by Don Viecelli
Anahta knew where Rahta wanted to go. It was a distance solar system where Rahta could regroup what forces were left from this battle. As soon as the other commanders realized their Emperor had fled the battle scene, they would know the battle was lost and would follow their leader.
The fate of their home world, Yoykan, was clear to Rahta. There was nothing he could do to stop it. In time he would rebuild their weakened empire to surpass the old, so he believed.
The way out of this battle seemed to be clear. All they had to do was reach light speed and enter hyperspace before anyone could stop them. It was possible even now. The Yoykan Malee Tre turned away from the battle and began to pick up speed. Rahta took one last look at Yoykan. He noticed two Human warships heading straight for his home world. He knew they planned to attack the planet. He had to stop them.
*****
The space was clear now. Doug immediately increased speed to reach Yoykan as quickly as possible. There were enemy warships nearby, but they were busy fighting other Allied forces. With his current speed, he could avoid the debris from the destroyed space platforms.
“Prepare Nanoboid Weapon Missiles for firing on my order!” Doug said to his XO.
“Weapons ready, sir,” Drake responded with mixed feelings.
Both of them knew what was about to happen. Once they fired their missiles at the planet, there was no turning back. Twenty billion Yoykans would die within days. The whole planet would be covered in dense black clouds of deadly Nanoboid swarms. No one on Yoykan was expected to survive this Nanoboid Weapon. The only thing that rationalized this type of mass extermination was the knowledge of what the Yoyka race did to other defenseless races wiping out trillions of lives. This would serve as a warning to any other murderous race what would happen to them if they had to face similar justice.
The USS Illinois and the USS Washington warships made it to the planet before any Yoyka warships could stop them. They both fired fifty Nanoboid Weapon missiles each as they orbited the planet. They watched the missile warheads explode in the upper atmosphere freeing the tiny Nanoboids that begin to descend to the ground. Even before they reached the surface, the black clouds of nanobot drones began to swarm like flocks of harmless birds on Earth; dancing and swirling in the wind with mesmerizing effects to all those looking up at them. Only when they descended and began to attack the Yoykans on the ground did the people begin to realize what was happening to them. They panicked and ran in all directions trying to find a safe place to hide. Unless the place was airtight, there would be no escaping from their fate.
Chapter 62
Escape
Everyone on board the Imperial Dreadnaught Yoykan Malee Tre Bridge watched in horror as the two Human warships that were orbiting Yoykan fired one hundred missiles at their planet. At first, Rahta thought the missiles were nuclear and the Humans planned to destroy the planet with radiation. The second thought was the enemy was planning to enslave the Yoykans on the planet with their own version of nanomachines. That made the most sense to Rahta. Then the missiles began to explode and dark swirling clouds emerged. It became clear that the Holtu, Qumru and Human allies had developed something much more sinister. The black, swirling clouds looked just like the killer nanobot drones he had used to kill everyone on two of his enslaved planets. Rahta flew into a fit of rage he could barely control. He jumped out of his seat and began smashing everything within reach until Anahta and two other crewmembers helped to stop him from destroying anymore equipment on the Bridge.
“You must control yourself, Imperial Leader. Yoykan is lost. We must leave this system!” Anahta said, trying to calm Rahta down.
Rahta took a minute to compose himself. He took one more look at the viewscreen and saw his home world being swallowed up by numerous black clouds of death. Then he saw the two Human warships starting to leave orbit. He made a decision.
“I want those Human warships destroyed before we leave. Order every warship nearby to attack and eliminate those ships!”
Anahta knew better than try to dissuade his emperor, even if it meant slowing down their escape. He checked to see how the battle was going and how many warships were left. Five Imperial Flee warships still providing protection to the Yoykan Malee Tre. He sent orders to attack the two Human warships leaving Yoykan Orbit. Anahta didn’t think it would take long to destroy them and still leave time to escape the space battle in one piece. At least the Emperor would have revenge on the Humans who just attacked Yoykan with their deadly new weapon.
