The Star Cross: The Vorn!

by Raymond L. Weil

  “That’s just great,” muttered Mott, shaking his head. “How are they going to lock their weapons onto targets they can’t see?”

  “Several of the shipyards in orbit above Marsten are going to start sending out powerful sensor pulses which should allow the battlecruisers to detect the Vorn,” explained Second Profiteer Aleut.

  “The defensive grid has just been activated,” reported the Profiteer at Communications. “All cargo ships and noncombat ships are being told to jump to Kubitz.”

  High Profiteer Mott looked over at Seth. “What are the numbers?” He had no desire to fight the Vorn. There was no profit in this and he had no desire to lose valuable and expensive warships.

  “Eight hundred and four of their small cruisers, one hundred and six battleships, and three motherships.”

  Mott leaned back in his command chair, deeply concerned. There were only twelve hundred Marsten warships in the entire system. Most of those were battlecruisers.

  “The defensive grid has some of the new defense platforms which are supposed to be capable of destroying Vorn ships,” reported Third Profiteer Hama who was sitting at the tactical console.

  High Profiteer Mott had a bad feeling about what was going to happen. If the reports he had heard of the strength of the Vorn ships were true, Marsten was doomed. “Keep the hyperdrives spun up on all ships,” he ordered. “If it appears resistance is futile we will jump to Kubitz.”

  No one in the Command Center responded. Survival was the foremost part of being a Profiteer. No point dying in a losing battle.

  -

  High Profiteer Gaston stared at the latest information on his tactical display. The Vorn fleet was rapidly closing with the defending fleets and would soon be in combat range. With a deep frown, he knew it was going to be difficult to coordinate the defense of the planet. All of the raiding fleets were used to working independently. Instead of facing one main fleet and a coordinated formation, the Vorn were going to encounter dozens of smaller ones.

  “All fleets, standby to attack,” he ordered over the general comm channel. “If the Vorn inflict major losses pull back to the defensive grid.”

  “They’ll run,” predicted Second Profiteer Mahler, his eyes narrowing sharply. “If the fleets start suffering losses they’ll leave rather than risk losing everything.” Profiteers spent a lot of credits on their ships and would not want to lose them.

  High Profiteer Gaston did not reply; he knew Mahler was right. A Profiteer had an instinct for personal survival. There were over one hundred worlds in the empire. No doubt many would flee to Kubitz, which had the largest fleets and the most powerful defensive grid. As much as he hated to admit it, he would most likely do the same if he had a choice.

  -

  Fleet will be in combat range shortly, Military Leader Volmont reported. We will launch our black antimatter spheres as soon as we are in range. These ships will have no defense against such a weapon, and it will demonstrate how useless it is to oppose us. We will follow up with our black antimatter beams and antimatter missiles, destroying all ships whose power has been drained. This battle will be short.

  It had better be, Prince Lashall replied. We have a number of worlds to harvest, and we cannot afford ship losses.

  -

  In space, the various fleets continued to close. The individual Profiteer fleets were hesitant to be the first to attack, fearing massive retaliation. The different Profiteer leaders had built their fleets to take them raiding all over the galaxy, not to fight the Destroyers of Worlds. As the Profiteers waited for someone to attack the black spindle-shaped ships of the Vorn, they came within weapons range. Profiteer tactical officers were poised with their fingers over the firing icons on their computer screens. Everyone was waiting for someone else to fire first.

  -

  On the Ravager it was time to launch the attack. Launching black antimatter spheres, reported the Vorn in front of the tactical console.

  All ships are launching, sent Military Leader Volmont. The enemy has yet to engage.

  Prince Lashall gazed closely at the viewscreens showing the enemy fleets. He was confused as to why they were choosing to fight in smaller groups rather than one large fleet. It was a massive tactical error on the part of the defenders of the food world and one they would pay heavily for.

  -

  High Profiteer Mott held his fleet back slightly behind the others. He had no intention of being the first to attack the Vorn. Let the others commit their ships and he would observe how effective their weapons were against the Destroyers of Worlds.

