“Yes, the war,” Kelsey responded. She just prayed they all survived it.
-
Admiral Sheen looked worriedly at the tactical displays. There were far more Hocklyn ships in the system than she'd been expecting. She was concerned that taking this planet might be too costly.
“What are we looking at, Lieutenant Stalls?”
Benjamin pressed several icons on his computer screens and then began sending the updated information to the holographic tactical displays. “It’s a major Hocklyn fleet,” he said worriedly. “Long-range sensors are detecting four dreadnoughts, fourteen warcruisers, and forty escorts. All in low orbit around the planet.”
“Have they detected us yet?” asked Commander Diaz.
“No, not yet; but they will shortly.”
“Any suggestions?” asked Amanda, looking around at her officers. The enemy had fifty-eight warships to her ninety-eight. There was also a large space station in orbit around the planet, which was the last of the Hocklyn main food production centers in this sector of space.
“What if we leave it?” Colonel Leon asked suddenly, folding her arms across her chest. “If the Hocklyns are divided by ruling families, wouldn’t each one want this last food production center for themselves?”
“Are you suggesting we leave it intact and let them fight over it?” asked Commander Diaz, arching his eyebrows in thought.
“It just might work,” Amanda said, nodding her head in agreement. “But I don’t want to leave this Hocklyn fleet intact. We need to take out those dreadnoughts at a minimum.”
“And how do we do that?” Commander Diaz asked. Even with the Federations’ newer and more powerful weapons, dreadnoughts were still dangerous to face in combat. “We’ll have to go into the gravity well after them.”
“Not if we use the Alton battlecruisers,” Amanda suggested. “We still have seventeen of them undamaged.” They'd lost one when several Hocklyn dreadnoughts had managed to batter its shield down and two others were moderately damaged, which Amanda didn’t want to risk. “We take the entire fleet in close to just the edge of the gravity well, and then we wait and see what the Hocklyns do. If we have the right opportunity, we send the Alton battlecruisers in to take out the dreadnoughts.”
The other officers nodded their heads in agreement. They knew it was vital to take out the dreadnoughts if possible since the Hocklyns no longer had the capability to build new ones. Not after the Federation had smashed all of the Hocklyns’ major shipyards.
-
Amanda felt the WarStorm come out of hyperspace just outside of the gravity well of the target planet. Upon coming out of the spatial vortexes, the entire fleet went to Condition One in preparation for combat.
“Hocklyns are moving,” Lieutenant Stalls reported as he watched his computer screens downloading the latest data. “It looks as if they’re forming up around the space station.”
“Damn!” uttered Amanda, feeling aggravated. She'd hoped they would move away from the planet to engage her fleet. She wanted to leave the station intact, but now the Hocklyn fleet was getting so close to it that it could be easily hit in any type of fleet battle.
“Where are their dreadnoughts?” asked Commander Diaz, peering intently at the tactical displays.
“All four are within fifty kilometers of the space station,” Stalls replied. “They’re extremely close to each other with a spacing of less than two kilometers.”
“That is close,” Colonel Leon stated in surprise, looking over at the others.
“What about the warcruisers?” asked Diaz.
Lieutenant Stalls looked over at the commander. “All fourteen are in a staggered line between us and the space station with the escorts as support.”
“I have Admiral Klask on the com,” Angela reported. “He says he can jump in behind the dreadnoughts and take them out without endangering the space station if you want to keep it intact.”
Amanda nodded and adjusted her mini-com so she could speak to the Alton admiral. If he was willing to take the risk, they might just be able to destroy the dreadnoughts.
-
Twenty minutes later, Amanda had maneuvered Second Fleet as close to the gravity well as she dared. Her plan was to make the Hocklyns believe she was preparing to launch an attack. Looking at one of the tactical screens, she smiled as hundreds of fighters began launching and entering the gravity well, heading toward the Hocklyn ships. Almost immediately, the Hocklyns reciprocated by launching their own fighters.
