Explorations- the Lost
Page 30
“How many ships are in their formation?”
“Nearly six hundred and eighteen thousand,” replied Colonel Williams.
“At least they’ve stopped launching assault shuttles,” said Commander Garratt as he studied the holograms.
“Admiral, we’ve just received word the Eternals have take one of the juggernaut shipyards,” reported the communications officer.
“Which one?” asked Race with a cold feeling running across his shoulders.
“Lyla’s.”
Race blinked his eyes. “Were there any survivors?”
The communications officer shook his head. “No, from the reports we’re received no one made it off the station alive.”
Race drew in a deep breath. Lyla had been very human-like in her actions. He would greatly miss her.
“Engagement range in seven minutes,” Colonel Williams informed Race.
“The Eternals are moving their cargo ships up to the front of their formation,” added Commander Garratt as he watched the tactical displays.
“How many of them?” asked Race. He had to make sure his battlestations and juggernauts were protected from the expected ramming attacks.
“All of them,” answered Garratt grimly. “They’re moving every one of their remaining cargo ships to the front of their formation.”
“Do we know how many?”
“A little over two thousand,” replied Garratt.
Race flinched at hearing those numbers. “When they emerge we need to concentrate our firepower on those cargo ships. We must stop them from reaching our battlestations and juggernauts.”
“Orders have been sent,” confirmed Colonel Williams.
Race leaned back in his command chair, his eyes focused on the larger tactical hologram showing the entire hub area. It seemed as if chaos reigned. His eyes wandered to the four large Eternal fleets hovering near each Dyson sphere. He knew at any moment half a dozen Originator battlecruisers would come in low over the surface of each in an attempt to eliminate as many Eternal warriors and warrior robots as possible. It was nearly a suicide mission but it had to be done.
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Eternal Admiral Breck sat up straight in his command chair when several alarms went off on the sensor console. “What is it?”
“We have Originator battlecruisers coming in low over the Shrieel,” replied the sensor officer. “It appears they are on a bombing run.”
“Trying to clear our forces off the surface,” said Breck. “Have two squadrons of our battlecruisers intercept them.”
“Message sent,” confirmed the communications officer.
Admiral Breck turned his attention to the tactical display showing the surface of the Shrieel. He had millions of warriors and warrior robots on the surface. Blasting was well underway to penetrate the thick layer of battle armor which protected the Shrieel. Latest reports indicated another hour and they would be through. Already he had forces gathered near the blasting site to charge into the Shrieel. They would locate one of the main entrances to the Shrieel and open it, allowing his fleet access. Once that occurred the Shrieel would be under Eternal control.
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Commander Lisa Everett was in command of the Originator battlecruiser Scorpion. It was one of the few battlecruisers actually manned by a Human crew.
“Coming up on target,” reported Lieutenant Stein.
“Do we have the locations of friendlies marked?” Lisa knew there were thousands of Human Marines and over three hundred thousand combat robots on the surface of the Dyson sphere fighting the Eternals.
“Yes, we do,” replied Stein.
Looking at the tactical display, she saw the six battlecruisers in her squadron in a wedge formation. The plan was to come in low and hit the surface with antimatter weapons. It would scar the surface of the Dyson sphere but would not penetrate the armor. At the same time the missiles would eliminate any Eternal forces in the blast radius of the explosions.
“Eternal warships are inbound,” reported Stein. “They must have detected us. They’ll be in combat range in two minutes.”
Commander Everett nodded. “Let’s begin our bombing runs. We don’t pull out until we’re finished.”
Lieutenant Stein frowned but did not reply. He knew the odds of finishing the bombing run before the Eternals arrived was nearly zero.
“The Dyson sphere will take care of the Eternal battlecruisers,” explained Lisa. “They’ll be firing the blue energy spheres shortly.”
The six battlecruisers arrowed down closer to the surface, so close the Eternal assault shuttles began firing at them using their small energy turrets.
“Release missiles,” ordered Lisa, sitting on the edge of her command chair.
From each of the six descending battlecruisers swarms of antimatter missiles left the missile tubes, darting toward the surface. At the same time the blue energy sphere projectors on the Dyson sphere began firing upon the approaching Eternal warships.
“Eternals are in range,” reported Stein. “They’re firing!”
On the viewscreen, massive explosions began appearing above the Dyson sphere. The antimatter missiles were set to go off one thousand meters above the surface to limit the damage to the hull and provide maximum destruction to the Eternal forces. Across a large portion of the surface bright explosions rolled.
Suddenly the Scorpion shook wildly and red lights began to appear on the damage control console.
“We’ve lost two of our other battlecruisers,” reported Stein. On the tactical display, two expanding debris fields were visible. “All ships are taking heavy fire.”
On one of the other viewscreens, Lisa could see hundreds of blue energy spheres striking the incoming Eternal battlecruisers. Already several were being turned into black space dust.
“Coming to the end of our bombing run,” reported Stein.
“Get us out of here!” ordered Lisa. The ship continued to shake and shudder from the pounding it was taking.
