New Empires: Conglomerate Series Book 3

by William Frisbee

  Another spread of missiles went out and a secondary plasma lance shattered a frigate when it zigged when it should have zagged.

  “We have destroyed seventy-six enemy frigates,” Halsey reported several minutes later.

  Bruce closed his eyes and let the coffee flow through him. It helped take some of the edge off the hard acceleration and deceleration from earlier.

  “Release the fighters to hunt in flights,” Bruce said. “Scatter them all across the system if we can.”

  “Aye, aye,” XO said.

  Bruce looked at the butcher bill.

  All but one of his automated frigates was destroyed, the Knight and Crusader had taken damage, but nothing critical and he was down to only a squadron of fighters. He didn’t want to think about what the Bronkaw had lost.

  The majority of Tonkan battleships were still battle-worthy and were coming after him, which made Bruce smile. More than a few of the frigates were fleeing to their bigger brothers, but they had taken horrendous casualties. Over eighty frigates had been destroyed, and many others had sustained damage or were on trajectories that would force them a great deal of pain to change and return to the battle ships.

  “Suckers,” Bruce said with a smile.

  “Orders sir,” XO asked.

  Bruce scanned the display.

  “Pursue that group,” Bruce said highlighting a squadron of frigates. “And have the Crusader pursue this group.”

  Both groups had the best chance of linking up with the battle ships if they were left alone.

  “How dedicated do you want the pursuit Captain?” Erica asked from the Crusader.

  “Don’t engage the battleships,” Bruce said. “We can’t fight them but we can outrun them and lead them on a merry chase around the system. That will give the Bronkaw time and take the remaining frigate with you.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” Erica said.

  The smaller ship would need the support more than the Knight.

  Bruce stared at the holographic display. The icons for destroyed ships, hostile ships and trajectories filling it.

  “In fact,” Bruce said re-opening the channel. “Do not put the Crusader in any danger, let’s rally near the wormhole they came in when you are done.”

  “Aye, aye Captain,” Erica said.

  Bruce sat back to watch as XO directed the ships batteries to engage available targets. Fewer frigates were dying now as they made good their escape and Bruce wondered if it would be enough.

  “Captain?” XO said.

  Bruce looked up from his command chair where he had been reviewing the battle and the Tonkan performance.

  “The Tonkan are pushing their acceleration,” XO said. “They are pushing up to six gravities of acceleration.”

  That got Bruce’s attention.

  “Are they that desperate to catch us?” Bruce asked. The Knight and Crusader were only sustaining one point five gravities because of ongoing repairs but Bruce was in no hurry.

  “I noticed this change after we set course for their arrival wormhole,” XO said.

  “Really?” Bruce said scrutinizing the plot. “Right after we changed course?”

  “Yes sir,” XO said.

  Erica appeared on Bruce’s bridge as a hologram.

  “Captain?” she asked.

  “Yes Captain,” Bruce said giving her a smile, she had to be enjoying the title. It might be temporary but Bruce knew she was loving her new command.

  “Did you notice the Tonkans change course to intercept us and start pushing their ships? There have to be Tonkan dying right now aboard those ships because of the acceleration.”

  “We just noticed it,” Bruce said. “They seem desperate to catch us. At this rate, they will get us a day before we reach the wormhole.”

  Erica looked at Bruce.

  “No, we won’t let them,” Bruce said with a smile and noticed Erica relaxed a little. “But they seem desperate. Any guesses?”

  “They are expecting reinforcements,” Erica said. “I would bet those reinforcements are not defended. Troop transports and other non-combat support vessels.”

  Bruce nodded.

  “My thinking exactly,” Bruce said. “The real question is how much time do we have? Will we have time before they come out of the wormhole and then flee back into it?”

  “I don’t know Captain,” Erica said.

  “Me either, but assume we will miss them. Can we stealth some missiles and use them as mines?”

