Earth Fall: Empires at War, page 18
“Have the cargo ships and the colony ships enter hyperspace and go to Lavon Seven,” Lamarck ordered in a steady voice.
The colony ships had only recently arrived, bringing more colonists to the system. Only three of them had been unloaded. Lavon Seven held a small Trellixian military base as well as a thriving colony. It was far enough away he didn’t believe the Voltrex would attack it. In recent battles with the Voltrex too many colony ships and cargo ships had been lost. Battle Commander Lamarck was not going to allow that to happen here.
“Orders sent,” confirmed Second Officer Zada. “They should be jumping out shortly.”
“Voltrex ships are still inbound,” reported the sensor officer. “Estimated contact in twelve minutes.”
From the reports he had read and what he knew of the weapons the Voltrex ships were now equipped with he knew he had very little chance of holding the system.
Second Officer Zada moved away from Communications. “The planetary governor is demanding to know what we’re going to do.”
Battle Commander Lamarck had served in the Trellixian military for over twenty years. In all that time his fleet had never been involved in an actual space battle. Most of the worlds he had conquered were primitive without any type of space going vessels. In those instances his fleet had gone into obit and dropped nuclear missiles on the target cities. Then, as soon as the radiation subsided, Trellixian troops in battle armor were landed to sweep the surface to ensure there were no survivors.
Form the fleet into formation W-3,” ordered Lamarck. This was a wedge formation with his flagship in the center. “We have some of the new fifty-megaton missiles; we’ll advance and when we’re within range launch them.”
“From the reports we’ve received the Voltrex missiles far outrange ours,” said Zada. “We’ll lose a lot of our battlecruisers before we get within range.”
“Have the battlecruisers with the new missiles placed farther back in the formation so they will survive. Also, send a message to the High Command that Voltrex ships have entered the system and we are preparing to engage.”
-
It only took the Trellixian battlecruisers a few minutes to form up in their wedge formation. Once complete the formation began advancing toward the incoming Voltrex fleet. Missiles were loaded into their tubes and the hatches covering the launching tubes slid open. Energy beam turrets rotated until they faced the incoming Voltrex ships.
-
“Enemy has formed into a wedge formation and are advancing toward us,” reported Zalurr. On the tactical display, a large group of red icons was moving closer to the Voltrex fleets.
Lieutenant Commander LeLath turned toward the Fleet Commander. “They will be in range of our missiles in two minutes. Shall we launch?”
Fleet Commander Kamuss knew why LeLath was asking this question. In past battles he had been hesitant about using too many of the valuable missiles as they were not replaceable until they reached Earth. “Yes, I want all ships to keep a reserve supply of ten percent on the missiles. We may still need some on the remainder of our trip to Earth.”
LeLath quickly passed on the orders.
“Missile loaded in the tubes and ready to fire,” reported Diboll as his hands moved over his tactical console. “We currently have 42 percent of our missiles remaining.”
“Launch as soon as the Trellixian battlecruisers are in range and we have target lock,” ordered Fleet Commander Kamuss.
-
The fleets continued to close and then the Voltrex fleet launched a swarm of forty-megaton missiles. They were sublight missiles and accelerated rapidly toward the Trellixian battlecruisers. In mere seconds they began to slam into the energy shields of the lead ships.
Massive fusion explosions rolled across the front of the Trellixian wedge formation. Raw energy clawed at and threatened to bring down energy shields. As more missiles arrived and detonated, shields began to fail. In fiery fireballs of released energy Trellixian battlecruisers began to die.
A fusion missile struck the bow of a Trellixian battlecruiser, vaporizing it. Secondary explosions caused the rest of the ship to break apart. A pair of fusion missiles slammed into another battlecruiser, turning it into a miniature nova. When the light died down all that remained was twisted wreckage and several glowing fields of gas which rapidly died away.
