“Helm, prepare to jump,” Jeremy ordered, his eyes narrowing.
“Ship is ready,” Ariel reported as she stepped up to stand closer to Jeremy.
-
The armed scout had jumped back to its forward base, but First Leader Calyss was having a hard time convincing the War Leader of the orbiting fleet of his discovery. The War Leader was convinced that it had to be a sensor error and was demanding that Calyss return to the system for additional scans. No one attacked the Hocklyns, it was unheard of!
Calyss was about to retort that he would not have his honor challenged in such a way when his sensor operator reported numerous red threat icons appearing behind them. Calyss glanced at the screen and knew he was too far out from the gravity well of the fleet base for protection. His ship was doomed.
“Turn us around,” he ordered grimly with his right hand touching his battle armor across his chest. “Honor is before us.”
“Honor is before us,” his Second Leader responded in understanding. Instantly, the small 300-meter Hocklyn scout turned to attack the war fleet that was appearing behind it.
-
Jeremy looked on in surprise as the small armed scout turned to attack his fleet.
“What’s he doing?” Kevin asked in shock. “That’s suicide!”
“They’re Hocklyns,” Colonel Malen responded, her eyes focused on the rapidly approaching ship. “He attacks to protect his ship’s honor.” Colonel Malen had studied Hocklyn psychology at the Fleet Academy.
“The Monarch cruiser Reprisal is firing,” reported Tactical.
On the screen, several missiles flew toward the Hocklyn scout and then detonated against its screens. One of the missiles was a Devastator ten-kiloton nuke, which erased any trace of the Hocklyn armed scout.
“Admiral Gaines and Fifth Fleet are jumping in,” Ariel reported as her sensors detected the numerous spatial vortexes forming four million kilometers away.
“Take us in closer to the planet, but stay outside the gravity well,” Jeremy ordered as he focused his eyes on the tactical display. It was time for his fleet to take up its position for the battle.
He watched an hour later as Fifth Fleet began entering the gravity well of the planet and the twenty-three ships of the defending Hocklyn fleet surged forward to meet it.
-
Fleet Commodore Resmunt had just returned to his office from his inspection tour when his aide came rushing in. “They’re here!” the aide reported, breathing heavily, his large black eyes even wider than normal. “A human fleet is attacking the fleet base at star 7712!”
Resmunt eyes immediately moved to the large map of the sector on the wall. Fleet base 7712 was one hundred and ninety light years away.
“How large a force?” he demanded. If this was the human attack, it might be wise to take his own force here at his base and respond. Then he paused as he calculated the time to get there. At maximum jumps of thirty light years, it would take him forty hours to arrive, by then the battle would be over.
The aide paused as he passed on the news. “Base 7712 is reporting that it is under attack by over ninety heavily armed human warships!”
“Honor be served,” Resmunt muttered quietly as he realized the fleet at the base would be annihilated.
“Honor be served,” his aide replied, taken slightly aback at the Fleet Commodore’s response. “Are we not going to send our fleet to aid them and destroy these humans?”
It was at that moment that a warning alarm sounded on his desk. Stepping over, he activated the blinking com system and listened to First Leader Ganth on the flagship.
“That won’t be necessary,” replied Resmunt, looking at his aide with a hint of sadness in his eyes. “The humans are coming for us also. That was First Leader Ganth, and he reports that six human light cruisers have just jumped into the system and are conducting scans of our defenses. I believe in the next few days, many of us will be finding honor.”
“What should we do?” his aide asked. He was not afraid to die, but it was unthinkable that a human victory was possible, not against the Hocklyn Empire!
“Send a message to the High Council that we are under attack by human ships of unknown power and numbers. It is my belief that these same humans are also responsible for the destruction of all four of War Leader Bisth’s fleets.”
Fleet Commodore Resmunt watched as his aide rushed away to carry out his orders. Activating his com unit again, he sent word to have his shuttle prepared. He would be returning to the Liberator to conduct the upcoming battle.
