The Star Cross: The Vorn!
Page 7
“When we get close to the system we will send in two Glaymon disk battlecruisers to scan the Vorn fleets so we will know exactly what we’re up against,” said Kurt. He didn’t want there to be any surprises. “Once we know the location and the makeup of the Vorn fleets, we will move in and attack.”
Kurt leaned back in his command chair. He wondered if any of the motherships they would engage would possess the food pellets from Mars. He would like to see them destroyed before they were consumed by the Vorn. It was one of the reasons he had agreed so quickly to lead a fleet.
-
Moments later the fleet entered hyperspace and set out for the target system. The total hyperspace flight time would be thirty-three hours. All four fleets were traveling at various speeds in hyperspace to allow them to attack their target systems within just a few minutes of one another. The Vorn would receive no warning of the attacks and would be unable to warn any of the other systems. As soon as the attacking ships dropped out of stealth and hyperspace, they would jam all outgoing communications. If all went according to plan, it would be as if the Vorn ships in the four targeted systems simply vanished.
-
Valen had ended his holographic attendance of the council meeting. Things had actually gone much better than expected. He knew that by now Council Leader Lavin would be contacting fellow council members trying to turn them away from supporting the Aggressives. He too would soon be contacting a number of council members Valen thought might be willing to listen to the Aggressives’ arguments about the war. At the very least he hoped to be able to turn enough votes to allow a large reinforcing fleet to be sent to Fleet Captain Waelt. There were hundreds of thousands of warships in the spacedocks of the Dyson Sphere, more than enough to drive the Vorn out of the galaxy and possibly even destroy the habitats in their home system. He had spent considerable time studying the information in the files Fleet Captain Lilith had brought with her and given to the council.
Standing up, Valen stretched. Sitting in the holo chair for such a long time tended to make his body feel stiff afterward. Walking over to set of large doors, he opened them and stepped out onto a spacious balcony. A light breeze struck him in the face as he gazed out over the capital city of the Aggressives. It was the night cycle and the city was brilliantly lit by millions of lights. The city of Myroplex had a population of nearly forty million. It spread out as far as he could see.
“How was the meeting?” a familiar voice asked from behind him.
Turning around Valen saw Gaylith standing in the open doorway of the balcony. She had an office close by where she monitored the daily communication intercepts from the huge communication dishes on the Dyson Sphere’s outer hull. There were several stealth communication arrays just outside the nebula, which constantly sent new information to the Aggressives’ Dyson Sphere communications center.
“We’ve received a message from Fleet Captain Waelt,” Gaylith said as she stepped out on the balcony next to Valen. She stood there looking out over the city. “It seems the Humans under the command of Fleet Admiral Vickers managed to destroy the Vorn’s staging system along with the aid of some of our ships. It was a massive defeat for the Vorn.”
“The staging system,” said Valen, wondering how he could use this information to his advantage. This might just be the news he needed to tip a few of the wavering councilors over toward the Aggressives. “It seems we made the right decision in aiding Fleet Admiral Vickers.”
“So it would seem,” Gaylith replied. “It has brought the Vorn harvesting of the galaxy to a standstill as all of their Collector ships and Intergalactic Transports in the staging system were destroyed. The Vorn harvesting fleets are waiting in six systems for Collector ships to arrive.”
Valen’s eyes narrowed. “Fleet Captain Waelt is going to attack them, isn’t he?”
“Yes; four of them,” Gaylith answered. “Fleet Captain Waelt, as well as the others, believes this is an opportunity that can’t be passed up. If they can inflict major losses on the harvesting fleets, it might be months before the Vorn can resume their harvest of inhabited worlds, months where the Lakiam Alliance can prepare for all out war.”
“We must join them before that time runs out,” Valen said as he thought of what needed to be done. At the very least he had to send Fleet Captain Waelt and Councilor Marshton another reinforcing fleet. While they might not be able to destroy the Vorn habitats, if they could cause the Vorn sufficient ship losses they just might abandon the harvest of the galaxy.
