Nanomachine War series Box Set

by Don Viecelli

  Chapter 60

  Final Phase

  The sporadic Zoltu fighter sneak attacks in the Yoykan solar system continued nonstop for the next twenty-four hours. It was clear to High Leader Altek after just a few hours that a massive fleet attack would be needed to accomplish the remaining objectives of the war. To defeat the Yoykan Empire would require more drastic action.

  Altek laid out his final battle plans. The hologram was available for all his senior leaders to see in the Command Centers on board their own warships. Altek spoke using the vidcom as he went over the attack plan in detail.

  “We have weakened the Yoykan fleet to acceptable numbers. They have two hundred warships left to defend their home world against our two hundred thirty warships. We do not have to destroy all of their warships to attack Yoykan with our Nanoboid Missile weapon. Unfortunately, they have three stationary military defense platforms protecting their home world that must be taken out.

  “We will attack on four fronts with Groups One, Three and Four exiting hyperspace at the space coordinates you have been assigned. This will draw the Yoyka fleet out to meet us in open space between the two large gas giant planets. We must keep the fleet busy while we send another force from Group Two to attack Yoykan directly”

  Senior Leader Erlatu interrupted from his warship, “How do you propose to get past those space platform defenses?”

  Altek paused to bring up an image of the Orca drone for everyone to see on their display screens. “The Orca drones can be equipped with nuclear missiles—or kinetic energy missiles! So far we have only used the nukes to take down enemy warship shields. I plan to send a dozen Orcas, fully cloaked, with five KEMs each. The Orcas are programmed to exit hyperspace close enough to fire their KEMs directly at the platforms. The KEM’s will be travelling near light speed when they hit the platforms.

  “Two minutes after the Orcas fire on the platforms, two warships will exit hyperspace near Yoykan. While we are distracting the Yoykan fleet, these two warships will fire fifty Nanoboid Missiles each at the planet. The missile heads are filled with the new Nanoboid drones. They will explode above the planet in the atmosphere and spread the Nanoboid drones worldwide. All living Yoykans on the planet will die within ten days. Nothing can stop the Nanoboids until we send the termination code.”

  No one objected to the plan. It had been discussed many times and the approval for the mass genocide came from all Military Alliance government leaders. It was the guilty sentence imposed for Yoykan war crimes against trillions of innocent alien lives already destroyed by the Yoykan Empire.

  Only one question remained. UN General Popov asked it. “Who will deliver the final Nanoboid Weapons?”

  Altek answered, “Admiral Martin on the USS Illinois and Admiral Potter on the USS Washington have both volunteered for this assignment. If there are no more questions, we leave for Yoykan immediately!”

  *****

  The first indications of a massive Holtu attack were reported by the small fleet of Yoyka Imperial warships patrolling near the twelfth planet; a small dwarf, heavily cratered, moon-size body. Seventy Holtu warships surrounded the ten unlucky Yoyka warships and literally pounded them into dust within seconds, but not before alarms of the arrival were sent to Imperial Leader Rahta’s flagship, the Yoykan Malee Tre.

  “The Holtu fleet has arrived!” High Commander Anahta announced to Emperor Rahta. “I have ordered the nearest warship fleet to engage the enemy, Imperial Leader.”

  Rahta immediately looked at his viewscreen. The enemy warships were located almost twelve billion miles from his home world. His only surprise was the small number of attackers. “Where is the rest of their fleet? They cannot hope to defeat us with only seventy ships!”

  Anahta was about to respond when three other messages appeared on his comdisplay. He pulled up the hologram of the solar system. More Holtu enemy icons colored in red appeared on the hologram. “They are attacking us in three more locations, Imperial Leader! It appears they are trying to surround us with four separate fleets. Our Imperial forces in each area are already heading to engage them.”

  “We are prepared for their cloaked weapons this time, I hope?” Rahta snarled.

  “Our scientists believe so, Imperial Leader. However, I plan to use another more effective method. I have ordered the warships to release all their Spitka fighters and surround each warship to prevent the drone weapons and other missiles from getting through.”