  “Maybe, Captain,” Nowaks said. “We could cannibalize stealth drone shells. The problem would be dropping them off without too much velocity. When they go active, we could rig the shell to separate but we would have a problem putting a missile or two in a shell AND doing something about propulsion. Missile propulsion isn’t designed for stealth anyways and would give it away unless we dropped them off with zero velocity.”

  Bruce scowled and ran calculations on his InnerBuddy. It would be too close.

  “We could slow down like we will make a wormhole transit and drop them off,” Erica said.

  “The Tonkan are too close. They will see us if we don’t transit, and if we do, we might miss whoever they are desperate to protect. They are also too close to fake a transition.”

  “What about the frigate?” Erica asked. “If Nowaks can make his doo-da, maybe we can move it to the frigate and send the frigate through the wormhole to scout out the other side or something. A real quick ‘visit’ but the frigate will have a good excuse to slow down and dump the missiles.”

  Bruce stared at the display and ran calculations.

  “That might work,” Bruce said. “A few missiles might not do much but it will be a nasty surprise.”

  “Will it be worth it?” Erica asked and Bruce looked at her.

  He had been asking himself that question a lot lately. In his mind’s eye, he could still see the dying Bronkawan ships.

  “Every pin prick, every enemy slain, every inconvenience to their plan is worth it,” Bruce said. “We are at war and I want those sons of bitches to know, and dread it. Let them piss their pants when they engage humans in battle.”

  Erica nodded and looking at her hologram, Bruce thought he saw something die in her eyes. Ice replaced the warmth.

  Her hologram faded as Bruce wondered if he had imagined that. Holograms were good but not that good. Were they?

  “Response received from acting fleet commander Krtak,” XO said. “It states ’The fleet is retreating to Bronkaw Prime. Our blood is strong. Go with honor,’ end transmission.”

  Bruce nodded. The dinosaurs had strong blood and Bruce steeled himself. The statement about their blood was a cultural statement and Bruce knew it meant they were proud of what they had accomplished and did not blame him. It was a relief, but Bruce felt it as a needle in his heart. He had used them without regard for their lives, like the cold-blooded son of a bitch he was, but he still wished he had thought of another plan.

  “My, my,” Gray said. “Aren’t they an untrusting sort?”

  Bruce glanced at the Tonkan fleet moving to place themselves between Bruce’s ships and the wormhole in a position where they could intercept Bruce if he changed course.

  “They aren’t moving to bombard Kakata,” Bruce said. “So the ground pounders can keep pounding.”

  Gray nodded.

  “What would Admiral Kishi have done?” Bruce asked.

  “You are asking me?” Gray said turning to Bruce.

  “Would he have sacrificed the Bronkaw like I did?” Bruce asked, his actions had been giving him nightmares.

  Gray stood at the position of parade rest as he locked his eyes on Bruce.

  “No,” Gray said. “He would not have sacrificed his allies like that.”

  Bruce felt his heart sink for a reason he couldn’t fathom.

  “I don’t know what he would have done,” Gray continued. “Although I’m pretty sure he would have some hair-brained suicidal scheme that didn’t risk his allies in such a manner.”
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br />   Bruce nodded. Not trusting his voice and glad Erica wasn’t here.

  “You know what the Commander always tells me?” Gray asked.

  Bruce looked at Gray and remained silent.

  “Every situation and every solution is different,” Gray said. “There is no easy solution. You do the best you can and live with the results.”

  A chuckle escaped Bruce, and a weight came off his shoulders. He had said the something similar to subordinates time and again.

  “The Commander said that a lot,” Gray said looking away from Bruce. “He carries a lot of guilt and that is why he seems so hellbent on suicide most of the time, it is also a reason he is so reluctant to send out others to die when he is not leading the charge.”

  “Even droids?” Bruce asked, unsure where that question came from.

  Gray nodded. “Yes, Captain Simmons, even droids. Perhaps the only things he considers expendable are robotic ships and warbots.”

  “Transition at the wormhole,” XO announced and everyone’s attention went to the displays. “It is something large.”