“Many on the council and Lead Councilor Lavin will always remain opposed to the war,” said Gaylith. “It will be difficult to get a majority to vote to go to war against the Vorn.”
Valen turned his eyes back to the city. His office was high up in one of the main government buildings in the administration complex. Looking up he wondered what the night sky would look like if he could see the stars. Someday, he hoped to find out.
“Keep me informed of what happens. If Fleet Captain Waelt can inflict major losses against the Vorn in those four systems, it will give my argument of joining the war effort more credence.”
Gaylith nodded. “The city looks beautiful from up here.” She stood next to Valen looking out at the tall towers, the lighted ribbon walkways which connected them, and the lighted streets below.
“Yes, it does. I never tire of this view. I can stand here for hours. It’s amazing what our people have built.”
Gaylith looked over at Valen. “I may have to request a balcony be added to my office.”
Even though the city was still active at this time of the night it was very quiet. Valen knew if he left to go join Marshton he would be giving all of this up. Even so, he and Marshton had dedicated their lives to finding a way to defeat the Vorn. If he could not convince the council into going to war against the Vorn, he would depart on the reinforcing fleet and leave all of this behind.
-
Prince Lashall was pleased with the progress of his harvesting fleet. With a hard core of two hundred and ten battleships plus five motherships, he was confident his fleet could handle any opposition they might encounter in the star cluster they were targeting for harvesting.
He was reviewing the information from Military Leader Renwarld’s scout ship, which had managed to locate fifty-eight inhabited star systems inferred from the ship traffic it had detected. Based on the size of the star cluster Prince Lashall believed that total could be even more. This concerned him as he would not have enough room on his five motherships for that many food pellets. It might be necessary to harvest enough worlds to fill the cargo holds and then return to the system where the other harvesting fleets were waiting. If a Collector ship had arrived by then he could unload and return to the cluster to finish the harvest.
-
The next day Valen was standing in one of the huge spacedocks of the Aggressives. Construction robots under the watchful eyes of a number of AIs were busy building the Aggressives’ first battleship. The Advanced Glaymons had long restricted the size of warships the Aggressives could build fearing they might go off seeking the Vorn. Valen had to smile. That time had finally come.
“It is a fine line you’re threading, my friend,” said Aalik who was standing next to him. “You’re pushing the council; maybe too quickly.”
Valen folded his arms over his chest as he watched a tractor beam move heavy battle armor into place on the new battleship. “It’s necessary. The data Fleet Captain Lilith brought back indicates the Vorn may have huge reserves of warships stored in their habitats.”
“One hundred and sixteen of them, all at least ten thousand kilometers in diameter,” replied Aalik. “I’ve read the report.”
“I’ve spoken to others and we all agree the Vorn seem desperate to harvest the worlds of this galaxy. We believe they may have over harvested other galaxies and ours may be the only viable food source available without having to abandon or move their habitats.”
“Can they move structures so large?”
“That’s unknown,” Valen said. “I’ve talked to a few hyperspace specialists and while it is possible to take a structure as large as a Vorn habitat into hyperspace, the energy requirements are astronomical. Even using Zero-Point Energy they would still lack the power.”
Aalik was silent for a moment as he watched the scurrying work robots swarming over the structure of the new battleship. “Can the Vorn habitats be destroyed?”
Valen let out a deep breath. “That too is unknown. The structures are most likely protected by energy shields powered by Zero-Point Energy. The same for the weapons which are bound to be on the outer hulls. I have some of our scientists studying the best solution to deal with the habitats though a direct attack by our battleships may be the only realistic option.”
“That’s why you need the help of the Advanced Glaymons,” said Aalik. “The Aggressives by themselves don’t possess the ships to be a threat to the Vorn habitats.”
