Nanomachine War series Box Set

by Don Viecelli

  Doug answered a few questions before ending the vidcall. He decided to visit with Lieutenant Commander Susan Wellsey, now Wing Commander, at Flight Control on Deck Level 11 in person. He advised Commander Drake, his XO, he would return to the Bridge after he visited Commander Wellsey.

  On the ride down the elevator, Doug considered what might happen next. Vice Leader Di was waiting for mission orders on when and where to attack the Yoyka next. Doug knew it would not be the emperor’s home world in the Yoykan solar system. It would be too heavily protected by Yoyka warships. The Yoykan Empire controlled two solar systems near each other. Doug was confident they would attack the second Yoyka solar system called Tekoy. It was two thousand light years closer to the center of the galaxy from Yoykan. It would only take three hours in hyperspace to reach the solar system from Qum. He needed to be ready for the mission at a moment’s notice.

  Doug reached the Flight Control Tower and entered the room. Everyone stood up and saluted him before he could say anything. “At ease! Continue what you were doing.”

  Doug saw Wing Commander Wellsey in her office and walked through the open door.

  Commander Wellsey stood up to greet Doug and saluted. She was only five feet six inches tall with a thin figure, dark hair and eyes. She looked at Doug with a sight frown. “Commodore, what can I do for you sir?”

  Doug saluted her back and sat down in the chair before her desk. He took of his hat. “Commander Wellsey, I had a few spare minutes and wanted to see how your flight crews are doing before I return to the Bridge.”

  “Very well, sir. All Zoltu fighters and crews are safely back from training exercises and ready to go. May I ask when we will be leaving Qum, sir?”

  “Not sure yet, Commander, but soon. We’re just waiting for orders from High Leader Altek.

  “We’ll be attacking the Yoykan solar systems now, won’t we sir?”

  “Yes. We will. That’s why I’m here; to let you know we could be leaving at any moment and I want to be sure your squadrons are ready.”

  “We are always ready to fight the Yoyka, sir,” she replied. “But I must ask you, sir. Is it true we can be brought back to life if we die in battle like the Qumru?”

  “It is definitely true, Commander. They brought back my wife and son and thousands of others who died on Mars. It will be hard for most people to accept this until they die and are brought back to life with the Onutu technology. I have a hard time believing this is possible myself.”

  Commander Wellsey looked out at the men and women hard at work in the Control Tower. She knew some or all of them could die in the battles to come, but this time she did not fear their loss as much as she did before. She smiled at Doug. “It will be an honor to die for my country and world at least once, Commodore.”

  Doug smiled at the irony of it all and stood up to leave. “Carry on, Commander.”

  Chapter 52

  Offensive Begins

  High Leader Altek was standing on the Bridge of the Iconda when First Leader Orentu announced, “The surveillance probes monitoring the Yoyka warship fleets in the Yoykan and Tekoy solar systems are showing signs of movement, High Leader.”

  Altek immediately turned on his viewscreen that displayed the current Yoyka warship fleet status in both Yoykan and Tekoy solar systems. His probes have been reporting all movements in both systems for days in preparation for the Holtu Alliance attacks to come. He was surprised at what he was seeing.

  “Two hundred warships seem to be leaving Tekoy and Yoykan to meet up. Where are they going?” Altek asked.

  Orentu pulled up the latest communications they had received from the Yoyka fleet comchannels they have been monitoring since the AI, Shonya, on the Solruku had deciphered the Yoyka encryption codes. The Yoyka never bothered to change the encryption since they first began monitoring all Yoyka warship communications. It was a major breakthrough in their war against the Yoyka. It allowed the Holtu to predict where the Yoyka warships were located and where they planned to go.

  Orentu read the latest report. He looked at Altek with fear on his face. “The Yoyka are sending two hundred warships to attack Holtu!”

  Altek was taken back for just a second. This somehow did not make any tactical sense to him. Why would the Yoyka do this and leave their solar systems less protected from a Holtu attack they knew would come sooner than later?