“When you’re ready,” Amada spoke over her mini-com, which was connected directly to Alton Admiral Klask.
“We’ll be back shortly,” Klask replied with confidence in his Alton voice.
Almost instantly, blue-white spatial vortexes formed in front of the seventeen Alton battlecruisers. The one thousand-meter dumbbell shaped ships flew rapidly into the vortexes and vanished. Almost instantly, directly behind the four Hocklyn dreadnoughts, new spatial vortexes began to form and out stormed the Alton ships. Unlike the Human ships, the Alton’s systems were only minutely affected by the drop out of hyperspace. From the seventeen ships, particle beam cannon fire flashed out, impacting the energy screen on one of the dreadnoughts.
For a fraction of a moment, the screen held. Then, first one bright blue beam and then a second tore through the wavering screen, smashing into the armored hull. Massive fiery explosions opened up the armor. The beams burrowed deeper into the hull, causing even more damage.
The Hocklyn commodore in charge of the fleet and the four dreadnoughts stood paralyzed on the Command Pedestal in the War Room of his flagship. Before he could give the orders to return fire, the War Room vanished in a blaze of light as a single antimatter missile was launched from an Alton battlecruiser, which detonated in the dreadnought’s heart. Searing heat and energy flashed through the corridors and compartments of the ship, consuming it.
The Altons then shifted their fire to the other dreadnoughts, trying to inflict as much damage as quickly as possible. Antimatter missiles were now being launched and the space near the space station became lit up in the fiery glow of their blasts.
However, a twelve hundred-meter dreadnought was difficult to kill, even with Alton weapons. Two of the dreadnoughts managed to return fire, launching every missile and energy beam they had at one of the Alton cruisers. Perhaps it was bad luck or faulty engineering that caused the Alton screen to flicker. When it did, a twenty-megaton Hocklyn nuclear missile flashed through and impacted the hull. The massive explosion staggered the huge ship, breaking it into two sections. The energy screen collapsed completely as power failed, and Hocklyn energy beams and missiles rapidly finished off the two drifting sections.
Angered by the loss of their sister ship, the other Alton vessels increased their fire. Moments later, another of the Hocklyn dreadnoughts exploded as antimatter energy was released inside its hull. Within the next minute, the other two dreadnoughts were drifting wrecks also.
-
“Dreadnoughts destroyed,” Lieutenant Stalls reported. “The Alton battlecruiser Lytol is down.”
“Damn!” uttered Commander Diaz. “We lost a battlecruiser; I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Alton ships are jumping,” Stalls informed them.
“War has a way of doing the unexpected,” Amanda replied with sadness in her eyes at losing the crew and the valuable ship. “Recall our fighters, it’s time for us to leave. “We’ll let the Hocklyns think that by destroying an Alton ship it convinced us to withdraw.”
“Alton ships are exiting hyperspace,” Stalls reported as the remaining sixteen Alton ships exited spatial vortexes around Second Fleet.
“Fighters are on their way back,” Colonel Leon reported as she watched the hundreds of fighters on the tactical display reverse course and streak back toward their respective carriers. “Fighters should be back on board in ten minutes.”
Amanda nodded. The Hocklyn fighters stopped their advance once they saw the Human ones turn around. As soon
as the fighters were landed, she would order Second Fleet to move farther away from the gravity well and then they would begin the long trip back to New Providence. Amanda knew the next time she came this deep into Hocklyn space it would be to end the war. She felt a savage satisfaction at that thought, recalling what the Hocklyns had done to Aquaria and how her parents had lived out their lives on that shattered world. Soon it would be her turn to show the Hocklyns what that was like, and she would show them little mercy for they deserved none.
Chapter Eleven
Five months until doomsday.
Fleet Commodore Caltrin stood on the Command Pedestal of the Dreadnought HammersHand looking at the viewscreens on the front wall of the War Room. A blue-white world was displayed, which would be the new home to the Hocklyn race and shortly the new capital system of the Hocklyn Slave Empire. It reminded him of what the home worlds had once looked like before industrialization and pollution wreaked havoc with the biospheres. He hoped the same mistakes were not made with this new world.
