“Accelerate to forty percent sublight and move out toward our patrol area,” Admiral Tolsen ordered. Inside the gravity well of New Tellus, ships were restricted to only using twenty percent power on their sublight drives.
“We have ships dropping out of hyperspace,” Lieutenant Brent Davis spoke from sensors, then after a moment, added. “It looks like Admiral Teleck has made it back.”
“Have we confirmed that it’s Admiral Teleck’s fleet?” Tolsen asked sharply. He didn’t want his people taking anything for granted.
“Yes, Sir,” Davis replied. “The light cruiser Arniss has confirmed their ID codes.”
“Very well,” replied Tolsen, nodding his head in approval. “Continue on course.”
Currently there were two warfleets always on patrol in the outer system of New Tellus with two others waiting just inside the gravity well of the planet. All the systems within twenty light years of New Tellus had multiple FTL detection buoys in place. Tolsen had known from previous reports that Admiral Teleck’s fleet would be jumping into the system. He had wanted to know how his young sensor operator would respond to numerous ships suddenly appearing. The young man had performed his job well.
-
Admiral Teleck breathed a sigh of relief as his fleet dropped out of hyperspace in the New Tellus system. Once he dropped off the now empty supply ships, he would be returning to Ceres to take some days off.
“New Tellus Defense Fleet One is just leaving the gravity well of the planet,” his sensor operator reported as numerous green, blue, yellow, and violet icons lit up the screen.
“That would be Admiral Tolsen’s new fleet,” his executive officer commented.
“Yes, it is,” replied Admiral Teleck, smiling.
He knew that Admiral Tolsen had gone through a long recovery period after being injured at Gliese 667C. He was glad to see that he had returned to duty. It was also comforting to know that he’d fought the Hocklyns in the past and was an experienced admiral. They would need that experience when the Hocklyns attacked New Tellus.
“Ready to get back to work?” asked Teleck, looking over at Admiral Andrews who was standing just behind him watching the big viewscreen which showed several of the other ships of the fleet.
Richard nodded as he replied. “Yes, it was great to get to see my wife and spend some time alone with her, but being on the front lines and speaking to several of the Carethians really brings everything home.”
“Those bears are going to be staunch allies if Admiral Strong can hold their home world from the Hocklyns,” Teleck spoke. He too had met and talked to several Carethians. Grayseth, their leader seemed very straightforward and trustworthy.
“I think he will,” Richard replied as he recalled what he had learned while on the bears’ planet. “With the defenses they are setting up, the AIs and the Hocklyns might be hesitant to accept the losses it will take to conquer the system.”
“If we can defeat them here at New Tellus then Admiral Strong may not have to face a massive attack at all,” responded Teleck, agreeing with Richard’s assessment. That would allow the bear system to remain intact and serve as an advanced base for future Federation attacks on the Hocklyn Slave Empire. It could also serve as a jumping off point to free the old Federation worlds.
“We have permission to micro-jump to just outside the gravity well of New Tellus,” the executive officer reported as she turned toward the admiral.
“Plot the jump and take us in,” Admiral Teleck ordered.
He was anxious to get home and curious to see what had happened when the ship from New Providence had arrived at Ceres. He could well imagine the uproar it must have caused when it was discovered that there were millions of survivors still in the old Federation.
-
Richard was back in the Command Center of his massive asteroid fortress. In the center of the large room was an upraised dais with an enormous console. Directly in front of the dais were a dozen plotting tables with tactical holograms floating above them. There were four fleet officers sitting at each one operating the computer controls and data screens. Farther across the room, upon the front wall, six massive viewscreens showed various views of the New Tellus system. Currently they were focused on several of the other fortresses, New Tellus Station, one of the other shipyards, the large fleets in orbit, and New Tellus itself.
Looking at the blue-white globe that represented the planet reminded Richard of what New Providence had looked like the last time he’d been there. That, of course, had been when his wife had taken the original WarStorm on its mission to search the old Federation for survivors. They had only found the few on Aquaria, even though he now knew there had been millions of survivors hiding beneath the surface of New Providence.