-
A few hours later, Admiral Streth watched without surprise as a Hocklyn armed scout jumped into the small red dwarf star system First Fleet was occupying. He knew the Fleet Commodore in charge of the Hocklyn fleets had probably sent out every armed scout he had in an attempt to find the human fleet that was endangering his world.
Under his orders, no efforts were made to prevent the armed scout from scanning First Fleet. Hedon fully intended to use First Fleet to hold the main Hocklyn forces at this base, which would allow the other four fleets of Operation First Strike to destroy the Hocklyn forces at their remaining five forward fleet bases. Once that was done, he would call forward Second and Third Fleet to eliminate the main Hocklyn force.
“They’re gone,” Colonel Trist reported as the small red threat icon on the tactical display vanished. He turned toward Hedon. “From our latest reports the attacks by our other forces are proceeding as planned. Fourth Fleet was detected, but they launched their assault upon the Hocklyn base immediately. That battle should be nearly over with by now.”
Hedon nodded. He let out a weary breath hoping this all ended well. So far there had been no reports of AI ships. That was the big danger; an AI ship could seriously damage his fleet. It still wasn’t known if the new Devastator Three missiles could take one out.
Looking around the busy Command Center, Hedon felt the weight of responsibility knowing that tens of thousands of Fleet personnel were depending on his decisions. He just prayed that he made the right ones. Unexpected developments occurred in war, nothing could be taken for granted. He recalled his brother Taylor mentioning that to him one evening while they were at the cabin by the lake. His brother had been a major in the Federation marines at the time and had studied military tactics.
Taylor had said that war was a steadily evolving process with constant flux on the battlefield. He had warned Hedon to be cautious. What might work today could fail miserably tomorrow. Hedon had always taken his brother’s advice seriously. He would never take combat against the Hocklyns for granted!
-
Jeremy watched as the Hocklyn dreadnought put up a valiant fight against the inbound Anlon bomber strike. He cringed as two, four, and then six of the bombers exploded from defensive fire before the rest of the four squadrons delivered their nuclear tipped Shrike missiles. When the nuclear fire cleared, all that was left of the dreadnought was a crumbled mass of glowing wreckage, which blew apart when several of the ship’s remaining nuclear self-destruct devices went off.
“That’s the last of them,” Colonel Malen reported as the final red threat icon on the tactical display vanished.
“What were Fifth Fleet’s losses?” Jeremy asked. He had watched more than one green icon flare up and vanish during the brief but intense battle.
Colonel Malen frowned as she studied the data. “One Monarch cruiser, two light cruisers, and four destroyers.”
“In exchange for twenty-three Hocklyn warships,” commented Jeremy, frowning. “What were the bomber and fighter losses?”
“Twenty-two Anlon bombers and sixteen Talon fighters.”
Jeremy had watched with intense interest as the Anlon bomber strike had gone in. Two of Admiral Gaines battle carriers were carrying the new shielded bombers and their attack had been devastating against the Hocklyn fleet after Fifth Fleet had battered down their defenses. Not a single Hocklyn ship had managed to make a suicide run.
“Admiral Ga
ines is currently going into orbit and is preparing to send his assault shuttles down from the carriers to mop up the base.”
Jeremy nodded toward Colonel Malen. “Keep us in position just outside of the gravity well; we don’t know what might pop in. By now, this entire sector of the Hocklyn Empire knows it’s under attack. Take us to Condition Two.”
Kelsey glanced over where Angela was sitting in front of Communications and saw that her friend looked extremely pale. “What’s wrong, Angela? This battle is nearly over.”
“I know,” she spoke, trying to force a smile upon her face. “But a lot of people just died and a lot more will before this is over. I just keep thinking about how their families will feel when we get back home and they find out their loved ones didn’t make it.”
