by Don Viecelli
With every nuclear denotation against his energy shield, the Command Center shook violently with the ship sending loose objects into the air. “Damage report!” Jason calmly said to his XO, Commander Doug Martin.
Doug quickly checked his status monitors and queried AIC for any serious problems on the warship. “Nothing serious to report, Admiral! The ship is holding steady. Energy shield at maximum level. All weapons still firing!”
“Very well, Commander. Check with Potter and see if all Zoltu fighters made it out of the hangar. We have new orders to start firing the Kinetic Energy Missiles at the Yoyka warships. Make sure our fighters are out of the way.”
“On it Admiral!” Doug touched his comlink button on his ear and spoke. “Transfer me to Commander Potter!”
A moment later, Commander Susan Potter was on the comlink. “Yes, XO, what is it?”
Doug could hear the tension in her voice. He knew what she was going through at the moment. Her fighter squadrons were all in the battle fighting for their lives. Many of them would not return to the ship. “The Captain is going to fire KEMs at the Yoyka warships. Have your pilots clear a line of sight when the firing coordinates are sent out. Do you copy?”
“I copy, XO. Sending orders now to all squadrons. Sir, how is the battle going?”
“It’s bad out there, Commander. I’ve never seen anything like it. How many fighters have you lost?”
“Twenty percent lost or damaged, sir. But the enemy loses are worst. We’re giving them hell, sir.”
“Hell is what the enemy is about to experience, Commander. “We’re firing the KEM’s now!”
*****
High Commander Anahta was concerned for Emperor Rahta and his imperial dreadnaught, the Yoykan Malee Ta, once again. It was inconceivable this could be happening so soon after they lost the first dreadnaught just a short time ago. He had to advise Rahta now to retreat.
“Imperial Leader, we must consider withdrawing our fleet!”
Rahta turned in his seat with hatred in his eyes. “There will be no withdrawal! We can still destroy these worthless androids and the race that created them. Make sure our Spitka fighters have fired all their nanomachine missiles at their planet. Then order them to attack the Holtu warships without mercy!”
Anahta hoped Rahta was right—maybe they could still win this space battle with one final thrust. He looked at the battle results pouring in on his monitors. Thirty percent of his warships destroyed or too damaged to continue fighting. Thirty-five percent of their Spitka fighters and crews lost. The Holtu seemed to have suffered ten percent or so less losses. He could only guess the reasons for the disparity.
The dreadnaught took another flurry of missile strikes. The warship shook from the shockwave effects. Anahta straightened himself in his seat. He looked one more time at his holographic war board. They were still surrounded by Holtu warships. The ones in front of his fleet were still struggling to rejoin the main battlefront after the NEP strikes, but somehow they were doing just that. Impossible as it seemed, the Holtu must have non-android crewmembers operating the warships now. Anahta should have anticipated that possibility, but he did not. It also means the enemy Zoltu fighters are made up of mixed race pilots as well. Anahta resolved himself to try and take whatever advantage he could while the Holtu fleet in front of him was still somewhat disorganized.
The real problem was the new Holtu fleet of warships that appeared behind his fleet and were attacking with fury. “We must direct most of our weapons against the warship fleet behind us, Imperial Leader. They are firing all their weapons at our warships causing tremendous damage.”
Rahta looked at the battle scenes on his viewscreen. He could see how many new Holtu warships and Zoltu fighters had joined the space battle. He still felt they could be defeated. “Direct our Spitka fighters to attack the new fleet while we finish off the fleet in front of us.”
Anahta responded, “The Spitkas are low on weapons fire. Some of them must return to their ships and get rearmed.”
Rahta would not hear of this. “Order those Spitkas without weapons to ram the Holtu warships immediately. They will become heroes to the Yoykan Empire upon their deaths!”
Anahta could not believe what had just been ordered. He was about to object when several warships on his screen suddenly blew up in front of his eyes. “Something is happening, Imperial Leader!”
Rahta looked at his viewscreen. To his horror, warship after warship began to break apart and explode in fireballs of light and heat. Total destruction of his battle fleet was occurring for reasons he could not understand. “What is causing this?” he demanded.
Reports from other warship commanders flooded Anahta’s monitors. “A new type of missile is being used against us, Imperial Leader. It appears to travel near light speed and uses kinetic energy instead of nuclear energy to get past our energy shields. Our only defense against it is to change course immediately and often to avoid contact.”
Rahta was furious. The Holtu and their new allies had outsmarted them and now have a dangerous new weapon to use against them. His odds of success in this space battle had dropped considerably. “What do you suggest we do, High Commander?”
“We must withdraw our fleet to fight another time, Imperial Leader.”
Rahta considered his options. “We need one of these damaged Holtu warships to take back with us to learn how they achieved faster FTL speeds. And we need one of these new missile weapons to study.”
“I agree. I will issue orders to try and do this. But now we need to withdraw immediately before our ship is damaged.”