Valen nodded. “That’s true. However, we’re not sure even with the use of every battleship in all of the spacedocks on the Dyson Sphere whether even that would be enough.”
“Then Lead Councilor Lavin’s final solution may be our only hope,” said Aalik.
“Let’s hope not,” replied Valen. “We can’t wait two million more years to defeat the Vorn. With the ships we’ve sent out into the galaxy, they know we exist. If we lose this war to save the sentient races of this galaxy, the Vorn will come hunting for us and eventually they will find our Dyson Sphere.”
“You weave a compelling argument for action now,” admitted Aalik. “I will continue to speak to the other councilors though Lead Councilor Lavin is growing suspicious of my intentions. I will use the information you supplied about the destruction of the Vorn staging system. That might sway a few.”
Valen knew he was fortunate to have Aalik’s support. Aalik knew many of the councilors who needed to be turned to support the war against the Vorn. The destruction of the Vorn’s staging system was also a good thing. It might buy Valen and Aalik the time they needed to get enough councilors to agree that now was the time to deal with the Vorn, not two million years in the future. At the very least perhaps they would agree to send a large fleet.
-
Fleet Admiral Vickers was watching the tactical displays as they neared the system that contained the massed Vorn harvesting fleets. He had slowed the fleet in hyperspace and sent two Glaymon disk battlecruisers ahead to scout the system.
“We are at extreme sensor range,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.
“The two disk ships should be dropping out of hyperspace on the distant edge of the system about now,” added Aleea. The ships were dropping out far enough away to allow for detailed scans but to prevent the Vorn from detecting the ships.
“Are we going to split the fleet or go straight in?” asked Andrew.
“Straight in,” replied Kurt. “We’ll attack their largest grouping of ships and then see how the others react.” Kurt believed when the Vorn realized what was happening some of their harvesting fleets might flee the system, particularly when they saw the Glaymon battleships.
“They may all stay trying to defend the motherships,” said Andrew. “We’re going to be heavily outnumbered.”
“With the Glaymon battleships we’ll have superior firepower,” said Aleea. “There will be much confusion when we drop out of hyperspace and begin our attack. We may have several minutes before the Vorn respond.”
Andrew looked pleased with Aleea’s words as he thought about the forthcoming battle. “For once we’ll have the advantage, not the Vorn.”
Kurt nodded. He hoped Aleea was right. This battle and the others would be important in forcing the Vorn to end their harvesting, at least for a while. It would be nice to have a year or two of peace so they could build up their forces.
“I have spoken to the tactical officers on the other battleships and all are prepared to fire Zero-Point Energy rounds at the Vorn motherships,” reported Lieutenant Mays. “One round at each one. That should either severely damage or destroy them. Damaged ones can be taken out by the fleet.”
“Agreed,” said Kurt. One other thing he was well aware of: by destroying the motherships he was depriving the Vorn of food. That in itself could be a turning point in the war.
-
The fleet dropped out of hyperspace eight light years away from the target system. Kurt felt a very faint wrenching sensation as the Star Cross returned to normal space.
“No unknown contacts,” called out Lieutenant Brooks. There had been some concern the Vorn might have picket ships in the surrounding star systems but long-range scans had detected no such vessels.
“Scout ships have dropped out of hyperspace in the target system,” reported Aleea with a look of concentration on her face. “Receiving data.”
For several minutes it was silent in the Command Center as Aleea went through the data being sent back by the two Glaymon disk ships.
“Scans complete,” Aleea said as her face returned to normal. “There are seventeen hundred Vorn battleships in the system as well as eight thousand two hundred of their cruisers. The two scout ships also detected forty-two motherships. We are looking at between eight to twelve harvesting fleets.”
On one of the tactical screens, the target star system appeared with several large clumps of red threat icons.