Kelsey was silent for a moment before replying. “This is going to be a long war, Angela, and there will be many Fleet personnel and others that will lose their lives before this is over. All we can do is pray for them and hope they understand the sacrifices that must be made if the human race is to survive.”
“This is about survival,” Ariel broke in. She walked over to stand between the two women. “The Hocklyns will destroy the Federation and everyone in it if they get the opportunity. We are here to ensure that doesn’t happen. I watched them destroy the original Human Federation of Worlds. They nuked the planets without mercy, killing billions of innocents. They would not accept surrender or spare even a child. They may have this honor system in battle, but they are cold of heart and quite merciless toward other races.”
Angela and Kelsey looked at one another, knowing the AI was correct. This war was about one thing and one thing only and that was survival. At the end of it, either the human race would be gone or the Hocklyns would.
Chapter Fifteen
High Leader Ankler stared in open shock at the com message that had just been handed to him. He was still at his family’s habitat and had been preparing to return to the High Council on Calzen. It had been three days since he had returned home and the next council meeting was scheduled for later today. He let out a deep sigh of frustration, knowing that everything was coming to a head. Years of hard work and labor were about to be brushed aside due to a mistake by Sigeth, his distant ancestor and the lies he had told about the destruction of the humans.
“I don’t understand,” his youngest son was saying. Jaseth had been with Ankler when an aide had rushed in with the message. “Why are you returning to the High Council chambers today? Can’t you stay longer?”
Ankler stood up from where he was sitting behind his large, ornate desk. Looking at the message once more, he knew this was the end. Resmunt had been correct about the humans; they did pose a deadly and serious threat to the empire. If this message was accurate, the humans were attacking Resmunt’s support bases in calculated fury, wiping them out one by one. For the first time in Hocklyn history, they were under attack and losing. Briefly, he explained to Jaseth that the Hocklyn Empire was under attack and by whom.
“Who are these humans?” Jaseth asked, his eyes focusing on his father and seeing worry and possibly even fear in his eyes. He couldn’t ever recall seeing this before. What was wrong? He wanted to know more about these humans who were attacking the empire.
Ankler walked over and stood before his son. Perhaps someday Jaseth could restore the family’s honor. “Long ago one of our ancestors was responsible for attacking and destroying the human home worlds. At that time, they were known as the Human Federation of Worlds. When the battles were over, he reported that all the human ships and their people had been annihilated.”
“If that’s true, then where are these humans coming from?” asked Jaseth, feeling confused.
Ankler let out a deep, rasping breath. There was no longer any point in hiding the truth. He suspected the High Council would be sending for him shortly. His family’s honor was about to come to an end.
“He lied,” answered Ankler, his eyes gazing intently at his son.
“Lied?” Jaseth echoed in disbelief. A Hocklyn did not lie about such things, surely his father was mistaken.
“Yes, he lied,” his father replied with a tired and worried look crossing his face. “War Leader Sigeth faked documents which indicated the remaining human ships that escaped the destruction of their worlds had been destroyed. In reality, these ships, and possibly numerous others, escaped and established a new human colony far away from our empire. They have grown in power and numbers and may now pose a serious threat to us.”
“War Leader Sigeth,” Jaseth stammered suddenly realizing the ramifications of what his father was saying. “It was from the conquering and destruction of those human worlds that much of our family honor came.”
“Yes,” agreed Ankler, reaching out and putting his powerful hand on his son’s shoulder. “The High Council will be sending for me shortly. I fear our days of basking in our past honor is about to come to an end.”
“We will lose everything!” Jaseth spoke in sudden understanding, his large, dark eyes growing wide.
“I fear so,” Ankler replied as one of his aides entered and handed him another message. Glancing down, Ankler saw it was from High Councilor Nartel demanding his immediate presence at the High Council chambers. It was also mentioned that there would be a vote against Ankler for possible treason to the empire.
“Jaseth, you are in the military, and any honor you have earned from your duties will stay with you,” Ankler spoke in a soft voice, knowing this could be the last time he saw his son. “It may be up to you someday to restore our family’s honor.”