“Commodore Zeth is reporting that the civilians have been placed in their accommodations on the planet and will soon be undergoing placement into the planetary workforce,” Second Leader Tarnth informed Caltrin from Communications.
“Good,” Caltrin hissed, pleased that unloading the civilians from the transports had gone so smoothly. Unlike the home worlds, upon this new planet all civilians would be expected to serve in some capacity. Honor could be earned, but only if you were willing to work for it.
“I’m nervous about being so near the Borzon Empire,” spoke War Leader Brest, expressing his deep concern about the location of their new world. “It’s possible they may feel a fleet as large as ours may pose a threat to their borders and security.”
“An emissary has already been sent to the Borzon informing them of the establishment of this colony and assuring them we have no interests in any of their territory,” Caltrin responded in his cold, rasping voice. High Leader Nartel had assured him that this had been taken care of. “What are our current fleet assets?”
“Including Commodore Zeth’s fleet, our own force, and other ships that have been sent to this system we have a considerable offensive capability,” War Leader Brest answered as he checked a data screen. “We currently have forty-two dreadnoughts, sixty-eight warcruisers, and two hundred and twelve escort cruisers in our combined fleet.”
Caltrin nodded, feeling satisfied with the size of the force. Reaching forward, he pressed several controls on the small console in front of him. Instantly, an image of this section of the galaxy appeared on one of the tactical screens. An area thirty light years across was being displayed with twenty blinking blue icons.
“There are twenty slave worlds nearby,” he stated, gesturing toward the screen. “Find out what fleet assets are in those systems. We’re far enough away from the Humans that it should be quite some time before they find us. We must ensure those twenty worlds stay under our control and are adequately defended. This will be the beginning of our new Empire. Someday we will spread out from this region of space and reconquer what the Humans and the Altons have taken away from us.”
“As you command,” Brest replied his large eyes focused on the Fleet Commodore. “It might be necessary to send an escort cruiser or warcruiser to inspect those systems. There is not a lot of information in the database about those worlds. The fleet responsible for monitoring them was called back to the core worlds nearly a year ago.”
“A show of force might be better since those worlds are so far away from the core of our Empire and probably haven’t seen a Hocklyn ship for a while,” hissed Caltrin. His right hand strayed down to the hilt of the long knife at his waist. “Send two fleets to investigate those systems. I want two dreadnoughts, four warcruisers, and ten escorts in each one. Each fleet can inspect ten worlds. The appearance of a powerful fleet will help to remind those slave planets who their masters are. Shortly, when High Leader Nartel arrives, more will be expected from those worlds. They'll make an excellent source for future slaves as well as materials we'll need to establish our civilization on the world below us. The appearance of our fleets will help to prepare them for their new future in our Empire.”
“I will send the orders,” responded Brest, moving off toward Communications.
Caltrin switched his gaze to another viewscreen showing the new shipyard taking shape. Numerous small work shuttles were moving about its skeletal structure, and hundreds of slaves were visible in spacesuits welding metal joints into place. The new shipyard would be capable of building any ship up to the size of a dreadnought, and with the weapons research facility here, new and deadlier weapons would become a part of the new Hocklyn warfleet.
“How many antimatter missiles does the weapons research center have on hand?” demanded Caltrin, looking over at First Leader Nathn. He planned to arm a number of his dreadnoughts with the fearsome weapon in case the Humans found them.
“They have two hundred and forty completed warheads,” answered Nathn. Turning his reptilian head toward Fleet Commodore Caltrin, he continued. “The sublight missiles are still months away from being perfected, however.”
“I’m aware of that,” hissed Caltrin his dark eyes narrowing. “Inform the base commander that I want one hundred and twenty of those warheads attached to our fleets’ standard heavy missiles. I will choose twelve dreadnoughts to receive ten missiles each. If the Humans dare to attack us here, we'll have a surprise for them.”
“As you command,” First Leader Nathn replied.
