“I want us to target everything in orbit around the planet, Trostara,” ordered the great admiral, staring at the bright globe on the holo.
There were still thousands of satellites in orbit, most with the look of defensive platforms. A couple of dozen larger platforms were also among them, what looked like habitats and docks. As far as they could tell there were no ships in those orbitals. If there were any offensive weapons on the platforms they hadn't revealed themselves. Given how many missiles had been fired at his fleet he doubted there could be very many. And what about the laser sats?
“Scan that space with all sensors on active. Any clusters of objects that show up are to be destroyed immediately. Everything else will be fired upon when the targeting basket doesn't include the planet.”
He wasn't sure what kind of trap the Emperor was planning for the enemy in this system. The admiral had his concerns, and it was something that as a philosophical follower of the old religion he wouldn't like. But he would be damned if he hit that planet with enough firepower to kill all life on the surface. If the religion actually had any resemblance to truth, his own soul would not burn in the hells of his people for actions that opposed the will of the Gods.
While not really sure if he myths of his people really held any weight in the real Universe, he was still wedded philosophically by the traditions he had been raised in. Maybe hell didn't exist, and only oblivion waited beyond this life. However, his conscience would torment him for the rest of his existence if he betrayed his principles, and wasn't that a hell of sorts?
He was sure that whatever wormhole gate had been here had already evacuated everything that was mobile and collapsed. It could be thrusting within light seconds of his fleet for any destination and they would never know. The sensors were sensitive, but a collapsed wormhole could be a ring a millimeter across, undetectable.
'We've picked up several clusters,” called out the sensor officer, looking over the takes from all the other ships.
“Show me.”
The plot had zoomed in on an area of a light minute out from the planet. There were nine regions a light second in extent that shimmered with returns, the indication of many small objects crowded into a relatively small area.
“Firing missiles now,” called out the tactical officer.
Ninety missiles appeared on the plot, ten moving toward each of the indicated clusters. A couple of each group were taken out by lasers, detonating in space, and obscuring the sensors of the other mines. Warheads went off in bright pinpoints among the mines, gigatons of explosive power causing very little damage in the vacuum, while the waves of radiation and heat knocked most of the mines out of action.
“Sensor sweeps are showing some few objects in five of the regions, my Lord.”
“Fire on all of them, again,” ordered Mrastaran. “All of the regions. I want to take no chances before we move through that space.”
Mrastaran turned to walk back to his chair, then looked back at his tactical officer. “And start taking out all those defensive platforms in orbit. Try to get them with lasers and particle beams if possible, but if you can get in a clear missile shot without endangering the surface, take it.”
“There is a priority com coming in, my Lord,” said the communications officer. “From the Emperor,” hissed the officer, his eyes wide.
“Put him on my side holo.”
“Report, Admiral,” said the adolescent ruler. “Have you taken the system yet?”
“We are just under three hours from orbit, Supreme Lord. We will bombard all surface defenses and land troops to take charge of the world.”
“Don't bother, Admiral,” said the smiling young male. “Once you have destroyed all of their space defenses you are to set up a wormhole gate and prepare to bring the special assets to that system.”
“If we are to establish a base here, don't you think it behooves us to secure the planet for our own use?” asked the great admiral, his own stomach feeling hollow at the thought of what the Emperor was proposing without so many words.
“That planet will be of no use to us, Admiral,” said the Emperor, his eyes narrowing. “Now follow my orders, without question.”
“Yes, Supreme Lord.”
The holo faded, leaving the bad feeling the admiral had been carrying around a growing concern.
“What was that about, sir?” asked the com officer, his worried face showing his own concern.
“I really don't know,” said Mrastaran, again wondering what the young fool had planned.
“New orders to the fleet,” the admiral told his chief of staff. “Once all space defenses have been taken out we will be erecting a gate at one light minute from the planet. I want the bulk of the fleet arrayed in defense around it. The rest will boost for destinations throughout the system. I want us to find anything they left behind before they can use it against us.”
