Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3)

by Raymond L. Weil

  “They have very powerful warships and defenses,” agreed Hyram, recalling some of the talks with representatives of those worlds. “I think they’re still unsure we can actually protect them. Once we prove that, then I think the majority of them will join.”

  “So we wait on the Kleese to attack,” commented Wade with a frown.

  “It’s the only way,” Marken said with a sigh. “I just hope our fleet is powerful enough to stop whatever the Kleese send our way.”

  There was a knock on the door and an ensign opened it and stepped inside, looking at Admiral Adamson. “We’ve just had a report from the Lanolthians that a nonaligned world’s refugee fleet has dropped out of Fold Space in the Kales System. They’re requesting we send some ships to meet with the refugee fleet.”

  “How large a refugee fleet?” asked Hyram, standing up.

  “It’s one hundred and thirty-one vessels,” the ensign replied. Then, in an excited voice, he continued. “But it has eighty-seven large battlecruisers with it as an escort.”

  “Eighty-seven battlecruisers,” echoed Admiral Adamson his eyes widening. He looked over at Hyram. “I think we need to talk to these people.”

  “I agree,” Hyram responded. “How far is the Kales system from here?”

  “Sixty-two light years,” answered Marken, promptly. “We can be there in less than a day.”

  “Send a message to the Lanolthians that we’re sending some ships to the Kales System to meet with the refugee fleet,” ordered Admiral Adamson. “Anyone that has eighty-seven battlecruisers we need to talk to.”

  “If we can get these refugees to tell the nonaligned worlds what the Kleese did to their world, it might just be the kick start we need to get more of them to join,” stated Hyram as he weighed the possibilities.

  “Did the Lanolthians say what nonaligned world this refugee fleet came from?” asked Harnett, feeling curious and gazing at the ensign for an answer.

  “Deltons,” the ensign replied. “They said the fleet was Deltons.”

  “Have you ever heard of them?” asked Wade, looking questioningly at Marken and Harnett.

  “No,” answered Marken, shaking his head. “But the other Kiveans we brought with us might have. “We’ll have to check.”

  “Let us know what you find out,” directed Adamson. “Now let’s decide what ships need to go to this meeting.”

  -

  Supreme War Overlord Harmock gazed with satisfaction at the numerous green icons on the Warrior’s Fire’s tactical screen. The fleet had dropped out of Fold Space for routine systems’ checks and would soon be continuing on their way toward sector eleven. Seven hundred large green icons were spread out over the screen designating the Zaltule warships.

  “We’ll stop at sector eleven’s trading station before we engage any of the nonaligned worlds in that area,” Harmock announced. By stopping there, he might be able to glean valuable tactical information about the possible Alliance being formed in the sector.

  “I’ve heard that the trading stations on the periphery of the Empire are rather loosely run,” commented Gareth. He shifted his six legs upon the Command Pedestal and looked down at one of the control consoles. “The Kleese who operate these outer stations are far enough away from the Council of Overlords that consequences for their actions or failure to act is of little concern to them.”

  “That will change now that the Zaltule have taken an active role in expanding our Empire,” spoke Harmock, decisively. “Many Kleese have forgotten the way of our warriors and grown soft in this new Empire the council has created. All that is about to change; it is one of the reasons I want Zaltule security detachments assigned to all of the trading stations. We’ll implement the old ways and assert more control over the races that use our stations for trade.”

  “What about the conscripts the stations use in their conquests of other worlds in their sectors?” asked Gareth as he turned back away from the console. “We’re talking about thousands of worlds these stations help to control and though the conscripts come from inferior species, they free up innumerable Kleese from having to serve as occupation forces on many of those worlds.”

  “They have their use,” admitted Harmock with distaste. “Someday, when the numbers of the Zaltule have increased sufficiently, there will be no need for these conscripts. I loathe the fact that inferior species walk the corridors of our assault ships and exploration ships.”

  “It’s another three days' travel in Fold Space to reach the trading station,” Gareth reported.

