by Gary Caplan
“I see. Well, that activity would be of benefit to the Alliance of Worlds,” Pendragon replied. “I realize the Star Knights are taking action to preserve civilizations under attack, even though a few of those are not actual members of our Alliance.”
“Yes, Sir, I would like to assist my brother knights in that endeavor while the sixth fleet continues its mission,” Sheppard said. “We believe a small strike force of Star Knights will be able to gain entrance to the Varlon base and destroy the launchers.”
“Well, I will approve of your taking some action in that respect,” Pendragon said, “since it also benefits the Alliance of Worlds’ overall defense. Also, I would not want any chameleon cloaked long range torpedoes striking any of our new starship production facilities that Prime Minister Desserix ordered into full production.”
“Yes, Sir, I think a few other Star Knights in the Alliance fleet may be joining the strike,” Sheppard said. “Even Vice Admiral Garfield will be going.”
“I heard,” Pendragon replied. “I recently viewed in a report from Peregrine that one new base and a second launching facility soon to be online would be able to more easily send torpedoes toward Karro.”
“Yes, it’s clear that many civilizations could be affected, in addition to our Alliance of Worlds. Clear the task with Admiral Peregrine,” Pendragon continued. “If he has no objection to you taking part in such a strike, then by all means go.”
“Excellent, Sir,” Sheppard replied. He realized he felt cooped up on the Phoenix and could really use an open planetary mission.
“The transmission copies of your reports have completed. I will review and advise as necessary. Good luck, Robert,” Pendragon said, as he ended the communication.
Sheppard sent a request to Fleet Admiral Peregrine with the information pertaining to his Star Knight mission. Sheppard was not that worried, as in the past when he’d served with Peregrine, he had been allowed to do his Star Knight activities.
The Star Knights were not government-employed police or guards but were more akin to special agents who belonged to various organizations or orders. Star Knights used psionic and telepathic disciplines and metaphysical manipulations. Some were said to even be able to access other dimensional planes and contact strange entities and gain additional abilities. Star Knights were mostly preservers of civilization, and had sometimes been authorized by organizations including individual Alliance Worlds as moderators, investigators, or surveyors. The actions of a few Star Knight orders were considered by some to be vigilantes. In the Alliance of Worlds, most Star Knights had psi-level ranking designations on record, using alpha-to-omega letter rank codes.
* * *
Later, as Sheppard moved onto the bridge to watch the crew perform a routine water replenishment mission, Captain Wilder was giving an order.
“Move into synchronous low orbit near the planetoid where we detected frozen water,” Wilder said.
“Aye, Sir,” replied Commander Zachary, who was on duty as helm officer.
“Setting optimal orbit.”
“Launch the extraction probe,” Wilder said. There were several options to collect water. This was a frozen source of H20, and time was limited. The extraction device was really a large remote-controlled landing craft with thermal units that heated the area and caused liquid water to form. Next, the device collected the water and generated a transmat wormhole to whisk the water to one of the Phoenix’s empty water holds. That hold was at a negative pressure and pulled the water toward the storage hold.
“Sir, there is a message from Fleet Admiral Peregrine for Commodore Sheppard,” Ares said.
“Put it through to the command alcove,” Sheppard said, as he walked the short distance to the operations station.
Peregrine’s bird-like Rigezon face appeared in the imager. Sheppard could tell he had a happy grin, having served with him on the H’jum’pta years ago.
“Robert, I will give you the go-ahead for joining that mission to strike one of the main Varlon long-range torpedo-launching facilities with your fellow Star Knights. It works well with my plans.”
“That’s good news, Sir. As soon as we have completed a water extraction process, I will have the Phoenix go to the rendezvous coordinates.”
“Someone has to stop the chaos being caused to all of us by even just a few torpedoes getting through,” Garfield said, after he stepped into the spacious command alcove.
“So you will be going as well?” Peregrine asked.
“Yes, some Karratin and Estrian colonies and a Lyramenian water world are in range,” Garfield replied, “and combined Varlon and Accad attacks have been recently somewhat successful in disrupting Hegemony affairs.”
