by D. J. Holmes
Empire’s Birth
Empire Rising Book 9
D. J. Holmes
https://www.facebook.com/Author.D.J.Holmes
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Comments welcome!
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales are entirely coincidental.
Copyright © D. J. Holmes 2020
Prologue
Varanni warship Autonomy, Dalan system, four hundred light years from Varanni Prime.
Commodore Mician Flew stepped onto the bridge of her heavy cruiser. Her eyes went straight to the holo-projection of the Dalan system. A squadron of unknown ships was slowly traversing the system. “What info do we have on them so far?” she asked the sensor officer who had woken her up.
“It is a transport convoy. It has to be. There are several contacts that seem to be warships, but overall, they are moving far too slowly to be a squadron of warships,” the officer replied.
“So, we finally have our target,” Flew said as she came to a decision. “Pass the word to our ships. Send everyone to battle stations. It is time we did what we came here to do.”
The response to her words was immediate. All around her the officers on watch sat up a little straighter. Eyes brightened and movements became more intentional. Flew wasn’t surprised. Her squadron had been hiding in the Dalan system for nearly a month. In that time, they had watched more than a thousand Karacknid warships pass them by. They were making their way to one of the staging worlds the Karacknids were setting up as they prepared to launch their invasion of Varanni space. Of course, Flew’s people knew the space around their territory far better than the Karacknids. The Karacknids’ staging systems had been identified as potential enemy bases months before any Karacknid ships entered them. In response, Flew’s squadron had been put together and sent to the Dalan system. Dalan’s single gas giant had the densest planetary ring structure yet discovered by Varanni explorers. It was the perfect place to hide. And now that the Karacknids have started sending lightly protected supply convoys to their staging bases, the perfect place to launch an attack from, Flew thought as she watched her prey. There had been no formal declaration of war. Nor any other form of communication from the Karacknids. Their actions said all that needed to be said. Massive fleets were amassing all along the borders of her people’s territory. That was not something the Varanni or their allies were going to just let happen.
“All ships have reported ready to proceed,” a COM officer reported.
“Set an intercept course and take us out of the ring,” Flew ordered as she looked to her navigation officer. She then settled in to watch her enemy. They would know they were in trouble soon enough. The gravimetric waves given off by her ships’ rapid acceleration gave away their position. The Karacknids reacted almost instantaneously. Their formation split in two. Four fifths of the contacts increased their acceleration slightly and continued on the same heading towards the shift passage that led to one of their staging systems. The rest turned towards Flew’s squadron.
They are brave, Flew conceded. The enemy commander had to know the odds. He was outnumbered three to one. Yet there hadn’t been a moment’s hesitation. He was coming to give her battle in the hope that his freighters would escape. “They want a fight,” she said to her bridge crew. “Let’s oblige them. Our first salvo will target their screening ships, the second their capital ships.”
“Yes Commodore,” her tactical officer acknowledged.
Let’s hope we can fend off that dreadnought’s missiles until then, Flew thought. She had twelve heavy cruisers and twenty smaller ships in her squadron. The Karacknids had fourteen screening ships, two heavy cruisers and a dreadnought. Without the dreadnought, she would have been supremely confident of victory. With it, her ships were not going to survive the coming engagement unscathed.
“They’re firing,” an officer announced forty minutes later.
Flew nodded and she kept her face impassive. The enemy dreadnought had released one hundred and ten missiles. I wouldn’t want to face a fleet of them, she decided. Not that we’re going to have any choice.
“Firing,” her tactical officer announced just thirty seconds later. From the battle of Jaranna, Varanni tacticians knew the Karacknids had a small range advantage. Scientists and technicians were working to reverse that, but for now there was nothing that could be done. For a few moments Flew allowed herself to contemplate the significance of the occasion. The first shots in what was going to become the largest war in her species’ history had just been fired. It would be a war that would determine the future of tens of species and hundreds of star systems. If they lost, it would mean slavery for her people. It is a war we do not want to start. But one that we cannot lose, she thought as she stared at the massive enemy dreadnought. That was why she was out here in the middle of nowhere.