“Status,” he spoke, gazing over at his second in command, Rear Admiral Drew Hazleton.
“All systems functioning normally,” Hazleton reported as he stood up and relinquished the command chair. He moved over and sat down at a second command chair on the left side of Richard.
“Fighters and bombers?” asked Richard, knowing that the pilots were flying regular practice missions almost daily.
They were also responsible for patrolling the space inside the gravity well of New Tellus. At any one time, over one hundred Talon fighters were out on patrol along with several wings of bombers. All were fully armed and ready to react at a moment’s notice.
“Routine training only, Sir,” Hazleton replied as he recalled the latest pilot training schedules. “Patrols have been normal with no incidents.”
Richard nodded as he leaned back in his chair and gazed about the large room. Several hundred trained men and women were busy in the large Command Center that was the heart of the New Tellus’s defenses. From here, Richard would command all eight of the massive asteroid fortresses, five of the shipyards, and the defensive grid around the planet. Fleet Admiral Johnson would command New Tellus Station and the fleets that were based in the system.
The surface of the asteroid was covered with defensive railgun and laser batteries. Each was capable of individual tracking and eliminating an inbound target. There were also numerous interceptor missile batteries capable of taking out inbound missiles and enemy fighters. However, the biggest thing was the fortresses’ offensive capability. Massive pulse laser and power beam turrets dotted the surface. There were also multiple missile launchers capable of firing Klave, Devastator, and Devastator Three missiles. Richard was confident that if any Hocklyn fleet came near his command asteroid he could destroy it. Everything could be controlled from the Command Center or the two auxiliary Command Centers hidden in other parts of the asteroid.
The only real danger to the fortress would be from an AI ship. Since Ariel and Clarissa had managed to destroy two of them, it had become necessary to make some changes. Ariel and Lieutenant Johnson had written a new computer program that should allow the advanced computers on the heavy strikecruisers and the StarStrike to be able to take out individual AI ships. That same program had been more difficult to install on the fortresses as it had taken a major modification to the computers and the targeting systems for the Devastator Threes. It had finally been accomplished, but Richard didn’t know how well it would work until they tested it against an actual AI ship.
Later, after making a tour of various sections of the fortress, Richard retired to his quarters. They were quite spacious and in some ways could almost be considered lavish. He sat down in a large leather recliner and picked up a book he had been reading before he had left with Admiral Teleck. The book was from Earth and had been written by someone called H.G. Wells. The name of the book was The War of the Worlds. It reminded him of several books he had read in his youth back home on New Providence. Reading allowed him to relax and not focus so much on Amanda not being close by. It worried him that the next time he saw her a massive Hocklyn and AI fleet would probably be following her home to New Tellus. He just hoped his fortresses were ready. He opened the book to the page marked and beg
an reading.
Chapter Eight
Fleet Commodore Resmunt was reading Commodore Krilen’s report of his fleet’s battle with the humans. He was on board his flagship, the Liberator, and wasn’t too surprised at what the report told. It was becoming more evident with every battle that the humans were better tacticians than the average Hocklyn War Leader or Commodore.
“Another trap,” he hissed as he looked over at First Leader Ganth. “These humans have a propensity for setting traps for us, and we seem to fall right into them.”
“They nearly wiped out Commodore Krilen’s fleet,” Ganth rasped, his large dark eyes narrowing. “How could he allow himself to get caught in a planet’s gravity well?”
“It is our own fault,” Resmunt replied as he tapped the chest plate on his light gray battle armor with his left hand. “For far too long we have not faced an enemy worthy of battle. We have been taking victory for granted after so many centuries of easy conquests. The human’s technology is better than ours, and after what was done to their original worlds, they now seek revenge against us. They have trained their fleet commanders very well.”
