Major Hill nodded. “Sending the orders now.”
“I just finished speaking to the governor,” reported General Ethan Smith. “All cities have been evacuated and the population has entered the underground bunkers. Only military personnel remain on the surface.”
“Fighters and bombers are launching from all asteroid fortresses and lifting off from the surface bases,” added Major Hill. “Battlecarriers are beginning to launch their craft as well.”
“New Tellus Station has opened fire!” called out Colonel Briggs.
General Wilcox nodded. “And so it begins.”
-
“Eternal fleet has finished penetrating our formation,” reported Lieutenant Justin. “They are forming up into a globe.”
“All ships are to reverse course and close with the Eternals,” ordered Race. He leaned forward in his command chair as one of the viewscreens focused on New Tellus Station. Its energy screen was lit up from numerous antimatter explosions. However, it had one of the most powerful screens in existence powered by half a dozen antimatter reactors. He also saw the station was unleashing hellfire on the Eternals as New Tellus Station was also heavily armed and protected by a defense grid, some Type Two Battlestations, as well as several Indomitable Class Battlestations. New Tellus Station would be no easy nut for the Eternals to crack.
-
Massie reversed her fleet which was now at the forefront of the attack against the Eternals. Looking at the main viewscreen, she saw the Eternals firing upon three of the shipyards as well as the defense grid around New Tellus. A few antimatter missiles were detonating over several of the asteroid fortresses as well as the forty-kilometer battlestations. With a smirk, she saw the front section of the Eternal fleet was being pummeled by the defensive fire. Eternal battlecruisers were being blown apart in growing numbers as more of the planetary defensive installations began firing on the invading fleet.
From the battlestations and the asteroid fortresses four hundred-megaton dark matter missiles were being launched in massive waves toward the attacking enemy fleet. Adding to that were the energy weapons fire from gravitonic cannons, antimatter projectors, particle beam canons, and even dark energy projectors. The firepower being directed against the Eternals was overwhelming.
-
Admiral Qurant felt stunned at the amount of firepower being directed at his fleet from the planetary defenses. Not only that, the Originator fleet was now firing upon the rear echelon of his formation.
“That planet’s defenses are nearly as strong as a Shrieel,” said Second Commander Anston as he watched several Eternal battlecruisers being torn apart by energy beam fire on one of the viewscreens. “The only thing they lack is the blue energy spheres.”
“Concentrate our fire on the defensive grid over the planet,” ordered Admiral Qurant. He was determined to strike the planet with the fleet’s nukes. “Detonate some of our antimatter warheads over the planet to take out some of those defensive satellites. Also, target those smaller battlestations.”
Second Commander Anston quickly had the fleet change its targeting priority, at least the ones in the front of the globe formation. Those in the rear were still engaged against the advancing Originator fleet.
-
Thousands of Eternal antimatter missiles suddenly began targeting the defense grid and the Type Two Battlestations. Many were intercepted by defensive fire and interceptor missiles, however some did manage to get through. Six Type Two Battlestations were blown apart and hundreds of defense satellites were annihilated by the antimatter explosions. Battlecarriers and light cruisers beneath the grid hurriedly moved to cover the exposed sections where the defensive satellites had been destroyed. Hundreds of Talon fighters and Anlon bombers moved into position to intercept any missiles that might penetrate the weakened defensive grid.
The Eternal fleet moved closer to New Tellus all the time taking heavy losses from the orbital defenses and the Originator fleet assailing it from the rear. Wave after wave of antimatter missiles were being launched toward the planet and its defenses. The sky above New Tellus was constantly lit up from the titanic explosions striking the defensive grid. Two more Type Two Battlestations were destroyed as well as one of the Indomitable Class Battlestations. Antimatter missiles were hammering the energy shields of two of the asteroid fortresses.
-
General Wilcox grimaced as she saw the Indomitable Class Battlestation blown into millions of pieces. The Eternal antimatter missiles had finally knocked its protective energy shield down and after that a half dozen warheads had annihilated the station.
“They’re knocking more holes in the defensive grid,” warned General Smith worriedly. “We’re going to have missiles breaking through shortly.”
“Can your fighter and bombers stop them?” asked General Wilcox, looking over toward Major Hill.
“We’re damn sure going to try,” Hill replied. “I’ve moved the battlecarriers and the light cruisers beneath the holes in the grid. I suspect they’ll be coming under attack shortly.”
General Wilcox nodded. She strongly suspected the Eternals would not be retreating from this battle. This was a battle to the death and she intended to make sure it was the Eternals who died. “Intensify our defensive fire. We need to stop as many of those missiles as possible from reaching the planet.”
-
Race had moved the WarHawk up close to Massie’s flagship to better coordinate the battle. His eyes were focused on the viewscreens showing the battle raging around New Tellus. The Eternals were losing many of their ships but they still had thousands to use to attack the planet. They seemed unconcerned about their losses as long as they could destroy their target.
The battle had become very simple. Could the Eternal fleet be destroyed before it began hitting the surface of New Tellus with nukes? That was still up in the air as both sides were doing everything in their power to kill the other.