*****
Doug knew they were in serious trouble as soon as they began to leave Yoykan orbit. The Nanoboid Weapons had been delivered as planned, but their scanners picked up five Yoykan warships headed their way on an intercept course. There was no way to avoid the fight to come. He made a vidcall to Admiral Potter. “We are about to have company. Do you see them?”
“I have them on scanners, Admiral. How do you want to proceed?” Admiral Potter asked.
“We’ll have to fight our way past them. Follow behind me after you fire your missiles,” he replied calmly.
Doug turned to his XO. “Commander Drake, Prepare to launch all missiles on my order!”
“Missiles ready to launch, sir!”
Doug waited for the moment to fire nuclear missiles at the approaching Yoyka warships. He counted five warships plus, he was surprised to see, the Imperial Dreadnaught.”
“Target ten nukes at the dreadnaught! Maybe we’ll get lucky and take down its shield. Target the rest at the two Yoyka warships on the right. We’ll try to clear a path to safety.”
“Targets are entered, Admiral!” Drake announced after entering firing commands.
“Fire nukes!” Doug ordered.
The USS Illinois shook from the missile launches. Doug had more than enough nuclear missiles to attack the enemy, but he lacked his Zoltu fighters for added support. Their best hope was he and Admiral Potter could fight their way through the Yoyka warships and survive long enough for Vice Leader Di and other Allied warships and fighters could come to their support. If not, one or both of their warships would be damaged or destroyed in the battle.
The Yoyka warships had the upper hand in this fight, Doug knew. He and Potter were just leaving orbit together when the Yoyka approached the planet to cut off their escape. The Yoyka warships timed the approach to stop them before they could escape the planet’s orbit. Doug and Susan were headed straight into the enemy’s trap. Doug knew the odds of escaping without serious damage were impossible. His only hope was at least Potter could make it through safely.
“Increase all power to our shield, Control!” Doug ordered the AIC.
“Energy shield increased to maximum power,” Control calmly replied.
“Prepare railguns for firing!” Doug said to Drake. “At least we can hit them hard when we pass!” was the last comment Doug said when the first enemy missiles impacted their energy shield.
*****
Vice Leader Di saw what was happening to Admiral Martin and Admiral Potter’s warships as soon as he looked at his viewscreen. He had limited options to try and save them. The space battle was in its final throes after forty minutes of fighting. The end results were undetermined until the last few minutes when the cloaked Orca drones emerged from hyperspace and fired their NEM missiles point blank at enemy warships. The sublight speed kinetic energy missiles were only effective if the distance to the target was short or the target was not moving since the missiles could not change course after firing. Enemy shields could not stop NEMs from penetrating and hitting the metal hulls of the warships causing massive damage if not immediate total destruction. More than half of the Yoykan warships were destroyed within minutes of the Orcas appearance in the space battle. It was enough to cause the remaining Yoyka warships to try and flee from the battle, especially once they saw the Imperial Dreadnaught leaving the battle without giving any order of retreat.
Di received a call from High Leader Altek. “The battle is won, Vice Leader Di. Th
e Yoykan Malee Tre was trying to escape, but now it is headed to Yoykan with five Imperial Fleet warships to attack the USS Illinois and USS Washington. Can you save them?”
Di responded, “I have ordered the nearest warships and fighters to intercept the Yoyka warships, but I fear it is not possible to reach them in time.”
“Do what you can, Vice Leader. Whatever happens, we must not let the Emperor’s ship escape this battle.”
“I understand, High Leader. I will do what I can to accomplish both tasks.”
Di sent out orders to every warship and Zoltu fighter in his Fleet Group. He already knew the low odds for success, but he did not let that stop him from trying.
