“I compute the odds at 98.3 percent,” reported Jade from her tactical station.
“What are those ships in the center of the Eternal formation?” Hailey had noticed a large clump of ships too small to be battlecruisers.
“They appear to be modified cargo ships,” reported Captain Adams. “Our sensors are indicating a mass far greater than should be and they are protected by powerful energy shields.”
“Rammers,” said Commander Sutherland with a deep frown. “We need to warn our juggernauts to be aware of them.”
“How many are there?” Hailey knew those cargo ships could be a problem.
“Over four thousand,” answered Adams.
Hailey studied the hologram for a moment and then gave her next order. “Target them if we can get in range.”
-
Admiral Trope was studying the tactical displays. He had sixty thousand Originator battlecruisers, four thousand of their dreadnaughts and one hundred and twenty of their mobile battlestations in the two fleet formations coming toward him. To oppose that he had slightly over seven hundred thousand four-kilometer Eternal battlecruisers. “All ships, stand by to advance. We will overwhelm the Originator fleet formations and continue on to the structures beyond where we will begin landing our warriors and warrior robots.”
“Novast, make sure the cargo ships are well protected. We’ll use a few against the mobile battlestations if the opportunity presents itself but we’re saving most of them for their larger stations.”
-
The three fleets closed and were soon in engagement range. The juggernauts opened fire first with their blue energy spheres, striking over a thousand inbound Eternal battlecruisers. Moments later the Eternals were in range and a massive missile barrage began striking the Originator ships.
Hailey felt the Golden Knight shudder violently from the sheer number of antimatter and dark matter impacts to the energy screens. On the damage control console several lights began blinking amber.
“We have some energy leakage through the screens,” warned Jade. “We’re increasing the power to the outer set.”
On the viewscreens, the front of both fleets seemed to be on fire. Thousands of missiles were detonating every second with more being constantly fired. Energy weapons were seeking weaknesses as they played over wavering energy screens.
“We’re losing a lot of ships,” reported Commander Sutherland. On the main viewscreen, Originator battlecruisers could be seen exploding by the dozens. Occasionally a dreadnaught would die as well.
“We just lost the Ares,” reported Captain Adams. The Ares was one of the juggernauts assigned to the fleet.
Looking at the tactical display, Hailey could see green icons swelling up and vanishing at a rapid rate. “Increase our forward speed. We need to get through the Eternal formation quickly or we won’t have a fleet left.” The plan was to go through the Eternal fleet and then pen it against the Originator facilities so their weapons could come into play.
“Increasing speed,” reported Caria. “However, at this speed the chance of collisions between ships is markedly increased.”
“A chance we’ll have to take,” replied Hailey as the Golden Knight shook again and several red lights appeared on the damage control console.
On the viewscreen, the juggernaut Thor slammed head on into a Eternal battlecruiser. The ship blew a massive hole in the Thor’s shield, opening it up to attack. Several dark matter missiles slammed into the armor of the ship, blasting out a hole kilometers deep. Then one of the Eternals’ cargo ships dove through the gap in the screen and struck the bottom of the glowing pit. A massive explosion shook the juggernaut and it began to break apart.
“Thor is down,” reported Captain Adams in a stunned voice.
Hailey watched the screen as the Thor finally blew apart, leaving a mass of glowing wreckage drifting in space.
Taking a deep breath, Hailey turned her attention back to the tactical display. Her fleet and Rear Admiral Cross’s fleet were blasting their way through the Eternals. It was obvious the juggernauts were leading the way. She felt concerned as three more icons representing juggernauts swelled up and vanished. The Eternals were obviously targeting them when they got the opportunity.
“The Eternals are using some of their cargo ships against our juggernauts,” confirmed Commander Sutherland. “They’re bringing them in protected by a phalanx of their battlecruisers.”
Hailey knew there was little she could to other than accept the losses. She was destroying a large number of Eternal vessels but not enough to stop them from advancing on the hub.
