I sighed, “What do you think?”
Sergei frowned, “They did what I would have, if they have permanent emplacements like we do, they kept them hidden, the ships were more than enough to handle what we sent. At least we know for sure they have gravity missiles, and plasma turrets, so it was still worthwhile.”
That’s about what I thought as well.
Kristi spoke up, “The missiles are returning to the ships, the eighty that survived that is.”
I nodded, “Take us to a half light day from their solar system, that should be safe enough based on their response, but drop us out early if we need to.”
Sergei gave the orders, and we popped into FTL and back out after a few very long seeming seconds. The enemy hadn’t reacted at all.
“Take us in at point four, keep alert, if anything moves at FTL from now on, enemy missiles or ships, kill it with a gravity missile without orders.”
Sergei passed the orders, and we waited. Well, it was my bright idea to slow the battle down and bring tactics into it. At point four light speed it would take us a little over a day to close the distance. The missiles being much smaller and lighter could go point six, but of course we kept them around us.
“Sergei, get some sleep, and I’ll go after you. Make sure the ships weapons officers are rotated often, every few hours. We’ll launch combat shuttles at two hours’ distance.”
He grunted, sent out my orders, and then left the bridge.
Kristi asked, “What do you think will happen?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know, they’ve been in space for a long time, it depends on how many hidden emplacements there are. If it was just the ships, I’d simply send all our Shield and gravity missiles in now to overwhelm them. But we’ll probably need them for defense here shortly so…”
Kristi asked, “Coffee?”
I grinned, “Sure, thanks Doctor Wilder.”
She snickered, “Anytime princess”
Yes, our banter was rather on the silly side, but it was also stress relieving…
The hot shower did more to relax me than the three hours of sleep. I pulled on my pressure suit and uniform and made my way back to the bridge. We were coming up on the two-hour mark when I walked in and took a seat next to Sergei.
I was suppressing my nerves already, and knew my palms would be damp if I wasn’t able to regulate my body the way I can. Sergei looked as cool as a cucumber, and I was a little jealous, he looked calmer than me and had none of my advantages.
I nodded at him and we launched the combat shuttles. Once they were all in space, all four thousand eight hundred of them, they each launched their own gravity missile defense, and took off at an angle to our heading at point five light speed. The object being to flank the enemy by the time we arrived.
Still the enemy hadn’t fired, or brought up all their defenses… assuming they had any. The next hour and a half, I imagined all sorts of nasty things happening to my fleet, while I projected confidence and calmness. I even had a coffee to sip on.
At fifteen minutes out I ordered, “Start the sub-light missile barrage.”
We were holding the Shield and gravity missiles back for now, but we also had cargo holds full of standard missiles, and between the shuttles, carriers, and battlecruisers we could throw sixty-four hundred normal missiles every few seconds, although right now we were doing ten second increments.
That sounds like a lot, but they had over five thousand plasma weapons, and an equal amount of missiles they could launch. Still, we were launching that many every ten seconds and they quickly moved away from our formation and raced toward the enemy at point eight light speed. So even if we were thirty minutes away, the missiles would only take fifteen, and that gap was shrinking quickly now.
The enemy finally responded, launching their own missile barrages. Our gravity missiles held position, waiting for anything moving FTL, but our shield missiles moved to intercept the incoming, and we had quite a few plasma cannons as well.
The first five barrages by both sides were met and destroyed, I couldn’t believe they didn’t have emplacements, but I was starting to doubt that assertion as another minute passed, and another six salvos of missiles were knocked out. One or two made it through, but did no real damage.
But then over five hundred enemy platforms came online, filling our screen with red dots. They all started firing an additional twenty missiles each, for ten thousand in total, tripling their throw weight in a second. I knew things were about to get sticky but they’d finally revealed all their cards.
It was time to reveal ours.
“Now Admiral,” I said in a calm voice, my nerves only betrayed by not calling him by name.
Sergei ordered, “Launch the boats, launch all boats.”
The twenty carriers all launched twenty missile boats each, for four hundred total. They were about twice the size of a shuttle craft, but we’d managed to split them up to squeeze enough into each of the six bays.
As soon as they were clear of the carriers, they launched one hundred missiles each, or forty thousand total, and they did so at FTL speed.