-
One of the orbiting shipyards was under heavy attack. A few of the Eternal energy beams had managed to penetrate the fluctuating energy shield. In a number of locations the hull had suffered major damage, opening up compartments to space. Crews rushed to contain the damage but as soon as they repaired one area another was holed by the Eternals.
-
Admiral Qurant saw the weakening shield of the shipyard and ordered the fleet to shift more of its firepower toward it. A minute later the shield collapsed and over thirty antimatter missiles blew the large shipyard apart. Much of its debris would fall on the planet as flaming wreckage.
“Refocus our fire on those ships trying to fill the gaps we’ve blown in the defense grid. If we can destroy them we can begin firing nukes at the planet.” Admiral Qurant was satisfied with the progress of the battle. He had lost more ships than expected but he should still be able to achieve his objective of destroying the planet.
“Weapons fire has been redirected,” reported Second Commander Anston. “Admiral, we have lost nearly twelve thousand more of our ships. At this rate we won’t have much of a fleet left when this battle is over.”
Admiral Qurant turned toward Anston, his face showing anger. “I don’t care if we lose the entire fleet as long as we destroy this planet. We are the Eternals and we fight for the Empire!”
-
The Eternal fleet had closed to within a few thousand kilometers of the defensive grid. Wave after wave of missiles were targeting the grid as well as several of the asteroid fortresses. An antimatter missile managed to penetrate the energy screen of one of the fortresses, exploding against the surface. A huge glowing crater formed and about 20 percent of the asteroid’s defensive armaments were wiped out. The energy shield popped back into place and the remaining defenses continued to fire at the approaching Eternal fleet.
The battlecarrier Odyssey was under attack. Several light cruisers were trying to take the pressure off the larger ship but a series of antimatter missiles destroyed both of the smaller vessels. The Odyssey’s energy s
creen finally failed under the unrelenting attack and the ship blew apart, scattering wreckage across the surface of New Tellus.
Several squadrons of Talon fighters rushed to fill the void where the Odyssey had been. They were just in time to intercept half a dozen nukes aimed at the planet. Then an antimatter missile detonated in their midst, taking out all of the fighters. Other squadrons hurried to fill the void but before they could reach the break in the planet’s defenses four nuclear missiles hurtled through. Ground based interceptors managed to intercept three but the fourth struck the surface. The nuke detonated and a towering mushroom cloud created by superheated air rushing from the center of the blast began to rise above the landscape.
-
On board the Command Fortress, General Wilcox saw the missile strike. It pained her to see the mushroom cloud forming over her home planet. “Order one of the forty-kilometer battlestations to move over and cover that break in the defense grid.”
The battlestations were equipped with a gravity drive which allowed them to move the stations if necessary. General Wilcox watched tensely as the station ponderously moved until it was over the hole in the grid. She breathed out a long sigh of relief. The hole for now was plugged until the Eternals created another.
-
Race saw the nuke strike New Tellus. Fortunately, thanks to General Wilcox’s quick thinking, the hole had been closed with one of the large battlestations. “We need to put more pressure on the Eternals. Three of the forty-kilometer battlestations are now in attack range. We need to finish off the Eternal fleet.” Taking a deep breath Race ordered the Originator ships to close in for the kill. It was time to end this battle.
-
Admiral Qurant’s eyes were red with rage. The Originator battlestation had closed the hole which had been blasted in the defense grid. Now three of the monstrosities were raining death upon his fleet. The fourth was on the other side of the planet.
“Target the nearest shipyard,” he ordered, intent on causing more damage to the Human system. “I want it destroyed.”
-
The Eternal ships shifted their fire to the indicated shipyard. For several minutes it held up to their fire and then the shield began to falter. Several energy beams penetrated, blasting out huge holes in the hull and then an antimatter missile penetrated and detonated against the hull, breaking the shipyard in two. Instantly the faltering energy shield failed and a wave of antimatter missiles destroyed the two sections. Glowing debris and twisted wreckage was all that remained.
-
Admiral Crown grimaced as he saw another of his valuable shipyards destroyed by the Eternals. He knew several thousand volunteers had been on board. “Move more of our ships to cover the remaining shipyards. We can’t afford to lose any more of them.”
His second officer nodded and quickly transmitted the orders.
-
Admiral Qurant switched his fire to one of the asteroid fortresses, the same one which had already taken an antimatter strike. If he could knock it out of orbit and into the planet, he could still destroy this Human world.
“We may lose all of our ships before we can bring it down,” reported Second Commander Anston. Those three large battlestations are decimating our forward ranks.”
“Keep firing at the asteroid,” ordered Admiral Qurant, his eyes not leaving the viewscreen.
On the screen, massive explosions were striking the energy shield of the asteroid fortress. For several long minutes the shield held unwavering and then a number of energy beams suddenly penetrated, striking the surface. The shield flickered briefly and two antimatter missiles struck, exploding with massive force. The shield failed and more missiles broke the asteroid in half, sending it falling toward the planet.
“We did it!” exalted Admiral Qurant as his eyes watched the descending asteroid pieces. “That will destroy the planet.”
