As Kerak watched the unfolding battle he was beginning to be impressed by the defensive network of the enemy ships. They were using primitive weapons but they were using them well. He knew that he is in for a good fight and his interest for the enemy increased with every passing moment.
The enemy ships had shielding and it was activated several arns before. His further attempts to try to scan them were being blocked as the ships launched counter measures.
The fleets were almost in to firing range.
As Ahia was preparing to give the fire order suddenly the alarms sounded.
“What is it?”
“Radiological signals detected my lord.”
He jumped from his seat. He knew that the shields of his ships could deflect the power but that was going for the battleships the cruisers and the destroyers. And even then it depended on the yield of the weapon.
“What!!! Where…?”
The centurion turned and with a look that foretold disaster just answered.
“All around us Sir, we are reading fifteen weapons.”
Before he could finish his sentence the battleship rocked hard.
In space a nuclear weapon doesn’t have the same power and effect as it does in atmosphere or better said as it did on Earth…There is no secondary shockwave, except from the parts of debris that are caught in the initial explosion, that at that moment move at astonishing speeds.
As the bombs read the unknown ships that entered their kill zone they activated immediately. Just seconds later all the outside observers could see was a sudden flash as the huge stored energy was released. There was no sound in space and nothing could be heard, but a lot could be seen.
The battleship, two of the destroyers and two light cruisers found them self directly on top of several warheads. Not even the powerful shields they had could help them in that situation. As the warheads detonated they were literally cut in half. All their crews noticed were a powerful shaking and the brilliant hot white light as they were vaporized. The smaller corvettes and frigates never had any chance only one from each managed to survive thanks to the fact that they were on the far edges of the formation but they too didn’t go unscathed. Of the seventeen ships that were racing towards their opponents just seconds ago ten were totally destroyed and all the others suffered huge damages.
And just as the bombs detonated the ten human ships fired. MAC rounds raced towards all ships in the fleet. When they got there they hit pieces of some and finished the remaining ships as the first salvo passed a second followed. In less than a minute where there were seventeen enemy ships just moments before now all that was left was debris, pieces of metal that were moving in to every direction.
As the human crews cheered on the Dacarian ships only silence rained.
Kerak was furious. Nineteen ships disappeared in just an arn. He was furious at himself. He underestimated his opponents and he paid a terrible price. It was strange that he even regretted his decision to go after that ship at all. But that thought stayed for just a second. Then he turned and gave the command.
“I want three corvettes and one destroyer to stay with the carrier. All other ships move to engage. I want all fighters from the carrier and from the ships launched immediately. They will form our screen. One air wing will stay here as support for the carrier battle group.”
His command was carried out immediately.
The carrier had an air wing of four hundred seraphines. Two hundred more were on board the other ships. Thirty remained to keep a watch over the five ships that were staying behind. The rest went in front of the fleet.
Thirty three ships went to meet the eleven ships.
And in the meantime sixteen other ships were silently closing in on the small group at the warp point. They still waited and watched as the battle unfolded. As the nineteen dacarian ships exploded, cheers of joy erupted on all ships.
Even Elisabeth on board the Prince Royal felt like leaping with joy. But she remained calm. This was only the start. She was surprised by the explosion and wondered how Sanders managed it. However he did it, it was timed perfectly.
“He must have used his load of warheads as mines. That means that he lost half his offensive fire power but it got a good result. It was brilliant. Just a little more time you bastards, just a little more time.”
As she watched she noticed that Jennings squadron stopped. Jennings was waiting for the enemy to reach the second mine field. That was going to be harder considering the large screen of fighters that were moving ahead of the fleet that was moving to intercept him. She watched the report on the ships that remained.
One battleship, one heavy cruiser, four light cruisers, three destroyers, four frigates and six corvettes were destroyed. Leaving the three corvettes and the destroyer that remained behind with the carrier meant that Jennings had three battleships, three heavy and six light cruisers, four destroyers, eight frigates and nine corvettes confronting him. He was outweighed both in tonnage and in firepower. But so far the result was astonishing and encouraging. He still didn’t suffer any loses and all of his ships were still in the fight, But as she watched the fleet moving in she knew that that will change.
One light year away the Eden defense fleet also watched the results of the battle. They were at the edge of the system ready to jump in if needed. It was contrary to the orders he was given but admiral Peck discussed with the leaders of the colony and they all agreed that if Earth falls and if the Proxima fleet loses Eden will follow it.
As he saw the opening shots in the battle and the destruction of third of the enemy ships he was pleased just as everyone else. He knew that by this time the battle in Sol was also probably started. He hoped that the news were as good there as they were here. He felt fear as he watched the large fleet that jumped in system and headed in to Sol, but after seeing the results of the nuclear warheads here he felt assured. The mine field around the warp point and earth was a thousand time stronger than the one here. If this caused such devastation then those ships were in for a hell of a surprise when they would exit the warp point.
