The Lost Fleet Box Set, page 15
part #1 of The Lost Fleet Series
“Confirmed Shari warships,” reported Davis, as his sensors put up data on his screens. “There are two different types—the cruiser we saw above the planet earlier and a larger battlecruiser with a length of 1,100 meters.”
“That could be dangerous,” commented Commander Arnett, as she watched the Shari ships on the tactical display she was standing by. She was surprised at how rapidly the Shari had responded to the Third Fleet’s presence.
“As long as they don’t have antimatter or particle beam weapons, we should be fine,” Race answered. “Have our people on planet board their shuttle and return. They should have time to reach us before the Shari get within combat range.”
“What’s the final tally on the Shari fleet?” asked Madelyn, looking over at Lieutenant Davis.
“Forty-two cruisers and eighteen battlecruisers,” Davis reported, as he checked his sensor data. “They’re forming up into a cone formation and advancing toward the planet. They’ll enter the gravity well in three hours.”
“We have time then,” Race said, letting out a deep breath. “Take us to Condition Two. We’ll go to Condition One when they reach the gravity well.”
He settled back in his command chair and contemplated the strategy he would use against the inbound fleet. He had fifty-eight warships at his disposal, including eight Human and four Alton battleships. The six battlecarriers held hundreds of small Anlon bombers, each capable of carrying two self-targeting Shrike missiles. The question he was debating was how to win this battle so decisively that the Shari would see the wisdom of staying out of former Hocklyn space. He had huge tactical advantages that he was aware of. Most of his ships were equipped with not only sublight antimatter missiles but particle beam cannons. All his ships were also capable of jumping from inside a planet’s gravity well. Those were three surprises he doubted the Shari would be expecting.
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For the next few hours, the Shari continued to advance, their sensors reaching out and probing the waiting starships in orbit around Calthan Three. They’d heard of these Humans and Altons, though they doubted the truth of the stories a few Hocklyn ships had spread as they fled into Shari space. The Hocklyns had been eliminated, and their ships were seized for study. The Shari had refused to accept that the AIs had been defeated and that their Great Project at the galactic center had been destroyed. No Shari ships had been sent into the heart of the galaxy, as the AIs had deemed that area restricted, and severe consequences would befall any race that violated that edict. It was also worrisome that no AI ships had been spotted in recent years.
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“Shari fleet is entering the planet’s gravity well,” reported Lieutenant Davis. “At current speed they will be in combat range in forty-three minutes.”
“Go to Condition One and change to formation A-3,” Race ordered.
This would put his most powerful warships at the front of a four-layered line, a decision he considered to be a good strategy to fight this battle. If it worked, it would be over very quickly, and the Shari fleet would be smashed.
Activating his minicomm, he quickly contacted Rear Admiral Wyler on the battlecarrier Saratoga. “I want to inflict some serious damage on this Shari fleet,” Race began. “Admiral Wyler, I want you to have ten squadrons of Anlon bombers ready to deploy, all armed with Shrike missiles.” The Shrike missiles had been specifically developed for launch from bombers and carried a twenty-megaton warhead. “I plan on firing a full spread of antimatter missiles at the Shari, followed up by our particle beam cannons. The bombers will go in immediately after that to finish off any Shari ships that may have survived the initial attack.”
“Can we expect the Shari to deploy any fighters?” asked Admiral Wyler. He didn’t want to expose his vulnerable bombers to a fighter attack.
“Unknown,” Race answered. “Deploy a suitable amount of fighters as escorts, just in case the Shari do possess that capability. There’s nothing in the Hocklyn data to suggest the Shari use fighters or bombers, but the files are quite ambiguous on many items dealing with the Shari Empire.”
“I’ll see to it,” Wyler replied. “We’ll be ready to launch in ten minutes.”
“I have a message from a High Lord Commander Marquest,” Lieutenant Travers interrupted, as her comm console translated the incoming message. “He’s demanding our immediate surrender, or he will destroy our fleet.”