  “You will sacrifice the fighters to protect our warships? I approve, High Commander!” Rahta seemed pleased with this plan.

  Anahta smiled. So far it still looked possible to defeat the enemy with all home defenses still intact. It will be a fight to the finish. Winner take all.

  *****

  Altek’s Group 1 battle fleet was heading straight for the first large fleet of Yoyka warships. At the sublight speed they were moving, the two groups of warships would be in firing distance within the hour. He watched silently on his viewscreen as the Yoyka released their Spitka fighters and surrounded their ships.

  “What are they doing?” First Leader Orentu asked, perplexed.

  “It looks like they are using their fighters as protective shields against our weapons. Strange, but effective.”

  “What do you plan to do?”

  Altek analyzed the situation and came up with a new plan. “We will use it to our advantage. The warships will not be able to fire their own weapons until the fighters get out of the way. We will simply fire our missiles first. Send the order to release all Zoltu fighters and have them move behind our ships. We will begin firing KEMs in ten minutes.

  Altek realized the tactical mistake the Yoyka commanders had made. They were so concerned about the Orca drone weapons; they lost sight of the bigger picture. It was going to cost them hundreds, if not thousands, of Spitka fighters before they realized their mistake.

  The time passed quickly. Altek gave the order to all warship captains to fire their NEMs at the Yoyka fleet. Fourteen hundred KEMs were soon on their way travelling just under the speed of light. It would take mere seconds to reach their targets.

  By the time the Yoyka warship commanders realized what was about to happen, it was too late to evade the incoming NEM missiles. The Spitka pilots tried to defend themselves by firing their nukes to stop the NEMs. It did not work as well as they expected. The NEMs tore right through the fighters and many made it through the warship energy shields as well causing massive hull damage. In many cases the fighters exploded causing even more damage than the KEMs!

  It was a complete disaster in the making. Huge explosions lit up the area with debris flying in all directions. It was like entering an asteroid field unable to avoid collisions with large pieces of metal hulls and damaged fighters, causing more explosions and chaos. Finally, the Yoyka fighters and warships split up and tried to maneuver into battle positions to meet the enemy. By this time over half the enemy fleet was destroyed or damaged beyond repair.

  Altek noticed the damage and chaos his attack had caused. He turned to Orentu and said, “Send the order for all Zoltu fighters to attack the enemy. No one is to be spared. Destroy all of them!”

  No mercy was to be given; nor any mercy expected from the Yoyka.

  *****

  Rahta saw what was happening to his fleet that had engaged the enemy first. It did not bode well for what was to follow. He glared at Anahta, “This was your plan to stop the enemy? They did not even use their new drone weapon!”

  Anahta saw the same results on his viewscreen. The plan to use the Spitka fighters as a shield against enemy weapons simply did not work. He was aghast at what happened as well. He looked at the three other Holtu enemy fleets approaching the center of their solar system from opposite sides. The Yoyka Imperial Fleets were about to engage the enemy as well. He quickly sent new orders for the commanders to use their fighters in normal battle formations. He had to use his superior number of Spitka fighters to better advantage.

  “We can still def
eat them, Imperial Leader. Our Spitkas outnumber them by a greater percentage!”

  Rahta did not respond, which Anahta thought very odd. Something was up. “Do you have any suggestions, Imperial Leader?”

  “It depends on the outcome of the next battle, High Commander. Let’s see what happens.”

  Anahta could guess what Rahta was thinking. He was thinking the same thing. Time would soon tell if he was right.

  Chapter 61

  Tide Turns

  Vice Leader Di’s Group 2 warship fleet was in the thick of battle now along with the rest of the Holtu fleet. From what he could tell, the space battle between warships was going better than expected. The only disadvantage was the number of Spitka fighters. They outnumbered the Zoltu fighters by over 25,000 fighters.

