Planet Predators

by Saxon Andrew

  Everyone saw Arvolo’s disappointment. “Who’s leading the Fleet?”

  Chris looked at his board and said, “Admiral Anders.”

  “Darn it! He gets to have all the fun.”

  “Go to your chairs; we’re jumping in three minutes.”

  Isadore smiled, “Now you’re sorry we were selected over the other two crews for this mission aren’t you?”

  Arvolo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “I’ve got mixed emotions. It’s like seeing your worst enemy drive your new car over a cliff.”

  Isadore laughed and buckled in for the jump.

  * * *

  The Jukebox broke into normal space and Chris extended the sensors. The alarm sounded immediately and he brought the focus closer to the Alliance Capital. Chris fed the scan to the main display so everyone could see and Arvolo whistled, “This is a major Alliance Fleet Action.”

  Chris looked at Arvolo, “Can you determine anything from what you see?”

  “Yes, they are organizing into three smaller fleets with the same mix of ships in each one. The middle fleet is going to have more ships than the other two.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Admiral Connor, the flagship is only one row in from the outer ships. They will bring additional ships to place it more in the center of that formation. That fleet is going to attack the most dangerous target.”

  “Jillian, are you sending this to fleet?”

  “I am and they agree with Captain Arvolo. They are of the opinion that the center fleet will be attacking the Capital of the Moet Empire.”

  Chris stared at the display and looked at Arvolo, “How long do you think it will be before they attack?”

  Arvolo stared at the display and pointed, “There; the other ships have arrived.” Chris looked up and saw that more than three hundred more ships had joined the center formation. “Admiral, they are forming up quickly so they have already assigned the targets to the three fleets. They will be jumping within the next two hours.”

  Chris said, “Fleet, Captain Arvolo is of the opinion that they will be leaving to attack within the next hour.”

  Arvolo shook his head and held up two fingers. Chris nodded and held up his hand.

  “Roger that Jukebox.”

  “Fleet, we are going to follow the central fleet and assist our ships against it.”

  There was a long pause and then Chris heard, “Fleet says you should start your mission.”

  Jillian looked at Chris and showed her confusion. “Fleet, I am in overall command of our Military Forces. We will not be leaving until this attack is handled. You can tell Dolly to take it up with the President and get back to us after the battle. Is that understood?”

  There was another long pause and the display changed to Jeff and Dolly, “Chris, we are not going to endanger you and Jillian.”

  “Well excuse me. I’m going after a Jenze Battleship and you’re not going to endanger me. Dolly, I’m ashamed of you. You’re brighter than this.”

  Dolly turned up a corner of her mouth and shook her head. Jeff looked at his board and said, “Tell me what you’re thinking?”

  “We’re in one of the new battleships. Divide our fleet up evenly into three squadrons and I’ll go with the group assigned to the largest Alliance Fleet. The Jukebox should be able to make up the difference in numbers.”

  “We will do it as you request, Admiral. Please launch the Ninja for flight coverage. Assign it to the defense of your ship.”

  Chris looked at Arvolo and saw him getting excited. He nodded and pulled Isadore out of her chair and ran off the bridge with her in tow. “We have so instructed Captain Arvolo. Who is commanding the other two fleets?”

  “Admirals Anders and Owens, Sir.”

  Chris started shaking his head, “And who has the third?” Jeff looked at Dolly and Chris laughed, “You knew I wouldn’t leave when you sent me here to scan their ships.”

  Dolly smiled, “Still ashamed of me?”

  Chris cut the com, “Jillian, I’m going into Sierra Space as soon as that central fleet does. We will follow them to their target.”

  “There will be a delay.”

  “I know. That can’t be helped.”

  Chris looked at his board and saw the ship’s frequencies assigned to his squadron, “Attention all ships. We will be forming up in Sierra Space and will follow the Alliance’s largest fleet. Once we emerge, you will attack their ships and the Jukebox will move in next to the planet and prevent any Alliance ship from orbital bombardment. The other two squadrons will follow the other Alliance Fleets to their destinations.”

