Talcon Star City

by Gary Caplan

  “It seems some of those ships involved were also some of the ones we thought we destroyed in the Quellus system,” Kensya said. They reviewed sensor readings until the sensors began detecting the stealthed Karratin and Estrian starcraft.

  “They are aided by others not part of their Alliance of Worlds, including a civilization that recently escaped being surrounded by the Varlon, known as the Rhyn,” Mor’ag said.

  “No matter, ready the particle cannons for phased firing, charge the antimatter cannon, and prepare our special torpedoes. I think the Hegemony or Betellians who have been using phase cloaks and other stealth measures will find these Jiyarr weapons able to hit their marks,” Kra’ag said. “I regret that the Accad commander of the destroyed ship evidently did not think to utilize them.”

  * * *

  The task forces that Sheppard and Braddock could assemble from their dwindled fleets arrived at the rendezvous location. Commodore Helmslar in the Attrigan and Commodore St. John aboard the Indefatigable had repaired much of their ships’ damage and had rejoined the task groups. What they found as they exited hyperspace horrified them. Starship and starfighter hulls were strewn across space. Course corrections were input immediately. Onboard the Phoenix, Lyra Darani was at the helm and was very animated as she helped navigate the sixth fleet’s flagship through the area.

  “I may need to move slower, since we arrived in a debris field,” Darani said.

  “The defense screens are working at maximum, and repulsion beams are targeting some of the debris, as well,” Ares said.

  Not far away, the battle was continuing, and it looked like the Varlon and the Accad were winning. After the recent skirmish, Sherman reported that the first, second, third, and eleventh fleet damage reports were bad, since all were hit hard.

  Watching from the bridge’s large main view screen, Wilder and Sheppard looked onward. Fleet Captain Wilder winced as he saw some of the ship names and their conditions.

  “Dispatch task force damage control crews from the repairs ship to…whomever we can aid,” Wilder said. He looked at Sheppard, who grimly nodded.

  “Aye, Sir,” said Lee Sterling. “Damage control crews and repair drones being dispatched.”

  “Launch our task forces’ remaining starfighter squadrons of Sentinel, Guardian, Scimitar, and Valkyrie fighters now,” Wilder said to York.

  “Aye, Sir,” York replied, as he keyed in or sent via interlink orders to the wing commanders in the two fighter hangers to launch all fighters.

  Peregrine had a warbase with him up ahead; it was the Alliance’s largest starcraft, about twenty kilometers in diameter, and they had made only a few of them. It was essentially a mobile starbase that was capable of assaulting a planet or resupplying and repairing starships. In this case, it was defending and resupplying weapons. The bridge crew could see telltale signs of battle in the distance, as flashes of light were displayed on the view screen.

  “Sir, sensors show that several of the ships, including the warbase Thor, has taken severe damage to its port side,” Ares said.

  “The damage seems to be from antimatter weapons and intense plasma discharge, probably from torpedoes,” Sharon added.

  “Incoming encrypted communication from Admiral Peregrine,” Ares said.

  “On main viewer,” Sheppard said.

  “Robert, I see that you and Nigel have arrived with help,” Peregrine said in his high-pitched voice, as he looked at his console, probably monitoring other things as often as he looked toward Sheppard. “I understand Nigel is still having problems with his comm’s system on Orion. He will get the same orders,” Peregrine continued grimly. “I have been holding up as best as I can. We need to make a stand but not push them—only keep them busy.”

  “Sir,” Sheppard asked, “what do you mean ‘only keep them busy?’”

  “Ambassador Weldon and I—and most importantly, Ambassador Renjir—have been talking with the Talcon. Their Prince Kir is very angry with the Accad; he has mobilized his forces and will arrive soon.” Peregrine turned his beak up and made a smile, or what passed for one among his people. “So we continue fighting until…”

  The comm’s channel began to fuzz over and images blurred. “I just hope I last long enough to see it,” Peregrine continued.

  “Sir, the Varlon are jamming our comms channels,” Ares said with anger in her voice.

  “Their ships are bearing down on Peregrine’s battlecarrier, the H’jum’pta.”

