Invasion

by Donald Nicklas

  “Captain,” The Bentley sensor tech interrupted, “I am detecting a power surge on the enemy capital ship. It appears they are creating an energy anomaly in the direction they are moving.”

  “Order all ships to follow the enemy,” Admiral Holt ordered.

  “Yes, admiral.”

  The admiral then turned to the captain, “Eleanor, I have no idea what this energy field is or where it takes them, but I have this gut feeling we need to follow them.”

  “I agree, Admiral, they are not fighting more than a rear guard action with us. It’s almost as if they stumbled on us along the way to somewhere else. It is that somewhere else that worries me.”

  The Helmsman interrupted them, “Sirs, the enemy is entering the energy anomaly and vanishing. I have no idea what it is, but we are being drawn in.”

  “Maintain your heading,” Captain Deeney ordered as the bridge started to elongate and a piercing screech began to affect them all as they held their ears and some began to pass out as others became nauseous and vomited. As the Highline fleet came out of the other end of the wormhole, the ships were in various states of recovery. Some had weathered the trip better than others, but all had some degree of crew incapacitation. To the credit of Highline Corp training, all ships continued with some degree of engagement of the enemy. As the crews recovered, the ships captains realized where they were.

  “Admiral, we are now in the home system. The energy anomaly took us from the border to the home system in one jump, without sails.”

  Admiral Holt realized the gravity of that fact. He finally had to admit that these were not pirates. They had the ability to jump to whatever system they wanted. He had to get that ability for his own corporation. “All ships, concentrate fire on the capital ship.”

  The destroyers disengaged from the smaller vessels, but not before taking one out. That vessel just exploded with little left but space dust. They also lost two more destroyers to incapacitation. As the Highline forces continued to engage, a message was received from the planet telling the admiral and all ships’ captains to use ship killer missiles. For some reason the home world seemed to know a great deal about this enemy, even to the fact that they had no missile defenses on their ships. If he survived this, the admiral would have to find out how they knew. Telemetry was picking up some additional destroyers moving towards them from the planet, but they would never get there in time to help. As a result, the admiral determined to do as much damage to the enemy ships as he could, to ‘soften’ them up for the incoming destroyers. While he was thinking about this another destroyer was taken out of the combat as well as two of his remaining dreadnoughts. Both of the dreadnoughts launched boarding skiffs in an attempt to board the enemy, but they were shot up by the beam weapons and those that were not destroyed, returned to their vessels. The admiral now had only his dreadnought and four destroyers left. He ordered all ships to attack the smaller craft to eliminate as many as they could. As the ships responded and moved to continue engaging the smaller vessels, the admiral’s concentration was suddenly interrupted by the sensor tech as she reported to Captain Deeney.

  “Captain, two ships just appeared off our port side coming this way.”

  “Are they more enemy vessels from the anomaly?”

  “No sir, they are configured like corporate vessels. One has the mass of a standard corporate dreadnought, while the larger one has a mass greater than an automated freighter. They are also transmitting a Highline Corporation transponder code.”

  Captain Deeney turned to Admiral Holt and said, “Admiral, any idea who these people are?”

  The admiral was about the respond that he had no idea when the communications tech interrupted them. “Captain, there is an incoming message from the unknown vessels. It is in the clear.”

  “Put it on speaker.”

  The tech complied and the message was played over the bridge speakers. “Commander of the Highline forces, this is Captain Christopher Slone of the Romani battleship NR Tempestas. We are here at the invitation of your corporation to render assistance with your problem. The enemies you are fighting are called the Saltic and they are aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy. We have fought them before and stand ready to do so again. Please have your forces stay clear of their capital ship and concentrate on the smaller vessels. We will engage the capital ship for you.”

  The Admiral and the Captain looked at each other. They were still engaged with the smaller vessels and had every intention of sacrificing themselves to save their home world and their families. Now here was a new player offering help. They were in no position to argue. “Put me through to the Romani ship,” the admiral ordered. “Captain Slone, this is Admiral Holt, commander of what is left of the Highline fleet. We welcome any help you can render.”