-
Later that afternoon, High Leader Ankler stepped into the ornate chamber of the High Council. The large room became quiet upon his arrival.
“What have you done!” roared High Councilor Ruthan, striding up to stand challengingly in front of him. “You said these humans were not a threat!”
“I didn’t believe they were,” replied Ankler, stepping around Ruthan and walking to the head of the council table to take his seat.
Ruthan followed him and slammed down a series of messages on the table in front of him.
“All five of Resmunt’s forward fleet bases have fallen or are under attack,” he spoke, accusingly. “Resmunt asked for six fleets to reinforce his sector and you turned him down, sending only two! Resmunt knew there was a danger and you refused to listen.”
“I felt two were sufficient,” Ankler replied in a steady and calm voice, refusing to let Ruthan get the best of him. “War Leader Bisth should have been able to conquer the humans. It was Bisth’s incompetence at command that has brought us to this point.”
“I think not,” High Councilor Nartel spoke, standing up and gazing intently at High Leader Ankler. “I have been doing some research into the battles with the humans above their original worlds. It seems that a large number of human ships escaped the last battle and were supposedly hunted down later. It seems strange that the only reports that indicate these human ships were destroyed came from your own distant ancestor, War Leader Sigeth.”
A low disgruntled rumbling came from the other High Councilors as they realized the significance of this statement.
“War Leader Sigeth,” High Councilor Jarles hissed as he recognized the name. He stood up demanding to be recognized, looking at High Councilor Nartel. “Why are these reports in question? They are part of our empire’s history!”
“None of his subordinates or First Leaders indicated any human ships being destroyed after the final engagement in their home system,” explained Nartel in an accusing voice, and then, turning back to toward Ankler, he continued. “High Leader Ankler, this was your ancestor. For honor, were these reports by War Leader Sigeth lies?”
All the High Councilors gazed intently at High Leader Ankler. This was the same as accusing him of treason. Never in the history of the Hocklyn Slave Empire had such charges ever been leveled at a High Leader. There was absolute silence in the council chambers as they waited for an answer.<
br />
Ankler was silent for a long moment. He let out a heavy rasping breath, knowing it was useless to deny the charges. Once the High Council started looking, they would find that the reports were false.
“Yes, they were lies,” he confessed, his hand going to his blade at his waist. He could end his life now and perhaps save some of his family honor. He could see in the eyes of the entire council that he had lost their support.
Ruthan nodded his head in satisfaction, recognizing Ankler’s end. “I have already sent word to the AIs about the humans. They will not be happy with what you have withheld from them.”
“The AIs,” muttered Nartel, turning to face Ruthan, his large eyes narrowing in concern. “You should not have done so without the approval of the rest of the council.”
The large doors to the council chamber suddenly swung open. A senior Protector stood there, his eyes sweeping over the councilors. “An AI ship has just jumped into the system. It will be in orbit of Calzen shortly.”
“Thank you,” responded Nartel, dismissing the Protector. He looked around the council table. “The AIs are coming. I suspect we will suffer serious punishment for the lies that High Leader Ankler’s ancestor told. This will not be a good day for honor in our empire.”
-
Two hours later, the council chamber doors swung open and a monstrosity entered. It was difficult to see what the AI was made of. Part of its body resembled a cube with irregular lines and multiple tentacles attached with a glowing white orb on top. It was impossible to tell if the orb was made of pure energy or of some type of highly advanced material. The AI’s body seemed to float just above the floor of the council chamber. It came to a stop at the edge of the table and then a powerful voice spoke.
“We have become aware of the failures of this council,” the voice said, sounding highly displeased. “You have hidden from us that more humans exist. Why was this done?”
“I felt we could handle the humans ourselves and bring them into our empire,” responded High Leader Ankler, standing up to face the AI. “They will make excellent slaves for us.”
The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) Page 26
