First Admiral 01 First Admiral

by William J. Benning

  Calmly, Billy led the Thexxian saucer through the defence screens that cloaked and protected the planet, and into a high orbit.

  “By the greatness of The Great Power!” the Thexxian pilot gasped his astonishment into the military network, having just witnessed an entire planet appear from nowhere.

  The planet was named Gardarus, by its former owners. It had originally been a scientific research colony, but in its latter years had metamorphosed into a seat of learning with one huge city-sized university campus on one of the northern continents. The enormous city on Gardarus had developed even further around the industrial needs of the research facility. With the advent of the Garmaurian civil war, a large military complex and planetary stealth system was located outside the main city. Gardarus was one of the research centres used to combat the virus that finally wiped out the Garmaurian species, and had been stealthed when the last occupants had abandoned the colony.

  “Gatekeeper, this is Scout,” the Thexxian, still recovering his wits from the shock of an entire planet materialising before him, announced, “permission to have a look around?”

  “Scout, this is Gatekeeper, knock yourself out my friend,” Billy replied.

  As Billy had pre-arranged with Falkus Margallan, the single fighting saucer set off to explore the planetary surface on its own. He swept the city with his primitive sensors and found no life signs. There did not appear to be anything of a threatening or dangerous nature in the city, and that there were facilities for over eight million people; homes, transport, hospitals, power plants, agricultural zones, industrial capacity, government infrastructure and huge landing bays.

  The city was vast with a radius of over one hundred kilometres. Like all major Garmaurian building projects, the city was set in a perfectly geometric pattern. However, on Gardarus, the military base, a later addition at the time of the civil war, was set to the north of the main circular city. Although perfectly circular, it still stood out from the huge city like the head on the round body of a snowman.

  Outside of the single main city, there was jungle, scrubby moorland and vast open plains where herbivorous, now-extinct animals, had once roamed in huge numbers. Dark brown rivers originating in the dark slate grey mountains carved channels through the yellow-green vegetation of the planet’s surface. To Billy, it looked like the scorched grass he hated mowing at the height of summer back home on Earth.

  However, this was no balmy, warm summer paradise. The double suns of Gardarus kept up a relentless bombardment of heat upon the planetary surface. It was a planet which never knew darkness. One of the twin suns was constantly shining down onto the planetary surface. Temperatures of over two hundred degrees Celsius were as cold as things got on the wild side of Gardarus. The huge defensive shield set around the main city also provided the boundaries for the climate control. The Garmaurians, although able to comfortably withstand temperatures that would have been a serious threat to humans, were unable to tolerate the heat of Gardarus.

  Calmly, Billy waited for the Scout to make his investigations. After about twenty minutes, the Thexxian pilot broke into the silence of the network.

  “Recon One, Scout, it looks clear down here,” the Thexxian announced to the main body.

  With the initial scout’s signal, the largest of the fighting saucers went down into the pink-skied atmosphere of Gardarus accompanied by the remaining fighters. This was stage two. Billy calmly followed the large Thexxian saucer as it sped down through the atmosphere towards the planetary surface. From the Control Cabin of the Black Rose, Billy could see the Thexxian saucer being buffeted and battered by the ever thickening atmosphere. The saucer, making a very rapid approach, in case of hidden ground defences, was approaching the planet at a very steep angle. Into the atmosphere the large Thexxian saucer plunged, at breakneck speed to avoid the threat of the non-existent ground defences.

  The large Thexxian saucer rapidly approached the coordinates Billy had supplied as the location of the former Garmaurian military base. It left Billy with a feeling of trepidation that the Thexxian vessel would plunge straight into the ground at very high speed. Instinctively, Billy made sure that he had disarmed the Force Shielding that protected the city from any ships that had managed to get through the external planetary defences.

  The barracks, medical facilities, weapons stores, mess halls and warship repair bays were all buried several hundred feet beneath the surface. All that appeared above the surface were the parade grounds, firing ranges, training courses and non-essential administrative facilities. The command and control structures were safely buried in the deepest part of the facility. The structures that dominated the surface of the circular military base were the Landing Towers. The massive Christmas tree-like structures were encircled by huge rectangular landing pads stacked five or six deep that could easily accommodate any of the Thexxian ships, except the huge agricultural and accommodation vessels.