“I see, and I know that your Hegemony activities supersede your duty here,” Peregrine said. “While you are absent, Robert, my staff and I will coordinate actions of several task forces of the sixth fleet, including the Aharri contingent,” Admiral Peregrine said.
“Yes, Sir,” Sheppard replied. “Commodore Sherman will arrange coordination with you, as will Commodore Helmslar, one of my senior-most officers.”
“Sir, over half of the sixth fleet is available for maneuvers with your armada,” Sherman said. “And we have orders from Grand Admiral Pendragon to continue patrols in the Quellus sector with the remaining starships.”
“That’s fine. The Aharri contingent and roughly half of the sixth will do. I heard the Cynz are sending a fleet to join Hegemony forces,” Peregrine said, appearing to look more at the Karratin, Garfield. “It seems that even the eldest space-faring races are getting worried about the Varlon-Accad alliance.” Sheppard looked over at his old mentor, Garfield.
“Yes, you are correct,” Garfield replied. “There will be an expeditionary force of Hegemony starships, as well as a fleet from the Cynz that will join this Armada.” There was a “woot” in the background. Commander York made a happy comment, having overheard what Admiral Garfield had said. “Now that’s what we needed—a combined strike force will hurt the Varlon,” York said from the bridge. Captain Wilder nodded and smiled in agreement.
“Well, that is good news about the additional starships. I was wondering if I would have enough starships,” Peregrine said. “I have to arrange a joint defense command with the other fleets now, but, Sheppard, I will expect some kind of report about your mission success.”
Sheppard nodded and glanced at Garfield. “I’m confident that the Star Knights will be able to successfully sort out the problem of these torpedo bases,” he said. Peregrine smiled in Rigezon fashion and nodded, and then the communication ended.
The bridge crew could hear a good deal of what was said in the command alcove. They had almost finished acquiring water from a mostly frozen, moon-like planet. The transfer probe-craft had launched back into orbit and was being tractored by the Phoenix into hangar bay two.
“Captain Wilder,” Sheppard said, as he moved to the bridge, “set course to the Rhendal sector, to the rendezvous coordinates I have sent to your station.”
Wilder nodded acknowledgement.
As Sheppard walked around toward the science operation section where Commander Taylor was stationed, she moved toward him in an informal manner and said softly, “My father mentioned to me that he was having problems stopping the construction of one of the Varlon torpedo outposts. His task forces have taken heavy damage, and I’m worried about him.”
“There are already Star Knights beginning to deal with the civilization disruption being caused by the Varlon’s long-range torpedoes,” Sheppard responded in a lower voice, “and your father, Admiral Taylor, is a resourceful man; he will survive the Varlon.”
“Ensign Pelori, plot a course to Creasca three in the Rhendal sector,” Wilder said.
“Aye, Sir,” Pelori said, as she began calculation of a safe transit course.
After plotting the course, Pelori sent the transit plan to Commander Zachary. After seeing that the water collection probe was safely stored, Zachary said, “All systems
report green, Sir. Course entered and ready to initiate translight drive.”
“Notify the selected task force ships to set course and join us, Ares,” Sheppard said.
“Activate the translight drive,” Wilder said. The Phoenix shimmered as it generated a hyperspace conduit just before the ship entered hyperspace.
* * *
The Rhyn had been preparing for almost a year to break out of the Varlon blockade, and now, with the help of several Alliance of Worlds task forces and some of the Hegemony ships, they would be able to succeed. The Hegemony had sent an Estrian, Ambassador Toluesta, to join Ambassador Alotar to further arrange events after Garfield’s initial endeavors.
Commodore St. John had gotten orders from Admiral Peregrine to join the armada gathering in the Rhendal sector and to bring whatever ships were in working order after helping the Rhyn.
“That is, if the Indefatigable is in working order after this,” St. John said with a half-smile, as he looked on the main view screen at the gathering fleet of Rhyn and on the tactical view of the Varlon gathering not more than one light-hour away. There were enough ships to start several colonies and give the Rhyn some peace. They would find some planets over thirty thousand light years away in the territories given by the Hegemony to the Alliance of Worlds for settlement.
