The Forgotten Empire:
The Battle for Earth
A Forgotten Empire Novel
(The Forgotten Empire: The Battle for Earth, Book 3)
By
Raymond L. Weil
USA Today Best Selling Author
Books in the Forgotten Empire Series
The Forgotten Empire: Banishment (Book 1)
The Forgotten Empire: Earth Ascendant (Book 2)
The Forgotten Empire: The Battle for Earth (Book 3)
The Forgotten Empire: The War for the Empire (Book 4) Coming in October 2020
Website: http://raymondlweil.com/
Copyright © July 2020 by Raymond L. Weil
All Rights Reserved
Cover Design by Humblenations.com
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author.
Note from the author. For those of you following my health situation I had my Kidney Transplant in late June. I’m doing fine and everything looks good. I want to thank you for your support during this time.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Epilogue
The Seven Races of the Confederation
The Forgotten Empire (Book Three)
The Battle for Earth
Chapter One
Cheryl Bannon was leaning against the wall in a cargo compartment full of other captives, with Mark Grayson watching over her. Mark was a former Marine and had been essential in her survival for the last four days. She couldn’t help thinking about the Lamothians’ attack on Highland Station. No one had ever expected that. She knew that hundreds, possibly thousands, of people had died.
“We should be in Confederation space by now,” said Mark, as he kept a wary eye on the heavily armed Lamothian guards standing at the large hatch, the only exit from the cargo compartment. Their eyestalks constantly moved, as they kept a careful watch on the Human captives.
Cheryl nodded. “They take one or two of us every day to feed upon. It’s horrible.” The other captives stayed as far away from the hatch as possible. Everyone knew what was happening to those taken by the Lamothians.
Mark did not reply. He wondered what had happened to Daryl Berk, the other former Marine assigned to keep Cheryl safe, who had been captured with them. He hoped Daryl was still alive. He would be needed if they hoped to escape from this mess. Mark had been in difficult situations before but never one quite like this.
The compartment they were in was filled to overcapacity with Humans. Men, women, children, and even a few babies. Food and water were brought in twice per day. Already several people had died from the harsh conditions, and a number had refused to eat the goop being served as food. The dead were dragged to a corner of the large hatch, where the Lamothians eventually removed them.
A distinct change came in the pitch of the ship’s hyperdrive, and then it suddenly shut down. For the first time in four days the cargo compartment was relatively quiet.
“We just dropped out of hyperspace,” said Mark, concern in his expression. “We must be wherever they’re taking us.”
“One of their worlds where they’ll sell us for food,” commented Cheryl, still finding it hard to believe what was happening to her. She could imagine the anger and frustration Dylan must be feeling. By now he would know about the Lamothian attack on Highland Station and that she had been there. She swore, if she got out of this, she would never go against his wishes again.
People began to talk loudly. A group of men had gathered in one corner of the compartment and were eyeing the guards. From what Mark had heard, they planned to rush the Lamothians, once they arrived at their destination, and try to take over the ship.
Mark had cautioned against it, reminding them the Lamothians were armed with energy weapons, and a lot of innocent people would die in such an attempt. They refused to heed Mark’s warning and planned on going ahead with their attempt. So Mark and Cheryl leaned against the wall as far from the hatch as they could get. They did not want to get caught in the cross fire when the revolt erupted.
-
For an hour nothing happened, and then they felt the ship hit something gently.
“They’ve docked,” said Mark, tracking the group of men edging toward the hatch—nearly thirty of them. None were armed with anything other than their bare hands. “When the shooting starts, get down on the deck and stay there. I suspect the Lamothian guards won’t be too concerned about who they kill. Just do as I say, and you’ll get through this.”
Cheryl nodded. Her heart pounded, and her breathing was heavy. Suddenly the hatch opened, and seven Lamothians stepped inside. All were armed and dressed in combat armor. Even as Cheryl watched, one of the captive men shouted, and the entire group charged the guards. The guards didn’t hesitate and fired into the Humans coming toward them, as if they were expecting something like this.
Several of the guards went down under the rush, and their weapons were seized and used to kill two more. However, more Lamothian guards suddenly charged through the hatch, their weapons firing. The smell of burned flesh became prevalent, and screams and yells filled the cargo compartment. The sounds of weapons fire filled the air.
Mark forced Cheryl down hard on the deck, covering her body with his. “Stay down. Don’t look!”
-
For several minutes the sound of the struggle filled the compartment. People pushed and shoved, trying to get away from the firefight. Cheryl managed to look around Mark. More Lamothians came in through the hatch. Some were firing indiscriminately into the crowd of people. She could hear the sharp cries of pain and the panicked screams for help.