  After a short delay, “Admiral, please let us take care of the capital ship for you. I also have smaller vessels that will help with the escorts. Our smaller vessels are invisible; please have your forces stay clear of any energy bolts they see appearing to come from nowhere. We will explain when the battle is over.”

  Admiral Holt looked at the captain of the Bentley and said, “I hope they know what they are doing. Concentrate all fire on the smaller vessels and leave the capital ship to them. If they can’t take it out, they may weaken it enough. I can’t wait to hear about invisible ships.”

  “Captain,” the communication’s tech interrupted, “we just received a flash message from the naval command ordering us to obey the commands of the Romani ships. They are cleared to fight on our side.”

  “Well, captain,” the admiral said, “now we know they were telling the truth. Order all ships to stay clear of the capital ship and make certain all know the newcomers are with us. Now let’s kick some butt.”

  All Highline ships pulled away from the area of the enemy capital ship and concentrated their fire on the smaller vessels, which were starting to weave in and out of the formation. Suddenly, multiple energy bursts began to appear out of nowhere and hit the smaller vessels along their edges. The Highline forces had no way of knowing that the invisible serpent ships were firing on the energy projectors of the enemy.

  In the five years since the Sakkara mission, the Romani had not been idle. They found several more methane moons and planets with crystals to increase their supply. As more and more crystals became available, they modified the serpent ships by mounting energy cannons in tandem with their rail guns. This was a difficult balancing act, and it required precision to make sure the ship was not out of balance, since the wings were needed as sails for the slipstreams. The Tempestas was also modified. Along the upper and lower spines of the ship, six turreted double cannons were placed to add to the normal armaments of the vessel. Since they could be precisely aimed at the energy projectors of the Saltic, these weapons were reserved for use against the Saltic.

  The Saltic harvester ship seemed confused at the retreat of the Highline capital ship and the sudden appearance of the much larger Romani ships. As the Tempestas and the Avenging Talon approached weapon’s range, Slone ordered Tom Gardner to put him through to the serpent vessel. “Captain Artok, our intention here is to continue firing into all hull breaches to penetrate deeper into the vessel. Follow the preset plan if they use their EMP weapon.”

  “Sss. Yes, Captain Slone, we are ready.”

  “Broadcast the cadence in the open and set it at attack speed.”

  Immediately a drumbeat sounded across the radio waves. The cadence was used to transmit orders non-verbally during battle. Slone wanted it transmitted in the open rather than the combat channel only. He wanted his new allies to become familiar with the cadence in case they were to combine for a battle in the future. As soon as the cadence began at attack speed, the battleship sped up to full speed and began to close with the enemy.

  “Raise battle sails,” Slone ordered and along the upper spine of the ship four masts came out and square sails climbed up the masts. When they were fully deployed, the sails turned to catch the
star wind in the system. The sails would help the ship pivot rapidly during battle. The enemy ship was still trying to follow the Highline vessels towards their escort ships and was ignoring the newcomers. Apparently they were intent on reaching the orbiting space station. They were about to discover this was a mistake as another escort vessel broke apart, leaving only three smaller Saltic vessels and the larger harvester ship. The Tempestas was going to pass on the port side of the enemy with the Avenging Talon on the starboard side. When the Romani entered weapon range, Slone issued more orders over the open combat channel. He had no worries about the Saltic hearing him, since he knew from the last encounter that they did not understand human language without a translation device. And even if they could, it would not help them.

  “Roll out the guns,” Slone ordered and heard the gun ports open as the shields went up to keep space out of the gun emplacements. “Starboard and forward batteries, mark your target and fire.” A full broadside of thirty-six cannons fired and sent a rumble through the ship. “Starboard and forward missiles, fire.” Twelve starboard and four forward missiles leapt from their tubes. “Reload ship killer missiles and all missiles and cannons fire at will. Begin rotation.”