  “We’ll perform an inspection while we’re there,” Harmock announced, sharply. “We’ll remind the Kleese upon the station the importance of staying true to the ways of the Kleese. If they have grown too soft, they’ll be eliminated. There is no room in the Empire for the weak or those who refuse to aid in the expansion of the Empire.”

  “It is necessary,” agreed Gareth. “The weak must be removed.”

  “Set course for the trading station,” ordered Harmock. “We leave as soon as all ships are finished with their systems' checks.”

  -

  Three days later, Harmock gazed in confusion at the tactical screen before him. They had dropped out of Fold Space where the trading station was supposed to be, but all that surrounded them was empty space. There was no sign of the station or any Kleese ships.

  “Where is the station?” demanded Harmock in a cold voice as he stared at the Zaltule in front of the battlecruiser’s sensors.

  “This is the location listed in the database for our trade station,” Jalridd responded. “I have run long-range sensor sweeps, and there is no sign of the station. I am picking up what appears to be ship debris but not near enough to account for the station.”

  “Something’s not right,” Gareth spoke. “Trading stations are not moved once they've been set in place.”

  “Send out some of our ships to the nearer worlds under Kleese control,” ordered Harmock as he gazed at the tactical screen. All that was showing were Zaltule battlecruisers. “Find and bring back an exploration ship; I want to know what happened to the station.”

  Harmock watched as his orders were swiftly carried out. He had a feeling he was shortly going to learn what the council had been hiding from him and a suspicion he would not be pleased.

  -

  Two days later, a Kleese exploration ship dropped out of Fold Space along with two Zaltule battlecruisers serving as escorts. The twelve thousand meter disk ship came to a stop just on the outskirts of the Zaltule warfleet.

  “We’re receiving a message from the Minor Overlord in charge of one of the two escorting battlecruisers,” Dalock reported from Communications. “It seems as if the commander of the exploration ship refused to come to meet us at first. Our two battlecruisers had to threaten to destroy the ship before the Kleese in command agreed to our requests for a meeting.”

  “They know something,” Gareth commented his multifaceted eyes focusing on the War Overlord. “Something bad has happened here and they’re fearful of us learning what it was.”

  “Order the Kleese command crew of the exploration ship to report to the Warrior’s Fire immediately,” commanded Harmock. “I want to know what they’re hiding!”

  Two hours later, Harmock gazed impassively at the disemboweled body of the Kleese commander of the exploration ship. It had been necessary to employ methods, which were distasteful even to the Zaltule to get the Kleese commander to talk.

  “It’s incomprehensible that an inferior race could capture and take a Kleese trading station,” spoke Gareth still finding it hard to believe what the Kleese commander had told them.

  “It’s much worse than that,” Harmock spoke in a hard voice. “These same Humans removed many of the Kivean scientists and their families from Kivea. The Kiveans are one of the most advanced worlds in the Empire; so advanced they were allowed a semblance of autonomy.”

  “Not anymore,” spoke Gareth. “The Council of Overlords ordered the surface of Kivea to be carpet bom
bed with antimatter missiles. Nothing lives upon the planet now.”

  “The Humans have fought several battles against Kleese ships and have been victorious in every case,” added Harmock.

  “It may just be a coincidence, but the advent of the Humans is close to the same time the Strell started attacking our worlds in the neutral zone.”

  “Too much of a coincidence,” stated Harmock as he thought about the recent war with the Strell. “The Strell claimed from the very beginning that we attacked them first with our assault ships.”

  “The Humans would have had assault ships from the trading station,” pointed out Gareth. “They could have masqueraded as us and instigated the Strell into attacking our worlds.”

  “Then when the Strell attacked the planets in the neutral zone which were under our control, we of course retaliated and the war began,” added Harmock in realization at how masterful the Humans had played the two Empires against one another. “It all makes sense from a tactical viewpoint.”

  “Can the Humans be that intelligent?” asked Gareth, doubtfully.