Patiently, she watched the two salvos of missiles pass one another and close with their targets. Before any point defenses opened up, both fleets fired a second time. Then they switched their focus to defending themselves. From Flew’s ships, waves of electricity were shot out by the arc emitters. Where the waves touched the Karacknid missiles they fried their seeker heads. Then point defense laser cannons began to throw thousands of laser beams at the missiles. The beams were quickly joined by small anti-missile missiles that sought to intercept their erratically maneuvering targets.
From the Karacknid ships, many similar weapons opened up on the Varanni missiles. Neither fleet was totally successful. Fourteen Varanni missiles got close enough to attack their targets. Though the missiles didn’t have anti-matter warheads like the Karacknids, nor stand-off bomb pumped grazer warheads like the Humans, they had something else; the most advanced miniaturized thermonuclear warheads known to exist. Eight missiles scored direct hits on six Karacknid screening ships. All six were destroyed outright. Another five scored proximity hits. When two bathed a Karacknid ship in nuclear energy at the same time, it detonated. The remaining three proximity hits caused less significant damage to their targets.
In return, just three Karacknid missiles made it through the barrage of Varanni defensive weapons fire. Two targeted destroyers. One managed to avoid the missile aimed at it. The other took a direct hit amidships. The expanding ball of anti-matter released by the missile engulfed the warship completely, wiping it out of existence. The third missile hit a heavy cruiser. The detonation wasn’t enough to completely destroy the cruiser, yet the anti-matter erased the rear half of the ship. Its forward half spun away wildly, completely out of control.
“Now the dreadnought,” Flew said through gritted teeth. As much as she hated it, there was nothing she could do for the crew of the wrecked cruiser. If they weren’t dead already, they soon would be. The anti-matter missile had taken out the cruiser’s reactors. Without power, whatever inertial dampeners were still functioning would soon fail. No one would be able to survive such a spin without dampeners.
“Our second wave is about to enter their defensive fire,” Autonomy’s tactical officer called out.
Flew was already watching. The Karacknids had lost half of their screening ships and the outcome was predictable. Despite a vicious amount of fire, six missiles closed with the dreadnought. Four scored direct hits. Flew’s mouth fell open in amazement when the dreadnought didn’t explode. Yes, there were four gaping holes venting atmosphere and debris and both enemy heavy cruisers had been taken out. But the dreadnought was still very much in the fight. Even as she watched, it fired again releasing eighty missiles fro
m its functioning missile ports. “Target everything at that ship!” she demanded.
Though a fresh wave of missiles erupted from her ships in response to her command, Flew had to watch another salvo of Karacknid missiles approach before the dreadnought could be engaged again. This time only one of her screening ships was destroyed, but two more suffered serious damage. After sending instructions for them to fall back to safety, she focused on her next salvo.
Unsurprisingly, all of the remaining Karacknid screening ships had surrounded the dreadnought. They put up a valiant fight, but it was not enough. Three screening ships suffered direct hits as a result of putting themselves right in front of the missiles’ real target. More than twenty other missiles reached the dreadnought. So many nuclear detonations erupted that Autonomy’s sensors couldn’t track them all. When her flagship was finally able to make sense of the enemy formation, the dreadnought was nowhere to be seen.
“Good shooting,” Flew said to her officers. “Now, let’s mop up the rest of their forces and move onto the freighters.” That was what they had come to hit after all. Killing a handful of enemy warships was not going to stall their planned invasion. Not when they had thousands more. But Varanni High Command hoped that taking out their supplies would buy the time that was desperately needed to design and build new ships and weapons systems.
