Exodus: Empires at War: Book 16: The Shield.

by Doug Dandridge

  “Are the broadcasts still going out?” asked Mrastaran, letting out a deep sigh. Something else ordered by the Emperor. A broadcast capturing the Ca'cadasan actions on the planet, letting the two groups of humans know what was happening to those they wished to save. The admiral wasn't sure how much good this was doing, sending video signals out to the humans far outside the system. Unless they had some wormhole equipped ships hiding in the inner system. Something they were well capable of.

  “Steadily, on all video frequencies, my Lord. If they're out there, they will be picking them up.”

  Maybe with another species this tactic would cause them to act in a manner that was detrimental to their plan. Not with the humans from the Empire on the other front. While capable of great passion, anger, rage, even the softer emotions which Ca'cadasans had so much trouble with, some exceptional members of the species could remain rational, even cold blooded, no matter the provocation. They were the most frightening of enemies, able to harness their passion in the most un-passionate way, using it to drive their intellect.

  “And the special ships?”

  “Ready to move on your orders,” said the chief of staff.

  Mrastaran felt another twinge of guilt, a feeling most Ca'cadasan officers would deny, even as they felt it. The projection ships, the vessels that would stir up the plasma of the star to nova, would be manned, something that ensured the deaths of the crews. A skeleton crew on each, but still some hundreds of warriors on each vessel. They were all volunteers, of course, but what did that mean when all had been brainwashed from birth to think of death in the cause of their Emperor to be a desirable outcome. Maybe some Emperors were worthy of that sacrifice, but not this one.

  He had twelve of the vessels, modified twenty-five million ton super-battleships. Stripped of their primary offensive weaponry while maintaining defensive batteries, they were still more vulnerable to attack. Extra reactors powered the magnetic coils that would stir the substance of the star. All twelve would be needed to start the process. Eight could carry on once the process was started, though it would take longer. Four could complete the process to nova once it had progressed far enough.

  Of course the humans already knew about the process, the ships, everything, since the trap had been sprung on them a couple of times on the other front. They knew what the projection ships looked like, and would try their best to take them out before they could complete the process. It was his job to prevent them from succeeding, so his side would succeed in destroying their military power on this front. Mrastaran didn't think this plan was going to work. The humans, of course, would make an attempt. But not at the price of losing their entire fleet. They were compassionate and would want to save these sentients. But they wouldn't risk losing the entire war on this front to save one system.

  Try telling that to the young fool in charge. He thought that nothing was beyond his so called genius. Once again the thought of a coup entered the mind of the admiral. Something that went against all of the tenants of his warrior race. Sometimes it was necessary to go against tradition in order to preserve the best of it, and if this Emperor continued to rule Mrastaran could see nothing but disaster in the future of his people.

  Chapter Two

  Keep the faith, don't lose your perseverance and always trust your gut extinct. Paula Abdul

  “So, are you sure of the dispositions of your enemies?” asked Sean Ogden Lee Romanov, Sean the First, over the com.

  “When is a commander ever completely sure of the dispositions of her enemies,” answered Beata with a tight smile. “But we left the system almost a month ago, and I'm guessing if we take too much more time the bastards will go ahead and detonate the star. Just to spite us.”

  It wasn't technically a detonation, any more than setting off a thin layer of liquid explosion on the surface of an armored vehicle was its destruction. The term just seemed to catch on when nothing else suggested itself.

  “And that would suit you, wouldn't it?” asked Sean, eyes narrowing, though his tone didn't change.

  “I know that is something you wouldn't prefer, your Majesty,” said the admiral, closing her eyes and waiting for the recriminations to fly. But she had to be honest. “I think I could chew his fleet apart in a series of system battles on the way to the capital. But...”

  “You understand that, while that might be the best strategy militarily, politically it is not something we can pursue,” said Sean, shaking his head. “We have to show the people out there that they are all important to us, no matter what they look like.”

  “Yes, sir. I agree would agree with that, and I will fight this battle to the best of my ability in the way you order. I just have to point out the difficulty of the task.”

  “I think its a brilliant plan, admiral. Given that the Cacas have already seen the direct approach on the other front, this one may catch them flatfooted.”

  Beata hoped so. When she had asked Chan if she had any tech that might allow them to fight the battle in this way, she hadn't expected what had been presented to her. It was brilliant, and her use of it was also something that only a top commander would have been able to come up with. But would it work?

  “You still have reservations about the tech?” asked Admiral Chuntoa Chan, the weapons development genius of the Empire. The tech idea was hers, but she wouldn't be the one sticking her head in what could be a deathtrap.

  “Yes. I do,” said Beata, nodding. She technically outranked the RnD admiral, but that woman had the ear of the Emperor, and a past record of unbridled success.

  “It worked in all the tests,” said Chan in a defensive tone. “And we have seen the results of other detonations on our front.”

  Beata nodded, but doubt still lived in her heart. “This star is the next best thing to an F class. Only a tiny amount of mass more, and it wouldn't be sitting on the far end of the G scale.”

  “Tiny amount,” said Chan with a short laugh. “You're talking about the mass of multiple Jovian size planets.”