  “Intelligence might not be the right question,” Harmock said as he weighed over in his mind what he'd learned in the last several hours. “The Humans were taken to serve as conscripts at first because of their aggressiveness. Their world was annihilated to ensure that they would never become a threat.”

  “This Alliance being formed against us,” Gareth said as he shifted about upon his six legs. “Could the Humans be behind it?”

  “Very likely,” Harmock responded. “They’re preparing to fight a war against us and are attempting to rally the nonaligned worlds into an Alliance. After the planet buster launched at their world, their surviving population has to be minuscule compared to what it once was. They just don’t have the numbers to fight us alone.”

  “If we stop this Alliance then the Humans would be powerless to prevent us from conquering their system,” added Gareth.

  “We won’t conquer it, we’ll destroy it,” spoke Harmock, sharply. “Prepare the fleet; we leave for the first nonaligned world immediately. We’ll crush this budding Alliance and then move on to destroy the Humans. Once that’s been done, we’ll return to the home worlds. The Kleese Council of Overlords has some explaining to do.”

  “Perhaps it’s time that the Zaltule take over the council,” suggested Gareth.

  “You may be right,” conceded Harmock in a cold and hard voice. “At the very least, more Zaltule will be included on the council.”

  “The time of the Zaltule has arrived,” proclaimed Gareth with satisfaction in his voice.

  “But first we must deal with these upstart Humans and this Alliance,” spoke Harmock, turning his eyes toward the tactical screen. “Prepare the fleet for battle and stand by to jump into Fold Space. It’s time we showed the nonaligned worlds and the Humans the full might of the Zaltule!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The negotiations with the Deltons had gone surprisingly well, with both sides feeling mutually satisfied at what had been accomplished. The Deltons seemed relieved to find a force willing to fight the Kleese, and the Humans were pleased to receive the promised assistance of so many Delton battlecruisers.

  Wade leaned back in his chair and gazed at Hyram, Admiral Adamson, and Marken. The negotiations had been intense, with both sides asking a lot of questions and for detailed explanations. “So we have a tentative agreement?”

  “Yes,” answered Hyram, nodding his head enthusiastically. “Fleet Commander Achlyn has requested asylum in the solar system for his people. In return, he will remain with forty of his battlecruisers to reinforce Seventh Fleet and will send the rest of his ships on to Centerpoint. Once there, they will complete the negotiations with the Federated Council.”

  “I think Fleet Admiral Kelly and General Mitchell will be quite pleased when they realize they'll have another forty-seven battlecruisers that can be used to protect the solar system,” commented Admiral Adamson as his eyes looked across the table at the others. “From what Fleet Commander Achlyn has shown me of his warships' capabilities, the main energy beams the ships are equipped with are quite impressive.”

  “They are forty percent more powerful than those we currently use,” responded Marken, recalling how surprised he and the other Kiveans had been when shown the amount of energy the Delton weapons were capable of projecting. “They have found a method to tighten the focus of the beam, thereby reducing dispersion. Once we have the time to study the technology with some of their engineers, we should have no problem adding the technology to our existing energy beam systems.”

  “The technology some of these nonaligned worlds have is astonishing,” commented Admiral Adamson, shaking his head in wonder.

  “Fleet Commander Achlyn also seems to be quite receptive to the idea of building a habitat inside an asteroid protected by our ion cannons,” added Hyram as he shuffled through a stack of papers in front of him. “There are approximately forty-five thousand civilian survivors chosen for their refugee fleet. The survivors come from nearly every aspect of Deltonian life. I’ve spoken to physicists, medical specialists, and even farmers. They were quite prepared to set up a colony outside of known space.”

  “It should make setting up a new habitat for the Deltons much easier,” Marken added, his narrow eyes looking thoughtful. “Their initial plans were to warn the outer nonaligned worlds about the Kleese and then proceed to the distant regions of the galaxy to create a new world.”

  “They were desperate to escape the grasp of the Kleese,” said Wade, nodding his head in understanding.

  “Why did they decide to side with us?” asked Admiral Adamson, raising his eyebrows.