  Bruce got that sinking sensation and gripped his chair as he watched.

  A planet destroyer with a small escort of two cruisers slid into the Bronkaw Secundus system and Bruce understood the Tonkan concern.

  “Arm the missiles and send them at that behemoth,” Bruce said knowing it was probably a waste. The frigate had dropped off two stealthed missile pods before jumping and the Tonkan capital ships didn’t appear to have seen and destroyed them yet.

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” XO said.

  At five light minutes, it wouldn’t take long for the missiles power up and pursue their target. Bruce wouldn’t be able to see the results for over ten minutes. The Knight and Crusader were just out of range of the Tonkan capital ships.

  “Move to intercept the planet killer,” Bruce said.

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” XO said and Erica appeared as a hologram from the bridge of the Crusader.

  “We are attacking?” Erica said, that coldness in her eyes and voice.

  Bruce shook his head.

  “No,” Bruce said. “Just a feint. See how they respond, keep them on their toes. Make them paranoid.”

  Erica smiled, but there wasn’t any humor there.

  Bruce smiled as he saw the detonations near the planet killer. They had been caught by surprise and the massive ship had sustained serious damage.

  “Crusader,” Bruce said. He would appear as a hologram on Erica’s bridge. “Let’s send plasma lance rounds at that floundering beast.”

  Erica smiled.

  It was extreme range for the primary plasma lances but the planet killer was large and wounded. It would not be maneuvering very fast.

  Minutes later the first plasma round found its target, and an explosion bloomed from the planet killer.

  The Tonkan capital ships accelerated at the Knight and Crusader as plasma rounds crossed the void seeking the planet killer. It would be minutes before Bruce could see if the Planet Killer was maneuvering, but the ship placed shots in the most likely suspected areas. Three battleships and a large squadron of frigates remained, clustering protectively around the planet killer.

  “Enemy vessels entering missile engagement range in five minutes,” XO reported.

  Bruce looked at the surviving frigates clustered around the capital ships and knew better than to waste his missiles.

  “Full speed away from them,” Bruce said. “Let’s see if we can draw them far enough away from the Planet Killer so we can loop around them.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” XO said.

  Behind him Gray chuckled.

  “That is what the Commander would do,” Gray said and Bruce threw him a smile.

  Minutes later the Tonkan ships changed course to loop back around to the Planet Killer which was constantly changing course.

  “Looks like they don’t want to play,” Gray said.

  “What a shame,” Bruce said. “Take us back to five light minutes XO. Let’s keep them nervous.”

  “Aye, aye Captain,” XO said.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Battle Singers

  Thirty light minutes out Luke’s fleet accelerated at the Vress ships still guarding the wormhole. Ten light minutes out they would become visible to the Vress guardians. The Vress were trying to replace the missiles, but they didn’t have enough yet.

  “High speed attack run,” Luke said. “We are just going to bloody their nose and kill what we can.”

  Arrayed around him were all his human officers and the droid commanders.

  “Aye, aye,” everyone said.

  “No heroics,” Luke said. “We might win a slugging match but I would like to avoid that. Just a high-speed pass, using our velocity to slam through them like a bullet. They have little velocity so their missiles will be snails compared to ours.”

  Luke was trying to relax as the gravity crushed him into his chair. Breathing was difficult and Luke hoped everyone else was okay. One of the Vress prisoners had died under the strain a few minutes ago. Luke considered it regrettable but the intelligence officers were gaining valuable information on their physiology.

  “Launch fighters,” Luke sent and drone fighters spilled out of the Tigress and Amazon.

  “They are responding,” Halsey said. The blue droid smiled. “Looks like they will run.”

  “Their only choice,” Luke said, trying not to watch the time and see when the bone crushing acceleration would end.

  “Changing course to intercept,” Halsey said. “Looks like they are also trying to activate the minefield but our course change will allow us to avoid the missiles.”

  “Panicking,” Luke grunted out. “Should have stayed among the missiles.”