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The Scorpion and the other three Originator battlecruisers began to rise. Fighting to get to safety and out of range of the Eternals’ weapons raining down upon them. In massive explosions of dark matter energy all four Originator battlecruisers were blown apart, their debris destined to fall back onto the surface of the Dyson sphere.
However, beneath them a wide swath of destruction covered an area where there had once been large numbers of Eternal warriors and warrior robots. Even the site where the nuclear blasting was being done had been annihilated.
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Admiral Breck was furious when he saw the scope of what the Originator attack had done to his ground forces. Any hope of conquering this Shrieel had just gone out the window. Even as he watched the last of the two squadrons of battlecruisers he had sent to destroy the Originator ships died as they were turned into space dust.
“Pick a location on the Shrieel and begin to bombard it with dark matter missiles,” he ordered as his nanites fought to bring his emotions back under control.
“But that could seriously damage the Shrieel!” objected his first officer.
“Doesn’t matter,” replied Admiral Breck. “I want to get inside that Shrieel and the only way we’re going to accomplish that now is with the use of our dark matter missiles. We’ll blast open a hole in the Shrieel’s hull large enough for our fleet to enter.”
“We’ll lose a lot of ships,” warned the first officer. “The Shrieel will be firing on us the entire time.”
“A risk we’ll have to take,” replied Breck. “We are the Eternals and we don’t back down from battle.”
“We are Eternals,” replied the first officer.
Moments later the entire Eternal fleet assigned to Admiral Breck began moving closer to the Shrieel. Nearly eighty-seven thousand Eternal battlecruisers were in the fleet formation. Breck knew if he could get ten thousand inside the Shrieel the battle would be his to win.
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Race watched as his fleet neared the Eternals. Repor
ts from the attacks on the Eternal forces on the Dyson spheres had been positive with large numbers of Eternal warriors and warrior robots destroyed. Unfortunately, they had lost every single one of the battlecruisers sent in to initiate the bombing runs.
“Admiral, the Eternals are moving on the Dyson spheres again,” reported Colonel Williams. “We believe they are going to begin bombarding the surface to try to create an entry point.”
“They’re getting desperate,” commented Commander Garratt.
Race nodded. “Yes, but if they use enough dark matter missiles on any of the Dyson spheres they could crack open its hull. We need to finish this battle as quickly as possible so we can reinforce the Dyson spheres.
“What about the one hundred and seventy kilometer battlestation?” asked Colonel Williams. “It’s close enough to reinforce the home Dyson sphere. It also has a large escort of battlecruisers and dreadnaughts.”
Race turned his attention to the hologram showing that particular battlestation. It would take the station nearly twenty minutes to reach the Dyson sphere. It would also leave the four Accelerator Rings defenseless.
Race let out a deep sigh. He couldn’t afford for the home Dyson sphere to be damaged. That was where most of the Humans, Altons, Carethians, and even the Originators had taken refuge. “Set the self-destructs on the Accelerator Rings and send the battlestation to take on the Eternal fleet assailing the home Dyson sphere.”
Colonel Williams nodded and quickly began passing on the orders. Moment later on the main viewscreen four massive explosions indicated the destruction of the Accelerator Rings. At least the Eternals would have no chance now of gaining access to that technology.
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Admiral Trope was shaking in anger. Once again the Originators had denied him access to their Accelerator Ring technology. His only hope was that it existed in one of the science facilities his warriors and warrior robots had taken over.
“Accelerate the fleet,” he ordered. “We must close to weapons range before they hit us with too many of their blue energy spheres.”
“Admiral, all four of our fleets at the Shrieels are moving in to attack,” reported Novast. “The Originators hit our landing forces from above using several squadrons of their battlecruisers. All of the battlecruisers were destroyed but we no longer have the necessary ground forces to get through from the surface. Our admirals plan on using dark matter missiles to force an entry to the inside.”
Admiral Trope frowned. He used his nanites to calculate their chances of success. While they were not good, there was still a possibility they could penetrate one maybe two of the Shrieels. “Order them to continue. In the meantime we will deal with the Originator fleet that’s approaching us.”
Turning to the tactical display, Trope could see a sea of red threat icons rapidly approaching his fleet. He knew this single battle would determine the fate of the war between the Originators and the Eternals. This was a battle he had no intention of losing.
Chapter Twenty-Four
In space, over one million warships were on a collision course. In the next few minutes the fate of the universe would be decided in one titanic battle.
“Engagement range for our blue energy spheres in four minutes,” reported Colonel Williams.
“The enemy cargo ships?” This was Race’s biggest concern. If they managed to get through to his battlestations and juggernauts there would be no way he would be able to stop the Eternals from conquering the hub.
“At the front of their formation,” replied Williams. “They appear to have a large escort of battlecruisers shielding them.”
Race spent a moment studying the tactical display. “We’ll hit them with our blue energy spheres and dark matter missiles. I want all of the fleet’s firepower concentrated against those battlecruisers and the cargo ships they’re protecting.”
“Orders sent,” replied Williams.
On the viewscreens, a solid mass of Eternal ships was visible. Race knew the coming battle was going to be extremely violent. He had no idea who was going to win. He was just glad his sister was safe at New Tellus. Race wondered if he would ever get to see his future niece or nephew.