  Lieutenant Commander Corky Bell was the Squadron Commander of Di’s Zoltu fighters. He barely survived the battle for Mars when his fighter pod was ejected. He earned the UN Space Force Cross medal for extraordinary heroism in combat along with Lieutenant Timothy Kiev who died in the same battle and Lieutenant Mateo Ortez who survived. Bell and Ortez were now members of Di’s Squadron Fighter Wing.

  Commander Bell’s fighter squadron was down to seventy-eight Zoltu fighters out of the original one hundred in less than twenty minutes. His pilots were fighting bravely, but the odds against them were very high.

  “Two Spitkas on my tail!” one of Bell’s pilots yelled over the comlink.

  “Hold on, I’m coming!” Bell answered seeing the problem on his HUD display.

  He quickly shot behind the two enemy fighters and blasted them with his laser gun. Both fighters blew up into small pieces killing all inside.

  “Thanks, Commander! I owe you one!”

  Bell quickly went to the aid of another fighter in his squadron. He was not the only pilot trying to save others in his squadron. The same scene was playing out over millions of square kilometers between half a dozen planets. The dark space was filled with thousands of fighters and hundreds of warships battling it out in a deadly game of kill or be killed. The losers lost their lives.

  Bell radioed in to his Wing Commander on board the Bakutu. “More Spitkas heading our way! Need laser fire support!”

  The fighter squadron’s two priorities were to attack any Yoyka warships nearby and protect the Bakutu from enemy Spitka attacks. It was getting more difficult to do either as time sped by.

  Another fighter suddenly exploded in front of him causing his helmet visor to darken momentarily. He didn’t have time to see if it was one of his or the enemy’s. Then his energy shield lit up from a glancing blow from a laser beam. Alarms went off and his AI Control system automatically changed directions to avoid a second laser hit and fired lasers at the attacking enemy fighter. Almost every fighter in his squadron was engaged in a similar space dog fight that occurred every few seconds now. Unless something changed the balance of this fight, Bell was not certain any of them would live through the battle to tell their grandchildren.

  Vice Leader Di was monitoring the space battle as best as he could. His group of seventy warships had been reduced to sixty over the last twenty minutes of battle. The good news was for every Allied warship destroyed two of the Yoyka warships met the same fate. Even so, the odds were still against them at the moment.

  “What is the status of the fleet?” Di asked First Leader Miata.

  Miata kept a current count of the number of warships in the fleet and responded. “Damage is close to AIC estimates, Vice Leader. We have lost twenty percent, forty-eight warships destroyed with twenty more damaged. The Yoyka have lost thirty percent, seventy-five warships. Twenty are damaged to various extents. We have one hundred seventy-four warships still in the battle. The Yoyka have one hundred fifty-five.”

  Di analyzed the situation. They now had more warships than the Yoyka to win the space battle; he was confident of that. However, they had not been able to penetrate the Yoyka defenses to get any closer to their home world of Yoykan. It was time to implement the rest of the strategy to finish this battle. He called High Leader Altek using the vidcom.

  “It is time use our new weapon, High Leader. Do you not agree?”

  Altek’s face appeared on the vidcom display. “I agree, Vice Leader Di. We must destroy more of these warships so we can turn our attention to help our fighter squadrons defeat the Spitka fighters. I have sent the order now!”

  It would not take long now. The space battle was about to get even more deadly than it already was.

  *****

  Imperial Leader Rahta was not feeling as hopeful now as when the battle first began. He was losing more warships than the Holtu fleet, but he still had the greater numbers of Spitka fighters he had just ordered into battle.

  “Now the Holtu will see what our Spitkas will do to their fleet!” Rahta gloated to Anahta.

  “All Spitka fighters from our hidden bases have now joined in the battle, Imperial Leader.”

  Rahta had kept thirty thousand Spitka fighters in reserve on several military moon bases just for this purpose. Each fighter carried up to twenty nuclear missiles that could be used to fire at enemy warships or Zoltu fighters. He wished he could see the faces of the Holtu androids when they realize what was happening. He would finally bring destruction to the Allied fleet that dared attack his empire.

  “How long before the fighters are able to fire their missiles?” Rahta asked.