  Jillian looked at her board, “They all acknowledge receipt and are now forming up in Sierra Space.” Stay sharp, Love.”

  “Oh, I will.”

  Chapter Seven

  Isadore was pulled into the Ninja by Arvolo and she rushed to her command chair as Arvolo powered up the Ninja’s reactors. She watched her weapons panel light up and then looked up and said, “What’s the rush?”

  “That fleet we’ve been watching is an hour ahead of us. We’ve been viewing light that left the planet an hour earlier. They could be moving into Sierra Space right now. As soon as we enter normal space behind that fleet we are going to launch and take on any Alliance ship near the Jukebox. You should do a system diagnostics and make sure everything is operational. I’ve not had the chance to discuss tactics with you but basically I’ll be avoiding the Alliance Fleet and attempt to move close to any ship attempting to attack our ship so you can use your weapons. I would suggest you not use the fusion missiles unless there is absolutely no choice. Unless the Alliance has had a major change in their ships, which I really doubt, your beams should be enough. I’ll do my best to avoid being hit by more than six ships but with the numbers involved that may not happen.”

  “How do you know about their ships?”

  “I’ve gotten access to the file where the original Jukebox killed one of their battleships. Their reactors are located on the ninth level below the bridge on their heavier ships. Their drives are in the rear directly behind the engines.”

  “Can their beams penetrate our force field?”

  “Yes, if ten or more ships are firing full broadsides at us, which will be hard to do given our small size.”

  “Will a fusion missile rupture their force fields?”

  Arvolo looked up from his board and looked at Isadore, “I honestly don’t know. My main concern is that if we set one off close to the Jukebox it would weaken the force field. I want to avoid that if possible.”

  Isadore smiled, “I’ll do what I can.”

  Arvolo stood up and walked over to Isadore’s station, “You need to hear this; you and I are expendable. Admiral Connor and Jillian are not. Our species survival depends on their continued existence. If I have to crash into another ship to save them I will.”

  Isadore saw Arvolo was serious and wanted her to know he meant it. She stared at him and shrugged, “Why are they so important?”

  “They are going to find the power source for our ships and that may mean you and I having to go back in time more than sixty million years. Without them, it won’t happen. We will not leave them to fight any other ship no matter what the circumstances. Do you understand?”

  Izzy saluted and said, “Yes Sir.”

  Arvolo went back to his chair and started checking the bow and tail thrusters. Izzy watched him out of the corner of her eye and smiled, “Sometimes it was good to be considered crazy,” she thought. She put on her helmet and pulled the faceplate down to make sure she could see all the scanner’s returns from the Jukebox as well as the Ninja. “Here we go.” Izzy felt the ship jump into Sierra Space and saw the two hundred ships following them in her faceplate as they accelerated on the trails left by the Alliance Fleet.

  * * *

  The Watcher saw the Alliance Fleet appear in its display and sounded the alarm for the ships in orbit. The High Master appeared on the display and the Watcher said, “There
are three thousand plus Alliance Warships moving in on the Planet.” The Watcher saw the Master turn dark grey.

  “Will our three hundred warships be able to stop them?”

  The Watcher looked at the display and moved its eyestalks to the left, “No, the ships appear to be the ones with the new Alliance beams. They will overwhelm our ships and then our satellites.”

  “What do you think they will do to the planet?”

  “They will burn everything on it. That fleet is here to destroy us.”

  The Master stared at the display, “Order our ships to gather around our satellites and try to hold out. I’ve received word that two other planets in the Empire are being attacked as well. They must have seen our evacuations and are exploiting the situation.”

  The Watcher turned back to the display, “The Alliance or the Blue Ships, we know we’re here to die. This way it will just happen quicker.”

  “I know, but none of us want to die.”

  The Watcher pointed at the display, “Those ships don’t care about our desires. We can at least go out fighting.”