The way I made gravity missiles, they were tiny ships, each battlecruiser carried five thousand, and the carriers carried twice that. Which meant we literally had a million of the little things and that didn’t even account for the twenty or so in each of the combat shuttles. The reason I made them like little ships was because they’d all be available at the same time, and throughout the battle.
For two reasons. Attrition, we had so many, mutual suicide gravity missiles meant whoever had the most would win at the end, because they’d wind up having a free hand in FTL while the enemy was still under threat. The second reason I made them that way, was in case the enemy did what I just did.
The Knomen had gravity missiles, but only through their launch platforms. There was no way they could launch forty thousand in one go, they could only do approximately fifteen thousand at a time right now.
The forty thousand missiles split the available targets, there were three hundred and fifty-two ships, and five hundred emplacements. That was forty-six some odd missiles for each target with a lot left over. They stopped a few thousand of the missiles of course, close to fifteen thousand of them, but there were still enough to tear through the enemy fleet, and emplacements, and we hadn’t even gotten inside plasma weapon range yet.
The battle wasn’t over however, even if the enemy was down.
The Knomen had sent three barrages of fifteen thousand missiles, they’d gotten those off while we were launching the missile boats. We had the plasma cannons and shield missiles to get them all, if they’d been sent evenly across the fleet, but they had targeted one side to try and overwhelm one part of our line.
I also realized there was no more enemy waiting with gravity missiles.
“Move half the shield missiles to that area now,” I ordered.
Sergei sent the order out, but it was too late for the first barrage.
We lost close to three hundred Shield missiles in the first volley as they shot down and absorbed several missiles each before going down, but the few missiles that did get through to a ship were easily absorbed by the shields in moderate numbers. It would take ten missiles to destroy one of our ships, about the same as theirs actually, and that only happened twice.
Still, I had to suppress a wince when I saw those ships go offline.
Before the second volley of Knomen missiles arrived, half the shield missiles for the remaining fleet went to FTL for a nanosecond, for all practical purposes they jumped instantly between the next two barrages in flight and our threatened ships. The second and third barrages were stopped cold.
Two ships. So little a sacrifice to win this battle, but it still seemed like way too much to me.
The missile boats had done the job they were intended for, overwhelming fire power. If the enemy had been able to continue tossing missiles like that, I was sure we would have started to lose more ships as we lost our Shi
eld missiles.
I looked at the board, there were no red dots left.
“Destroy the fabricators, move the twenty carriers around Knomen and demand their surrender, isolate them to the planet, and start a search for survivors with the combat shuttles.”
I had to steady my hand before I took my next sip of coffee. I didn’t even want to think about how many Knomen I’d just killed. I also hoped their emplacements had been unmanned like ours were.
Well, if I wasn’t banished from Knomen after escaping like I had, I sure as hell was now…
Chapter 19
We managed to rescue three Terrans and one hundred forty-eight Knomen, and delivered the enemy to the planet before we called off rescue operations. We, the entire fleet, stayed for a couple of days, waiting for things to shake out. The USFS board sent out a message to the other species, outlining our reasons, and what we were forced to do. They also included a message about the treaty alliance of equals they had already started with Leira and Tressia.
The Knomen home world was on the brink of rebellion, angry at the royal family about the mess they found themselves in. Nothing was truly resolved there yet, except they were unable to threaten us anymore. So far the other Knomen colonies were silent, and hadn’t done anything to indicate a build-up or an inclination to cause problems. No doubt they weren’t very happy with the royal family either.
If they ever wanted to join our treaty alliance as separate worlds, I think that would be a good outcome. It would be nice to know that there were others of my race that weren’t so… I shook my head throwing off that thought, all that mattered was who I was, and how I acted.
Twenty-one of the other empire worlds expressed immediate interest and sent representatives to Earth to learn more about the treaty. I was also informed by the USFS board that Nora and Senna returned to Earth to explain why they’d joined with the Terrans. Even if they all signed on, which was far from a sure thing, that was only twenty-three out of fifty. Twenty-seven of the races were quiet, undoubtedly taking a wait and see attitude. I was sure some of those were just cautious, but I was also sure many of them had their own agenda to pursue without the Knomen threat to keep them in line.