“Our weapons are being updated by the AIs,” Ganth reminded the Fleet Commodore. “Surely we will be more than a match for the humans in future battles.”
“Perhaps,” Resmunt replied as his cold dark eyes gazed at his First Leader. “Before we launch our attack all the War Leaders must understand the danger these humans represent. We can’t afford to underestimate them anymore, or we could face defeat.”
“Defeat!” Ganth echoed his eyes growing even wider in disbelief. “We will have AI ships with us; surely victory and much honor will await us.”
“Our War Leaders will have to fight against humans who are just as good as they are and perhaps better at directing a fleet battle,” replied Resmunt, firmly. “I learned much in our own battle against the humans, and I will not let them trick me again. We will have overwhelming forces in this next battle, and we must use them to our advantage.”
“Several of the War Leaders that have been chosen are some of the best in our fleet, such as Versith of the dreadnought Viden,” Ganth pointed out. He had served with War Leader Versith on a short tour many years ago when he first joined the fleet.
“We were lucky to get War Leader Versith,” Resmunt responded in agreement. He had studied Versith’s record and been duly impressed by the level of strategy the War Leader was capable of.
There were several of the other War Leaders he was not happy with. Some were obviously political appointments by the High Council, such as War Leader Osbith who had been with him when the fleet base had fallen. Osbith knew nothing of strategy and directing a fleet in battle.
“There are two other things that concern me,” Fleet Commodore Resmunt continued as he thought about the coming war. “The new weapon the humans used to destroy our space station above the fleet base, as well as the two AI ships and their small bombers which have wrecked such havoc with our warships.”
“The humans must not have too many of those new weapons or they would have used more of them against our fleet,” First Leader Ganth pointed out. “They must have a very limited supply and only used them in desperation when the battle was going against them.”
“That would explain why they waited so long to deploy them,” Resmunt conceded as he thought over what Ganth had said. “If their supply of these weapons is limited, perhaps the threat from them will not be so great.”
“Their small bombers are another matter,” Ganth continued in his rasping voice. “I have spoken to a number of the First Leaders on the war cruisers that will be accompanying the fleet. We can add five more of our fighters to each of our war cruiser’s flight bays and ten to the flight bays of our dreadnoughts. I would also suggest that we only equip our fighters with short-range interceptor missiles to combat the human bombers. That will allow each of our fighters to carry four of the small missiles. If we can destroy the human bombers before they can launch their payloads of nuclear missiles then they will be of no threat to the fleet.”
“It might be a good idea to hold some of our fighters back,” Resmunt spoke as he thought the idea over. This was a good suggestion coming from his First Leader. “We won’t launch them until the humans launch their bombers. In all of the previous battles, our fighters have been engaged against the human fighters and could not respond to their bomber attacks.”
“We could launch only a portion of the war wings to engage the human fighters, but hold others back until needed against the bombers,” Ganth suggested.
Commodore Resmunt looked over at First Leader Ganth. His suggestions were worthy ones and could bring Ganth even more honor. “Make it so,” he ordered. Resmunt wanted every advantage he could have when he faced the humans again.
-
Aboard the dreadnought Viden, War Leader Virseth looked at the ship’s main viewscreen, which showed the massive fleet being gathered above Kenward Seven. It was the largest fleet the Hocklyn Slave Empire had ever assembled.
“The humans will die when the might of our Empire falls upon them,” spoke Second Leader Jaseth in a heated voice.
He still felt a smoldering hatred for the humans because of the ruin they had brought upon his family. His father, High Leader Ankler, had been executed by the AIs, and they had lost the majority of their family’s holdings. Jaseth would not rest until the human worlds were crushed beneath the might of the Hocklyn fleet and all humans were dead.
War Leader Virseth gazed worriedly at the young Second Leader, suspecting what he was feeling. Virseth had been good friends with Jaseth’s family for a very long time and had taken Jaseth on as a Second Leader on board his flagship after the young Hocklyn had completed the first part of his military training. If Jaseth could keep his wits about him, the young Hocklyn would make a fine warrior and rise swiftly in the ranks.
