Exodus: Empires at War: Book 9: Second Front

by Doug Dandridge

  The General was sitting in front of the tactical holo of the system, his two clone subordinates and a duty squad monitoring the battle. The puppets were the first to burst through the doors, catching the attention of everyone in the room. The men and women working the panels in the command center turned in shock to see their worst nightmare among them. A couple reached for weapons. Three laser shots and the brains that housed the consciousnesses that had known Old Earth and inhabited multiple bodies were no more. They might be resurrected from memories that were stored elsewhere, and placed in new cloned bodies. But this time that would not be allowed to happen.

  The two crew that had pulled weapons fired at the puppets, while the Rangers, still invisible, put high velocity rounds through the faces of the giant aliens, dropping them dead and unmoving to the floor. The evidence was planted, witnesses had seen the invasion, and now the Rangers slipped from the room and ran silently back to the conference room.

  The hit team went back through the wormhole, leaving behind the stunned forms of the guard detail, the shocked crewmembers of the control room, and the three Caca bodies. Alarms were going off all over the base, while the wormhole was again shrunk to microscopic size and maneuvered out of the base, this time more quickly as there was no need to hide from alarms that were already triggered.

  At the same time teams hit the command station in orbit, as well as the other three strongholds, one on another station, two on ships, that held more of the clones, more of the government that had enslaved their modified human servants and committed genocide on numerous now extinct aliens. Again, they didn’t stand a chance against an enemy they hadn’t suspected was already in their midst. Until there was only one nest of clones left in the system, the largest and deadliest of them all.

  * * *

  “Command has a priority tasking for us, Captain,” said the Mzzarat, turning to look at the wing commander. “One squadron, and they want the target hit hard.”

  The Klassekian closed her eyes and went back to projecting the image in her mind, sent from one of her sisters at the com center, back into the holo.

  Chou took a quick look at the holo, noting that one of his wings was about to exit their warp bubbles and strike at the leading element of the Caca fleet. His wing, the one his own ship was assigned to, was about ten minutes away from their attack on one of the flanking elements.

  “Which squadron?”

  “Ours, Captain. We are the closest to the target, and they still want the rest of the wing to continue on to their objective.”

  “Very well. Order the rest of the squadron to change vectors to the coordinates they give us.”

  “Change vector to seventeen point four one degrees rimward. Five point two two three degrees ecliptic.”

  The pilot called back the vector change and set them on it, while the twelve ships in the squadron followed.

  “Target located,” said the Klassekian com tech, closing her eyes, until the icons they were tasked to hit appeared on the holo.

  “Calculating decel and point of entry into normal space,” called out the navigator, running the numbers that included the vector, velocity and acceleration of the enemy ships as well as their own. “Target locked,” said the Navigator, sending the information to the Pilot and the Com Tech so they could adjust acceleration and order the other ships to do the same respectively. The plan was to come out within ten light seconds of the enemy, at point nine-five light, the same velocity they had been at when they raised the warp bubbles. Any faster or slower risked a kinetic feedback that would turn the ship, and the crew, into fast moving particles, pure energy.

  “Seventh wing is about to hit their target,” called out Mzzarat. The holo changed to the view as seen from the rearmost ship of that wing, the one that would have the best view of the attack. “Fifteen seconds.” A counter appeared at the top of the holo, showing when that ship was scheduled to jump back into normal space.

  “First ships jumping,” called out the Com Tech, and the holo split, one side still showing the view from the rearmost ship, the other the tactical holo of the enemy formation as transmitted by a composite of the first couple of squadrons. They were on a perfect approach, coming in from the side at point nine five light, at this point eight light seconds out. In less than nine seconds they would interpenetrate the enemy force, and fly through in less than fifteen seconds from contact. At that same moment the green vector arrows of missiles separated from the fighters, two from each craft, boosting ahead at ten thousand gravities.

  The ship that was their point of view jump out of warp, into a blue shifted universe. The computers of the fighter compensated for most of the shift, but there still wasn’t much to see on visual. On tactical there was a hell of a lot to see, as missiles calved, releasing ten smaller warheads each, twenty weapons heading for each target. There were some bright flashes as weapons hit their targets ahead, the light from those hits reaching the viewing ship several seconds after the strike. The point of view vessel had already released its missiles, boring in on ships that had yet to be targeted.

  The wing flew through the enemy force, launching weapons of opportunity as targets presented themselves. There was a response from the enemy, too little, too late. Two of the fighters were hit, and at their size any hit meant total destruction. One hundred and eight made it all the way through the formation, leaving over one hundred and forty enemy ships dead in their wake, another thirty-two damaged. As soon as all launched their on-board missiles they raised their warp bubbles and disappeared from the Universe, moving away at point nine five light, decelerating at their maximum rate and curving their vector so they could return to the Klavarta homeworld and rearm.