*****
The first enemy missiles pounded Doug’s warship shield unmercifully. The Control Center and Bridge lights dimmed, the entire room shook, ceiling panels broke free and fell to the floor, sparks flew from control panels and viewscreens, smoke began to pour from vents and people began to scream for help. Doug’s seat straps hurt his chest and shoulders where they restrained him from the violent shakes that occurred each time another enemy missile impacted his ship. The USS Illinois was taking a pounding and all he could do was watch what was happening around him.
Doug looked at his viewscreen one more time. He had ordered Admiral Potter to follow close behind him in order to try and protect her ship from the Yoyka warships in front of him. More than enough of his missiles had weakened the enemy shields to allow his missiles to penetrate and impact the leading warships. They exploded violently to open a path for him and Potter. However, the debris from the explosions sent large metal fragments into his ship causing massive hull damage. Alarms blared constantly now. His ship was damaged beyond repair. It was lost.
Doug turned to Drake for the last time. “I am ordering everyone off this ship—now! Get to the escape pods!”
Drake unbuckled his seat belt. “Are you coming, Admiral?”
“I’ll be right behind you, Commander. Now go! Help as many people as you can into the escape pods. I need to set a final course and enter the self destruct command!”
Drake made his way out of the Control Center helping two injured crewmembers to the nearest escape pod.
Doug entered the ship’s self-destruct command for five minutes and checked in with his AIC. “Control, verify self-destruct command!”
“Self-destruct command enabled. Self-destruct will occur in four minutes, fifty-five seconds and counting.” Control’s voice was unchanged.
Doug waited for two minutes. He checked the crew status. All seventy-five crewmembers on his ship were equipped with ID chips. Ten ID’s were red, meaning they were no longer alive and still on the ship. The rest were in escape pods that had left the ship safely.
Doug had one more command to give. “Control, aim the ship at the Imperial Dreadnaught. Set course to intercept.”
“Intercept course entered, Admiral. Intercept in one minute, thirty seconds.”
Doug watched his viewscreen. Time was running out. It would be close. He had made his final decision. He may have lost his ship and some of his crew, but he was not going to let Rahta escape this battle. He was going to take down Rahta with his last dying breath.
Everything around him was beginning to dim from the smoke in the Control Room. Doug put on his breather mask. He looked out the front window on the Bridge. He could see the Yoykan Malee Tre trying to turn out of the way of his fast approaching ship. Doug increased his speed to maximum. The self-destruct timer was steadily ticking down. He had thirty seconds to self-destruct. It was too late to change his mind.
He knew what he was doing was wrong on some fundamental human level, but he felt he had to do it. It was not that he wanted to die to atone for what he just did to billions of Yoykans on their planet. He was thinking of what Rahta did willingly to others without any remorse. He would not let that monster get away, no matter the personal cost.
The USS Illinois caught up to the Yoykan Melee Tre and impacted the back half of the ship just as the last second of the self-destruct timer ticked down. The ship exploded violently shattering into a million sharp pieces.
Doug’s last thoughts were of Jan and his son, Jules. He hoped they would forgive him in time. Doug never felt the nuclear explosion that ignited in the Quantum Thruster engines and blew outward in a spectacular show of quantum energy, fire, extreme heat and light. For a brief moment, the darkness of space was brighter than the sun.
*****
The force of the explosion turned the Yoykan Malee Tre completely around in space. The back half of the Yoykan Malee Tre was blown completely apart from the ship. Somehow, the front half of the ship and half its crewmembers survived the explosion. This included Emperor Rahta and Anahta in the Command Center.
“Imperial Leader, we must abandon ship!” Anahta pleaded to the shaken emperor. “Your Imperial shuttle is waiting for us. We must hurry!”
Rahta followed the High Commander to the shuttle, which was in a private docking bay on the same deck as the Command Center. It could hold ten people, but only Rahta, Anahta, one pilot and four Imperial Guards were allowed to board the shuttle.