He noticed that thirty three ships were headed towards the eleven ships that admiral Jennings had under his command. His information was showing results of things that already happened. Even with the satellites that were deployed in the distance between the two star systems it still took almost forty five minutes for the images to reach him. He could get the information in a heart beat if he went to full power but on passive sensors that was the maximum at this distance. It took him just a minute to make his decision.
“Inform governor Ivanov that we are jumping in to Proxima.”
“Yes Admiral.”
The Admiral inhaled.
“Open a link with the fleet.”
Several seconds later he got confirmation that the link was established.
He waited a second and then addressed them.
“As you all know the battle for Earth and Proxima is under way. Our fellow soldiers are right now fighting for everything we hold precious. We have been ordered to stay away. But we all know that if they fall we will be next. Our only chance for survival, this colony’s only chance of surviving is the victory in this battle. That is why I spoke with governor Ivanov and the provisional government and we all agreed that we should join the fight. We will give our best, we will give our all, and by god we will prevail. Good luck and Good speed.”
He finished his speech and then after a second gave his command.
“Jump to Proxima.”
In several moments all ships started accelerating and opened their hyperspace windows. To an outside observer, to those that watched the fleet through telescopes it would have looked as if the ships elongated as they entered the blue vortexes. That was the result of the dilating effect of the achieving and surpassing light speed.
The technology was new. The best that they could achieve was a speed 15 times faster than the speed of light. The only exception to that were the Alteran ships that were capable of far
greater speeds. The windows to hyperspace that the fleet opened were their creation. The other ten ships locked with them in order to be able to enter and move through hyper space at that speed. It was all controlled by the AI’s who did all the needed calculations. But it could only be done at short ranges. The distance to Proxima was less than a light year. It was I distance that they would cross in a little over an hour. They all hoped that they would be there in time.
27 June 13:57 hours
Sol System Warp Point
Admiral Johnson watched carefully at the disposition of the fleet. All ships reported ready and were on full alert since the moment the news reached them. Two hundred and thirty three ships most of them Los Angeles class, were waiting in formation around the warp point. Forty of the civilian ships from the Alteran fleet were also with them. They were there to house the vipers that couldn’t be placed on the ships of the fleet. They were acting like carriers and staying in the background. It was an improvised decision, considering the need for fighters and the lack of fleet carriers. The three alteran ships, the battleship and the two cruisers were leading three separate battle groups. Each had eighty ships under its command.
The nerves of everyone were at the point of braking. It was hard to just sit and do nothing to wait.
“Are there any news Anaya?”
The AI turned towards her commander. Her face was serious as well.
“Nothing new Sir, the scans are not showing any changes in the status of the warp point.”
“Wonder why they are delaying so long. I hope Third Fleet is ok. Jennings is a good man.”
The AI remembered the first human commander that stepped on the decks of Argus after twelve thousand cycles. She was fond of him. He was a good officer and an excellent captain.
“I’m sure they are fine. He is an excellent officer…and a good man. You all are.”
Johnson was surprised by the emotions he noticed in her words. He always knew she was much more than just a hologram, a computer program. She told them that the Alterans considered the AI’s sentient. All who had a chance to meet her agreed with that assessment. He thought he got to know her well in the time he served as commander of the Argus. But there were always moments like this one, moments when she would surprise him, moments when her humanity will come to the surface.
“Thank you Anaya.”
She smiled.
“You are welcomed.”
The moment was brief but it broke the spell and the nervousness he felt. It was enough to make him relax. He turned back to the screen. He had a discussion with everyone. While the battle that would happen in Proxima would probably take more planning the one here was simple.
All ships had order to open fire the moment the Dacarian ships transition through. There was to be no waiting so there weren’t many rooms for putting plans. This was going to be a kind of battle that reminded him of the battles of the eighteenth and the nineteenth century. Tight formation that stands on the battle field without fear of the enemy, formation that fires and advances no matter what is standing before them. The only difference was that no it was ships and not soldiers. There were several meters of metal between the soldiers and the enemy rounds. The only thing that would happen that they knew for sure was that the mine field will explode as soon as the last ship transits through to this system.
Everyone hoped that it would cause havoc among the enemy, but they prepared for the worse scenario. That is why there were ships placed in the asteroid belt and in orbit around Earth. But if the fight reaches to them he knew that neither he nor anyone else present here will see it. If the enemy reaches to that point it would mean that they are all dead. He hoped that it will not come to that. But he also knew that if it comes no one will cry or be afraid not in the fleet he commanded. They all were prepared to fight to the last, to die. In a way he felt the same as eons ago the Spartans must have felt at the battle with the Persians. This was where they were drawing the line. This was the place where the destiny of humanity will be decided.