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Admiral Trope watched intently as the fleets neared combat range. Just before his fleet reached the range where they would be in range of the Originators’ blue energy spheres he ordered the cargo ships and the battlecruisers protecting them to accelerate and to take out their targets. He wanted to limit the time they were exposed to those deadly weapons. His primary targets were the nine forty-kilometer battlestations scattered through the two Originator fleet formations. The secondary targets were the mobile battlestations.
“Cargo ships are on the way to their targets,” reported First Officer Novast. “Two minutes to first ramming points.”
Trope nodded. Now he would find out if his gambit to destroy the Originator battlestations was going to work or fail.
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The two thousand cargo ships were divided into two hundred attack squadrons. Each squadron was protected by two hundred and ten of the large Eternal battlecruisers. The squadrons were halfway to the Originator fleets and their targets when a barrage of blue energy spheres was launched toward them. The battlecruisers were in a defensive formation four ships deep and in mere moments the entire front line of Eternal warships had been hit by hundreds of the deadly blue energy spheres. Almost immediately dark matter missiles began to arrive, filling space with their staggering explosions. The second line of Eternal ships was quickly wiped out leaving only scattered debris behind. More blue energy spheres and additional missiles quickly eliminated the third line of Eternal battlecruisers. However, the fourth line and the cargo ships they protected continued to advance. Already they were nearly to the forward sections of the Originator fleets.
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Race was sitting on the edge of his command chair as he watched the battle to destroy the cargo ships. They were nearly to his fleets and none of them had been annihilated as of yet. However, as he watched the last line of defensive battlecruisers was wiped out, leaving the cargo ships open to attack. Very quickly they began to die.
“We’re not going to get them all!” shouted Colonel Williams. “They’re traveling too fast and they’re too close.”
True to the colonel’s words the first cargo ship slammed into the energy shield of one of the battlestations. Moments later two more did as well with the next two penetrating the weakened energy screen and smashing into the surface of the station. In a titanic explosion, the massive station began to break apart.
“Battlestation Epsilon is down,” confirmed the sensor officer.
Looking at the viewscreens, Race saw more of the large battlestations take strikes as well as a number of his juggernauts, then it stopped as the last cargo ships were destroyed by heavy weapons fire.
“How bad?”
Colonel Williams spent a few moments talking to the officers and military AIs sitting at the holograms and then turned toward Race. “We lost three of the battlestations and seventeen juggernauts. Two battlestations are heavily damaged and twelve juggernauts are not operational.
Race nodded. They had survived the attack of the enemy cargo ships though the losses had been heavy. “Continue to advance. We will engage the enemy fleet.”
“Combat range in one minute ten seconds,” replied the sensor officer.
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Admiral Trope was stunned by the failure of his cargo ships to inflict more damage to the Originator battlestations and mobile battlestations. In hindsight he realized he should have sent in twice as many battlecruisers. “Assign more of our battlecruisers to ram the Originator battlestations. We must destroy them if we hope to win this battle.”
First Officer Novast turned quickly and began passing on the orders.
Trope’s eyes shifted to the large tactical display in front of him. He still had the Originators outnumbered and the fleets at the Shrieels were now attacking the large megastructures trying to bla
st their way in. With his superior numbers, he could afford to throw more of his battlecruisers at the Originators’ battlestations. To Trope, his path to victory was clear.
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Admiral Grayseth growled as the Hunter shook violently. An Eternal battlecruiser had managed to ram the ship’s energy shield. The shield had held but just barely.
“No damage,” reported First Officer Rastell. “I’m ordering our escorts to pull in closer to prevent that from happening again.”
On the tactical display, the Hunter and the ships with her were now on the very edge of the massive blob of red threat icons which represented the Eternal fleet. Weapons fire between the fleets was intense with ships on both sides dying every second. On the viewscreens, the front of both fleets looked to be on fire from the sheer number of missiles detonating.
Grayseth’s eyes moved over to one of the larger viewscreens showing one of his juggernauts. The Eternals were trying to crash their battlecruisers into the ship. Grayseth wasn’t sure how many Eternal ships were in the attacking formation but it was evident they were determined to destroy the vessel. The juggernaut’s defending battlecruisers and dreadnaughts were laying down a defensive fire of weapons in an attempt to keep the Eternals away. Eternal battlecruisers were exploding, leaving debris scattered across space. The returning fire from the Eternals was taking out numerous Originator ships. Battlecruisers and even dreadnaughts were having their shields knocked down, leaving them vulnerable to energy beam and missile attack.
Grayseth’s eyes narrowed as he saw the first Eternal battlecruiser strike the energy shield of the juggernaut. Moments later a second and then a third hit the shield with the next two penetrating the shield and slamming into the hull. In two massive explosions the juggernaut began to break apart.
“The Rhea is down,” reported the sensor officer.
“Increase our weapons fire!” ordered Grayseth. “We must destroy those Eternal ships before we lose more of our juggernauts.” On the viewscreen, the remains of the Rhea were being struck by dark matter missiles. Soon all that remained was a mass of glowing wreckage.