  Altek ran the numbers through his head. Holtu was 33,000 light years from Tekoy. It would take the Yoyka at least thirty-three hours at FTL hyperdrive speed to reach Holtu. Qum was 30,000 light years away, so he could beat the Yoyka to Holtu by three hours if he left now.

  The Holtu Military Alliance had 292 warships to fight the Yoyka fleet, most of which were now at Qum. This left Holtu unprotected from Yoyka attack.

  The Yoyka had close to 200 warships protecting Tekoy and another 200 protecting the Yoykan solar system. He had to make a decision fast. He put a vidcall to Vice Leader Di and Commodore Martin. Within seconds both were on the comdisplay in front of him.

  “Vice Leader Di; Commodore Martin, I am sending you the latest status reports of the Yoyka warship fleets at Yoykan and Tekoy. Things have suddenly changed. The Yoyka are sending two hundred warships to attack Holtu. One hundred are coming from Tekoy.”

  Altek explained what they knew from the latest surveillance probe reports. He asked what they thought before making a final decision.

  Di responded, “We must send a fleet to Holtu to stop them from destroying our home worlds.”

  Doug asked, “Are you sure this is not a fake attack? It doesn’t make any sense to do this knowing we could attack them at any moment.”

  “I thought the same thing, but the deciphered Yoyka communications confirms their actions.”

  Doug thought about it some more and said, “You don’t have any choice. You must send some of our fleet to protect your home world. We can delay our attacks on Tekoy and Yoykan until you get back.”

  Altek took a moment to analyze all the information he had and made his decision. “I will leave with one hundred forty warships, Groups 1 and 3, to beat the Yoyka to Holtu. If this is a fake attack, it will become apparent soon enough. This does not change our original plans for Tekoy. Vice Leader Di will continue with our plans to attack Tekoy with Groups 2 and 4. You have an advantage now. There are only one hundred Yoyka warships defending their solar system. Use this to your advantage. You must attack now!”

  Altek ended the call. The Yoyka may think what they are doing is the best way to defeat the Holtu, but it only increases the odds against them as far as he could determine. There was only one way to find out. He immediately ordered one hundred forty warships, Groups 1 and 3, to get ready to depart for Holtu to prevent the Yoyka from trying to destroy Holtu once again. His departure time was critical no matter what happens.

  Vice Leader Di was in command of 140 warships as part of Groups 2 and 4. He agreed with Altek’s decision to attack Tekoy immediately. The Yoyka still had 100 warships protecting the Tekoy solar system. This would be the first large space battle in Yoyka space territories since the war with the Yoyka began. It was time to show the Yoyka they no longer controlled the galaxy like they thought. Di passed the order on to his Fleet Leaders, which included ten UN built warships with all human crewmembers and 30 ships from Synor. He trusted Commodore Martin and the other human commanders to fight with all their strength and abilities, just as they have done in previous battles.

  A vidcall came in just before they were about to depart for Tekoy. Di answered the call, “Commodore Martin, what do you need?”

  “Nothing, Vice Leader Di. I just want you to know we’re all ready to help you defeat the Yoyka.”

  “Let us hope all goes as planned, Commodore.”

  “I still feel the Yoyka are up to no good, Vice Leader.”

  “You may be right. We will find out soon enough. Good hunting, Commodore Martin.”

  “Good hunting to you, too, Vice Leader Di.”

  Doug ended the call. It w
as time to prepare for battle.

  The Holtu fleet left Qum within the hour. Doug’s crewmembers and Zoltu fighter pilots were ready to teach the Yoyka what it means to fear one’s enemy. The Yoyka could no longer be allowed to control and terrorize a whole galaxy full of intelligent races that wanted to be left alone to live their lives as they wished without hurting a single other being. It was time to free the galaxy of the Yoyka menace.