  “Yes sir,” Halsey said. “They are also responding to our previous location based on what they see from several minutes ago. As we get closer and they can see use in more real time, their responses will be more measured.”

  “Acknowledged,” Luke sent. Talking was too much trouble.

  “We are two light minutes out,” Halsey reported. “Launching missile volley one.”

  “Acknowledged,” Luke sent.

  Luke’s ships would be like a mailed fist slamming into a pumpkin. The missiles would have the velocity of the launching vessels and could accelerate even faster.

  Everything was in the hands of the droids and ships AI’s.

  “How’s it going?” Luke sent to Leonessa.

  “This really hoovers,” Leonessa sent. “Do you like high gravity maneuvers?”

  It hurt Luke too much to smile.

  “No,” Luke sent. “But it is one big advantage we have. We have better speed and maneuverability and we can sustain it longer. We can run circles around them.”

  “Well,” Leonessa sent back. “It is keeping us alive and in control. A lot of pain is worth it I guess.”

  Luke concentrated on breathing and trying to relax.

  “Missiles impacting Vress formation,” Halsey reported. “The Vress are getting hit hard and sustaining heavy casualties.”

  “Acknowledged,” Luke sent and looked at the screen. Two Vress battleships winked out and were replaced by amber silhouettes. Two more battleships cycled between red for enemy and dark amber for heavily damaged. The destroyers winked out and turn to soft amber silhouettes.

  One of Luke’s frigates winked out.

  “Frigate two has been destroyed,” Halsey reported.

  “Officer Shum is unconscious,” Halsey sent. “Monitors report he is not in any danger yet though.”

  “Acknowledged,” Luke sent. The frigates were forward of the Tigress and Amazon to handle incoming missiles.

  “We are past,” Halsey reported. “Aside from Frigate two and eight fighters, there are no other casualties. I expect we can replace the fighters quickly enough with onboard resources.”

  The acceleration stopped.

  “Our velocity is such that their missiles cannot catch up,” Ha
lsey reported. “We are safe to secure from gravity stations.”

  “Secure from gravity stations,” Luke said, trying not to sound weak and tired.

  “Aye, securing from gravity stations,” Halsey said. “Medical team to the bridge.”

  “Officer Shum will be okay,” Halsey said.

  Luke nodded.

  “Set course for deep space. Let’s disappear for a while, find some nice asteroid and replenish our stocks.”

  “Aye, aye, Admiral,” Halsey said.

  “Admiral to the CIC,” Halsey said minutes after Luke had staggered into his room and lay down on his bed. Everything ached, from his eyes, to his toes. Even his scalp felt tender.

  Halsey would not have called him if it wasn’t important and Luke was thankful he was close to the CIC.

  When he walked in Halsey was standing there staring at the holographic plot.

  “We may have a problem,” Halsey said as the alarm for battle stations rang out.

  Luke looked at the plot confused. A single ship was coming at them from the planet. The intercept course was obvious. They shouldn’t be able to see Luke’s ships from that far away.

  “Shit!” Luke said when he saw the speed and intercept times.

  “The drive characteristics are what I have heard of the Topa, but that is not Topa vessel,” Halsey said. A view of the ship came up on a display. It was shaped more like an egg where Topa vessels were spheres. Luke’s biggest problem is that it was coming from the Vress home world which could only mean one thing.

  Shum ran onto the bridge followed by Leonessa and they went to their seats.

  “When was the last time the Tal fought the Battle Singers?” Luke asked.

  Shum’s eyes widened as he looked at the display. Luke saw the fear there.

  “Eons,” Shum said. “It has been eons.”

  “I was afraid you would say that,” Luke said. “And obviously their technology is much better than their vassals.”

  “Incoming transmission,” Halsey reported. “Thirty minute delay.”

  “Let’s hear it,” Luke said.

  “Human vessel,” a voice said. There was no video. “If you surrender, you will be allowed to join us in conquest and ascension. If you do not, you will be eradicated. Choose. Ascension or extinction.”