  * * *

  Admiral Jdah watched the Moet Cruisers align with the defense satellites and leaned back in his command chair. He looked at his communications controller, “Order the fleet to come around for a full broadside on the Moet defenses. We will pass their location with six rows of five hundred ships. Once past we will come about and fire another. If the ships come out we will attack the first one with two hundred ships each.”

  “Your orders are being sent, Sire.”

  * * *

  The Moet Fleet Master saw the Alliance Fleet forming to cross the defense satellites and ships with a massive broadside. “Have the ships duck behind the two forts when they open fire. The satellites have a much stronger force field than our ships.”

  His Sensor Master raised an eye stalk, “They might survive one broadside but I doubt they can stand up to two.”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  “No, Master, I do not.”

  “Issue the commands.”

  * * *

  The huge Alliance Fleet came in sixty miles from the orbiting satellites and started firing the massive beams at the structures. The Moet ships moved behind the satellites and watched the huge flash of the force fields being hit. As the last ship passed the first satellite was hit and the surface erupted into fire. The force field came back on but was flickering and barely able to maintain itself. Jdah smiled and watched as his Fleet came back around for another attack. “Sire, we have someone sending us a communication.”

  “What are they saying?”

  The Communication Controller pushed a button, “…will turn away from the planet and make no further move to attack. If you refuse to follow these instructions, we will be forced to destroy your fleet.”

  Jdah turned to his Sensor Controller and he said, “We have two hundred small ships jumping in fifty miles from our location.”

  “Only two hundred?”

  “Yes Sire, two hundred and one to be exact.”

  “Continue with our present course and if those ships come any closer, open fire with the ships on that side of our formation.”

  * * *

  “Master, we have some strange ships jumping into our system and have warned the Alliance to break off their attack.”

  “Who are they?”

  The Watcher put a picture of one of the ships in his board and did an inquiry, ‘It appears they are from the planet that the High Prince recently attacked.”

  “Why are they here? Perhaps they can’t allow the Alliance to kill us before they have the pleasure of doing it.”

  “According to my records, one of their ships killed eight Dreadnaughts. They also told the Prince that they are not our enemy and warned the Prince of the Blue Ships invasion.”

  “Eight Dreadnaughts?”

  “Yes, High Master.”

  “How many are here?”

  “Two hundred; I have a message coming in. Do you wish to communicate with them?”

  “Put it to my board and listen in.”

  “…trying to communicate with whoever is commanding the defense of the planet. Please respond.”

  “I am in Command. Why are you here?”

  “We are going to stop the Alliance attack but we need you to allow my ships to come in close to the planet in order for that to happen.”

  “What would prevent you from them destroying us?”

  “Nothing.”

  The High Master waited and after a long moment said, “At least you’re brutally honest about that.”

  “Quite frankly, you can refuse and we’ll just leave you to the tender care of the Alliance Fleet.”

  “Why are you helping us?”

  “Some of us don’t think we should; however, our belief that the killing of the innocent is a wrong thing to do ethically has led us to try and save you. I know you have been left behind for the Blue Giants to destroy but we can’t just sit by and see you burned. You probably know the power of my ships so I won’t bore you with threats about destroying all your ships if you don’t keep your word about not firing on us. I will do exactly that if you do but if you want our help you need to tell me now.”

  The Master saw the Alliance Fleet coming around for another broadside and said, “I would appreciate any help you can offer and I will notify our ships to work with you.”

  “Just tell them to attack at the appropriate moment.”

  “How will they know when that moment is?”

  “Oh, I don’t think there will be a problem.”

  Chris punched his com, “Spread out with a quarter mile spacing. We will go over the top of their formation and then come about and go under it. You will have free weapons after the second pass to choose targets of opportunity; try to stay between the Alliance Fleet and the planet. We’ll be attacking in one minute.”

  * * *

  Arvolo held the Ninja directly above the Jukebox and saw two attack craft come roaring up, “What’s up?”

  “I’m Captain Aman Forester and the other ship is commanded by Lt. Gretchen Logan. We have been ordered to insure the safety of Admiral Connor’s ship.”

