by Doug Farren
The Humans had done all the damage they were slated to do. The attrition of weapon installations had continued with the Tholtarans giving priority toward the destruction of sledgehammers. It wasn’t long before there were insufficient weapons available to beat down the defenses of even the smallest Tholtaran ship. A few minutes later, the last Human weapon was silenced.
The Tholtaran fleet remained in the area for several hours ensuring that nothing salvageable remained. Partially built ships were reduced to useless scrap. Everything the Humans had built was laid to waste. The fleet then paused to wait for reinforcements. The Tholtarans had decided to show the Humans what a real battle fleet looked like. The additional ships arrived two days later and the now much larger fleet set course for Earth.
* * * * *
“Status!”
“Multiple drive wakes detected. Tactical has identified at least sixty incoming. Composition unknown at this time due to significant interference from so many wakes. ETA 73 minutes provided they follow a maximum power entry.”
“Sound battle stations. Initiate full scan. I want to know the composition of that fleet as soon possible,” the captain ordered. “I especially want to know which one is the juggernaut.”
Seconds later, the annoying blare of the ship’s alarm sounded as it called the crew to battle stations. Thick, airtight doors closed effectively compartmentalizing the ship. Electrical and support systems split into multiple independent sub-systems. Weapon systems powered up anxiously awaiting a target upon which to unleash their terrific energies. Seven minutes after issuing the command, the captain was informed that the 150,000 ton bulk of the battleship Australia was ready for battle.
Captain Paul Stricklen scanned the bridge with a practiced eye and made note of the condition of his ship. He then turned his attention to the main viewer. The main tactical computer was digesting the vast amount of information being gathered by the ship's sensors and one by one each of the enemy ships was being identified. As each unknown blip was classified, it was tagged with a distinctive marker indicating the type of ship it represented. Two of the blips suddenly changed from a yellow dot to a large red hex. Upon seeing this, Stricklen’s heart skipped a beat and sweat formed on his brow.
“One hundred six ships total,” intoned the officer at the tactical command post. “Thirty-one dreadnoughts, twenty-six battleships, forty-seven heavy cruisers, and two juggernauts.”
“Two juggernauts!” exclaimed the woman at the helm. “We don’t have a chance.”
“Belay that kind of talk!” Stricklen ordered. Even though what the helmsman had said echoed his own feelings he could not let his crew think that all was lost. Inwardly, however, the captain was very worried. They had expected only one juggernaut.
The Australia was part of a large battle group consisting of four carriers, 23 battleships, 52 heavy cruisers, and 48 light cruisers. In addition to these ships, hundreds of gunboats and fighters were also present. Every member of the fleet knew that this was humanity's last stand against the Tholtaran assault. If they failed to defeat the enemy fleet, Earth would be unprotected.
A face appeared on the monitor in front of Stricklen. The captain recognized it as belonging to Admiral Hunt who was personally commanding Earth’s final defense. “Sub-fleet one is to engage the juggernaut designated as target J1 as previously planned. All other fleet units will be assigned targets via main CIC. I know we are dealing with one more juggernaut than anticipated but we are to stick to the original battle plan. Look sharp—Earth is counting on us!”
“Helm, come to course two three two mark eleven ahead full acceleration.”
The helm acknowledged the captain's order and turned her attention to the control board. Twenty heavy cruisers, 20 light cruisers, 10 battleships, and several hundred gunboats and fighters broke formation and converged toward a point in space where they should intercept the designated juggernaut. The rest of the fleet shifted formation slightly in order to bring their weapons to bear on their assigned targets.
The enemy fleet, armed with weapons having a greater range than that of the Humans, opened fire first. Long-range energy weapons reached out to test the strength of the defenders. At this distance, the silvery bubbles of the defense shields easily deflected these invisible fingers of death. As the distance between the two fleets closed, the power being delivered to the screens rose geometrically and soon space was filled with polytechnic displays of deflected energy.
The fighters engaged the enemy first. Although they were not protected by a shield, they were heavily armored and extremely maneuverable. Four unmanned, fully automated wingman defense fighters provided support and protection for each manned fighter. Enemy missiles were fired, detected and neutralized by the fighters as they approached the Tholtaran fleet. Beams of directed energy reached out in search of targets. Despite the electronic defenses, the enemy’s weapons began to make contact and the ranks of fighters started to decrease in number.
The fighters swarmed through and around the invading fleet. The pilots tried to position their ships so the enemy could not fire on them without endangering their own ships. The fighters attacked with energy weapons of their own as well as a barrage of ultra-high explosive missiles. Some dropped nuclear-armed mines in the path of the incoming ships. These mines were designed to be virtually undetectable and in the heat of battle most went undiscovered until it was too late.
A Tholtaran battleship suddenly found itself engulfed in the fury of three thirty-megaton explosions. The shield, already under strain by several Human ships, broke down and allowed some of the destructive forces to penetrate. The hull glowed white then puffed out in three places as the powerful weapons of a Human battleship broke through the shield. A moment later, the ship became an expanding ball of superheated plasma.