Race allowed himself to smile at the sheer audacity of the Shari high lord. “Inform the high lord commander that all former Hocklyn-controlled space and worlds are now under the protection of the New Human Federation of Worlds and the Alliance.”
“Message sent,” replied Travers. She leaned back and took a deep breath, brushing back her black hair with her left hand. She was expecting an immediate retort from this Shari high lord, and it wasn’t long before it came through.
“The high lord commander says the Shari Empire does not recognize the authority of the New Human Federation of Worlds and the Alliance, and strongly recommends that we surrender our fleet before he is forced to destroy it.”
“Very well,” Race said with a sigh, knowing they would have to do this the hard way. “Inform the high lord commander that we’ll make an example of his fleet as a warning to the Shari Empire to stay within their own space.”
Lieutenant Travers sent the message and, after a moment, turned her head toward the admiral. “The Shari have cut off communications.”
“I’m not surprised,” Commander Arnett said. “Tactical, prepare to lock on and fire a full spread of antimatter missiles. Once the missiles have been fired, hit any Shari ship that seems to have suffered damage from the antimatter attack with our particle beams.”
“They’re coming into extreme range,” reported Captain Daniels from Tactical. “We can engage with our antimatter missiles at any time.”
Madelyn looked over inquiringly at the admiral. She suspected he would want to close the range a little bit more.
“Another minute,” Race said with a nod. “I want our particle beam cannons to cause the maximum amount of damage. They’re still slightly out of range for that.”
-
In space the two fleets continued to close. The Shari were in an inverted cone formation with their most powerful ships at the apex. The Human fleet was advancing in a stacked line, four ships high and eleven wide, with the light cruisers hanging back, giving cover to the fleets’ four supply ships, the two Alton explorations ships, and the hospital ship. The four Alton battleships were mixed in with the center of the line ready to add their firepower to the rest of the fleet.
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“Shari target scanners detected,” called out Lieutenant Davis.
“They’re getting ready to fire!” warned Colonel Cowel, who was standing just behind the Tactical station.
“Let’s not disappoint them. All ships fire!” Race ordered over his minicomm, which was set up so he could speak to all his ship commanders.
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Missile hatches slid open on the forty Human ships and the four Alton battleships, and, in a brief blur, 432 sublight antimatter missiles seemed to vanish from their tubes to explode microseconds later against the energy shields of the Shari warships. Each missile was capped with a one-hundred-megaton antimatter warhead, the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of the Federation and Alton fleets, if the particle beam was not taken into consideration.
Across the cone formation of the Shari, massive explosions of energy smashed into their energy screens. They had been expecting missiles attacks comprised of nuclear warheads similar to their own, not these hellish weapons tearing against their straining energy shields. In moments shield after shield went down. In many cases, the now vulnerable ships were pummeled by the hundreds of megatons of energy, disrupting their shields. In stunning explosions of light, Shari warships began to die.
“Incoming fire,” warned Lieutenant Davis, as the hard-hit Shari fleet struggled to return what weapons fire they could.
Nuclear explosions went off against Human and Alton shields, but they were much weaker than what had struck the Shari.
“Twenty to thirty-megaton yields,” reported Colonel Cowel, as he studied the data on a screen next to the main Tactical console.
“Eighteen Shari ships confirmed destroyed,” added Commander Arnett. She looked over at the admiral from where she stood, still next to one of the tactical displays. “They weren’t expecting antimatter missiles, at least not of the magnitude we hit them with.”
“It’s a mistake they’re about to pay for dearly,” replied Race grimly. “All ships, fire particle beam cannons. Admiral Wyler, launch your bomber strike.”
Race took a deep breath. He knew the Shari were outmatched by the Federation and Alton ships, but they must be taught a hard lesson about encroaching into space now protected by the Federation and the Alliance. He also found it difficult to take pity on them, as he knew they’d served as a proxy race for the AIs and had thousands of slave planets under their control in their empire.