  “Which, in all fairness, compared to a star is nothing,” said Sean, his face in the holo looking to the side, where his connection to Chan must have resided. “Admiral Bednarczyk has a point. And it's her ships and people we're putting at risk. Though I must say, they are just as much mine as hers.”

  Chan had come through so many times in the past. She had pulled Beata's butt out of a crack on the Machine front. It had gotten to the point where everyone thought the science and tech expert couldn't fail. It was sure to happen eventually. The woman wasn't infallible, after all. Beata just had to hope that her first failure of the war was further on down the line.

  “Now, about the dispositions of the enemy,” said Sean, returning to the original subject, as was his right. “Have you pinpointed their positions?”

  “As well as can be expected, your Majesty. They are being very careful to not move anything they don't have to. We are picking up some movements, and they can't hide their infrequent jumps in and out of hyper. But as far as we can tell, they are staying close enough to keep in laser com range of each other.”

  “Makes we wonder if it might be worth while to sneak a wormhole bomb into the center of their formations,” said Sean, raising an eyebrow.

  “I would take over a week to sneak the ship with the initiating wormhole into any of their formations,” said Chan, shaking her head. “They would be sure to pick it up before it got within range, unless we used one of the stealth/attack ships. And it would take them even longer, based on their present positions.”

  Beata wondered if that were true, or if Chan simply wanted to test her tech. She didn't want to think like that of the woman. I hate getting involved in this political crap, she thought. Give her an enemy and point her at them and she was happy. Political infighting was something else entirely.

  “Well, that would have been too easy,” thought Sean.

  If they could get a wormhole equipped ship into the near center of an enemy formation, they would be able to se
nd another vessel, another wormhole, through it. The resulting explosion was the most powerful sentient produced blast known. The technique had been used to destroy a Caca fleet in proximity to the original Klavarta capital world, along with scouring that world clear of life.

  “As far as we can tell, the Cacas are in four large formations spaced at twenty light hours outside the system. Or they might be decoys, and the main forces could be somewhere else entirely.”

  “That would pretty much protect them from the particle stream, since it would have spread beyond it density of effectiveness at that point,” said Chan, nodding. “Or they could just jump into hyper if need be.”

  “And in the system?” asked Sean, shooting a glance off holo at his tech expert.

  “Ships around the planet, and in orbits around some of the other planets, your Majesty,” said Beata, pulling up her tactical plot and forwarding it over the com net. “One of the stealth/attack has reported a wormhole gate in orbit around Pleisia, probably their escape hatch for their manned vessels. Another has caught hints of their projection ships near the closest planet to the star. This Mars sized rocky world. We have verified that a small defense force is along with them, maybe a hundred ships, and we suspect they also have a wormhole they can use to gate them out when needed.”

  “My analysts have looked over the data sent by the admiral's staff, and we agree,” said Chan.

  “I hope you are keeping a tight lid on the information,” said Beata, a chill running down her spine. There was evidence that someone in the Klavarta command was feeding intelligence to the Caca commander. While no one could figure out why any Klavarta would be foolish enough to do such a thing, it seemed like the ambush sprung on the Klavarta battle fleet had been facilitated by such a gift.

  “Don't worry, Admiral,” said Chan, turning a cold stare at Beata. “Only my top people have looked at the data. I have the utmost faith in the reliability of each and every one.”

  “Sorry,” said Beata, cursing her own stupidity at starting another argument with Chan. “It's just that so much is riding on the enemy not guessing what we're up to.”

  “We understand, Admiral,” said Sean, looking off screen and mouthing something to Chan. “Sergiov thinks the leak is with the Klavarta side. So, as long as you keep them out of the loop, I think we'll be fine.”

  And you say that as if its the easiest thing in the universe, thought Chan, feeling slightly bitter that she had been forced to lie to an ally. Another political maneuver that went against her grain.

  “Ekaterina is working with their top intelligence people to root out the traitors,” said Sean, a sour expression on his face. “She believes they are close.”

  Which means we could be looking at weeks to months before the leak is sealed, thought Beata, fighting to keep her expression neutral. She didn't doubt the intelligence chief was doing her best, but again she got the feeling that too many people in the upper echelons of the Imperial military were too busy covering their asses.

  “And your dispositions? Are you satisfied with them?”

  “I could use a couple of thousand more ships,” said Bednarczyk, frowning. “But I'm guessing you're tired of hearing that from all of your commanders.”

  “If I had them to give to you, they would already be there,” replied Sean, shrugging his shoulders.

  Beata smiled. It was an old tale. No commander was ever satisfied with the force they had at their disposal, even when they outnumbered the enemy by a considerable margin. Of course, in her case, she was still outmassed by more than four to one. Her wormholes would make up for some of that discrepancy, but not near enough to even the odds.

  She still had Romulus, a twenty-eight million ton super heavy battleship, and the most powerful vessel in this fight. She was augmented by the recent arrival of her sister, Remus, a unit of equal power. Unfortunately, the enemy had five or six thousand of their twenty-five million ton superbattleships, still a unit to be reckoned with. Added to her two super heavy units were over nine hundred standard, sixteen million ton hyper VII battleships, along with four hundred and forty-one hyper VI ships that had been hastily recommissioned after a rebuild for this mission. Along with several thousand smaller vessels, from five hundred and ten battle cruisers, along with numerous smaller cruisers and destroyers. Over five thousand Imperial ships, more than she had ever commanded.