Anahta started to send the new orders to all warship commanders when an urgent message appeared on this monitor from First Officer Cadora. Anahta had not forgotten his mission; just very preoccupied by the battle. He read the message and turned to Rahta. “Good news, Imperial Leader! The assault troops accomplished their objective. They have control of the Qumru spaceship called Solruku. They found the Onutu technology on board and it appears to have the new FTL hyperdrive capability as well!”
Rahta was filled with new hope. Not all was lost after all. “Order them to leave now and return to the Yoykan star system. We must have this ship!”
Anahta sent new orders to Cadora. Then he prepared to withdraw what was left of his battle fleet before more were destroyed or damaged. They would have to fight their way out of this trap set by the Holtu fleet. It was now or never.
Chapter 52
USS Illinois
“KEM missiles launched!” Doug announced to Admiral Weston on the Bridge of the USS Illinois. The warship shook slightly as twenty high speed missiles rocketed out the launch tubes on one side of the ship.
“Time to impact?” James asked.
Doug checked his monitors. The USS Illinois was twenty thousand kilometers from the main space battle near Holtu. This was not far enough away to allow the KEMs to reach ninety-five percent light speeds for maximum impact potential. It went against logic to need greater distance from the enemy target to make a kill. The AIC weapon system had to increase the distance in flight time before changing course back to the targets. Doug understood the dichotomy, but it still caused a momentary pause in his response. “Fifteen seconds, Captain. The missiles have to reach maximum light speed before they reach their final targets.”
Doug checked the space coordinates assigned to each KEM missile and verified all were Yoyka warships duly targeted by the missiles. The calculations were intricate and only AIC could rapidly determine the location and speed of each Yoyka warship targeted by the missiles and report time of arrival and chance of success.
Doug and Admiral Weston watched intently on their tracking screens as the twenty KEM missiles traveled away from the battle for ten seconds before turning in a wide arch back towards the space battle. By now the missiles were approaching light speeds heading straight for their assigned targets. God help whoever it on those enemy ships, Doug thought in spite of his hatred for the enemy aliens.
Large flashes of light from fiery explosions lit up the dark heavens as eighteen enemy warships exploded from violent impacts by the small missiles. Two missiles missed their marks and self-destructed as they flew by. By all accounts, the results were spectacularly successful; a ninety percent kill rate. The crew on the Bridge of the USS Illinois erupted in cheers and fist pumps!
“We did it, Admiral, The missiles worked!” Doug announced.
“It certainly appears to be the case, XO. The enemy warships are scattering. Other Holtu Leaders are reporting the same results. We have the enemy on the run!”
Admiral Weston would have been even happier if the Yoyka imperial dreadnaught, the Yoykan Malee Ta, had been destroyed, but it was heavily surrounded by dozens of warships trying to protect it from the Holtu attackers. James vowed to do everything in his power to destroy that ship for what the original warship had done to his ship and crew near Mars. He turned to Doug and said, “Increase our speed and head for the Yoykan Malee Ta. I want that ship destroyed!”
*****
Panic was spreading among Rahta’s warship commanders. Never had he seen chaos as bad as this spread so quickly in his battle fleet. It was complete disaster in the making. He yelled at High Commander Anahta, “Get us out of here quickly!”
Anahta was doing his very best to appear in charge of the situation. The AI was reporting a steady stream of warship loses due to fatal explosions and massive hull damage from multiple missile impacts. He responded to Rahta, “I have ordered our commanders to withdraw from battle immediately, Imperial Leader, but we are still surrounded by Holtu warships and fighters.”
“How do you intend to achieve this?”
“We must force our way through the Holtu warships in front of us, Imperial Leader. They are still trying to recover from our NEP missile attack. We should be able to open a hole in their line for our warships to escape.”
“I order it so, Commander!” Rahta seemed to be losing control of his emotions.
Anahta sent the order to all his ship Commanders. It was the only option left to him. The attacking Holtu warships and fighters behind his fleet were still causing massive damage from missile and energy beam fire. Now some of them were close enough to fire railguns that could easily penetrate their shields. He knew they must fight their way out through the front line. He was confident of achieving only one advantage in this move; the enemy would not be able to fire their new missile weapon at his warships without hitting their own warships. It would give him time to escape with what is left of his fleet.
Everyone on the Bridge could see what was in front of them. More than one hundred Holtu warships and thousands of Zoltu fighters were still trying to reassemble into a front line to stop them from passing through. Anahta moved all his remaining warships and Spitka fighters closer together to form a wedge and aimed it at the heart of the Holtu fleet.
“We are taking heavy losses from behind, High Commander!” Rahta pointed out the obvious looking at the viewscreens.
“It cannot be helped, Imperial Leader. At least the Holtu have not fired anymore of their new kinetic missile weapons. We will break through this line!”
*****
The ranking Human officer on board the Iconda watched in dismay on his viewscreen at what was headed his way. The whole Yoyka enemy fleet was attacking their line. They had taken tremendous losses, but were still capable of putting up a fight. They were firing all their weapons at the approaching Yoyka battle fleet. Unfortunately, there were no experienced Holtu Leaders conscious to issue orders. Inexperienced Qumru and Human officers were now in control of their warships and Zoltu fighters. They did the best they could, but it was clear they would not be able to stop the armada headed straight for them. They collectively made the wise decision at the last moment to open their lines to let the Yoyka fleet pass through and hopefully allow the Holtu fleet behind the Yoyka forces to fire more of their KEM missiles. Even so, many Holtu warships outnumbered by the enemy were destroyed or damaged by heavy railgun projectiles fired at them by the passing Yoyka fleet.