-
Fleet Admiral Race Tolsen watched grimly as Admiral Mann and Rear Admiral Cross’s fleets were being ripped apart by the massive firepower of the main Eternal fleet. At the moment there was nothing he could do. The Eternals had to believe the Originators were doing everything in their power to stop them from reaching the Dyson spheres and the other Originator facilities.
“How long until those four fleets reach the Dyson spheres?”
“Twenty minutes,” reported Commander Garratt.
“Contact Admiral Grayseth and order him to begin a harassing action against those four fleets. He’s not to risk a major engagement at this time.”
“Message sent and acknowledged,” reported the communications officer.
Race turned toward the holographic display showing Grayseth’s fleet. It began to move toward one of the four inbound Eternal fleets.
“Contact Rear Admiral Olsen. Her fleet is to defend the research facilities and the shipyards, particularly the shipyards. She is to be aware the Eternals will probably launch large numbers of their assault shuttles in an attempt to take over some of those facilities. She needs to destroy as many of those as she can.” She would have to jump her fleet into combat range as well.
Race watched the battle for another minute and then gave his next order. “Admiral Zafron is to jump in over our home Dyson sphere and take out as many of the Eternals’ shuttles as possible.” After a lot of consideration most of the remaining Originator population had been moved to that Dyson sphere. All were in underground facilities waiting to see how the battle ended.
Leaning back in his command chair Race watched the battle on the hologram displays, looking occasionally at the viewscreens showing the titanic battle in space. There was nothing more he could do for a few more minutes.
-
Admiral Trope was well satisfied with the way the battle was going. His fleet had finally burst through the two defending fleets and was now on its way toward the Originator facilities he wanted to capture. At the center of that grouping of facilities were four of their Accelerator Rings. He wanted to capture at least one of those intact. However, before he could attack those facilities there were a number of battlestations which needed to be dealt with first. It was time to use more of his special cargo ships. He also noticed the Originators had jumped several more fleets in.
-
The first Eternal fleet arrived at the Shrieel it was targeting. As soon as it got within range of the Shrieel’s weapons thousands of blue energy sphere projectors began firing. At the same time the Eternals began launching their assault shuttles. From the fleet of one hundred and twenty thousand ships nearly six hundred thousand assault shuttles loaded with Eternal warriors and warrior robots launched.
The Eternals quickly closed the range and began targeting the weapons on the surface of the Shrieel, particularly the blue energy sphere projectors. Across the surface of the Shrieel, antimatter and dark matter weapons exploded. Fortunately the armor on the Shrieel was the most powerful known and extremely thick. The explosions caused little damage other than blowing the blue energy sphere projectors into thousands of pieces.
Other Originator weapons began firing. Dark matter projectors, antimatter cannons, and gravitonic cannons reached out and began destroying the inbound shuttles by the thousands. Bright explosions dotted space as the shuttles were blown apart. However, the
Eternals had launched so many of them some had to reach the surface. Shuttles began to land and Eternal warriors and warrior robots poured out onto the surface of the Shrieel. As soon as the shuttles began landing the Eternal fleet began to back away out of weapons range. They had lost over twenty-three thousand ships in the brief attack upon the Shrieel, but they had achieved their purpose. Over two million Eternal warriors and eleven million warrior robots were down safely on the surface. Now they just needed to find a way in.
-
Admiral Zafron’s fleet came storming out of hyperspace just as the Eternal fleet over the home Shrieel began launching their assault shuttles. With twenty juggernauts, twelve hundred dreadnaughts, and twenty thousand battlecruisers he was determined not to allow a single one to reach the surface of the megastructure.
His fleet hurtled directly toward the Eternals, opening fire with every weapon his fleet possessed. They managed to take the Eternals by surprise by appearing in their rear. He quickly ordered the juggernauts and battlecruisers to attack the Eternal fleet and for the dreadnaughts to push through and destroy the descending assault shuttles. His planned formation broke apart as his ships moved to engage the Eternals.