Mrastaran knew that was a false hope where the enemy stealth craft were concerned. His main worry was that one would sneak in and put a missile into his wormhole gate, collapsing it for good. He had others, and could put up another gate. Unfortunately, unlike the humans, he didn't have an endless supply of the holes through space.
“Great news, my Lord,” called out one of the com officers, looking back at Mrastaran. “Admiral Tonassar survived the battle. His ship is a total wreck, but the admiral is alive.”
And the good news just keeps coming, thought the admiral, staring off into the air as he wondered what else could go wrong.
* * *
“Everything's out of the system that's coming out, ma'am,” reported Captain Janssen to his admiral.
Bednarczyk stood looking at a projected plot that was coming through from her dozen stealth ships, fed through their wormholes back to the Donut, then through to her flagship, the Romulus. The dozen views, visual and graviton, were being assembled into the composite plot she was studying.
The Cacas had spread out through the system and were searching and securing all points. They had erected two gate within a light minute of the planet, with a cordon of scout ships moving slowly around it. She was watching a near real time visual take of the larger ships, sitting dead in space, through the transmission of a stealth ship sitting two light minutes away. While she was tempted to order that ship to take a shot at one of the gates she held herself in check. The vessel was unlikely to survive once the stream was traced back to them, and she wanted to keep that intelligence resource, the closest she had to the inhabited planet, intact.
Her own fleet sat in a red dwarf system thirty-three light years from Pleisia. The system wasn't much to speak of. A red star about half of Sol's mass, one close in gas giant with a couple of moons, and two rocky worlds further out. No life that anyone had detected, very resource poor. There was an asteroid belt sitting between the gas giant and the first rocky world, and her fleet was orbiting the star within that far spread mass of rocks. She had three gates open, each in orbit around one of the larger rocks of the field.
“We have another force coming in, ma'am,” called out the sensor officer. “Klavarta. Eleven battleships and sixty-one smaller vessels.”
So, not Klanarat, yet, she thought. She wasn't expecting the Klavarta admiral for two more days. He hadn't contacted her directly, but had communicated through his Klassekian com tech. She was not looking forward to the face to face that would occur once he was in the system. However, she was looking forward to adding the ships he had gathered up to her command. She needed all the ships she could get to challenge the Cacas next time around.
Right now she still had Romulus, one of the most powerful ships in known space. Unfortunately she only had the one. Along with one hundred and fifty-eight standard hyper VII battleships, thirty-four battle cruisers, over six hundred smaller cruisers and almost a thousand destroyers. Eight fleet carriers, but less than five hundred warp fighters remaining between them. And of course her eighteen wormholes. Besides the twelve on the stealth ships, she had eight more in the system
, ready and waiting for her. So far she had gathered another three thousand ships, Klavarta, Slarna and Gernas, to augment her fleet.
Mara was sitting ten light years away at another M class star, two gates open. She had forty-five battle cruisers, one hundred and five light cruisers and one hundred and thirty-eight destroyers. She still had nine wormholes, and over eight thousand allied ships.
From what she had heard, Klanarat was coming with another seven thousand ships, and three thousand were heading out from the core worlds, ETA four days. On paper it was a mighty fleet, but not enough to face off against what the Cacas had. If Klanarat hadn't gotten his fleet gutted they would have had enough force to handle them. And six days away was her ace in the hole, along with the carrier and twelve hyper VII battleships that had escorted them. Forty-two wormholes connecting back to the Donut, giving her launch capabilities equal to what she already had.
We might be able to pull it off, she thought, rubbing her forehead as she took her commander's chair. It would take some fancy maneuvering, and some massive waves of wormhole launched missiles. Fortunately, with the assets she still had in the system, the enemy wouldn't be able to ambush her on the way in. And if she used the gates she could establish to bring in some more combat power she could beat them. At a cost, but when had anyone ever said that this game would be easy.