  Doug studied the hologram of the Tekoy solar system. It contained nine planets, one of which was the second home world the Yoyka called Tekoy. The planet was larger than Earth, but smaller than Yoykan. The Yoyka had completely wiped out whatever race may have inhabited the planet hundreds of years ago. The current Yoyka population was around ten billion. There were two large gas giant planets similar to Saturn and Jupiter back home. The six remaining planets varied in size and distance from Tekoy. Most of the smaller planets were used for mining mineral resources needed for Yoyka military needs. The facilities would be destroyed if the attack was successful.

  “We are ready to exit hyperspace, Commodore,” XO Commander John Drake said looking at the navigation charts on his viewscreen.

  “Ready all weapon systems!” Doug ordered over his comlink to all departments.

  Doug checked with the AIC. “Control, verify energy shield is at full power.”

  “Energy shield at full power, Commodore,” Control answered in a calm female sounding voice.

  “Exiting hyperspace now!” XO Drake stated.

  One hundred forty Allied warships burst through hyperspace vortexes in fourteen groups, each in diamond shaped formations at different locations in the Tekoy solar system. The goal was to surprise and outflank any Yoyka warships that were guarding the Tekoy home world and other important planets. The original plan was to attack the Yoyka fleet with every weapon they had as they passed through the system in a hit and run mission. However, now that the Yoyka force was half the size they originally expected, the new plan was to cause as much destruction as they could before leaving the solar system.

  “Enemy warships engaging our fleet, Commodore!” Drake said now strapped tightly into his seat to the left of Doug.

  “Fire kinetic energy missiles at all stationary targets, Control!” Doug ordered.

  Doug looked at his viewscreen. His group of ten UN warships had exited hyperspace two hundred thousand kilometers from the Tekoy home world. At least twenty Yoyka warships were orbiting near the home planet. They began firing similar missiles at Doug’s fleet. Doug’s ships would pass by the Yoyka warships within seconds at the sublight speeds they were traveling. He ordered Control to fire half of his nuclear tipped missiles at the enemy warships as he closed the distance to the planet.

  Doug watched as the first launch of the KEM missiles reached their intended targets near the planet. Ten Yoyka warships that could not clear out of their orbits fast enough were hit by one or two KEM missiles that tore their ships apart in violent explosions. The warships that escaped the first missiles were soon hit by numerous nuclear missiles that could change direction and find their targets before exploding against the enemy energy shields. It took four or five direct hits to cause the shields to lose their energy and allow other missiles to penetrate the ship hulls and explode inside causing massive destruction and death.

  A few of the Yoyka warships that were protecting Tekoy were actually successful in firing their own missile loads at the approaching Allied warships; hitting four of Doug’s group.

  Doug watched in horror as two of his warships were completely destroyed with all hands on board. He knew the commanding officers and many of their crewmembers and felt the pain of losing more good men and women in battle.

  “Enemy missiles approaching our shields, Commodore. Firing laser antimissile defense systems now,” AI Control announced over the comspeakers.

  Doug watched his viewscreen as several nuclear missiles were headed his way. The laser beams took out most of them, but two missiles made it through hitting their energy shield and exploded causing intense vibrations that shook the ship hard.

  “Damage report?” Doug called out to his XO.

  “No major damage, sir! All systems still green!” Drake answered.

  Doug’s warships were passing the Tekoy home world by the time the vibrations stopped shaking the ship. Eight of the twenty Yoyka warships were still operational and firing their weapons at Doug’s ships. He ordered all warships to fire their electromagnetic projectile railguns as they came within range.

  The projectiles were launched at tremendous speeds; 20 kilometers per second. They sliced through the metal hulls of the enemy warships like butter with more kinetic destructive force than any nuclear explosion. The projectiles literally tore the warships and everything inside into thousands of little pieces; scattering debris like meteoroids in dark space.

  Doug watched as explosions finished off the Yoyka warships as he moved away from Tekoy and towards the sun. His next decision was to leave the solar system as originally planned to fight another day or finish the job now if they could. He looked at his viewscreen to see how the rest of the fleet was doing.

  “What is the status of the rest of the fleet?” he asked Drake.