The entire front of the Trellixian formation was full of dying ships as the fusion energy from the missile warheads continued to knock down energy shields.
-
“We’re losing a lot of ships,” reported Second Officer Zada as the flagship shook violently. “We just took a missile hit to our own energy shield. Shield is down to 68 percent.”
“We’re in missile range,” called out the tactical officer.
“Then launch!” ordered Battle Commander Lamarck. “All ships are to launch and continue firing until they’ve exhausted their loads of missiles.”
On a viewscreen, a fusion missile blew a nearby Trellixian battlecruiser apart. Its wreckage slammed into several other nearby battlecruisers, threatening to bring down their energy screens. The forward half of the fleet formation was in chaos.
-
In space, the remaining Trellixian battlecruisers began launching their missiles. Hundreds of missiles, some in the fifty-megaton range, leaped toward the incoming Voltrex fleet.
The Voltrex fleet began firing their defensive energy cannons, taking out many of the missiles. However, there were so many with more being launched every second that some began to get through.
Brilliant flashes of light began to appear across the front of the Voltrex fleet formation. In a sudden brilliant flash of light a large support vessel exploded, hurling wreckage across space.
More missiles struck and several more support vessels found their shields overloaded. More of the fifty-megaton missiles arrived, knocking the shields down and crashing into the hulls of the support ships. Six more support ships died in brilliant flashes of light.
-
“Some of those missiles are in the fifty-megaton range,” reported Lieutenant Commander LeLath as she saw several support ships vanish from the tactical display. “Our support ships can only stand up to one or two of those monster warheads before their shields fail.”
Kamuss took in a deep breath. He had hoped this Trellixian fleet did not possess any of the stronger missiles. “What about anti-matter weapons? Any signs of those?”
Lieutenant Commander LeLath shook her head. “No, just the heavier nukes. Most of the missiles being fired at us are small nuclear weapons with a yield of twenty-megatons. About 20 percent are of the fifty-megaton range. So far the energy shields on our battleships and our battlecruisers are holding up to the missile attack.”
Kamuss looked at the main viewscreen, which was focused on the enemy fleet. Its entire forward section seemed to be on fire. Dozens of fusion explosions were constantly lighting up the enemy ships. Most of the forward section of the Trellixian wedge formation had been destroyed.
“Energy weapons range,” reported Diboll.
“Fire!” ordered Fleet Commander Kamuss, leaning forward in his command chair, his cat eyes intently watching the main viewscreen.
-
Battle Commander Lamarck was highly disappointed in his fleet’s missile attack. He had expected to be able to take out some of the enemies larger vessels. So far they had only managed to take out a number of the smaller support vessels.
“The Voltrex are starting to fire their energy weapons,” warned Second Officer Zada. “All ships are reporting they’ve launched all of their fifty-megaton missiles. We’re down to the weaker warheads and we’ve only got a few of them left.”
Lamarck sucked down a deep breath of air. This battle was going far worse than expected. Trellixian ships were supposed to be the most powerful in the universe, or that’s what he had been told in his military training. Even as he watched the tactical display several more of his battlecruiser icons swelled up and vanished.
“We’re losing ships at an increasing rate,” reported Second Officer Zada. “Computer projections state we won’t be able to significantly damage the enemy fleet before our fleet is destroyed.”
Defeat! thought Battle Commander Lamarck. They were Trellixians; how was this possible? He now understood the recent reversals in the loss of several colony worlds as well as Kalone Four.
“All ships are to enter hyperspace and go to Lavon Seven,” ordered Lamarck. “If we stay here we will be destroyed. There is nothing we can do to save this system from destruction.”
“Abandon the colonies?” blurted out Second Officer Zada in shock.
Battle Commander Lamarck turned toward his second officer. “We have no choice. Perhaps by adding our ships to those at Lavon Seven we can keep that base and colony safe. There is no point throwing our lives away uselessly in a battle we can’t win. I am willing to die for the Empire but not in a hopeless battle.”