It took just one additional salvo to finish off the few surviving Karacknid screening ships. Flew’s squadron easily fended off the missiles they fired in return. For an hour her ships chased after the enemy freighters. Though they were fast for freighters, they were not able to outrun her warships. With a coldness that she hadn’t thought she possessed, Flew watched as freighter after freighter was blown to pieces. None of them asked for quarter, neither was any offered. From the scans of the destroyed ships it was clear they were all filled with the munitions, supplies and soldiers the Karacknids would need to conquer her civilization. They will get no mercy from me, Flew thought as the last freighter was taken out by two missiles. The Karacknids had started the war, and, until they pulled their forces back, there would be no peace.
“Turn us onto heading four three seven point two,” she ordered when the slaughter was over. As her squadron reformed and settled onto its new course, Flew pictured the map of local space in her mind. Instead of turning her ships towards home, she was taking them towards the shift passage the Karacknids had used to enter the system. If they would let her, she intended to raid their rear supply lines all the way to Jaranna. Then she had orders to try and slip back to Varanni space via Human territory. Perhaps I’ll get to meet the famed Admiral Somerville, she mused. The Human leader was famous among Varanni naval officers. In part because of his actions at the battle of Jaranna, but also because he had singlehandedly fought in more naval actions than the combined officer core of the Varanni Navy. Though perhaps I can put an end to that, Flew thought as a feral grin spread across her face. She intended to destroy every Karacknid ship, freighter or orbital station she came across. In a few weeks she would likely be the most experienced Varanni naval officer in history.
Chapter 1
To this day, rebuilding the Empire’s homeworld is the greatest endeavor Humanity has ever attempted.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.
Chiltern Hill, England, 3 hours after the 2nd Battle for Earth, 1st September 2481 AD.
As he stepped off the shuttle, all James could do was stare. The scene in front of him was one from a disaster holo-drama, or a nightmare. Wherever it was from, it shouldn’t have been real. And yet it is, James thought as he forced himself to take it all in. The entire horizon was aflame. Despite it being midday, the air was so thick with smoke that no natural light got through. None was needed though, the fires that were burning all across the landscape lit up everything. The reflection of their flames on the thick billowing clouds of smoke gave the impression there were two firestorms raging. One below, and one in the clouds above.
Whilst next to no sunlight broke through the smoke, here and there other streaks of light announced themselves with rumbling booms. Instinctively, James ducked when one roar erupted directly overhead. Glancing up he caught the three second flash of a large chunk of spaceship burning up as it tore through Earth’s atmosphere. Lowering his eyes to the flames again, James tried in vain to identify something he recognized. From his vantage point he should have been able to see the many skyscrapers that dominated the city’s skyline. None were visible. Instead, the skyscrapers had been replaced by hundreds of plumes of smoke that rose up out of the flames. Nearer by, the outskirts of London that approached Chiltern Hill were largely intact. Every building had its windows blown out and some appeared to have collapsed, but the fires from the two nuclear detonations hadn’t reached them. Yet, James feared. He clenched his fists. Millions of his countrymen were dead, hundreds of thousands were suffering before his very eyes.
This will not be the end of us, James promised himself and all who had died in the scene before him. His rage was bubbling over, almost to the point where he knew he was going to lose control. It had only been one hour since his niece had rescued him from the remnants of Golden Hind. One hour since he had learnt how many missiles had got through Earth’s defenses. One hour in which to take in all the names of friends and comrades he had lost in the space battle that had raged overhead. He had thought he was beginning to get a handle on his grief. He had been wrong. Though he didn’t feel it, blood seeped around his fingers where they dug into the palm of his hands. A single tear ran down his cheek. His home city had been devastated. His nation shattered.