The Earth defense fleet was taking heavy losses from the superior firepower of the Tholtaran fleet. The battle had so far lasted only six minutes and nine Human ships had been either destroyed or put out of commission. Space was littered with debris, criss-crossed with missiles, and laced with the invisible beams of weapons of incredible power. Tortured shields blazed with deflected energies. Point defense systems targeted missiles and ships alike for destruction.
So far, the Australia and her accompanying fleet had taken only light fire. They were skirting the edge of the battle on an intercept towards the largest warship ever built. They had been joined by a veritable cloud of automated defense fighters that now flew in front of the advancing force spewing forth as much electronic interference as possible.
As the attack force closed in on their primary target they came under increasing fire from the Tholtaran ships holding station near the juggernaut. Until now, the juggernaut had remained relatively quiet. It would occasionally blast an incoming missile out of existence as if it was an annoying mosquito but so far it had refrained from firing any of its main weapons.
That changed as soon as the defending fleet came within the juggernaut’s defense perimeter. Several hundred missiles suddenly erupted and sped toward the Human fleet. The automated fighters detected them and engaged with their close-in weapon systems. A moment later 23 unmanned fighters blossomed into spherical globes of destruction.
Then the juggernaut spoke, and did so in a very commanding voice. Eight beams of indescribable energy leaped out and played across the attackers. Whatever those beams touched simply ceased to exist. Unprotected metal vaporized instantly. The Humans responded the moment the juggernaut opened fire.
Racks of specially designed missiles had been installed on all the ships assigned to sub-fleet one. At a signal from Stricklen’s ship (which served as the sub-fleet’s command ship) all of those missiles were launched. A total of nearly 23,000 nuclear armed, high acceleration, shielded missiles converged on the Tholtaran ship.
Simultaneously, all the ships of sub-fleet one opened fire on the massive ship. The juggernaut’s defense shields easily deflected this seemingly uncoordinated onslaught without allowing
any of the energy to penetrate. The primary weapons of the juggernaut turned their attention to the attacking ships. A group of secondary beam weapons took over the duty of clearing the fighters from space.
The Human defense shields groaned under the load of the stupendous weapons and within seconds started to leak. Once a shield had reached this point, the ship it was protecting was certainly doomed. Four warship hulls started to glow and then soften. Moments later, four flashes of light marked their death. A few seconds later, four more ships joined their fallen comrades in the afterlife. A second later, the Australia’s defense shield flared into brilliance as the juggernaut targeted it.
“Shield loading at 98%!” screamed the tactical officer.
“Divert all power to the shield! Helm, initiate emergency roll. Come to course one two zero mark thirty emergency acceleration!”
If the Australia’s shield reached its maximum load limit it would start to leak energy. The roll maneuver was designed to spin the ship and present as much of the armored hull as possible to the energies the shield could not stop. Captain Stricklen did not think the maneuver would save his ship nor did he think he could evade destruction by running away.
“Shield loading at 115%! Hull breach on decks four, six and twelve. Reactors three and six showing signs of overload failure.”
A pinpoint of light then appeared at the shield of the juggernaut followed by another and another. Within the blink of an eye more flashes appeared and merged until it created an eye-searing blaze of actinic white. For a full second the juggernaut’s shield fought off this incredible onslaught of energy as thousands of nuclear warheads detonated. Then, for the first time in Tholtaran history, the multifaceted shield of a juggernaut utterly and completely failed. The mighty, seemingly indestructible warship absorbed the impact of hundreds thermonuclear warheads, broke into several pieces, and then added its own explosive force to the already indescribable energies being released to cause its destruction.
The load on the Australia’s shield suddenly dropped to zero. The shield generator, running at extreme overload and already close to failure, exploded. The explosion destroyed virtually all of the main engineering section of the ship. The entire mass of the battleship shuttered. On the bridge, most of the panels went dark and the emergency lights snapped on. The room quickly filled with acrid smoke and fumes as the ventilation system ground to a halt.
“Main power is out,” the excited voice of the tactical officer reported. “I think engineering is gone.”
“Emergency suits! Abandon ship.” the captain ordered springing toward the group of lockers at the back of the bridge.
“I think we got em sir,” the helm exclaimed as she pulled a suit from the locker. “We killed the juggernaut!”
“There’s still one left,” the tactical officer pointed out. “And most of the fleet has been wiped out. We’ve lost.”
“Tycho base will handle the other juggernaut,” countered the communications officer.
The tactical officer paused for a second in the act of pulling his suit on and said, “With what? We have no more missiles. We stripped Tycho and Earth of almost all available warheads in order to pull this off. We weren’t expecting to defend against two of those things. Tycho’s weapons are no match against a juggernaut’s shield. The war is over.”
Stricklen listened to this without saying a word. It was true—they had lost the war. The captain sealed his helmet and made sure the suit powered up properly. As soon as his heads up display showed ready he keyed his transmitter on the emergency channel. “Captain Stricklen to any ship. The Australia has been heavily damaged. We are abandoning ship.”
