The Lost Fleet Box Set, page 134
part #1 of The Lost Fleet Series
Powerful energy beams and antimatter missiles tore into the defending fleet. The Alton battlecruiser Star Finder exploded as twenty Simulin energy beams penetrated deep inside the vessel. Two AI warspheres died in fiery explosions of released energy as antimatter missiles detonated against their hulls. An Alton battlecruiser lost power and was turned into a glowing field of drifting debris. Other ships were suffering major damage as their shields were overwhelmed by the Simulin attack.
-
The Dauntless shuddered as two antimatter missiles struck her energy shield, severely jarring the ship. The screen seemed to flicker and then the flickering vanished as the screen strengthened.
“Energy screen is at 80 percent,” reported Captain Lance. “We’re being targeted by a number of Simulin energy beams. Brace yourself!”
Admiral Jackson gripped the armrests on his command chair as the ship was struck by intense weapons fire.
“Multiple breaches along the forward hull; we’re venting atmosphere,” the damage control officer reported. “Damage control teams are en route.”
“Two warspheres have moved in to cover us,” added Commander Blanton.
“Get me a status report on the damage as soon as possible. All batteries continuous fire,” ordered Admiral Jackson, his eyes watching the tactical displays intently. Green icons were vanishing too fast.
“We’re losing ships,” Lieutenant Ortega reported in a strained voice. “We’ve lost Two Alton battleships, four Alton battlecruisers, three warspheres, and two Strikecruisers.”
“The enemy?” asked Admiral Jackson, feeling helpless to prevent the carnage the Simulins were delivering to his fleet.
“Four battlecruisers and seven escort cruisers,” Ortega answered.
On one of the viewscreens, a flash of bright light spread across it.
“Warsphere WS-142 is down,” reported Ortega, trying to keep his voice calm. “The Simulins are also targeting the defensive grid. Over seventy particle beam satellites have been lost so far.”
Taking a deep breath, Admiral Jackson switched his comm over to the frequency of the battlecarrier Exeter. “Andrew, I want a full bomber attack sent in from all of the battlecarriers. Your targets are any Simulin ships that have suffered substantial battle damage. Maybe the Anlons can get in close enough so they can deliver their Shrike missiles. Have your fighters go in with them to take some of the pressure off the bombers.”
“Yes, Admiral,” responded Commander Frisk. “Flight bays will be clear in two minutes.”
Admiral Jackson nodded to himself. He wasn’t happy with this decision. He knew he had just sentenced most if not all of those fighter and bomber pilots to their deaths. However, the confusion caused by the hundreds of fighters and bombers going in might just allow his capital ships to take out more Simulin vessels, maybe enough to thwart this attack. It was a long shot, but for now it was about the only one he had left.
-
In space, particle beam fire from an AI warsphere slammed into the main part of a Simulin battlecruiser, setting off massive explosions and hurling glowing debris into space. A Devastator Three missile arrived, blowing the ship in two.
A pair of Simulin energy beams struck the Federation battlecruiser Livingston, blowing a deep hole in the hull and destroying several energy turrets. The battlecruiser reeled as more Simulin fire covered its weakening energy screen. On board the Livingston, fires were spreading as several secondary explosions rattled the ship.
-
Aboard the Exeter Captain Marsha Trask exited the flight bay at the head of her squadron of Anlon bombers. Every bomber was carrying two Shrike missiles each armed with a twenty-megaton warhead.
“All Raiders form up in standard assault formation,” she ordered over her squadron’s comm frequency.
“Some mission,” muttered Lieutenant Fry. “Go out and shoot a Simulins warship, any warship, as we’ll be vastly outnumbered. We’ll be lucky to even get a missile off.”
“Shut up,” a female voice replied hotly. “You should have died on Absom when those Conqueror Drones had you cornered.”
“Yeah,” another female voice said. “I heard about the brunette you had a date with. I understand she ditched you.”
“It was a misunderstanding,” Fry replied defensively. “We’re still going to hook up.”
“Can the chatter,” Marsha ordered. “We have a mission to do. We’re going in with our fighters to target any Simulin ship that seems to have suffered extensive battle damage. Maybe we can take some of the pressure off our warships.” A bright light suddenly lit up space.