  They would have to land on the ground level of the facility on one of the massive parade grounds.

  “It looks clear Recon One,” Billy heard the Thexxian voice cut into the network.

  “Very well, going round for a good look and one final scanner sweep,” the large saucer responded.

  The large Thexxian fighting saucer drew to an almost stationary hover over the military base from its headlong descent from the bright pink, sunny, sky of Gardarus. After a brief scanner sweep of the entire area, the saucer sped round the surface facilities of the base in a cursory visual inspection. The massive windowless cube of the dark grey Main Flight Control was surrounded by the seven massive conical Landing Towers. On top of each Landing Tower was a pulsar-cannon turret carrying a pair of the heavy high-yield pulsar-cannons usually carried by the Garmaurian Star-Cruisers and other heavy warships.

  “Recon One to fighters, we’re going in, keep your eyes peeled up there,” the large saucer ordered.

  After several circuits of the surface structures, the large Thexxian saucer swept down to a pinpoint landing on the fourth level of one of the landing platforms to the west of the Flight Control block. No sooner had the saucer touched down, than the landing bay doors were flung open and around thirty green-clad Thexxian soldiers rushed forwards, weapons aimed, to explore and secure the facility.

  “Landing Party is down,” the large saucer announced over the network.

  Billy noted, with interest, the professionalism and speed with which the Thexxians infiltrated the facility as far as the security protocols he had set would allow them to. There was still Garmaurian weapons technology in that facility that Billy did not want the Thexxians getting hold of just yet.

  “Maintaining standard defensive posture,” the large saucer informed the fighters who buzzed around the base looking for potential threats.

  With the ground troops disembarked, the large saucer took off again. It held a tight orbiting pattern around the Landing Tower ready to return to snatch the troops up, at a moment’s notice. Billy watched with interest as the Thexxian troops moved deeper and deeper into the facility. The Garmaurian scanners aboard the Black Rose were far more advanced than the Thexxians could ever imagine.

  Down in the depths of the Landing Tower, the Thexxians were moving swiftly and confidently from one room to another to ensure that no dangerous surprises awaited them.

  After around thirty minutes, the Thexxians had swept the area that Billy had set aside for them in the military base. Billy had earmarked the area around the main central administration block, a large barracks facility, several of the vast Garmaurian military mess halls and the entirety of the base medical facilities for the Thexxians.

  “Recon One to Gatekeeper,” the Thexxians began, “the facility is secured, request permission to return to main fleet,”

  “Acknowledged, Recon One,” Billy responded, “send your Scout back into orbit, whilst you hold your positions here,”

  “Acknowledged Gatekeeper,” Recon One responded, “and thank you, sir,” the voice added nervously.

&
nbsp; “Welcome to your new home, Recon One,” Billy smiled softly.

  Chapter 27

  Two hours later, Billy Caudwell, aboard the Black Rose, was holding open the Jump Gate whilst the last of the Thexxian fleet passed through to the new planet. The Thexxian vessels had swiftly passed through; a journey of no more than a few seconds that covered the equivalent of two million light years of space. All the shapes and forms of Thexxian space vessels had passed through the Jump Gate; even the great Agricultural ships, which were over ten kilometres long, could approach the Jump Gate and be transferred to a new point in the blink of an eye.

  The Thexxians, being masters of organisation, had set out a timetable for sending their vessels through the Jump Gate. First through had been the initial scouting party, who were then set the task of preparing the facilities to receive the rest of the Thexxian populace. The second wave of Thexxian ships consisted of the other Medical and Support technicians who would supplement the few dozen already on Gardarus. The Accommodation ships, with the bulk of the population, and the huge wheel-like Flagship, then followed with the Supply and Agricultural vessels next in line. Finally, the last of the military saucers would bring up the rear, having made sure that the transfer of vessels was not impeded by the Bardomil or anyone else who wished the Thexxians harm.