From the Shrieel blue energy spheres rose to meet the attacking fleet. They ignored the small assault shuttles as the regular defenses were better suited for dealing with them. The energy spheres struck hundreds of Eternal battlecruisers, rapidly draining the energy from their shields. Then they descended to the hulls and began destroying the molecular bonds which held the atoms of the hull together. Black space dust formed as the ships began to come apart. Most Eternal ships were hit by dozens of blue energy spheres so the destruction was rapid.
The Eternal fleet reached weapons range and began to fire upon the surface of the Shrieel. Return weapons fire struck the fleet, turning the front of if into a firestorm of dying vessels. Admiral Zafron’s fleet struck the rear of the Eternal formation with the Dominator leading the way. In moments the rear formation looked much like the front with thousands of dying warships.
The dreadnaughts pushed through the Eternal formation, taking massive losses, but then they were through and began firing on the descending shuttles. Small explosions dotted space as tens of thousands of the assault shuttles were destroyed by weapons fire from the Shrieel as well as the dreadnaughts.
-
Eternal Admiral Stord watched as the front and rear of his fleet was devastated. The twenty Originator mobile battlestations to his rear were tearing his fleet formation apart. “All ships reverse course and attack the Originator fleet. We’ve launched the assault shuttles; there is little else we can do here.”
The Eternal fleet turned and descended upon the Originator fleet with all weapons firing. Behind them they left thirty thousand destroyed Eternal battlecruisers. However, that still left Admiral Stord with a fleet of ninety thousand of the deadly four-kilometer battlecruisers with which to destroy the Originator fleet.
-
Out of six hundred thousand assault shuttles launched only thirty-six thousand managed to reach the surface of the Shrieel. Upon landing, warriors and warrior robots poured out of the shuttles and began destroying the weapon emplacements in their landing areas. More weapons rose up from the hull of the Shrieel. These had been designed to destroy any invaders who reached the surface. Most were energy beams which automatically fired upon detecting movement. Thousands of Eternal warriors were swiftly killed as well as tens of thousands of their warrior robots destroyed.
From a hundred hidden hatches Human Marines and thousands of combat robots swarmed out. They even had small mobile tanks with them to add to their already tremendous firepower. Once they were out the hatches slammed shut. Inside more Marines and combat robots waited to ensure the Eternals did not make use of the hatches. The corridors leading to the hatches were booby-trapped with explosives to make them impassable if they were set off.
Major Danforth was leading a large section of Marines and combat robots. His job was to clear this section of the hull from enemy forces.
“Report,” he ordered over his helmet comm.
“Heavy resistance,” reported Sergeant Miller. “We’re using the tanks and combat robots to establish a perimeter. I’ve already lost communications with two of my squads. Most of the imbedded weapons have been eliminated.”
“We’re pinned down,” added Sergeant Weisman. “I need a couple of tanks to get us out.” He then sent his current coordinates.
“I’ll support Sergeant Weisman,” said Lieutenant Bates. “I’ve got four tanks and a full company of Marines as well as four companies of combat robots.”
“Do it,” ordered Danforth as a nearby explosion threw debris on top of his position.
Danforth was in a former weapons pit that camouflage netting had been hastily thrown over. A full platoon of Marines and several platoons of combat robots were serving to protect the pit, now a command bunker, from being overrun. Several other combat robots were erecting a metal structure over the top of the pit to add some additional protection.
Looking out over the top of the pit, Danforth could see heavy weapons fire and fighting everywhere. The Eternals were trying to prevent the Originator forces from establishing a perimeter. Massive attacks were occurring along the entire defensive line. Whenever a part of the line buckled, reinforcements were hurriedly rushed in to push the Eternals back.
“We’re taking heavy casualties,” reported Captain Minsk as she slid into the pit. “We may need to call in the reinforcements.”
A large explosion shook the hull near the pit. A towering wall of flame rose up above the hull of the Shrieel
“That’s some type of plasma charge they’re throwing at us,” said Minsk. Her suit armor was singed in numerous spots.