A few of the Human attackers were wielding Lamothian energy weapons. They were firing as fast as they could at the Lamothians crowding into the compartment. Cheryl couldn’t help but feel pleased every time a Lamothian fell to their fire. Two Human shooters were hit by numerous beams of energy, killing them instantly. The other armed Humans were quickly killed, as the Lamothians shot them down without any trace of mercy.
The fighting died down and then stopped. All that could be heard were the moaning of the injured and the crying of those who had just lost somebody. A lot of dead people could be seen throughout the compartment.
“Mark,” said Cheryl, as she tried to roll him off her. She got no response. Finally Cheryl managed to crawl out from beneath him. “Mark?” Rolling him over, Cheryl saw an energy beam had struck him square in the back. Mark was dead!
Cheryl leaned against the wall in shock. She suddenly felt very much alone. Her last protector was gone, and she had no idea what w
ould become of her now.
-
Admiral Dylan Cleemorl sat in his command chair onboard the dreadnought Themis. The ship was in hyperspace, and they wouldn’t reach Confederation space for another three days. Glancing at the tactical display, Dylan saw the green icons of his rescue fleet, ten more dreadnoughts besides the Themis and sixty battlecruisers. All the crewmembers were volunteers, and everyone knew the goals of this mission. Rescue Cheryl and as many of the Human captives as possible.
“How will we do this?” asked Captain Fulmar. “We don’t have any cargo or passenger ships.”
“No, but the Lamothians do. We’ll take their ships, hopefully with their Human captives still onboard.”
“That’s risky. What will their warships be doing while we’re doing that?”
Dylan let out a deep sigh. “That’s what I’m still trying to figure out.” Dylan didn’t know what he would do if something happened to Cheryl. She was the center of his life, and her kidnapping made him realize just how important she was to him.
“I’ll be in my quarters for a while, planning what we’ll do when we finally find Cheryl and the Humans the Lamothians took.”
“Don’t forget. They took a number of aliens captive as well, several thousand at least.”
Dylan nodded. “I haven’t forgotten.”
Reaching his quarters, Dylan sat down behind his desk. He called up what Rear Admiral Masters had discovered on his trip to one of the Lamothian worlds and also the records of what some of the survivors of the escaped cargo vessel had reported. As Dylan looked through the reports, he shook his head. He still had no real idea how he would pull this off.
-
For several hours Dylan read through the reports, and, when he was finished, he leaned back and rubbed his eyes. He had come to realize the mission he had set out on would be nearly impossible. He had slightly less than three days to come up with a workable plan. If he failed, there was a very good chance he would never see Cheryl again. Dylan knew he was in for three nearly sleepless nights.
-
Cheryl was in a state of shock and didn’t know what to do. The Lamothians had cleared out all the dead bodies and then forced everyone to leave the cargo department and to board a large space station. Once there, they had been stripped and ordered to clean up and to put on clean clothes, which were provided. Cheryl was too stunned to feel embarrassed about being naked in front of so many people. Several of the other women had their clothes ripped off when they refused to strip and were then directed to the communal showers.
Once Cheryl was dressed, she returned to the large compartment, where she found food waiting. This meal was more palatable; even several varieties of fruits had been provided.
“Wanting to fatten us up before they eat us,” commented a familiar voice behind her.
Turning, Cheryl saw Daryl Berk standing there. Without thinking, Cheryl hugged Daryl, feeling immense relief flooding through her. “Mark’s dead. He was killed in our cargo compartment when some of the men tried to take out the Lamothian guards.”
Daryl nodded. “Mark was a good man and a good Marine.”
“What now?” asked Cheryl. She was suddenly not quite as afraid as she had been a few moments earlier.
“I have a locator beacon hidden on me. I’m hoping Captain Bryan managed to follow us.”
Cheryl looked surprised. “You think the Princess Haven is close by?”
“I’m counting on it. Let’s get something to eat and sit down. I activated the beacon as soon as I saw you.”
Cheryl was almost afraid to ask but did. “Where is this beacon?”
Daryl tapped his shoulder. “It’s underneath the skin and very small and sends out a signal once every thirty minutes.”
Looking around the large compartment, Cheryl noticed that all the aliens had been removed. Only Humans were visible. A large number of Lamothian guards were present; they were not taking chances on another uprising occurring. “So, what do we do?”
“We stay put and hope Captain Bryan figures out something before we’re taken to the surface. Once we’re down there, I don’t know if he can do anything.”
-
Captain Bryan had the Princess Haven and the two escorts tucked in safely behind a medium-size asteroid, only twelve million kilometers from the space station that Daryl Berk was on. They had just received the initial signal from his homing beacon. Hopefully that meant that Cheryl, Mark, and Daryl were all together.