“What was that?” asked one of the male pilots.
“It was one of our battlecruisers,” answered Fry. “From my sensor readings, I would say it was the Livingston.”
The comm channel was quiet for a long moment and then Captain Trask gave her next order. “Form up on me and let’s get this done.” Switching over to the general channel, she contacted Captain Scott of the Black Rain fighter squadron. “Captain Scott, are you ready?”
“Yes, we’ll form up on your squadron’s flanks and try to give you some covering fire. At the very least we should draw some of their defensive fire toward us.”
“Let’s do it then,” Marsha said as she turned toward the Simulin fleet and accelerated her bomber. She knew in all likelihood she would not be returning to the Exeter. None of them would.
-
Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes gazed at the tactical display anxiously. The delay caused by Camlin had put the Distant Horizon behind schedule. She felt like crying every time she saw a friendly green icon disappear from the display. “How much longer?”
“Forty seconds,” Sible reported. “I’m putting us directly behind the main part of the Simulin wedge formation. Distance will be two thousand kilometers. We’ll be directly between their warships and the Conqueror Drone carriers which are trailing their fleet by ten thousand kilometers.”
“Captain Weir, are the ship’s weapons ready?”
“Yes, Admiral,” Weir replied. “We can begin firing within two seconds of hyperspace emergence.”
“Clarissa, can you help coordinate our weapons fire? I want a spread of antimatter missiles aimed at those Conqueror Drone carriers. Their energy shields will be substantially weaker than their warships. I want them taken out.” Kathryn didn’t want to risk any of the deadly drones getting loose on Ornellia.
“Yes, Admiral,” Clarissa responded. “I recommend we hit their warships with all of our main weapons upon emergence. We can direct our antimatter missiles toward the Conquer Drone vessels. I calculate it will take two missiles each to annihilate one of their drone carrier vessels. After that it will take thirty seconds for the energy-siphoning field to fully activate. From my calculations, it will take in nearly 89 percent of the Simulin fleet.”
Kathryn nodded. The drone carriers were out of range of the energy-siphoning field and that was why she wanted them targeted with the sublight antimatter missiles.
“Ten seconds, Admiral,” Sible reported. “We should be dead on target.”
“Stand by,” ordered Kathryn, leaning forward expectantly in her command chair. The Distant Horizon was about to announce its return to battle against the Simulins in a big way.
“Emergence!” cried out Sible.
“Fire!” ordered Kathryn as she saw another AI warsphere explode on the viewscreen, which was now showing a clear view of the battle.
“Missiles launched,” reported Clarissa.
“Energy weapons firing,” added Major Weir.
-
The Distant Horizon stormed out of the spatial vortex with weapons firing and missiles launching. Behind the ship, massive explosions suddenly wracked the Conqueror Drone carriers as fourteen of them died instantly from the deadly missile attack. The second round of missiles took out the last twelve, leaving only glowing debris behind.
Gravitonic cannons sent beams of destruction toward the unsuspecting Simulin fleet. Two Simulin battlecruisers exploded in brilliant fireballs as the gravitonic beams tore them apart. The ship’s antimatter projectors flashed through a Simulin energy screen, tearing an escort cruiser open from bow to stern. The ship’s particle beam cannons struck a Simulin battlecruiser, turning it instantly into a drifting wreck. Those were just the primary weapons.
On the ship’s hull secondary weapons began firing, sixteen antimatter projectors as well as eight more gravitonic cannons. Chaos spread through the Simulin fleet as the backside of the wedge formation became filled with dying Simulin ships. Forty-eight power beam turrets added their deadly fire to the mix. The missile tubes were retargeted and 100-megaton antimatter missiles began launching in rapid launch mode. There were thirty-six missile tubes and each was launching a missile every ten seconds. The entire back side of the Simulin wedge lit up like a nova had just overtaken it.
-
“What the hell?” said Admiral Jackson as he rose instinctively to his feet at seeing the chaos sweeping the far side of the Simulin formation.