  “I’m checking now. I’m waiting for a status report from Vice Leader Di.”

  While Doug waited he asked Control, “How many Yoyka warships are still operational?”

  Control took a moment to tally the battle results so far. “We have destroyed fifty of the Yoyka warships. Fifteen more are damaged or incapable of fighting. Thirty-five warships are still operational.”

  “What are our losses?” Doug asked.

  “We have lost twenty warships out of one hundred forty. Five more are seriously damaged.”

  Doug made a call to Di. “What are your orders, Vice Leader?”

  Di studied the results of the battle. He made his decision. “Attack the remaining Yoyka warships. We finish this now!”

  Doug was passing the order to his group commanders when Control interrupted the command. “More Yoyka warships have entered this solar system. They are attacking our fleet.”

  Doug looked at his viewscreen. Control was right. A large fleet of Yoyka warships were exiting hyperspace all around their fleet of warships. They were surrounded and greatly outnumbered. “It’s a trap!” he finally said to Drake. Those are the two hundred warships that were headed to Holtu. They baited us here!”

  Doug was furious at himself for not foreseeing this trap. Something must have tipped the Yoyka off. Whatever it was, the fleet was in serious danger. His first instinct was to try and escape with what was left of the fleet. Then he realized escape was not an option. The only option now was to destroy as many Yoyka warships as they could before dying.

  Chapter 53

  Battle Continues

  Vice Leader Di immediately recognized what had happened. The Yoyka fleet that was on its way to attack Holtu had turned back. This could not have been an accident. It was planned. They had been fooled by the Emperor Rahta.

  “What should we do, Vice Leader?” First Leader Miata asked studying the data on her viewscreen.

  “We have been drawn into a trap by the Yoyka forces. We must move our warships closer to the Yoyka home world and prepare to defend ourselves.”

  “What about escape?” Miata asked.

  “We will force a break through when we get a chance. They have surrounded us. We must defend ourselves as long as we can.”

  Di considered his options. They were few. Their only hope was that High Leader Altek knew what happened and was on his way to help them.

  Di turned to Miata. “Send the order to all Fleet Leaders to regroup near Tekoy!”

  Miata sent the message and confirmed, “I have sent the order to all Fleet Leaders to regroup near Tekoy, Vice Leader.”

  There was one other thing Di could do to make it more difficult for the Yoyka. He looked at Miata and said, “Send the order to release all our Zoltu fighters! Have them attack the Yoyka
warships!”

  Miata sent the new order to all Fleet Leaders to release the Zoltu fighters. At least they would not be caught helpless inside the warships during the battles to come, Miata thought.

  Di watched on his viewscreen as two hundred Yoyka warships entered the solar system and joined the thirty-five or so Yoyka warships still operational. Instead of winning this battle, they may now suffer a devastating loss if things did not change soon to their advantage. One thing was certain, though. Di would fight to the last warship if he must. Even death was preferable to letting the Yoyka continue to rule the galaxy. He would do everything in his power to destroy as many Yoyka warships as he could before accepting defeat.

  Doug received the orders sent by Di. He immediately ordered Wing Commander Susan Wellsey to release their Zoltu Wing Squadrons to fight in the battle. Each fighter carried twenty nuclear tipped missiles, ten sublight speed kinetic energy missiles and was equipped with high energy laser beam guns. Zoltu fighters could take down a warship if they could drain its energy shield in time to fire another missile.

  As the Holtu fleet regrouped near the planet Tekoy, Doug watched the fleet of Zoltu fighters form up into squadrons of ten each and head for the approaching Yoyka warships. Doug’s warship was circling the planet waiting for the Yoyka warships to get within firing range. At five hundred thousand kilometers, Doug received Di’s order to fire all their KEM missiles at the enemy warships. Hundreds of KEM missiles were fired at the same time. It took several seconds for the missiles to reach sublight speeds of one hundred fifty thousand kilometers per second; fast enough to cause massive damage to anything the missiles hit. In less than five seconds the first missiles would reach the Yoyka warships.