  “The Vorn are launching some type of black spheres,” warned Third Profiteer Seth. “I’ve never seen anything like them before.”

  On one of the viewscreens, several of the dark spheres could be seen moving rapidly toward the lead Marsten warships. Bright flashes of energy could be seen occasionally around the periphery of the spheres. Mott felt a cold chill run down his back as the spheres neared the Profiteer fleets.

  “What are those?” asked Mott as several impacted the energy screens of the leading Profiteer ships. They struck the screens and then seemed to do nothing. Perhaps they were ineffective against the Profiteer energy screens.

  “I have heard of some type of energy draining weapons the Vorn deploy,” said Second Profiteer Aleut, his attention focused on the ship’s viewscreens. “This could be those.”

  “They are,” confirmed the Profiteer at Communications. “High Profiteer Leesman reports all of his ships have been struck by the spheres and the power from their energy shields is being drained.”

  “Some of our fleets are opening fire,” added Third Profiteer Seth, pointing at the viewscreens.

  Mott glanced up at the screens, seeing hyperspace antimatter missiles detonating against the Vorn shields. Energy beams and ion beams were also being used.

  “The Vorn ships?”

  “No effect,” reported Seth. “The Vorn screens seem to be absorbing the energy from our weapons.”

  “High Profiteer Leesman reports his shields have been drained and the black spheres have attached themselves to his ships,” reported the Profiteer at Communications. “He is reporting a massive power loss.”

  Mott looked at a viewscreen which had been switched to show High Profiteer Leesman’s ships. A series of brilliant explosions suddenly appeared and when they faded away all twenty-six ships in Leesman’s fleet were gone.

  “Antimatter missiles, yield around ten megatons,” reported Seth.

  High Profiteer Mott took a deep breath. He had sixteen ships in his fleet including one battleship which was his flagship, the Jablan. “Take us out of here,” he ordered, reaching a decision. “This battle is lost.” He was not going to sacrifice his fleet like High Profiteer Leesman had.

  The crew was silent. Their families were down on Marsten.

  “Look,” said Mott, his voice rising. “If we stay, we die. If we go to Kubitz or some other planet in the empire we can at least start over. We’ll have our ships and we have some credits in our accounts with the Controllers.”

  “Stand by to enter hyperspace,” ordered Second Profiteer Aleut. “Today is not our day to die.”

  -

  Moments later the sixteen ships of High Profiteer Motts’ fleet made the jump into hyperspace leaving Marsten and the Vorn behind. They were not the only ones as other panicked High Profiteers decided to try to escape with their fleets rather than risk destruction. Their weapons were useless against the Vorn and more Profiteer ships were falling to the Vorns’ weapons every second they remained. The only hope for survival was to flee. Other fleets began jumping away from the battle as well.

  -

  In space, the deadly black antimatter spheres of the Vorn were making quick work of any Marsten warships that tried to stay and fight. The spheres would drain the energy from the energy shields and then attach themselves to the ships’ hulls, depleting the vessels of their energy. A few moments after that a Vorn antimatter missile would arrive, turn
ing the defenseless vessel into a miniature nova. In less than seven minutes every ship that stayed and tried to resist the Vorn had been annihilated. Only a small number of vessels made it back to the planet’s defensive grid.

  -

  High Profiteer Gaston managed to escape with most of his fleet and had formed up just below the defensive grid. He was angry at how so many Profiteer fleets had turned and fled once the Vorn demonstrated the power of their weapons. Profiteers routinely bragged about how brave they were; many had just demonstrated the fallacy of those statements.

  “What do we have left?” Gaston knew it would not be enough. The entire attack by the Profiteer fleets had been a total bust. Different High Profiteers had hesitated to engage and very few ships had even fired their weapons. Gaston estimated over six hundred ships had fled.

  “One hundred and eighty-seven vessels,” Second Profiteer Mahler reported. “Twenty-three battleships and the rest are battlecruisers and escort cruisers.”

  “The Vorn are advancing,” warned Third Profiteer Tallow from his sensor console. “They will be in range of the shipyards and stations within thirty seconds.”