“We have a ship that has exited hyperspace behind the Simulin formation,” reported Lieutenant Ortega. “It’s opened fire on the Simulins! It’s already destroyed all twenty-six Conqueror Drone carriers!”
“Is that the Dominator?” asked Commander Blanton. “It’s the only ship I know of that can cause that type of damage.”
“Scan that ship!” ordered Admiral Jackson. “I want to know who it is and where it came from.” Even as he spoke those words, the Dauntless suddenly seemed to heave upwards, sending Jackson crashing to the deck.
Struggling to stand, Jackson stumbled back to his command chair. Looking around, he saw smoke and sparks everywhere. Several consoles were on fire. Alarms were screaming from the damage control board and red lights were rapidly blinking on. Admiral Jackson blinked his eyes and looked around the Command Center to see if everyone was okay.
“We were hit by a large piece of wreckage from the Livingston,” reported Commander Blanton. She had a deep gash on her forehead, which was bleeding profusely. “We have a two-hundred-meter hole in our hull on the port side. Our energy screen is also compromised. I’m receiving reports of heavy crew casualties.”
“Pull us back to the third line,” ordered Jackson. Turning back to Lieutenant Ortega. “Do we know who that ship is?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Ortega, looking shocked and confused. “It appears to be the Distant Horizon. But it’s much larger and it’s firing weapons similar to what are on the Dominator.”
“The Distant Horizon?” said Jackson, feeling stunned and his eyes opening wide in disbelief. “That’s impossible. It was destroyed in the supernova at the black matter Dyson Sphere.”
“I know, sir, but look.”
Instantly on one of the viewscreens a large ship appeared.
Jackson drew in a sharp breath as he gazed at the viewscreen. The ship did indeed resemble the Distant Horizon but it was much larger and was equipped with weapons it shouldn’t have. “It just can’t be. There’s no way that’s the Distant Horizon. They’re all dead.”
“Admiral,” called out Lieutenant Brenda Neal from Communications. Her face looked ashen as if she had seen a ghost. “I have Rear Admiral Barnes on the comm. She wishes to speak to you.”
Jackson felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him. This was impossible. “Put her on my private channel,” he ordered.
“If that is the Distant Horizon, they’re blowing the hell out of the Simulins,” Commander Blanton reported. “The Simulins have nothing to stop her.”
“Admiral Jackson,” a familiar female voice said over his comm channel.
“Rear Admiral Barnes, is that really you and the Distant Horizon?”
“Yes, Admiral,” Barnes replied.
“How? It’s impossible! We all saw you die.”
“Not quite,” the rear admiral responded. “I’ll explain everything soon. We’re getting ready to activate an energy-siphoning field. Very shortly most of these Simulin ships are going to be powerless. I want this fleet crushed!”
“We’ll be ready,” replied Admiral Jackson, turning toward Commander Blanton. “Belay that order to withdraw to the third line. We’re staying right where we are. Captain Lance, prepare all of our missile tubes. We’re about to show the Simulins they never should have attacked Ornellia.”
Jackson didn’t understand what was going on, but that had definitely been Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes’ voice on the comm. For the first time since the battle began, he started to feel hope.
-
Simulin Supreme High Commander Altrab stood stunned in his Command Center. An unbelievably powerful ship had appeared behind his fleet and was blowing the rear section of his attack formation into oblivion. Not only that, all of his Conqueror Drone carriers had been annihilated when the ship first appeared. It was using weapons powerful beyond belief.
“Identify that ship!” he greatly feared it was the ancient ship of the Sphere Builders.
“Unknown,” High Commander Jarald replied. “It meets no known spacecraft in our database. It does vaguely resemble a Fitula organic vessel but it was believed to have been annihilated when the Great Sphere was destroyed.”
Altrab watched as ten more of his vessels vanished in blinding explosions of energy. That ship by itself had already destroyed over sixty Simulin vessels.
“Our ships near the new vessel are failing to report. They’re also no longer firing their weapons,” reported Jarald with uncertainty in his eyes.