  “This is Gatekeeper to Rearguard One,” Billy announced into the military network, “that’s the last of the Supply ships transferred, time to go Rearguard.”

  “Erm, negative Gatekeeper, our scanners are picking up a large hostile force,” was the response.

  “Can you identify hostiles, Rearguard One?” Billy asked.

  “Affirmative, Gatekeeper, standard formation and approach profile for large Bardomil force,” the Thexxian voice responded.

  “Rearguard One, size of Bardomil force?” Billy asked, and checked his own Scanners.

  “Gatekeeper, instruments show six M-Cruisers, fifty Flying Devils and around two hundred Harpoon fighters,” the Thexxian responded, “now, transfer the fleet Gatekeeper, we’ll hold them here long enough for you to escape.”

  “Confirm size of Bardomil force, Rearguard One. But, not a chance on leaving you behind, everyone goes to the new planet, including you,” Billy replied.

  Doing a quick calculation in his head, Billy computed that this must be a large scale M-Cruiser patrol. If there had been any of the much vaunted Bardomil Imperial Fighter Carriers in the force there would be larger numbers of M-Cruisers.

  “Negative, Gatekeeper, we cannot jeopardise the transfer point,” the Thexxian responded.

  “Transfer point is not, repeat not, in jeopardy, Rearguard One,” Billy repeated the meaning of his original message, “will be at your location in fifteen seconds.”

  “Acknowledged Gatekeeper,” the Thexxian response sounded resignedly.

  In the fifteen seconds it took for Billy to reach the Thexxian position, he analysed the situation on his Tactical View Screen. To the left of the screen, Billy could see the one hundred Thexxian saucers strung out in a long line represented as white circles. Approaching from the right, as red triangles, were six large ships with fifty smaller ships in front of them in five groups of ten. In front of the fifty were two hundred even smaller vessels in a line that looked like it would engulf the Thexxians. It was a classic Bardomil envelopment tactic. The small fighters would stretch the Thexxian line thinner and thinner as it deployed to stop an outflanking manoeuvre. Then, when the Thexxians were stretched too finely, the Flying Devils in the second wave would shatter the Thexxian line, breaking up the formation. They could then smash the small Thexxian groups at leisure.

  Looking at the situation, Billy knew that the Thexxians were going to be quite badly outnumbered in this confrontation. Trying to outrun so many of these Bardomil vessels would probably be pointless. It would only take a few seconds to slip these Thexxian Fighting Saucers through the Jump Gate, but the Bardomil ships would be only a few seconds behind them. Billy Caudwell could not risk an open Jump Gate with Bardomil warships around. Plus, he could not fight and hold a Jump Gate open at the same time.

  Turning his attention to the Bardomil vessels, Billy pulled up the schematics from the database and projected them onto his View Screen to try and find a design weakness. The first vessel he checked was the M-Cruiser. The M-Cruiser, as the name suggested, looked from the front view, like a letter M. A long cylindrical fuselage with two gull-wings running the full length, gave the warship its distinctive shape. With a crew of over five hundred the M-Cruiser was a slow and ponderous vessel. However, the M-Cruiser was well armed and could soak up considerable punishment that would normally send another vessel to oblivion or scampering for safety. It was an ideal vessel for escort duties; well armed, tough and solid in design. The principle armaments of the M-Cruiser were two high-powered laser weapons that protruded from the grooves in the gull-wings. With rapid-fire and constant stream capability, the M-Cruiser’s laser gave it a good stand-off capability and accuracy against any vessel it came up against.

  The Bardomil ship known as the Flying Devil had a large low flat saucer fuselage, but with two large curved pincer structures to the rear of the ship. When in flight, the Flying Devil, which utilised an advanced form of electro-magnetic propulsion, passed huge currents of electrical energy between the points of the two pincers to alter the electrical field and drive the vessel where it was instructed to go. Thus, when the Flying Devil appeared, the flashes of the electro-magnetic propulsion system gave the ship a dramatic and fearsome appearance. When viewed from above the Flying Devil looked like a horned demon.