  “Perfect,” said the Pilot with a smile.

  “Yep,” said Chou, wondering how long they would be able to surprise these particular Cacas. Hopefully for the duration of this mission, she thought, turning her attention to the next wing going in, the one they had separated from for this priority attack, her wing.

  * * *

  “What in the hells was that?” shouted the Tactical Officer. The Great Admiral, who had been talking with his Chief of Staff, turned quickly in time to see a hundred small vector arrows that hadn’t been there before, and hundreds of even smaller arrows separating from them and heading into his ships at high velocity. Moments later ships began to disappear from the plot, his ships, while the intruders moved into his formation mostly unmolested.

  What in the hell are those? And where did they come from? They moved into his formation, firing more missiles, and then just, faded away. They were there, the trace started to slowly fade over a couple of seconds, and then they were gone. Without a trace.

  “We’ve never heard of anything like that,” said the shocked Chief of Staff, staring at the holo. “Where the hell did they get them, and why haven’t they used them before?”

  “They would have to be something new,” said the Great Admiral, hoping that he was speaking the truth, and not just engaging in wishful thinking. “Something they have just developed. So they can’t have very many of them, correct?” He looked up at his Chief of Staff, looking for agreement.

  “I would think not, my Lord. But we will not really know until the battle develops further.”

  The Great Admiral glared at the other male, angry that he had not gotten total agreement. But that’s not his job, thought the big Ca’cadasan male. And he is correct. All we can do is hope they are limited in numbers. Because if they have them in the thousands, we might have stuck our snouts into the jaws of a Gracca, he thought, picturing a huge predator from his people’s homeworld.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  In politics, everybody is free to choose his friends and allies.

  Lalu Prasad Yadav.

  “I understand, Director,” said Sean, looking at the tall blond woman who directed the production and research portion of the Donut. “The Donut is, of course, still a priority. But we need weapons platforms in that system, now, and you have the
only ones readily available.”

  “And if the Cacas hit us before we get replacements,” cried Lucille Yu. “I know. We’re at the center of the Empire, in the deepest gravity well known, and we have all of the ships out there to protect us. Except that a lot of them have disappeared through a gate as well.”

  Sean sympathized with the woman. The Donut was the most expensive piece of infrastructure ever built, and it was the technological edge they had over the Cacas. Add to that it had been the target of two separate attacks that had threatened its existence. So Dr. Yu had a right to be nervous. But he needed resources at the moment, and the resources he needed were right there, in orbit around the Donut.

  “I need to sting the Cacas in the battle the Klavarta are fighting,” he told her, using his best authoritarian voice. “They are not currently hitting us, but they are striking at a potential ally. So I need those weapons. But I can promise you that you will have priority on new platforms.” You, right after New Moscow, he thought, watching as scores of tugs moved defensive platforms, laser and particle beam satellites, missile batteries, sensor stations, into the holds of a massive superfreighter.

  “They’re yours to take, your Majesty,” said Yu, looking defeated. “I just wanted to make my point, and to beseech you to repair our defenses when you can.”

  “Just keep churning out those wormholes, Doctor Yu. And the negative matter we need to keep them open.” And to keep cranking out those inertia less fighters. “And it would be nice if we finally figured out how to move a wormhole through another one.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t see that in the near future, your Majesty. We’re lucky if one in five of the test vehicles make it through. And I know that is not acceptable.”

  “No, it isn’t,” said Sean, thinking about what he knew of the experiments. Ships that didn’t make it through intact collapsed both the hole in the transiting vehicle and the portal they were going through. And the vessel was converted to the fast moving particles that was called energy. So a million ton vessel became the equivalent of a half million tons of antimatter combining with the same amount of matter. Most of that explosion came out of the exit point, but about ten percent, more or less, blew back through the entrance to the portal. Some admirals had suggested using this as a weapon, sending wormhole equipped missiles through other wormholes. But with the expense and utility of wormholes, it did not seem like a strategy that would pay off.

  Unless, thought the Emperor, a thought running through his brilliant mind.

  “I need a wormhole from you, Dr. Yu,” he told the woman while she was still on the com. At the same time he was thinking about where he could get a ship of the proper mass to make his idea work.

  * * *

  NEW EARTH: JUNE 3RD, 1002.

  “Chairwoman,” shouted the voice of the Council Security Chief over the com. “We have Monsters in the Council complex.”

  Pallion wasn’t sure if she was hearing right, staring in disbelief at her desk as she ordered the holo to pull up an image of what the Chief was talking about. She let out a hiss of breath as she saw a trio of the Monsters, truly Ca’cadasans, blasting their way through a hasty barricade of her security personnel with heavy weapons, striding forward in the massive combat armor the aliens wore for ground assault.

  “Alert the rest of the Council,” she shouted into the com. “And where the hell are our shuttles?”

  “There seems to be a problem with the shuttles, ma’am,” said the Security Officer.