“You have a priority com from the high command, ma'am.”
“Put it on my side holo.”
“Admiral,” said the young man looking out of the holo.
“Your Majesty,” said Beata, bowing her head as she started to rise from her chair.
“Remain seated, please,” said the Emperor. “I have to ask you a question. Do you think you can eject the Cacas from that system?”
“I, think so. No guarantees. But I think I can find a way to take them out, especially with them so deep in that system.”
“I'm about to tell you something so secret I hesitate to say it,” said Sean, closing his eyes for a moment. “It might change how you approach this. So, you might want to take the rest of this call in your ready room.”
Beata raised an eyebrow, then nodded and got out of her seat. As soon as she walked through the hatch of her ready room, her small chamber close to the flag bridge, the day cabin she used most of the time while on campaign, the com chirped.
The Emperor appeared on a holo as soon as she sat in the chair behind her desk. Great timing, she thought. He probably had some way of monitoring the ships, at least in part. She would know if he were tapping into her private coms, but he could find out when she entered or left the bridge by asking some of her people. Who would be brave enough to refuse the Emperor, after all?
“Good,” he said out of the holo, waving a hand to motion her back into her chair. “You may need to be sitting down for this.”
How bad could this be? she thought. She had watched the Machines destroy multiple worlds out on the frontier, unable to stop them. Eventually she had been able to stop them in their tracks, with some help from the technologists of the Empire. Then she had deposed a cruel ruler, preventing him from wiping out half of the population of his own capital world. What in the hell could disturb her after going through that?
“The Cacas are using a new weapon of mass destruction,” said Sean, a frown creasing his face.
“What kind of weapon of mass destruction?” asked an alarmed admiral. She knew about the wormhole bombs that had been used by both empires in the war. The Cacas had actually had one in place to destroy Jewel, the home world of the Empire. If not for the actions of the fleet and the defection of one of their human slaves it would have succeeded.
“It seems to be similar to what you used out in Machine space, Admiral. Something that stirs up the star and sends out a blast of plasma.”
“I can see how that would be a threat to electronics,” said Beata, wondering why a weapon like he was talking about would be of such concern. Possibly it could short out the electronics and computers onboard ships and planets. It would not harm the living creatures on the ships and planets who would be able to make repairs.
“This is a lot more powerful, Admiral. A true nova. Not up to the magnitude of a supernova. The star loses about five percent of its mass. Not enough to vaporize planets. But definitely enough to raise the temperature of planetary surfaces. Any ships in the system the weapon is deployed in will be killed.”
“They have used this weapon already?”
“Yes,” said the Emperor, closing his eyes. “They destroyed a small task group. Fortunately, we got the sensor take just before they went down. Since then we have observed one other. We are working on tactics to take out their suicide ships before they can complete the process, but who knows how that will work.”
“Should I stay out of the system?” asked an alarmed Beata, thinking of the losses she could incur in such a situation.
“No,” said Sean, opening his eyes and again shaking his head. “We need you to attack while not showing foreknowledge of this weapon. I'm sending you the information you will need to identify their projection ships. Use what you need to take them out, and safeguard the rest of your fleet. Rest assured that the Caca fleet will not be in the system. But also be aware that they will be close enough to come in and destroy whatever remains of the fleet they expect to be destroyed. You might be able to use that to your advantage.”
I don't see how, thought Beata, her thoughts in turmoil at what she was being asked to do. And the people she would be putting at risk.
“McCullom and her staff will be meeting with you by holo to work out some strategies and contingencies. Listen to them. Brainstorm. But I expect the plan to be yours. I have the utmost trust in your, Admiral. So get it done.”
The holo blanked, Sean taking advantage of his prerogative to end coms when he felt like it. And leaving Beata with a thousand unanswered questions. The biggest being, why me?