A sob from beside him tore James’ eyes away from the inferno that was London. He started when he saw Empress Christine Na standing beside him. Tears were running freely down her cheeks. Before he could say anything, she fell to her knees. He had completely forgotten. She had been on the shuttle with him. The destruction before him had emptied his mind of everything. His heart went out to her. London was as much her city as it was his. Though now Empress of China, she had once been a Princess of the British Star Kingdom. Now so many of those who she had called her people were gone. Including her family, James reminded himself. He had seen the two craters as the shuttle had descended. The Karacknids had targeted their nuclear missiles at Westminster and Buckingham Palace. Or more likely, at the underground bunker below them. Somehow, the Karacknids had found time to scan Earth for protected targets. Her family were likely sheltering there, and now they are all dead.
Reaching down, James softly pulled Christine to her feet. She fell into his embrace without any resistance. Gently, James turned his body so Christine was facing the shuttle. “Don’t look anymore Empress,” he said. “This is not something you need haunting your dreams.”
Christine didn’t reply except to sob even more. At a loss for words, James rubbed her back. Christine’s grip on him tightened in response. The distinctive sound of someone clearing their throat made James glance to his side. Emilie was there, she was watching him. It looked like she had shed a tear or two as well. But there was no sign of grief on her face now, there was only steely determination. Ever so slowly, she nodded in the direction of London. James grit his teeth and returned the nod.
Slowly, but forcefully, he prized Christine away from him. “We do not have the luxury of grief Empress. We have a job to do. You need to leave them in my hands. Your people need you now.” As he spoke he started to move Christine towards the shuttle’s ramp. She wasn’t even supposed to have disembarked. The shuttle was meant to be taking her to China. “When you get there, don’t let the destruction distract you,” he cautioned her. “You can’t let it. People’s lives are depending on you.”
Christine stopped and looked him in the eye, “I know,” she said as she mopped her cheeks. “But…” as she spoke, her eyes had darted over James’ shoulder.
James reached out and grabbed her chin. “I said don’t look,” he said gently as he turned her gaze back to him. He held her in place until she nodd
ed. “Good, now get going. There isn’t a minute to spare. They need you!”
“Right…” Christine began to say.
James didn’t give her a chance to finish her thought, instead he turned her and bundled her up the shuttle’s ramp. When they got to the top he handed her over to a marine. “Get the Empress to China. Now.”
“Yes Admiral,” the marine said as he reached out to help Christine stand upright.
She shook away his hands and turned to James. There was a mixture of emotions written across her face, but James knew there wasn’t time to see what she might want to say. He had already jumped off the ramp and hit the external button to retract it. Pushing Christine out of his mind, he turned back to what was left of London. Not heeding his own advice, he paused to take the scene in once more. Then he looked over to his niece. At any other time he would have expected some smart-ass comment about manhandling an Empress. Today was not a day for such flippancy.
“Where do we begin?” she asked, her voice broke as her determination wavered.
James didn’t blame her, several naval staff had disembarked the shuttle with them, they had all the equipment to put together a portable COM station. Beyond that they were on their own. Everything else that Admiral Koroylov had was in space trying to rescue what they could from the stricken fleet and stop chunks of debris from raining down on Earth and finishing what the Karacknids started. For the next few hours, he and his small team were all the British Star Kingdom had. “Set up the equipment,” James ordered. “Then scan all local frequencies, we need to know who is out there and still operating.” The Karacknids’ strike had likely cut the head off the British government as well as wiped out its capital. He needed to restore order and coordinate the rescue and evacuation efforts immediately. Every second they delayed more people would die who didn’t have to. Pulling open his datapad, James scanned the orbital scans Koroylov was relaying to him. Alongside the two missiles that had hit London, one had hit Manchester and another Edinburgh. He needed to coordinate the evacuation of all three cities, the treatment of those who were injured, and get the fires under control. And that was just to begin with, within hours the survivors would begin to get thirsty and then hungry. They would also need shelter. We need to know how much radiation there is in the city, and how much in the atmosphere. And get the weather forecast. If James knew anything about his home nation’s weather, it was going to rain soon, and that could mean more radiation being released onto the survivors. We need shelters for everyone, he realized. Emilie’s question came back to him. “Where do we begin?”