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The WarHawk shuddered slightly as several nuclear missiles detonated against her powerful energy shield. The ship shrugged off the missile attacks as if they were nothing more than a nuisance. Other ships in the attacking formation did the same. No weapon the Shari used could pose a serious threat to the Federation or Alton ships—designed to stand up to 1,500-meter AI spheres.
The Federation formation was lit up by the multiple explosions from the Shari’s nuclear ordnance. The Human and Alton ships fired back with their deadly particle beam cannons. The bright blue beams struck wavering Shari shields and easily penetrated, carving deep glowing holes into the armor and the ships’ interiors. More explosions rattled the Shari, as ten more of their warships died in a series of blasts, which left the Shari cone formation shattered.
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“Bomber strike going in,” reported Commander Arnett, as two hundred small green icons flew across the tactical display. “The Shari are using energy weapons against the Anlons.”
Race nodded. He knew the Anlons had a forward shield and could handle at least one hit from the Shari energy weapons. He watched intently as the green icons weaved and danced in a pattern designed to make hits to the Anlons more difficult. Even with the expert piloting, several of the small icons flared up and died as Shari energy weapons struck home, vaporizing the small bombers.
“Missile release,” spoke Commander Arnett, as hundreds of small yellow icons suddenly appeared and arrowed toward the remaining Shari ships.
Race turned his eyes toward the main viewscreen. The Shrike missiles didn’t have sublight drives like the Devastators or the antimatter missiles, so it took them a few seconds to cross the space between the Anlon bombers and Shari warships. During that time, the Shari had turned all their available weapons on the inbound missiles. Missile after missile flared up and died in small bright flashes of light. Evidently the Shari had smaller energy turrets dedicated primarily to defense. Out of the four hundred inbound missiles, the Shari had knocked down 172. The other missiles arrived at their targets and smashed into already weakened Shari energy shields. Shields collapsed, and more Shari ships died as nuclear energy vaporized hulls and destroyed ship interiors.
“Twelve more Shari ships are down,” spoke Lieutenant Davis, as more red threat icons vanished from his sensors.
“They’re trying to withdraw,” Colonel Cowel said, pointing at one of the tactical displays.
“Most of their remaining ships are heavily damaged. It’s doubtful they’d make the hyperspace jump,” added Commander Arnett.
“All ships, hold fire,” Race ordered. He wanted this shattered Shari fleet to return home and to tell their empire what the Humans and the Altons had done to them. It might be just enough to discourage further encroachments into former Hocklyn space.
“Should we follow them?” asked Madelyn, looking over at the admiral.
“Yes,” Race replied. “But we’ll keep our distance.”
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For the next hour, the Third Fleet followed the Shari ships, staying just out of weapons range. Several of the fleeing vessels docked to one another in obvious attempts to remove crews from failing ships. Then after separating, the damaged vessels exploded as nuclear charges were set off.
“That’s four vessels they’ve scuttled,” reported Colonel Cowel, as another Shari vessel exploded on one of the viewscreens.
“That’s forty-four of their ships downed out of sixty,” added Commander Arnett. “I don’t think the Shari high lord commander will be very well received when he gets home and reports what happened to his fleet.”
“Let’s just hope we prevented a war and that the Shari will stay in their own territory from now on,” Race responded, as he leaned back and allowed himself to relax.
“Shari ships are opening up spatial vortices and jumping out,” reported Lieutenant Davis.
In a few minutes, the sixteen Shari ships had vacated the system, leaving the Third Fleet in complete control.
“What were our losses?” asked Race, looking over at Commander Arnett.
“Very light considering the number of Shari ships we destroyed,” reported Madelyn. “The battleship Ajax reports minor hull damage and the loss of two defensive laser turrets. The battlecruisers Duchess and Anvil have several small hull breaches, which should be repaired shortly. The strikecruiser Longhorn sustained the most. A missile got through its energy screen, and they have heavy damage on the port side of the vessel. They’re streaming atmosphere and dealing with a number of fires. They should have the fires out and a thorough damage assessment ready shortly.”