  “They wish to see their home world freed someday,” answered Hyram, letting out a deep breath. “If the Alliance is successful in stopping the Kleese then there is a possibility that eventually the Delton home world could be freed from the grasp of the Empire. If they proceeded to the galaxy's edge, then any hope of that would have been exceedingly dim.”

  “The Deltons have pledged forty battlecruisers to our cause,” Wade pointed out as he looked intently at the others. “That will greatly increase the firepower of Seventh Fleet. What are the other Alliance worlds willing to commit?”

  “Several more worlds have signed documents,” Hyram spoke with a pleased glint in his eyes. “When the Deltons spoke to a number of potential Alliance delegates we summoned, you could see the shock in their eyes as they realized what the Zaltule were up to. I think many were refusing to believe the Kleese would not honor the neutrality agreements. Now that view has shifted, and we could see even more worlds move our way in the next few weeks.”

  “What worries me is what the Kleese will do next,” spoke Admiral Adamson with a look of grave concern spreading across his face. “We’ve been conducting these negotiations for quite some time, and I worry that word of an Alliance being formed against them might reach the Kleese home world. If that were to happen, they could move against us immediately. It’s what I would do.”

  Wade was silent as he weighed Adamson’s words. He was in full agreement that if the Kleese were to learn of the Alliance they would move to destroy it before it became a dangerous reality. It put even more pressure on Admiral Adamson and Hyram to have a major Alliance fleet ready when that time finally did arrive.

  “Hyram, we need ship commitments from the other races and we need them now,” Wade spoke in a grim voice as he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Make them understand the future of their worlds is at stake. When the Kleese finally attack, we must be able to drive them off and inflict paralyzing casualties to their attacking fleet. If we can to that, it should buy us the time we need to finish organizing the Alliance and setting up more powerful defenses to protect Alliance worlds. Just one squadron from each prospective Alliance world would help.”

  Hyram nodded, knowing what Wade was suggesting would require some long hours of negotiating. “I think they’ll agree,” he said, l
eaning forward and staring at the colonel. “I think if we ask for an initial commitment of at least one full battlecruiser squadron from each world which has signed an Alliance agreement, we could come up with a sizable number of ships to reinforce Seventh Fleet and still leave them enough to defend their worlds.”

  “Do it quickly,” suggested Adamson, sharply. “I fear we’re rapidly running out of time.”

  “I know the Kleese,” Marken said in a low voice as he recalled all the years his people had been subservient to the cruel and heartless alien species. “If they believe the nonaligned worlds are mounting a rebellion to resist being forced into the Empire, they will attack immediately and hard. They'll wish to make an example out of a potential Alliance world in order to frighten others away from joining. They may use antimatter missiles on its cities to put fear into the others.” Marken felt deeply concerned, recalling how the Kleese had used antimatter missiles to destroy his home world.

  Wade nodded. He could well remember how his own encounters with the arachnid species had been. The Kleese cared for no one except other Kleese; all other races were inferior and they had no remorse removing individuals or entire species, which might oppose them. Too many times, he had witnessed Kleese using their black box control devices to detonate explosive collars on conscripts with which they were displeased.

  “Inform all the current Alliance worlds as well as those that are still indecisive that we’re expecting a Kleese attack shortly,” Wade said after a few moments of thought. “If they want to retain their freedom, we need their ships.”

  “I will do as you ask,” Hyram stated as he stood up and gathered the scattered folders lying on the conference table.

  After Hyram left, Admiral Adamson looked over at Wade and Marken. “How much time do we have?”

  Wade let out a heavy sigh and only shook his head, shifting his glance questioningly over to Marken.

  “There’s a good chance the Kleese are searching for the Deltons,” he spoke in a concerned voice. “They will be highly upset some warships and civilian ships escaped their original attack. We also haven’t exactly been secretive about forming our Alliance. Several worlds we approached were very abrupt in demanding we leave their system and not return. It’s possible one or more of these worlds could have sent a message to the nearest Kleese ship in the hope they could trade the information for a continuation of their neutrality agreement.”