The Phoenix Rising

by Gary Caplan

  The Varlon had already taken over a few tunnels and mining shafts, likely their move to prevent the Alliance of Worlds from rendering the mining facility useless as opposed to leaving it in the hands of the Varlon. Mister Kelly had already initiated a few tunnel collapses to slow the Varlon approach to the underground ore purification and refining facilities in the central complex. Earlier Kelly had noticed an Alliance engineering team arrive and now one of that groups officers was about to enter his work area.

  “Mister Kelly, I’m first Lieutenant N’eron,” said an Ixian Alliance of Worlds officer using a formal translation device. The Ixians were

  160

  an insectoid member of the Alliance of Worlds. “I’m with the military engineering team sent to replace you.” “Great, I’m ready to go. Just let me finish these scans, and then I and the last few crew here will leave,” Kelly said. “So how is it going on the surface? The last report before most of the communications went out was that Varlon forces had taken several cities and were moving Spider ships to take the capitol city. It seems their shock troops have begun moving to take direct control.”

  “Yes, you are correct,” replied the Ixian. “The Varlon’s more advanced technology is supporting their rapid takeover. They have even neutralized several city defenses already. The only good news is reinforcements will be here in a few hours.

  “My team and I,” continued Lieutenant N’eron, “will have to terminate a few tunnels to slow the Varlon in trying to use our tunnels to mine ores and replenish their supplies. Then our task here is done and we will evacuate.”

  Mister Kelly was looking at some deep sensor scans and noted something strange. “There is small probe or scout ship of unusual design,” he said. “It’s not a Varlon ship, and it’s not masking itself. It appears to be looking for some mineral deposits, and it’s taken one of the tunnels deeper to the outer mantle. It’s using some kind of powerful locator pulse scans. I’m not familiar with the type.”

  “We need to close some of the access tunnels,” replied Lieutenant N’eron.

  “I have lost control of some of the control nodes. Evidently, the

  Varlon have used some form of advanced nanotechnology devices to

  acquire control,” Mister Kelly said. “They will eventually dig out the

  tunnels you cave in or make new ones.”

  “You and the remainder of your team had better get to the surface;

  my team has already started placing explosive devices,” stated Lt

  N’eron. “Hopefully, our reinforcements will be able to halt the Varlon,

  since their strike force is not that large.”

  As the lieutenant began arranging for remote units to block tunnels,

  Mister Kelly and his assistants packed the last of their equipment and

  left.

  On the surface of QB7, the Varlon were starting to gain the upper

  hand. Although they were still out numbered by the Alliance of Worlds forces, few defenses could stand long against the Varlon’s portable plasma cannons. Many of the Varlon troops had the cannon built into the shoulder and arm section in their protective environmental suits. Varlon Spider ships and the so-called Scorpion attack craft also had similar weaponry that was measurable at ranges of up to few hundred

  million joules of energy.

  At General Idar’s command, base plans were being made to

  maintain defenses to hold out the few hours necessary until the military

  reinforcements arrived.

  General Idar, one of the Alliance of Worlds Rigezon planetary

  defense officers, was reviewing several reports on his computer interlink

  and with his commlink. Evidently, the Varlon had successfully taken

  over several sections of the capitol city. Casualty reports had actually

  lessened since the Varlon began securing buildings by leaving some

  troops and placing locking devices or barricades for their security

  before moving on to the next area.

  “Sir, a report just came in that the Varlon are stepping up the

  capture of civilians,” stated Major Boland one of General Idar’s chief

  aids.

  General Idar’s avian face moved up to properly look at the major,

  who was standing at ease at the end of the general’s command console.

  General Idar opened the report transferred to his console from the

  major’s interlink and read it through his personal interlink device.

  Several Varlon attack units had cut off a few civilian escape shuttles

  and had also grounded several shuttle and starfighter launch facilities

  in preparation for conversion to their use. They had even taken the

  science center and the main university mostly intact.

  “Any indications that that there are some civilians groups trying to

  resist or slow the Varlon?” asked Idar. “I know a few groups in some

  of the nearby smaller cities and towns had some success, and the last

  report you gave me—before that plasma weapon from a Spider ship

  took out part of our first command base—indicated that there were

  civilian militias organizing.”

  “Yes, sir, there are still such militias out there mostly in the areas

  surrounding the capitol and a few of the larger cities. It seems that

  several colonists do not want to abandon their homes,” replied Major

  Boland. “I was told that some are using old style traps, like spiked pits, to trap Varlon soldiers. It seemed to work a few times, until they began to catch on. I think a few were trapped in some of the mines near New

  Belton city.”

  One of the overhead communication units chimed, and a voice

  came on.

  “Sir,” the voice said, “this is Colonel Granger at mobile base one.

  We are now able to hold the Varlon. Something must be going on; it

  looked like reinforcements were coming, but then they redeployed and

  retreated.”

  “Hold you position, Colonel; use the time to strengthen your

  position, and bring up any remaining particle cannons or pulse

  weapons. Prepare a backup dome shield deflector. Take care of your

  wounded. I’m sure you have other operational tasks to arrange. Thanks

  for the update,” responded Idar.