“Jaseth, be wary of your anger,” Virseth cautioned, his large black eyes focusing on the young Second Leader. “Anger can blind you at times and force you to miss what is obviously in front of you. I suspect this will be a long war and not decided by just a few battles. There will be plenty of time for you to extract vengeance for what happened to your family.”
Jaseth nodded, knowing the veteran War Leader was right. He reached down and touched the hilt of the blade he always carried at his waist. “I just hope to have the opportunity to use my blade against the human warriors. It calls out for human blood, and it shall have it!”
“In time,” replied Virseth, knowing he would have to keep a careful eye on Jaseth. “For now we must make sure our section of the fleet is ready for battle. I need a status report on how far along the shipyard is on finishing the upgrades to our fleet’s weapons and energy shields.”
Jaseth nodded. While the raging anger against the humans was always with him, he knew he still had his duty to fulfill. He turned and strode away from the command pedestal to carry out his orders.
“Jaseth is full of much anger,” First Leader Trion spoke as he stepped over closer to the War Leader. “It clouds his judgment and could some day pose a danger to the ship.”
“He is young and has lost much,” Virseth replied as he watched the young Hocklyn going about his duties. “We will keep an eye on him and make sure he stays on the right path. He has the makings of a fine warrior if he can only control his anger.”
-
High Leader Nartel was seated in the High Council Chamber along with the other councilors of the Hocklyn Slave Empire. For once the councilors were quiet as if waiting for their own deaths. The reason for their silence was simple; at any moment, they were expecting an AI to come through the council chamber doors.
“What can they want this time?” Councilor Ruthan asked in a subdued voice, almost as if he was afraid the AI could hear him speaking.
“Our obedience,” High Leader Nartel responded, his cold eyes focusing on the troublesome councilor. “They ordered this meeting and directed that all of us be here.”
/>
“They brought four ships,” Councilor Berken spoke in a nervous voice. “Never have they entered the heart of our Empire with four ships before.”
“To impress us,” Councilor Jarles suggested, his cold dark eyes looking at the High Leader. “They want to impress upon us the importance of this coming war with the humans.” Jarles was not pleased with this latest development. Expansion of the Empire had ground to a halt as preparations were made for war. All across the frontier ships were being pulled back and positioned in case they were needed against the humans.
Any further discussion came to a halt as the massive council chamber doors swung open and four AIs came in. As usual, each one was of a different shape. Tentacles waved in the air, and their heads were a glowing orb of what looked like pure energy. They floated above the floor using some type of anti-gravity, exuding power and ultimate authority.
“We have come to speak to the High Council,” the first AI to enter the room spoke in a powerful and commanding voice.
“We are yours to command,” responded High Leader Nartel, rising to his feet. The AIs made him nervous as he knew they carried some type of deadly energy weapon with them, the same weapon that had been used in these very chambers to execute High Leader Ankler only a few months back.
“The fleet at Kenward Seven is almost ready for the war against the humans,” the AI spoke as it came even nearer to the conference table. “That fleet is to be followed up by a second fleet of your regular warships to ensure that no humans escape as they did before. Failure in this will have severe consequences for your Empire. No human must survive this war; they and their worlds must be annihilated!”
“It will be as you command,” replied High Leader Nartel, trying to keep his eyes focused on the AI. The AIs were frightening, and it was all Nartel could do to not look away.
“We have scanned the area of space the humans took from you,” the AI continued in a nearly emotionless voice. “They have gathered themselves around two worlds. One is the world of Careth, and the second is Fleet Commodore Resmunt’s former fleet base. The humans at Careth will obviously attempt to defend the planet; however, those around the fleet base will undoubtedly flee back to their home worlds when faced with your fleet and our ships. We will follow them and destroy those worlds as we find them.”
The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five) Page 12