  The four shipyards and six space stations were all heavily armed. They might be able to take out a few Vorn cruisers but it would not be enough. “We will stay inside the defensive grid,” ordered Gaston as he gazed at the tactical display showing the approaching Vorn. There were twenty of the new defensive platforms, which were supposed to be able to destroy a Vorn ship. Just maybe that would be enough to turn the Vorn away from Marsten. If not, then Gaston knew he could either take his fleet and flee as the others had or he would die here. At the moment he was not certain what he would do.

  -

  Prince Lashall was watching the battle. So far, it had gone as expected. The black spheres of antimatter had proven deadly to the enemy fleets. Many had fled at seeing the power of the Vorn.

  There are ten space stations orbiting the planet, sent Military Leader Volmont. Four appear to be shipyards. They are all heavily armed.

  Destroy them, ordered Lashall. I am anxious to harvest this world. I have never seen fleets act as these have. They attacked as separate entities but when they saw the power of the Vorn over half fled in terror. Their taste may be unique.

  -

  The Vorn harvesting fleet closed on the orbiting stations and as soon as they got within range black antimatter spheres launched. Dozens struck the energy shields of the shipyards. At the same time, the shipyards began firing on the Vorn fleet with their energy weapons and started launching hundreds of antimatter missiles. The entire forward section of the Vorn fleet erupted in light as the missiles detonated. However, the brightness rapidly died away as the energy from the blasts was absorbed by the Vorn energy screens.

  The Profiteers on the shipyards saw this and intensified their rate of fire. Hyperspace antimatter missiles were being launched as rapidly as possible and every bit of energy available was being funneled to the energy projectors.

  -

  Under the surface of the planet in a deep underground bunker, the most powerful and rich of the Profiteers on Marsten watched as the Vorn fleet crept closer and closer to the planet. These Profiteers, for all intents and purposes, were the leaders of the Gothan Empire. There were even several Controllers present.

  “Most of our fleets have fled,” growled High Profiteer Lushun in disgust. “The cowards left us here to die!”

  “We would have done the same,” replied High Profiteer Rasta. “We made a mistake not creating a fleet to defend Marsten. We should not have depended on the different raiding fleets to fill that role.”

  “It was the cost,” muttered High Profiteer Banish. “It would have been nearly a billion credits to create such a fleet. Who among us was willing to make that type of investment?”

  “We will lose everything!” cried out High Profiteer Maraud. “If the Vorn go into orbit they will destroy every structure on the planet. Marsten will become a dead hulk with no value. Our land and our homes will be worthless.”

  “Silence!” roared High Profiteer Lamotte. Lamotte was the richest of all of the Profiteers on Marsten. “We all have credits on Kubitz. This is not the end.”

  “It might just as well be,” replied High Profiteer Lushun. “When the Vorn are through with Marsten what’s to stop them from going on to the other worlds in the empire?”

  The Profiteers looked at one another. There was a good possibility they were going to die in this bunker. If the Vorn harvested the other worlds of the empire, there would be no one to come to their rescue. They would live out their lives in the meager warrens of their underground complex.

  -

  In space, a single Vorn spindle-shaped cruiser exploded as its shield was overloaded. The shield collapsed, releasing all of its stored up energy and instantly destroyed the ship. At the same time, the Vorn began launching their own antimatter missiles at the shipyards and the stations. Sensors indicated the shields had failed and most of the power had been drained. Already weapons fire was markedly reduced and still decreasing.

  The missiles slammed into the large shipyards, annihilating entire sections. Alarms sounded and bulkheads slammed shut. Crews ran for the escape pods as lights dimmed and went out. The shipyards shook violently as they became unstable. Escape pods burst forth only to be shot down by Vorn black antimatter beams. More missiles struck the large structures slowly turning the work of centuries into molten wreckage. In a matter of just a few minutes all four shipyards and the six orbital stations were gone. All that remained were spreading debris fields of glowing gas and twisted metal.