  Major Boland reported, “Good news, sir. We received an encrypted

  and coded communication that part of the Sixth Fleet has arrived in

  the system—about seven cruisers. They’re going to wait until five more

  ships arrive, including a space marine carrier, in the next two hours.

  They will then begin the attack on the Varlon,” he said.

  “Just what I needed to hear, Major,” replied Idar enthusiastically.

  “That must be why the Varlon are regrouping their forces and stopped

  attacking some of our positions. They must have scanned the Alliance

  of Worlds fleet at long range and may be rethinking their strategy,” he

  concluded.

  “But they might be calling in some of their own reinforcements,”

  said Boland grimly.

  “Major, send orders to our remaining forces to redouble their efforts

  to attack the Varlon. Indicate that they should continue to secure their

  own positions, and bolster their defenses in case they have to fall back

  to a reserve position,” Idar ordered.

  ********** “Lord Governor Mor’ag, this is Commander Sel’thar. One of our mining scouts has located the quellien mineral deposits that you were interested in.”

  Mor'ag’s head nodded to the commander to continue as they viewed each other’s images generated by the communications interface system.

  “Our earlier probe data corroborates the information from the more re
cent sensor data,” said Sel’thar. “Lord Mor’ag, there are quellien crystals of an extremely pure variety within the seventh planet.”

  Governor Mor'ag smiled, revealing his rows of sharp, fine teeth. “Good work, Sel’thar. The power source for multiple types of devices, including advanced zero-point generators is now available.”

  Quellien was one of those extremely rare formations that had multiple scientific applications for energy production, weapons enhancement, and creation of trans-dimensional conduits. It had a few other applications as well and could be incorporated, in small portions, as a component to make a quellium alloy to enhance hulls. The Jiyarr wanted such metamorphic mineral formations. Only a few star systems even had the potential to form quellien crystals.

  Mor'ag began thinking about the Quellien crystals. The proper mix of elements had to be present, and the right amount of time and pressure. If the crystals were used in metallurgy the product a quellium alloy could be used to generate containment fields for energy storage. The individual quellien crystals themselves were excellent energy storage capacitors and could handle incredible quantities of energy. Few individual crystals were ultimately pure enough to be stable for long-term applications. However, by using quantum meshing sciences and creating composite materials, the resultant products would be capable of holding point singularities or for powering of immense orbital stations or for weapons applications.

  The Jiyarr who had created the Accads had allowed some to pursue a campaign in this part of the universe, since they had made trade or friendship treaties with a few of the elder spacefaring races and their code of honor did not allow for them to directly attack. In addition, the newer spacefaring civilizations, having no previous treaty with the Jiyarr, were considered fair game for the Accads.

  It was time to notify Lord Kra'ag. He was crossing this galaxy even now, although an updated report on his arrival indicated he had stopped to hunt some Karratins. It seemed he wanted to test the Jiyarr antiparticle cannon.

  Mor'ag looked at his operations minister and ordered, “Open a secure communication channel to Supreme Commander Kra'ag.”

  The communication line was established, and Kra'ag’s powerful physique appeared projected as a fully textured three dimensional image standing next to his cousin, Mor'ag’s, similarly robust form.

  “Good hunting, my cousin; I have some excellent news,” said Mor'ag enthusiastically. “We have located the exact position of a quellium deposit that is almost one hundred percent pure.

  “Yes,” Kra'ag said, with a grin, “that is excellent news. What system is it in? I will acquire it myself, and then Suh’jarr—the Jiyarri Emperor—or any of the Archon, such as Great Solg, will trade me more Kad’jiah-class ships if the purity account is accurate.”

  “I believe your present position is just a quarter home world rotation away from our Accadian capitol, my Lord,” stated Mor'ag as he verified the location. “I have arranged a section of the treaty with the Varlon Senate that is to our advantage. The Varlon will likely turn over the star system in question to us. As you know, they will turn over every fifth world taken or occupied to us, per our treaty, as long as we have joint military operations in the same sector.”

  “You are quite the sly one, Mor'ag,” Kra’ag said. “I will divert my course then. Eventually, I will send the other ships to you in order to help defend our capitol world—or you may send them to reinforce our task forces planning to attack the Betellians or the Calyx. I will divert to the coordinates that you provide. En route, I will make a request to the Varlon for that system, per the treaty. What do the locals call it?”

  As Mor'ag began to answer, he went over to an information console and began to send a coded coordinate transmission to Kra'ag. “The Varlon designate it by a few symbols in their language, and the Alliance of Worlds calls it Quellus Borealis. I understand it was a territory granted by the Hegemony. Evidently, they knew of its likely mineral content and probably selectively mined it in the past.”

  “Yes, speaking of a member of this Hegemony—the Karratins, supposedly one of the more advanced in this galaxy … it seems their ships are not all that powerful, at least the ones I encountered earlier when we first crossed into the galaxy. The ships were very mobile and their shield technology was impressive for smaller ships, and they were well constructed, but they had little weaponry. They did not last that long. My helmsman believes they were exploratory or science cruisers, not warships. Your earlier information had little data on their ship types, Mor'ag.”