  “They will be in range in ten minutes, Imperial Leader.”

  Rahta smiled in anticipation. This space battle would be remembered throughout Yoykan history as a glorious victory for the empire. Rahta’s name would be immortalized, one way or another.

  *****

  Doug received the latest message from Vice Leader Di on his comdisplay. The next phase of the battle plan was about to be implemented. If it worked as anticipated, then the final phase that involved his warship and Admiral Potter’s would begin. He felt tense, but not scared. He knew the odds of success were less than fifty percent that both warships would survive the engagement. The odds one of them would survive were only sixty percent. The mission still had to be performed, no matter what the odds were.

  He turned to his XO. “Commander Drake, send the order for our fighter squadron to join Vice Leader Di’s fighter squadron in the battle. Prepare for course change.”

  “Yes, sir. Sending order to Wing Commander Wellsey now.”

  For what comes next, Doug would not need his Fighter Wing. He and Admiral Potter just had to find a way to get closer to the Yoykan home world. What stood in their way were three heavily armed military space platforms in stationary orbit three hundred thousand kilometers around the planet. They were each protected by an almost impenetrable energy shield that nuclear missiles would not be able to take down. There was only one sure way to destroy them and that was about to happen in—five, four, three, two, one second!

  Twenty bright flashes of pure energy suddenly lit up the dark space between Doug’s warship and the Yoyka platforms. All that could be seen on enemy scanners were hyperspace vortexes opening up some four hundred thousand kilometers in front of them. Nothing else appeared on their data screens.

  Doug’s viewscreens indicated exactly what they were caused by. Twenty cloaked Orca drones had exited hyperspace exactly where they were programmed to enter. Each Orca carried five Kinetic Energy Missiles, which they all fired before the light from the vortexes caused by their entry dissipated.

  One hundred KEM missiles were speeding directly towards the three target platforms at almost the speed of light. It took less than two seconds for all of them to slice through the energy shields without even slowing down before impact.

  For some strange reason all that Doug could think of at the moment was the line of defense the French had built before the Second World War called the Maginot Line. It was meant to stop or slow down the German Army during an invasion. The Germans simply went around the line when they attacked France. The purpose of this attack was not to go around the las
t line of defense; it was simply to go through the line using the highly effective Orca KEM weapons.

  The Yoyka defenders on each platform never knew what hit them. The energy from the KEMs generated so much kinetic force the platforms simply exploded violently into millions of pieces. The debris radiated outwards in every direction, some heading straight for the planet below. Explosions of light and fireworks from some of the debris lit up the dark space around them, which turned night into day down on Yoykan. This was the first indication for the people on Yoykan what was about to happen to them.

  *****

  At first, Emperor Rahta was simply dumbfounded. He could not believe what he was seeing with his own eyes on his viewscreen. He began to rage out loud on the Bridge shaking his fists and yelling obscenities at everyone in the room. “They destroyed our defense platforms!” he screamed at Anahta.

  Anahta was just as astonished as Rahta at what just happened. It was a demoralizing loss; over thirty thousand troops were instantly killed in the attacks. Now, nothing stood in the way of the enemy attacking Yoykan directly except their remaining warships and Spitka fighters still in the battle.

  Even that situation started to change. Without warning, hundreds of more hyperspace vortexes appeared on their scanners. Nothing could be seen exiting, but soon warship after warship began to mysteriously explode all over the solar system in utter destruction.

  “More of those drone weapons have appeared in the battle, Imperial Leader. They are destroying our fleet!” Anahta quickly surmised.

  Rahta turned his attention to his viewscreen. It was true. The enemy was using their new weapon to destroy his fleet. Nothing they had could stop them. They could not even find them on their scanners. He turned to Anahta. There was only one thing he could do. “We must leave immediately!”

  Anahta knew this would happen if the space battle appeared to be lost. His emperor was not a brave Yoyka. He would not face death in battle as any true Yoyka warrior would, but he knew this all along. He simply replied, “Yes, Imperial Leader. Entering space coordinates now!”