The Iconda made one more desperate attempt to stop the Yoykan Malee Ta from escaping the trap. It opened fire with everything it had as the imperial dreadnaught passed by, but heavy railgun fire from the dreadnaught ripped the Iconda to pieces. In the process the Command Center was totally destroyed and everyone on the Bridge was killed instantly. The Iconda was heavily damaged and put out of commission along with numerous other Holtu warships. It drifted aimlessly away in space.
*****
“We’ve made it through, Imperial Leader!” Anahta said to Rahta. It appeared his plan had worked. The Yoyka battle fleet had opened up a large hole in the Holtu front line that allowed them to escape the trap. Anahta ordered all warship commanders to call in their Spitka fighters. They began to increase their speed to enter hyperspace and escape this star system. It almost worked perfectly until the AI announced, “More enemy missiles have been fired. They will hit our fleet unless we take evasive action.”
Anahta did not have to give any orders to the AI control system. It automatically made the necessary course correction to try and avoid enemy missiles. Unfortunately, there were too many Yoyka warships in close proximity to the Yoykan Malee Ta under orders to protect the Emperor. The enemy KEM missiles hit multiple warships around them causing tremendous explosions and fatal damage. Large fragments flew in every direction hitting the imperial dreadnaught and ripping large sections from the ship. Alarms sounded everywhere. The AI announced the dreadnaught engines had been destroyed. They must abandon ship before the self-destruct sequence killed them all.
“We must leave the ship, Imperial Leader!” Anahta said pointing the way to the escape pod in the Command Center.
“Where will we go?” Rahta asked as he was led away from the Bridge.
“We must try and make it to the Solruku spaceship, Imperial Leader. It is the only ship with the new FTL hyperdrive. It is nearby.”
Anahta had already decided to use the Solruku as a possible escape plan when he thought they would not make it through the Holtu fleet. It was the perfect plan if all seemed lost. The Solruku had already left its space docking platform. The Holtu would assume the ship was trying to get away from the Yoyka attack. In all the chaos, no one would think to try and stop the spaceship from leaving the star system. He had sent orders for Cadora to have the ship wait for them nearby before jumping to hyperspace. It would only take a short time to reach the Solruku if he could get the Emperor, the officers on the Bridge and himself away from the dying Yoykan Malee Ta before it self-destructed. The rest of the crewmembers and pilots on the ship would have to save themselves as best as they could.
The escape pod was located near the Bridge in a special compartment. It could hold up to ten Yoyka officers. Everyone that was still on the Bridge made in to the pod. “Get inside and strap yourself in a seat, Imperial Leader!” Anahta made sure everyone was inside before closing the hatch. He found a seat and strapped himself in. Then he punched the automated firing sequence button. The pod exploded out an escape tube away from the ship successfully avoiding any objects in its path. Anahta entered the space coordinates for where he was to meet the Solruku and the pod fired its engine and was on its way.
The space battle was almost over. The Yoyka had lost this fight. Anger was visible on everyone’s face. Rahta looked like he wanted to kill everyone in the escape pod. He became even bitterer when the Yoykan Malee Ta exploded in a final fiery flash of light and then was gone.
Chapter 53
Onutu
The Solruku was right where it was supposed to be. Anahta guided the escape pod from the Yoykan Malee Ta into the open hangar door. “We’ve landed safely on the Solruku, Imperial Leader. We can debark and find First Officer Cadora who has control of this ship.”
“I need to get to the Command Center and see what happened to the rest of my fleet!”
Anahta did not state the obvious—the fleet was lost. The Holtu forces beat them sound
ly. This was the first time in Yoyka history that a foreign alien power defeated them in a space battle. “As you wish. Follow me.”
Everyone departed the escape pod and looked for an exit out of the large hangar bay. The hangar was mostly empty except for the Yoyka assault troop transports that Cadora had moved inside the ship before leaving the space docking platform.
Anahta placed a call on the comlink for First Officer Cadora to send someone to escort the Emperor and the rest of them to the Bridge. Two soldiers quickly entered the hangar and were surprised to see their Emperor standing before them. They saluted everyone and bowed before Rahta. “We have been ordered to take you to the Command Center, Imperial Leader.”
Rahta said nothing; just indicated for the soldiers to lead the way. Anahta and the rest of the group followed. They walked to the elevator and ascended to the top deck where the Command Center Bridge was located. Cadora was waiting for them to exit the lift. “Welcome to the Solruku, Imperial Leader; High Commander Anahta. I turn over control of this ship to you.”
“We must leave this star system now, First Officer!” Anahta said with some urgency.
“I have ordered the Qumru slaves, Utor and his three officers, to be ready to leave as soon as you give the order, High Commander. They know how to operate this ship.”