Zada nodded and quickly began giving orders to the surviving Trellixian battlecruisers.
Moments later Battle Commander Lamarck felt his flagship make the transition into hyperspace. Looking at the tactical display, he was stunned to see only twenty-eight other battlecruisers were with the flagship. With a sinking feeling in his gut, he realized the others had either been destroyed or were too heavily damaged to make the jump into hyperspace. Standing up, he decided to go to his quarters. He needed to make a report to the High Command. There was a very good chance that due to his withdrawal from battle he might lose his command and be sentenced to a mining colony or even worse, one of the penal colonies where life expectancy was very short.
-
Enemy fleet is jumping out,” reported Zalurr. “There are still seven Trellixian battlecruisers which appear too damaged to jump.”
“Target and destroy them,” ordered Fleet Commander Kamuss. Kamuss then looked over at Lieutenant Commander LeLath. “What are our losses?” Kamuss knew some support ships had been destroyed.
“Nine support ships,” reported LeLath. “The battlecruisers Tamora and Baroke are reporting light damage to their hulls. Their commanding officers report damage repair should only take a few hours. We also have twelve support ships reporting moderate to heavy damage. I’m still receiving reports on the severity.”
“Contact Fleet Commander Masurl and inform him he can begin his part of the cleansing of this system. What about their colony and cargo ships?”
“They jumped out as soon as the battle started,” answered Zalurr. “They all headed off in the same direction. From our data files there is a small Trellixian base at Lavon Seven.”
Fleet Commander Kamuss was not surprised the enemy cargo and colony ships had escaped. Those ships seemed more vital to the Trellixians than their warships. “Is Lavon Seven near our path to Earth?”
“No,” replied Metriic. “It’s about twenty-three light years out of the way.”
“We’ll leave it for now,” decided Kamuss. “What’s our missile inventory?” He knew they had expended many of the larger forty-megaton missiles.
“We have a fleet reserve of 22 percent,” replied Lieutenant Commander LeLath.
On the viewscreens, he saw the last Trellixian battlecruisers being pummeled by energy beams. One by one they were riddled with weapons fire until they were nothing more than drifting hulks.
“All enemy craft destroyed,” confirmed Zalurr.
“Fleet Commander Masurl’s fleet is moving away and beginning their attack runs,” added Lieutenant Commander LeLath. “There are some mining ships still in the system. Fleet Commander Masurl believes they are not equipped with hyperspace drives and cannot escape.”
Kamuss nodded. “Destroy them. I want everything the Trellixians built in this system annihilated. Metriic, take us into orbit. Our first target will be the small shipyard and then the three orbital stations.”
“The shipyard is lightly armed and has an energy shield,” reported Zalurr.
Lieutenant Commander LeLath stepped near the sensor console and studied the readings. “The shield will be no problem. It’s the same strength as one of their battlecruisers.”
“Very well, begin firing. Eliminate all orbital structures and then we’ll start on the planet’s population centers.” Kamuss leaned back in his command chair. He dared not let the crew know how much it bothered him to drop nuclear weapons on civilians even if they were Trellixians. He understood the necessity though he would never like it. It would be something which would haunt him for the rest of his days.
-
On the planet below, the planetary governor stared at a viewscreen showing the destruction in orbit. The shipyard was the first to be annihilated as it was quickly turned into molten wreckage. The three orbital stations followed until nothing of consequence remained in orbit. The governor knew much of the wreckage would eventually fall to the surface, causing even more damage. His eyes still showed anger at Battle Commander Lamarck for fleeing with the shattered remains of his fleet. It was the duty of every member of the Trellixian military to fight for the Empire even if that meant death. The governor had already sent a complaint to the High Command.