About the Author
Doug Dandridge is the author of over thirty self-published books on Amazon, including the very successful, Exodus: Empires at War series, the Refuge techno-fantasy series, The Deep Dark Well Trilogy, as well as numerous standalone science fiction and fantasy novels. In a five-and-a-half-year period as a self-published author, Doug has sold well over two hundred and fifty thousand eBooks, paperbacks and audio books. He has amassed over 6,000 reviews across his books on Amazon, with a 4.6 star average, and a similar number of ratings on Goodreads with a 4.12 star average. His first traditionally published series, Kinship War, is now out, and he has written a novel, When Eagles Dare, in Chris Kennedy and Mark Wandrey’s Four Horsemen series. He served in the US Army as an infantryman, as well as several years in the Florida National Guard in the same MOS. Doug, who holds degrees from Florida State University and the University of Alabama, lives with his four cats in Tallahassee Florida. He is a sports enthusiast and a self-proclaimed amateur military historian.
Books by Doug Dandridge
Science Fiction
The Deep Dark Well Trilogy
The Deep Dark Well: An Adventure 40,000 years in the making. Pandora Latham was a Kuiper Belt Miner from Alabama. She’s used to landing on her feet, even when the next surface is through a wormhole, halfway across the Galaxy and 46,000 years in the Future. Pandora must discover the secret behind the end of civilization, and the enigma of the Immortal Watcher, the last survivor of the Empire that once ruled the stars. Her decisions will set the path for Galactic recovery, or a continuation down the roads of Barbarism.
To Well and Back: Pandora Latham is back, working Watcher’s plan to restore Galactic Civilization. But first she has to deal with the Xenophobes of the Nation of Humanity, back in the Supersystem with their sights set on making the Galaxy their own. Pandora is angry at the hyper religious Nation, and you don’t want to make a woman from Alabama angry.
Deeper and Darker: Pandora Latham is on the warpath. Watcher, her lover, and the only man who can once again unite the Galaxy, is a prisoner of the Totalitarian gover
nment of the New Galactic Empire. The Empire thinks they have the upper hand, but they have never faced someone like Pandi, and the peoples of the Galaxy that she has rallied to her cause.
Theocracy: A young gunpowder era monk becomes the only hope for his doomed world as he is caught up in the game of empire between two more advanced cultures.
Theocracy Book 2: With the aid of Watcher, Patrick O’Brien and his partners, including some new alien allies, quest across multiple worlds in a search for the control center that could save his world.
The Exodus Series
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1: The introduction to the Exodus Universe. Two thousand years prior mankind fled from the Predatory Ca’cadasans, traveling a thousand years and ten thousand light years to a new home. Now the greatest power of their sector of space, things seem to be going well for the New Terran Empire. Until the enemy appears once again at the gates. And the years have not softened the aliens’ stance toward Humanity.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2: The saga continues. The Ca’cadasans attack at the moment when the government of the Empire is at its most chaotic. There are other enemies as well, waiting for their chance to fall on the overwhelmed humans. And a young man with no ambition for power finds himself in the position he most dreads.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3: Sean is rescued, but he is not about to go back to the safety of the capital without striking back at the Ca’cadasans who have invaded his Empire. But will his decision put the lives of thousands at risk, as well as risking the safety of his own Empire, by depriving it of its leader.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 4: Sean is crowned Emperor and attempts to organize the Empire for war against the Ca’cadasans. But he finds that planning battles and winning battles are two different things. Defeat follows defeat. Can anyone snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? Or will the new Emperor fail before his reign even really begins.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 5: Ranger: Cornelius Walborski enters the rigors of Ranger training, becoming one of the augmented warriors of the Empire. But his first assignment, Azure, is one of the deadliest planets in the Galaxy, even prior to the coming of the Cacas. Can Cornelius survive his first mission? Or will a promising career end before it really begins.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 15: All Quiet on the Second Front? Page 27