  “Then send what they can get off the ground. We’ll evacuate the Council on one shuttle if we have to, and the rest of the government can follow when others become available.”

  “None of the shuttles are available, ma’am. And we just got our com net shut down. It looks like the Monsters are jamming us.”

  How the hell did they get into our capital? thought the panicking Chairwoman. They don’t have any ships near enough to land troops. And they would be seen, wouldn’t they? She thought about that for a moment, a mistake when she should have been moving, but her mind was still in shock over the presence of the hated enemy within striking distance of her precious body and mind.

  The Imperials have stealth ships far beyond anything we have ever seen, she thought. Could the Monsters have developed the same? I need to get our ships searching our local space for their assault ships.

  But they were being jammed by the Monsters who had invaded the building. So the only thing she could do was get out of the complex. But how? The roof, she thought. It would mean leaving behind her spare bodies, and even her memory uploads. But if she could get this body out, she could have new bodies quick grown, and her organic memory uploaded. She would lose some of it, the exterior store that her implant gave her access to. But her essential memories and personality would survive.

  “Send an escort up to my office,” she told her Security Chief over the local com. “And send squads to the offices of all the Council members. We’re getting the hell out of here.”

  “Where do you want to egress from, Madam Chairwoman?”

  “The roof. We will get out by the rooftop landing pads. Signal for aircars to meet us there.”

  “We don’t have outside com, ma’am. How do we signal?”

  “Wave at people, fire flares, just do something, you idiot,” she screamed at the man, closing the com as the last word left her mouth.

  The floor vibrated slightly, and she thought she could hear the faint sounds of explosions in the distance. It made her wonder how many of the Monsters were in the complex, since she had well over a thousand security personnel on duty. True, they weren’t in armor, and they weren’t first line combat troops. But numbers should have counted for something.

  The floor vibrated again, this time along with a slight tremor in the walls and the pictures mounted on them. More explosions sounded, and she thought she could pick out some shouts and screams, which must have been loud and close to hear from her well insulated office.

  The hell with this, thought Pallion, going to her wall safe, opening it with a genetic scan, and pulling out a heavy particle beam pistol. I need to get out of here, right now. She moved from her office to the outer chamber where her secretary normally sat, now vacated, wondering if it was already too late.

  * * *

  “The resistance is stiffening,” said the Yugalyth leader through the com. “I’ve lost two puppets as this latest barricade, and I can’t figure out to take it without losing more.”

  Cornelius looked at the schematic on his implant. They had risen quickly up the tall building through elevator shafts, bypassing much of the security. Some of his men were already on the roof, just in case the Council made it there before he could take them out. He had tried to keep his men from killing too many of the security troops, who, in his opinion, were not very good combat soldiers. His men were among the best combat soldiers known, and it was really unfair to kill them, almost like slaughtering baby animals. He had still lost a few men, and about fifteen of his Caca puppets, along with two of the Yugalyth leaders.

  “Conner,” he told the platoon leader of one of his two reserve formations. “Get one of your squads behind that barricade security has put up. Take them out.”

  The LT sent back his acknowledgement, and a squad of twelve Rangers moved on the HUD to the point indicated. We’re running out of time, thought Walborski as he checked the mission timer. If we don’t get to those clones soon, they’re going to escape, and this will mean nothing. He was sure that his Rangers, especially in their bogus uniforms, could run up to the executive office section in no time. But the mission called for the Cacas, puppets and shape shifters, take them out before witnesses, and security was fighting especially fiercely against the beings they thought of as Monsters.

  I really don’t like killing a lot of these damned security troopers, thought the Major, shaking his head. But I guess I don’t have a choice. If the clones get out, we failed.

  “To all Rangers. Rules of engagement change.
All security personnel that stand in our way are to be cleared by all means necessary. Repeat, all means necessary. Unarmed personnel are not to be harmed, and try to herd them into place to watch the final act.”

  Cornelius did not like the order he had just given. He didn’t like this entire operation, and thought that he would have to scrub himself for a month to feel clean again.

  * * *

  The explosions were getting closer, along with the buzzing bee sound of particle beams. Pallion hugged the wall, waiting for Willard Smyth, who had agreed to walk point, to wave them ahead. She had found the entire Council cowering in one of the conference rooms, waiting for security to come get them and evacuate them from the building.

  Idiots, she thought, as she looked back at the hundred or so office workers that were coming with them. They wanted to leave all these other people behind, when we can use them for cover if it comes to that. The Cacas probably wouldn’t know who were the Council members, and who were just flunkies. And she really didn’t care if the flunkies were killed, as long as she got away. Hell, she really didn’t care about the other Council members, as long as she got out.

  A door to the stairway opened and more human office workers came running out, eyes wide, some screaming in terror. The sounds of fighting came through the door, coming from down below, probably no more than a floor or two lower than this one.