Even as the governor watched missiles began dropping down through the atmosphere. He knew he was about to die. He felt no sadness at his coming demise. He was a Trellixian and had no fear of death. The ground suddenly shook violently and the viewscreen became covered in static. Walking over to a large window, he looked out. In the distance, he could see several mushroom clouds rising up into the atmosphere. Suddenly there was a loud explosion and a flash of light. The governor felt his eardrums burst and then the heat and blast wave struck the building he occupied. In an instant, much of the city was vaporized. The governor and the two million other Trellixians in the city died within seconds of one another. Buildings fell and others burst into flame. A firestorm developed as superheated air rushed upward, forming a growing mushroom cloud.
-
Across the planet more missiles fell. Nuclear explosions shook the planet as dust and residue were hurled high up into the atmosphere. After a few hours a dark ash began to fall, covering everything. Occasionally another missile would fall as an additional target was spotted. The sky grew dark until it seemed like twilight. Then it grew darker yet and the wind began to blow and the temperature started to drop. It would be years before the atmosphere cleared sufficiently to allow the sun to shine on the planet once more.
-
Fleet Commander Kamuss stood in front of the ship’s primary viewscreen looking at the destruction his fleet had wrought. Already the planet’s atmosphere was turning dark. It took a lot of weapons to annihilate a planet full of Trellixians. No doubt there were still some survivors on the surface or in underground sections of buildings, but with the biosphere of the planet pretty much destroyed and the radiation they would not last long.
“It’s not a pretty sight,” said Lieutenant Commander LeLath from Kamuss’ side where she had been watching the viewscreens.
Kamuss folded his arms across his chest. His tongue flicked out to wet his long face whiskers. “Our worlds could have looked like this,” he said, glancing over at LeLath. “This is what we’re stopping the Trellixians from doing to us.”
“I know,” LeLath replied in a subdued voice. “I just wish it wasn’t necessary.”
Kamuss completely agreed with her. “War can be cruel at times and this could be a long war.” That was what Fleet Command believed. Already every major shipyard in the Voltrex Federation was building warships. More shipyards were being built and existing shipyards enlarged. More of the one-thousand-meter battlestations were being built above the home world as well as all the major colonies.
Kamuss wondered what his son was doing. There was a good chance he was with one of the other fleets tasked with finding Trellixian colonies near Voltrex space and annihilating them.
“Fleet Commander Masurl reports all other targets have been neutralized,” reported Meela.
“We will stay in this system for a few more hours. Tell Fleet Commander Masurl to do a second sweep of the system to ensure we have not overlooked anything. All ships are to conduct what repairs they can. Once all ships are safe enough to enter hyperspace we’ll head for a nearby star system and conduct full repairs on our damaged vessels.”
Lieutenant Commander LeLath looked over at the Fleet Commander. “We have several support vessels too heavily damaged to repair.”
“Strip them of everything useful and then we’ll scuttle them when we’re ready to depart the system.”
“I’ll send the order,” replied LeLath as she went over to Communications.
-
For the next three hours the two fleets scoured the system searching for any Trellixians who might have been missed. A few mining ships were found hiding in the asteroids as well as one small asteroid mining colony. These were eliminated to ensure the Trellixians never returned to this system.
“It’s a shame what we did to these two worlds,” said Lieutenant Commander LeLath, looking at a viewscreen showing the world below them.
“The nuclear weapons we used have very short half-lives,” Kamuss answered. “In a few years the radiation will be gone and the nuclear winter will be over. Once that’s happened the planet will begin to recover. In a few hundred years it might be habitable again.”
LeLath nodded. She knew that even after what they had done life in the deeper parts of the oceans probably still survived. “All ships report ready to enter hyperspace.”
“Have all ships form up on us and we will depart this system.”
-
In space, two Voltrex support vessels exploded as forty-megaton fusion missiles turned them into molten wreckage. If the Trellixians searched the wreckage, they would find nothing useful. The same had been done to the other vessels destroyed in the battle. Searches had been made of the wreckage to ensure nothing valuable remained.