“Do we know what we’re facing?” asked Danforth. So far information had been very sketchy.
Captain Minsk shook her head. “It’s hard to tell. Between the Shrieel and Admiral Zafron’s dreadnaughts a lot of the Eternals’ assault shuttles were destroyed. I would guess we’re looking at half a million Eternal warriors and warrior robots, maybe more.”
Major Danforth stepped back down into the bottom of the pit where a table had been set up. It had a tactical display built into it and currently it was being filled in with the known positions of Originator forces as well as the Eternals. There was a small green circle about seven kilometers across in a sea of red.
“Let’s get our perimeter established first and then we’ll call in the reinforcements.”
“Can we call in a battlecruiser to nuke some of the Eternal forces?”
“Maybe,” replied Danforth. “I’m pretty sure the Eternals will be expecting us to try just that.”
Several small viewscreens were set up on another table next to the tactical one. These showed scenes of the ongoing surface battle.
“There,” said Captain Minsk, pointing to one of the screens. “The Eternals are using shaped nuclear charges to try to blast their way into the Shrieel.”
“That will take a while,” said one of the technicians who was helping to set up the equipment for the command bunker.
Danforth turned toward the corporal who had spoken. “How long?”
The technician stopped work and studied the small screen for a moment. “They have to move out, blow the charge and then move back in to set the next one. The material this hull is made out of is very resistant to nuclear explosions. I would estimate it will take at least several hours or more to penetrate it.”
Danforth looked over at Captain Minsk. “Can you take a company of Marines and several companies of combat robots and take out that site?”
Captain Minsk did not reply immediately. She stepped over to the tactical display, noting the exact location. “I’ll need some tanks to make it there. Once I get there I don’t know if we can get back.”
“Hunker down,” ordered Danforth. “Destroy the target and then try to find a defensive location and stay put until I can send additi
onal help.”
Minsk nodded. “I’ll get my people together and we’ll set out immediately.”
Danforth watched as Captain Minsk left the pit. He knew the odds of him ever seeing her again were very small.
On one of the screens focused upward a massive explosion suddenly lit up space. A major Originator facility had just blown up. Danforth didn’t know what it was except it had to have been very large to cause such a massive explosion. He wondered how the battle in space was going. He hoped it was going better than the one he was currently in.
Chapter Twenty-One
Admiral Zafron had his fleet hastily reform into his original planned cylinder formation. He had lost a lot of ships in the encounter over the Shrieel and now the Eternal fleet was bearing down on him. “Can we hold?”
“Unknown,” replied Kazak. “I would suggest we call in more fleet units.”
Zafron nodded. There were three additional fleets just waiting for his command to jump to the hub. “Call in the fleets. Have them drop out of hyperspace ten thousand kilometers to our rear. Also inform Fleet Admiral Tolsen it’s time to begin bringing the ships out of the Shrieels. The entire Eternal fleet is now in the interdiction zone once we activate the fields.”
“Messages sent,” replied Captain Franklyn.
Already the weapons fire between Admiral Zafron’s fleet and the Eternals was intensifying. Making it worse, his dreadnaughts were having a hard time making it back to the fleet.
The Dominator shook with a vengeance and alarms began sounding.
“We had a brief overload of our energy shields,” Kazak informed the admiral. “Shields are stable again for now.”
Zafron looked at the viewscreens. They were full of flashes of brilliant light from exploding missiles. For once he was worried this was a battle he might not be able to escape from.
-
Admiral Trope had a vicious smile on his face. On the main viewscreen of his flagship, one of the Originators’ large battlestations was breaking apart. He had managed to ram it with six of his special cargo ships. At the moment his fleet was hitting the disintegrating surface with multiple dark matter missiles. In a sudden flash of light as brilliant as a nova the station blew apart, sending debris flying everywhere. Several pieces of the debris were large enough to destroy several Eternal battlecruisers which were too close.
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