“Perhaps not,” replied Second Commander Anston as one of the large battlestations began hitting the asteroid with dark matter missiles, pulverizing it. In less than two minutes all that remained were small, shattered pieces which would burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
Admiral Qurant leaned back in his command chair, feeling shock. He had failed! Looking at the tactical screen, he was unnerved to see so few green icons representing Eternal ships still surviving. Even as he watched more blinked out and disappeared. The Originator fleet had closed to pointblank range and were attacking his fleet with every weapon they had. Unfortunately, they now outnumbered the Eternal fleet.
“All ships full ahead. We will close to pointblank range and launch every nuke we have at the Human world.” Admiral Qurant was determined to destroy the planet even if it cost him every ship in his fleet.
-
The Eternal fleet surged forward into a withering hail of weapons fire from the battlestations and other defenses. Ship after ship died failing to reach the planet. The Originator fleet charged after them, hitting the Eternal ships with dark matter missiles and every energy beam they had. When the Eternal fleet finally reached the defense grid only eighty-two ships still survived and all of them were heavily damaged. A few managed to fire their missiles before they were destroyed. However, every one of the missiles were intercepted and eliminated before they could detonate.
Admiral Qurant felt his flagship shake violently. The damage control console was covered with red lights.
“We’ve lost all of our missile tubes,” reported Second Commander Anston. “We can’t launch the nukes.”
Admiral Qurant turned toward Anston. “We don’t need our missile tubes. Set the nukes for contact detonation.”
Admiral Qurant sat in his command chair, his face impassive as his flagship broke through the last defenses and hurtled toward the surface of the planet. He watched one of the few working viewscreens as the surface rapidly grew larger.
The Eternal flagship crashed into the surface of New Tellus and all the nukes on board detonated in one tremendous explosion. The blast was so powerful it actually shook the planet. A massive mushroom cloud began to form and rise up into the atmosphere. For hundreds of kilometers around the explosion all buildings were destroyed, trees uprooted, and infrastructure eliminated.
-
Race felt ill upon seeing the massive explosion on the surface of New Tellus. He knew that any underground bunkers that were within that blast range were probably destroyed. “How bad is that going to harm the planet?”
“It’s repairable,” replied Zamdol. “The Originators have technology which can take the radiation and the dust out of the atmosphere. In a year’s time all traces of the effects of the blast will be negligible.”
Race nodded. The Eternals had been defeated but the cost had been heavy. “Put us into orbit around New Tellus. We may be needed for rescue operations.”
Race was relieved to see the blast had occurred far away from where his parents lived. As soon as he could he would take Massie and go see them. For a while, he just wanted to get away from the war. In recent days he had seen too much death and destruction. It was time to take a break. At least for now the war in the Federation was over and the Human race had won though it had paid a terrible cost.
Chapter Twenty-Five
At the Communications and Transport Hub, the results of the battles in the Human Federation of Worlds and Alton space were coming in. The Originator Council was in a meeting reviewing the reports and discussing what if anything they could have done differently.
“The loss in lives in the Human Federation of Worlds is nearing six billion,” reported Councilor Barnes. “The final total is expected to be close to six and a half billion.”
“It’s even worse in Alton space,” reported Councilor Tureen. “We had many more star systems to defend and many of them were heavily populated. I have spoken to other Altons in the government on our homeworld and we’re expecting the total loss of life to be nearly sixteen billion.”
“What of the Eternal fleets?” asked Councilor Castille.
“They’ve been annihilated,” confirmed Admiral Jackson. “Latest count is sixty-one thousand Eternal battlecruisers destroyed.”
This caused a stir in the council. “We never expected the Eternals to commit such a large fleet,” said Councilor Trallis, shaking his head. “If we had we would have committed more of our ships to defending the Federation and the Altons. It was a grave error on our part.”
Councilor Grayseth looked at the council members. “What must we do to ensure this does not happen again? The Eternals failed in this attack; what about the next one?”
“What would you suggest, Admiral Jackson?” asked Councilor Metrecs. “We’re willing to do whatever is necessary.”
“I’ve spoken with Fleet Admiral Strong as well as Admiral Tolsen and they are both in agreement. We should place an Accelerator Ring in orbit around each of the remaining major populated planets in the Human Federation of Worlds. We should also base a fleet of twenty-five thousand Originator battlecruisers and fifteen hundred dreadnoughts at New Tellus which can be sent to any trouble spot in the Federation if the Eternals attack again. Additionally we must commit ten more of our forty-kilometer battlestations to defend those worlds where there are none. Both Fleet Admiral Strong and Admiral Tolsen feel if we do this it will abate the Eternal menace against the Federation.”
“What of the destroyed worlds?” asked Councilor Roan. “We have the technology to restore those worlds within a decade.”
Councilor Trallis slowly nodded his head. “We shall do it. It’s the least we can do. If everyone agrees we will send the fleet and the battlestations as well. I believe we need to add two more facilities for constructing the stations so we can keep up with the demand. However, in order to send the dreadnoughts we need to train more crews. We have nearly every manned ship committed at this time.”
“How many Humans and Altons evacuated?” asked Councilor Barnes. He had been keeping track of it but not since the start of the attack.
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