  “Who gave the order?”

  “President Suh.”

  Arvolo tilted his head and said, “Here’s how we’ll do it. I’ve got the top covered. The two of you move to the port and starboard and take a position just under the ship. We’ll divide the zones into three parts. We need to stay behind the Jukebox as we pass their formation and move six miles away afterwards so as not to prevent the Jukebox from firing her beams. We will go in if any ships come close to getting through the Jukebox’s defenses. We will also have a clear field of fire on any ships in our zone. Do you have any questions?”

  “Do we add our fire as we pass the fleet?”

  “No, we will only fire on ships that endanger the Jukebox. Forget the Alliance Ships and concentrate on anything moving towards the Admiral.”

  “Yes Sir, you have command of the operation.”

  Arvolo looked at his chronometer, “Ok, here we go.”

  Izzy looked at her scanners. He’s not an egotist; he’s putting the mission ahead of any personal glory he could get. This is a good Commander. She set her face plate to watch the area below the Jukebox for any ships that moved out of the Alliance Fleet below them. She put her hands on the beam and reactor controls and stared at her faceplate’s display.

  * * *

  Admiral Jdah watched his panel and saw the two hundred small ships form a line. “Ready the beams on the left side of the fleet.” He stood up when the line of ships moved on top of his fleet in an instant. They were going over the top of his formations faster than he thought possible. He looked at the main display on the wall and saw indescribable destruction.

  * * *

  The Earth Ships went weightless and accelerated towards the huge fleet and slowed as they passed over the top. The Alliance Fleet was unable to fire a single beam at the approac
hing ships before they were moving over their close ranks. The Humans didn’t have that problem.

  The two hundred Earth ships were equipped with eight beams. They fired the six located on the sides and bottom as they passed over the massed ranks below them. The beams were on continuous fire and a beam would cut off a tail section of an Alliance ship, sweep into the one next to it and cut it through the middle, and then cut off the bow of a third. The beams would then sweep back and kill more ships. The entire center of the fleet was exploding or burning.

  * * *

  Arvolo turned and moved on forty ships that were coming out of the Alliance ranks attempting to attack the Jukebox from behind. “Put the beams on auto!” Izzy hit the button and Arvolo went through the middle of the attackers spinning the Ninja like a top. The four beams looked like a giant propeller spinning through the Alliance Battleships like a threshing machine. Aman and Gretchen saw his tactic and copied it on the two survivors on either side of Arvolo’s attack. Arvolo flipped the Ninja around and moved back toward the Jukebox killing more ships rising to attack. He was joined by the other two attack craft as the Jukebox cleared the Alliance Fleet and moved toward the Moet satellites as the other ships reversed course and came back at the fleet from below. Izzy went to full power to the force field as the front of the Alliance fleet fired all their beams at the Jukebox as it moved away.

  “Jillian!”

  “I’m already on it. All power is going to the force field. It’s holding at eighty percent.”

  “I expect a rush towards the planet like a sale of tennis shoes at Wal-Mart; prepare the missiles.”

  * * *

  Jdah saw more than nine hundred ships burning or exploding and knew that his fleet would not survive more passes. “Order the ships to dive towards the planet and launch their nuclear missiles.”

  The Jukebox arrived and turned to face the thousands of ships still in ranks. Suddenly the ranks broke apart as the survivors turned and moved at high speed toward the planet. “Missile alert! All ships, Missile Alert.” The Earth ships passing under the Alliance Fleet turned, dove, and accelerated away at high speed. Jillian hit her board and eight fusion missiles left the Jukebox and spread out across the front of the advancing Fleet. They arrived at the fleet and detonated. The blasts were gigantic and covered the entire front of the Alliance Fleet. When the blast cleared only twelve hundred Alliance Ships remained operational. Jdah saw the Moet Ships moving out towards his formation and the small ships roaring back in to attack. He punched his fleet communication pad and yelled, “Escape, escape! Get out of here!”