  Along with those were seven thousand Klavarta ships, including over three hundred of their newest battleship class. They were almost exact duplicates of the Imperial hyper VIIs, though their internal systems took advantage of the ability of the Alphas to handle more gees in a liquid environment. Still, the majority of that force was outmassed and outgunned by every capital ship in the Caca fleet. Worse still, that entire force was under the command of Grand Fleet Admiral Klanarat, the cousin of the New Earth president, and the leader of the disastrous route that had landed them in this situation in the first place. The admiral had been placed under her command, sworn to follow her orders to the letter. And she thought that anyone who took that Alpha's word would be a prime candidate for buying land on a gas giant. The Klavarta were steady enough, even courageous to the point of recklessness. It was their loose cannon of a commander that worried her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

  The Slarna, Gernas and several other alien allies also had ships in this fight, over four thousand of them. Again, they were outmassed and outgunned, but used correctly they could still deliver a blow to the enemy. What worried her was their inability to take much of a hit and survive. She would do her best to not put them into a hopeless situation, but they would have to take their chances along with everyone else.

  She was supposed to have one hundred and fifteen wormholes for this fight all in the outer system, plus those carried by the twelve stealth/attack ships. The Klavarta had done everything possible to convert all of their gate wormholes into offensive launchers, even if that meant borrowing a play from the Caca book and moving masses of missiles through normal space for hours before sending them through a hole. Eighty-three of her holes were mated to launchers back at the Donut, making them her most effective weapon. Unfortunately she had lost some of her wormholes, and would have to find some way to compensate for their absence.

  Added to her offensive capabilities were several scores of carriers, human and alien, all holding from fifty to a hundred and twenty of the most advanced warp fighters yet. Capable of a pseudo space warping speed of twenty-three light, carrying missiles that could churn out four lights more over a short course, used effectively they could tilt the balance. Of course they couldn't transit hyper, so were useless on the far side of the barrier. Or they would have been. The tactical experts had come up with wrinkles for their use, another unknown that might or might not work.

  “And all of your ships are ready?” asked Chan, her eyes narrowing. “You have a very small margin here, so you must make sure every vessel is ready when you need it.”

  Beata pulled up a series of holos that showed her heavier classes of ships. Basically they were the same ships. But not really. Changes had been made to their outlines as equipment was nanowelded on. There had been major changes to their shield generators, their cooling system, even their reactors. And for part of the fight they would be without their laser rings, all of those projectors feeding other systems. To make up for that thousands of counter missile box launchers had been attached to the hulls of her larger ships, hundreds to the smaller. Hopefully the enemy wouldn't get anything into fast solution missile range while the laser rings were offline, but maybe masses of counters could make up for that.

  “We're as ready as we'll ever be,” she said finally, and with finality. “The crews have trained on all the maneuvers we will be calling on them to perform. Now, with a bit of luck...

  Or much more than a bit, she thought. If the mission went as planned everything should work out, at least the initial phase. Then all she would have to do was take on a massive battle fleet set up beyond the hyper
barrier and defeat them.

  “All of my alien commanders have been told what they needed to know,” she continued, closing her eyes and shaking her head. She still didn't like the idea of not telling her subordinates the entire plan. That went against centuries of tradition. Subordinates were told the entire plan, so when the supreme commander's flagship turned into a cloud of plasma they would know what to do. Not that Beata planned on dying, but then no one did.

  “The I guess all I can say is good luck and Godspeed, Admiral,” said Sean, looking straight into her eyes with his amazing ice blue orbs. “We'll be praying for you.”

  For all the good that will do, thought Beata as she smiled at the Emperor. Throughout history, both sides had prayed to their deities. And it had still come down to the blood, sweat and tears of mortals to decide the matter.

  * * *

  “This is intolerable,” growled Grand Fleet Admiral Jrasstra Klanarat, looking at the image of the largest of the Imperial ships on a zoom view holo.

  Less than two months before the six star flag officer had been the senior admiral in the New Earth fleet. Not only the chief of naval operations, but the commander of their battle fleet. A long and successful career lay behind him, glory lay ahead as the admiral destined to crushed the Monsters on this front. Then had come the battle that had sunk his dreams of glory, when an overly clever Caca commander had suckered him into a trap.

  It wasn't fair. Caca admirals were not supposed to be clever. They were supposed to attack in the same old way, like a bull ramming its head into a wall. And be defeating in the same old way, swiftly and efficiently. Only this one had used the predilection of their opponents to underestimate the Ca'cadasans, and to see what they wanted to see.

  It wasn't my fault, thought Klanarat, an old hand at playing the blame game. If naval intelligence had done their job, he would have known what kind of commander he was facing. The Caca had seemed to be a mind reader, guessing exactly how Klanarat's fleet would be disposed. Intelligence should have know the enemy had such a commander, and warned their supreme commander of his presence. If they had, he was sure he could have defeated the Monster.