“What about the Anlon bombers?” Race knew some of those had been lost as he had witnessed their deaths in the tactical display and on the ship’s viewscreens.
“Admiral Wyler reports the loss of twelve Anlon bombers,” answered Madelyn. “Several more were damaged but are repairable. Four of the pilots ejected and have been recovered.”
“Very well,” Race replied, as he thought over Third Fleet’s next move. “We need to continue to make our presence known in this region of space. We’ll take six hours to repair our battle damage and see what can be done about the Longhorn. Then we’ll jump to the next inhabited planet in this sector.”
“Do you think the Shari will challenge us again?”
“I expect so,” Race replied with a sigh. “I don’t think they’ll give up this region of space over one battle. We may have to prove to them several times that our technology and weapons are far superior when compared to theirs.”
“We’re fortunate the AIs didn’t allow their proxy races to develop more advanced weapons,” Commander Arnett said. She knew the AIs had preferred that their proxy races fight with midlevel technology to ensure they could never turn on their AI masters.
“Let’s just hope our luck in that regard continues to hold,” Race said, raising his eyebrow. “With the AIs out of the picture, the remaining Slaver Races may develop more dangerous weapons.”
Madelyn nodded. She knew the admiral was probably correct. At some point in time, the Federation and the Alliance would likely have to fight a more advanced enemy than what they faced now, but that was hopefully a long time from now. For the present, Federation and Alton science were supreme and should stay that way for the foreseeable future.
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In hyperspace High Lord Commander Marquest was angered at what had been done to his fleet. The Shari Empire had heard rumors of the fantastic weapons these Humans supposedly possessed. His fleet had learned the hard way that those rumors were true. He would return to the empire and make his report. The Shari Empire had larger warships at its disposal, as well as thousand of ships. At some point he knew the Shari and the Humans would go to war, but not now. Not until the Shari Empire could confirm whether the AIs were truly gone or still present at the galactic center. Marquest knew that, for the short term, the Shari Empire would probably withdraw from all former Hocklyn space. It would put the Humans off guard until the Shari Empire was ready. When that time came, the Humans would find the Shari would not be so easy to defeat in combat a second time.
Chapter Eleven
Kelsey sat at her Navigation station, gazing anxiously at the large viewscreen in front of her. She felt as if all she had to do was reach out to touch the stars. However, she knew in reality that the Command Center was buried deep inside the forward section of the Distant Horizon. Nearly three hundred meters of corridors, compartments, and battle armor stood between her and the outer hull. In front of her tens of thousands of stars glowed steadily, shining their light upon the ship. Here at the galactic center, the star density averaged less than one light week of separation.
The space around Sagittarius A, the black hole, was filled with a myriad of stars. Kelsey knew, if the right filters were applied to the viewscreen, she would be able to see a lot of red and even some blue giants. These were truly massive stars, which still managed to exist in close proximity to the black hole. Also evident were some fiery filaments full of hot young stars now forming. The death and birth of stars was a steady process at the galactic center.
“It’s an awesome sight,” Andram said, as he stepped forward and adjusted the screen filters to show all the magnificent colors of the various stars. The view was now nearly overwhelming due to the millions of stars within just a few thousand light years. “The galactic center is a hotbed for star formation and will continue to be for quite some time. We have several science ships busy studying the stars close to the black hole. There is so much to learn here.”
“The last probe has been sent through,” Kelsey said, looking at Andram. “If its results are the same as the others, we’ll attempt the transit sometime tomorrow.”
“I’m sure you and Katie are more than ready to rescue your husbands,” Andram said, understanding the strong motivation the two women had to complete this mission. Even among Altons, love was a very powerful force.
“I don’t expect any problems,” Clarissa said, as she suddenly appeared next to Andram. “The other four probes all made the transit instantaneously, and we’ve adjusted the jump calculations accordingly. The last probe was off less than two meters, and that was for a jump of ten light years. I believe this one will be off only a few centimeters. Once we receive the data, we’ll make the final calculations for the transit.”