  As the cannon crews kept loading and firing the cannons as they came to bear on the enemy, new missiles were constantly being auto-loaded and fired as well. The combination of cannons and missiles were taking their toll and both Romani ships kept up a withering fire, while remaining out of range of the Saltic energy weapons. The energy weapon range was only half the range of the human weapons. One of the escort ships saw what was happening and decided to make a run at the battleship. Since Slone didn’t want to reduce fire on the capital ship, he ordered the weapon tech to activate the turreted energy weapons. As the escort came into range, it started to fire on the Tempestas with little effect, since its energy weapons were much smaller than the ones on the capital ship. It became clear from its actions that the ship was planning on ramming the battleship. As soon as Slone saw this he ordered full barrages of energy fire against the escort. It made it to within 2000 meters of the ship when several shots hit the hydrogen fuel bunkers deep in the ship and tore it apart. Several smaller fragments hit the Tempestas with no effect. The Saltic were now down to their capital ship and two escorts. The harvester must have signaled a recall and suddenly the escorts turned and tried to rejoin the capital ship. Slone was determined to prevent this and force the Saltic to use their EMP weapon. In determining the best way to deal with the Saltic, the Romani decided using their strengths against them as weaknesses was the way to go. As the harvester began its turn back towards the wormhole, Slone’s concentration was broken by Raul Cortega’s report.

  “Captain, they are powering up their EMP weapon.”

  “Looks like they want to develop momentum towards the wormhole and then knock us out as they drift in,” Slone said to no one in particular. “Activate the EMP shield. Captain Artok, prepare your ship for plan delta.”

  “Sss. Yes, Captain Slone, we will be ready,” the serpent captain replied from the bridge of the Avenging Talon.

  “All ships other than Romani capital ships pull back at flank speed and stay clear of the EMP pulse,” Slone ordered over the combat channel. “Attack plan delta is now in effect. Admiral Holt, I would ask you to please stay back at least 20,000 kilometers from the enemy capital ship. We think that is beyond the effective range of their EMP weapon.”

  Another innovation of the Romani in their quest to deal with the Saltic, was the EMP shield. It was basically an electrical grid that was melded to the exterior hull. Since the EMP weapon sent out a heavy energy pulse, that pulse could be captured and transmitted into an electrical grid that would take it to a series of breakers designed to blow out and each time dissipate more of the pulse. To the enemy it would look like all went well, but there would be no effect on either the serpent or the human crew and the ship would remain fully operational. This allowed the Romani to ‘play possum’ and lure the enemy into a false sense of security. Until this very moment, this was all theory. Theory was about to be tested.

  “Tom, open a secure channel to Admiral Holt.”

  “Channel is open, sir.”

  “Admiral Holt, this is Captain Slone. The enemy is powering up their EMP weapon. It is our intention to take the brunt of the energy burst and then play possum so they think we are incapacitated. We will not be, so please await my signal to attack. Slone out.”

  Aboard the Highline flagship Admiral Holt received the message. He looked at Captain Deeney, “Eleanor, I have no idea who these people are, but if they know that much about the enemy, then we need them a lot more than they need us.”

  “Let’s see if they win first. Navigation, take us more than 20,000 kilometers from the enemy capital ship.”

  “Yes Captain.”

  Meanwhile, the Tempestas and the Avenging Talon moved closer in towards the harvester, maintaining a constant fire. Once they were in range of the energy weapons, they brought the turrets on line. This also meant they were now in range of the harvester and a lively cannon duel commenced between the three ships. Again it was evident that the energy weapons of the Saltic were not capable of rapidly doing major damage to human capital ships.

  “Captain, the Saltic EMP has finished charging.”