“Most of the Varlon are only a short hyper-jump away,” said Fleet Captain Kestrel, one of the four fleet captains under St. John’s Command. Kestrel had been promoted recently but stayed to help command the Indefatigable as Commodore St. John took on more task force command responsibility.
The Rhyn forces had set up an inner blockade with their minefields and their huge drone carrier ships. They had surrounded a safe transit entrance with mines, guarding it with drone ships. They had to prepare, because the colony ships and some other starcraft were slow enough to be caught by the Varlon while entering hyperspace or even within hyperspace. Eventually, the Varlon took note of what was happening. Part of the plan was a feint to draw the Varlon in and occupy the enemy ships. They knew that with the offensive going into Rhendal against the Alliance of Worlds and, more recently, into a few of the Hegemony planets, the Varlon would not be sending reinforcements to deal with an unusual event such as a Rhyn uprising. It was as good a time as any for the Rhyn to make a strike for freedom.
“Sir, the Rhyn have completed the minefield and relayed coordinates and disarming codes to us in case our ships are damaged and drift,” Kestrel said.
“That’s good, especially considering that they are secretive of their codes,” St. John replied. “So they must be starting to trust us.
“The admiralty believes now that the Varlon have dealt with some internal politics and with the arrival of the Accad,” St John said, “the Varlon can concentrate on further expansion, and the Rhyn believe they might be next.”
“That’s why they are willing to work with our Alliance and escape before it’s too late,” Kestral said.
“Sir, the Varlon are moving,” Lieutenant Random said. “Several hyperspace distortions have appeared four astronomical units away.”
“They are releasing plasma torpedoes and antimatter torpedoes,” Kestrel said.
“Charge our weapon systems and ready the higher-mass antimatter torpedoes,” St. John said.
“Aye, Sir,” Meftir, a Zal officer said. “Torpedoes locking onto target areas, as the Varlon chameleon field is interfering with a direct weapons lock.”
“That’s fine, Commander Meftir. At least we have our torpedoes loaded with a kilogram of antimatter. With that amount, it does not have to hit them directly,” Captain Kestral said.
“Let’s hope that the Indefatigable and our other ships are not that close to their torpedoes,” St. John added.
“Or we run low on antimatter for our torpedoes,” Kestral said, looking over at the engineering officer. St. John nodded, realizing his task force would have to make the torpedo strikes count, as they had prepared only a limited amount of warhead-grade antimatter. He knew he had to survive here, since he had to eventually join the other fleets in Rhendal sector.
“Tactical pattern delta,” St. John said.
“Aye, Sir, we are to separate our strike forces and try to flank them,” Meftir said.
By this time, the Rhyn had sent several drone ships to strike the Varlon. They were approaching the Varlon spacecrafts’ general positions. The drones were loaded with armaments, such as mines, and when they got close enough, they would detonate, causing damage to the Varlon even on indirect explosive waves. That method kept the Varlon at a distance for many years, as the Rhyn were willing to sacrifice large quantities of military ordinance and equipment for small victories in damage to the Varlon.
CHAPTER 15
VARLON BASE
The group of Star Knights had gathered on three small stealth assault ships: a Zal stealth ship, a Quarran vessel, and a Tyrian scout cruiser. Each ship was equipped with stealth capability and powerful weapons for the small ship size. Sheppard and Garfield were on Tairic’s ship, although Garfield’s ship, the Zeloc, was phase cloaked and would be intercepting any incoming supply ships.
The last time Sheppard had faced the Varlon, they were attacking the planet QB7 and had a complete strike fleet, including large mobile ground units to conquer the planet. He also had a portion of his own fleet and space marines to repel the Varlon then. Now he was part of an elite strike unit of Star Knights. Their mission was to destroy the Varlon’s torpedo-launching facilities, not to actually remove them or force them to leave—which would actually be a much more time-consuming task. He was also not in command of this particular operation.