  “Yes, from what little we have learned, the Karratins have been diverting time and effort into exploring other dimensions and not as much to expanding into their local space,” replied Mor'ag. “I have found out that the Karratins posses phasing technology almost on par with the Jiyarr. As a result, we have only a few reports on their ships, since they are not all in this dimension and our ships’ scanners and sensors do not usually allocate sensor time or scans to locating such ships. Much of our original information of the Karratin people comes from the Jiyarr and their earlier interactions with the Hegemony.”

  Kra’ag said, “I have been told we have received the location via the hyperspace accelerated communication relay system you have been establishing. The system is on the other side of the galaxy in the opposite galactic quadrant. These Jiyarr ships will only take several hours to divert course there. I will continue our conversation about the status of our plans when I return to New Acadia with a pure portion of the quellien crystal deposits,” he concluded.

  The image faded from Mor’ag’s chamber, and he arranged for a message to be sent to the Varlon indicating that the Supreme Governor Kra’ag would soon be communicating to them. He sent the notice as a way of smoothing his superior’s entrance into the Varlon politics that he had become accustomed. Mor'ag knew getting the Varlon to transfer this Quellus planet would likely take a few days. He did not want to displease Kra'ag with such news, so he would now need to have a discussion with one of the leading Varlon senators, as the new emperor who had united the major factions within the Varlon government was still assuming power.

  C HAP TE R 2 6

  SILENT RUNNING AND ALLI

  ANCE OF WORLDSCOUNTERATTACKS

  The Phoenix was passing close to the orbit of the fourteenth planet in the system as some of the last of the more distant task force ships rendezvoused with her. The Phoenix passed over the white, ammonialaden clouds of the gas giant as it descended to a layer of more hydrogenrich clouds below. The hydrogen would provide additional fuel for the auxiliary fusion generators and the Nova weapon. Sheppard wanted to make sure that the Phoenix had multiple firing capabilities for the Nova cannon.

  The expanded task force temporarily mobilized in the orbit of the fourteenth planet. Including twenty various cruiser-class ships, four dreadnaughts, and a battlecarrier, an assault cruiser with three brigades of space marines. The group had split into two task forces by order of Commodore Sheppard. One group of approximately twenty ships were to engage the Varlon directly in space and draw the lead ships out so the secondary task force of five ships, including the two kilometer long assault cruiser Platus and the Phoenix, would head directly for QB7. Several additional reinforcement ships would arrive over the next two days.

  167 Even though Alliance of Worlds forces outnumbered the Varlon ships, it usually required three Alliance of Worlds starships to match an equivalent class of Varlon starcraft. This was due to the combination of the Varlon’s technological advantages, including their defense screens and chameleon field. Just as importantly, their organo-crystalline hull alloy, called Spunril, also gave them an advantage in combat. This Spunril was more effective in dissipating and absorbing energy and more flexile against physical strikes than even the reinforced transtitanium alloy used by the Alliance of Worlds. The Varlon ships also tended to be somewhat larger than the Alliance of Worlds counterparts, but not any less maneuverable because of their size.

  The Varlon even had one of those dreaded H-cl
ass, as the Alliance of Worlds had designated them. The H-class was really a super dreadnaught by Alliance reckoning. It was a rhomboid structure over fifteen thousand meters across in its largest diameter. It was much larger than the Alliance of Worlds Galaxy- or Constellation-class starships, and it took five of those types of dreadnaughts just to battle an H-class. The H-class’s primary cannons tended to rip lesser ships apart if the H-class successfully targeted and hit twice with their plasma weapons before the cruiser type could divert auxiliary power into shielding energy.

  Governor Golda, QB7’s planetary governor was now in a secure underground facility and a communications center had recently been reestablished. Commodore Sheppard looked at a three-dimensional holo-image as the equipment the governor had access to communicate was outdated and could not transmit the necessary data feed to his office’s imager to make it appear she was in his office.

  “Governor Golda, I see you have survived,” Sheppard said. “I will be able to send troops in the next few hours.”

  “Commodore Sheppard, that’s the best news I’ve heard today. I’m sorry I was not available about an hour ago when your communication officer tried to get a signal to us. My security staff and I were trying to repel two Varlon soldiers. The Varlon forced us out of my offices and into an emergency control bunker. We need your help as soon as possible; the situation is dire. I have few military companies and units left. Some ships have escaped, though, as the Varlon do not seem to be following evacuation craft as long as they avoid the Varlon ships.”

  “I was planning to wait until we had at least a few more starships, but I can see from your situation and what our sensor data tells us that I will have to retaliate now, before the Varlon set up garrison facilities in preparation for occupation. Will you be able to help us coordinate our landing forces, Governor?” Sheppard asked.

  The governor replied, “I will make what arrangements I can with my staff to help yours. You will also need to contact General Idar. He and his staff are responsible for the implementation of planetary defense. I have the frequency bands and codes he is using for communication. He was also forced from his original headquarters to a temporary base.”