  “Brace for the impulse.” The words were hardly out of Slone’s mouth when the EMP burst radiated from the harvester. Though there was nothing to see, the tactical projection on the closed bridge armor showed a representation of the EMP wave flowing out of the enemy ship in all directions. The EMP hit both of the Romani ships and the wire shield carried the impulse down into engineering where the dissipation panel was located. As the energy gathered into the capture box, the fuses began to fire out of the box and smash against the opposite wall. This allowed the capture room to fill with the EMP energy but, since there was no electrical wiring in the room other than the ones the pulse came through, it simply died harmlessly. “Kill all power,” Slone now ordered.

  Both the Tempestas and the Avenging Talon went dark. From the point of view of the Saltic, the EMP worked and they were also powerless until the engines could recharge from the batteries. The Saltic captain had built up momentum before using the weapon and had a two hour drift to the wormhole. During that time he thought he might as well send over boarding parties to harvest some human brains. Though the Saltic ship needed just over two hours to recover and recharge the engines from the EMP discharge, their weapons and other areas of the ship were just fine. The battleship was closest to the harvester and would be the target of her boarding parties. The Saltic captain ordered 1500 of his crack marines along with 1000 gatherers into thirteen shuttles holding 200 each, along with their equipment. The boarding shuttles left the cavernous hangar deck of the harvester as the Saltic captain watched the progress from the bridge. Saltic bridges had no windows. All visuals came from video feeds on the outside of the ship. The captain could see his shuttles approach the battleship. They were rapidly closing the gap since they knew they only had two hours to get as many humans as possible to harvest. He looked at the human ship. The Saltic captain had never seen one as large as the one his shuttles were nearing. Something was not right about the human ship, but the captain could not quite put his brain to it. As the shuttles moved closer it suddenly hit him. The atmosphere shield on the human ship’s shuttle bay never went out when the EMP hit. A horrible thought now came to him. What if the human ship was not incapacitated? Just as that thought struck him the unimaginable happened, the human ships both came back to life.

  On the bridge of the Tempestas, all was calm. The EMP shield had done its job and passed its first test. There was no damage to the ship or its personnel. All electrical activity had been intentionally shut down on the battleship and the legion, under the command of Centurion Marshal, was standing by to repel boarders if the trap did not work. Slone could see the Saltic harvester on the video feed from the outside. After a short pause, thirteen boa
rding shuttles left the hangar bay and headed to the Romani ship. This is what Slone was waiting for. He could have finished off the harvester at any time, but part of the first encounter was envisioned as a test of the possum play, as it came to be known. The Saltic were powerful, but they suffered from an over inflated opinion of themselves to the extent that they thought they were the most advanced sentient race in the universe. As a result, they never took the danger from other species seriously. As the boarding shuttles approached, Slone waited for the optimal time to spring the trap.

  The Saltic used their EMP weapon to immobilize ships and their crews and allow Saltic forces to enter the enemy ship and harvest the brains of the sentient species aboard. To the Saltic, all life in the universe existed only to serve them. The present invasion of human space was the result of some complicated circumstances. The Saltic fleet was being revamped and upgraded. They needed a large number of sentient brains to use as computer control nodes. Of all the sentient species, human brains were the fastest and most versatile. The humans did not use all of their brain matter and that allowed the Saltic to program the unused parts for their control nodes. The fact that the brain remained aware of its circumstances was of no consequence to the Saltic, since their god had made all sentient life to serve them. Several attempts had been made to acquire a steady supply of humans, but all of them failed with the loss of multiple escorts and at least two cruisers used to harvest other species. Many ships were using brains of inferior species and some of the human brains they had were deteriorating with age. It was finally decided to do a large scale collection from the coreward areas of human space. The present incursion was to test the resolve and defenses of the humans. So far they discovered the humans would fight, but were no match for the sheer mass of the Saltic cruisers. The escorts were also more maneuverable than the human ships. The test was over and all that was needed now to make the incursion worthwhile was to bring back some human brains. To that end the boarding shuttles were about to reach the enemy ship.