  “Helm, get us there now,” Sheppard ordered, “and Captain Wilder, have Task Force One move toward the Kadjiah with full weapons releases.”

  “Aye, Sir,” Wilder nodded as Sheppard went back to his office. Sheppard still had a few minutes before they were in attack range and wanted to try to contact Nigel or maybe Fleet Admiral Flecnnor of the eleventh fleet. With all the jamming going on, Sheppard wanted to know if he and his alien contingent would be getting any help or if others needed the sixth aid.

  For a few moments, while trying to raise Admiral Braddock, who seemed to still have comm problems or maybe it was the jamming, Sheppard had been listening to music to calm his spirit, and it played in the background.

  “Sir, the Kadjiah and another Jiyarr dreadnaught of the same class and some Kadath class are moving toward Peregrine’s position, and his task forces are surrounded by Varlon ships. Sheppard headed back to the command alcove. He was worried. Peregrine had once been his commanding officer, and he had learned a lot from the Rigezon officer.

  “We are close to optimal firing range, Captain,” York said.

  Sheppard watched the main view screen from the alcove’s entrance to the bridge. Peregrine’s task force was getting pummeled. Sheppard watched in horror as a few ships exploded after being struck by antimatter weapons. They were now getting closer to the H’jum’pta.

  Onboard the H’jum’pta, Admiral Peregrine was preparing to launch his remaining antimatter, torpedo-capable Guardian and Sentinel class starfighters; his main cannons did only light damage to the Jiyarr ship, as little passed through its screens. Even damage to the Kadath class ships was light to moderate at best. His captain had already suggested he leave before it was too late, but he would not have any of that talk, even as a control board overloaded on the bridge

  “Sir, we will not arrive in time,” Andor said calmly.

  Several Betellian starships passed the Phoenix and moved toward the Accad. “Sir, we are getting a message from Admiral Viess. The Betellians had heard what the Cynz and the Hegemony were doing and decided to strike the Jiyarr ships.” Theirs were the fastest. They would make it in time, but they only had a small fleet of nine ships and were up against both Accad and Varlon.

  The Betellians buzzed rapidly toward targets and struck with precision at weapons ports or upon several already-launched torpedoes. They fired particle cannons into oncoming Varlon plasma weapons, disrupting them. Those actions saved the H’jum’pta and the immediate task force of severely damaged Alliance starships around it. The Accad began training their weapons on the fresh targets, as if already seriously damaged starcraft were beneath their notice.

  The Jiyarr vessels began to focus their attacks on the Betellians, as well, using some of their special weapons. Sensors picked up fragmentary readings of some unusual torpedo signatures headed toward Hegemony ships. Sheppard watched as a torpedo that had missed the Zeloc and the Orgnar in previous encounters now struck and exploded on their defense barriers and hulls. Sheppard sensed a psychic cry from the Zeloc, since he had been on her before; the sentient ship was in some slight pain.

  “What are those oscillating weapons’ signatures?” Sheppard asked as he examined an active tactical scan.

  “Sir, the Jiyarr ships are releasing some kind of multi-phased weaponry,” Andor said. “They also appear to be scanning and alternating frequencies and energy states of the weapons fire that is now being released.”

  “Captain, that is the same ship that blasted the Phoenix at QB7,” York said with fear in his vo
ice. They began to recall that the last time, that single ship had blown apart Sheppard’s entire task force.

  “Their supreme leader, Azura Jin Kra’ag, must be onboard that flagship,” Sheppard said. They watched as the Kadjiah and two other Jiyarr ships—one that had recently arrived—blasted some Alliance ships, two Rhyn starships, and a few Hegemony vessels that were in their weapons’ range. The Hegemony ships were more resilient, and it took several blasts of antimatter, but they, too, began to be severely damaged or destroyed. Even the Betellian ships took a beating when struck; however, since they were more maneuverable and faster than the Jiyarr ships and were using impressive, almost prescient, maneuvering, they escaped once they had pushed the Jiyarr ships into a defense position. Viess lost only three ships to the Jiyarr, and the Betellians were able to moderately damage one of the Jiyarr ships and severely damage several Varlon and Accad support cruisers using penetrating particle beams and piercing torpedoes. His attack slowed the enemies’ advance.