  -

  High Profiteer Gaston stared aghast at the viewscreens, showing the utter destruction of the four shipyards and six space stations. He didn’t want to think about the cost of rebuilding them.

  “How many Vorn ships have we destroyed?”

  “Only one,” replied Second Profiteer Mahler. “And it was only one of their smaller cruisers.”

  Gaston felt a cold chill pass over him. “Have we sent out messages requesting aid to nearby worlds?” There were several Profiteer worlds close by with reasonably sized fleets.

  “All hyperspace frequencies are jammed,” replied the Profiteer at the comm station. “Perhaps some of the ships that fled sent out messages.”

  Mahler shook his head. “I doubt it; they’re more concerned about saving their own hides rather than saving Marsten. Besides, I don’t believe any world would be willing to send aid since they may be the next target.”

  “Defensive grid is preparing to fire,” reported Third Profiteer Zankal.

  Gaston leaned forward. Now they would see if the new defensive platforms could kill a Vorn ship. This was their last hope to save the planet.

  -

  Around Marsten was a defensive grid compromised of sixty Class One orbital defensive platforms as well as a Class One Command and Control Center. In addition, there were twenty of the new platforms, which supposedly were designed to kill Vorn ships. There were also six hundred small defensive satellites with twin energy beam cannons in orbit.

  As soon as the Vorn entered weapons range the defensive grid fired. The twenty new satellites were tasked with striking Vorn spindle-shaped cruisers to see if their energy cannons could actually penetrate the Vorn screens.

  Beams lanced out and struck the Vorn ships. In seven instances the beams penetrated the screens of the Vorn cruisers, causing the screens to collapse releasing their stored up energy. In seven blazing flashes of light, the Vorn cruisers were obliterated.

  -

  What was that? demanded Prince Lashall, turning to gaze angrily at Military Leader Volmont. Volmont had told him this system posed no danger to the ships of the Vorn harvesting fleet and now seven had been destroyed.

  We are analyzing it now, Volmont replied. It appears to be some type of intensified energy beam designed to puncture our shields. I have reissued targeting instructions to our battleships to make them a priority target.

/>   Prince Lashall grew angrier as two more of his cruisers blew apart. Destroy them now! This was Military Leader Volmont’s fault, and Prince Lashall would see to a fitting punishment if more ships were lost.

  -

  On board the 1,200-meter Vorn battleships orders were received to destroy the defensive platforms causing damage to the fleet. A storm of black antimatter spheres exited the launch tubes of the massive ships, moving rapidly toward the twenty defense platforms firing the deadly beams on the fleet. The spheres struck quickly draining the energy shields that protected the platforms. Then black antimatter rays flicked out, tearing the platforms apart. Moments later all twenty ceased to exist. Additional weapons fire began taking out the other platforms.

  -

  On the surface of Marsten, bright flashes of light far above indicated the death of the defense grid that was supposed to protect the planet. Most of the people of Marsten didn’t even know what was going on as the Profiteers controlling the planet had not issued any type of warning or statement. Individual Marstens stood around gazing upward wondering what was causing the brilliant flashes of light. Only a few suspected a space battle was occurring. There were some actual Profiteers looking up who recognized what the bright flashes meant. They also realized there was nothing they could do.

  -

  In a massive blast, the Command and Control Center for the defensive grid blew apart as it was struck by twelve antimatter missiles after its shield failed. Much of its scorched remains would fall into the atmosphere of Marsten over the next several hours.

  -

  High Profiteer Gaston was thrown to the floor as his flagship was struck by a Vorn black antimatter beam. Alarms sounded and cries for help could be heard coming over the comm system.

  “Status!” barked Gaston as he sat back down, gazing intently at the tactical display.

  Second Profiteer Mahler tuned toward Gaston, his face showing the strain of the situation they were in. “The defensive grid has been destroyed as well as most of our ships. The Rogue has received heavy damage and our sublight drive and hyperdrive are both nonfunctional. We are beginning to fall out of orbit and will be entering Marsten’s atmosphere in twenty-six minutes.”