-
On board the Dreadnought IronGlory, First Leader Danth turned away from the viewscreens in disgust. “You should have been given overall command of the fleet, not Caltrin! What has he seen of battle? He's earned no honor in combat.”
“I agree with your assessment,” Zeth answered his eyes glittering a slight red with irritation “The command should have been mine, but Fleet Commodore Caltrin is a cousin to the High Leader. It will do me no good to protest, and I may lose my honor by doing so. The High Leader will not look kindly upon anyone criticizing the appointment of his cousin as Fleet Commodore and placing him in charge of this fleet.”
“The High Leader will be arriving soon, I presume,” Danth continued his large, dark eyes showing anger. “His arrival will mean the core worlds have fallen to the Humans and the Altons. It will be the end of honor in our Empire.”
“I fear you’re correct,” Zeth hissed in a cold and resolute voice, his eyes moving to focus on Danth. “Sometimes I wish we could have died in honor defending the shipyards rather than coming here. But it’s against our laws to disobey the High Leader or the council.”
Danth nodded his head in agreement. He had little knowledge on how the High Council functioned, but this war with the Humans had gone terribly wrong. The Hocklyn honor system had been shattered, and Danth questioned whether subterfuge was being used to establish this system. The fact that the High Leader’s cousin had been placed in charge was highly suspicious. However, Danth was honor bound to obey and he would carry out his obligations to the Empire.
-
Admiral Streth was looking at the main viewscreens on the StarStrike, which showed the two new shipyards recently completed above New Providence. Each had six bays that could be used for construction or repairs. They were also very heavily armed with power beam installations as well as particle beam cannons. Numerous dual defensive laser beam turrets covered the hulls, and a powerful energy screen could be brought online if needed. There were also two flight bays on each shipyard, which contained one hundred and twenty Talon fighters each.
“Impressive sight,” commented Colonel Trist, seeing what Hedon was staring at. “It’s been a long time coming. The old Federation is coming alive again.”
“I received a message from Fleet Admiral Johnson earlier, and Admiral Nagumo is on his way with a large fleet to participate in our attack upon the Hocklyn home worlds. He’s also bringing ten fleet repair ships as well as several Al
ton vessels full of technicians and equipment. Fleet Admiral Johnson didn’t say what the equipment was, but knowing the Altons it'll be something totally off the wall and unexpected.”
“I overheard a message between Admiral Cleeteus and the Alton home world several days ago,” Clarissa said not sure if she should reveal that she had been eavesdropping on the other ships in the joint fleets that were now in orbit around New Providence.
Admiral Streth looked at Clarissa and shook his head. He hadn’t specifically told her that she couldn’t listen in on ship communications. “What was in the message?”
“The Alton ships are bringing technicians and parts to upgrade all of our warships’ hyperdrives and inertial dampening systems,” Clarissa replied in a calm and clear voice. “I think we’re going to be given the technology to jump inside a planet’s gravity well.”
“It’s for the attack on the galactic center,’ Hedon surmised his eyes widening. “The gravity close to the black hole could cause problems with our current jump systems, possibly causing damage to the drive cores. I pointed this out to Ambassador Tureen during our recent trip back to Earth.”
“We don’t have a lot of time left,” added Colonel Grissim, looking over at the other three. “Once we hit the Hocklyns, we’ll need to return here and then almost immediately set out for the galactic center.”
“We’ll have some time,” Hedon replied as he thought over his battle plan. “Time enough to repair our ships and make our final preparations, but the Hocklyns have to come first. If they think they can attack us while we’re engaged against the AIs, there’s a good chance they’ll do so in order to eliminate our fleet and save their Empire. We have to make sure they don’t have the forces remaining to be a serious threat.”
-
Kelsey and Katie were over on the Avenger, eating with Jeremy, Kevin, and Angela with Ariel looking on.
“It’s a shame your marine captain couldn’t make it,” Katie said as she watched Kevin put away his second hamburger.
The Slaver Wars: Endgame Page 15