  Peregrine took advantage of the Betellians’ arrival and launched his final three remaining highest-grade torpedoes, which were loaded with ten-kilograms of antimatter. The lesser grade torpedoes were not causing much damage. Peregrine ordered the torpedoes launched at an approaching Accadian Kadath class dreadnaught, and the power of the explosions caught the Accadian ship, blasting holes in its hull. He then micro-jumped his battlecarrier to a region just a few light seconds behind the Phoenix and the Orion.

  The Alliance warbase Thor came under Varlon weapons fire and eventually collapsed. The bridge crew could see escape pods leaving the area. The remaining damaged Alliance starcraft that were part of task forces in the third fleet scattered in multiple vectors. The Accad did not seem to bother with them but headed toward Braddock’s and Sheppard’s task forces and after Admiral Peregrine, aboard the H’jum’pta.

  Onboard the Phoenix, the things shown on the tactical plots were looking a bit bleak as sensors picked up a new Varlon fleet entering the area. Sheppard was looking at tactical reports, and in the background he could just hear the music he’d left on in his office. The music was part of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. It was a stirring piece of music.

  “Sir, a massive gravimetric reading is on the sensors,” Sharon said; then she smiled. It was at that moment that the Star City arrived out of hyperspace, looming like a planet over the battle area.

  The Star City had a generally multisectional shape; one part was a vast dome-like area, while the majority of it was spherical, vaguely avian-shaped, with three immense, beak-like docking entrances. The lower section, which was below the more spherical section, was talon shaped, with an angled, almost talon-like appearance below the more spherical section. There were hundreds of millions of small lights scattered across the vast construct, which was several thousand kilometers in circumference. They were view ports of a crystalline substance. Its hull was an organo-crystalline and metal-alloy matrix, and it was a semi-hollow structure that carried the more important contents of an entire world.

  Streams of Talcon ships came out almost immediately like swarms of bees from several areas and began heading rapidly, almost as fast as the Betellians, toward the Accad. The Talcon starships had an almost fluid-like, avian appearance, each having contra-gravity generators that made them capable of planetary flight. Some of the Talcon starships even seemed almost to have been carved and had the equivalent of organo-metallic feathers.

  Sheppard recalled what Commodore St. John had mentioned during one of their conversations—that the Talcon were slow to wrath, but when angered, look out. He continued to wait, since his task forces would soon be in weapons range. Sheppard and his crew were impressed with the numbers of ships leaving the Star City from vectors that still allowed the firing of blasts of the Star City’s own energy disruption waves and its comet shaped weapons and torpedoes that they had observed when originally seeing the immense world ship. This time, however, the Talcon armada was released.

  Inside the Star City, Prince Kir was moving from the palace to the docking facility. “Ready my flagship. I go to join the front line,” Kir stated. “Send word to our allies. Ask them gently to regroup and repair. They will merely get in our way until we have battle trained with them in a coordinated manner.”

  “Yes, my Prince,” his chief admiral said, “I will send information to them with an offer to attend joint training, so we can work with their many races.”

  Things onboard the Kadjiah had been going well for the Accad, until the Star City arrived.

  “My Lord Kra’ag,” Kensya said. “The Talcon have arrived from hyperspace, and there is another Star City moving to the adjacent subsector. They are both Royal class. My advice is to regroup. Our antimatter supply has dwindled, and we do not have enough ships to deal with a fully active Talcon adversary.”

  Kra’ag looked angry as he viewed the tactical displays. “As usual, you are right, Admiral Kensya. I can see for myself that we do not have enough ships to deal with them now.”

  “Since we have a treaty with the Varlon, unfortunately we will need to support them,” Mor’ag said. “They have a vast fleet across several regions, although their forces in this sector have been depleted and harried by the Alliance of Worlds’ fleets.”