“What?” Altrab’s eyes went to the viewscreens, which had been changed to show the new vessel. The Simulin ships closest to it were no longer firing their energy beams. They seemed to be drifting powerless in space. With growing fear he recalled an earlier report where the ship of the ancients had caused all the Simulin ships near it to lose power. Well over a thousand Simulin warships had been lost in that battle. It had been right outside the Fitula Nebula. This might be that same type of weapon.
Without hesitation, Altrab knew he had to act quickly or his fleet was doomed. “Order all ships to enter hyperspace and return to our assembly area.”
“What?” responded Jarald, looking confused. “The battle computer is still showing a 70 percent probability of victory.”
“Not against that ship,” growled Altrab. “It’s equipped with ancient weapons. If we remain, we die!”
Jarald seemed to turn pale as he quickly began issuing orders.
Moments later Altrab felt his ship make the transition into hyperspace. Looking at the long-range sensor display, he felt gloom at seeing how few ships had made the escape into hyperspace. Most of his fleet was still back at Ornellia, powerless. He had failed in his first mission as a Supreme High Commander. He was certain when he returned to Gladen Three he would pay the ultimate penalty for failing the Simulin race.
-
“Energy siphoning field established,” reported Major Weir.
“Enemy ships are losing power,” confirmed Captain Reynolds. “Sensors indicate a definite drop in weapons fire.”
“We got about 82 percent of their fleet,” Clarissa said, placing her hands on her hips and smiling. “We only took a few minor hits to our energy screen and it never dropped below 96 percent.”
“Admiral Jackson’s fleet is advancing toward the Simulins,” added Captain Reynolds. “They’re firing Devastator Three missiles at the enemy fleet.”
“Put it on the screen,” ordered Kathryn.
Instantly on the large viewscreen, space was full of massive bursts of nuclear energy. Each Devastator Three sublight missile had a fifty-megaton warhead attached. Whenever one struck the armored hull of a Simulin battlecruiser or escort cruiser, the ship simply ceased to be. In each location a fiery firestorm of energy turned the vessels into glowing gas and plasma.
“Hold our current position,” Kathryn ordered. “After the ships they lost they deserve to finish off these Simulins.”
“So this is what war is like,” said Leeda, who had been standing close to Kathryn watching everything on the viewscreen and the ship’s tactical displays. “I never imagined such violence. I studied it when I researched the war against the Anti-Life, but experiencing it is so much different.”
“A lot of good people just died due to Camlin’s interference,” Kathryn said pointedly. “Thousands of people died on those ships the Simulins destroyed. “If we could have arrived just a few minutes sooner, they might still be alive.”
“I’m truly sorry, Admiral,” Leeda replied with remorse in her voice. “If we thought we could have stopped her sooner, we would have.”
“Leeda’s correct,” Clarissa said, coming to the Originator AI’s defense. “We dared not risk alerting her, or any of the other Originator AIs, that we knew what their scheme was. We moved at the most opportune time with the highest probability of success.”
Kathryn let out a deep sigh. “I know all of you think you did right and perhaps you did. After we’ve settled everything on Ornellia, we’ll have a long and detailed discussion about this.”
Kathryn turned her attention back to the viewscreen, which was filled with bright explosions marking the death of the Simulin fleet. She was awed realizing the Distant Horizon had single handedly, defeated a Simulin fleet of fifteen hundred vessels. It made her realize just how advanced and powerful Originator weapons technology was. It also made her realize why the Originator AIs were so hesitant about sharing this technology. In the wrong hands, it could be devastating.
-
Dax felt numb watching what was occurring on the sensors of his Control Center. The Simulin fleet was being systematically annihilated by Admiral Jackson. “Is it confirmed?” he asked Les.
“Yes,” he replied. “It’s the Distant Horizon and Rear Admiral Barnes. She’s returned!”
“At an opportune time,” Dax replied, grinning. He didn’t know how his people could ever repay the rear admiral. It seemed as if whenever they were in trouble she appeared.
“The all clear is being sounded in the cities,” the communications operator reported.
Dax nodded. “We’ll wait until tomorrow before we open up the bunker.” Dax strongly suspected after this horrendous defeat it would be a long time if ever before the Simulins returned. Perhaps they would be given enough time to rebuild their world.