Kurt stood up and walked over to the holographic display, slowly walking around it and examining the disposition of the Vorn ships. “The Vorn are grouped into four major fleets,” he said as he paused staring at the display. He reached down to the controls and manipulated the screen. Suddenly the green icons of his fleet appeared in the system on a direct course for the Vorn fleets. As the fleet advanced, it passed through three of the Vorn fleet formations, narrowly missing the fourth. “If we attack on this course we can engage the majority of the Vorn vessels. Only that single fleet formation will be outside of our weapons fire.”
“We could split our fleet to take it out,” suggested Lieutenant Mays. She wanted to destroy every Vorn ship possible.
“No,” replied Kurt, shaking his head. “I want to keep all of our ships together. We go in, take out these three fleet formations, and if the fourth still remains we will turn and engage it at the end.”
Lieutenant Mays came over, examining the tactical display and the course Kurt had indicated. “In order to do as you want we’re going to be passing through those fleets. We’ll be in pointblank range of their weapons.”
“Just like back at Lakiam,” Andrew said with a huge frown.
“Yes,” Kurt answered with a smile. “It should make for easier targeting.”
Lieutenant Mays laughed. “I’m not going to miss. The Zero-Point Energy rounds on this ship all have a mothership as their target. There are going to be some very big explosions!”
“Is the fleet ready?” asked Kurt, looking over at Aleea.
“Yes,” she replied.
Kurt walked back over to his command chair and sat down. “Captain Randson, take the fleet to Condition One. “Lieutenant Styles, prepare to jump to the target system.”
Kurt waited as Andrew announced the setting of Condition One across the fleet. In the Star Cross red lights started flashing and klaxons began sounding. After a few seconds the red lights stopped, and the klaxons returned to silence.
“Fleet is at Condition One,” announced Andrew.
“All ships are ready,” added Aleea. “I have contact with the AIs on all Glaymon ships.”
Kurt nodded. “Lieutenant Styles, take us into hyperspace.”
It was time to see if the Vorn were prepared to face an actual Glaymon battle fleet. For the first time in the war, the Vorn were about to find out what it was like to face a superior force. Kurt would not show them any mercy, not after what they had done to Mars. This was war and Kurt intended to exterminate the Vorn.
Chapter Six
Kurt was leaning forward in his command chair as the fleet prepared to
make the transition from hyperspace to normal space. The fleet would be emerging in a battle formation with the Glaymon battlecruisers in lines twenty ships high and forty wide. Interspersed in those lines would be the 220 Glaymon battleships as well as the Star Cross, five Human battleships and ten Human battlecruisers. The plan was to hit the Vorn hard and fast, annihilating their first fleet formation before they even realized they were under attack. The Glaymon stealth shields being used should prevent detection up to the time the fleet dropped out of hyperspace.
“Weapons are ready to fire,” reported Lieutenant Mays, her hands poised over her console.
“Fleet is emerging from hyperspace,” reported Aleea. “Glaymon ships are ready to engage.”
On the nearby tactical display, thousands of red threat icons suddenly appeared.
“First Vorn fleet, range twenty thousand kilometers,” called out Lieutenant Brooks.
“All ships accelerating toward targets,” reported Lieutenant Styles.
“Weapons lock on Vorn mothership,” reported Lieutenant Mays excitedly as she began pressing icons on her console. The two weapons officers next to her were doing the same thing. “Firing Zero-Point Energy round. Dark matter missiles launching.”
The Star Cross shook slightly as the Zero-Point Energy round left the ship’s massive cannon. The round had a velocity of nearly the speed of light.
On the ship’s primary viewscreen, a massive explosion appeared in the heart of the nearer Vorn formation as the Zero-Point Energy round slammed into the unprotected hull of a Vorn mothership. The ship was dumbbell-shaped with two enormous globes at each end connected to one another by a short cylinder. The ship was painted matte black and no starlight reflected from its hull. Each of the globes was 2,000 meters in diameter and the cylinder connecting the two was 400 meters long and 300 in diameter. The ship was also full of food pellets for the Vorn.