The pilot made sure the hatch door was sealed, opened the docking bay doors and immediately took off trying to get as far away from the doomed dreadnaught as fast as he could.
Anahta made sure the three remaining Imperial Fleet warships were still protecting them as they made their escape.
“Is the battle lost, High Commander?” Rahta asked quietly seated next to him.
Anahta checked the status of the battle fleet. From the warship losses he saw on his display, he replied. “Yes, Imperial Leader. Only a handful of warships remain undamaged in the battle and are still fighting as ordered. Thousands of Spitka fighters are still fighting the enemy.
Anahta felt pride for those warriors still in the battle, ordered to fight to the death for the empire. He silently wished he were among them. He felt like a coward for leaving his warriors behind.
The shuttle and three Imperial warships following were minutes from achieving light speed and entering hyperspace; leaving the battle scene behind them. Rahta felt relief at his good fortune.
Suddenly, the situation changed. The pilot saw dozens of hyperspace vortexes open up in front of their escape path. One vortex opened directly in their path a few hundred thousand kilometers away. The pilot had no choice but to change direction to avoid a collision.
“More vortexes are appearing in front of us!” We must change course!”
Anahta looked worried. How could the enemy know where they were headed and get there before them. It was impossible!”
Then the answer to his question became abundantly clear. It was not the Holtu, Qumru or Human fighters trying to prevent them from escaping. It was someone different.
Chapter 63
It’s Over
Senior Commander Koral from Synor burst through hyperspace into the Yoykan solar system with all the rebel leaders and warships he could find. He hoped he was not too late to join the battle.
Prefect Flordia, the female leader of Qorian emerged from hyperspace with fifty warships. She had joined Commander Koral’s call for help as did several other rebel leaders from other enslaved planets such as Nobyan, Luzern and five other planets enslaved or recently destroyed by the Yoykan Emperor Rahta. They came with over two hundred warships of all sizes and shapes. None of them had the newer FTL hyperspace drives, which made it more time consuming to reach the Yoykan solar system as one force to help the Allied Fleet defeat the Yoyka who caused so much harm, death and pain in the galaxy.
“We are being hailed by High Leader Altek,” Koral said over the comchannel. “He is ordering us to attack the fleeing Yoyka Imperial shuttle and warships in front of us!”
Flordia was on her fleet flagship when she noticed the Imperial Yoyka shuttle and three Yoyka warships turning away from her position. It could not be? She thought studying the engine signatures.
“Is that he Yoykan Malee Tre
in front of us?” Flordia asked incredulously of her Fleet Commander. “We are too late! It appears to be destroyed!”
“It has been abandoned, Prefect. Escape pods have been launched. Do you want to destroy them?”
Florida’s eyes had already turned to the escaping shuttle and warships. “No, fire at those three Yoyka warships and the Imperial shuttle. Do not let the shuttle escape!”
Commander Koral and several other Fleet Commanders helped Flordia prevent the Imperial Yoyka ships from reaching hyperspace. They fired hundreds of nuclear tipped missiles at the warships until their energy shields failed and the missiles penetrated the hulls and exploded, destroying all three warships. It took little over three minutes to complete the task.
By this time the Yoykan Imperial shuttle had changed course trying to outrun the rebel warships. There was nowhere to go. It finally turned around in space and headed for Yoykan.
*****
“We cannot escape these new warships, Imperial Leader! They are blocking us from reaching hyperspace!” Anahta finally announced crestfallen. He had failed to protect his emperor. There was only one hope. “Perhaps we can fly around Yoykan and escape on the other side?”
Rahta did not answer. He was deep in thought. He finally whispered; mostly to himself. “How could this happen? The Yoyka are invincible! We are the superior race. All races must serve the Yoykan Empire. I am the master!”
Anahta could see that Rahta had lost his mind. Rahta was mumbling to himself; acting like a crazy person. He considered sending a message of surrender, but then decided he could not let that happen. He would die here with his Emperor as was his duty.