As long as they didn’t threaten Earth, or an ally, I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
Once three days had gone by without any indication of retaliation from the other Knomen worlds, the battlecruisers went home and me with them. Sergei and I left a rear admiral upper in charge of watching the Knomen with the twenty carrier fleet and we left half the missile boats behind as well. We hadn’t harmed the world at all, or its production capability on the surface, so someone had to stay behind and make sure they stayed put until they capitulated.
When I got back to Earth the next day, I was debriefed for a few hours, and then released on leave. Seems I got a vacation every time I was in a battle or kidnapped. Is it weird to say I was hoping I wouldn’t have any more vacations coming soon?
Ship production was steady, and we still had quite a while to go before we met our goals, but we were still on schedule.
I was conflicted about the battle itself, and the lives lost, but that was normal wasn’t it? As soon as I didn’t have a problem doing something like that… it would be time to retire.
I had a lot to keep an eye on. Kristi’s and my company, the black hole data that still refused to yield its secrets to me, the Knomen, the remnants of the empire which was now broken, the Seltan toward the core, and I also had to keep a wary eye toward the rim, because we still had no idea what awaited us in that direction at all.
Whatever it was, I still had over four years left in my time commitment, so I’d be in the thick of it for a while…
It didn’t mind the responsibility most of the time, but it was still heavy. I also had my closest friend Kristi, and Nathan to keep me grounded, and some time off to unwind after the battle. I wasn’t sure how I got to keep Nathan for a week this time, but I had the feeling Denton had something to do with it, and I was grateful.
Life overall was good, and as I fell asleep that night in his arms, I wondered what would happen next?
Afterword:
I hope you enjoyed this story, if you did please leave a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors, and I would appreciate greatly any constructive feedback or opinions. As with the first story, I finished up the major plot meant for the book, but obviously there are many plots left unresolved, not to mention character development and inventions to create. Maybe one day I’ll get used to allowing loose ends as the space opera genre demands.
About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at [email protected] If you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book. I can also be found at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7456808.D_L_Harrison
Other books by D. L. Harrison:
http://www.amazon.com/author/dlharrison
The Formerly Dark Mage, by D. L. Harrison – This stand-alone fantasy book follows the life of Silvia and takes place in a world unique and separate to our own.
Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately, she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.
Among those issues, the white mages, and her conscience.
Celia Winters Novel Series
Witch’s Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 1
Celia Winters was raised by her single mother, and her earliest memories are of the store her mother owns and the nearby coven, who have always been her family’s close allies and friends.
She grew up believing her magic was weak, but she was satisfied with her life, and happy. She was a midwife, healer, and supplier of surrounding covens.
Then her mother died, and she’s about to discover she isn’t who, or what, she believes herself to be, not completely. She will learn that her entire life up until now was a lie. She’ll need to figure out her place, who she is when she no longer recognizes herself, and try to hold on to her closest friends as she gathers enemies for the simple crime of her existence.
She’s stronger than she believes, but will it be enough?
Power of Air Series:
Just a Psychic: The Power of Air Book One starts off this series.
Ben has grown up with missing memories of his early childhood.
He has known he was a psychic since his earliest memories, seeing the future and gaining knowledge with his gifts.
Is it possible he isn't just a psychic?
Ben's world is about to be turned upside down as he turns twenty-one, all is not as it seems.
Alicia Jones novels is a series that follows a bright young inventor and scientist named Alicia Jones. It is a space opera and light science fiction.
The first book is titled First Contact:
Alicia Jones is a genius, and a little odd. At just twenty-three years of age, she is close to finishing her doctoral dissertation. But when she tests her latest theory in the lab to generate a strong EM field, it has very unanticipated results. Results that lead to faster than light travel, and first contact with another race.
Her life just gets more complicated after that, when she finds out who she really is, and that the universe may not be as nice a place as she’d been told. Her determination to help keep Earth safe takes her to places more dangerous and strange than she’d ever envisioned.
Book Description
Alicia Jones has been through a lot, and she was ready to get on with her life as a scientist and put what happened behind her. She was done with the military, except perhaps a planned invention or two. She was also set to complete her dissertation defense, and has plans to buy a house and start a business with her best friend Kristi.
Something she�
��d never expected happens though, when she calms down and starts to get back to her normal life, she wonders if a normal life is enough for her anymore. When General Denton calls her, requesting her help, she jumps at the chance, and finds out sometimes in life you have to be careful what you wish for…
Interstellar Incident: An Alicia Jones Novel 02 Page 12