“If we leave the shelter of this asteroid, we’re bound to be detected,” said Trisha Greer at Tactical.
“I know,” replied Bryan. “I’m thinking about taking a shuttle from each of our ships and attempting a rescue. The tactical display reveals a lot of ships traveling about. This system has a robust asteroid mining industry. I think we could sneak in very close to the space station without arousing suspicion.”
Trisha frowned. “Then what? Even if we can rescue Cheryl, the shuttles full of people must get back here. A hell of a lot of warships orbit that planet.” On the tactical display, several hundred red threat icons were visible.
“We go in, grab Cheryl and the others, and then get the hell out,” replied Captain Bryan. “If we do it fast enough, the shuttles might get away before the Lamothians fully realize what is happening. If we get back to the yacht and the two support ships, then we make the transition into hyperspace. Once we’ve done that, we’re home free.”
“A lot of ifs in what you’re planning.”
“Do you have any other ideas? Keep in mind that we’re running out of time. They could take their captives to the planet shortly. No way we can pull off anything there.”
Trisha shook her head. “No, I can’t think of anything else. No matter what we do, it’ll be risky.”
“Check with our two escorts, and see how many former Marines are onboard. I want as big of an assault force as possible. I want everyone dressed in combat armor with heavy weapons. I imagine the fighting will be quite intense.”
-
Cheryl and Daryl, along with a number of other Humans, had been taken into another room. Here they were once more stripped and placed into a long line. Several Lamothians went down the line, touching their bodies, recording notes of the different Humans, as if checking to see how much meat was on their bones. Cheryl shuddered at the implications.
When Cheryl’s turn came, she tried not to flinch as the Lamothian reached out with one of its appendages and touched and squeezed various parts of her body. Cheryl was repulsed and felt very filthy. The Lamothian finished prodding her and moved on to Daryl.
When the Lamothians were done, the Humans were allowed to dress, were then led into another compartment with chairs, and were told to sit down and to be quiet.
“What are they doing?” Cheryl asked Daryl quietly.
“Processing us,” replied Daryl. “They’re making a record of each one of us to use in the food markets. As soon as they’ve accounted for everyone, I suspect they’ll take us down to the planet.” Daryl casually reached up and rubbed his shoulder, one of his fingers pressing a certain area. “I’ve increased the number of pulses sent by the locator beacon to let Captain Bryan know the situation is getting desperate.”
Cheryl nodded. Leaning back, she closed her eyes, not wanting to show how frightened she was. She knew the odds of her and Daryl surviving this ordeal were not very good.
-
Several hours passed, and more people were brought into the large compartment. All the chairs were taken by now, and the new arrivals had to sit on the floor. A lot of quiet conversations were had, with occasional furtive glances at the armed Lamothians standing on both sides of the large hatch.
“How big is this station?” asked Cheryl. She knew it had to be huge.
“From what I’ve read of the official reports,” Daryl whispered, “they process a lot of Humans through these stations. It’s probably as large as a major shipyard or even bigger.”
Cheryl nodded. “So probably tho
usands of Lamothians are onboard.” Cheryl just didn’t see how Captain Bryan could possibly rescue them. With every passing hour, she felt their situation growing more hopeless.
Looking around the room, Cheryl noted a large number of families. It frightened her to find all the children in this compartment. Many were too young to realize the danger they were in. A few even laughed and played with one another, their youthful innocence protecting them from knowing the horrid danger they were in.
“Try to get some rest,” suggested Daryl. “You may need your energy later.”
Cheryl closed her eyes, though she doubted if she could sleep. Instead her thoughts focused on Dylan and the last time they had been together. A slight smile tugged at her lips.
-
Captain Bryan sat in the copilot’s seat of his small shuttle, holding six Marines. The two shuttles from the escorts were larger and held ten Marines each. All were dressed in combat armor and armed with heavy energy rifles as well as pistols. Bryan hoped the commercial station was filled with more civilians than military types, who would recognize their uniforms as military immediately.
“How do you want to do this?” asked the pilot. All three shuttles were rapidly approaching the station.
“A number of shuttles and small craft have entered that one large hatch that’s open. Head for it, and we’ll try to land inside.” Bryan didn’t see any other way to easily enter the station.
The three shuttles approached the massive station. Around it a horde of small shuttles, cargo ships, and mining craft were constantly docking and leaving. The station was twice the size of anything in the Solar System. From what Bryan could see, the station itself was heavily armed. Luckily that ordnance was directed away from the station itself. A number of energy beam turrets were visible, though Byron had not spotted any missile tubes. He counted at least twenty massive cargo ships docked to various ports. Also several Lamothian battlecruisers were on patrol in the nearby air space.
The Forgotten Empire: The Battle For Earth: Book three Page 1