As soon as the bridge crew had donned their suits, Stricklen started to open the hatch so they could make their way to an escape tube. At that moment, a power accumulator located one deck down failed catastrophically and exploded. The force of the explosion was channeled up an elevator shaft then down a short passageway toward the bridge. The hatch in front of the captain blew inward. None of the suited officers felt the end as oblivion engulfed them.
The ships under Stricklen's command had accomplished their mission. The twelve remaining ships of sub-fleet one attempted to regroup with the rest of the fleet but soon discovered that they were on their own. Six minutes later, they too ceased to exist. With the Human fleet destroyed, the victorious Tholtarans split into two forces.
* * * * *
“The Tholtaran fleet has split into two groups,” the main tactical operator announced after checking his screens. “The juggernaut along with about two thirds of the fleet are heading for us; ETA 26 minutes. The rest appear to be setting a course towards Armstrong station.”
From his position in front of the main tactical display Admiral Hunt nodded his head and replied, “Inform Armstrong station.” The admiral continued to stare at the display with his hands tightly clasped behind his back. Despite the room's efficient cooling system he felt almost unbearably hot. For several long minutes he continued to watch the progress of the Tholtaran fleet as it advanced on Earth's last hope.
When the time was right, the admiral turned and started issuing orders. “Commence sledgehammer charging sequence. Weapon control, confirm that our primary target is the juggernaut and that the computer has been set for a concentrated attack pattern.”
The weapons officer checked his main status board and announced, “Sledgehammer charging sequence initiated. I have confirmed that the juggernaut has been designated as the primary target and the computer has been set for a concentrated attack pattern.”
“Very well. Permission granted to open fire as soon as they are within range.”
Olympus , because of its location and its function, had actually been more heavily defended than Tycho base. The moon base relied primarily upon its fleet of fighters and orbital spacecraft for defense. This did not mean that the base was without weapons. A vast array of heavy lasers and a ring of fifteen sledgehammers formed a defensive perimeter around the base. Each weapon installation was equipped with its own shielding system. The base itself was divided up into four separately shielded sections.
Three other military installations existed on the moon. None of these were as heavily defended as Tycho base. The Tholtarans ignored them and concentrated their attack on what they knew to be the military nerve center of the moon.
“Firing!” the tactical operator announced.
The Tholtarans had actually opened fire first, but by a mere thirteen milliseconds. Instead of targeting the weapons, the Tholtarans had decided to go for the heart of the base. Eight invisible beams of energy originating from the juggernaut crossed the vacuum of space and impacted against one of the base's shields. As the shield deflected the attack, the base's weapons counter-attacked.
Fifteen pinpoints of crackling energy, each looking like a miniature sun ready to explode, flew through space and converged onto a single point of impact on the juggernaut's shielded hull. Thirty-four fusion powered lasers added their own energy to the same small point. Two of the shields in the area of impact failed, armor exploded, and the business end of one of the juggernaught's main guns melted and deformed. The weapon's automatic safeties cut in and the beam shutdown.
Amazingly, the base's shield was standing firm against the assault of Tholtaran weaponry. History books would later put forth a theory that one of the base's engineers had bypassed the safeties on the shield generator allowing it to run at extreme overload. The victory, however, was short lived. Every available directed energy weapon of the Tholtaran fleet suddenly joined in the attack. Bolts of plasma shot from the overloaded shield crashing into nearby shields and tearing up the unprotected dust of the moon's surface.
The amount of energy pouring into the tortured shield was literally incalculable. The shield generator tried valiantly to serve its creators desire but physics said that it simply could not succeed. The generator overloaded and exploded. The main control center of the base was destroyed from both within and without. A gigantic p
lume of hot dust and molten steel was blasted into the lunar sky. The entire base shook with the force of the explosion.
The deep underground bunkers survived but were completely cut off from surface. The admiral, along with everyone in the command center, found themselves breathing stale air and seeing by the light of battery powered lanterns. Dust from the force of the explosion hung in the air and slowly settled in the weak lunar gravity. The admiral felt his legs give way and he slowly fell to the floor. The shock of their defeat, even though it had been expected, was too much to bear.
With the loss of the primary tactical computer, the individual computers of the base's defense network switched the weapons to manual control. The sledgehammer operators tried in vane to recharge their weapons. The laser operators trained their weapons on whatever target they could see. The base's defense became uncoordinated. It didn't take long before the Tholtaran fleet had reduced Tycho base to a glowing molten pool of lava.
Deep in his underground bunker, Admiral Hunt's first indication that the end was near was the rising heat. Lunar rock is a good insulator but several hundred thousand tons of molten material above created a lot of heat. It took nearly two hours for the rising temperature in the bunker to reach lethal levels.
Armstrong station didn't fair any better. The station had no fighters to protect it and its weapons were incapable of engaging the many ships the Tholtarans had available. The Tholtarans did loose two heavy cruisers to the Armstrong's guns but in the end the station became a lose collection of lifeless debris.
The Tholtaran fleet now commanded complete and utter control over all space near Earth. After taking the time to destroy the few remaining military installations on the moon, the fleet settled into a high Earth orbit. Following the advice of Dr. Shen, the World President did nothing. Earth waited to hear from the Tholtarans.