Once the launching facility was offline, the Alliance Navy forces would approach to attack. With the multiple launching facilities on the planet active, they could be used against the subsequent incoming Alliance of Worlds starships whose mission would be to attack the Varlon base and troop garrison. These launching facilities would have to first be neutralized before Alliance support starships could arrive, since Varlon torpedoes—especially the ones launched from these types of facilities—were extremely deadly. Their ability to make a hyperspace jump to targets and get inside protected areas was a real threat. In addition to their intense countermeasures, many of the long-range torpedoes even used a chameleon field.
Sheppard was going to be working with Star Knights from different orders, some who had already rendered one launching facility inoperative. He and a few others were replacing those injured in the previous action or who were on their way to a third launching site. It was customary for the senior leaders among the Star Knights present to select a campaign leader. They selected Tairic to lead this particular action against the Varlon. Tairic, who was one of the Quarran, would therefore command this group of Star Knights. The Quarran were once as numerous and powerful as the other members of the Hegemony; however, about three thousand years ago, their home world’s star had become unstable, virtually destroying the Quarran home world. Since they were a very advanced space-faring race, many escaped that catastrophe, but it notably reduced their population. Some Quarran were living on a main colony of a moon of a more distant gas-giant planet in their home system that had survived, while others lived in even more distant Quarran colonies, in other Hegemony worlds, or on ships in deep space. A few colony-ships had even escaped to a world called Eidelon, which was later placed in a protected status by the Hegemony. The Quarran were somewhat humanoid oxygen breathers and, like other members of the Hegemony, had long ago altered and improved their genome. They had increased their environmental resistance and had genetically enhanced their lifespan.
Tairic was a high-ranking Star Knight and had lived several centuries. Tairic’s rank among the Star Knights was higher than Sheppard’s and equal to Gar fa’ eld’s. Sheppard also noticed that Tairic addressed the Karratin Star Knights using the proper pronunciation of their names. Star Knights had basically two ranking scales: one related to service rank and the other to skills-level rank. Translat
ion from a more ancient terminology into Alliance standard for skills ranking would designate Tairic a knight grandmaster. A grandmaster was three ability tiers above Sheppard’s rank, which would translate to knight adept, and there was only one skill rank below Sheppard’s called knight initiates. In the Alliance of Worlds, most Star Knights had psi-level ranking designations on record.
The strike teams for these missions were composed of males and females of different species. There would be a mixed Star Knight skills group involved here, of knight adepts, masters, senior masters, and grandmasters, but no initiates or apprentices who were still in training. The other ranking system took into account time in service to one’s order and that ranking also used a more conventional military style ranking, although the titles or ranks depended on the particular Star Knight order. Tairic was the leader of his Star Knight order, so out of respect, Sheppard would defer to Tairic’s judgment on this mission, even though the majority of ships that would approach the planet once the torpedo launchers were destroyed would be part of the sixth fleet and under Sheppard’s command.
The Quarran starship was sleek, and Sheppard admired its maneuverability and speed as they took a circuitous route through an asteroid field to naturally camouflage their approach to the Varlon base. It was actually one of Tairic’s stealth scout ships that he normally berthed on his much larger primary starship. The scout ship’s smaller size, speed, and stealth capabilities would be needed, and it was capable of planetary landing. It was somewhat larger than an Alliance T200 scout craft. The small support crew of ten was all that was needed in the mostly automated spacecraft, which was what Sheppard would expect from an advanced Hegemony starship. There was even a communication tactical bridge where Sheppard could coordinate and interface with the sixth fleet task forces that would arrive, once they dealt with the torpedo launchers.
While onboard, Sheppard used the battle simulator chamber to sharpen his telekinetic skills, as he had not exercised that talent recently. The chamber created material constructs to provide the weighted materials for Sheppard to lift or deflect away. His reaction times were put into action as he used psycho-metabolic or kinetic disciplines to enhance his physical agility, strength, and durability, performing martial maneuvers against humanoid replicas— maneuvers that he would otherwise have extreme difficulty doing.