As he was looking he noticed Anaya stir.
“They are coming.”
It was a statement. He noticed the readings of the warp point. Something was happening although there was nothing there yet. The readings were of the scale. It was obvious that something big was close to coming though.
“Give me a link to all ships. And be prepared to send the signal to activate the warheads.”
“Yes admiral.”
The link was established and he took a second to gather his thoughts.
“This is Admiral Johnson. You all know what is coming through that point. We all know what they want. And we all know our duty.
Long time ago at a moment similar to these three hundred Spartans stood against an army of a million men. They were the last line of defense. We all know what happened to them. We all know the legend that was born at that moment. All history, all legends start just like this. There are always some brave few, that no matter what happens will never back down, never retreat, that are prepared to die for what they believe in, to die for their home.
As I look at you now I see those brave men standing here today. We all heard the president’s speech…we all know what is behind us. We all know that this is where we draw the line. That today is the moment when we say enough, the day when we stay stop. We are the last defense, the last thing that stands before the night.
Today we are the Spartans and I say they will not pass!!!”
He turned towards Anaya. She was waiting for him.
“So it begins.”
“Yes so it does.”
As the admiral finished his speech all ships powered up their weapons and shields. And then they waited.
The warp point shimmered for several moments and then it suddenly expanded. It all took just a second.
Where there was nothing before suddenly hundreds ships started transitioning simultaneously. It was an unbelievable site. A site that was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
“Do we have the numbers Anaya?”
“Yes admiral counting five hundred and sixty one ships.”
As the ships transitioned and moved away from the warp point, an eerie silence settled for a second.
“Holy mother of God…Look at the size of the bastards.”
Johnson knew that they had a minute until the Dacarians settled and all their systems started functioning again. He gave the order.
“Activate the mine field.”
Anaya send the signal before he even spoke the words. She more than anyone else knew the real power of the fleet that was arrayed outside. There was no time to waste.
And at the same time all ships started firing with the long range weapons. Hundreds of MAC rounds flew towards the still unsuspecting enemy.
Vokar watched as the fleet came out. He always hated these moments. The warp points always impacted the ships systems and interfered with the sensors. The ships were literally blind and deaf for almost an arn. It was the time that was needed for the systems to come back on line.
He expected the call from the scout fleet as soon as they came out. He was surprised that there was nothing.
“Begin scanning and launch the air wings.”
“Yes admiral.”
He knew that the results would be incomplete thanks to the interference but he wanted to be sure that there was nothing out there.
“I want the…”-but he never managed to finish the sentence.
When they planned the mission they were acting arrogant, sure in their superiority, in the power of their technology, they never prepared for an eventuality that the warp point would be guarded. A warp point was always dangerous to cross and the battles that were fought in order to take control of the other side if it was defended always demanded enormous sacrifices. The fact that he never prepared for that came to his mind the moment that all the alarms started screaming, the moment when the legionary manning the sensors literally screamed.
“We have Radiologic
al alarm!!! Detecting thousands signals!!!”
“Raise shields!!!”
But the order came much too late. And as he noticed the readings of the energy, he knew that even if they were up they would only prolong the agony.
Some of the ships that transitioned first managed to do that in time. They were the lucky ones. They also started firing almost at once. But then the second nightmare came as they detected the signals of almost three hundred ships that opened fire on them.
As the shields of the Ahairna started to come on line outside for a brief moment a new star was born as two thousand four hundred and eighty nuclear warheads detonated simultaneously. They released power of millions of megatons, power that would have devastated a planet if it was released on one.
The six miles long dreadnought had huge amounts of armor. It was fully capable of fighting even without its shields. It had forty meters of Trilik a metal alloy that was the strongest the Dacarians knew and it was composed of materials the humans never saw before. It had small traces of the metal they knew as titanium and also carbon and several other lighter elements.
But not even that armor could withstand the huge amount of power that was released against it. It melted in seconds.
The ship rocked and shacked and it slowly fell apart. Voran and his crew didn’t feel a thing. Their death was quick as the dreadnought found itself on top of one of the ten warheads that had a power yield of one gigaton. As it detonated it literally tore the ship apart.
As the blast hit the fleet the first ones to go were the ten fuel ships. They had weaker armor plates and even though they had their shields up they were drained away immediately after the explosions as debris and the power of several nuclear warheads that were near hit them. The fuel they carried ignited and only increased the power of the explosion. They all exploded within seconds. The transport ships that were near them were hit by debris from them huge pieces that tore through their shields and cut deep in to their skin. Armor plates evaporated and the heat stroke deep inside. In just second’s sixty million legionaries, a number that was enough to conquer several worlds over, a loss that was unheard off, died.
The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) Page 35