  As its namesake implied, the Flying Devil had a reputation amongst the Thexxians for being very fast and heavily armed as well as being supremely manoeuvrable.

  The single-seat fighter of the Bardomil Imperial Fleet was known as the Harpoon fighter because of its distinctive shape. The Bardomil fighter looked like the point and shaft of an old-fashioned harpoon. However, the point of the Bardomil Harpoon fighter, rather than the sharp triangular point of a traditional arrowhead shape, was gently curved with two softly downward sloping wings. A clear hemispherical canopy above the main body of the Harpoon provided the pilot with the all round vision needed to operate successfully in a fighter on fighter dog fight. It was a dangerous looking vessel; more than a match for the outnumbered Thexxian saucers, and there appeared to be plenty of them in this little flotilla.

  More concerning to Billy Caudwell was the fact that single-seat fighters were here in such large numbers. Large numbers of single-seat fighters meant that their Carriers would also be around somewhere. Single-seat fighters were very rarely used for long range patrols, and the M-Cruiser and Flying Devils didn’t carry Harpoons. There were too many Harpoons for a patrol, and too few to be a full complement for any but the smallest of Bardomil Battle Groups.

  Reaching the Thexxian position, Billy stationed himself one thousand yards ahead of the centre of the line and set the force shielding to maximum.

  “Bardomil forces, Bardomil forces, hold your positions and stand down your weapons,” Billy ordered nervously, still quite unsure of how the Black Rose would perform in combat.

  The order was met with a fusillade of long-range weapons fire from the M-Cruisers, which deflected harmlessly from the force shielding in front of the Black Rose. The pale yellow streaks of laser energy bounced off the force shielding perimeter like stones from a brick wall, and zipped harmlessly off into space in every direction, much to Billy’s relief.

  “Rearguard One, get your ships into close formation behind me,” Billy ordered.

  “Gatekeeper, can your shielding protect us all?” Rearguard One asked.

  “Rearguard One, get them into a box formation five hundred yards square,” Billy ordered setting the force shielding to a cube of that dimension with as much power to the front of the shield as he dared.

  “Bardomil forces, I say again, hold your position and stand down your weapons,” Billy challenged the formation that was sweepi
ng towards him.

  Once again, his order was responded to by a volley from the M-Cruisers which flashed brightly against the force shielding. On the View Screen, Billy could see the Thexxians making their final manoeuvres to bring them into the defensive box he had constructed.

  Calmly, Billy initiated the weapons systems of the Black Rose and carefully took aim at the two closest M-Cruisers. Then, with a simple thought-command, the two medium-yield pulsar-cannons on the underside of the Black Rose opened fire. Two white-hot pulsar-bolts sped downrange and impacted on the hulls of the targeted vessels only a heartbeat later. Having set the pulsar-bolts to the lowest yield possible, the two M-Cruisers were severely jolted by the impact and lurched to a halt in space.

  “Bardomil forces, I say once again, stand down your weapons and hold your position,” Billy ordered.

  The two direct hits were responded to by a communication from the Bardomil Flagship, as the Bardomil flotilla drew up to a halt in front of the Black Rose. The six M-Cruisers sat in a circular pattern exactly five kilometres from the Black Rose and the ragged square of Thexxian Fighting Saucers. Five kilometres in space terms was effectively eyeball to eyeball. Surrounding the M-Cruisers were the Flying Devils and the Harpoons, ready to add their own weaponry to the firepower of the heavier Cruisers. Billy accepted the incoming communication onto his View Screen.

  “This is General Glaecken, who dares to fire upon the Imperial Bardomil Fleet!?” the voice rasped, “identify yourself!”

  The Bardomil commander appeared in a head and shoulder view, showing another humanoid figure with two narrow-slitted, menacing black eyes over a sharply hooked nose. The hair was jet black over a face that was slightly grey. There were no discernable lip structures to the mouth, but a sharp chin provided cover for any neck structure that may have existed. The creature wore a dark green garment that was topped with a yellow polo-neck like undergarment.