  “We need to continue to build the fleet and our tactics, and the Varlon need to be better organized, as well. Leave them some support ships, but have the Kadjiah class ships withdraw for repair. Then we will continue to strike, especially at the Talcon who stray from their nest,” Kra’ag continued angrily.

  Onboard the Phoenix, Sheppard began relaxing, since the enemy ships were not heading toward them. He watched from the command alcove, as the Star City fired its comet-shaped projectile weapons and sent massive disruptive waves of energy and huge plasma blasts outward toward the Accad and the Varlon. The Talcon formed an impressive armada of starships that vectored out in different directions.

  The massive outflow of Talcon starcraft had literally forced the Varlon and the Accad to regroup. Admiral Peregrine agreed to the Talcon request to withdraw to regroup and repair. He sent what reinforcements he could to Admiral Pendrag-on, who was securing retaken Alliance colonies in another subsector, while Peregrine had been distracting or delaying the enemy reinforcements. With the Talcon fleet moving out into other subsectors and the other Star City only about ten light years away, Sheppard decided to address the crew. As Sheppard came onto the bridge, he noticed that most of his crew looked exhausted—except perhaps Ares and Andor. He felt relatively good they had stopped the Varlon advance and had new allies to deal with their enemies.

  EPILOGUE

  Robert Sheppard had been relaxing for a few moments and had been talking with Sharon Taylor and before he left his office he gave her a kiss with hug and then headed toward the bridge. She was right a positive message needed to be given for the past several days events.

  Sheppard thought about where his relationship with Sharon Taylor was headed, at least things seemed to be working well, she was compatible, had some similar likes and dislikes, and importantly they had real feelings for each other. He decided he would plan some time off with her to find out. Life could be short on a warship in deep space and he thought it was about time to see what potentially happy events would unfold.

  He moved toward the center of the bridge. “Good job everyone,” Sheppard said a bit loudly to get their attention. He looked at all of his officers. Even O’Brien, because of staff injuries, was on the bridge ensuring that the consoles that had shorted out were repaired. He smiled at Sharon with relief. “This was a hard couple of days. Our other fleets liberated a few planets from the Varlon. The sector battles over several other star systems in Rhendal sector are not yet resolved, but with the help of new allies, they now can be. We need to repair and restore our energy…this conflict is far from over.”

  Much later, looking out the Phoenix’s conference room view port to think, Sheppard realized that, eventually, the Talcon would become affiliated and desire trade
with the Alliance. From discussion with Hegemony commanders, realizing that the Varlon would continue to work toward launching the new hyperspace torpedoes at Hegemony worlds, Sheppard was fairly sure that the Hegemony would decide prevention was in the best interest of the Hegemony members and that they would partially integrate some ships with the Alliance of Worlds fleet or even move to strike the Varlon directly.

  Because of the combined abilities of the Varlon and Accad and the threat of the Accad using Jiyarr starships and equipment, Admiral Viess and several Betellian starships were assigned by their government to assist the Alliance of Worlds by attaching to the sixth and third fleets. Due to the recent Alliance of Worlds starship losses, Fleet Admiral Peregrine would temporarily take over the sixth fleet. With the active integration of other high-ranking officers, Sheppard realized he would operationally be a vice admiral under him, but, eventually, he would be restored to an alliance commodore—his actual rank of two star clusters. Sheppard’s task forces would be assigned to patrol and find weaknesses in the Varlon or Accad fleets and to train with the Talcon and support Alliance of Worlds’ colonies.

  GLOSSARY OF TERMS

  Alpha Quadrant. The region in which most of the Alliance of Worlds members are located, including Earth. It is also home to the Rhendal sector at the periphery, a portion of the Karratin Hegemony, the Viridian Assembly, and Star One. Most of the Quellus sector is located in the Alpha quadrant. The Meiosian are in the coreward section of the Alpha quadrant.

  Beta Quadrant. The region predominantly held by the Varlon and Accadian Empires. This is the region in which part of the more distant subsectors of the Rhendal sectors are located. Mercan sector is located in Beta quadrant.

  C. The speed of light—186,000 miles per second, or about 300,000 kilometers per second. Used also in range determination for beam-type weapons, which are reported in light seconds’ distance.