,” Captain Wilder ordered. The front section of the Phoenix lit up as the particle streams from a hundred fusion generators released part of their fuel into the spinal mounted weapon that ran two-thirds the length of the Phoenix. They watched as the Talcon disruptor weakened, Accadian defense screens buckled, and the nova cannon punched a hole in an Accadian Kadath dreadnaught.

  “Critical systems damage, Sir,” Ares said. The crew smiled; they needed a little payback for the last time they had faced the Accad and were defeated soundly. Looking at the view screen, they noticed the Varlon H class had begun to bombard the Star City with massive plasma torpedoes, and disruption waves and the massive, comet-shaped projectiles, in turn, blasted them.

  “Sir, there is another gravimetric distortion,” Andor said, “although this time, it’s a Karratin Zelstar defense cruiser that has exited hyperspace.” Sheppard sensed a familiar brief supportive mental link.

  “Sir, it’s the Zeloc,” York said.

  “Yes, I know. Vice Admiral Garfield has finally arrived,” Sheppard said. “None too late, I hope.”

  More weapons fire was exchanged, and several Alliance ships were moderately to seriously damaged. The Phoenix took a torpedo to its defense shields and shook violently as some force penetrated and sheered into the hull, ripping some armor away. Sheppard watched the Zeloc jump and seem to catch the singularity torpedo shifting it elsewhere before it was able to strike the Star City. The Zeloc seemed to phase in and out of space, and Varlon antimatter torpedoes sent to strike it missed and were destroyed by intense Karratin particle cannons when they began turning and homing back to try again.